IIRoxaII: Yeah. Poor Luffy. Wonder what will happen?
Wishfull-star: \( ω )/
sulongmirko: Lol worry more! WORRY MORE! Hahahaha!
Holy shit this is a long chapter. Well, enjoy it I guess!
Sanji called for them to come down, and Luffy heard and opened the hatch. "You guys should listen to this." Luffy hung his head out of the hatch with Zoro sitting next to it to listen. Pappag spoke about the thugs on Sabaody that kidnapped people to sell them in auction to the World Nobles. Mermaids were especially valuable. "The 'Makuro Crew', a gang of three fishmen that have been after Caimie for awhile. Since we got eaten by a beast and disappeared, Hacchi might have thought we were taken and so went to get them himself." Caimie agreed. That was the most likely scenario of how he had gotten caught.
"Why don't you just swim away?" Luffy asked bluntly.
"Fishmen are much stronger than mermaids. It's easy for the Makuro Crew to kidnap them and sell them. Plus, mermaids are weak on land, so once they're captured, there is little hope," Pappag said honestly.
"That's disgusting. Selling and buying people… it's just so wrong," Chopper said in distaste. Luffy nodded his head. Everyone else looked bothered in their own ways.
Zoro commented on the fact that the octopus fishman named Hachi sounded like the guy from Nami's island. If it was him, then he wouldn't want to save the guy. Sanji agreed, Luffy as well. All of the fishmen had been enemies of Nami and therefore them as well. Back when there were only four of them.
It was only over half a year ago, but it felt like so much longer. Pappag said Hachi could beat them easily, but they brought the flying fish riders into it…" Franky asked who they were. Luffy said it was a lame name. "They're another kidnapping gang. If those guys are after you, you're done." The leader's name was Duval. He wore a metal mask, hiding his face and searching every ship for somebody.
Luffy smiled and told Caimie they'd save the takoyaki fishman. Luffy then slipped and fell from the crowsnest, landing on his head with a bounce. Caimie and Pappag screamed when he fell, but he just bounced, and was fine. He dropped his hat though, and put it back on his black and white hair.
"Ah, I'm a devil fruit user. I'm a rubber man!" Luffy said proudly.
"But I thought you had good senses," Pappag said.
"Well, I'm a monster right? Who says I can't have more cool stuff?" Luffy asked lightly. And almost on cue, Luffy's arm started glowing. "I'll be right back," he said, and climbed up the mast and jumped to the other one and onto the bathhouse. It was his usual place. He discharged them, these ones on full blast. Really, trying to force them was detrimental in every way. He wouldn't do that again or he'd be out of the count of something and vulnerable for no pay off.
He went flying back and hit the deck hard, rolling into the wall. To the two sea folk, Luffy looked incredibly durable by now. "Shishishi! It's not any easier to deal with," he said, rubbing his face. Pappag asked what that was. "Another monster thing I guess. Well, it's from a rock that stabbed me." Caimie had her face in shock. Luffy moved his arm and pointed to where he had been impaled in his sleep.
Just that one moment changed so many things. "You're… very interesting," Pappag said carefully. Luffy took it as a complement. He looked up and said people were coming from the air. They were incredibly loud and reeked like sushi. "That's them!" But they just flew over the ship and flew away.
Luffy listened and told his crew they were targets. "Looks like Duval is wanting one of us. Well, now that I've heard them and know what direction they're in, should get there easily! Neehee." The fish that brought them that far fled, and Luffy was the new guide, recognizing the scent trails as well.
"We could be going straight into a trap, you know?!" Usopp said.
"Don't freak out, we'll be fine. I'll protect the ladies no matter what, Caimie-chan!" Sanji said, sounding cool at first but then losing that quickly. Zoro climbed down with his open shirt, sweaty a bit but not looking tired at all. He was lifting the lightest weights after all. He asked what was going on.
"We're going after the guy who hurt the takoyaki. His weird fish things came and then left. But now I can follow them," Luffy said, sitting on the railing of the second deck. "When we get there, I wanna ride a fish!" Robin lightly said they might be scared of him. "Dang it!" Luffy said, stomping his foot childishly. "But they look so stupid but so cool, too."
"Sorry captain, nothing you can do about it," Franky said lightly. Luffy vowed one day he would be able to not scare animals. "Good luck with that."
"Hey! Don't act so not believing!"
"Disbelieving?"
"Whatever! I'll improve in other ways, and that will be one of them!" Luffy vowed. "Then I won't scare fishmen and mermaids, too. And I can pet a dog for the first time in my life. Our dog at the bandit hut never once let me pet him!" They all looked sympathetic to some degree, but mostly amused.
Then he added they were pretty close now. It soon came into view. "There are a bunch of people here," Luffy said. His little temper tantrum of disappointment was over. "Where's takoyaki!?"
"We're here to save the maker of it, Luffy," Zoro said simply. Luffy said that by default that also saved his takoyaki. "Good point. I guess we're here to save takoyaki, too." Nami called both of them idiots. The place wasn't an island, but like somebody built houses on the water. But it seemed almost empty despite Luffy saying people were there. Hmmm.
He heard the takoyaki's voice. "Takoyaki is in that cage there. He squirted himself with ink just now," Luffy added. Caimie made her weirdly shocked expression. "I already told you and showed you my good senses."
"But we couldn't hear it!"
"You guys… are kind of slow, aren't you?" Franky asked. Nami hit him on the arm, but agreed by not saying anything. "Well, we should go get him, right? Hachi," Franky added. "If there are people here, then they're probably just waiting and luring us into a trap. Oi, Luffy, where are they?"
Luffy looked down and said, "People are here, lots of fresh scents. But I don't hear voices or breathing, so they're probably in the water." Robin did say they used fish. It would make sense that they were under the water and waiting. They sailed up to the cage, and Luffy knew he was at Nami's village.
He tried to get them to leave. He didn't want to see them. "How about this? How's Arlong?" Sanji called. Hachi informed them that they were all in prison and he was the one to escape.
