Chapter 4: Operation Usopp Certain Love
I don't own One Piece
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Usopp frowned. "The Franky Midnight Deck of Love?"
"What's that??" asked Chopper.
Franky smirked. "Heh! It's the perfect plan to get nee-chan to open her heart!"
Usopp crossed his arms. "Well, what do we have to do for this?"
"I'll tell you!" said Franky. "Hey, swordsman! Wake up!"
"Ah..?" Zoro mumbled.
"The second plan!" shouted Franky. "Get over here so you can hear it!"
Zoro got to his feet.
"What is it this time?" he asked, making his way over to Franky.
"Well," Franky began, "to start with, we'll need Nico Robin's cooperation again.."
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Chopper watched Usopp enthusiastically as the sniper made adjustments to his "kabuto" at the rear of the ship.
"So, what do you think of Franky's plan?" Usopp asked.
"It sounds fun!" exclaimed Chopper.
"I hope it will work this time.." Usopp muttered. "Franky's spending half the day making the 'changes' after all."
"Hmmm..." Chopper began, crossing his arms and staring at the ground. "I'm worried Luffy and Nami might catch a cold.."
"If they do as Franky planned, they probably won't." said Usopp as he added the finishing touch to his weapon and set it aside.
The sharpshooter crossed his arms and sighed.
"What's the matter?" asked Chopper.
"...I feel bad for Luffy." he said. "I had never expected him to fall in love with a girl..He never seemed interested in that sort of thing. But apparently he was..And when he admitted it to her, he got turned down.."
"Yeah.." Chopper said, frowning.
"..And of all the people to fall in love with..!" he continued. "I mean, Nami has never shown any interest in love either! And..I just can't picture her being a sweet girl friend!"
Usopp grunted.
"..But still," he went on, "we owe it to Luffy to help him out..! No matter how impossible it may seem, we have to keep trying! Because if those are his true feelings, she can't just ignore them!"
Usopp suddenly stood up.
"That's it!" he shouted. "It's time the great Captain Usopp came up with a plan of his own!"
Chopper hopped to his feet, eyes glistening.
"You're going to make a plan as well??" he asked.
"That's right!" Usopp declared, pointing to himself proudly. "Once 'Operation Usopp Certain Love' is completed, there will be no need for any more plans!"
"Operation Usopp Certain Love!?" Chopper repeated. "What's that?? What's that??"
Usopp said nothing, but continued to point at himself, apparently deep in thought.
"..My plan is far too complex to explain." he finally said.
"Wow!! It must be great!" Chopper exclaimed.
"Everything thought of by Captain Usopp is great!" Usopp reminded him.
"HEY!" Sanji's voice suddenly came from the dining room. "Lunch is ready!"
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Franky was the last person to enter the dining room.
He had traces of grease on his face and arms.
"Eh? Franky, what have you been doing?" asked Sanji as he lowered a platter onto the table.
"Ah..I've been adding some new features to the ship." he said, taking a seat.
"What kind of features?" asked Nami.
"Oh, well, I'm just adding touch ups here and there." he said. "Things to makes the ship function better."
Nami eyed him for a moment, then returned to her food.
When they had all finished, Franky hurried out the door.
"He must really want to finish with those touch ups soon.." said Sanji as he piled the plates. "..Oh! Robin-chan!!" The cook suddenly exclaimed. "We never found that book! Would you like more help??"
Robin smiled. "No..I fear we may have been searching for something that never existed to begin with.."
Sanji frowned. "What?"
Luffy hopped over the table and raced out the door, shouting, "Let's go fishing!"
"Luffy, wait!" called Chopper, following him out. "Don't get started on anything! After I've prepared the anesthetics, I need to check up on your wound and replace the stitches!"
"That's it!!" Usopp suddenly shouted, running up to Chopper. "Chopper! Forget those anesthetics, you won't be needing them!"
"What!?" hollered Chopper. "What do you mean!? Without the anesthetics Luffy will be in a lot of pain!"
