Beta by Navigator101.
Chapter 7
It was in the early morning hours, while it was still dark out, that Luffy crawled out of Usopp's hammock, careful to not wake anyone else up. He'd been awake for a good half hour before deciding to get up and go on deck where he found Nami staring out at the dark sea.
"What's wrong, Nami? Can't sleep?" he asked once he was within her view, not wanting to startle her.
She heaved a sigh as she slid down the rails and pulled her legs up to lay her head on them, facing away from Luffy. "I'm scared," she admitted. "It's been so much fun sailing with you guys, that it's hard to remember that I'm only teaming up with you temporarily. You're so different from the pirates I steal from, so carefree, doing what you want, and actually caring for one another."
"There's lots of different kinds of pirates out there, not just bad pirates, you know?" Luffy said sitting next to her.
Nami turned her head to give her captain a smile. "No, I don't. You're the first 'good' pirate I've met. That's why I'm scared. I don't want Arlong to kill you. Bell-mere used to be a Marine until she found me and Nojiko. I was told it was a battlefield, and we were the only survivors. She quit her job as a Marine to take care of us. None of us were blood related. We never had enough money and struggled to get by, but we were happy.
She turned to put her face down in between her legs and gave a shaky sigh. "We were happy, even if we couldn't get everything we wanted. Then Arlong came. He killed her. She tried to fight him. She didn't even have a chance. She used to be a Marine, and she didn't even have a chance! She gave him every beli we had so Nojiko and I could live, and he killed her." As much as she wanted to, Nami couldn't cry. She had already cried as much as she could back when it happened.
"You're like me, then," Luffy gave her a smile. "Pops saved me and my brothers, and someone killed Mother. Mother was a reeaaally pretty goldfish. I was told that she was killed because she wanted everyone to get along. I don't get it. But Dad said that there's a lot of people who do things that are stupid because they think they're better than everyone else. Oh! Dad's a dragon. He's so cool! But not as cool as Pops, though. Pops is a pretty and shiny blue fire bird!"
Nami gave a strained smile as she wasn't sure if her captain was being serious or not. If she didn't hear it herself, she would have thought it was Usopp telling another tall tale.
-*\
Sanji was only a little worried when he woke up. It really wasn't his problem if Luffy wasn't with Usopp, where he slept the night before. What worried him a bit was that Luffy was nowhere to be seen in the men's room. He didn't give it much thought and just walked out towards the kitchen after getting dressed. Or he intended to do so until he saw Luffy and Nami sleeping out on the deck, both with their backs against the rails. Sanji ended up turning back around to grab his blanket.
Just as he neared the two, Luffy opened an eye a crack to glare at him. It was a look that sent chills down his spine, causing him to stop in his tracks. This was what told him this kid was not someone to mess with.
When Luffy gave a sleepy blink and blearily opened his eyes, Sanji slowly showed him the blanket he had in his hands, making sure his captain didn't attack him out of sleepy confusion. The blanket was for dear, sweet Nami. He really couldn't give a shit for the kid captain, or so he told himself.
"Sanji," Luffy said slowly, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah," Sanji nodded. "I brought a blanket. Thought Nami would be cold out here."
"Sorry," Luffy yawned. "Habit. Still not used to being away from my family." He gave another yawn. "Nami couldn't sleep, so I told her stories to cheer her up."
Sanji felt that it was fine to get closer to the two and laid the blanket on them. "Breakfast will be ready in an hour. Go back to sleep."
"Okay." The cook watched as Luffy snuggled into Nami and got himself comfortable before going back to sleep.
An hour later Luffy was already awake and sitting next to Nami, who was still asleep when Sanji came back out to wake them for breakfast.
"Morning, Sanji," Luffy greeted cheerily as if he'd been awake the whole time.
"Morning to you too. Breakfast is ready," Sanji said, wondering if he should wake Nami, but Luffy beat him to it, already shaking her roughly.
"Nami, wake up. Sanji made food. Food is ready. Come on. I want to eat."
"I'm awake!" She punched him over the head to get him to stop shaking her. She stretched her arms over her head before standing and taking Luffy's hand into hers. "All right. Let's go change and get ready before we eat."
"I'll go see if the others are up," Sanji said as Nami led Luffy to the only bathroom on board.
It didn't take long for everyone, including Jonny and Yosaku, who slept in the crow's nest the whole night, to gather at the kitchen table. Sanji brought out the last plate of food and set it on the table, noticing one person missing.
Before he could question it, Luffy opened the door to the kitchen, looking like he was about ready to cry, clutching a bundle of blue fabric to his chest. The only thing the kid was wearing was a blue top hat over his straw hat. They all looked towards the captain, realizing that they'd forgotten him.
Usopp, Jonny, and Yosaku were about to apologize for starting without him, when Nami beat them to it. Sanji was the only one to wonder why Luffy was without his clothes.
"Luffy!" she exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table before rushing towards the captain. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot!"
Luffy sniffed as he handed the clothes to Nami then wiped his eyes. "It's okay. Nami is still sleepy, but I tried and tried but I couldn't get them on right." The clothes were in a messy pile, clearly unfolded.
