"I smell him easily," Luffy said and led them to the stinky man. They came across him, knocked out, surrounded by treasure. No mermaid's though.
"Look at how much treasure!" Luffy cheered. "So much meat to buy! And more taffy from the candy store!"
"This'll set us up good for a while. We'll go on the best date ever on the next island. I promise," Zoro said to Luffy, who smiled. Sanji was impressed by how much there was, too. They gathered the treasure in tarps around the area and held the extremely heavy bags on their backs, barely able to stand with how heavy they were. But they pushed through it. Carrying heavy things in this way was difficult for Luffy's bad arm. It would slip sometimes and apply less pressure than the other.
But he didn't let any show of that come out, and walked confidently. It would take awhile to get all this to the palace. Luffy hoped someone would arrest the slime guy. He heard some arguing from up ahead the street they were walking down. Mmm, he could still smell the remains of the candy. The salty sweet taste.
"Hey! This is the candy place Pappag told us about! Heeey, you guys make the best candy! Yummm, it was so good. You got anymore?!" he called happily. Sanji had had some of the sweets, too. His whole crew enjoyed it a lot. But the factory had been pretty damaged in the fight somehow. Probably one of the Hordy guys. How could they harm a sweets factory, though? How could you harm any place that serves or makes food?
Such an act was pure insanity.
The fishman around looked awkward about Luffy being there. He knew why, and he didn't want to be hailed a hero, but it was still annoying and frustrating. Zoro had his eyes narrowed. "Neh, do you got any more before we leave?" Luffy asked.
"Shh! No, Straw Hat, shhh!"
"Heh? You don't have any? I guess I ate enough," Luffy dropped, pouting his lips. The two guys there who didn't fit, one was a lion man (cool!) and the other was a guy in pink with really long legs and a round stomach.
"He ate them?! Who is he?!" the lion demanded of the minister of the left. The lion looked through a packet of wanted posters.
Luffy said, "Neh, you aren't a fishman? Are you here for the sweets? Man, I think I ate them all!" Luffy admitted. "Well, there'll be more some time, huh?" Sanji calmly told him he should shut up now. "Why?"
"There's clearly something negative about this situation," the chef said.
"Hey, that lion is talking!" Luffy exclaimed. "Well, we have Chopper… so…" The lion man demanded the important official what he meant. Was Luffy not supposed to eat the candy? It was given to him, so he ate it. Was that bad? The lion looked very bothered about it. Angry. He turned to Luffy, and demanded to know if he ate any of the candy. Luffy just nodded. No use trying to lie.
"There's a reason for that!" the catfish fishman official insisted in worry. Why did they give them candy if it was bad for them to eat? And who were these guys?
"There's no use shouting, Pekoms. Let's settle this peacefully. The tea party is in four days. If we send the candy out tomorrow, it should make it in time," the long legged pink guy said with a fancy tick at the end.
"Another weird guy! Where'd you come from?" Luffy asked, maybe rudely, maybe not. The pink man stood up on his long legs and introduced himself. The Baron Tamago. He politely then asked if Luffy had eaten any candy from this factory. "Well, yeah, but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to."
"They gave it to you?" Luffy nodded. "They taste really good! Have you tried them?" the captain wondered lightly.
"We came to collect sweets for the yonko, Big Mom, as payment for protecting the island for this month. We collect the sweets to bring to her, and it extends the protection another month. This month, it seems they have none to give to us, as you ate them," Baron Tamago said reasonably. Luffy said he probably couldn't spit them back up now. It had been awhile since he ate them. Sanji kicked his head.
"Don't be vulgar, idiot!" he scolded. Zoro said nothing.
"So Big Mom's the one to protect here? She must be nice if you only have to pay her with candy," Luffy said brightly. "Well, this one time can you say it wasn't the fishmen's fault? We don't have the candy, but maybe we can repay her in some other way."
"Don't be mistaken. The exchange is just business. There's no reason why she'd protect this island if they did not make the candy." Luffy frowned. "She does love her sweets. We'll wait until tomorrow to get them."
"No! Baron, as I explained, the machines used to create the candy are broken! It will take at least two weeks to fix! It's impossible to get it by tomorrow!" the minister of the left insisted. Zoro demanded to know why they just can't wait for it. It was just candy! Luffy nodded quickly. At first, Luffy thought anybody offering protection to an island was like Shanks or Whitebeard. He'd been told before the other two weren't pleasant, recently, too. He just had no experience with anyone other than "good" yonkos.