"That pain is a small price to pay!" said Usopp. "I've finally put together my plan! Let us begin! 'Operation Usopp Certain Love'!!"
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"Are you sure about this??" Chopper whispered to Usopp.
"Absolutely!" Usopp whispered back. "A maiden's heart weakens when she witnesses a loved one in pain!"
Chopper looked hesitantly over at Luffy, who sat on the edge of the patient's bed, a bored expression on his face.
"Hey, Chopper!" Luffy yelled. "When can I leave!? This is boring!"
"Well, I have to replace your stitches fir-" Chopper began, but was cut off by Usopp.
"Luffy!" Usopp shouted, looking serious. "Listen! Chopper ran out of painkillers, so this is going to hurt alot!"
"WHAT!?" Luffy hollered.
"But that doesn't matter!" the liar continued. "If Chopper doesn't do this right now, you'll die in the next hour! You'll DIE!! So you have to put up with the pain no matter what! Do you understand!?"
"What!?" exclaimed Chopper. "Usopp, he won't d-"
Usopp put his hand over Chopper's mouth.
"LUFFY!! I said, do you understand!!"
"...Y-Yeah." Luffy said, gulping.
"Good! Now Chopper, strap him down!"
Chopper hesitated for a moment, then changed into his human form and walked up to Luffy.
"..Uh...Okay, first, I need you to take your vest off." he said.
Luffy slipped off his vest and dropped it to the floor.
"Next, you have to lie down and slide your hands and feet under these belts." Chopper continued, gesturing towards the leather straps bolted down at each corner of the bed.
Luffy made a face, but followed Chopper's instructions.
Chopper tightened the straps around his wrists and ankles, then pulled a large belt out from the side of the bed and fastened it around Luffy's stomach.
He started examining Luffy's wound.
It was a large, round, swollen spot, containing colors of purple, blue, green, and yellow.
Chopper had not only had to stitch together the skin, but also the damaged muscle tissue underneath it.
Chopper turned around to face Usopp.
"U-Usopp.." he began. "..This will REALLY be painful."
Usopp glanced at Luffy's wound then quickly looked away.
"L-Like I said!" he exclaimed, "A small price to pay!"
Chopper hesitantly turned to his medical kit and took out a scalpel and the stitching equipment he would need.
"Depending on what I see once I remove his superficial stitches," he began, "I may have to operate on his insides. If that happens, I'll absolutely need to use anesthetics."
"Right." Usopp said, nodding. "If that happens."
Chopper faced Luffy, scalpel in hand.
"Alright, I'm going to start now." he informed him.
"Right!" Luffy said, taking a deep breath.
Chopper brought the scalpel right above Luffy's wound, then slowly lowered it.
Luffy cringed when it touched him.
"O-Okay Luffy, I'm going to begin the incision now.."
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2 Seconds Later
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"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Luffy yelled. "THAT HURTS!!"
"Perfect!" exclaimed Usopp. "Keep doing what you're doing, Chopper! I'll go get Nami!"
"O-Okay.." said Chopper.
Usopp ran out onto the deck.
All the crew members were rushing out to see what Luffy was yelling about.
"What's wrong!?" shouted Franky.
"Why is Luffy screaming!?" exclaimed Sanji.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!!" came Luffy's cry of pain again.
Usopp waited until he saw Nami, then he shouted,
"The situation is horrible!! Chopper needed to operate on Luffy, but he ran out of anesthetics, so he has to do the operation without them! Luffy's in excruciating pain right now!"
"What!?" cried Franky. "He was screaming whenever something TOUCHED his wound! But now it's being OPERATED on and he doesn't even get painkillers!?"
"That's not all!" Usopp continued. "Chopper might have to redo the stitches inside of him!"
"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Luffy howled.
"All that while he's conscious and alert!?" shouted Sanji.
"That's right!" Usopp yelled. "He's in agony!"
"L-Luffy!" exclaimed Nami.
'Now's my chance!!' Usopp thought to himself.
