Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece only because I like Two-Piece bathing suits. Tankini and skirt set for the win!
Summary: Oh no! Robin and Franky go with a shady man... Zoro finds the ship... What type of Populi Powder is it really?
Warnings: ZoLu, cute FraRo (Robin's fault, sorry people!), swearing, scary drugs that work on animals
KittyLuffy: I got it, I got it! Screw homework; let's fanfic, Baby!
Robin: We have another chapter!
KittyLuffy: And it's mostly according to what Robin wanted. *gets slapped by a hand that flowered on her shoulder*
Robin: I wanted to do more of an explanation to make everything more meaningful.
KittyLuffy: Lies. You lie! *gets punched* Ow... well then, please enjoy the second part of Isle of Sleeping Animals!
Robin: Which is part of Luffy Wants a Pet. Read on - if you dare.
Luffy Wants a Pet
"Franky, we should find another vender."
"Right."
"Wait, wait, wait!" the tour guide shouted as his potential customers started to get ready to dash away as fast as they had come, "You two seem to be looking for something."
"You do not have it," Robin waved as she and Franky turned to leave to look for the next bright banner that had something to do with the Isle of Sleeping Animals tours.
They had been searching for half an hour, talking with three stall salesmen, four tour guides, and two old women. Nowhere could the pair of pirates locate the same little bottle. The letters were blue and there was a big pink two-dimensional heart that was quite detailed with swirls and twisting lines inside. As soon as they found a replica, they were going to force the owner of it to tell them the true power of the pink Populi Powder it held.
It seemed that they had glanced through all the other vials of the famous animal-waking medicine. Red words and a yellow happy face symbolized Happiness Populi Powder. Orange words and a blue dewdrop symbolized Water-Play Populi Powder. Green words and a white star symbolized Fighting Populi Powder. There must have been at least fifty specific types, five surprise styles, and two mystery kinds. Still, the bottle Zoro had possessed was either out of make or the number one hot item.
The sole thing that shocked Robin and Franky the most was the price per small container. The cheapest, Blinking Populi Powder, was fifty thousand beli. The most expensive they had seen was Dancing Populi Powder that was priced at seven hundred thousand. It was incredible how much two ounces of the dust cost. With the way people spent their money on it, no wonder the city could afford to keep everything else for sale really cheap.
"You two seem frantic," a man with a Koala banner called to the couple, "and quite unhappy."
"Oh no," Robin breathed, letting air fill her lungs, "we are perfectly fine."
"Is there a specific Populi Powder you're searching for? I'm sure if you told any one of us, we could be of some help."
"Well, there is this SUPER bottle that has pink dust a little lighter than Rampaging Populi Powder, but a lot more silver and sparkly than Eating Populi Powder," Franky huffed. He had scanned another two tables and been unsuccessful. Robin lightly put a hand on his arm because he looked about to collapse.
"How much money do you have?"
"Money? Not that mu–"
"An infinite amount," Robin cut in, smiling too grandly for it to be a lie. "We are here on our honeymoon and we want to have a luxurious time." The Koala Tour man nodded as he classified the woman's clothes as high fashion. In truth, she was just in one of Nami's old dresses from Sanji, but at least the ginger had expensive taste all the time.
"Hey, Kafda," the man called to a vendor back a few stalls.
"What?" a gruff voice replied. Franky turned to look back at the man that had tried to sell them Swimming Populi Powder. He was not very tall and his tan complexion was blotchy. His head was balding on top and there were a few teeth missing in his mouth. Why did the guy with the koala banner need Kafda?
"They want to see Popular Powder."
"Those two? I wouldn't trust them."
"Please," Robin begged, clinging to Franky's arm romantically, "I read a book about Popular Powder and we have saved enough to buy some."
"Show the dough."
"Show the Popular."
In the end, Robin beat Kafda with her wit and fierce composure. Franky knew he was lucky to have such a great woman as a girlfriend, but was a little embarrassed at how she had said they were on their honeymoon. They weren't married yet!
Kafda led them down alleyways and through common corridors of the island dwellers. Away from the noise of the market streets and tourists, everything seemed perfectly still. Turning corners and sneaking around bends, it took the three ten minutes to reach their destination. A small house, stuck in between two large apartment buildings, had a padlocked door and no windows. Quickly, Kafda did the combination and ushered the two inside a dark room. Closing the door behind them and switching on a light, the house had only a large table and a locked closet. Franky gazed at Robin with a bit of alarm. She grasped one of his big hands as they waited to see what was in store for them.
"Here we are," Kafda grunted as he slammed a suitcase down onto the tabletop. Opening it, the trio peered into the box. Four bottles were lined with silk cloth. "Popular Powder. Each of these is two million beli."
