Yeeesh, I have vacation now so here's finally the update! Sorry for it being late!
Okay guys, prepare mentally. I'm not lying when I say this is gonna be intense xD
Thanks a lot for FlightWulf for bringing up the log book (which I had Chakena burned last chapter). If Nami discovered Luffy's name in it instead of Chakena's, she'd have started to wonder. I didn't think of it, so thanks! Also thanks to Kouru-Kage! He/She reminded me of one more special nakama :)
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
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Chapter 6 – You have a good sword, Zoro
"You're still not gonna tell me?" Billy asked for what seemed the hundredth time. Luffy munched on a fish happily and just shook his head, a smile never leaving his face.
"Damn, you're really stubborn, aren't you? Don't you think it would be useful for me to know of your plan?" Billy half-laughed, half-grumbled. He didn't know whether to be irritated or amused.
"Nope! I will kick his butt and leave the rest to you and my friends. Ah, that was yummy. Not as good as Sanji's breakfast, though...", Luffy complained while rubbing his belly. "Ossan, how long is it gonna take til we get there?"
This time it was Billy's turn to shrug. "I'm not sure. They must be far ahead already. We still are half a day behind."
"Whaaat, this long? Damn... I want my food now...", Luffy whined pitifully.
"What, you wanna save your friends because you miss the good food?"
Luffy just ignored him. "Food...",
"Hey, not talking to me now? Sheesh..", Billy pouted, rolling his eyes. "I don't know why I came along in the first place."
Luffy's head hung over the edge so that his hair barely touched the water and his vision was upside down. He sighed deeply, but suddenly spotted something in the distance. He shot up so quickly his head was spinning and Billy nearly fell overboard by the sudden movement.
"What the- could you not do that?!" Billy gripped on to the railing for dear life. "For christ's sake, you nearly gave me a heart-attack!"
"We did it!" Luffy exclaimed.
"What?"
"It's Sunny!"
"Do you have a sunstrok-" Billy wanted to ask but the rest of the sentence died in his throat as he saw the ship as well. "Hold on...", Billy didn't believe his eyes. "How is that possible?"
Luffy stood up and cracked his knuckles, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Time to get serious."
-Meanwhile-
"Eeh, what is this?!" Franky growled. "I don't understand why she's not moving!" It was pretty early in the morning, but the crew was already up since their cyborg was making a huge fuss. Thousand Sunny wasn't moving an inch, hadn't been since last evening and nothing had changed over night. Their shipwright was at a complete loss, much to their surprise. Could a ship really be this stubborn? Perhaps it was just one of the New World's mysteries, but Franky would have none of it.
Nami sighed while looking at the sky. "Well, there's not much wind, so it's not that surprising... though I still wonder what's wrong. Sunny should be moving at least a little since there's a current around here."
"Oi, Franky! You still don't know what's wrong?" Sanji asked from the kitchen.
The cyborg shook his head and replied into the pipe, "No idea! It's a complete mystery to me! She just stopped moving, but everything's fine. There's nothing blocked, and the rest of the mechanism is okay, too."
"Weird," Sanji muttered.
"Tell me about it. It's as if Sunny doesn't want to continue." Franky murmured, clearly annoyed.
Chakena wasn't too happy about it, either. He stormed around the deck like a lion in a cage, moving back in forth nervously. The rest of the crew watched in wonder but no one wanted to make a comment when the captain was obviously so tense. It was odd to say the least, and it made them all incredibly uncomfortable. What could trigger such a strong reaction from him? Where they being followed? If that was the case, then who on earth was it who managed to drive Chakena up a wall like that..? Normally, he'd rather half-kill himself than run away from a fight.
"Honestly, Chakena, what's wrong?" Zoro finally talked up, hating the insecurity from his captain.
Chakena stopped pacing and looked up. The whole crew was staring at him, waiting for his answer and he quickly grew irritated from their glances. "I-,"
"Chakena!" A familiar voice roared suddenly, making them all flinch. "Get your butt ready to be kicked!"
"Seriously, Luffy? Is that your badass-entry-call?" Billy muttered.
"What's wrong with it?" Luffy asked back, confused.
Chakena's eyes widened. "No fucking way!" He dashed to the railing, the crew following closely. "It's him?!"
