I'm glad I could spark your interest! Thanks for reviewing, people :) Please enjoy!
Warnings: Don't read if you aren't up to date with the manga.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
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Chapter 2 – Out of the blue
~ A few days before ~
The infamous strawhat crew had just left another island behind; another exciting adventure had passed and they were all alive and well. It was good to be back together again... no, that's not true. It was even better. All of them were three times stronger than they were two years ago, and their wish to complete and charge their dreams was stronger than ever.
They felt like nothing that stood in their way, marine admiral or pirate captain, could stop them. They were more powerful than anyone, and the way they could always rely on each other made them nearly invincible. At least, that's what they felt like: Strong and invincible.
Nami, Usopp and Chopper had to admit: The New World was twice as scary and unpredictable as the normal Grand Line, but they had twice as much fun, too. The strawhats had the time of their lives.
Especially at the island they were currently docked at, Gerino Island. The weather was fine, they had already restocked their supplies, and the whole crew was in a great mood.
The main reason was a small marine base that was at the end of the town. They had been walking through the town together when suddenly, a young marine soldier had pointed at them and shouted hysterically.
"Uaaaaaah! It's the strawhat pirates!" The marine soldier shouted, torn between a mix of joy and terror. After all...all of the crew members had an extremely high bounty on their heads... if they managed to catch them, they'd be RICH and honored! People would finally begin to pay the marine the respect they deserved, especially at this island where everyone just laughed at them. It was their chance, and they didn't fail to seize it.
Most of the strawhats smirked at this. Since they were all in high spirits this morning and Nami had been shopping before, no one minded a small quarrel with the marine. It was supposed to be a short fight, just for fun... nothing more.
And so the fight began. The strawhat crew didn't even use their strongest moves, it wasn't necessary. The bunch of half-trained marine fighters was just as worse as their leader, Lieutenant Hale. The man was scared to no end and sweated up a storm as he shouted orders, barking at his men to take them down finally.
"Nami-swan, Robin-chwan, don't worry! I shall protect you with my life! I won't let those filthy marines lay a finger on you!" Sanji declared and stormed off to take down marine fighters. The two women watched the blond haired man fight and giggled. The swordsman just rolled his eyes at the cook's actions and joined in the fight, slashing down some of the guys.
"Che, these guys are a pain in the ass." Zoro muttered. 'Damn, this is boring. If I had at least some sake with me...'.
Brook laughed happily. "I agree, Zoro-san! I've never seen such weak marines, though now that I think about it I actually don't have eyes to see! Yohoho!"
Luffy giggled at the joke as he punched someone into the face. Chopper watched this and frowned for a moment because somehow, Luffy seemed a little unsteady on his feet. He wobbled slightly before he caught himself and straightened his back again. What was that...? Then the reindeer shook his head, it was probably just his imagination. Luffy and unsteady? Ha!
"Oi, Luffy! Stop messing around, I still have to complete some maps on the ship!" Nami complained, striking some poor marines with a Thunderbolt. The others agreed, encouraging Luffy to use Gear third. Luffy smiled at his crews grinning faces and nodded.
"Ouh!" he simply said, lifting his right hand to blow some air into his thumb. Of course, everyone recognized this familiar pose.
The marines screamed in terror, the strawhats cheered, and suddenly, Luffy dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Luffy!" some of his crew mates shouted, unable to move at first. A few gasps were heard from the crew, and then there was nothing but a collective silence.
Almost immediately, as if someone pressed the 'pause' button, everyone fell silent, too surprised to utter a single vocal. All fighting stopped, not even the clash of two swords were heard … they all turned and stared.
To say his crew was shocked was the understatement of the century. Everything had been fine, and all of sudden their leader just fainted! None of them knew how to react at the moment.
The moment Luffy's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his knees buckled underneath him, Zoro felt like someone grasped his throat and squeezed as hard as he could. It was a bizarre scene; a terrible joke of fate that no one was prepared for.