"There was only one thing he asked for!" Usopp informed them. "You all know he got that wound while protecting our lives! So before I tell you what he requested, I want each of you to promise you'd do whatever it is, no matter what! Each of you!"
"Of course!" exclaimed Sanji.
"You don't even need to ask that!" shouted Zoro.
"If there's anything he needs me to do, I'll do it!" yelled Franky.
"I'll do whatever I can." said Robin.
"Whatever he needs!" exclaimed Nami.
'YES!' Usopp thought, smiling wickedly to himself. 'There's no possible way she could say no now!'
"Eh hem." Usopp coughed into his fist. "Luffy's ONE request...His one and only request.."
He looked from Sanji, to Zoro, to Franky, to Robin and then finally to Nami.
"..was that NAMI be by his side now, in his time of most dire need!"
Usopp finished and crossed his arms, feeling extremely triumphant.
There was dead silence for a moment and a cold breeze blew by.
After a few seconds, the silence was interrupted by another one of Luffy's agonizing cries.
Nami was gaping at Usopp.
"M-Me!?" she shouted.
"That is what he requested!" Usopp exclaimed. "And you all swore just now that you would do whatever it was he asked of you!"
"AAAAAAARGH!!" came his scream once again.
"Do you not hear his cries of anguish!?" Usopp hollered, pointing to the medical room. "Go to him! Now!"
"R-Right..!" she said, biting her lip and running to the origin of the yells.
Sanji, Zoro, Franky, and Robin continued to stare at Usopp.
"For Luffy to request that.." Sanji muttered.
"It seems he really meant what he said last night.." said Zoro.
"He called her over everyone else.." Frank remarked, a tear forming in his eye.
"I had no idea he was this serious.." said Robin.
'I even have Zoro and Franky fooled!' Usopp thought to himself. 'This was truly a plan only the great Usopp could have devised!'
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Nami rushed into the medical room where she was immediately greeted by Chopper.
"Ah...Nami," he said, "you can kneel down at the side of the bed.."
Nami quickly went to Luffy's side and knelt down.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" he screamed as Chopper removed a stitch from his wound.
"I-I'm here like you asked.." she said.
"AAAAAAAAGH!!" he hollered as Chopper removed another stitch.
"W-Whatever you want me to do.." she said.
"EEEEEEERGH!!" he shouted.
Nami bit her lip again.
She didn't understand why he wanted her here.
Why would he single her out like that?
He had never played favorites with his nakama before.
Was all this really because of what he said last night?
Was he really, seriously..
"EEEEEEEEGH!!" he cried out, squeezing the edges of the bed.
"L-Luffy!" she exclaimed.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!" he yelled.
"I've almost finished opening the wound." said Chopper. "Once it's open, I'm going to determine whether or not I'll need to replace the stitches on his insides."
"GyAAAAAAAAARGH!!" Luffy roared.
Nami didn't know what he wanted her to do or what she could do.
"BAAAAAAAAHH!!" he hollered.
She had never been in this kind of situation before.
"EGAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
"That was the last stitch." said Chopper. "I'm going to take a look inside his wound now..This will be really painful."
Chopper slowly stretched apart Luffy's swollen gash.
"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" Luffy thundered.
As Chopper analyzed the open area, Luffy panted heavily, continuing to squeeze the edges of the bed.
After a few seconds, Chopper gulped. "..It seems the stitches holding a part of his muscles together came apart..I-I'm going to have to replace them."
'There's no way I can continue to do this without anasthetics!' he thought to himself.
Chopper flung open his medicine chest and began searching through it.
After a few seconds, he pulled out a bottle.
'Okay, this should be able to put him to sleep.'
Chopper opened the bottle.
"What!?" he exclaimed. "There's nothing left!!"
Chopper threw the bottle aside and started searching through the chest again until he found another bottle.
'Okay, this should atleast take away his alertness..'
Chopper opened the bottle.
"EH!!" he bellowed. "This one's empty too!!"
He threw that bottle aside and resumed his search.
