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Sanji was the first to emerge from the depths of the ocean, his head broke the water and swam towards the Merry. As he approached a robe ladder was thrown over the side for him. Sanji climbed up it.
"I don't know who you are but thanks for…" Sanji started when he reached the top. However, he trailed off to find no one on deck. He pulled himself up and stared at the empty deck in surprise. "what the hell? No one is here?" he asked confused.
Sanji started to look around, thinking that their saviour and the one who had brought the Merry could be hiding. It was understandable since this was a pirate ship and they'd sailed straight to Marine Hq to help pirates; maybe whoever brought the Straw Hats their ship didn't want to be seen by pirates or the Navy.
Zoro and Ezio were the next to emerge from the water. Ezio had Chimney holding onto his neck like she was having a piggyback while also heaving the sack he carries up onto the ship. Zoro and Connor under his arm, the boy was still having his panic attack and it hadn't stopped since the cannons opened fire. The crew's jump into the sea might have made things worse. Once they were both up Chimmeny was excited to be on the ship and immediately ran around to explore the Merry. Connor however darted off to a corner and away from Zoro the moment his feet touched the deck. Ezio watched Connor with concern but didn't comment; instead, he started to look around the ship.
With the kids safe as they could be, Zoro walked up to Sanji.
"Whose our saviour?" he asked.
"Don't know, I don't think there's anyone here," Sanji commented. Zoro gave Sanji an odd look but didn't comment further.
Nami emerged next and as soon as she was on deck, Usopp was thrown up, still crying Merry's name. Franky climbed up a few seconds later.
"Learn how to swim bro," he commented and climbed on deck.
"Where's Luffy, Robin and Chopper?" Nami asked worriedly.
Her question was answered when Luffy, Robin and Chopper were thrown up over the deck by Kokoro. The mermaid had immediately darted after the devil fruit users the moment they had fallen into the sea. Given the strong currents and all the battleships, it was easy for her to grab the weekend and now immobile pirates from a watery grave. Once she'd thrown the crew, Kokoro was the last to climb up on the Merrys Deck.
"ROBIN-SWAN! FALL INTO MY ARMS!" Sanji cried out with hearts in his eyes and his arms waving, ready to catch her.
However, she was caught by Franky much to Sanji's' disappointment. Chopper bounced on deck and Ezio caught Luffy. Like Franky, he immediately put the rubber captain down and stepped away from him.
"Merry…she's here…" Chopper cried with tears and then started thrashing about "I LOVE YOU MERRY!"
Usopp was hugging the mast with a similar reaction and Franky turned to look at the figurehead. "I don't understand, how could this ship be here? It was dropped into the sea in the middle of Aqua Langna," Franky claimed.
He remembered when CP9 had come for him and they had attacked him, Usopp and let the Merry out of the bunker, he remembered the horror on Usopps face as it had followed the currents down and been lost to the violent waves. Given the Merrys' heavily damaged state, Franky knew it would not survive and would be torn apart in seconds. Yet here it was, the ship that could not sail any more…it was here and still in one piece.
"Its keel is broken, it was barely holding together as it was," Franky continued.
Ezio moved past Franky and placed a hand on the mast and stared at it. After a moment he smiled.
"Whoa, the Merrys back," Luffy cheered "I thought I was going to die on that tower. Hey Robin, thanks for saving…"
However, he was suddenly cut off by Robin, she'd summoned a hand to cover his mouth preventing him from finishing that sentence. She stood up and faced the group.
"Luffy, everyone…thank you," Robing said sincerely "for coming back and not abandoning me,"
Everyone on deck smiled in response and Luffy, Kokoro and Chopper started to laugh.
"Don't worry about it," Luffy laughed "it was nothing,"
"Say stupid stuff like that after we get out of here," Zoro interjected.
Sanji and Chopper immediately attacked Zoro with Sanji trying to kick him and Chopper biting his leg.
"Don't ruin Robin-swans moment," Sanji scowled "apologise to her,"
"Yeah, don't be a jerk Zoro," Chopper echoed.
"Lay off, we're still in the thick of it," Zoro shot back "besides, she shouldn't be saying stupid stuff like that to begin with,"
"What did you say moss head?"