"Nani?!" Nami looked absolutely terrified, and she clasped her hands over her mouth.
"Wh-what happened...? Luffy-san?" Brook gaped at the scene before him, the marine guy he was fighting against forgotten.
The rest of Luffy's nakama stood there frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened and if this was just one of Luffy's stupid jokes. Surely they'd see him laughing his butt off seeing their shocked faces, right?
The marine fighters acted in a similar fashion. They didn't trust the silence and were very careful in their next steps. Was this a new fighting trick? They didn't know, but they felt like Mugiwara no Luffy was just playing with them at the moment. Those brave men didn't dare to near the dead-like person on the ground, fearing Luffy would jump up and laugh and beat them all in less than two seconds. He didn't have an extremely high bounty for nothing after all.
Quickly, the shock wore off and the strawhats began to move again. Most of them gaped save for Usopp and Nami who giggled half-heartily, attempting to lift the mood.
"Luffy you idiot, why do you always have to scare us like that?" Usopp said, shaking his head. Nami sighed dramatically but didn't hide her awkward grin.
"Geez, I was really worried there for a second... get up, baka!"
Franky decided to join in the complaining and whined something about a not so super stunt Luffyjust pulled. Brook 'yohohoed' and the rest just rolled their eyes. Luffy could be such a bother.
But Zoro frowned. Something felt wrong there. Whatever had just happened, it was definitely not Luffy's doing. Zoro was angry at the others because he knew they all sensed something wrong but tried to play it off as a joke. Couldn't they see the whole situation was escalating? Even the marines seemed to realize something was off!
"Oi, this is enough, can't you see the ladies don't like your stupid joke, Luffy?" Sanji grumbled and kicked one marine fighter into the face. Chopper, who was fighting next to him, began to run towards the fallen boy. It wasn't just his doctor mode that pushed him to his captain. Chopper feared for Luffy's well-being because he was the reindeer's friend and by the looks of it, Luffy had to be gravely injured. The nineteen-year-old still hadn't moved from his spot and the little reindeer knew Luffy hadn't just fallen asleep.
"Luffy?!" He squeaked, trying to prevent his voice from quivering so much. So it hadn't been his imagination after all... Luffy had been unsteady before. The reindeer cursed himself. He should have reacted and checked up on the boy immediately! But now it was too late to ponder about what should have been done.
Chopper just blinked helplessly at the lifeless form of his captain, the one man he looked up to. What on earth did just happen...? This felt so surreal; hadn't Luffy just been jumping up and down and running around, all the way laughing like a maniac? Hadn't he moved freely, beating the marine soldiers with his endless source of energy?
Chopper could hardly believe the picture his eyes were sending to his brain. This was not how it was supposed to work. Luffy was not supposed to look so pale... so much like a human. Luffy was supposed to be invulnerable. Luffy was supposed to be Luffy.
As if someone had pushed a button, the marine snapped out of it. Finally, the enemy began to understand this wasn't just some kind of game the pirates played and hell broke loose. They grinned confidently and rushed towards the crew with new fighting spirit, screaming all the way with swords raised.
"Hah! One down, eight to follow!" One of them shouted, the blood lust and hatred glistening in his eyes.
"We beat the infamous son of Dragon! We can beat the rest of his crew, too!"
Lieutenant Hale, a short man with chubby cheeks, smiled maliciously as he saw Luffy was indeed not getting up again. Quickly, he turned to stand in the soldiers' way.
"Hold on, men! Focus on Strawhat Luffy, he's our prey! I want him dead or alive, now is your chance! Arrest HIM first!"
"Yessir!" They shouted in perfect unison and rushed to their 'prey'.
Zoro cursed under his breath as people started to run after Luffy, shouting wildly. He didn't hesitate to join the chaos, trying to reach Luffy first but things were getting out of control too fast. A minute before the strawhats had clearly had the upper hand, but suddenly the tide had turned and their 'just-for-fun' fight turned out to be deadly serious.