"Oh no!"
"It is you!" the monster trio shouted.
"Nyuu!" Hachi said back, in panic and shaking the cage back and forth to get away. Half of the crew were confused, so Usopp gave the synopsis. Enough for them to all know Hachi was an old enemy. Nobody wanted to help him, now. Luffy was furious.
He shouted, "The takoyaki guy is you?! Why would we rescue you?! Damn it, I wanted takoyaki!" Caimie and Pappag were confused and getting worried about the suddenly hostile crew all around them. The people who were supposed to save their friend, a past enemy. Luffy felt bad for promising them, but the Arlong crew put Nami through a lot of traumatic experiences.
The two knew things had gotten bad for them, and were determined to save Hachi, and jumped into the water to get to him themselves, despite his constant protests about it being a trap, and that Caimie should run. The moment she entered the water, she was caught.
"Oh, c'mon, that's pathetic!" Usopp said at her sudden capture. The three fishmen Luffy assumed were the kidnappers were bragging about capturing her. Hachi swung the cage back and forth, wanting to help his friends. It was indeed a trap. Not a very complex one, but it did work.
Nami admitted that Hachi was harmless. They could save him. "Ah, takoyaki is back!" Luffy said. "Well, I guess we have no choice." Luffy shot his arms out and grabbed Caimie and Pappag, flipping onto the stone ground of the base. Sanji shouted at him to be more gentle when handling a beautiful lady. Luffy was careful with Caimie while his other arm shot Pappag into Sanji's face.
"All you really care about is the takoyaki," Sanji called with a sigh.
"Must be a reason. You clearly aren't doing it for him if he's this dead set on somebody else's cooking," Zoro sneered. Sanji was furious at his words. Nami told them to focus. When Luffy said so, they were all ready to fight. Nobody was worried, it seemed. More like interested. Zoro hadn't even drawn his swords, probably not expecting anything too exciting. Only had a hand loosely on one of them.
Luffy just noticed he'd removed his bandages after he came back down. It made sense. Seeing an enemy while covered in bandages wouldn't be the best look.
The three fishman were angry with Luffy stealing their catch, who was cheering him on, not looking like she was or had been in any danger. Caimie sure was a simple person! Kind of dumb, too. Hachi wanted the mermaid and starfish to flee. "Come and get her, flying fish!" Luffy taunted, ready to fight anyone that appeared.
Nobody was surprised when the flying fish riders flew out of the ocean and directly up at the ship. They didn't go for Caimie, and really were there for one or multiple of the Straw Hats for some reason. "Come to me, fishies! I'm not scary!" Luffy shouted, grinning brightly. "C'mon, it's okay! No!" he called when they flew away from Luffy and instead only to the ship. "Oh, c'mon!"
Caimie said he sure was disliked by animals. He moped and agreed. But he shot out his arms and grabbed onto one. Maybe it could be like when he made the yagara know he was trusted. But the moment he got on the fish, it dove.
Franky dragged him out of the water, coughing it out with tears in his eyes from getting a ton of sea water up his nose. Chopper and Brook had dove in after him, so all three were being yelled at. "I'm sorry!"
"Don't try to tame animals like that!" Nami said.
"B-But the yagara!" he protested. "It's not fair, I'm not scary," he complained. Zoro said he was complaining a lot lately. "How would you feel if you might be the reason a whole anticipated adventure is ruined for everybody?"
But they were drawn away from the very sad and eye opening statement, finally understanding truly why Luffy was so bothered by animals disliking him. And after what Pappag had inconsiderately said. Luffy didn't want to be scary all the time. And it was true. If all the fishmen and mermaids on the island shunned Luffy, they wouldn't want to be around his associates. He apparently felt like a sea king ready to strike.
The fishman kidnappers went after Caimie again, but Zoro was there and freed Hachi by cutting the bars of his cage easily. Though his face was set darkly, and he was glaring at Pappag from his spot on top of the bar that Hachi's cage had hung from. The octopus fishman took over, then, and beat up the obnoxious and arrogant kidnapper fishmen with one punch.
Hachi was an idiot, but he wasn't weak. Even after ditching the Arlong group on his own, it didn't seem he was any weaker. Though Luffy never fought him. He mostly fought Arlong while his crew went up against others while he was busy. He wished he could have seen how Usopp beat his opponent. So long ago. He smiled at the differences in strength in his original nakama from the East Blue.
The octopus fishmen hugged Caimie, but there were still the flying fish riders below. The ones that wouldn't let Luffy near at all. But Zoro was there and cut them all down once they surfaced and went after Hachi. "We'll take care of this. Just get back, you lot," Zoro said. Hachi thanked him, apologizing for the Arlong incient. They did well to fight them off, Usopp hitting some with cannons.
"Don't hurt the fish!" Luffy shouted.
"You beat up animals all the time! Besides, you'll never be able to ride them!" Usopp countered. Luffy licked his lips. "You just want to eat them, don't you?"
"Neehee!" No other answer was given. But then one of them carrying a very large guy came barreling down towards them, swinging around a huge club. If he hit it would damage the ship. The fish had its eyes closed. Luffy thought fish didn't have eyelids! Maybe they could grow them if they were scared enough.
Sanji and Luffy both acted, Luffy bouncing off the fish who had its eyes closed in a death run and the chef kicked the face of the rider in. Both he and the fish landed on the deck, bouncing once, the fish completely knocked out by the hit.
"They're big up close. It does look like it'll make a lot of food," Robin said pleasantly. But more came out, flying around the ship. Luffy was ready to scare them off, an anticlimactic end but a win nonetheless, when Brook took the charge.
"Alas and alack… what am I playing at..?!" he said in frustration.
"What's wrong, Brook?"
"My first battle as one of the Straw Hat pirates would be a disgrace if I could not even lend a hand!" He stood up fully, looking angry somehow. "I think we should reduce their numbers a bit. It isn't much… but please observe closely!" He took his sword out of his cane, and jumped off the yardarm.
