Sorry for the wait for this chapter, I know I usually update every week, but, last week I was really, really, busy. So, I apologise to you all. Hope you enjoy this chapter though.
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Chapter 13: The Jolly Roger
Chopper's car turned out to be a small little, bright red, cramped up vehicle. Zoro looked at it, one eyebrow raised as Chopper hurried up to it.
"I'm doomed." he muttered. Luffy brushed past and Zoro shook his head. The simple feeling of rushing adrenaline through his blood, enough to make Zoro blush and hurry to put the bags into the back of the car. Luffy inspected the car for a moment, one finger resting on his chin as he thought.
"It needs something…" he muttered.
"What could it need? Apart from a total overhaul." Usopp commented sarcastically from the other side of the car. Luffy shrugged, not getting the sarcasm.
"I don't know, but, there's something it's missing…" and he trailed off, still looking at the car. Sanji sighed and was about to get into the driver's seat, but, as it turned out, Zoro did the same thing, at the same time and hips clashed causing the two men to tumble to the ground.
"Are you guys-" Chopper began but was cut off as the inevitable fighting began.
"Asshole, I'm driving! You'd just run us off the road!" Sanji yelled as he dusted off his pants. Zoro frowned.
"Bullshit you are! You don't even know where the hell you're going!" he returned, ignoring the sarcastic comment about his driving that Nami had made in the background.
"Well, maybe if you told us, I would know!" Sanji growled, getting to his feet. Zoro did the same thing and sparks seemed to fly between the two before Luffy interrupted with a loud,
"That's it!" and he dashed around to the other side of the small shed.
"Guys, we should be going." Nami said, taking the opportunity to say something while silence reigned. She had a hand on her hip and looked a little distracted. Zoro ignored her but Sanji swooned and was soon saying how right she was, and how it was all 'Marimo's' fault that they hadn't left yet.
Chopper and Usopp watched Luffy as he dashed from shelf to shelf, looking up and down, left to right and back again until he grabbed a small, black, aerosol can. He gave it a shake and heard the 'tap tap' of the ball bouncing around inside before he ran back to the car.
"Guys!" he called over Sanji's swooning and Nami's trying to tell everyone they should be leaving. The group stopped to look at him and Luffy held up the can. "I have an idea."
"That's a first." Sanji commented, annoyed that he had been stopped from praising his wonderful Nami. Zoro glared at the chef, and the chef glared right back. Luffy ignored the pair of them.
"So, yeah, my idea. I thought that, seeing as we're all friends and stuff, that, we should make a symbol." Luffy explained and then waited for their replies. There was silence as the group thought, and then Usopp gave a short nod.
"I agree Luffy. It should be in tribute to the great captain Usopp! Commander of the earth's greatest armies and defeater of hell's fire demons!" the long nosed boy cried. Everyone blinked at him and Usopp shrugged. "What?" he asked. Sanji shook his head at Usopp and then looked at Luffy.
"Wouldn't a symbol make us easier to recognise?" he asked. Luffy blinked and then bowed his head.
"Oh, I forgot." he muttered and then looked sadly at the can of black paint in his hand. Zoro's mouth twisted and he began to think.
They were bound to be caught anyway. They were, after all, going back to the scene of the 'crime'. No doubt that place would be harder to get into than an army bunker. Zoro sighed and then looked towards Luffy who was still looking forlornly at the can in his hand.
"So, where would we put it?" Zoro asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Luffy's head rose up and a smile spread across his face as the others turned to look at Zoro in amazement.
He was the most wanted guy out of the group, so they thought, and here he was agreeing to a silly thing like a symbol which would practically shout out 'Hey world! Look at us! We want to be arrested thankyou very much!'.
"Zoro…" Nami began but Zoro held up a hand to silence her.
"Where do you want to put it Luffy?" he asked again and Luffy beamed before running over to the car and pointing at the bonnet.
"Here, right here!" he cried, almost bouncing with excitement. Usopp swaggered over and had a quick look at Luffy's choice of area.
"That could work." he muttered, "What's the symbol?"
"I don't know." Luffy replied and Usopp nearly fell over.
"You… don't know?" he asked. Luffy grinned, nodded and then placed the can of paint on the bonnet.