"Shove off cook…oh. Hey, Chopper…you can move again," Zoro noticed.
"huh?" Chopper responded and looked at his body. The swordsman was right, he was moving "Hey, I can move…Zoro, I can move," Chopper cheered with stars in his eyes.
He immediately shifted to his human form and pinned Zoro under him, pulling his legs back. "Say Sorry to Robin for interrupting," Chopper demanded.
"Oi, get off," Zoro shot back.
"Ha-ha, get him Chopper," Sanji encouraged, as the cook poked fun at Zoro's state. Robin watched this with a chuckle. She'd missed these kinds of interactions.
"I do not mean to interrupt but we have bigger problems," Ezio said looking out at the battleships that were now beginning to surround them "and those problems have cannons,"
"Alright then, let's get out of here," Nami declared. "Chopper gets into the cabin and catch the starboard wind,"
"Okay," Chopper responded and did what he was told.
Franky eyed the ships as all the cannons started to move and aim at them. Robin walked over and stood next to him.
"This isn't good, no way will all those cannons miss us," Franky said, he then glanced at Robin. "I thought they wanted you alive,"
"They do, however, Spandam is up there," Robin claimed.
"Tch, that man just won't die will he,"
"He is a cockroach and you know what they say about cockroaches surviving anything," Robin stated.
BOOM! BOOM!
The cannons fired and Usopp froze and watched as they headed straight towards the Merry, however instead of hitting the Merry, the cannons crashed into a nearby battleship or landed harmlessly in the water. The close Impact shook the Merry a bit and caused a lot of sea spray but the fragile ship sailed on.
On the battleships, the Maries were starting to panic as not only were they missing their mark but their ships were becoming increasingly hard to control and even worse those that were at the helm noticed that the rudders were no longer obeying. 3 battleships crashed into each other and many Marines fell overboard.
"What's going on?" Franky demanded, "why are they attacking their own?"
"And why are they colliding?" Zoro added.
"Oh wow, I didn't think it would do this much damage," Sanji said.
"Sanji? You did something?" Usopp asked.
Sanji looked at the rest of the crew and smiled "Yep, I didn't think we could beat 10 state-of-the-art Battleships and get away with brute force alone. So during the fight before the towers were destroyed I found the Gates of Justice controls and closed the Gates,"
"you closed the gates?" Nami asked. She looked at the water and the sea were now much more violent than before. Heavy Currents had formed and swirled around, forming several extremely large whirlpools that the Buster Call ships were now trapped in as their size meant they could not move easily. The Merry, however, was small enough to glide between the whirlpools, as long as they were careful, they would not become trapped themselves.
Nami remembered Paulie's explanation of the island, how it was surrounded by whirlpools. She'd forgotten about that.
"Of course, with the gates closed it would disrupt the currents," Nami cheered "creating the large whirlpools that the marines are now caught up in,"
"Yep, it's a problem for us two but it also means the Marines can't aim properly," Sanji claimed.
"Alright, Everyone protect the ship while I figure out a way out of here," Nami ordered as he turned to focus her attention on the currents and the whirlpools.
"Eh? What about the Hull?" Franky reminded them. It was pure luck that the Merry hadn't broken apart on its way to Enis Lobby, now being targeted by 10 battleships and adding the whirlpools onto it there was no way the Merry would not be ripped apart.
However, as soon as he said that a thick black substance suddenly oozed across the ship, covering every inch of it.
"Huh, what's this?" Usopp asked looking down at the black coating that now covered the ship and deck.
"Oi, What are you doing to the Merry!?" Luffy demanded.
Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Franky turned to look at Luffy who was yelling at Ezio. He had both his hands on the mast and was leaning against it for support. Both his hands and the edge of the sleeves on his robes were covered in the same black substance.
"I am giving your ship impenetrable armour; it will suffer no damage while I do. But I can not hold this for long," Ezio warned "do not waste any time,"
"You can do that, that's amazing!" Luffy cheered with stars in his eyes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Several more cannons fired and the crew reacted, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp took to defending the back of the ship. Zoro using his new 360-pound cannon attack, Sanji was kicking the cannon balls back with Colier shot and Usopp shooting them with his special ammo. Robin and Franky also helped, guarding the port side of the ship. Robin blocked some incoming cannonballs with her powers and they fell into Franky's hands, the cyborg caught them and threw them back at the ship while also using his inbuilt weapons to shoot and damage the battleships.