In the air he somehow put them all to sleep with his sword slash. Luffy fell asleep too for a couple seconds. "Yohohoho! Music is power!" Then he slashed through all of the fish and riders who had been asleep after his last attack. Luffy's nakama were all so unique in the way they fought. Besides Sanji's. His were mostly simple but powerful kicks.
The fight continued and it was Luffy's turn again. But he didn't try to ride the fish or Nami would be mad again. He grabbed and twisted to launch onto the island town. It and Luffy slammed into a room that somebody frantically said was the leader's bedroom. Had he been hiding quietly the whole time? Seemed like it, he didn't hear people on the island before.
Luffy landed outside the room, and saw the face of the guy. His mask was off, and Luffy cracked up laughing. "You're Sanji! Ahahaha!" Luffy couldn't help it. His face was the exact picture of Sanji's terrible wanted poster! "How is that possible?!"
Zoro and Brook were on the island now, and Luffy bit his lip at the soft groan Zoro made of pain. Maybe he was a bad captain for refusing to tell Zoro to stop the fight or be more careful. It would only shame him, and he would probably still fight, defying any order to help Luffy out. He hadn't gone against any since the Mihawk encounter. Brook noticed it too on the island, sitting close to Zoro. Luffy was at another spot.
"It looks like you took some damage, Zoro-san."
"Not enough to make me lose to these fish freaks. Don't worry about it. Im fine," Zoro said firmly, believing his words. At least he wasn't bluffing. Zoro never bluffed, though.
Luffy ran from the man when he put his mask on, furious and with a huge weapon and a huge cow. He ran back to his crew on the island.
"It's the mask guy and a cow! You won't believe what he looks like-" a arrow was shot at his back that he barely dodged. "He doesn't like it."
"I can assume. By the fact he wears a mask," Zoro said calmly. Duval, the leader of the kidnapping gang, came out on a huge cow with two arrow guns. They projected spikes out of them like cannons. He told his flying fish kidnapers that they were weak and pitiful. He didn't care what happened after this fight, as long as he killed Sanji.
It made sense! Had to do with the wanted poster. Apparently Sanji's poster made Duval's life a hell of marines and pirates coming after him for a bounty that was not earned by him. Luffy wondered where bounty hunters were, since the crew was never attacked by them. Sanji, of course, had no idea who Duval was or what he'd done to make his life so bad. Nobody on the ship did.
Zoro asked Luffy if he knew. "Shhh, I'm not gonna spoil it," Luffy said, making his boyfriend raise his eyebrows. Duval got angry when Sanji was trying to figure out who he was with Usopp, and Luffy wondered who they were talking about. Maybe when they were on the sea train and went wild? But the mystery man to the others said it was more recent, and fired his poison tipped harpoons at them.
"Sanji! It's something kinda funny!" Luffy hinted. Duval told him to shut up and sent harpoons at him. He jumped out of the way laughing. But his words just threw off everybody else more. Duval shot more harpoons, damaging the ship and putting his nakama's lives in trouble. Luffy shot a sudden punch to his face, throwing off his iron mask to show them who he was.
"Everyone knows his face." Luffy turned to Zoro and grinned and pointed.
"Fine! Take off my mask and look at my scarred face! Take a good look!" He then explained how his life was uprooted by this. It wasn't him who was the criminal, but people didn't care about that. He had wounds all over his face from attacks. And he had no way to find him on his own, so he was forced to wait.
The Straw Hats were shocked, Zoro and Robin seeming to be the only other slightly amused ones. Now Luffy kinda felt bad for laughing at him, but it was just so ridiculous. How was Sanjis's drawn wanted poster somebody who already existed?
"Neh, what if it's not Sanji's fault, someone had a grudge on this guy, so he used his face?" Luffy asked Zoro.
"I doubt that's the situation. I think it's just a ridiculous coincidence." Sanji didn't give a shit about it, and kicked his face in.
Duval was less than happy with Sanji's careless reaction. "Who else is gonna take responsibility?!"
"Shut up! If anyone has to be angry at that poster, it's me!" Sanji raged. Everyone was slightly shocked on the ship, and Brook was laughing. Luffy turned to Zoro and asked where he hurt.
"What?"
"I heard you make a pained noise," Luffy said.
"I'm fine. It was just a sharp pain in my chest. Nothing on the outside. Chopper said time will fix it, nothing you can do," Zoro said, ending with a tone of kindness. He took Luffy's hand as they watched in light amusement as Sanji raged at Duval.
The cook said, "If you don't want to look like that poster, then change your face! Dye your hair, wear make up, change something! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and blaming it on somebody else! I HATE THAT POSTER, TOO!" Wow, he was really angry! And Duval was really stupid! He hadn't even thought of that option. Just dying his hair would change his look. Or shaving his head. Sanji was right. He had been part of the problem himself by not doing anything to change it. After Duval explained what his life used to be like, he blamed Sanji, still. And he had attacked the ship because they were part of the problem.
When a steel net was thrown at Sanji, planning on drowning him, Luffy grabbed on and pulled, ripping the net out of the flying fish's rider's grasps. Luffy bent open the net. "I didn't need help," Sanji said.
Luffy looked at the metal net, and bent it. "Now it looks like a ghost!" he said, showing off his bent metal artwork. Duval asked why he was so strong. "Neehee, I'm gonna be the Pirate King! That's why!" but then a flying fish rider came out of the ocean and just grabbed Sanji's leg, yanking him under and speeding down.
"Sanji! Hey, you jerk!" Luffy raged.
"Don't worry!" Caimie shouted and jumped into the water.
"Hey, is that safe for her?" Zoro asked.
Pappag said, "There's no race faster in water than the merfolk. If we're careful, merfolk are very hard to catch." Luffy asked why they got captured, then. "Carelessness or accidents."
"That's never happened to me."