For some reason that baffled him, Sanji felt relieved. Luffy was just frustrated with the clothes and not because they forgot him. Although, not being able to put on one's clothes was also baffling. "What's your problem?" he glared at Zoro, who was staring at him.
"I should be asking you that," Zoro said, returning the glare.
Sanji kept his cool, while internally blushing for being caught thinking something confusing. "None of your business, moss head," he waved before walking towards the lovely Nami to see if she needed any help.
"What's this piece for?" Sanji heard Nami mumble to herself, looking at the white frilly thing in her hand. He took in what Luffy had on; blue dress pants, white shirt under a blue jacket, and his usual sandals which looked completely out of place with the obviously high-end clothes.
"Let me see that," Sanji held out his hand for Nami to hand him the neckerchief. With that piece now on, he straightened out the rest of the clothes and took a step back to get a better look. He thought if Luffy combed his hair a bit differently, the kid would definitely pass for nobility easily. "Where'd you get something this expensive?" he asked as he turned around to take a seat at the table. He glared at Zoro, who was already eating, while the other three looked at the swordsman nervously.
"Sabo gave it to me. He can't wear it anymore, so it's mine now," Luffy said as he started to fill his plate with a bit of everything Sanji set out for them. He'd wait until the end before he ate his fill. He wanted to make sure his crew was full first because Pops warned him that his crew would go hungry if he ate everything before they did.
"Why didn't you just find something easier to wear?" Jonny asked as he and everyone else started to eat.
"Nami said to wear something nice, so I picked this," Luffy said proudly. "It's my favorite nice clothes."
"I wanted to make sure he looked presentable when we see Arlong today," Nami answered. Secretly, she enjoyed dressing the boy up. It was too much fun.
"Yeah, but that doesn't say 'pirate.' It's more like, 'I'm a snooty noble. Come rob me.'" Yosaku pointed out.
Nami glared at him, causing him to shrivel in his seat. "I don't care what his clothes say. I said 'presentable.' He had other things that looked nice too, but I wasn't sure how they went on."
"Do you always have someone put your clothes on for you?" Sanji asked.
"Yeah! There's always someone to help me with my clothes. They say it's fun, so I let them. I never got to learn how to put them on," Luffy laughed.
They all wondered what kind of life Luffy had before becoming a pirate captain. He knew Hawk-eye, a warlord. He definitely knew Shanks, one of the Four Pirate Emperors. He was way too short for his age, or was it because he's part of a race of short people? He's got a tattoo on his back. And he had people to dress him and most likely let him do whatever he wanted to do, spoiling him.
Jonny felt like he'd seen Luffy's tattoo from somewhere but couldn't remember where.
Sanji knew that Luffy was picked up by some pirate crew when he was young, along with his two brothers and were starved in the picture Zeff had. He really should have asked the old man for more information about his weird captain when he had the chance. There was also the kick from when the old man was taken hostage. Either the kid was able to learn it by watching him, or it was just chance that the attack looked like one that Zeff had taught him.
Zoro, the only person there who didn't care about his captain's past, was the first person to finish eating. "So we're attacking fishmen today?" he asked.
Usopp swallowed and pushed his plate away, suddenly losing his appetite. "D-d-do we have to?" he stuttered as he looked around the table before his eyes landed on Nami. "I mean, of course we do! I, The Great Usopp, will lend a hand to free Nami's village!"
"Right. So? Do we have a plan?" Sanji asked, looking at Luffy.
Luffy paused and gave it a thought. "Nami?"
"Well, I think we should avoid fighting if at all possible. With what I got from Buggy, I think I have enough to buy back the village," Nami said, determined to find a way to save this crew from Arlong's wrath. "The rest of the money is buried in the tangerine grove. We can dock the ship near my house, and I can get the money together to hand over to Arlong. We should see the island soon."
"Okay," Luffy said, grabbing everything that was left on the table to shove in his mouth. "We'll do what Nami wants. If it doesn't work, then we'll just beat them up."
"Dear Nami-swan, you come up with the best ideas," Sanji gushed before turning to Zoro, who grunted in dissatisfaction. "What was that, you invalid?"
"Invalid or not, I can still fight. I think that's just naive to think that we'd get away without fighting. What makes you think this Arlong will keep his word?" Zoro scoffed.
Luffy slammed his hands down on the table, cutting off anymore arguing. "We'll try it Nami's way first," he repeated himself.
"Why are we following someone who's only allying with us temporarily? She said it herself," Zoro argued. "We can find another navigator."
"I don't want another navigator," Luffy pouted. "I want Nami. We'll do what Nami says first, but," he kept his eyes on Zoro, but also gave Nami a look, "if he doesn't do what she wants, then we're fighting him. We're not leaving the next island without Nami."
"Fine," Zoro relented.