Ezio focused on keeping the Merry coated in black armour. A cannonball from the starboard side slammed straight into the crows' nest, however when the smoke cleared the top of the mast and was still there, one or two more cannon balls did manage to slip past Zoro, Sanji and Usopp however no matter where they hit, the Merry took no damage, one crashed into the sail but still, it stood firm. Each time a ball hit Ezio winced or let out a silent grunt. None of the crew noticed this nor did they see that the longer the black armour was up, the weaker Ezio was becoming.
Luffy watched this in awe, constantly saying how cool the armour was and started to move around the deck, using his head and mouth to slowly drag himself across the deck.
"Hey, I want to fight too," Luffy whined. He did not like being left out of the action.
"Forget that you're injured," Sanji responded as Luffy dragged himself up the stairs. It was an impressive feat.
"Leave this to us, just rest," Sanji added.
"But I'm the captain, I want to defend the Merry too," Luffy urged.
Zoro and Sanji looked at each other and sighed.
"Well, you heard the captain," Zoro said with a smirk.
"Yep, looks like we have no choice," Sanji agreed.
Zorro grabbed Luffy's arms and Sanji grabbed his legs. They starched Luffy out like a net and when the next round of Cannon fire fell on them, they used Luffy's rubber body to catch them and bounce the cannon balls back, sinking the battleship they came from.
"Well done, Captain," Zoro said.
"Yeah, you saved us, Captain," Sanji agreed.
"You two are monsters," Usopp commented.
"Alright, I've got it," Nami declared "Let's get out of here. Chopper Hard to port,"
"Right," Chopper responded. And he turned the ship.
As the ship turned the other marine vessels began to turn as well, while still firing cannons. However, because the ships were turning, they were unable to hit the Merry and the straw hats watched as they no longer needed to defend the ship as the Merry picked up speed.
Chopper starboard 10 degrees," Nami called out. Chopper obeyed and the Merry shifted onto a different current and whirlpool, this continued for several minutes and the result was a constant increase in speed while the Going Merry continually evaded the cannon fire while slipping between each and all Buster Call ships and sailing circles around them.
On one of the ships, Spandam was going nuts, degrading the marines, and ordering them to continue to fire on the Merry and offering everything from pay rises, promotion and even medals to the one who shot the Merry and destroyed the ship. Yet despite the impressive firepower of the Buster Call the straw hats ship continued to sail effortlessly across the wild currents.
Robin caught sight of Spandam and stared up at him with contempt. She raised her arms and suddenly arms and hands grabbed Spandam. "Clutch," she commanded and in one moment Spandams body snapped and serval of his bones including his back was broken…again.
Finally, the vindictive power-hungry madman was silenced.
"Chopper hard starboard," Nami shouted.
"Wait, if we do that we'll be trapped in a whirlpool," Franky shouted. He'd been keeping an eye on the currents and so far, the Merry had been staying out of the whirlpools. But if Chopper followed Nami's orders they'd be trapped.
"Exactly what we want," Nami smiled "everyone hold on to something,"
As the Merry turned it suddenly gained a burst of speed as it whizzed around and around in a large whirlpool.
"Franky get to the back and when I tell you, do your burst thing," Nami instructed.
"My burst…oh," Franky smiled and realised Nami's plan "You got it Nami-sis,"
Franky dashed to the back where Zoro and Sanji were hanging onto the railings, Robin had summoned arms to hold herself and Luffy on board. Franky ran past them and put his hands together and his arms grew to the size of balloons.
"Ready when you are," he shouted back at Nami. He then glanced at Ezio "that armour of yours better hold,"
"On my mark…steady…steady…MARK!" Nami shouted.
"COUP DE-BURST!" Franky cried out and unleashed a burst of air pressure into the ocean.
The Merry shot up into the air and using the built-up speed and momentum from the whirlpools it flew over the Buster Call fleet leaving the Marines stunned.