"Are you sure about that?" Zoro asked. "Remember at Water 7, and when you lost to Crocodile the second time?"
"... No! I'm stupid, too?" Zoro just snorted and said he was "endearingly stupid" sometimes. While Caimie was in the water, a huge flying fish went to drop a large anchor on the sunny. It would destroy her if it hit from that high up. It was as wide as the Sunny's deck was, after all. Luffy watched in nervousness, but had hope in Franky's work to make her strong.
The Sunny's head started to spin, and worked as a propeller to force the ship in reverse. No ship had even gone in reverse before! The Thousand Sunny was so awesome.
"That's not all! Usopp, get in the head!" Franky shouted. Luffy watched in awe as the ship started to make a "piku-piku-piku!" noise before a huge blast of energy and light shot out of Sunny's open mouth. "Gaon cannon!" It blew apart a lot of the island, and most of the remaining flying fish. Luffy fell to his knees with tears in his eyes at how amazing his ship was.
"You're too impressed," Zoro said casually. The others were all amazed and cheering about it, all impressed as well. It really was a dream ship. Luffy wondered what else Franky was hiding from them for now. But it took up five barrels of cola. They couldn't use it often without running out of cola barrels too quickly.
Caimie saved Sanji, who was breathing but had a nose bleed. "God, what a pervert."
"Zoro gives me hickeys on my-" Zoro shoved his hand over his mouth, telling him to stop telling people private things! Luffy nodded. But Zoro's face was red already. Duval was angrier now that all his subordinates were gone.
He lightly commented about how all his fighters were gone. When Duval threatened Luffy with his cow, the beast tried to run before it fell and foamed at the mouth. That wasn't how it usually was. Usually they ran away, they didn't pass out. Luffy frowned. "Took him long enough to notice," Zoro said, not seeing the strange reaction.
He hoped it wasn't some new method of scaring animals off.
"Yohoho, Luffy sure has a heavy presence," Brook commented.
"Nyuuu, what are you?" Hachin asked. Luffy turned and just smiled, giving an honest shrug. "You got scarier since the East Blue."
Sanji came out of the water, his nose bleed gone but looking angrier. "I'm taking care of this myself," he snapped, and walked up to the terrible-coincidence man as he shouted at him about hating him some more. Luffy had to admit it was getting annoying a bit. He'd said the same thing over and over. Luffy looked in the water and saw a floating flying fish, he grabbed onto it and brought it to the surface near where he stood at the water. As Sanji mercilessly went after Duval's face, Luffy turned the fish on its back and inspected it.
There was nothing interesting about it, which was a disappointment. But something else was off. He turned to Pappag and asked him if he knew what the red crystals under water were. They'd seen them before, swarmed by sea life all licking it. He didn't make any reference to explain how he thought he was connected.
"I've never seen one myself. It's forbidden for fishmen and merfolk to come into contact with them," he said. Luffy asked why. "They poison the life around them. The fish they mutate are also inedible."
"Mutate? Do you know how they do that?"
"No. Everyone only knows enough to not go near them." Luffy looked away, and mused that those on Sky Island had been covered with plant life. So, then, maybe they were different types in the ocean and on Sky Island. Were there any more land ones? And how was Luffy mutilated if he was one of those?
Unless he and Ace hadn't explored all of Dawn Island, there had been no blood stone there. And Garp didn't know about its existence, or at least its relation to what Luffy could be. What type of creature he was, and what he shared in common with other life affected by the stones. Zoro simply said the mystery just kept getting more mysterious.
"Well, hopefully the New World has more answers, right?" Luffy aske brightly. Zoro nodded and smiled. They both saw Luffy's arm start to glow. It was lucky that he had a warning like this. He went to the end of the docks and put his arms out in front of them and flicked his fingers out, letting out the blast, Sanji reacted instantly, grabbing him this time, skidding on the dock to not be knocked into the water.
"Nyuu! What was that?!" Hachi shouted. Sanji said it sure was a violent burst.
"Takoyaki time! Now!" Luffy cheered. Hachi was free and the enemy defeated. Luffy grabbed his nakama and shot them to the ship, all of them screaming. The landed just fine, but Sanji hit his head and Zoro looked angry, too. "Hey! I was just getting us here faster," he complained.
Not long later, they were away from the flying fish rider's base, and the three sea folk got to work on making all the takoyaki. Luffy was thinking deeply on the figurehead while the food was being made. His legs were crossed. Nami walked over and asked if he was okay. He was surprised it was Nami and not Zoro or Chopper.
"It's just weird. We keep learning all this weird stuff. He said a mutation, a poison to other creatures. Maybe I'm not some new species, but I was just an accident at birth?" Luffy wondered. His voice wasn't sad and his shoulders weren't slumped. "I wish I could meet another human like me. The Sky Island people didn't feel like me. It's hard to explain."
"You just don't want to feel alone in the world. Maybe we can search New World islands for blood stones. Try and figure it out more," she offered. Luffy nodded. Knowing what he was was a close second to his original dream. Hachi and Caimie called them over to eat the surplus of food that made the ships smell delicious. They were on the takoyaki ship, eating there.
It was so delicious, too. He stuffed his face while the others ate enthusiastically too, but at a more reasonable pace. "I can't stop eating it! It's so good~!" Luffy said. Hachi made so much, having six arms and all. Nami was on the railing of the Sunny, the anchors lowered beside the mobile restaurant.
Hachi looked up to her and cautiously asked how hers tasted. "Don't think this means I've forgiven you for anything…"
"Of course not! I didn't mean it to sound like that-" the octopus fishman said in a hurry, voice worried.
"But it's really delicious!" Nami said. The four who'd been there for it smiled and ate even more enthusiastically. Nami may not have forgiven Hachi, but she had accepted everything that happened and was wishing to move on. Hachi looked very happy with that, and the meal continued.