Nami looked down and spoke softly, "I really enjoyed my time with you guys, and if I could, I'd love to continue sailing with you, as your navigator, but I have to save my village first. I'd do anything to buy back their freedom, even if I have to…"
"Don't worry, Nami-swan," Sanji said kneeling in front of her, taking her hand, "if these baboons won't help you, then I will. I'll never leave a damsel in distress."
"Hopefully Nami-Anekii's plan works. I don't think Luffy-Anikii understand how dangerous fishmen are," Yosaku whispered to Jonny who nodded in agreement.
"Ooo. I just thought of a great idea!" Luffy said before bolting out of the kitchen.
Just then, the ship lurched sideways, causing everyone to lose their footing, breaking a few plates in the process. After the ship was settled, they all went out to see what Luffy did. Only, they didn't make it past the door as Nami and Usopp were blocking their path. Instead, they all squeezed their heads out the door and window to see what had them too shocked to move.
"What the hell is that idiot doing at a time like this?!" Sanji shouted from the window.
"I don't see how arguing with a sea king is a great idea," Usopp whimpered.
Jonny and Yosaku whimpered in agreement from under the table where they had taken refuge after seeing Luffy gesturing wildly and yelling at the sea king.
"That's Mohmoo," Nami whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "He's with Arlong."
The sea cow gave a loud moo in defiance, only for Luffy to give it another lump on it's head with a rubbery punch. It then lowered it's head and gave a pitiful moo. Their captain turned around to give his crew a peace sign and a wide smile.
"He said he'll give us a ride to Nami's island," he announced.
There was a moment of silence before they all finally found their voice to yell out "WHAT?!"
"I said he'll take us to Nami's island," Luffy huffed, annoyed that they didn't hear him the first time.
"Why?" Usopp wailed.
"Because it'll be faster. The faster we save Nami's village, the faster we get to keep Nami," Luffy reasoned.
"Luffy! He's with Arlong!" Nami tried to talk him out of it.
"So?'
"So?! So?!' Nami screeched before giving up. "Fine. Do what you want."
Zoro had left them after hearing the announcement the first time and came back with some ropes to help Luffy tie Mohmoo up to the ship. Once they were done and moving, Luffy kept encouraging the sea cow to go faster and faster, clearly enjoying himself from the top of it's head.
"Is that safe?" Usopp yelled worriedly to Zoro as they picked up speed to the point that they were all holding onto the railings to stay on the ship. "I mean, Devil Fruit users can't swim right?"
Zoro didn't bother to answer, only to grunt as they hit another large wave, sending the ship out of the water for a brief second.
Mohmoo was visibly tired and out of breath when the island finally came into view but continued on at the same speed in his hurry to get rid of the crazy pirate on him. He went so fast that he ended up beaching himself, which caused him to flip his tail and send the ship up in the air.
Luffy ended up falling onto the beach when they landed and looked up when he heard screams from above. He watched as Merry flew right over him and into a forest.
"Hey, you stupid cow! You just threw my crew!" Luffy punched the tired sea cow once more before marching away angrily. He didn't go straight into the forest to find his crew since he knew they were fine. Instead, he went exploring.
He wasn't expecting to see a village so soon after leaving Mohmoo since there was no presence of life there. He was actually going towards where he could feel a lot of people, which was in this direction.
After giving a whistle of amazement at the sight, Luffy decided to explore the deserted village a bit more. The buildings were all flipped upside down, and there was a deep gouge on the dirt path in a straight line. He decided to follow the trail just out of curiosity. It lead him straight to the sea.
He scratched his head in confusion before heading back to the strange village with the upside down buildings. Maybe there would be hidden treasures or something in them.
After hours of crawling up, down, in, and out of the buildings, the only things he found were rotten foods and cobwebs. Everything else was trashed from being thrown up and down. Now that he was done with his disappointing adventure, he decided to head towards where he knew there were people.
On his way there, he found Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji standing under some shade. Though Zoro was napping and looking worse for wear from his wound from Mihawk.
"Oh! You guys are okay!" Luffy shouted as he ran towards them. "How's Merry? Is she okay? Where'd Nami go?"
"Merry seems fine," Usopp answered. "She's sturdy, considering we rammed through a few trees before landing. Nami took off with all our treasure as soon as we landed. We don't know where she went. We spent about an hour trying to get Merry back to sea, but we barely moved her. Then Jonny and Yosaku left to find Nami. We're just taking a break from looking for you."
"Ah~ My poor Nami-chan. She must have missed her village so much that she went to check up on it," Sanji swooned with his hands to his heart.
"Zoro doesn't look so good," Luffy commented, crouching in front of the swordsman. He really should pick up Chopper soon.
"Well, yeah. A Shichibukai nearly killed him. The bumpy ride and landing didn't help either," Usopp said worriedly.
"Hmm. Then you guys stay here. I'm gonna go for a walk and explore," Luffy said, as he stood up and walked away.
-*/
When Luffy finally reached the village, there was a commotion among the villagers, who were all armed with whatever weapons they could find, be it a pitchfork or a frying pan. As he got closer he could hear an old man with lots of scars rallying the group, "We tried to be patient and leave things be as long as Nami was happy! But his answer was to betray Nami! Now that our chance for freedom is gone, we have no hope! More than that, we must make those fishmen pay for toying with Nami's kindness…"
The man trailed off as there was a tap on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see a nicely dressed boy looking at him with wide eyes.