"Any suggestions?" Luffy asked the group. Sanji shrugged, not really caring as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth, blew out a puff of smoke, and then put the cigarette back in his mouth.
Nami inspected her fingernails, also not caring what they did as long as they got out of here quickly. Chopper had a hoof on his fuzzy chin as he thought. Usopp was also thinking, looking at the car with a distant expression on his face.
"Pirates." Zoro said from where he was standing. Luffy blinked at him.
"Pirates?" he asked and Zoro nodded.
"Sure. Pirates. They're outlaws right? Well, we're fugitives, sort of, and I guess that means we're kinda like pirates really. So, what about a jolly roger?" he asked and shrugged. Luffy blinked for a second and then nodded.
"Hey…that's pretty cool Zoro!" he cried and then spun around. He grabbed the can of paint, gave it another good shake and then popped the lid. Usopp took a long step backwards and out of any possible 'danger areas' Luffy might create.
Zoro watched interestedly as Luffy began spraying the general shape of a skull. His hand shook slightly as he held the nozzle of the can close to the metal of the bonnet of the car. The smell of paint permeated the air and Nami wrinkled her nose.
"Hurry it up would ya? We need to leave!" she said. Zoro glared at her and Nami subsided.
Okay, so, Zoro really wants Luffy to do this…wonder why? Nami thought as she crossed her arms.
Idiotic swordsman, green haired bastard. He's gonna get us all arrested and killed if he lets Luffy continue. Although, it is a pretty cool idea, but still. It's stupid. Utterly stupid. Sanji thought as he turned slightly away, but kept his hidden eye focused on Luffy from under the veil of hair.
This is good for Luffy… might give him some hope. I really want to bail everyone out of this. I wish no one had ever gotten involved. Zoro thought as he watched Luffy continue with the skull. He was now doing a straw hat on the skull's head. Zoro smiled. I'm glad they're with me though. Especially him.
"There." Luffy announced. The skull had a wide toothy grin, a dot for a nose, and wide eyes peeking out from under a rather shakily drawn straw hat. Luffy grinned, and held out the can towards Zoro.
"Your turn." he said and tilted his head. Zoro blinked for a second.
"My turn? What do you mean?" he asked, a little unsure of what Luffy meant.
"You have to draw something special to you on the Jolly roger of course." Luffy explained as though it where obvious. Zoro's brows furrowed. He had to draw something special to him? Why?
"What for?" he asked. Luffy shrugged.
"Because, if we each draw something special to us, then, it will look cooler and make it more… ours." and Luffy pushed the can into Zoro's hand before stepping away from the bonnet.
This would have been the time for Nami to make an aggravated sigh, or Sanji to make a snide comment, even Usopp to start telling a story about how he rescued the world, but, no one made a sound.
Breathing was not even heard.
This was an important task, for all of them, not just Luffy and Zoro. For some reason, such a simple thing as a symbol, tended to unite a group of people. Like a flag, or a national anthem. It was theirs.
Something that showed how much they had been through and how they got through it with a smile and a head held high. It wasn't just a picture on the bonnet of a car. Luffy had made it theirs, by suggesting they all drew something on it.
Something important to them.
Zoro looked at the can in his hand, and then looked at the bonnet of the car. The paint still glistened and Zoro thought for a minute before bending over the picture and pressing down the button on the top of the can. It wasn't long before he let the button go and stood up straight to inspect his work. Luffy leaned near him and then gave a short cry of excitement.
"A sword!" he called. Zoro smiled.
"I'm surprised you can tell what it is. I'm not very good at art." he replied. Luffy shrugged.
"Who cares. Besides, it looks cool. Is that the one you hold in your mouth?" he asked and Zoro blinked before nodding. He was surprised that Luffy paid that much attention to what he did and how he fought. Usopp leant past Luffy to have a look at it as well.
"Ha, it's in the mouth of the skull. Cool." he commented and smiled at Zoro who shrugged.
"Ok. Nami, your turn." Luffy said.
"Yeah yeah, let's just hurry this up." she replied. Snatching the can out of Zoro's hand, she bent over the jolly roger, and did a quick squiggle underneath the chin of the skull. She drew a line down the centre of the squiggle and then stood up to look at it a second before passing the can to Usopp.