The crew ate all they wanted, even if it could deplete all of the sailing restaurant's resources and ingredients. If they didn't tell the pirates to stop, why would they? Free, good food? Why would you ever pass that up? Luffy looked to the side and saw the flying fish riders hurried over, but not in a way of aggression.
They had a new guy, but he smelled the same. "That's Duval?!" Luffy demanded, pointing at the completely different looking man. Sanji smiled and said he reshaped his bone structure, and now he didn't have shit to complain about anymore.
"Heh…" Luffy said, popping another takoyaki ball in his mouth.
Duval was very happy about this change. "Ahhh! Black Leg young master! After you smashed my face up like that, when we came to we were all stunned! You've made me just so handsome~!" he said. He was like a completely different person in tone and appearance. And now Sanji was his boss? "Now the girls won't be able to leave me alone! My life is looking so rosy and peachey!
"I can't wait to get back to my lazy country life, but if you need any help just ask! We know our way around these parts, and would be happy to help you out!" Duval said, attempting to do a wink.
"Hahaha! You're wink is so stupid!" Luffy laughed. Duval wasn't bothered, his temper completely changed now, too. His cow was staying comfortably away from Luffy, though it still wasn't happy being in his presence at all. Luffy hadn't tried frightening it and yet it passed out. He frowned and looked back to his food.
Sanji told him when his arm started to glow. He jumped back onto the ship and got into position. This time, he wanted to try and focus it in some way. He put his hands forward, but pointed all his fingers straight. Franky wordlessly got behind him to catch him without complaint. Luffy forced the force out of the fingers, and the blast was so concentrated they could see the air blasted. It shot into the water was a massive explosion that rocked both ships and sprayed water everywhere.
The crew was quiet. Luffy's hands hurt now, but not too bad. He dealt with it and the aching went away naturally. Zoro was looking at him in an almost hungry way. He liked seeing Luffy be strong, just like Luffy enjoyed seeing him be strong. He pulled Luffy inside instead of with his takoyaki, and nobody said a thing about it other than Nami telling them they had a time limit.
Zoro pinned Luffy against the wall of the hallway. "Shishishi, is Zoro turned on now?"
"Maybe a bit. We do have a time limit, though. And I like making you come apart slowly. So," he turned his neck. Luffy said Chopper said not to. "I'm fine now, though." Luffy was hesitant, but vowed to only take a little bit. Lufy bit down, but Zoro winced. He pulled away.
"You act like you're all better, but you still hurt," Luffy said, pushing him away a bit. "I'm really worried," he said honestly. "We should wait to go to Fishman Island." Zoro grew angry, but not at Luffy. At himself. He punched the wall, and it was lucky it was made of Adam's wood.
"Why am I so weak?! I can't even handle this," he said through clenched teeth. "It's so annoying and embarrassing."
"You can still fight. My strength is an extreme weakness. What if we get separated? You can live on your own, I can't-"
"You think I could ever live on my own after being here?" Zoro asked sharply. Luffy hadn't meant that he would but that it was possible if he wanted to. Luffy hated how much he depended on others in that way. Zoro hugged him, apologizing for getting angry. Luffy understood his anger and frustration.
But he said, "Zoro's still super strong. Stronger than everyone right now, even hurt. You just gotta be more careful. When we find out how to get to Fishman Island, I'll choose if we're going right away. I want all my crew to be healthy enough to deal with the New World. Even the strongest one has to be the strongest."
Zoro really wasn't happy with any of this. "I wish I could give you my blood to heal, but that is reckless and unproven. Neehee, and for once I respect those words!" Zoro's face softened.
"I guess you can be smart sometimes."
"Jerk!" Zoro just kissed him. They went back outside, though Zoro was still stiff and unhappy. Luffy ate next to him now. When they got out, Duval was gone, but had given them a den den number. Usopp said he was even more annoying now.
"He thinks he looks beautiful and now they're called the 'rosy life riders'."
"Well, at least he doesn't hate Sanji anymore. Hate isn't a fun feeling," Luffy said brightly. Nami nodded in agreement with this.
Soon, they were done and out of takoyaki, and moved to the Sunny for tea and to make their way to Sabaody, where they needed to go to go down to Fishman Island. Mermaids and fishmen could just swim down there, but humans had to get there the other way. They'd die from the pressure if they tried swimming, if not before drowning.
Luffy was stuffed uncomfortably full, and listening in a detached way. He couldn't help it. He'd looked forward to going there before, too, until it became truly clear he terrified every creature that wasn't like he was. The animals in Upper Yard weren't scared of him. Even Pappag still looked stiff around him. He was sitting opposite of where Luffy was.
Caimie said there was no way for most people to travel over the Red Line, they went under it to get to the New World. It was almost directly under Marygeoise, about ten thousand meters down.
"Well that might be easy! We already went up into the sky 10,000 meters, too," Chopper said positively. Nami said the conditions were wildly different. But with this being more common and practiced more often, it was more likely safer than riding the knock-up stream.
"No, it's still very dangerous! Less than 60% of those going down actually make it!" Pappag said. Everyone was not happy to hear it. Well, there was no other option, but Luffy looked to Zoro. Zoro gave him a glare. He'd be pissed if Luffy made them take a break. Luffy was the captain, though. So even if Zoro would be upset, he would do it as an order from his captain.
Well, he'd learn what to do once they got to Saboady, which he could sense by then. "By the way, we're nearly there. There are a lot of people and different scents," Luffy said simply. "Oooh, some really fun sounds!" He took a deep breath and forced himself to digest, back to his normal size.
Caimie wore that shocked expression, and Brook said it would be the easiest to expect strange things from Luffy-san. "Right you are, Brook! Shishishi!" The island came into view fairly quickly, and they saw it had huge trees and bubbles were coming from the ground.
"Are those soap bubbles?!" Usopp asked. "Are they coming from the island?"
"Who's blowing them all?" Luffy wondered.
Caimie said, "They come from the island, all right!" Then she didn't explain further. Usopp asked for more information impatiently, but Robin brought up good questions. This was an island, so would it erase their log poses pointing down? Luffy said it smelled like plants.