"There will be no waiting. Without this candy the pact will be dissolved, and the Big Mom beasts will destroy this island immediately!" Baron said casually.
Luffy was shocked. "Destroy Fishman Island?! You can't do that over candy! We just saved it!" he said angrily.
"Luffy, watch yourself," Sanji warned. Luffy was so angry that the aura he'd hidden most of the time seeped out just slightly. Baron just lifted his sunglasses with his brows raised.
"Hmmm," he said, observing Luffy, who reigned it in. "Interesting." Then the den den mushi started ringing. Both Pekoms - the lion - and Tamago fretted over who would answer it. Luffy glared at the den den connected to the person who would kill everyone on the island just for a late shipment of candy. He grabbed the receiver.
"Hello?" Luffy demanded hashly. Zoro put his hand to his face and Sanji just sighed. "Hey! Are you Big Mom?!"
"Hey! Hey, hey stop it!" both enemies said. They were all for destroying Fishman Island. Anyone who was okay with that was an enemy to Luffy and his crew.
"This doesn't sound like Tamogo, or even Pekoms. Who might you be?" The voice was a woman, clearly. She sounded more mockingly curious.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who'll become the Pirate King!"
"'Monkey D'? Ah, Garp's kid, now I remember. You're the little boy that stirred up the war two years ago," Big Mom said lightly, but not of respect or humility. Luffy got straight to the point and shouted that there was no more candy. The candy wouldn't be going to her this time.
"I ate it all!" Luffy said angrily. When Big Mom was shocked, Luffy said he indeed had eaten all ten tons. Those around him were telling him to be quiet but for his two crew members. They watched with stoic expressions, arms crossed. This was what needed to be done in this situation.
"Silly boy. You shouldn't lie, now. You're covering for Fishman Island, aren't you?" She sounded frigid. Out of patience with him.
"But I did eat it all! I didn't know it was going to you when I ate it!" Luffy insisted. "We have a bunch of treasure here! We'll give you the treasure in exchange, and the candy will be made again in two weeks when the machinery is fixed!"
Luffy was annoyed they didn't care that Fishman Island just was recovering from a civil war and coup of the government. It really was business. But most businesses wouldn't actively destroy the other one when they cut their ties unless they were completely bad people.
"You expect me to eat treasure?! I want sweet, delicious candy!" It seemed she felt the same way for candy that he did for meat. It still didn't make it okay to kill others over it! A whole nation, too.
Tamago took the den den, looking over the obscene amount of treasure and goods they had with them. Nami would understand. Hopefully. "Mama, calm down for a moment," Tamago said quickly. Apparently that Eustace Kid from two years ago sunk a few of Big Mom's ships, and they needed some cash to replace them. Everyone in the area listened nervously as Tamago tried to convince her to take the offer of treasure and delayed candy payment. The yonko wasn't happy with this offer at all.
"Have you gone brain dead, Tamago?! How dare you even consider a compromise for something I want?! Don't you dare say such a shameful thing! However…. Hahaha, I'm interested in the little brat who's daring to challenge me. As you wish, I'll take my rage off of Fishman Island, and target you! Monkey D. Luffy, I know your name. Come out to the New World!"
Luffy said, "Yeah, you just wait! It's too dangerous to leave you in charge of this place! So I'm gonna kick your ass when I get to the New World, and take Fishman Island under my turf!" Luffy shouted into the receiver.
"Brat! I'll meet you in the New World, and you'll see just how unqualified somebody like you is to rule over a country!" Big Mom mocked. "Baron, Pekoms, it better be a lot of treasure!"
"It is, Mama! Quite a lot!" So the Straw Hats let go of what had to be much more than the treasure they'd gotten at Skypea and used indirectly to have the Thousand Sunny built. The fishmen helped get the treasure to the ship that the Big Mom emissaries came on. Luffy stopped paying attention to them when they walked off, only hearing a name.
What he thought was a name: Katakuri. Luffy glared after them, but heard no more. Well, he would meet that yonko and take her down a notch. No matter how strong her crew was, they would be stronger. They went back to the castle, Luffy in a cranky mood.
"You know, even though you declared war on a yonko, getting all hot and bothered like that was pretty sexy," Zoro said with a yawn. Luffy giggled. Sanji made a disgusted sound. "But the way that egg looked at you. When he said you were interesting after letting lose some of the aura, it didn't sound like surprise."