"Eeh, who's that?!" Chopper squeaked. Zoro narrowed his eye, gazing down at the tiny rowboat. Somehow, seeing this man again didn't surprise him as much as it should. He didn't know him, but somehow, that face, voice... it rang a bell.
"What a funny guy." Robin said, staring at Luffy in interest. It felt odd, the flutter in her chest... as if she was happy to see him. The others had similar reactions, Nami, Usopp, Franky and Sanji even smiled slightly before realizing what they were doing.
Nami touched her mouth in confusion. 'I'm happy...?' She didn't understand it. This whole situation was bizarre. Did they know him?
Sanji only shook his head, pushing his thoughts aside for now. "Are you kidding me? How could they sneak onto us like that?"
Luffy seized the chance of the others' bafflement. He wasted no time and took one of the rows to catapult himself onto Sunny's deck. The others took a step back, surprised by his agility. He seemed so light on his feet.
"Wah, bounty hunter?! Who are you and what do you want?!" Usopp demanded hotly, pulling out his slingshot.
"I'm getting you back." Luffy grinned at them with his sunshine smile, and while Brook and Nami broke down in suppressed laughter about the weird way he hopped forward, Usopp only blinked at him.
"You what?" Usopp sputtered back. That guy was not making any sense. "And where are you from that you have this kind of walking style?"
"T-told you it looked weird." Billy's voice sounded from down below. Luffy looked down on himself, a huge questionmark forming over his head.
"It does? How am I supposed to move, then? It looks tricky the way you do it."
Nami finally calmed down. "Really, who is that guy?"
Usopp leaned over to her and whispered, "I think he's making fun of us."
Finally, Billy managed to climb after Luffy more or less clumsy. His breathing was irregular and he was sweating slightly, but he finally pulled himself over the railing. "Shit, it's been too long since I've done stuff like that." He murmured and wiped his forehead.
"Another guy?" Chopper asked.
"Robin, why didn't you stop him?!" Nami whispered to the other woman, albeit she was glad Robin hadn't done anything actually. Robin only shrugged. She wasn't even sure, and when she glanced at her friends she realized none of them had acted at all. They had just let two strangers enter the ship. They didn't seem too threatening but still, this was odd. Everyone just had let it happen while watching in anticipation.
"Saa, we're here!" Luffy said happily but there was a certain edge in his voice that suggested you better be careful of him. His cheery expression vanished suddenly, and his voice grew darker. "Chakena, this time you won't get away."
Chakena stared a little longer before his lips tugged upwards and he burst out laughing. "Are you for real?! You followed us in this tiny nutshell? You really wanna bring me down that badly, don't cha? You and what army – that old pitiful guy?"
"Hey, you remember me, right? I'm with Luffy to avenge my crew!" Billy growled.
"You do? Ha, nice joke." Chakena wiped his eyes. "Yeah, I do know you, and I know how I broke you. It was fun."
"You know them?" Franky wanted to know. "Old friends of yours?"
Chakena still grinned. "You could say that."
Billy boiled with anger. Luffy, too, had a hard time controlling himself there. His fists shook. "Enough of that useless talk. Let's get down to business. You won't win a third time!"
"We'll see about that, dork. Guys, you better be careful. The guy with the strawhat is no joke even though he looks like one."
The crew tensed immediately, shaken from their stupor. Chakena glanced at them quickly and narrowed his eyes. They still seemed really attracted by their old captain if he could baffle them this much with his appearance alone. He didn't like it, but he would make sure this was the last time they saw him. What could he do, really?
"Throw them off the ship. They have no right to be here!" Chakena yelled, and Sanji, Brook, Franky and Zoro charged forward. The fight began, though it wasn't that much of a battle but rather a dodging. It only served to make the Strawhat crew even more desperate to land a hit, even though they didn't know their enemy.
Luffy swore to himself he wouldn't lay a finger on them, so he didn't fight back. He had his hands full of ducking and jumping away, and barely avoided the crew's attacks. Luffy did flick-flacks and jumps and all sorts of weird dances not to get hit, and even without his powers he was really fast. He only had to wait for the right moment to set his plan in motion. At the same time, Billy was nearing a panic. He hadn't thought they would attack with such vigor!