"It's…It's flying. The Straw Hat ship is flying!" the marines screamed.
"Don't underestimate the Merry, this is nothing. She's flown 10,000 ft straight up," Usopp said proudly. He pulled out some more ammo "Special attack – Super Smoke Screen,"
Usopp fired a small round that trailed smoke behind it. When it hit the water a large thick grey smoke cloud appeared and covered the whole of the fleet. Leaving the marines blinded and the Buster Call ships all stuck and sinking in the whirlpools for trying to block or change course to keep up with the Merry.
The Merry Flew well out of range and landed in the ocean with an enormous splash. The sea spray covered the ship's figurehead yet it still pressed on. With the wind behind them, combined with the build-up of momentum and speed from the launch the small pirate ship was well out of range of the Buster Call and leaving behind the burning island of Enis lobby behind them.
As they sailed away Ezio turned his head to the west and stared out onto the ocean for a few seconds before turning back to face ahead.
Admiral Aokiji watched from afar on a thick frozen part of the ocean, he'd created a small floating ice sheet to rest his bike on and watched the sinking ships, a few were now also burning having been damaged by the straw hats returning their cannonballs or just unintentional friendly fire. He stared at both the wreaks and the flaming horizon. Before looking in the direction the Merry had gone.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small snail phone and activated it. The phone connected immediately.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" Spandams voice screamed.
"So, you survived, I'm surprised at that," the Admiral responded.
"Admiral Aokiji, I didn't know you were here," Spandams voice panicked.
"I just arrived, I heard that you had used the Buster Call and came to see why it was set on one of our islands,"
"It was all that devil woman's fault; she made me press the button. Her power forced me to do it,"
"Oh? Was Nico Robin not restrained in sea stone cuffs as is standard procedure when dealing with criminals with devil fruit powers?" Aokiji asked.
"She…she was yes…"
"Then how did she overpower you and use the Buster Call, given that she survived it once and was traumatized but it. I do not think she would have it in her to initiate the attack herself,"
"Either way the straw hats have escaped with her,"
"Did they…and how did that happen?"
"They attacked Enis Lobby without provocation with their accomplices, they shot down and burned the flag of the world government, caused unimaginable amounts of damage, and defeated all of CP9 including Rob Lucci and took back the criminal Nico Robin. What's more, they humiliated me on multiple occasions,"
"You mentioned accomplices, who assisted the Straw hats?" Ajiko asked.
"There were several works from the Gally-la company as well as well-known local thugs from Water 7," Spandam reported "Thankfully we know who they are from the CP9s investigation and we can arrest them as soon as possible. Also, the giants who were with us turned on us and the mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood was on this island and was seen by multiple witnesses working with the straw hats,"
"The mentor was here?" Ajikoi asked in surprise and he focused on the direction that the Merry had gone, it was now out of sight, but he could still sense its location. Looking in that direction Ajikoi weighed his options, he could go after the crew. They would be tired, exhausted, weak, and vulnerable. He could freeze the ocean to trap them and give the marines who were now evacuating the Buster Call ships a clear path to them.
"Yes, we can still pursue them. We can't let it end like this. We need to maintain the dignity of the Navy… not the world government. The only way we can do this is if we launch a full-scale assault on the Straw Hat pirates. I can still bring that devil woman to justice. Just give me better men and more ships; I will not let Nico Robin escape again," Spandam swore.
However, Aokiji was only half listing. Hearing that the crew had allied with the Mentor of the Brotherhood changed things, he was thinking of letting them go but if the Mentor was as exhausted as the rest of the straw hats then this would be probably the only chance, he had to take them out. As the thought crossed his mind he felt deadly eyes lock onto him, a silent warning. Even though there was no one around focused on him; Ajiko knew it could only come from one person.
The mentor knew he was here.
Ajiko continued to stare in the direction the pirates had gone but let out a sigh and turned away. Focusing on the sinking fleet.
"No, don't bother," Ajikoi said.
"But sir, we have to bring in Nico Robin," Spandams voice urged.