"You mean recognition?" Sanji asked, knowing what he was talking about. "I heard it, too. There must be somebody out there like Luffy that he knows or knows of."
Luffy said he wanted to meet more people like him. "Just maybe not enemies. What if we have to fight?" Sanji said he was getting way too ahead of himself. It wasn't like they had concrete proof that the voice was of recognition. They made their way back to the palace empty handed, knowing Nami would be pissed no matter how good the excuse was.
When they got back, the royal guards and king were just as shocked as Nami. And they were all in horror of his outburst. "I had to! She was gonna kill everyone over some candy! She was so rude!"
"You're the one that yelled first," Sanji pointed out. "But it's true, we had no other option. Though we've made an enemy out of one of the yonko. There are three currently. One is on our side, but now one is against. Who knows about the third?"
"Kid seems to be going strong if he took down a yonko's ship," Zoro said, sitting on the steps. "Well, there's no use getting mad, we're not getting that treasure back." Usopp said they shouldn't have eaten the candy. It wasn't as if the fishman didn't know they didn't have enough for the payment.
Luffy was the one to eat it, so he took full responsibility, even if he hadn't known about Big Mom and that deal beforehand. "I'll still take Fishman Island under our name! Big Mom didn't do crap to protect this island from a growing issue that turned into a civil war! We were here. Even if the majority of the people on this island think of me as some freak monster, this is still my friend's island. I won't let anybody touch it," he said firmly.
Nami walked over with a smile on. "Well, I understand you had to do something about that! It was a given that something had to be done, after all. But why did you give ALL of the treasure?! You could have kept some and now we don't have any!" the navigator raged, knocking all three men to the ground with a beating.
After he felt he was safe to get up, Luffy rubbed the place she'd hit him and turned to Jinbei. "Who is Katakuri?" Luffy asked.
"Katakuri? Why do you ask?"
"I heard that name when Tamago was still talking to Big Mom. Who is that?"
"It's one of Big Mom's kids. The strongest of them, 'Dogtooth' Katakuri. I've never directly met or spoken to him, though."
"Do you see any similarities between him and me?" Everyone was confused with the question. "Tamago seemed like he thought I was familiar. I'm just asking cause I wanna know." Jinbei said he knew the man was intimidating, but did not know of any similarities between them in the way Luffy was asking.
Robin giggled. "Well, we'll see once we fight them, won't we? We've already declared war with them, haven't we?"
Luffy nodded, and most of the crew were not happy with the new developments. Roger hid his secret from everyone but Rayleigh. Maybe this Katakuri guy or Big Mom was hiding that, too. Jinbei wasn't close to any of them in a familiar way, he assumed. Well, Robin was right. They'd fight them eventually, and Luffy could see then.
"On to the New World!" he said.
"To die?!" several of his crew said.
"Maybe!" Zoro snorted.
They would be leaving the next morning, and Luffy was just happy to have a bed to sleep on. They didn't sleep in the palace like the royal family had offered, and returned to their Sunny. "Luffy, I need some time with you. It's peaceful here right now and I don't want to be interrupted," Chopper said after Luffy changed into sleep clothes. "I know it's late, but we have to talk."
Zoro said he'd wait for him. "Okay," Luffy said, getting a kiss on the cheek and going to the infirmary. He sat on the bed in there while Chopper sat across from him.
"Will you tell me the extent of the after effects you know or think you have from the war? You know you always have the choice to say no." Luffy nodded. He wanted treatment, even if it was embarrassing to think about. Chopper got out a notepad and listened to Luffy quietly.
"I still have nightmares. Usually multiple times a week. Mostly nightmares about when I killed Blackbeard or went outta control on my way to Ace, and nightmares about finding that Ace died, and all I did was for nothing. Nightmares of Ace dying in front of me. There's one that comes more than everything else…" He sighed. "I sometimes dream that Ace died protecting me, I was weak and helpless by the end and all. I even smell the burning scent of the magma in his flesh."
Chopper took his hand and smiled. He didn't need to go into detail if he didn't want to. "Will you tell me about the flashbacks? And their triggers?" Luffy nodded, glad to move on from the recurring nightmare.
He moved both hands to his lap, fingers pressing against his left arm. "It's usually something loud or sudden, but mostly is accompanied by a bright light. Sometimes the triggers are small. Maybe the sound of thunder a long ways away. But those aren't full blown flashbacks. I've never had what happened in the battle happen before.