"What are you guys doing?" Luffy asked.
"You don't look like you're from around here. Where did you come from? Better yet, you better leave this island before you get caught up in our fight," the old man said with a stern face.
"You were talking about Nami," Luffy smiled. "She's my navigator. She's great! Are you going to fight for her? I don't think that's a good idea. Nami wouldn't be happy if you guys got hurt."
A girl with light blue hair and a bandage over one shoulder walked up to them. "You must be part of the pirate crew Nami told me about. I'm her sister, Nojiko. Not too long ago, Nami was at our house. A marine captain by the name of Nezumi came and dug up our tangerine grove to find Nami's hidden treasures. I'm sure it was an order from Arlong. Even the marines here are too scared of Arlong to go against him," she spat.
"We can't even rely on the government for help. That rat took everything Nami had collected over the past eight years." She paused to calm herself down. "Look, I'm grateful for all you've done for Nami, but this is our fight. Those fishmen are out of your league. Nami's on her way to confront Arlong, and we're going to go help her."
The crowd behind her roared their agreement.
"Luffy-anikii!" Jonny and Yosaku yelled for him.
"Nami-anekii is," Jonny started as they both stopped before him, out of breath. "Nami-anekii is!"
"She just had a fight with Arlong!" Yosaku finished.
"Hmm? Nami's right there," Luffy pointed behind them.
They both turned behind them to see Nami walking up to them with anger in her eyes. She stopped to grab some ropes off a stall without paying and stomped her way towards Luffy.
"You're coming with me," she said as she started to tie him up, then looked up at the crowd with a strained smile. "Don't worry, everyone. I've got this under control. I still have a way to get this island back from Arlong." She then proceeded to punch Luffy until there were lumps and bruises all over his face.
Yosaku and Jonny could only look on in surprise, not even thinking to try and stop Nami from beating up her captain, only remembering after she was already dragging him away from the stunned villagers.
They both ran after the two, stopping only at the stone wall and gate separating Arlong Park from the rest of the island. Too afraid to go any further into Fishmen territory, they peered in from where they stood and saw Nami with Luffy still bound, standing in front of Arlong.
"Oh? What do we have here?" Arlong asked Nami as he sneered down at the captive.
The navigator looked at the much larger Fishman defiantly. "I kidnapped him off the last island I stopped at as an insurance. He's a noble, so I'm sure his family has all the money you want. I'll just have him call his parents and get the 100,000,000 beli in exchange for this island."
"Hmm," Arlong hummed with his hand under his chin in amusement, studying the beaten boy who was looking at the fishman in curiosity. "Acting like a real pirate, now, are we? All right," he said, laughing.
"Fine. Let's go. I don't have my den den mushi with me," she said as she took hold of Luffy's rope.
"What are you talking about, my dear Nami. I have one right here you can use," the Fishman said, pulling out a snail from his shirt, causing her to sweat. "You can make the call right here in front of me. There's no need to be shy."
Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, Luffy broke the rope he was tied with and reached under the top had to bring out a baby den den mushi. "You want 100,000,000 beli for this island, right?" He proceeded to make a call before getting an answer and grinned widely when the snail was answered.
Nami and the fishmen around them looked surprised when the snail's eyes shined, and there was an image of a forest being projected before it.
"I've never seen a den den mushi do that before," Nami said in awe.
"That's because my brothers made it," Luffy laughed.
"Lu-ya?" Came a tired voice from the snail.
"Torao! What are you doing? I can't see you," Luffy pouted.
"One of my guy decided that getting shot would be a grand idea, so I'm currently digging out a bullet. I'm a bit too busy to show my face. What do you need?"
"100,000,000 beli," Luffy stated easily.
"Why?" the snail sighed as if it wasn't surprised by the request.
"I want to buy an island."
"You already have an island. We don't need another one. Where are you?"
"East Blue, and I really need to buy this island. Do we have 100,000,000 beli?"
"Captain! Who is that? He's cute. A noble? Hey, Captain, are you friends with a noble? I thought you didn't like them." There were so many voices and faces crowding the snail to get a better look.
"THAT'S MY LITTLE SISTER! STOP CROWDING!" came a shout, causing the people on the other end to clam up.
Annoyed at how long this was taking, Arlong grabbed the snail from Luffy's hand to sneer at it. "This kid is my hostage. Give me 500,000,000 beli, and I'll free him and this island. I'm sure Mummy and Poppy have at least that much laying around," he laughed.
"Here, Captain, it's for you," one of the guys said in a subdued voice, turning the snail towards a man laying down, front covered in blood.
Then a bloody hand showed, picking up the snail on the other end, showing another man with a scowl on his face. His voice was low and calm as he spoke. "One, we don't have a 'Mummy' or a 'Poppy'. Two, call home and that island wouldn't even need a name anymore. You must not keep up with the news if you don't recognize who the 'kid' is. Three, if you hurt Lu-ya, I'll find a way to teleport there and dissect you alive, Shark Face. Now, if you don't mind, I need to patch this idiot up before he bleeds to death."
