CHAPTER 2
Full Speed to the Island of Women!
Sea King Showdown!
"Hey, Namiii, are we there yet?" Luffy restlessly bothers her towards the front of the ship with Franky at the helm. "I can't wait to see the weird lady warriors again."
"We should be arriving soon." Nami studies her map and then looks up to the horizon and her eyes light up with the excitement of a new adventure. "So you said that they were pretty eager to meet the rest of the crew?"
"Uhhuh." He grins from ear to ear.
"Ohhh, I can't wait!" Sanji proclaims and spins around with his arms wrapped around his chest. "An island entirely made up of real ladies running into my arms!" His face flushes as he zones out into Sanji-love-land.
Zoro rubs his neck and joins them. Why did I have to fall asleep on the lawn again? My neck is killing me.
"So it's an island made up of just women huh?" Zoro wonders aloud. He continues to massage his neck and stretch out his back.
"Beautiful, beautiful women bounding on beaches and leaping into my arms! Real LADIES! CURVES AND NO UNNATURALLY PROTRUDING CHEEKBONES AND JAWLIIINNNEEESSS!" Sanji pauses mid-twirl and shudders at the memory of his time in the Kamabakka Kingdom during the time in which the crew was separated for two years.
"Would you shut your trap already?" remarks Zoro.
Sanji breaks out of his reminiscent nightmare and presumes to leap around in his own little world, oblivious to Zoro's obvious irritation.
"So how does that work exactly?" Franky comments from the helm. "Having an island with just all women. How does it manage to stick around?"
"I dunno." Luffy shrugs. "But it sure is cooool!" He stretches out an arm to grab hold of the mane of the lion at the front of the ship. He flies up, lands right on top of its head, and is now in his captain's seat. The ocean breeze kisses his face and wisps his hair to either side, all of it tucked underneath his straw hat. He promptly positions the palm of his hand on the top of his hat, holding it down to prevent it from flying away with the wind. The salty smell of seawater escapes into his nose and fills him with joy that can only be associated with being at sea. He squints and in the distance, at the edge of the horizon, he spots an island up ahead.
"WE'RE HERE!" he declares with a hearty laugh and a bright smile.
"Really?" Usopp comes out of the bunk room and moves to front of the ship. "Wow that was pretty fast if you ask me."
Brook comes out of the bunk room as well and is playing the new song that he was working on the night before. Chopper files out soon after.
"That's because we took a special current to get there," Nami explains. "But we'll be approaching a calm belt any time now so we'll have to use the ships paddle system." Nami nods to Franky, who promptly switches the ship's gears so that it's in paddle mode. They enter the calm belt soon after, and the paddle system takes full control on the ship's motion. After sailing through the calm belt for a few minutes, dark, moving shadows below the sea's surface become visible.
"Hey, um… guys!" Usopp squeals and looks over the side of the ship. "What'sss… that... moving in the water?"
"Is it a monster?!" Chopper squeaks and is just as terrified as Usopp.
"Oh yeah," Luffy says and takes his hat off, allowing it to be secured by a cord that is draped around his neck. He scratches his head. "I kinda forgot to mention the sea kings."
"LUFFYYY!" the crew yells at him, but he just shrugs and hops off of his captain's seat and back onto the deck. He gets into his fighting stance, fists at the ready.
Zoro takes out his swords, placing one in his mouth, and grasping the other two in his hands firmly. Brook also draws his sword.
Usopp reaches into his knapsack for his slingshot. After some digging and a bit of thrown out garbage, he finds the slingshot as well as some gunpowder stars and holds them both in his hands.
Nami takes out her clima tact and Robin puts her novel down while rising from her lawn chair.
Franky is dependably standing solid at the front, ready to steer if need be.
A large beast erupts from the ocean's surface, spraying the crew with saltwater and knocking Sanji out of his daydreams. The sea king's powerful tail swipes across the deck and curls around Sanji's torso, holding him captive.
"Damn bastard," he scowls. He pushes on the king's tail with his palms and thrusts himself out of its grasp. "And… KICK!" An explosion of kicks hits the sea monster. The king's body crashes against the water from the impact and Sanji falls back onto the ship. The waves come up in an uproar and rock the ship this way and that. Rising up again, and even more enraged, the beast lets out a thundering roar that shakes the floorboards of the ship.
Stepping in front of the ferocious beast, Zoro crosses his swords in front of his chest, and leaps into the air. "One-hundred-and-eighty-six caliber PHOENIX!" The sea king cries out in agony as Zoro's blades hit him in the chest, spraying blood everywhere. Bouncing back from the swordsman's attack, the beast propels itself forward, pointing its muzzle straight for him. With a grunt, Zoro blocks the beast, swinging both of his swords so that they cross each other in front of his chest. The blades slide off of each other, and the beast's head is pushed away.
"GUM GUM... GATLING!" An explosion of fists lands above the king's wrinkled forehead, pushing its ugly face even farther from the Sunny. With the beast now weakened, Zoro delivers the final blow with the full force of his three-sword-style, and slices the beast into huge chunks. The crew scurries about to catch as much of the meat as they can. Zoro sheathes his swords at his hip and smirks as he watches the meat fall down onto the deck.
"Meat! Meat! Eat! Eat!" Luffy pumps his fist. Usopp soon joins him in his chant. Luffy wraps an arm around his comrade's shoulder, and Usopp does the same, kicking their legs up in a comical dance. "MEAT! MEAT! EAT! EAT!"
"Alright, alright, just get it to the fridge already," Sanji asserts.
"Meat! MEAT! Eat! EAT!" Luffy and Usopp chant as they each hug a pile of meat and hobble up to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the ship continues speeding on towards Amazon Lily.