"No… one time I came to and Rayleigh was injured. There was another time that I killed the animals around me and didn't remember. But I never connected it till now. I'm scared of hurting people I care about," Luffy said.
Chopper said, "Educating all of us on trigger warnings and how to help will make things the safest. Sudden movement might be a bad trigger. That is what is the case in most PTSD flashbacks. Keeping the area calm and composed will help the flashback end." Chopper made Luffy feel better. He wasn't afraid of Luffy, even knowing he could have violent flashbacks.
"It's not surprising to me at all that you have nightmares and PTSD. It was a war. And even before that, Impel Down was highly traumatizing. I think we are undervaluing just how scary Impel Down was, after everything you told me had happened. We also have to take into account your chronic injuries. With the nerve damage to your arm, and the sensitivity of your left ear.
"I'll have Usopp make some good ear plugs, and based on your sensitivity levels for each one, we can try and get them working at the same pace again. For your arm, I don't know any way to treat it, especially with how much time has passed. But it has to have an underlying affect. You can't feel pain in your arm. Some people would think that was useful in a fight."
"It doesn't hurt… but what if I turn and look and somebody chopped my arm off?" Luffy said quietly. "I wouldn't even notice."
Chopper said, "It's incredible you're still able to use it to the extent that you do. And everyone may give worried glances, as losing feeling in any part of your body would be difficult for others to imagine. But it's not out of pity, but sympathy and empathy. I think that you should take care of that arm more. You don't need to try and convince us that both arms are in perfect shape. Let it hang limp, hold it in any way that is normal and comfortable."
Luffy nodded. "And what about getting distracted? Like you did at the feast. Dissociation can also be an after effect of trauma. It briefly brings you out of your surroundings. Like a daydream. When does that happen the most?"
"When I'm eating, I guess. Sometimes at the island I would have cooked something and I'm eating, and then suddenly the food's gone cold," Luffy replied honestly. "Dissociation, it's not daydreaming?"
"Very alike. Dissociation is fine in and of itself, if you're not in a dangerous situation where you need to be aware at all times. I already have some medications in mind, due to knowing about your body perfectly well. It's not like I'm a new doctor to your health. Just your mental health now, too. And there's nothing wrong with trauma."
Luffy nodded. He'd been told that by many people. "Does PTSD cause hallucinations?" he asked, remembering seeing Whitebeard there.
"It can. Did you hallucinate?" Luffy wasn't going to lie to the one person who could help him in this. He nodded. Only once, and it was when they were talking at dinner again. "What did you see?"
"Whitebeard. I pictured him there even though I know he wasn't, couldn't be there." Chopper confirmed that it was only once. "Yeah."
"That will need to be kept an eye on, but it isn't unheard of. Many people with traumatic events come away with multiple disorders. You'll be taking pills from now on, and you can't forgo or forget them. Even if you carry around a little capsule in your hat, you need to take the medicine as regularly as physically possible," Chopper insisted. Luffy nodded.
He stood up to leave, before he started to cry. Chopper hugged him. "Everyone's told me I'm fine and this is normal. But I thought I was stronger. It's been two years and I still have nightmares ab-about something that didn't even happen."
"You've gone untreated for two whole years. No medicine and no real therapy. Things will get better. You've been stagnant for too long. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Even if we're both monsters, we still have human brains and hearts. You're not alone anymore, and you don't need to impress us. We know who you are and what you're capable of. For Rayleigh, you must have been doing your best for him to approve of you. You don't need to impress anyone anymore," Chopper said kindly.
Luffy picked him up and hugged him tightly. He got under control and thanked him. "Here, take some sleeping vitamins. They will help with going to bed and hopefully staying asleep. If you want to sleep in another room if the nightmares persist or are loud, then we can move your bed somewhere else."
"But I want to be around breathing people. I don't want to be alone anymore," Luffy said with a frown. Chopper said he was just showing him there were more options to accommodate him. He nodded, and took the vitamins that dissolved on his tongue.
"Go sleep in a real bed," Chopper said with a smile. Luffy nodded and ran to get Zoro to sleep. They didn't talk, Luffy just held onto him tightly under the blankets. Zoro kissed his head, large and firm hands under his shirt to rub circles on his back. They lulled Luffy to sleep, and he didn't have any nightmares on his first night back at home.