"You were in command of CP9, the deadliest assassins the movement has ever produced. You had the Buster Call at your beck and call, you had tope marines, highly trained government agents at your disposal and above all, you had Nico Robin in chains," Ajiko stated "and despite all this, you still lost her to a pirate group, carpenters, and a bunch of thugs. No this is our loss today. I won't waste any more resources on this,"
"Does that mean you are going after the Straw Hat pirates?"
"No, I am going to come over and freeze assist in the evacuation and ensure the marines on the Buster Call ships get to safety,"
"What about the Galley-la workers, they need to be punished and persecuted as pirates for their actions,"
"I don't think it's a good idea to arrest them. After all, our ships will need repairs or we'll have to commission new ones and the Government has always used the Galley-la compony. No need to give them more of a reason to no longer accept our contracts,"
"And the thugs,"
"If we go after them then it will be like acknowledging the world government was taken out by some no-name hooligans. Better to pretend they weren't there and state that only the straw hats were responsible,"
"But…"
"No buts. Now I have one more call to make and then I will be over to freeze the whirlpools. Get any marines out of the water before I arrive. That is an order Spandam," Ajiko finished and hung up before Spandam could object any further.
Ajikoi wasn't sure when it happened but he no longer felt that warning glare on him. He died a different number and an older male's voice came through.
"Heh, what why'd you interrupt my nap?" the voice asked.
"Garp, it seems you were right and I owe you a night out," Ajikoi claimed "also Straw Hat is likely on his way back to Water 7,"
Ajiko didn't get a response as the line hung up immediately. The Admiral took a deep breath, he made a mental note to go and see Nico Robin in a few days…just to make sure. He hopped back on his bike and started to pedal his way towards the still-sinking marine fleet.
On The Going Merry.
The Going Merry was sailing at full speed, the tiny pirate ship was well out of sight of the Buster Call fleet and the nightmare of an Island that had been Enis Lobby. As the sun was now in the sky the night had passed and the ship continued to sail across the sea.
"Everyone, we've just left Enis Lobby's climate zone," Nami announced "We now officially got away from the world government,"
"WE MADE IT!" Usopp shouted in happiness.
"Are you sure?" Kokoro asked "they could be following us,"
"Nope we're not being followed," Sanji confirmed as he looked back in the direction they came from "no sign of ships or anything in any direction,"
"Do we know where we're going?" Robin asked.
"back to Water 7, it's the closet island and the log hasn't set so it's still pointing to it," Nami answered.
"Water 7 is a few hours away by train and almost a day out by ship," Kokoro provided "given our departure time we should be back by early afternoon,"
"That's good to hear," Franky said.
"What about the Gally-la workers and the Franky Family?" Luffy asked.
"They're using the king bulls, they'll be fine and probably get back a few hours after us," Franky responded "I'm not worried,"
"You sure? What about sea kings?"
"Ah, bulls are a type of smaller domesticated Seaking. The monsters in the grand line won't bother them," Franky answered.
"Really? Bulls are sea kings?" Robin asked interested.
"Yeah, they're a subspecies or something. You'd have to talk to one of the bull keepers if you want to know more about them," Franky claimed.
"I think I just might," Robin smiled. She then looked at the corner that Connor was in, the boy was still shaking and filled with fear and fright. Robin could see tears coming out of his eyes. She wanted to go over and comfort him, but Robin also knew that would not help Connor snap out of this state and she had to be patient.
Zoro walked over the mast and eyed the sail of the Merry, despite it still being covered in black armour it still furled in the wind. He moved over to the starboard railing and ran his hand along it; it was very smooth to the touch and held a slight metallic feel to it. Not at all what the wood of the ship felt like. Despite the Merry being covered in armour it was unhindered by the waves or the wind nor did it appear to increase its overall weight as the Merrys' speed had not decreased.
Zoro glanced over his shoulder at Ezio, who despite being out of combat was keeping the armour up.
"Hey you can drop this armour thing now, we're safe," Zoro said.
"Not…Not yet…can't…not…yet," Ezio panted. Zoro raised an eyebrow, Ezio sounded like he was struggling and in pain even though the ship was no longer in danger and Ezio had not taken any damage in the last fight.
