Chapter 12 – The Battle at Bellemere's
When they got to the docks, Usopp said, "We need a plan."
"Nah, we just go and fight," Luffy said.
"They've got Ben Beckman with them," Usopp said. "You told me he took out a whole bandit gang by himself. I've got a trick that will take just a minute to set up. Give me a hand with that cannonball over there, okay?"
The pirate group led by Ben Beckman had arrived at the mandarin orange farm of Bellemere. They called out and a woman with pink hair cut in an odd Mohawk came to the door, a cigarette hanging from one corner of her mouth.
"I'm Bellemere. What do you want?"
"We're here for oranges," Ben Beckman said.
"How much do you need? I've got a nice crop this year," Bellemere said.
They spent a some time checking out the mandarin oranges and getting a free sample. The time had come to talk price.
"Before we start you need to look with this spyglass at our ship down there. We have something extra to bargain with," said Beckman.
Bellemere gave him a hard stare, but she took the spyglass and looked through it. "I see you've got a fat man tied to your mast," she said. "So what? I don't know him. He looks like one of your own scurvy crew."
"What?" Beckman said. He took back the spyglass and looked. Sure enough, it was Lucky Roux tied to the mast and not Nami.
"You'd better clear out," Bellemere said. "I don't deal with crooks and pirates. And I'm an ex-Marine, so don't think you can pull anything on me."
"Believe me, one Marine doesn't stand a chance against us," Yasopp said.
"You leave her alone!" a girl's voice called. Ben spun around and saw Usopp running up carrying Nami. The boy's legs were stretched out and he was running fast.
"Nami, stay out of this! Get away!" Bellmere ordered.
"No," said Nami, jumping down from his arms. "I stay with you no matter what."
Yasopp laughed. "Very good, son. You haven't really burned any bridges yet. You may have played a little prank on old Roux by tying him up, which serves him right for not looking out smarter for himself. But you made up for it by bringing the hostage to us. I've got her covered."
Nami gasped as she saw the pistol pointed her way.
Ben looked Bellmere. "There won't be any problem getting our free oranges now, will there?"
Bellmere said, "No, there won't be."
But now Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji arrived, ready for a fight,
"Look here, Ben!" Luffy said. "I don't like the way you used me to capture this girl. That was a dirty trick and I'm going to beat you up for it."
"Stand down," said Yasopp. "Or I shoot the girl."
"Block his shot, Usopp!" Luffy said as he charged at Beckman.
So much for following the plan, thought Usopp.
Usopp stretched out flat in a desperate attempt to cover Nami. He'd never tried bouncing a bullet before and he wasn't sure what would happen. At least shot was round, so he had a chance.
Yasopp fired, confident he could wing Nami even through Usopp without hitting his son in a vital spot. His aim was that good.
But Usopp's aim was also good, and so was his rubberzed bullet-bouncing power. He bounced the shot back so straight that it went up the barrel of his father's gun, blasting it out of Yasopp's hand and ruining the firing pan.
Zoro and Sanji engaged the low-level pirates by sword and by foot-fighting respectively. Luffy squared off with Beckman. Bellemere grabbed Nami and ran to cover.
Beckman easily parried Luffy with his rifle-butt, not yet ready to go all out on kids. Sanji and Zoro were being hard-pressed by their opponents, who were also holding back.
"You kids are going to get hurt, or worse, messing with us," Beckman said, "Friends of the Cap'n or not. Like I always say, if you want to fight us you'd best bring a battleship."
"I did," Usopp said.
"What?" asked Beckman, slowing down a little but still defending
Before we came up here I spotted a battleship on the horizon, big enough to hold ten thousand men. I had the others stretch me out like a giant slingshot and fire a cannonball out to them with a message on it. They'll be coming soon," Usopp said.
Yasopp laughed. "Always such a liar, aren't you son? That's a load of codswallop."
"It's true," Usopp said. "You'll see."
Just then, a cannonball came smashing down among them.
A pirate touched it and said, "It ain't hot. How did it get fired?"
Another said, "I heard tell of a Marine Vice-Admiral what throws cannonballs with his bare hands, like they was baseballs."
Beckman picked up the cannonball. "There's writing on it. One part says, 'Help! The pirates are coming! They're here!' The second part says, 'Message received – we're coming. Signed: Vice Admiral Garp'."
Yasopp said, "You really did it. You turned me in, your own dad."
Usopp looked sad but stood his ground.
The pirates grumbled, and one said, "We've got to get back to the ship. But we should take these traitors along with us, and keelhaul them once we get the chance."
"Nobody's getting keelhauled," came a voice carrying authority.
"Cap'n! You're up and around!" said Beckman.
"More or less," Shanks said, shifting his cloak so that they could see his left arm had been amputated.
"No! That arm cut Mihawk gave you..." Beckman said.
"Yes, it got infected and had to be cut off before I got the gangrene," Shanks said. "But that's not important now. I'm not going to hear any talk of punishing traitors. They're just kids, and not proper members of the crew, just passengers."
"They've called the Marines down on us," Yasopp said.
"Boys will be boys," Shanks said. His easy-going expression hadn't changed a bit. "But kids, we're going to have to leave you here. This is the end of the voyage for you. I can't answer for your safety if I took you back aboard, with the men riled up as they are."
"Hey, that wasn't the deal!" Luffy said.
"We're even now," Shanks told him. "You've had your taste of the pirate life, and it looks like it isn't for you."
Luffy said, "I'm still going to be king of the pirates, and I'm going to be a better standard of pirate than ones who kidnap little girls so they can steal oranges."
"You're right, that was low," Shanks said. "It wouldn't have happened on my watch. I admire your spunk, kid. You remind me of when I was your age. So I'll give you something to remember me by."
He took off his straw hat and tossed it to Luffy. Luffy caught it.
"Once you come to the Grand Line and become king of the pirates you can give it back to me," Shanks said.
For a second it looked like Luffy was going to toss the hat back, but he didn't. "All right, I'll do just that. Wait and see!"
The pirates marched back to their ship, leaving Usopp, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro behind.
Bellemere and Nami came out of hiding. Luffy, in a trance, took out a piece of dried meat from the compartment in his wrist-band and ate it to heal his wounds from the fight.
"You did well, boys, standing up to those pirates for us," Bellemere said. "That was very brave, and foolish."
"Yes! I'm the greatest hero of the East Blue sea," Usopp said. "Three cheers for Usopp the Unbreakable!"
Bellemere said, "I was just on my old Marine radio, and Vice Admiral Garp is coming."
"He is?" Usopp said in surprise. "I just set up a cannonball on a catapult, with a timing mechanism."
"He's been trying to get Luffy back home from the day he left," Bellemere said.
"Uh-oh," said Luffy.
"You'll all be able to get rides back home, anyway," Nami said. "Thank you for rescuing me. You're not bad after all. Not pirates."
"That's what you think," Luffy said. "After I train for a few years I'm coming out to sea again. I'll pick up all of you and we'll have the best pirate crew that ever was!"
Sanji and Zoro pondered this silently, their minds on plans they had already made.
"I'm invited?" Usopp asked. "I... it's an honor to be asked, but I don't know..."
"Of course you're invited," Luffy said. "And Zoro, and Sanji, and even Nami if she wants. We've been comrades in adventure, and there'll be much more to come."
"As if I would ever do that," Nami said.
The End