He dived behind a barrel for cover, shaking from exhaustion. "I'm definitely not suited for this anymore!" How he wished he could be at home in his small, stupid house. He clenched his fists. No, that wasn't right. This was his only chance to take revenge for his crew. The man who did this was right here! Billy peered at Chakena from behind his hideout. His hands trembled, he ached for a hit right into that stupid, smug face of that devil.
That's when he saw Sanji kicking Luffy hard into the gut. Sanji had actually used haki so the attack had hurt him a lot. He skidded to the ground and climbed back to his feet, but Franky was already beside him.
Billy gasped, dashing forward. "Luffy, look out!"
"Strong Right!" Franky yelled; simultaneously his right fist shot out with great force. Luffy's eyes widened; Franky aimed at his head and it was too late to dodge!
Billy gritted his teeth. "What the heck are you doing?!" Save your nakama!
Before the fist could make contact with a startled Luffy, Billy jumped in between. He was hit squarely against the jaw and crashed into the mast painfully. He slumped to the deck without another noise. He'd lost consciousness for good.
"OSSAN!"
Luffy watched the whole scene in horror. "You shouldn't have done that...! Hey, Billy-ossan!"
Nami, who had watched intently, swallowed hard. "He protected him..".
Everyone stared at the older man in shock as he didn't move a muscle. Chakena whistled, highly amused. Luffy shot around, growling at Franky.
"What, you wanna go next?" Franky asked, grabbing his fist. He couldn't stop himself from glancing at the limp form of Billy. He hadn't expected that. 'That guy's got some courage.'
"Crap!" Luffy closed his eyes quickly, trying to suppress his anger. Franky wasn't the one at fault here, he had to remind himself. Luffy glanced at Billy worriedly, but chose to put him to the back of his mind for the moment. Chopper would take care of him later. Now he had to beat Chakena, for himself and for Billy.
Uttering an animistic growl, Luffy readied his fist and leaped forward. He didn't come far since he had to dodge Nami's clima tact and another quick kick from Sanji. Luffy landed safely and rolled away from the danger, panting. His glare never left Chakena.
"Jeez, you are stubborn. Twice you got kicked away, and yet you always come back. What is WRONG with you!" Chakena rubbed his temples, beginning to lose interest. At first, it was pretty funny to watch but now it was just plain annoying. That guy didn't know when to quit.
The crew chose to hold their selves back for now. It looked like the captain wanted to take the matter in his own hands, and the strawhat kid had his interest only set on him.
"I've said this before and I'll repeat it again: I won't let you take my friends! You have some nasty powers, bastard. But I will beat you this time." Luffy declared again.
"So? I'd like to see you try." Chakena answered, unimpressed. What could the little guy do if all Chakena had to do was let him forget something? Like, speaking? Or fighting? Hell, if he wanted to see something really disturbing, he could even erase all of his memories. So there was nothing to worry about, this strawhat guy was just bluffing or trying to encourage himself. Well, he wasn't going to lose now; he'd already won two times. Why should it be different now?
Luffy got into fighting stance, and Chakena did as well by lifting his arms. Luffy smirked, then he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Chakena watched like a hawk. 'Is he preparing for the fight or something?'
Much to everyone's astonishment, instead of attacking, Luffy jumped into the air and landed in front of a startled Zoro. The swordsman flinched, he hadn't seen that coming; Luffy was fast.
"Huh?" Chakena blinked intelligently, arms still in the air.
Zoro sputtered, shaken from his daze. "What the-"
"You let your guard down, Zoro. You used to be a lot more careful. What happened?" Luffy asked calmly, but didn't give him a chance to reply. With one swift motion, he kicked Zoro's sword out of his hand. Zoro cursed and tried to slash Luffy with the other, but he dodged it and ripped the bandana from his head in one quick motion.
"You stupid-",
"Just lend me your bandana and sword, ne? Thanks!" With that said, Luffy grinned and leaped away as quickly as possible. Zoro tried to grab him but missed by a hair's length.
"You fucking bastard! I'll shred you to pieces if I get my hands on you!" Zoro burst out, enraged. He didn't know why, but when this guy had jumped before him, he'd remembered something... no, it wasn't quite remembering but it felt like attacking him was wrong. His arms had refused to move for a split second and his legs were frozen. This boy was so damn familiar!