He pulled out one more bottle.
'This is my last hope!'
Chopper opened the bottle.
Once again, it was empty.
"AHH!!" he hollered. "I REALLY AM OUT OF ANESTHETICS!!"
"W-What do you mean, Chopper?" Nami asked, confused.
"Ah! This is bad!" Chopper exclaimed. "If I don't replace the stitches inside Luffy soon, Luffy's life will be in danger!"
"What!?" Nami shouted.
"B-But.." he continued. "..To do this without anesthetics..The pain would be unbearable! A normal human would pass out from it, but Luffy...No matter how much pain he goes through, he always seems to remain conscious! His tolerance level is too high! He'd be awake throughout the entire procedure, feeling everything!"
"Eh!?" Nami screamed. "I-Isn't there anything you can do!?"
"I have no more anesthetics left!" Chopper exclaimed. "And it would be too dangerous to wait until we get to the next island! He could die before then!"
"He could DIE!?"
"I've never performed surgery on a person who was still awake before!" Chopper hollered. "B-But..!! I don't have a choice!!"
Chopper looked down at Luffy.
"Luffy! Can you talk!?"
Luffy panted a few times before saying, "Y-Yeah..."
"I'm going to need to operate inside of you!" Chopper informed him. "No matter how much it hurts, you absolutely mustn't move! You could really die!"
After a few more pants, Luffy said, "O-Okay.."
Chopper gulped and leaned down over Luffy.
He slowly entered Luffy's wound with one of his tools and began the procedure.
He immediately let out the loudest cry yet.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Luffy!!" Nami shouted.
"EHHHHHHHGH!!" he roared, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth.
"Luffy!!" she shouted again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!" he howled, opening and closing his fists in pain.
Nami reached for one of his hands and held onto it.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" he thundered, squeezing her hand.
She could feel his sweat on her palms.
If this was what she could do for him, then she had no problem doing it.
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When Luffy's screams finally died down, the remaining five Strawhats gathered in the medical room's doorway.
"I just finished replacing the stitches.." said Chopper, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
Nami was at Luffy's side, holding his hand, as Luffy panted heavily.
"He was yelling for like thirty minutes.." said Franky. "..To deal with so much pain for that long.."
"He had surgery performed on him while he was still conscious.." Sanji muttered.
"It's amazing that he didn't pass out.." said Robin.
"He's strong." said Zoro.
"I-I didn't think it would take this long.." muttered Usopp, feeling guilty.
"He probably won't be able to sit up for a few hours.." said Chopper.
Luffy sat up.
"Eh!?" Chopper shouted. "Luffy, how can you do that!? You just underwent surgery!"
Luffy continued panting for a few seconds before he spoke.
"Ah...I'm...alright...now..." he said.
"Amazing.." muttered Franky. "..That guy.."
"You should lie back down!" Chopper exclaimed. "And you should stay in bed for the next few hours! Your wound is going to be really swollen and sensitive during that time and you shouldn't be moving around!"
"..But...I feel...fine..." he panted.
"There's no way you could feel fine after that!" Chopper hollered.
"S-Sanji.." Luffy said.
"W-What can I do, Luffy?"
"M-Meat..."
"..Right! I'll make something right away!" the cook exclaimed, running out the door.
"Hah...Hah..." Luffy breathed, slowly looking around him.
He noticed Nami was by his side.
"..Hah..Nami..?" he asked, confused.
Nami looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I came here like you asked.." she said.
Luffy tilted his head slightly.
"..Hah...Hah...What..?"
Usopp gulped. 'Uh oh.'
"You said you wanted me by your side," she continued, "so I stayed with you the whole time.."
Luffy continued to stare at her while breathing heavily.
"..Hah..Hah...Eh..? Really..? ...I..said that..?"
"You don't remember?" she asked.
"He must have forgotten because he was in so much pain when he said it!" exclaimed Usopp.
"..Oh.." said Nami.
"That must have been his heart calling out to her!" shouted Franky.