Arlong threw the den den mushi on to the ground once he was hung up on.
"Hey, don't break it. That's the only one I have," Luffy cried out as he picked up the snail and checked to make sure it wasn't broken.
"Sounds like someone's cranky," Sanji said, coming up from behind. He and Zoro had heard the whole conversation and only walked towards them once they realized things didn't go the way Nami had planned. "And die he call you his sister?"
"Nah, Torao's always grumpy. My family thought it'd be funny to trick Torao into thinking I was a girl," Luffy smiled at them from where he was still seated on the ground.
"So what now, Luffy?" Zoro asked, his hands already on his swords. He really didn't care about the whole sister/brother thing. There's a fish guy here that needed to be taken down.
"Now, we beat them up," Luffy jumped up, ready to fight.
Arlong quickly grabbed Nami by the throat and dangled her a foot off the ground. "Now, now. You wouldn't want me to accidentally snap her neck, would you?"
Quicker than anyone could blink, Luffy had already punched Arlong in the stomach, causing the fishman to release Nami as he crashed into the large building.
Zoro and Sanji both blinked in surprise and looked from Arlong's angry face to Luffy's steaming pink form leaning over Nami. They both came to the realization that they've yet to see Luffy fight with everything he has.
The young captain took off his strawhat and placed it on Nami's head, leaving the top hat on his own, before helping her up. "Take care of this for me," he told her before shoving her towards the crowd at the entrance of Arlong Park.
Dazed and confused, Nami did as she was told and found her way towards the people of her village, who then quickly checked to make sure she was all right. Then she realized what Luffy had given to her. She reached up to gently touch the hat, the hat that Luffy wouldn't let anyone touch. He had placed it on her head, entrusting his treasure to her. Tears came without her wanting them to, and she looked up to see Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji fighting the fishmen.
Then a rock came from a hole in the wall, hitting one of the fishmen with a long lip. "Don't forget me, the Great Usopp," Usopp proudly proclaimed, before whimpering when the one he hit glared at him.
Nami could only laugh through her tears, seeing that even the scaredy cat of the crew was helping to fight to free her island. She then saw that the fishman Usopp had hit was running after him. She turned around to see Usopp running away and tried to get away from the crowd that was stopping her to help her friend.
She caught a glimpse of Luffy looking Usopp's way, before continuing to fight. The fact that Luffy didn't seem concerned calmed her. She somehow knew that if Usopp was in danger, her captain would have stopped the fishman from going after Usopp. But he didn't.
Her thought caused her to stop her struggles. Her captain. Yes. He was her captain. Her heart had already decided that she would travel with him, to navigate Grand Line for him. At first, she was sure she'd stay on this island, her home, if they ever got rid of Arlong. But Luffy had convinced her that a life of piracy wasn't all she thought it was. Sure, there will be dangers, that just meant she had to get stronger. Besides, she enjoyed having a little brother.
-*\
Luffy looked at all the fishmen before them and judged that both Zoro and Sanji wouldn't be able to handle all of them. Especially with Zoro being injured from his fight with Mihawk. He was barely able to stand as it was. Luffy let them fight one each as he took on the rest.
He saw one leave, chasing Usopp, but he knew Usopp was cunning enough to take that one down alone. Letting that one go, Luffy stayed with Zoro and Sanji to take down as many small fries as he could, instead of going after Arlong, who ran into the large building.
As he fought, he slowly forgot where he was. It was so much like when he fought random pirates with his family that he started laughing as if he was having fun. It was so much fun to let loose and take down idiots who thought they could beat them. So lost in his fun of kicking and punching that he almost didn't duck in time when a saw-like sword came at him.
"How dare you laugh at my downed brethren! We are fishmen! Stronger than you puny humans. There's no way you could have taken them all down on your own," Arlong seethed. "What kind of trick did you use?"
"I didn't use any trick," Luffy said as he picked his nose. "I just beat them up."
"Impossible!" Arlong took another swing at the other captain.
Luffy stood back up after ducking again and looked around. There weren't many left. "At least I didn't kill any of them. Looks like I have to get serious with you, though."
The young captain took a stance that Arlong would recognize easily. "Gyojin Karate," Luffy said in a low voice as he grinned, the rim of the top hat shading his eyes.
Arlong stood, slack-jawed, as the surrounding fishmen who decided to try and attack all at once, while Luffy was distracted by Arlong, easily fell unconscious around them. "Karakusagawara Seiken," the young captain finished the name of the attack, grin widening at Arlong's shocked face.
"How? HOW?!" Arlong yelled, swinging his sword down toward's Luffy's head.
Luffy took a step to the right before letting loose another attack, "Samehada Shotei," knocking the sword out of the fishman's hands. "Since you don't like being beaten by a human, I'll do you a favor and beat you up with Fishman Karate."