The swordsman couldn't help but wonder what kind of power this was, he knew Ezio had the same eyes as Connor but he'd never seen Connor produce something like this. Ezio had successfully swum up to the Merry with Connor as a passenger with relative ease so, Zoro knew this armour couldn't be the result of devil fruit power otherwise Ezio would have needed saving when they jumped into the ocean. He considered that this could be something to do with Ezios sight, and Connor would be able to do it once he mastered it, but Zoro got the feeling that was not the case.
The Merry sailed on, and now and then one of the crew would check on Connor in his hiding spot. However, the boy was not calming down. Chopper did his best to tend to the injuries of the crew and while Luffy was the worst of them all, he still found ways to move around on deck, though it was mostly Robin rolling him or Kokoro carrying him to different spots.
Chimney found herself a spot on the starboard railing eagerly looking out to sea, she enjoyed feeling the wind in her hair and the sea spray on her face. Though this was likely attributed to her fishman heritage and childish nature. After about an hour of sailing Ezio suddenly spoke up.
"My sincerest apologies…I can't hold…" Ezio said and he fell forward, suddenly collapsing on the deck. The entire crew turned to look at him with worry and the black-coated armour that had protected the Merry disappeared.
"Ezio!"
Chopper ran over to him and tried to wake him up but Ezio was unresponsive.
"Oi, Chopper what happened to him?" Zoro demanded.
"I don't know, he's not injured or anything," Chopper claimed. He did a quick examination but didn't find any wounds or anything that would cause him to pass out,"
"Then why did he?" Franky asked "and is he going to be, okay?"
"I don't know, from what I can tell he's just unconscious," Chopper responded "wait…he's hyperventilating…and…he's got a high fever," Chopper gasped.
"But he was fine when we were fighting the marines," Sanji urged.
"I know, it's getting worse, he needs medical treatment right away,"
"But we don't have any supplies on the ship, we took them all off when we left it at Water 7," Nami reminded them.
"Chopper, don't you keep medical supplies in your bag?" Robin pointed out.
"I do but it's only bandages and some painkillers and a few anti-toxins," Chopper claimed "I can keep an eye on him and give him a painkiller but I'd need the rest of my medicine to treat him properly. He's in no danger of dying yet but if his fever gets too high, he will be,"
"Then let's move him to the cabin. It will be more comfortable than the deck," Sanji suggested.
"Is that even safe?" Nami asked.
"Yeah, I don't think he's going to wake up for a while," Chopper said. He shifted into his Human form and picked up Ezio, carrying the feared Assassin mentor into the cabin. Nami opened the door and took a quick look inside before she moved away to let Chopper pass.
Apart from the furniture and the bed, there was no one inside. She then went to the men's quarters, the kitchen, and the storage room. There was nobody inside.
"Odd, no one's here either," she muttered.
"Nami-Chan, what are you looking for?" Sanji asked.
"Whoever steered the ship," Nami answered "But there's no one on it but us,"
"Maybe they're hiding," Zoro offered "we're pirates after all,"
"Yeah, but why would someone bring the Merry to Marine Hq to save us and not show themselves once we've escaped?" Nami reasoned "we're not going to hurt them,"
"Speaking of not being hurt, has anyone seen Usopp?" Luffy asked as Kokoro carried him over on her back.
Nami, Sanji and Zoro gave Luffy a deadpan look. Sogeking walked up to them.
"Do not worry, Sir Luffy. Usopp left on a small boat that was concluded so the Marines would not destroy it," Sogeking claimed.
"Oh really? Well okay then," Luffy said.
"It is noble for you to be concerned about your former shipmate," Sogeking praised.
"I'm not worried, I just wondered why Usopp up and left, the Merry is his ship after all," Luffy claimed.
"Well I am sure he will reclaim it once we get back to Water 7," Sogeking said.
"Alright then, hey creepy Grandma. Can you put me on the Merry's head. It's my special spot," Luffy requested.
"Alright," Kokoro agreed and she walked away from Zoro, Nami and Sogeking; heading towards the front of the ship. Zoro, Sanji, Nami and Sogeking watched them go.
"Are you ever going to tell him and Chopper?" Sanji asked with a sigh "also why are you hiding?"
"I don't think so, I'm not part of the crew and I don't want to face Luffy yet," Usopp said.