"Actually, it's not an island. It's a giant group of mangrove trees that reaches to the sea floor. So it won't change if we stop here."
"Nyuu, there are 79 trees all in all, and on each one a town has been built. Those three islands are what makes up the archipelago. And it's where people go if they want to make it to the New World. The closest grove is the entrance to civilians, grove 44. But let's take the ship a little further in."
They got closer into the island through a water way between huge roots, and if it weren't from the smell, they would all would look like candy. Luffy went to Robin, and asked what the plant was that she grew to use for her face. "Aloe Vera?" she suggested.
"Yeah, that! It smells like that," Luffy said.
They stopped at "grove 41". "Make sure you don't forget the number! The island is connected together by bridges, so you'll never get lost," Pappag said. Bubbles came from the ground, amazing them. "These are special kinds of resin secreted by the mangrove roots." When the trees breathed, the bubbles were secreted and floated away.
"This stuff is all natural!? Amazing!" Luffy cheered as he climbed the bubbles, jumping from one to another and making his way up as high as he could. They were like beach balls in the sky.
Once he was high up, looking around, the island looked quite plain besides the shopping areas and a theme park! That was responsible for many of the sounds that he'd heard from afar. He heard lots of fighting between people, though. But the screams and noises of machinery of the theme part was the loudest source of sound.
"Hey! Hey, there's a theme park that way!" Luffy called back to his friends.
"A theme park?!" Chopper shouted in excitement.
"That'll be Sabaody Park," Caimie said. "Ah, I dream of riding the carousel some day." Her voice was sad. Chopper wondered why she couldn't do it if she wanted to. Luffy's bubble popped once he was above the tree, and he bounced on one below. He giggled and then started hopping from bubble to bubble before it popped.
Franky called Luffy to not do anything reckless. "Kind of pointless thing to say, Franky," Usopp said. Luffy's leg slipped and he came falling down and landed as a balloon with a bounce. Caimie had screamed while he fell, and he reminded her he was rubber. Like how he'd saved her before, elongating his arms to catch her.
"I didn't even notice that!" The Straw Hats weren't especially surprised by that statement. Zoro told Luffy to get a drink of "you know what" before they left. Luffy nodded and hurried inside, drinking two blood bags, just in case.
He contemplated bringing Franky's blood backpack. Well he just had two blood bags. He should be fine. And carrying a bag around that was made if metal and leather would be a bother. He ran off the ship and to his friends. He definitely wanted to go to the theme park. Nami asked Hachi about how coming here would actually help them down to Fishman Island.
When they heard, everyone was shocked at Chopper. "You were right?!" Luffy said. Chopper asked what they meant. "You said the ship could float down in a giant bubble! Ahhh, Chopper's psychic, too?!" Chopper was amazed and cried out that he wished he was psychic.
Zoro ruined it, "I doubt you'd want that. You'd see what happened to people beforehand. It would also ruin adventures. Seeing the future would ruin your lives," he said with a yawn.
"Way to be positive," Nami said.
"Well, he's right," Robin commented. Luffy laughed.
"Well, where do we get the bubble, then?" Nami asked the fishman.
"You have to find the right mechanic. If the job is done poorly, you can die on the way down. There's one I've known since I was young. He's a good guy so I'll take you to him." Brook said it seemed like Hachi was a good guy. But some of the crew would never be able to look past his involvement in Nami's tragic past. It seemed it was different seeing it and hearing about it. But Nami was being very forgiving.
Hachi put one finger up. "In return for taking you there, I want all of you to promise one thing." They were curious by the shift in his tone. Suddenly very serious. "Once we go into town, we are bound to see World Nobles at the place."
"Whaddabout 'em?" Luffy asked. He didn't really want to see any at all.
"No matter what may happen in town, you gotta promise you'll never defy the World Nobles. Even if people were to be killed right in front of your eyes, you just have to pretend you don't see anything." Luffy thought that was odd, but Luffy had killed before. But it wasn't meaningless to him. It seemed to be meaningless to the nobles.
"Also, Luffy-kun, you should cover yourself."
"Hah? I'm not naked," Luffy said, looking down.
"World Nobles take whatever they want. If you interest them, they'll claim you. It would be best for you to wear sunglasses and something over your arm." Luffy turned to Robin and asked what would happen if he blew up in front of them. And he didn't want to wear sunglasses. Hachi said that he would need to get away from the nobles to blow up. After all, he'd seen it multiple times by now.
Nami said it would be safest for Luffy to do what he said. "But that's stupid!"
"Just do it," Zoro said, though he was angry at the thought of someone else just deciding to take him, even if they would never let it happen. But Luffy did worry about his arms blowing up. Well, the shockwave. Annoying them meant death, apparently. How would they react to a loud and sudden noise?
But Luffy listened to Zoro and put stuipid sunglasses on and Usopp's sleeve over it. He had just a tiny portion peeking out so he'd notice if it was time. He came back out looking stupid. He didn't have sunglasses of his own, so he was wearing a pair of Nami's.
"Aw, you look so cute," Nami said. Luffy stuck his tongue out at her. Luffy and Zoro were going on a walk after they met Hachi's friend. So they were together with everyone but Usopp, Sanji and Franky back on the ship. While they walked, the fishman, wearing something to disguise his extra arms, Caimie wearing a dress to hide her tail, he explained about some of the other dangers of the archipelago.
Bounty hunters, kidnappers, pirates, slave traders. For such a happy seeming place, it sure was dark. But, Luffy would behave. If they got taken into slave trading, the law wouldn't help. "I'll just scare them away if they do anything to us."
"Another thing! You can't hurt a World Noble, a Celestial Dragon, or they can command an admiral to attack! The marines are very dangerous here as well, so close to headquarters." Luffy looked sour at the government bowing to those people. But he'd already been through this anger. He wanted to move on. As long as nothing happened to his nakama, then he wouldn't care.