The swordsman cursed again. Those marine people seemed to have lost their heads. They were trying to charge at his captain, his blanching, unmoving, unconscious captain, and Zoro instantly knew he couldn't reach him fast enough. He absent-mindly slashed three guys with one sword, searching for his nakama in this mess. Where the heck were they all of sudden?! Weren't they right behind him a second ago?
"Oi! Someone grab Luffy, we have to get out of here!" Zoro shouted, hoping the others would hear him. They had to get back to the Sunny as quick as possible and have Luffy checked. Something told Zoro that this time... this time shit really hit the fan.
"UOH! I got strawhat! He's out cold!" A voice suddenly shouted, and immediately Zoro's head whipped up at that. This didn't come from one of the strawhats, Zoro could easily tell.
'What?! Damn it!' he thought and shot around, trying to find the person whom the voice belonged to. If only he could make Luffy out in this huge mess of screaming people...! But it was nearly impossible. The marine fighters seemed twice as much as before.
Zoro felt like searching for a sugar cube in the middle of an anthill; the only difference was that these greedy marines wouldn't actually eat his captain. They'd do much worse things to him.
"Crap!" Zoro shouted and decided to let his instincts take control over him. Meaning, he closed his eyes, bowed his head and began to cut his way through this mass of noisy marines, not letting panic or any other emotion get in the way.
Lieutenant Hale, who had yet to recognize the danger he was in, grinned upon seeing one of his men carrying Luffy away from the others and opened his arms as if to embrace him.
"Great work!" He praised loudly, but it sounded like a shrieking madman. His eyes wide, a huge grin upon his face, the lieutenant opened his mouth to let the world know of his victory, but unfortunately Roronoa Zoro was faster. The demon swordsman slashed him before he had time to comprehend what was happening. Lieutenant Hale was dead before he hit the dusty ground.
Now that his main target was finished, Zoro turned around to the huge mass of marines behind him. Those guys obviously hadn't noticed their leader was dead, seeing as they were still running around and fighting as crazy.
The first mate of the strawhats lifted his swords and he narrowed his gaze. His eyes darted around too quick for anyone to follow, only one thought occupying his mind:
Where is he?!
If Zoro could, he would have sent them all to hell with a simple Oni Giri. But he would risk hurting one of his friends, so his stronger attacks were out of questions. He had no other choice but searching for Luffy and the rest of the crew step by step; victim by victim.
Just as he was about to cut someone's chest open, a familiar voice made him stop in his tracks.
Franky's loud, almost calm voice cut through the air like thunder. For once he didn't add a super.
"Oi! I got Luffy, let's go everyone!"
Zoro allowed a small sigh of relief escape his lips before he made his way back to where Franky had to be. Quickly, he spotted the rest of the crew and sighed in relief for the second time that day. 'Where THE HELL have they been all the time?!' But Zoro forgot his anger immediately when he saw his captain. Luffy was out cold and was dropped over Franky's shoulder, unresponsive. It was grotesque, but the black-haired boy looked like an old rag doll. It made the swordsman's stomach turn upside down.
As they all reunited in the middle of that chaos, with numerous wild marines on their heels, they broke through everything and everyone that dared to stand in their way and fled to the Thousand Sunny, choosing not to fight for once. The captain's health was their first priority.
"What the deuce was that?" Sanji gasped out while running. Something like this had never happened before, it came totally unexpected. If someone had told Sanji that Luffy would just faint like that he would have laughed his ass off. Now he certainly didn't feel like laughing as he watched Luffy's fingers limply dangling from Franky's back. It was a bizarre sight and he quickly turned his head away.
"Hell if I knew!" Zoro responded darkly. Chopper sniffled behind him, trying hard not to cry. But it had been a huge shock to see Luffy crashing to the ground out of the blue and he couldn't help but feel guilty for not preventing that.
„I- I can't believe this!" Nami stuttered, clearly shaken by the events.
„Tell me about it! I wonder what's wrong with Luffy...", Usopp said, panting from all the running.
