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Chapter 12 – A value of a treasure
I had a really nice dream when I heard the whispers screaming at me danger. Then I heard the whistling of a cannon and everything went black.
I did not pass out; I was merely buried in rubble. Luckily my reflexes were excellent and the blanket I was covered with I infused it with my ki and pulled it over my head. It saved me from most of the damage. I started to drag myself out the rubble when I heard groaning and a sarcastic comment, "That must be the worst way to wake someone up."
"Zoro! You're alive! Where's Shana!" Luffy shouted and started to dig in the rubble. Oh, great, I thought, now he's being all protective.
"I'm fine," I said when I finally managed to unbury myself. I started to dust myself off when I was almost crushed in so called Luffy's hug.
"You're alive!" he exclaimed while continued to hug or better said crush me.
"Yes I'm alive, you big oaf, now let me go!" I said trying to pry him off of me, I would never admit it, but him; worrying for me was touching.
Nami was muttering how it was impossible to survive the blast that destroyed more than half a block. After I finally managed to pry him off I hold him in a choke hold when Poodle, sorry Boodle shouted a strangled shout and grabbed his chest, "It feels as though my chest is being scrapped open!"
"Chief!" Nami looked at him worry in her eyes. For claiming to be a heartless thief that steals from pirates she cares too much. While I was napping I saw what Luffy did in town and the conversation they had.
Luffy as much as idiot can he be, he is awfully insightful and somehow always knows what to do. Nami holds inside a lot of pain that much is plain and her hatred of anything with pirates is even more obvious. By now I had already released him and we were observing Boodle as he panted.
"Do you think I'll allow pirates to trample all over us again?" he shouted and picked up a crude spear and continued, "For a bloody pirate who suddenly showed up, he has absolutely no right to trample all over our 40 years of this town!"
While he was ranting I could sense the sadness for the destroyed parts of town and I could see how the town was built, what it went through. At that point of time I had almost perfect control of my gift, but the memories and feelings that permeated this place were overwhelming and I couldn't stop the rush of memories that assaulted me. I showed them all in back of my mind for later and out of my musings I was brought by Boodle's continued speech.
"I am the Chief! I won't leave and I won't let this town be treated this way!" he shouted and dashed off. Nami grabbed him by the belt trying to slow him down, saying it is way too reckless to go and fight them that they are to strong.
"I know it's reckless!" he shouted with tears in his eyes and Nami seeing his tears released him.
"Just you wait, Buggy the Clown!" he screamed and dashed away.
"The Chief… Was crying," Nami quietly stated looking in the direction Boodle ran.
"Oh really? I didn't see anything," Luffy said and I smirked, knowing that we wouldn't let anything happen to him. Zoro saw my smirk and gave a sinister smile, saying, "For some reason this is getting more and more fun!"
"Shi shi shi, you're right!"
"How can you all laugh!" Nami yelled at us.
"Mah mah, Nami, it's not like we're actually going to let the old man fight. Besides Luffy here has already decided to fight Buggy when he was still trapped in that cage," I said trying to calm her. When she screams she does sound like a banshee.
"How can you laugh and be calm in this kind of situation! Where the hell does your confidence come from?" she demanded looking at us.
"Our destination is Grand Line! Now were going to steal that map again!" Luffy said with his trademark grin.
"Will you join us? You need the map too, don't you? And the treasure…"
"Give it up, Nami, he has already decided you're one of us, so just say yes!" I added to Luffy's speech, knowing he would pester her to the end of the world if she doesn't say yes.
"I'm not going to become a pirate, rather then partners, we'll just say we're cooperating, helping each other to achieve our goals," she replied and smacked Luffy's hand away.
"If we're done talking I would suggest that we go save that Poodle from his doom," I said and Luffy looked at me curiously, "Poodle?"
"Poodle? Oh, sorry Boodle!"
At that Zoro cracked a laugh; I tried really hard to ignore the laughter as Nami joined him. It's not my fault he has a name and hair that reminds me of poodle.