When he woke up, it was to see that everyone but him and Zoro were gone. Zoro was already awake, and smiled down at Luffy. He kissed Luffy's forehead softly. "I missed your smell," Luffy said with a sigh. "After I lost the scent of Ace, I latched onto you first. You smell like… home."
"Well, you are home. And you can latch onto me whatever way you want. I'm pretty stuck on you, too, captain," Zoro said with that smile he only saved for Luffy. "I'll take care of you, okay? Like you always take care of me."
Luffy nodded, and apologized for any mental issues. "I would be kind of shocked and concerned if nothing came from what happened. And you're not a burden to me because of nightmares or lingering effects. And even if you can't feel it, I'll still hold this hand." He took Luffy's left hand and intertwined their fingers, though Luffy of course didn't feel it.
He smiled and nodded, and they got up to get breakfast, Sanji having left super early with Usopp and Robin to get food. They had oatmeal, only it wasn't crappy, it was full of fruits and was just all around delicious. Things felt normal again. He was with his crew, and it wasn't as if the two years hadn't gone by.
They had, but Luffy felt back in place. Chopper left the room and came back with a little glass jar. "Here's your new medication," he said proudly.
"Already?!" Luffy asked in amazement.
"I had trouble sleeping, so I worked on it last night and this morning. I want to get you with proper treatment as fast as possible. Side effects can cause mild nausea after waking up. So nothing debilitating," Chopper said proudly. "I hope it works, but if it doesn't I want you to immediately tell me and I won't be offended."
Luffy nodded and promised he wouldn't lie. He took the pill, and then they got ready to disembark, the ship already fully coated. Shirahoshi was still crying, and Usopp was already working on special earplugs to balance Luffy's hearing and protect his damaged left ear. Luffy didn't fake it, and didn't move his left arm around to make it look normal.
It hung limply at his side like it usually did when not in use, before he wanted to look normal and fine. Chopper really helped him feel like he didn't need to make sure they knew he wasn't weak. Luffy also knew they believed in him after spending two years away due to his request. After they ate, they got ready to leave, and said goodbye to the people of Fishman Island.
Luffy was in Shirahoshi's hands as she cried about him leaving. She wanted him to stay a little longer at least. The princess's face was red and eyes filled with tears. "Man you really cried from start to end," Luffy said.
"I-I'm sorry… I'll try to not be a crybaby so much," she said between sniffles.
"Ah, to think one day the mermaid princess would beg us to stay! Shed tears over our departure! Ah, it's so hard to leave, you hold my heart, Shirahoshi!" Sanji said.
"You staying here sounds like a good idea, pedo-nosebleed," Zoro said lightly.
"What did you just call me, Mosshead?!" Sanji raged. "I'll show you what a mistake it is to insult your ship's cook!"
"I'd be happy to eat poison and razors more than your food!" Luffy knew Zoro secretly liked Sanji's food. Two years ago, sometimes during the night Zoro would leave to go eat more of that night's leftovers. Luffy wouldn't reveal that little piece of information. While the others were fighting or talking, Usopp and Chopper were lamenting about making Big Mom an enemy.
Luffy said, "We were always gonna face off against them eventually! If I'm gonna be the Pirate King, I gotta be the strongest of the sea, right?" the captain asked brightly. Zoro smirked at that, and Robin giggled.
Luffy was laying on Shirahoshi's hand while listening to the information about the awesome new log pose! It was so cool! They could pick one out of three islands to go to. More choices, it seemed. They could chart their course instead of needing to follow one path. It was amazing that some islands were so crazy their magnetic forces wavered.
"All in all, the navigator can choose which needle goes to the safest island. The ones that wiggle the most lead to more dangerous islands. So, it's your choice which to go to."
"No! I don't need to know that!" Nami hurriedly said. Luffy stretched his neck to wrap around Nami like a snake.
"Wow, let's see, let's see! Which one looks the craziest?! Let's do that one! Looks like the one in the middle is swaying super crazy, that one is the most interesting!" Zoro agreed from the side of the ship. The most dangerous had to be the best to visit.
"Noooo! He was listening!" Usopp cried as Nami was disturbed by Luffy's snake neck head. She finally grabbed him around the neck and shouted at him that she was the navigator and would chart the course.
"No way! I'm the captain!"
Usopp begged, "Please, captain, listen to your navigator's words!" Franky interrupted them, having finished being schooled on how to get back to the surface.