Zoro shook his head.
Those were just excuses. How could he let his guard down like that? It was unforgivable! He lifted his other two swords and got ready to slash the jerk. Like he would let that boy steal one of them!
"You getting old, marimo?" Sanji laughed in the background.
"Shut up!" Zoro barked back. "I'm gonna kill him!"
"Zoro, this is a fight between two captains. Don't interfere in anyone's fighting!" Luffy stated, dead serious. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "I promise I won't harm your sword."
Automatically, Zoro relaxed visibly, lowering his swords; he followed the order without hesitation, much to his own surprise. Something told him it was best to wait and watch. 'What am I doing? Normally I don't give a damn about what anyone says! Why is it so different this time? Who is that guy?!'
Chakena only watched, mildly surprised by the turn of events. Luffy didn't look one bit more frightening with a sword.
"What are you planning? Wanna fight me with swords now?"
Luffy smirked. "Maybe."
Chakena sighed. "You don't leave me a chance. What a pain in the ass you are. You know what? I know of a way I will forever get rid of you. I'll just erase the existence of them in your mind." Chakena purposively didn't say the word friends as not to alert the crew.
It was meant as a threat, but failed its purpose completely. Instead, Luffy stared at him full of confidence. "I figured you'd do that sooner or later." He crouched down, ignoring the surprised stares he got from everyone. The tenseness in the atmosphere rose. Then, he tied Zoro's bandana around his upper arm and pulled the knots tightly with his teeth and other hand.
"Does he wanna imitate Zoro?" Usopp murmured from somewhere behind. He didn't want to admit it, but he was dreading what was coming next. Whatever it was, it left a heavy feeling in his stomach.
Luffy put his hand on the deck. He was calm and concentrated as he lifted Zoro's sword. There was no hesitation in his actions. He knew what he was doing, and it didn't scare him one bit. It scared the others, though.
Sanji's eyes widened. "Hell no..."
Nami's breath hitched. "W-what's he doing?"
Billy chose that moment to wake, and found himself in a bizarre situation. He blinked in wonder at Luffy before it clicked. Instantly, all the dizziness fell off him. He reached out a shaking hand. If he had known of this sooner, he would have done anything to prevent it. There had to be another way!
"Lu..Luffy! Don't do this! Stop!"
Robin widened her eyes. He wouldn't...!
Chakena startled as it dawned upon him. 'What the hell?! He isn't going to- he's just bluffing!' Growing more and more uneasy, he hurried with his speech. If Strawhat really planned on doing that, he was screwed. He had to act fast now.
"Enough of this bullshit. You won't stop me! Monkey D. Luffy! Memories of your friends: For-,"
However, Chakena never had the chance to finish it. As if bitten by a snake, the crew lunged forward, weapons forgotten as they all cried out simultaneously.
He saw them in the corner of his eyes. Now there was no turning back. He held his breath. With cold accuracy, Luffy swung down Zoro's sword and cried out. Blood splattered through the air. Everyone gasped, halting abruptly. They had been too late to stop him. The shock came crashing down on them, heavy like a ton.
Luffy had his eyes closed, watching flashes of pictures. He saw himself crouching in front of Kuma, crying. He saw a huge paw, he saw tears and two years without them.
I won't let anyone take them again!
For saving them, this is nothing!
"Are you fucking insane?!" Billy's desperate voice cut the air, sobbing. "You stupid, reckless, damn idiot!"
"NO!" Chopper shrieked loudly but the damage was done. Usopp suddenly turned green. He dashed to the railing and emptied his stomach. Sanji's cigarette dropped to the ground as he paled visibly, and Brook's jaw hit the grassy deck and he stumbled back, falling on his butt. Franky's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, feeling a wave of nausea dwelling up.
"N-no way!" Nami stuttered, sinking to her knees. Zoro stared at Luffy in shock and amazement at the same time, his own legs feeling weak. No one knew how to react and was only left to watch in complete shock as the blood dripped from Zoro's sword and stained the deck.
"No...", Chopper whimpered again as tears gathered in his eyes. Billy couldn't get up even though he wanted to get to Luffy's side. His limbs didn't listen, they felt like jelly.