"You two done?" I asked, "We really should be going."
"You're both going? What about your injuries?" Nami asked.
"It's all healed," said Zoro, tying a bandana around his head, "More important than the injury done to my body, is the injury my name suffers because all I did in my last fight was getting hurt. Shall we go?"
"I'm dumbfounded," said Nami shaking her head while Luffy was cracking his knuckles and grinning.
I just sighed and said, " Men."
We ran most of the way and we heard shouting up ahead, then I felt a spirit yelling to leave his friend alone. The spirits mostly know or feel me around so when we came closer, he asked me to help him.
"Luffy, we need to hurry. Boodle's in trouble!"
"Hai hai!" he said and sprinted off.
"Baka, at least wait for me to explain!" I yelled back at him and hurried after him. Nami and Zoro followed.
We have just arrived, when Luffy proclaimed, that he has come to beat Buggy up.
"Showoff," I muttered and checked Boodle for injuries. Nami told us that she's here just for the treasure and map; she's not there to fight.
Buggy's speech I tuned off, no one wants to listen to a speech from a clown. I was afraid if I was going to listen to his ranting I might have laughed; typical bad guy's speech with flashy outfit. With that thought I had to stifle a giggle.
Back to Boodle, he was without serious damage, just some new bruises. He then slapped my hands away and asked us, still sitting on the floor, "All of you, why did you come? Just stay out of this! This is my war!"
He grabbed his poorly made spear and shouted, "I'm the one who must protect this village! Don't interfere!"
I sighed and took a needle coated in paralyzing agent from my bracelet to knock him out when Luffy beat me to it. He grabbed Boodle's head and smashed it against the wall. He was out cold.
"You know I could have done that way faster and more gently," I told him when I smacked him on the head.
"Aww, Shana that hurt!" he said, pouting.
"Why did you do that for!" shouted Nami pointing at Boodle. I looked at her and said, "He would get in the way."
Zoro just nodded and smirked, while Nami was still fuming. Suddenly I got chills down my spine and I turned around to look what Luffy was doing. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Hey you, huge, red, ugly, big nose!"
I face-palmed and sighed, while Nami and Zoro got horrified and shocked expressions on their faces. As did Buggy and his crew, but Buggy quickly overcame shock and got angry and issued a command, "Fire the buggy special cannon-ball!"
"Be gone," he then gleefully added. Zoro and Nami ran to find cover, while Luffy got a grin on his face. I smirked knowing Luffy had something special planned. I started to infuse ki into my limbs, preparing for a fight ahead.
"Do you think just because of a cannon-ball, I'll move a single inch?" he asked and started to draw breath.
"Gomu gomu no Balloon!" he said and blew up like a giant human sized balloon. He caught the cannon-ball with his bloated up body and sent it back to its sender.
I saw shock and fear on the faces of Buggy and his crew and I smirked. I pulled my gloves on my hands preparing to fight what has left from his crew after the cannon-ball hit them.
"You could have said something sooner," Zoro grumbled to me.
"Now, what would be the fun in that," I responded and looked at the nice explosion that occurred as and aftermath of the cannon-ball hitting.
"Nice, their numbers have decreased. Shall we start," said Luffy, fixing his hat, while Nami was still in shock on the ground, asking what the hell Luffy is.
"Explain yourself! I don't understand this at all! From the moment you fought the lion and came back! This isn't humanly possible! How the hell did you just swell like a balloon?" she demanded out of Luffy. He just smirked and had a teasing glint in his eyes and answered, "Gomu gomu no balloon."
"I'm not asking you for the name!" she yelled and I put a hand on her shoulder, "Now it isn't the time or place, Nami. You'll get your answers later."
Meanwhile I saw from the corner of my eye, how some of Buggy's crew and Buggy himself were picking themselves up from the remains of the building where they had their base.