If he could do nothing to stop it, then why oppose it so strongly? "Are you thinking too hard?" Nami asked, seeing Luffys face was red.
"Probably. Shishishi," Luffy said brightly. He was holding Zoro's hand as they walked through the busy area. It sure was colorful, and the people seemed to wear similar accessories, as round hats on their heads. Luffy kept lifting his glasses, only to be smacked by Nami.
"Leave then down, idiot. It's not like it's hindering your vision," the woman said. Zoro sighed and stiffly told him he thought Luffy looked nice in them. Luffy stopped messing with them after that.
Caimie told them to act like they were humans, since it was safer for them that way. They agreed to pretend Hachi didn't have his arms and Caimie didn't have a tail. "Neh, if bounty hunters come after us, we get to fight back, right?"
Robin said, "I would assume you should protect yourself without troubling others. Especially marines and the World Nobles." Nami said not to fight anyone at all unless it was life threatening. Luffy pursed his lips but just nodded. He hoped he didn't have to let out a shock while being on the island. But it was to be expected, honestly. If one thing was constant about it, it was that they were constant.
Well, what happened would happen.
They came across a shop with bikes in bubbles! So Luffy had to rent one. He was given a large bubble and forced his way inside, laying on his back in it as a cart was attached. It was solid, and he would pedal it with his feet inside the bubble. "I want to buy one for good!"
When the shop owner started to try and let him do so, Caimie told him they only worked on Sabaody. "The bubbles can't survive anywhere but the archipelago. They'll pop once they're out of the archepaglos climate. Unfortunately," she explained. Luffy pouted. Zoro would not be sharing the bubble. The bubble had a propeller that he could make move him faster or slower based on his pedaling.
Nami got on one that was seated on top of the bubble, not inside. Hachi took the rest on a larger one that took passengers. Zoro sat on that one, facing Luffy who was on the left and Nami on the right of the biggest bubble vehicle. Living on Sabaody would be awesome just for these bubbles.
"Still… If I bought a really good one, would it work?" Luffy asked, really not wanting to never use the bubble ship again.
"They mysteriously pop if they're not on Sabaody," Zoro said before Nami could bite the captain's head off.
"Oh, mysteriously. Damn it, so that's how it is," Luffy said in a grumpy voice. Nami put a hand to her face while the others chuckled.
"Well, you can use them in Fishman Island. But that's the only other place they're functional," Caimie explained, smiling lightly. "These bubbles are at the bottom of the sea, too. Since the tree reaches all the way down there." Luffy was excited to ride the bubbles again. "I'm sure once everyone gets to see you're not bad, you won't be so scary to them," she added. "Like me and Hachi!"
Luffy said he hoped it ended up like that. "Hey, fishmen are based on fish, right?" Nami sighed, and said that was correct. "Are there sea king fishmen? That can talk to sea kings?" Luffy asked curiously. This concept interested everyone. Hachi said there's never once been a known sea king fishman. "That would be so cool."
"You talked to a sea king once, too, though. Wasn't that how you got back to the Rocketman?"
"Yeah! I told it to take me back. Using that scary face. But then it left not long after," Luffy explained. He was fond of the memory of scaring a sea king into submission. Zoro thought the concept would be really hot. Luffy riding a sea king under his command. The fishmen and mermaid were shocked. "It was only once," he added.
"That's so cool, Luffy-chin!"
"Neehee, it was scary, though! Hahaha! I thought I was gonna die," Luffy said brightly. Pappag was speaking with Brook about the beautiful mermaid princess, and Luffy listened to the surroundings. Mostly normal people in the closest areas. But to the west looked like a fun place in a different way than the roller coasters. But he really didn't want to be attacked by an admiral if Garp was so strong as a vice admiral. Plus, Aokiji had nearly killed him. That wasn't fun at all. Well, his teeth were immune to a logia's power, with Crocodile. Maybe it was only that logia? He didn't try to bite Ace, though he hadn't known about his teeth being strong until after.
Smiling wide, Luffy pedaled to a stand with delicious smelling foods nicknamed "gramans". Grand Line manjuu. The lady working at the stall told them about them a bit while Luffy, Chopper and Brook just took every box of samples quickly. But Luffy bought six boxes and put them in bubble balloons to bring along with a string. "You really wasted money on that? You could have brought other souvenirs," Zoro said, though fondly. Luffy handed him a box.
"This one if for you. Shishishi."
Caimie asked, "Are you two romantic partners?" Everyone looked stunned at her not catching on. They had already kissed in front of her, they held hands, hugged. But Robin calmly said that they were. Had been since they met. "Aww! That's so cute."
"Right?!" Nami gushed.
"Don't you dare start gossiping about us right in front of you!" Zoro said. Nami gave him an evil smirk, and started to talk about how gooey Zoro only was with Luffy. But when he put his hand on his swords, Nami finally relented, though Caimie liked hearing about them. At least they stopped. Luffy thought it was funny, but also didn't like Zoro being upset, so he wanted them to stop, too.
They went through more areas, one full of hotels that were just bubble rooms inside the trees. It was all very creative and colorful. Luffy rose up to them and looked inside the windows obnoxiously. Nami called him back down, saying that was rude. "I just wanted to see what the insides looked like."
"What do they look like?" Robin asked.
"Boring," was Luffy's response, and Robin was fine with it. Soon, she and Nami left to go shopping while the remaining members continued on to the coaters. Luffy and Hachi raced up the hill, Zoro sitting on top of Luffy's bubble, balanced perfectly enough to not put enough pressure to sink into the bubble. It was quite the feat for anybody other than Zoro. Then he jerked to a stop, flinging Zoro off. "Zoro! I'm sorry, are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," he snapped. "I'm sorry. You're making it sound like I'm completely weak and helpless," he said honestly. "I get that you're concerned, and I appreciate it. But you're overly worried."
"I mean… me biting you hurt… I'm sorry. I've just never cared about someone this much that got badly hurt," Luffy said truthfully.