"A… dollar sign?" Luffy asked, tilting his head as if to try and see the picture a different way. Nami gave a short nod.
"Yep. That's what's most important to me." she replied, crossing her arms again. Luffy blinked for a second then shrugged and stepped back as Usopp went to work. It took the long nose a little longer than Nami, but a considerably shorter time than Zoro had.
He drew, out the top of the skull's head on the right side, a slingshot top and the handle of it protruding from the left side of the skull's jaw, under the handle of Zoro's sword. Usopp stood back a second to admire his work before throwing the can to Sanji, who caught it deftly and walked forward.
"Whaddya think Luffy?" Usopp asked. Luffy nodded.
"Cool. But, not as cool as Zoro's." the boy replied. Usopp's jaw dropped and Zoro felt a smug smile tugging at his lips but he denied it the opportunity. It wasn't the time to be smug, although every fibre of his being dearly wished to jump around the room.
But, someone with a broody reputation to uphold, wouldn't be caught dead doing that. Sanji was a long time at drawing his picture but when he was finished, the chef seemed proud enough of it.
He had drawn a fork that was poking out of the skull's head the same as Usopp's, only on the left side and he had drawn a spoon on the bottom, opposite Usopp's. Last of all, it was Chopper's turn.
The little reindeer tried to reach, but he just couldn't, and then looked dispiritedly at both the car and the can. Luffy tilted his head, grabbed Chopper, who squealed, and lifted the reindeer onto the top of the car, where he watched as Luffy gave him a smile and then went back to stand between Usopp and Zoro.
Chopper blinked, grinned, and then drew two straight lines, crossing over each other in the sign of a medical cross in the middle of the straw hat on the skull's head. He looked up with a grin before sliding off the front of the car and hurrying back over to Luffy.
"That looks cool Chopper." Usopp commented, noting the cross that was present on the little doctor's hat. Chopper frowned,
"It doesn't look cool!" he shouted, but a grin spread across his face and with a happy squeal, he ran over to the car. Luffy smiled at the jolly roger on the car.
"Now we have a symbol! We can't lose this car, ever!" he cried, waving his arms in the air. Zoro smiled.
"Can we leave now?" Nami asked dryly. Zoro frowned.
"I'm driving." he said, pointing a finger at Sanji who frowned.
"Fine, but when you get us lost, don't anybody blame me." the chef responded before walking around to the back of the car, and climbing into the centre of the back seat, where he crossed his arms and puffed broodingly on his cigarette.
This continued until Nami got in beside him and then it was all hearts, and swirly things and continuing praise and flattery for Nami who wished she had gotten in the front. But, no way in hell was she going to sit next to Zoro. He'd be pissing her off the whole way.
Better to take flattery from an overzealous chef, than to get continuing glares and smart mouth remarks from a brooding swordsman. Luffy dived into the front passenger seat and Zoro's face brightened.
Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad trip at all. Usopp got in the back on the other side of Sanji and Chopper got into the back seat accessible boot. Zoro turned the key and the car came to life with an unhealthy sounding rattle.
"How long has it been since this car was used Chopper?" Usopp asked. The little reindeer shrugged from where he was leaning his chin on the top of the back seat beside Sanji's head.
"I don't know. I don't remember." the doctor responded.
"That sounds promising." Zoro muttered before pressing the button that opened the garage door. He put the little remote back on the dash and pressed down the accelerator.
"Sanji, get your knee out of my back." Luffy mumbled, moving around in his seat.
"Just move over." Sanji replied nastily.
"I did, I can still feel it." Luffy responded. Zoro sighed. Nope, this was going to be a long trip after all, and he had a lot to think about.
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Not very long, and it didn't really advance the plot, but, I've been wanting to put in the jolly roger for a while now. Hope it fit in well, and it didn't sound rushed. If it was, it was probably because I haven't written anything for nearly a week, and yeah. I tend to lose what little thoughts I have on stories when I don't write. Anyway, that's totally unimportant to anything at this point in time, so I will just leave you all to leave a little review and tell me what you think. k? Thankyou.