Author's Note: Okay, here's chapter eight! PLEASE REVIEW! I've decided I'm not going to ask for a specific number of reviews, but I'm not going to update until I have at least one anymore.
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece
Chapter Seven: The White Berets
The soldiers reached the bottom of the stairs, then got down and started crawling on their bellies towards the Going Merry.
"Um… what are they doing?" Usopp asked, his eyebrow twitching.
"Beats me," Hoshi said, standing up.
"Troops, halt!" the one wearing a jacket yelled. The troops all obediently stood up and saluted. "Heso!"
"Good afternoon," Pagaya said politely. "Heso."
Luffy was sweating. "What are the hell are you guys saying?!" (This is the third time this joke has appeared… I don't think I need to explain it anymore.)
Now Hoshi's eyebrow was twitching. Sticking their forefingers and pinky fingers out of their fist, they placed their fists behind their heads and clicked their heels together. It was the strangest salute that she'd ever seen.
"You are the seven illegal entrants from the Blue Sea, am I correct?" barked the guy who seemed to be in charge. Without giving the stunned crew a chance to answer, he shouted, "WE ARE HERE TO BESTOW HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT ON YOU!"
"What, you want to fight?" Hoshi asked. If you didn't know what she was saying, she could have been asking the time of day. She glared at the head honcho and narrowed her eyes. "Bring it on," she dared.
"It's no use denying it!" the commander barked, taking no notice of Hoshi. "The Heaven's Gate lookout, Amazon, has sent us these photos, taken with her Vision Dial." He held up seven pictures, showing the entire crew… except for Hoshi. He looked at her strangely. "Are you part of this crew? Your picture was not sent up with theirs."
Hoshi suddenly remembered that Amazon had thought there were only seven members to the crew. Her eyes were hidden under her hair for a minute as she considered how to answer. If she said she was a part of the crew, they would arrest her and probably put her into a lab once they found out what she was… If she said she wasn't a part of the crew, then she could escape the clutches of whatever government was here… The crew looked at her, wondering what she was going to do. They knew she hated governments of any kind with a passion.
"Oh dear, Amazon-san must have missed me," Hoshi said, smiling sweetly. "I am the eighth member of this crew," she said firmly, meeting the guy's eyes. The crew grinned as one.
"I see," the guy in charge said.
"No! This can't be right!" Pagaya exclaimed, sweating heavily. "There must be some mistake, Captain McKinley! They are not bad people!"
"What's he calling us illegal entrants for?" Sanji wondered aloud.
"Perhaps he's talking about the 1,000,000,000 Extol per person fee that we were supposed to pay," Robin commented. "We certainty didn't pay."
"B-but that old woman said we could pass without paying!" Usopp pointed out.
"She did!" Chopper said, raising his hand.
"It will do you no good," Captain McKinley said. "Just accept your guilt." Conis and Pagaya looked scared, but they placed themselves between the crew and the soldiers.
"However there is no need to worry," the captain said, a bit more kindly. "Illegal entry is a minor, Class-11 crime punishable by Heaven's Judgment. Once you have accepted your punishment, you will be returned to the status of peaceful tourists."
Hoshi almost burst out laughing, though a small snort got through. Luffy? A peaceful tourist?
Sanji rolled his eyes. "I'm still not happy about it, but what's this punishment?" he asked.
"It's just a simple matter," the captain assured them. "Pay ten times the original immigration fee. If you pay immediately, your crime will be written straight off. 10,000,000,000 Extols per person, so that is 70,00-, excuse me, 80,000,000,000 Extols for all eight of you."
Usopp's eyes were wide. "8-80,000,000,000?! J-just how much is an Extol in Beli?" he demanded.
"Beli, the currency of the Blue Sea, correct?" the captain asked. Everyone nodded. "One Beli is the equivalent of 10,000 Extols, I believe."
Usopp started counting on his fingers, lost track, and turned to Robin. "If that's the case, 80,000,000,000 Extols would be 8,000,00 Beli," she answered.
Sanji's cigarette fell out his mouth for the second time that day. "That's still too much! I could buy tons of rice with that!" he exclaimed, stress marks appearing on his head. "Why do we have to pay such a ridiculous amount after risking our lives to get up here?! It's unacceptable!!"
"What are you saying?" McKinley asked. "You should have just paid the original 800,000 Beli immigration fee at the gate."
"That's still too expensive!" the blonde cook roared.
A menancing aura suddenly started to rise off the assembled soldiers. "Be warned," McKinley intoned. "We, the White Berets, act under the direct orders of the Priests of Upper Yard. Refusal will increase the severity of your punishment."
"Ah, forget it, leave them be," Hoshi said happily. The crew turned their backs on the White Berets, ignoring the intent to kill steadily brewing behind them.
"At any rate, I'm worried something will happen to Nami-san if we don't find her soon. She could be crying her beautiful eyes out somewhere this very moment, waiting for us to come rescue her!" Sanji said, worried.
"Yeah, let's get going! Since the wind's changed, let's go adventure- I mean, search for Nami!" Luffy said, stars in his eyes.