"You're chatting around making a lot of noise, fearlessly," said Buggy calmly with an undertone of anger clearly visible in his voice.
I scowled, seeing Buggy their own crew as shields and his black-haired crewmember using a big lion. For me, that is lowest of the low, using nakama like that.
Nami muttered, "Using their own crew as shields…"
"This is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under our pirate flag, captain!" said Buggy's friend.
"I'm so mad, words fail me…" added Buggy himself. From under the rubber another weird white-haired crewmember got up. But from a pirate crew that has a clown for a captain you couldn't expect anything normal. Besides looking at the crew I'm part of, I have no right to judge.
While they were arguing amongst themselves I tapped Zoro on his shoulder and told him that I'm moving Boodle to somewhere safer.
"Do you need help?" he asked. I smiled, knowing that most of my muscles were sufficiently infused with ki, meaning I was a lot stronger then normally, and said no.
I lifted him up with no trouble and jumped on the nearby roof and then to the next street, closer to where we first met him.
Wasting no time I hurried back the same way and I jumped down from the roof right when the same white-haired guy flew towards me, kicked by my foolish little brother. I reacted and kicked him back to Buggy.
"The fight has begun!" Luffy said gleefully. He was itching for a good fight from the day we sailed out to the sea.
"My name is Buggy's pirate fleet commander 'Cabaji the Acrobat'! I'll avenge the pain you've caused to my crew!" shouted the black-haired man, riding a unicycle and wielding daggers while tried to attack Luffy when Zoro intercepted him.
"If it's swords, then it is my fight," he said. I closed my eyes and reinforced the bandage I used to wrap his wound with ki, so that his injury would be safe from harm. Even though the wound wasn't deep, it would have caused him pain if opened during movement. I could reinforce it because the bandage already had some of the healing ki in it. I'm no doctor, but I can speed up the process.
"It's an honor, Roronoa Zoro, as a swordsman I get to slay you," answered Cabaji and they jumped apart to really start a fight.
"Is his would bad," Luffy asked me. I patted his shoulder, "Yeah, I sped up the process. He should be fine."
He nodded and his eyes were back on the fight. Meanwhile Cabaji used some fire trick to disorient Zoro proceeding to kick him at the wounded area. I smirked when Zoro didn't even flinch while to Cabaji it must have felt like kicking steel. I felt some ki drain to refuel the bandage, but it didn't make a difference to me. During the years I perfected the control over my spirit energy and increase it. When desperate I could even drain it from the surrounding areas.
Zoro gawked at the bandage disbelieving while Cabaji yelled, "What kind of dirty trick are you using?"
"Less talk, more fight," Zoro replied when I gave him thumbs up indicating I was responsible. The fight grew more and more heated after that, Cabaji using every trick he had and Zoro countering it.
"Hey," Nami said pulling Luffy's shoulder, "Behind the destroyed pub there is a warehouse. Their treasure is in there. The map you want is probably with Buggy. Since the pirates are still unconscious, I'll use the moment to slip over there and acquire the treasure. Whether you win the fight or not, it has nothing to do with me! But if you actually manage to win and get the map, I'll cooperate with you again!"
"I'll go with her. She could use the backup if anything happens," I added to Luffy while Nami glared at me.
"Good luck," Luffy said and I just waved. Nami ran behind the rubble and behind some buildings and then got to a warehouse. We sneaked inside and got to a locked door leading to the basement. Nami was trying to guess the combination to the lock when we were interrupted by a drunken guard. Before Nami could take him out, I gad already hit him on some of the pressure points and he was unconscious.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing, just stay out of my way," she grumbled and continued to picking the right combination.
"I could help with that," I added.
"Oh really? Then please, be my guest if you're so smart," she answered sarcastically. I just raised my brow and touched the lock. In less then a second I saw the right combination and used the newfound knowledge to unlock it. Nami gaped and asked how I did that. I answered with a secret; I still wasn't sure whether to trust her to tell her about my abilities.