"How can some human brat from East Blue master those moves?" Arlong cried out as he unleashed powerful punches, all of which were easily dodged.
"Because I'm not from East Blue," Luffy muttered in the fishman's ear as he neared. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the Pirate King!" He called out as he sent a punch a few inches from Arlong's midsection sending the fishman crashing into the building.
Not giving the enemy any time to get back up, Luffy quickly entered Gear Second by pumping one of his leg as he ran. "Gomu Gomu no Samegawara Seiken!" He sent another punch directly into Arlong's stomach, causing the fishman to cough up blood and pass out.
Luffy turned around to see that the fighting had finished, even Usopp was back, all battered. He smiled at them and gave them a peace sign to assure them they had won. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he gave a yell of pain.
Arlong had gotten up and grabbed hold of Luffy's shoulder with his teeth. "You made the mistake of not finishing me off, but then again, a brat like you probably never killed anyone in your life," Arlong laughed.
Turning his head to look at Arlong, Luffy gave a chuckle. "My brothers and I have killed more than anyone should have in a lifetime." With those parting words, he pulled out his gun from his thigh holster and shot the fishman in the forehead, ensuring he was dead and would no longer be a danger to anyone. "That hurts, Fish Face," Luffy grumbled as he held his bleeding shoulder.
All there were stunned silent, surprised at the fact that a young boy had just killed someone so easily, before the villagers cheered.
It didn't take long for Nami to snap out of it and run towards Luffy. "Luffy! Are you okay?"
"Yeah. It hurts though," Luffy pouted.
"You just killed someone," she said frantically. "Are you sure you're okay?"
That knocked some sense into Zoro and Sanji and they quickly made their way to their captain. Judging by the reaction, Zoro was sure that wasn't Luffy's first kill.
"Normally, a person isn't 'okay' after killing someone," Sanji said. "They'd be freaking out. Especially, someone as young as you."
"But I'm not okay. See?" he pointed to his wound. "It hurts!"
"And a normal person would be screaming in pain right now," Zoro grunted from his pain, as his eyes searched his captain's face for any discomfort.
"Well, I've been told I'm not normal. I've never been normal. I hurt. Can we eat now?" Luffy pouted, trying to hide his fear of scaring his new crew.
Nami dispelled any further comments by urging Luffy to see a doctor, which he was quick to deny. All he needed was Sanji's food, and he'd be fine.
"Hold it right there!" a marine with a mouse ear hoody called out, halting all cheers with a smug smile. The group of marines behind him had their guns pointed towards the villagers and the pirates. "What a lucky day. I can't believe Arlong Pirates would lose to some nameless pirates like you. However, thanks to you, all the money I was to give to Arlong and all property in Arlong Park is now mine. So drop all your weapons. I, Captain Nezumi, will take all your credit and be promoted -"
He didn't get to finish as he and his fellow marines felt a chill down their spine.
Luffy cracked his knuckles as he walked up to the marines his haki focused on them. "Are you the rat that stole Nami's treasure?" he asked in a low voice, giving his worst glare to the captain from under the top hat.
"Those were stolen from pirates anyway," the marine cried out as he tried to get away from the angry captain. "That means, those treasures belong to the marines, to me!"
"Nami, he's yours," Luffy said as he grabbed Nezumi by his shoulder and tossed him to Nami, who then proceeded to take out her anger on the marine with her bo staff.
Luffy turned his eyes towards the rest of the marines with their guns now trained on him. Normally, they would have shot by now, but for reasons unknown to them, they were frozen by fear of this child. "You guys are marines. Yet, you didn't help the people who depended on you. You need retraining, and I know the best person for it," he gave them an evil grin, before knocking them all out with haki.
A quick look to Zoro to see that they both agreed that something was weird about their captain, Sanji shrugged and left to make some food for Luffy, leaving the clean up to the villagers.
Making food for Luffy ended up being cooking for the village. The whole village decided to celebrate the defeat of Arlong's Pirate crew. Sanji noticed that once the party was in full swing, Luffy had disappeared with a huge plate of food.
The sun was starting to set and Sanji left the rest of the cooking to the villagers who volunteered to help so that he could find his captain. He even brought a heaping plate with him.
He found the young captain under a tree, talking to someone on the den den.
"…and then the bastard got back up and bit me," Luffy pointed to his bandaged shoulder that Nami insisted he get checked, "so I shot him."
The crowd in the projection from the den den cheered, causing Luffy to laugh. 'Well, at least the kid is happy,' Sanji thought as he placed the plate of food before his captain, just as the rest of the crew showed up and sat around their captain.
"Ooo. Thanks, Sanji! Oh! This is Sanji. My cook. I just picked him up. He's awesome! His food is soooooo good! And that's Zoro. He's going to be the World's Best Swordsman. And that's Usopp. His dad is Yasopp. His stories are so funny. And that's Nami. She's our navigator. We just saved her village."
"You found someone to cook for you? How is it? Can you eat his food?" someone asked.
Sanji took offense to that. "Of course, he can eat my cooking! Are you saying my food is shit before even trying it?!"