"You're not thinking about her!" the whole crew yelled at him.
"And at any rate, the wind hasn't changed yet," Hoshi grumbled.
Usopp grabbed the cuff of Luffy's shirt and was about to yell at him when he realized that wasn't the best thing. He let go of Luffy's shirt and tried to act casual. "Well, Nami said she was just going out on a little walk, wasn't she? If we leave now, we'll miss her!"
Luffy seemed to be buying it by the look of his downcast face when Chopper piped up, "She's been gone to long to have been on just a walk!"
Usopp twitched and slapped his hand on Chopper's mouth. "Don't you get it?" he hissed. "Luffy's using Nami as an excuse to go to that place we're not allowed to go! Listen up!" he said now, addressing the rest of the crew. "We shouldn't get into any more trouble then we're already in, and just wait until Nami comes back, okay? This is Nami we're talking about here! I'm sure she'll have 8,000,000 just lying around somewhere that she can lend us!"
"And charge us an incredibly ridiculous interest rate," Zoro growled.
"What were you discussing just now?" McKinley cut in, annoyed. "That reminds me… If illegal entrants cannot pay the toll, they will be treated as escaped criminals."
"W-w-wait! Hang on a sec!" Usopp called desperately, waving his hands in the air. "Our treasurer should be back soon! Then we can pay you the full amount! I assure you, you will find us quite reasonable people! Just take it easy and wait!"
McKinley's mouth twisted.
Usopp pulled Luffy to one side and started whispering about staying out of trouble. "Well then everyone!" Usopp said, taking 'charge'. "You are dismissed for the time being!"
The crew dispersed to wait for Nami. Hoshi felt edgy and restless. She poked Zoro standing next to her. "Neh, you want to spar? Hand to hand, I mean," she said, glancing at the White Berets. "They probably won't like it if we took out our swords."
Zoro grinned. "Sure."
A couple of stretching exercises later, the White Berets found themselves watching a spectacular show of combat skills, though McKinley was distracted by the broken Waver. He started speaking firmly to Luffy and Pagaya about it. Zoro and Hoshi paid no attention, locked in combat, until suddenly Luffy shouted, "Shut up already! Before I kick your ass!"
Usopp heard, and dragged Luffy away, leaving behind a relieved Pagaya and a furious White Beret captain.
Hoshi and Zoro watched this episode without much interest, and resumed sparring almost immediately.
A couple of the White Berets started to whisper among themselves. "These Blue Sea Dwellers are pretty good," one of them admitted grudgingly. That could have quite possibly been the understatement of the year, and his companions knew it.
They elbowed him. "Shut up!" they hissed. "We're supposed to be on duty!"
Usopp had shoved a fishing rod into Luffy's hands, and they were both waiting for a bite. Hoshi and Zoro paid no attention until a HUGE yellow fish with teeth flew out of the water. It was about as big as a house.
Suddenly, the line broke, and the fish flew, roaring, towards Conis with a feral snarl, jagged teeth showing. The blonde girl screamed.
A whip cracked, and suddenly the fish was crashing headfirst into the beach where Conis had been a second before. It cried, a bump appearing on its nose. Conis shakily looked up at her rescuer as the grey whip around her waist disappeared into the air. "T-thank you Hoshi-san."
Hoshi smiled a little. She didn't quite trust Conis yet… but it had seemed wrong to just let the girl die like that. "Injured?" she asked.
Conis shook her head, then took the offered hand and Hoshi hoisted the girl to her feet.
"Well, well," tutted the captain. "This Skyfish is a rare species. Its capture is prohibited. You have broken the protection law for this species! This is a Class-9 crime!"
"What the hell!" Chopper exclaimed. "We saved Conis, didn't we? We didn't even touch the fish!"
McKinley chuckled. Hoshi felt her hackles rising. Something wasn't right here…
"See? Look here! It's still alive!" Usopp said desperately. "If we release it, everything's good, right?"
"Looks tasty!!" Luffy yelled, drooling. He stretched his arms.
"WAIT! LUFFY! DON'T D-"
Luffy bit the fish's fin. Zoro sweatdropped. "Oi…"
"You cannot deny trying to eat it!" McKinley said triumphantly. "Tantamount to theft, this is a Class-8 crime!!"
Hoshi walked up to the fish and looked it in the eye. It started sweating as the ice in her eyes seemed to freeze its mind, even though its eye was about as big as her head. "I think," Hoshi said sweetly, "I think you are going to go back into the sea now, and not give us any more trouble. Am I right?"
The fish gulped, then flopped back into the sea.
Zoro grabbed the hilt of his Maitou. "Standing around here listening to this guy go on about all these bullshit crimes is pissing me off," he growled.
Hoshi pulled her whip from the air again. "Come to think of it, I'm not in such a good mood myself," she said casually, making eye contact with the captain. To his credit, McKinley didn't flinch but he couldn't stop a sweatbead from rolling down his cheek.
"OI! Cut it out you two!" Usopp cried. "Stop it right now!"