"Good, it's for the best," Zoro said and he walked off to the side to check on Connor. He was still in the midst of his panic attack but seemed to have calmed down. Zoro noted that Connor was no longer crying or using that odd language but instead was still hiding and trying to make himself as small as possible and trembling in fear.
Zoro let out a sigh, Connor didn't normally stay this long in his panic attacks, Zoro just hoped Connor recovered from this.
Kokoro gently placed Luffy on the figurehead of the Merry "There you go, if you fall off, I'll jump in and toss you back up,"
Luffy held on to it as if he was hugging it.
"Merry, thanks for coming to get us," Luffy said gratefully.
"Man, you lot are insane, burning the flag of the world government and surviving the Buster Call. You know your bounties are going to skyrocket rocket, right?"
"It's fine, all we did was take back our Nakama. Doesn't matter what happens afterwards. We can handle it. Thanks for helping us save Robin," Luffy said with his trademark grin "I don't hate you anymore,"
"Heh, feelings mutual. But you should also thank Ezio too,"
"I will,"
"Oh that reminds me," Sanji spoke up "Luffy, you need to talk to Ezio when he wakes up to discuss his payment,"
"Huh, what payment?"
"He wanted passage out of Enis Lobby and shelter while he makes arrangements to go home in exchange for helping get Robin back," Zoro informed "I told him to take the second part up with you once we escaped but he's passed out now,"
"Oh, is that all, that's fine. He can stay with us, we've still got to decide what we're going to do once we get back to Water 7," Luffy said. He lifted his head slightly and saw a ship heading in their direction.
"Hey a ship," Luffy announced "maybe they'll have food,"
Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Franky got on guard, just encase the ship was hostile or a marine ship. However, they quickly relaxed as the ship in front of them was neither. It was a large red Gallon class ship with the main mast having 3 sails, and the words and Logo of the Gally-la Compony on the sails. The ship was filled with Gally-la workers on deck and Iceberg was at the front.
"Oh, it's Icecream," Luffy said happily. "Hey Icecream, over here," Luffy shouted waving his hands.
"So, he is alive, good," Franky said.
Iceberg looked down at those on the Merry, his eyes scanned the deck and they landed on Nico Robin with suspicion and disapproval. Robin met his gaze.
"Nico Robin," Iceberg muttered. He then looked at the Merry, Kokoro, and Chimney and spotted Connor peeking out of his hiding spot with a very frighted expression on his face, however, the boy's head pulled back the moment Iceberg noticed him "incredible, they did get everything back,"
The celebration was cut short as the Merry creaked loudly and then suddenly the front part of the Merry broke off. The ship split in half with the front barely holding together. Luffy fell off the figurehead and dangled close to the ocean. Zoro, Nami, Sogeking and Robin all held onto the railings so they wouldn't fall. Chimney, and Nami were on the aft side so they were still level and Chopper burst out of the cabin to see what had happened.
"Wait, what happened?" Nami panicked as she held on to the railing so she would not slide off the ship into the ocean "why'd the Merry break all of the sudden?"
"This isn't all of a sudden, the Merry can't sail anymore. Remember," Sanji claimed, "They said the Merry would never sail again,"
"But it got to Enis Lobby, it made it through Aqua Laguna and then took us back out to sea," Luffy argued.
"It's a miracle the Merry even made it to Enis lobby, to begin with," Sanji said sadly.
Luffy pulled himself back up on the ship's head and once more held onto it.
"Oi Iceberg, please help us. Fix the Merry," Luffy pleaded "you're all shipwrights aren't you, please do something. The Merry, she's our Nakama who's been with us since the beginning, she's always been there for us and she just saved us. Please do something…anything,"
Iceberg looked down at Luffy with sympathy and shook his head.
"I am sorry, but I cannot. The truth is I already fixed your ship," Iceberg answered.
"You did?" Sogeking asked.
Iceberg nodded "After I left you with the sea train, I heard someone in the scrap yard, an echo of a hammer," he said.
"A hammer?" Franky asked in surprise and looked at the figurehead. He had a deep suspicion of where this was going.