"Yeah! Watch this!" Luffy proceeded to eat as if he were starving to show them, enjoying every bite.
Someone on the other end popped his head right in front of the den den's monitor, wearing a chef's hat. "Hey, don't take it personally. We're just worried about his sensitive stomach, what with him being poisoned and stuff."
"POISONED!" Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami yelled at him.
"Oh? He didn't tell you?" Someone else on the other end piped up.
"It's not important," Luffy said with his mouthful. "Sanji's food is good." That's what was important.
"I just told Pops what happened. I'll be sure to pass it on to Jinbe too, yoi." They didn't get to see who was talking that time because the person was behind the large group, which winced at the sound of his voice.
"Thanks, Pops," Luffy said around a mouthful of food.
"Now, then. What are you lot doing here, yoi?" The person said in a threatening voice.
"We're just catching up with little Luffy," someone whined.
"Yeah, look! He even has someone to help him put clothes on."
"Of course. Our Luffy only picks the best!"
"Then why are you here?"
"What was that?"
A brawl started, causing Luffy to laugh at them. Then someone knocked into the table the den den was on and was kicked this way and that.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" came a shout and all movement stopped. "If any one of you step on that snail, it's toilet duty-yoi! Now where is that damn den den?!"
Luffy giggled, but it was loud enough for the people on the other end to hear.
"Feeling better, Luffy? Find that den den-yoi!"
"Yeah," the young captain giggled. "Pops, did I do wrong?"
"No. No, you didn't. You did what you had to do to protect your crew. I'm proud of you-yoi. Just remember that you can't get along with everyone. If they want to leave, then let them. You can always start over again or come back home for a while-yoi. We all miss you and your shenanigans."
"Shi-nan-nan-"
"Shenanigans. We miss you and your crazy self, yoi."
"I miss you guys too."
"GOD DAMMIT, GUYS! LOOK DOWN! WHY WOULD THE DEN DEN BE ON THE CEILING?!" There was a moment of just the sounds of panicked movement before a calm threat was easily heard through the noise, "If I don't get to see Luffy before he hangs up, I'm tossing you to the twins-yoi."
Luffy snickered at the panicked cries before hanging up on his family.
"Interesting lot," Sanji commented.
Luffy giggled. "That's my family."
"You sure it's ok to hang up on them like that?" Usopp asked.
"Yeah, it's fine," was the answer before Luffy turned to face them and bowed with his head to the ground. "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry for killing Arlong," Nami said soothingly.
"No. I'm not sorry for killing him. I'm sorry for scaring you and for not being normal," Luffy picked up his head to clarify.
"You're right. You're not normal," Nami said with her arms folded. "But neither are these two. You three and your monstrous strength," she huffed before jabbing a finger at Zoro's chest. "And you! You should be sleeping at the doctor's place like you were told to. You're still injured from Mihawk and should be resting. Fighting those fishmen just made it worse."
Sanji laughed at the look of fear on Zoro's face before his eyes turned to hearts when Nami turned to do the same to him. "And you should be resting also."
"Ah, my Nami-san is worried about me, but it seems that my talent for cooking was needed," Sanji said as he took her hand in his. "It seems this idiot captain can't eat anything but my cooking." A thought came to his mind as he let go of her and turned to face Luffy. "That reminds me. I didn't get to ask about what you can and can't eat. You should have told me you have a sensitive stomach."
"It's fine," Luffy said, pulling out a bottle from a pouch. "I have this. It makes my tummy feel better when I eat bad things."
"That's not fine," Sanji picked his captain up by the front of his shirt and shook him. "I'm your cook. Everything I make has to stay in your stomach and keep you full. If I ever make something you can't eat, be sure to tell me."
"Ok."
He put his captain down. "That means I'm going with you. I don't know what you talked about with that Pops of yours, but I'm staying. I'm not going anywhere," Sanji said as he took a drag from his cigarette. "I made a promise to myself that I would find those kids in that picture the old geezer had and feed them until they were satisfied. I found one," he pointed to Luffy, "now I need to find the other two. So I'm not leaving."
"I've already decided that I'm going with you, too," Nami said with her fists on her hips.
"Me too," Usopp said with a serious face, looking to the ground. "I mean, after today's fight, I need to learn to man up and be as good as my dad. You said my dad was a great sharpshooter, right? So I need to be better than him, because my dream is to be a great warrior of the sea. Not-no-not that I'm scared or anything."
Luffy cheered, happy to be able to keep them all. "I thought I scared you guys," he laughed.
Zoro closed his eyes and leaned into the tree, tired and ready for a nap. "As if you could get rid of us."
-*\
It took them and a few strong villagers to try and move Merry from where it landed in the forest. Luffy was ecstatic to see that Merry was still in one piece and able to sail.
They tried dragging the ship, but it was too heavy and the trees were in the way. They even contemplated chopping the trees down and using the logs to roll the ship, but that would have taken them too long. Especially with Zoro out of commission. After the party, he'd been sleeping day in and day out, waking only a few hours at a time, which the doctor was adamant he do. At least the wound was getting better.