"Your behavior right now was quite threatening," McKinley said ominously. "Such behavior is commensurate to a Class-7 crime!"
"No, no, no! They were about to say 'cut it out or I'll laugh!' It was a joke, a joke, do you get it? A gag! Gag!" Usopp spluttered.
"Something's funny here!" Chopper said, pointing at the captain. "He's trying to make us guilty!"
Usopp choked. "Chopper! Don't say things that'll make it worse!"
"But we can't do anything without getting told it's a crime!"
Usopp got an idea. "'Can't do anything?' Ah, I've got it!" He formed five pillows out of the cloud. "If we can't do anything, let's just take a nap!" he said cheerfully. "Good night everyone!"
The guys were all sleeping and snoring in seconds. Hoshi held her pillow, confused, her eyebrow twitching. She sighed and sat down cross-legged after a few seconds. Placing her pillow on her lap, she put her head on her fists and watched the guys sleep. There was no way she would be able to fall asleep with all her nerves humming like this.
McKinley was stunned for a moment, then he started twitching. "Making such a contemptuous sound on the serene Angel Beach… you all are guilty of environmental pollution! Your charge has now been upgraded to a Class-6 crime!"
Hoshi was torn for a second between laughing and loosing all control. Adrenaline was pouring through her veins, and she felt ready to snap and start rampaging around with all the nervous energy.
Usopp had stress marks on his head. "Oi, we can't even snore?"
Luffy got up. "Ahh, what the hell!? I'm going to kick the ass of this Believer Ossan!"
"Shall we?" Zoro and Hoshi said at the same time, standing up.
"Hey you all! Stop right there! Oi! You guys listening to me?!" Usopp yelled. "Calm down! Luffy! Zoro! Hoshi! Hey, you've all heard of snails right? Snails are slow to anger-"
"But we're not damn snails!" Hoshi roared at him. She pulled out her whip with a loud crack that pierced the cloud below her feet. As it sort of oozed itself back together, she coiled her whip and pointed it at the captain. "So tell us something we're allowed to do," she challenged.
The captain was stuck. He twitched as he scrambled for an answer, but was saved from having to do so by a familiar voice. "Wait! You guys!"
"Ah! Nami-san, you're safe!" Sanji sang, leaping out of the cabana and waving his arms wildly.
"Hoshi! Luffy! Zoro! Don't make those guys mad!" the carrot-headed navigator yelled.
"Nami! Use your money to pay the 8,000,000 Beli illegal entrance fee!" Usopp yelled desperately.
"Great!" Nami yelled. "This'll be settled if we pay a fine?"
"Yes!" Usopp shouted.
Nami came closer to the shore on the Waver. "8,000,000 Beli?" she muttered.
Hoshi glanced at Nami's face, then immediately curled into a ball. "Hit the deck!" she yelled. Everyone else quickly followed her example.
"That's…" Nami floored it. "… TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE!!" she roared, running the Waver straight into an unsuspecting Captain McKinley. He yelled as he smashed into the cabana.
Conis and Pagaya looked horrified.
"Oh, shit!" Nami said, sweatdropping. "In my anger over that ridiculous amount of money, I accidentally…!"
"Oi," said the rest of the crew, waving their hands at her.
"Oji-san, thanks a lot for the Waver! It was really fun!" Nami sweetly said.
"Oh, no, it was nothing, I'm sorry," Pagaya replied. "More importantly, you are in quite a predicament!"
"Yosh!" Nami said, looking at the soldiers surrounding their fallen captain. "Let's run away!"
"Hang on, you're not going to finish the fight you started?!" Luffy asked.
"NO! This person they call 'God' is NOT someone we should mess with!"
Hoshi glanced at Nami and narrowed her eyes. Nami had seen something while she was out.
"By the way, what crime did she commit just now?" Zoro asked sarcastically.
"M-most likely obstruction of a public servant, a Class-5 crime," Pagaya hesitantly answered.
"Oh," Usopp said sighing. "It's still only Class-5."
"That's not good!" Conis exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. "If you commit a Class-5 crime… then in the name of God Enel, you will be sentenced to cloud drifting."
Hoshi cocked an eyebrow. "Cloud drifting?"
"What's that?" Luffy asked. "Cloud drifting sounds like fun!"
Conis looked horrified. "It is not! It's a death sentence!!"
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all yelled, "D-DEATH SENTENCE?!"
Zoro glanced at the captain. "It's true he's out cold… but a death sentence in Godland seems sort of redundant."
"It's true, it really happens!" Conis insisted. "Cloud drifting is when a ship is set upon a piece of Sky Cloud. It drifts through the sky endlessly, until everyone on board has died!"
"I see," Robin noted. "So that's how a ship fell out of a clear sky."
Hoshi looked at Robin. "The St. Bliss exploratory vessel we saw, right?"
Robin nodded.
Hoshi growled, her hands forming fists at her side. Conis glanced at Hoshi's fists with some alarm, remembering what had happened to the fork.
Done with this chapter for today! I hope you enjoyed! Please review if you liked!