"Yes, I thought someone was down there and since Aqua Lagna was about to hit I went down to warn them but found no one. Just your ship. It was in bad shape. However, when I made contact with it I heard a voice," Iceberg continued "It said I want to sail, I want to help them just one more time…please help me sail,"
The crew were stunned at this.
"So, I did, I didn't have many tools but I reinforced the mast, and the keel and did everything I could to keep your ship afloat for as long as possible knowing that it wouldn't hold. As I worked, even though I was alone, a hammer echoed in the area while I worked. Once I was at the limit of what I could do in the short time I had, I left the ship and headed back to safety knowing a huge wave was about to strike. But as I left I heard the voice again…it thanked me and when I turned around your ship was washed out to see. Its sails unfurled on its own and even the rough currents did not change its course,"
"Merry," Sogeking whispered "you really did come for us on your own,"
"I am sorry straw hat, but your ship is at its limit. I've been a shipwright all my life and not once have I seen a more amazing ship than this. The Going Merry is truly a remarkable ship, it pushed past its limits and while I wish I could save it, I can't. It's reached the end of its journey,"
"I…I understand," Luffy said in a calm voice.
"Your crew are welcome on my ship, we will take you all back to Water 7," Iceberg said.
With a heavy acceptance, the Straw Hat pirates prepared to disembark the Going Merry one last time.
The Gally-la Company lowered a Rowboat for the crew to use and one by one they boarded it. Kokoro and Chimmey were the first to get off, they had no attachments to the small pirate ship after all. Nami and Chopper left after them with Chopper carrying a still-unconscious Ezio, followed by Sanji and Robin. Zoro walked over to Connor's hiding spot, he knelt down, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. Connor looked up at him with pain-filled and frighted eyes.
"Come one kid, it's time to go," Zoro said gently and held out his hand. Connor hesitantly took it and let Zoro lead him off the ship. The boy took a glance at where he was hiding and a long look at the Merry's figurehead.
Zoro believed that deep down Connor knew what was happening since he wasn't fighting to get away.
Luffy and Sogeking were the last ones to leave with Sogeking hesitating to get off. But he did.
Once they were all on the rowboat Luffy grabbed one of the oars and snapped it in two. He then reached down and pulled out an emergency flare and lit it, holding the Oar over the flare it ignited and Luffy looked back at the Merry. None of the crew commented or stopped him as they knew what he was doing.
With the lit oar, Luffy turned to face the Merry.
"It's probably good that Usopp isn't here, he wouldn't be able to handle this," Luffy commented "Is everyone ready?"
No one said anything, they just stared at the Merry once more and Chopper lowered his head. Connor shifted closer to Zoro and squeezed his pants leg. Zoro placed a gentle reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Merry, the sea floor is dark and lonely, but the winds will carry you all over the world. We'll see you off," Luffy said and he held out the burning oar to the ship.
The Merry ignited and Luffy tossed the oar onto the deck to let the fire spread and they watched the fire spread.
"Merry, thanks for letting us ride so long on you," Luffy said.
As the Merry watched the ship burn in respectful silence, small specks of light snow began to fall. Nami noticed and looked up, the pressure and air currents were not high enough for snow nor was there any cloud in the sky apart from the smoke column from the fire.
"Huh, where'd this come from?" A shipwright asked, "There's no winter Island nearby and we should be between climate zones?"
"I'm sorry," a voice filled everyone's head "I wanted to carry you to the end, I wanted to have more adventures with you,"
Everyone looked up in shock, the shipwrights above were looking around wildly for the source of the voice. The only ones who weren't were on the Straw Hats and Iceberg.
They were focused solely on the Merry.
"No, it's my fault," Luffy shouted back with tears in his eyes "I'm bad at steering, I broke your sail and mast multiple times. Zoro and Sanji are idiots and broke lots of things, I never stopped them and Usopp tried to fix you but…but…I should have found a proper shipwright from the beginning,"
"WE'RE THE ONES WHO NEED TO APOLOGISE!"
"No, I was happy. Always so happy because of all of you. You all treated me so well and despite what you might think I wouldn't want to change anything that happened," Merry said "so thank you, when you see Vivi, tell her goodbye for me,"
The entire Straw Hat crew were in tears, there was no dry eye amongst them and even the Gally-la ship there was not a single dry eye amongst them.