"Yay! To the New World!" Luffy cheered. Hachi said he was going to stay to help with repairing the island, and the Straw Hats let him know they'd be fine on their way up. Luffy was a bit sad he didn't get to say goodbye to Surume, though. He was so helpful and all. The mermaids called at them to come again brightly.
"I will definitely visit again! My heart's All Blue is here!" Sanji cried out, standing on the railing and waving goodbye enthusiastically.
Zoro commented, "What a cheap dream."
"Sanji just wants to be in a relationship, not the All Blue here! Shishishi," Luffy voiced. Sanji turned around and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He shouted it wasn't his fault that Luffy got so much attention from the women. "I'm just friends with them," Luffy replied.
"Maybe to you!"
"Ha, maybe you could learn some tips from Luffy!" Franky busted up laughing. Fukaboshi took Luffy's hand and thanked him sincerely for his help. He'd never be seen as a monster to the royal family. Luffy smiled and thanked him.
Robin and Nami giggled at the boys' argument. The orange haired said, maybe when Sanji didn't go crazy about every woman, he would get one. Sanji was just mopey about how he hadn't really gotten anything from the island in ways of a romantic woman. Though the mermaids from Mermaid Cafe and mermaid cove were very handsy. And at least he didn't die of nosebleeds anymore.
"Jinbei!" Luffy called from the ship, and got a simple nod from the fishman and future crew member. It would be cool to have another non-human there. And Luffy would try and find others like them if possible, as soon as possible. Luffy turned to his crew, and said, "Set sail! We're leaving the island!" Luffy cheered. He was so excited. Many of the others, but not all, were as well.
Luffy was sure they were strong enough and didn't worry about them like he did two years ago, especially when they were on Sabaody. Shouts of goodbyes were made on either side before the ship was grabbed by the mermaid princess, begging for them to visit her once again. "Of course we'll come again!" Luffy said, standing up since he'd been knocked off the railing.
"I promise I won't be a crybaby when you visit again! And then we can go on another walk!" she insisted. Luffy beamed and promised they'd come again. He would hold her to her saying she would change.
"No more wailing in my ears, kay?" Luffy asked enthusiastically with a laugh.
"Next time, I want to go above the sea and see a real forest!" she said, and Luffy made sure she knew he would definitely take her to the surface. But she'd need to be very brave to do that, of course. She was still crying, and put her huge pinky out for a promise. "Promise me!" she insisted.
Everyone pinky promised her but Zoro and Franky, who were watching from afar with soft smiles on. "With this many promises, we'll definitely come back and fulfill it!" Luffy cheered, and she let go of the ship, making it rock back into place. They sailed out of the official exit, and the wooden blocks tied to the front of the Sunny were what was raising them to the surface.
"Get prepared, everyone! There's no safe place on the New World surface!" Nami said positively, looking forward to another navigation challenge. A super one. As the ship floated, Luffy stood on the figurehead through the dark waters, though they could see nothing as the light from fishman island was fading.
"What's up, Luffy?" Zoro asked, sitting against the railing on the grassy deck.
The captain brightly said, "Soon, we'll be on the sea with Shanks! I can't wait to see him!" He had to be stronger then, though. More seasoned on the waters of the New World, the most dangerous place in the world. They were saying a long goodbye to everyone in Paradise that they'd met, even if they would return to fulfil many promises. To see Laboon, Vivi, Chopper's family, Rayleigh. To go to the East Blue and see the others' families. Their voyage wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.
"Once we pass through these deep seas, we'll be in the strongest ocean in the world. Are you all prepared?!" he asked his crew, looking at them all from the figurehead.
"Finally, I'll cut down everyone."
"Wait for me, Laboon! Only one more half!"
"Fine with me, I'll take you anywhere!"
"The Sunny can handle anything!"
"Get as many injuries as you want, I'll treat them all!"
"I won't be troubled by your appetites."
"The warrior of the sea is coming, too!"
"Fufufu."
Luffy beamed at his confident and excited crew. He turned back to the dark water and shouted, "Here we go! To the New World, the final seas!"
There were many sea creatures around them, bigger and scarier than before. But Luffy saw something interesting. Some of the sea creatures shared those traits as the ones that surrounded bloodstone! Was there some nearby? They hadn't gotten any samples! Chopper and Robin wanted to research them further. Luffy covered his hands in haki and grabbed the head of one of them, and had the boat get pulled by it.