"Y-Yeah! That must have been it!" lied Usopp.
Luffy was extremely confused now, but he lay back down.
He didn't notice that he was (and had been the whole time) tightly gripping Nami's hand.
"We should let him get some rest now." said Chopper.
"That's true." said Franky.
Chopper, Usopp, Franky, Robin, and Zoro all walked out onto the deck.
Nami, who was unable to leave due to Luffy's grip on her hand, stayed in the room.
When they were out of Nami's earshot, Franky exclaimed,
"This is fantastic! Nee-chan's passionate side has finally come out! She may already be in love! Once we commence my plan, the 'Franky Midnight Deck of Love,' she'll no longer be able to resist him!"
"Speaking of that, have you finished setting up the locks?" Usopp asked.
"I just finished." replied Franky.
Zoro crossed his arms. "Isn't this plan going overboard?"
"Of course not!" shouted Franky. "There's no such thing as 'going overboard' when it comes to love! Anyway! Let's meet in the crow's nest to go back over the plan!"
The five headed up the ladder to the crow's nest.
Meanwhile, Nami was trying to free herself from Luffy's grasp.
"Um..Luffy.." Nami said, tugging on her wrist, "..you're still holding my hand.."
"..Hah...Hah..What..?" Luffy asked.
"..My hand.." Nami said. "..You're holding it.."
"..Hah..I am..?"
"..Yeah.."
"..Hah..That's weird..Hah..."
Luffy still wasn't letting go.
Nami didn't say anything.
After a few minutes, Luffy fell asleep and she was able to slip her hand out.
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"WHAT!?" Franky yelled. "You mean Strawhat didn't really say that!? You were lying!?"
"Don't say it so loud!!" shouted Usopp. "What if Nami hears you!?"
"Wasn't that kind of low?" asked Zoro. "I mean, even for you..Making Luffy have surgery without anesthetics.."
"I had really thought you were telling the truth.." said Robin.
"But it all worked out in the end!" Usopp exclaimed. "It was the great plan, 'Operation Usopp Certain Love!'"
"It turned out I really was out of anesthetics.." said Chopper.
"I-I was actually about to mention that!" Usopp shouted. "I knew all along that Chopper was out of painkillers! I devised this great plan to cope with that! I would never deliberately make a friend suffer!"
"EH!?" hollered Chopper. "REALLY!?"
"Of course!" Usopp laughed. "Chopper! What is my name!?"
"CAPTAIN USO-"
"ANYWAY," Zoro interrupted. "Franky, aren't you going to go back over your plan with us?"
"Ah, right." Franky said. "I will now go over the details of 'Franky Midnight Deck of Love.'"
"I start the plan by installing locks on every door and latch on the ship." he began. "They can only be activated and deactivated when I flip THIS switch."
Franky pointed to a switch located on the wall of the crows nest with a series of metal tubes sprouting out from it.
"The next part of the plan begins after dinner." he continued. "First, Nico Robin, you must make sure nee-chan stays on deck. Can you do this?"
"Yes, I'll try."
"Right. At the same time, long nose, you will ask Strawhat to go fishing with you."
"Got it."
"Meanwhile, while those two are distracted, reindeer, swordsman, and I will meet with curly brows and inform him of our plan. If he agrees to cooperate, then that will be fine. If he refuses, the three of us must work together to restrain him."
"W-We're really going to restrain Sanji??" Chopper asked.
"I don't mind this part of the plan." said Zoro.
"Next, the three of us will bring curly brows up to the crow's nest and I will activate the locks on the doors. Nico Robin, long nose, you will hear a loud clicking noise. At this time, you must leave nee-chan and Strawhat and enter the crow's nest with the rest of us. We will then lock the latch to the crow's nest. The six of us will spend the night there."
"..So after that.." said Usopp.
Franky crossed his arms and grinned.
"After that comes the final part!" he exclaimed. "Stuck outside during the cold night, Strawhat and nee-chan will have no choice but to sleep in eachother's arms for warmth!!"