"What have you DONE?!" Surprisingly, it was Robin who yelled out, but at the moment everyone was busy watching the weird stranger.
The sword had served its purpose and severed Luffy's hand from his arm cleanly.
"Agh..!" Luffy bit his tongue to prevent himself from crying out again. He was mentally prepared for the pain but it was still hard to control it. But finally, finally he was free of the spell. Luffy trembled from both the pain and relief.
"That's what he used the sword for...?" Sanji's legs shook. He didn't know why it was so frustrating; it made his mouth go dry. "The hell is up with him?!"
It all boiled up. The sudden frustration, the voice that repeatedly screamed 'no!' in his head. Zoro clenched his fists painfully and couldn't stop himself from losing his control. "Why would you do that?!"
Luffy huffed in pain and lifted his head in slow-motion. "Y-you have a really good sword, Zoro." he pressed out and managed a smile on his pained expression. Zoro didn't have any idea how to reply to that. The fact that it had been his sword that got used for such a deed hurt him in a way it shouldn't.
Chakena was as pale as a sheet and looked ready to faint. It ha taken a bit to progress the whole scenario. Finally, he found his voice again. "Are you mad?!" He lost his composure for a moment and screeched loudly. He couldn't help it. All arrogance and calmness he had was gone.
Never in all his carrier as a pirate, had he seen something crazy and reckless like that. To cut the connection between them he did such a thing. And for what, for his friends? Chakena couldn't believe that, to him, this was sheer madness.
"You just hacked off your own hand!"
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So... don't hate me for doing that, I hope none of you will abandon the story T^T I wasn't sure whether to post it, but now I thought just what the heck, I will give it a try. And no, I wasn't inspired by the manga chapter. It was planned from the beginning. But don't worry it's gonna turn out fine. *Hides* Before anyone starts throwing things at me for this, I'll better start with the reviews..
Son of Whitebeard: Soon, hehehe, very very soon :D
SilenceOfRain7: Yay and sorry for this late update... ! It is stupid as hell, lol. Hope I didn't scare you away with this chapter. True hahaha :D Sorry I didn't put more of that in, but I wanted to get to the fighting asap :)
Ashlielle: Haha thanks! Aw, I'm so glad he is! That is always the trickiest part, hehe, so I'm happy I managed that :) Lol that's some creepy appearance but not bad for him^_^ I don't know, I always imagine him a bit more good-looking but the arrogant face is really fitting xD Yesh I luv cookies! Thanks so much, and also for the kind review!
The voice of all things: You have a cool nickname :D Wow, thank you so much :,) It's reviews like yours that make it really really great to write a story, thanks for such a nice feedback! It's like a motivational burst I get haha ;)
lilly2011: I know, the chapter lengths are really different each time.. I try to keep them about the same length^^ Thank you, I will give my best :3
Kouru-Kage: Thank you! :) True, if Luffy and Billy wouldn't be able to win against Chakena, he'd be faced with a whole load of trouble.. Probably! :D Yep, but at least he tries to understand him a little ^_^ That's right, it's worth the wait isn't it? I just have to remind myself not to be impatient all the time ;) Thanks for your review!
chain: Haha, danke! :) Sowas fällt mir immer mitten in der Nacht ein xD Ja, irgendwo muss ja ein Haken an der Sache sein, hehe. Seine richtigen Beweggründe muss ich mir noch überlegen, oder ob er einfach nen Knall hat.. mal sehen :D Danke fürs Kommentieren, hab mich riesig gefreut! :)
Hebihime-sama: Sorry for the slow update, work and stuff got in the way D: Thanks, and I'm happy you're enjoying it so far!
nani-onigiri: Ja, wird auch Zeit, dass sie sich erinnern ;) Ich hoffe, Luffy's Plan war nicht zu krass, ich war mir die ganze Zeit nicht sicher, ob ich das echt so posten soll, aber nun schauen wir mal... es wird auf jeden Fall ein Happy End haben, auch das mit seiner Hand :) Jep, so ein Vollar***. Aber ich freu mich schon drauf, wenn er fertig gemacht wird^^ Danke! Und hoffentlich bis zum nächsten Mal!
A huge Thank-you to all of you, and if I can make it I'll update at Christmas as a present ;)
~Neko11