"What's happening?!" Nami asked, running out of the ship from the bathroom as the ship was dragged along by the sea creature. "What are you doing?!"
"I wanna find it's blood stone!" Luffy said brightly. "Though it's making me tired," he complained. Nami yelled at him to let go. "No! I wanna find the blood stone!" Luffy argued. The fish swam faster, and soon Luffy couldn't hold on anymore. They'd made it far from where they were meant to be, and came across a massive, red pillar.
Luffy bolted inside and got gloves and shoved his arms back into the water. "Be careful to not touch it!" Chopper said in worry while Robin was watching wirth bright eyes. Nami was angry about Luffy's recklessness, but nobody else was surprised. Franky said the ship's bubble could handle a fast current, so it would be fine.
"That's only one problem! Now we won't be starting off in the right place!"
"Where's the fun in that?" Zoro asked. Sanji brought out some sweets for the girls. Luffy managed to break off a large chunk and pull his arms back. Though he was tired now. The blood stone clattered to the deck, and Robin immediately got a glass case that used to hold something else.
Luffy still wore the gloves as he set the stone into the box. "Yay! We got something right in the beginning!" Luffy cheered. Everyone was interested but Nami, who was still angry even as she ate a chocolate parfait. "Neh, we'll be fine!" Luffy insisted.
Robin took the glass box inside and tucked it in a drawer near the sky island blood stone. Now they had a sky one, a water one, and were just going to look for a land one. Luffy actually did something that was a success. Amazing! Chopper took the gloves and disinfected them by soaking them in rubbing alcohol.
Zoro was grinning, and then told Luffy to go get some blood. "Right!" Luffy said. Sanji had stocked the infirmary with blood. It was mostly donated blood from fishmen who didn't know it would be going to the humans. Maybe that would offend them all, but they owed Luffy for defeating Hordy and managing to keep the Noah away from the bubble enough for the sea kings to take over.
After he got three blood bags, out of nearly 30, he came out and said, "Neh, I think I heard a sea king talk!"
Robin asked what he meant sharply. "When I defeated Hordy and then blasted the ship, I was really tired, but I heard a voice say something like 'it seems he hasn't realized yet'. I don't know who else it would'a come from." Sanji said there was no way he could hear a sea king. Only Shirahoshi could do that. "I know, but still. It was weird."
"You were completely out of it then. I think you should take it with a grain of salt," Nami said. The guys with haki felt before they saw them as a huge pod of whales the size of Laboon appeared. They were massive, and there were so many! The ship started to follow along with them.
At first, Brook thought they were Laboon, but then switched to them possibly being his pod. They might not understand him like Laboon had, but they did enjoy the music once Soul King started to play, the music Luffy liked the most, that he heard first. They were content to sail along the whales' current as they happily listened to the music.
After a good while, the happy whale closest to them pressed his scarred forehead to the ship, raising them up to the surface. "Thank you, whales!" they called, waving goodbye happily. They were far from where they should have ended up, but Nami had calmed down in worry once they came across the whales, who wouldn't head straight into danger. It was lucky the monster fish Luffy grabbed onto hadn't retaliated.
And that Luffy's arm hadn't been chomped on by another monster once he stretched them. Luffy went to Zoro and kissed him, pulling the insides of his kimono towards him. Zoro wasn't bothered by it, and fisted one hand in Luffy's soft hair, ravaging his mouth, moving one hand to his ass as Luffy wrapped his arms around his neck.
Everyone ignored it as best as they could, even Sanji not getting angry. They pulled away, both of their cheeks red and lips slightly swollen. Zoro unfisted Luffy's hair and ran his fingers through it. Then the ship met the surface, and the bubble popped loudly. The whales rose, too, with loud moans as the ship was in the air.
Already, the weather was terrible. Like an entrance to a very fun and exciting hell. Lighting and thunder rained down on the sea as they landed loudly when the whales left. "Bye, whales! Thank you!" Chopper shouted as they swam away and out of sight. The ship was thrown about by the waves until they managed to get out of the storm and onto waters that were infested with sea kings.
"Luffy, you have no reason to hide your aura anymore! Scare them away!" Usopp shouted as the sea kings swam beneath them. Luffy let out his feelings, but they attacked regardless. Luffy let it out even worse, a killing aura. Like he was going to tear them to pieces. They immediately disappeared. That wasn't the easy feeling that came out, he'd need to focus on that. "Well, I'll have to focus more here, I guess," he said.