We found the room full of chests and bags, filled with money and gold. Nami squealed of delight and started to fill her two bags, I soon followed. While Nami grabbed gold and jewels, I mostly took money. Knowing how hard it is to fill Luffy's stomach I knew we need a lot of money. But I found one green stone, which was filled with spirit energy visible to me. There are not a lot of things in this world that are visible like that. At least I had never encountered anything like that.
I took it and packed it in my fanny pack. I managed to snag a few hundred thousand belli and put it in my bag on my shoulders. I need my hands free when I'm fighting. Nami tied the bags and lifted it and we left. I could see she had a lot of questions but had a difficulty actually asking them. Oh well, I thought if she wishes to know anything then she better ask.
Soon we were back at the demolished site. I wanted to join Luffy, when Nami pulled me back, "Wait, there is no need for us to join in. Let's wait and see."
"Fine, Luffy can deal with the clown," I sighed and watched the fight from afar. Zoro won, that I could see and he was propped against a wall of the building asleep. And Luffy was fighting Buggy, more accurately they were testing each other out. Neither was fighting for real, at least not yet.
"H-how is it possible such a fight? I feel though I'm dreaming," Nami said, pale in her face.
"Oh, boy," I said when the fight escalated and the straw hat Luffy wears was nicked with a dagger. He was also bleeding a bit, but that didn't worry me a bit. I was more worried about what he's going to do now. The hat was more precious to him then anything else in the world.
"You bastard! How dare you mess up this hat?" he said with a dark look in his eyes.
"What?" Buggy answered dismissively.
"This is my treasure! I'll never forgive anyone who messes up with this hat!" Luffy yelled. Nami has gone quiet and I could see the cogs moving in her head. She was thinking and who was I to interrupt her.
Meanwhile Buggy attacked once more but now the target wasn't Luffy but was the hat, he was holding. And when the hat was pierced and brought to Buggy's feet, Luffy yelled, "Give that back. That's the hat I swore myself to with Shanks!"
"This was Shanks's hat? I knew it looked familiar!"
"Nami, before we're spotted lets take the bags to the boat," I said to her. She nodded and grabbed one bag and hid another, "We'll come back later for that one. They are too heavy to carry."
I could have carried them both without any trouble but I knew she would have never asked out of fear of me stealing it. Besides, I had another reason of leaving. If Buggy would be speaking badly about my father I would have probably lose it and beat the crap out of him. He is the only family I have besides Luffy, Ace and Gramps and I was very protective of them; even though I have not met my father in person.
At the harbor the three stooges Zoro and I rescued were nowhere to be seen much to my satisfaction. I had none the patience needed to deal with them. Surprisingly Nami's boat was anchored right next to our small dinghy.
"Let's go back, before your treasure disappears," I said and by the way her eyes lit up with vengeance I knew it was the right thing to say. Few minutes later we were back and Nami was already hugging her bag.
Then we heard shouting, "Put my treasure down!"
"Crap! He noticed me!" Nami said already prepared to run, but I jumped in front of her and punched the bastard away. I would lie if I said that I wasn't enjoying it. And at the same time, Luffy kicked him in the groin.
"D-damn y-you bas-bastards… kicking and p-punching m-me…!"
"Oi, your fight is still with me!" Luffy said, "Oi Nami, put the bag down and go somewhere safe."
"And leave my treasure behind? I don't want to!" she answered.
"Your treasure? It's mine!" Buggy retorted still lying on the ground. Meanwhile I left to check on Zoro, if he got any new injuries and to pick up beaten up Luffy's hat. Zoro was fine, sleeping like a log and I released the barrier ki I put on the bandages.
Nami then said, "I'm a pirate-treasure thief and since I stole it from a pirate, the treasure is now mine!"
"What kind of logic is that? How the hell were you raised up?"
"I see!" added Luffy in his rare mood of listening to other people.