"Nyuu, why'd you stop?" Luffy said there was a loud commotion going on up ahead. He wanted to warn them, but ended up just stopping. Zoro kissed Luffy's forehead, telling him not to worry. He nodded. He didn't want to worry, he had to trust Zoro was okay. He had his swords, the least he could do was damage an enemy and then flee.
He got back in the bubble bike, and they proceeded with caution. Zoro wasn't on a bubble, was walking now while holding the string to the boxes of food. They stopped at the hill to look over. The man was screaming about not wanting to die. "I gave up on the New World! I just want to see my son again! Please, I don't want to die!"
Luffy asked what was on his neck. "A bomb collar."
"Bomb collar?" Zoro asked in true shock.
"Nyuu. If the person wearing it gets too far, it will detonate and kill the slave. Celestial Dragons enjoy using these the most." Luffy touched his own neck. He probably wouldn't survive that. Well, he was slit at the throat. So as long as he had instant access to blood. He was glad Zoro reminded him to get some blood beforehand. Chopper was silent in horror.
When the man started running, Luffy picked Chopper up and held his face to his chest, Luffy covering his ears as the bomb collar went off and killed the man instantly. Luffy immediately smelled the scent of burnt human skin and gunpowder. Chopper was shaking in his arms. Hachi told them to bow immediately. Brook did, and Luffy shoved Chopper under his stomach and got on all fours.
If he could hide Chopper doing this, then there was no other option. Zoro looked disgusted with both him bowing and Luffy bowing. These were the bubble heads, Celestial Dragons. Even their dog had a bubble helmet on as it peed on the dead body.
There was a huge slave, and a man and woman. The two had bubble helmets and strange outfits. They both spoke of just losing a toy. The man with a little kid that they just blew up was a toy to them. Luffy felt himself grow furious, but Chopper grabbed his hand to calm him. How could somebody do that?
He calmed down more before the bubble head then shot the dead body for good measure, insulting him. The dog also seemed so arrogant it didn't feel fear from Luffy, even when he was angry. Luffy clenched his hands. These were the assholes that shot his brother! Shot a young child with a bomb!
"Luffy, calm," Zoro insisted.
"Luffy, calm down. These might not be the ones to hurt sabo," Chopper said quietly. But the group passed before Luffy calmed down. He sat back and everyone was hurrying from the scene. He clasped both shaking hands. "Are you okay?"
"Those people killed my innocent brother," Luffy snarled. But he didn't know if they were the ones to do it. He wouldn't kill them even if it came with no consequences. Hachi, Pappag and Caimie were all looking confused.
Chopper told them that Luffy's brother was killed by those people when he was twelve. "Do they really control an admiral?" Luffy asked once he and the area were calmed down. The bubble heads had passed and Luffy could hear they weren't near. It was good the dog hadn't been afraid of him or it would have brought attention to him, and possibly Chopper.
The reindeer hugged him. "Thanks for hiding me."
"Yeah, of course. Who knows what they woulda' done if they saw you?"
Pappag said they indeed controlled an admiral. "But, what if they're nowhere near? They're marines, they can't be called out and expect to be here instantly," Luffy asked. Zoro had his arms crossed and was scowling at the direction the World Nobles had gone from.
"Don't know. Maybe they'd chase after you? Best to not even entice it, though."
"If anyone - bubble head or not - touches my crew, I'll face an admiral gladly," Luffy said firmly. Zoro and Chopper were agreeing. "We should go see the coater, right?" Luffy asked. "I don't want to be on an island with those people here, too. What makes them so damn special anyways? They're just stupid bubble heads!"
Pappag explained, "They have the blood of the creators in them. 800 years ago, a group of 20 kings came to be known as the World Government. The Celestial Dragons are their descendants. Over those many years, they have definitely come to misuse and abuse their power and status." He looked to Luffy. "It was very thoughtful of you to hide Chopper."
Zoro asked why that should be a surprise. They were friends, weren't they? "For somebody who suffers from racism, don't you think your view of Luffy is pretty unfavorable?"
"Zoro."
"He's judging you based on your appearance, right?"
"Zoro! Stop it, I don't want to bring that up anymore! I don't even want to notice it," Luffy said with a deep frown. The swordsman's face softened, and he apologized. "Let's just go to the coater." Luffy looked at his arm, and saw there was no place to discharge it. He got in the bubble cart and shot himself up enough that he could jump out of the treeline, and he let out a burst, only it was much stronger than projected, and he went way off.
He slammed into the spongy ground and bounced. He had no idea where he was. He looked to ask for directions, and found he was outside of a bar. He had no money with him and he ran inside to see somebody was being knocked out by a woman with a cigar with black short hair. "
"Hey, Lady, do you know where a coater is? I was being shown this way but then I got lost."
"Are you a customer?"
"I'm looking for a coater guy my friend Hachi told me about!"
"Hachi? An octopus fishman?"
"Yeah! Do you know him?" Luffy asked in surprise. She moved past him and dumped the guy out of the bar. She said he was most likely heading to this destination. "I got lost finding the right place? Ahahaha!" he laughed, and then heard Zoro grumbling loudly. He went out the door. "I got lost in the right place!" he cheered.
Some of them laughed but others were not amused. "It was an accident. I had no idea it was going to be that strong," Luffy said when Zoro glared at him. He sighed deeply. "At least we ended up in the same place."
"That was a very large explosion, Luffy-san. It shattered the windows nearby," Brook said. Luffy looked at his arms, and covered the mark. He took the glasses out of his pocket and put them back on, plopping his straw hat back on his head firmly. Chopper hugged his leg. "Well, you'll get used to it. It only just started at Thriller Bark," Brook reasoned, realizing he upset Luffy.
"Nyuu, well, we're all here. It's been a long time. Shakki!" Hachi said, both happy to see one another. "This is-"
"Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro," she said, moving to be in the doorway in a way that invited them inside.