Just as Nami was about to answer, Franky interrupted. „Oi, minna, I think we can discuss it all in peace once we're on Thousand Sunny. But until then, shut up and concentrate on running."
„Franky's right, let's save the talking for later." Zoro said, and no one objected.
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As they reached the harbour minutes later, they didn't waste a second and hopped aboard. Franky immediately brought Luffy into the infirmary, closely followed by Chopper who began to exam him. The rest of the crew got ready and set sail instantly, only focusing on getting away from the island.
As the Thousand Sunny sailed away, slowly but steadily, the crew gathered in the kitchen to wait for Chopper's diagnosis. They were all worried and still quite shocked about the day's events; none of them thought it would turn out this way. It had been so sudden.
"Today sure was something else... It scared me a lot when Luffy-san collapsed! I thought my heart would stop! But then, I don't hav-", Brook began, but Nami slapped the poor skeleton over the head, shutting him up.
"No time for bad jokes, Brook."
"Ah, I'm sorry..."
"I know he's supposed to be really strong now and all … but still I'm worried. I sure hope he's okay...", Usopp sighed, not looking anyone in the eye. They all sat at the table, trying hard not to let the tensed silence win over. It was really weird how one single person could change the mood of eight people so quickly. But it only showed how much they cared for Luffy.
"We all hope that, dude." Franky commented dryly, playing with his bottle of cola but not taking a sip of it.
"Yeah. I can't imagine what it would be like to have dinner without him... I mean, I only would have to cook half of the usual amount." Sanji half-joked and made the others chuckle slightly. Even Zoro had to snort at that.
Robin nodded. "It's true, without captain-san everyone could actually eat from their own plate without having to worry someone's going to steal it."
"Now that'd be rather boring, wouldn't it?" Nami smiled but it soon faded.
"Indeed...", Brook nodded. Then, another awkward silence settled in as each of them drifted off in thoughts. But no one could stand the deafening quiet for too long, so they decided to keep their minds occupied with playing cards while chatting about this and that.
Later, Sanji was cooking dinner - a welcomed distraction - when Chopper suddenly stepped into the kitchen, face down.
Immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the doctor in tensed anticipation.
„So, what is it, Chopper? Did our captain catch a cold from the last unintentional bath he took?" Nami said, smiling down at the reindeer. „Or is it the flu?"
Usopp had to smile, too, because he remembered Luffy's last 'unintentional bath' as well. Though his happiness was cut short when Chopper lifted his head to reveal a tear-stained face.
„...Chopper?" Sanji said, frowning.
Chopper sobbed harshly, gulping. „I... I don't know."
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Yosh, chapter two done! Again, a huge thanks to those kind people who reviewed, this chapter is for you!
AkaNeko-san: Haha, your comment made me laugh so much xD True, no one would want to see the Adventures of Buggy (no offense Buggy) ^^ I really hope you liked this chapter! Don't tell me you're one of those crazy Luffy fans like me (lol welcome to the family) =D I sure do like your name, by the way! Cats forever ;D Thank you for this great review!
Son of Whitebeard: Hello again :) Hmm I dunno, I'm still planning the other chapters^^ Though there won't be too many chapters. Thanks for reviewing!
Eowyn278: Hi to you too! :D Thank you, glad you liked it! =)
roo17: Omg roo! How are you? :D :D Aw, this is going to sound really stupid, but it feels great to know someone missed me :,) Thank you -bows- so much for another of your amazing comments! I love how you point out what you liked, that's always great! :) Take care, too~!
Natylol: Thank you! :D
MeikoKuran999: Uhm... oooh yes? Thanks... for reviewing? ;)
Guest: Thanks, makes me happy to hear you liked it! :D I like those stories a lot, too, and I finally wanted to write a non-romance story between the strawhats again ;) Hope the update was soon enough :D Thank you for dropping a comment :)
'Til next chapter! Please leave a review :D
Neko11