After the third day of contemplating on how to get the ship down, Luffy decided the fastest way would be to use Gomu Gomu Bazooka. Which he did without even consulting anyone. That ended with Nami scolding him for not warning anyone about what he was going to do and Usopp passed out from fright on the deck of the ship.
Luckily, the ship didn't land too far from the island. It was close enough for Sanji to swim out there and steer it to an open dock and set anchor.
Arlong's crew and the rat marines were all tied and locked up in an old barn that no one used anymore.
A week passed, as they stayed on the island. Luffy had wanted to make sure Zoro was healed before they left and because he wanted to make sure the prisoners didn't escape before the marine he called got there.
He'd just finished breakfast and was about to pester Nami into taking a nap with him in her tangerine grove, he loved the smell there. Then his den den mushi went off.
"Luffy, run! Gramps has a new marine uniform for you!" came a panicked shout from the den den mushi before the young captain said anything. The image it was projecting was of the sea going by very quickly.
"What's wrong with that? The other one is already too small," Luffy gave the den den a confused look.
"It's the mini skirt version!" a different voice cried out. "We just finally esca-"
Luffy didn't bother hearing the rest of his brother's complaints. He quickly hung up and ran around to gather his crew. He had to leave. Now!
Of course, none of them understood why he was in a hurry to leave when he wasn't before. All they got out of him was, "We have to leave now! The mini skirt is almost here!"
"But what about the pirates and the marines?" Nami asked.
"They're fine. I'll knock them all out again if you want," Luffy said as he urgently persuaded her to get the ship ready to sail. "And the good marines will be here sometime today. Come on. Please? I don't wanna wear a mini skirt," he whined.
They all gave him a confused look before shrugging and started to do last minute restocking so they could set sail the soonest they could. They were gone hours before Garp made it to Cocoyashi Village.
It was only after the Strawhat Pirates had left that Jonny remembered where he'd seen the tattoo from and worried for Zoro's future.
-*\-*\-*\-*\-*\
Omake
"Where are you boys at-yoi?" Marco's angry voice came from Ace's den den.
"Almost to calm belt," Ace answered.
"What's taking you so long? You should be closer to home by now," Marco sighed. "Didn't you leave Luffy almost two months ago-yoi?"
"Yeah, well…" Ace looked to Sabo, who was riding his own Striker next to him.
"Luffy made this friend, you see," Sabo started, only to have Marco sigh and roll his eyes. "This new friend of his wanted to be a marine, right? Well, this and that happened, and well…"
"Let's just say that Luffy wanted to make sure his friend was in good hands, so we had to stay and make sure he made it to Gramps. Problem was we were waiting for Gramps there anyway because the shitty old geezer was supposed to drop off Striker 1 and 2, since Luffy took our boat with his new crewmate," Ace took over. He was taken by surprise when right next to him, his blond brother burst into flames with a scowl on his face.
"That shitty geezer held our Striker as hostages just because he wanted to use us to train his new recruits. There was no training! All he did was beat us up and made us clean a stupid marine ship! WE'RE PIRATES! WHY ARE WE MOPPING A MARINE'S DECK!" Sabo screamed.
"Yeah, that's what happened," Ace said as he inched a bit further from Sabo. "It took a while to get Gramps to lower his guard so we could take Stricker back."
"The shitty geezer even had the nerve to commision a marine uniform for Luffy!" Sabo continued his tirade after getting his breath. "Miniskirt of all things! Doesn't he know Luffy hates those things?"
"I see," Marco deadpanned. He figured Sabo's attitude had something to do with Luffy. It was the only thing that could rile up the normally calm and collected teen.
"I swear that man is trying to turn us into marines in his own twisted way. Remember the time he tossed us in prison on that one island?" Ace laughed.
"Oh, I remember that," Sabo said, calming down. "That was fun actually."
"The four of you leveled their base while taunting and laughing at the marines. I'm sure you gave them all nightmares for some time-yoi," a small smile tugged on one side of Marco's lip. "Speaking of Luffy, the visual den den you left broke, Sabo. Luffy called a couple of nights ago, and a few of the idiots here snuck in to talk to him when I left for a few minutes to report to Pops. Someone stepped on it-yoi."
"They did what?!" Sabo flared up once more. "Don't they know parts for those things aren't easy to come by?! They're going to pay," he growled.
No wonder Pops is moody, Ace thought.
"I left the names of everyone that was in the room for you," Marco smirked. "I didn't even get to see Luffy's face one last time. So have fun. Anyway, we'll meet you after you get out of calm belt-yoi."
Ace was already planning on the revenge prank before Marco even hung up. His family would have to learn the hard way that you don't mess with his brother's inventions. Oh, this was going to be fun. Too bad Torao and Luffy wouldn't be there to see it.
A/N: Super, super sorry for taking so long. I've been really busy with this and that, and then things and stuff happened. I hope you enjoy this chapter. ๑•́ㅿ•̀๑) ᔆᵒʳʳᵞ