"Lecture from a bad guy? Stop that nonsense," Nami added and looked down at Buggy, as he was still on the ground recovering from the combo we delivered, "I don't think I've done anything bad to be lectured by a pirate!"
"Is that so? You better be prepared for it! Bara bara no festival!" Buggy screamed and his body parts sectioned and flew in different directions. I noticed only his feet were on the ground, still walking, while the rest of the body was attacking Nami in attempt to get the treasure back.
"Luffy, his feet!" I shouted and pointed on the ground. He grinned and started to tickle and pinch and hit the poor feet. I meanwhile was trying to help Nami to fend of the flying body parts. His head and hands were attached to the bag Nami was holding when finally Luffy kicked him away and said that that kick was for Boodle.
Luffy checked Buggy while he was unconscious for the map to Grand Line and when he found it, Buggy started to gain awareness. I nudged Nami to help me and we tied the limbs together. Buggy tried to make his body whole again but our plan foiled it.
And while he was still in shock over the size of his body, Luffy blew him away with his gomu gomu no bazooka.
"Victory!" shouted Luffy and I grinned. Nami meanwhile picked her treasure up and put in two smaller bags.
"Now you're going to become our nakama, right Nami," he said to her while I released ki from my muscles, not needing the boost anymore. I went over to Zoro, trying to wake him up.
"It's over already," he asked when he yawned.
"Yup, let's go," I said and then I gave the hat to Luffy, "I'll fix it later on the boat, don't lose it."
"You can fix it? Yay, Shana, you're the best!" he shouted and proceeded to glomp me; which followed by us crashing down on the ground.
"Uff, you baka, get off me!"
By then the villagers came to the village carrying an unconscious Boodle asking if we knew what happened to him and the village.
"Ah, sorry I did that to the chief," Luffy nonchalantly stated causing me roll my eyes and to help Zoro of the ground. Nami shouted at Luffy what an idiot he is.
The villagers started to mutter death threats against us when they asked us who the hell we are and if we are pirates.
"We are pirates," Luffy confirmed, which caused Zoro and I to break out laughing.
"Let's run away!" Luffy shouted grabbing one of Nami's bags.
"Why the hell did you make the situation even more complicated?" Nami asked while running.
"This is a good village," answered Luffy, "For just one person, for their chief they're getting that mad!"
"This way," I said and ran through a small alleyway with Zoro right behind my heels. I jumped over Shushu, the small dog we encountered before. He stopped the villagers at least for a little. Minutes later we were in the harbor and just when we were about to board the three stooges popped out. They tried to be all that tough against Nami and when I kicked one in the groin, the other two shouted, "Mistress!"
That sealed the deal for them and I kicked them all into the water.
"Mistress?" asked Nami, smirking.
"Don't ask!" I grumbled while Zoro laughed.
"Hey, that flag has Buggy's mark on it," said Luffy pointing at Nami's boat.
"Don't worry, I'll erase it later," she said, "Let's just go, there's no knowing when the villagers will catch up."
"Nami, I'm joining you on a boat," I said and grabbed my bag and hopped over.
"What? Why?"
"Well, your boat is bigger and is either me or one of them," I answered and pointed to Zoro and Luffy. She grumbled and gave her consent.
We have just embarked when Boodle all puffing and huffing came to the harbor, "Stop right there you morons!"
He stood there trying to catch his breath, looking down. He then suddenly looked up crying and he shouted, "I'm sorry! I owe you one!"
"Don't worry about it! Just live happy lives!" Luffy shouted back waving, we all grinned. About half an hour later, I was already fixing Luffy's hat and Nami was sorting out her treasure when she noticed a bag Luffy was carrying was missing. When she asked him about it he answered that he left it behind on the pier.
Nami of course had gone ballistic and tried to drown him, Zoro was laughing and Luffy kept begging me for help. Yup, our adventure has truly begun and it keeps getting better and better.
Again I apologise for the late update, life got it the way... oh, and apologies for bad grammar... :)
Thanks for the kind reviews! :D
ja ne