"T-Two million?" Franky stuttered, taking a step back.
"This one," the other man started while pointing to the top left corner, "is Gathering Populi Powder. The animal will wake up, find a cave, then fill it with foods and valuables until the space is full." Robin imagined the fruits and jewels that someone could possibly get with this powder.
"And that one?"
"Awakening Populi Powder. One animal will wake up as many as it can before it falls back asleep. If you find a group of slumbering beasts, this is great to see many active at once."
"Please, are there any more?" Robin questioned, seeing a jewel, a ring of paw prints, a snowflake, and a sun. There was still no heart symbol in all she had gazed through. Kafda's steady hands lifted out the container that held the four bottles, revealing two more in a second layer underneath.
"Five million. I doubt you can afford these." Franky didn't dare see the sight of something so expensive and small. Robin was not afraid, but the shadows of the high suitcase blocked her vision. Kafda slid the first one from its impression and held it up to the light. "Death Populi Powder." White lettering and a fat black X were on the label.
"I don't think we need that, Bro," Franky mumbled, peeking at it through squinted eyes.
"If you are on a honeymoon, I doubt you'd want to kill each other. A sprinkle of this and a beast will wake up in a rage. Leave an item with the scent of the one you want killed and it will find and slaughter that person at all costs. You can understand that someone could go home without being charged for murder?"
"Yes. Too bad it doesn't work everywhere," Robin stated with a light sigh. She loved creepy things like this.
"Uh, the other one?" Franky gulped.
"Life Populi Powder."
Franky and Robin stared, eyes growing quite large. Kafda got the wrong idea and cheerfully showed off the label with blue lettering and a fancy pink heart.
"This is almost the opposite of Death Populi Powder. This wakes up an animal and gives it the urge to–"
"MATE?"
"Nami-swan, here I come!" Sanji yelled as he dashed into the forest, empty bags trying their best to stay on the blonde's shoulders. He was glad the Marimo had arrived to take over the job as caretaker of the ship. Dinner was prepared and snack was skipped, so there was not much more he had to do. Brooke's Skull Jokes were getting too much to bare and the cleaning of the girls' room had come to a close after three enjoyable hours.
"Ladies with pretty panties, please show them to me!" Brooke called in the direction of the town he was yet to get to. He had been practicing his Skull Jokes on Sanji-san, tiring the cook to no end. Even the skeleton man was a little bored and was about to switch over to his newest Skull Puns when Zoro-san knocked on the kitchen door. Now he could explore the bustling Populi Island and see what wonderful things (panties) it had to offer.
"Now, to wake up Luffy," Zoro mumbled to himself on the deck as the sound of footsteps receded into the greenery below. Then, he had another thought. Who would watch the ship if he were to take Luffy around the island? Look after the sleeping Chopper too, for that matter. Maybe Zoro could wake them both up with the Populi Powder. Walking into the men's bunk, the swordsman took the bottle out of his pocket and stared at it. The contents had made the two cat-bears from before so energetic and rowdy that Zoro realized he probably didn't want to deal with two animals in such a crazed state.
In his excitement to wake up his lover, the swordsman got the idea that Chopper could watch the ship while asleep. Would anyone actually have the nerve to attack the ship in the next four hours? Probably not. Staring at the little reindeer from the doorway of the room, Zoro felt a bit bad about leaving him alone in the dark place. Even if he were sleeping, he'd have missed a whole island. Also, if Luffy were to go ballistic, the Straw Hat doctor might be in danger.
Chopper was carried up to the crow's nest, where Zoro thought was a nicer place. The green-haired man found it a better napping spot than the bedroom, so placed the animal down gently on a blanket. The reindeer shifted a bit to get comfy in the warm light of the afternoon sun, but did not awaken. Gazing out the wide windows, Zoro nodded at the scenery. This had his guilt put to rest for a little while.
"I'm promoting you from sleeper to watchman," the first mate said to the furry creature, "so keep a lookout for anything suspicious and potentially dangerous. See you later." Chopper didn't respond as he was left alone to enjoy his dreaming.
The cap to the bottle was off as Zoro made his way back across the deck. Dumping some into his hand, he decided to pour it all out. What use he'd have of it later was probably impossible. If Luffy were to run about like crazy, waking up another beasts that would do the same could possibly turn into some destructive trouble. Not wanting that to happen, Zoro decided to use all the powder in one go. Perhaps it would keep Luffy up for a longer period of time too.
Luffy was snoring as loudly as he had been when the crew had left him. In his own bunk, the teen had drooled all over his pillow and his blanket had fallen to the floor. Sadly, he really didn't look cute in the least with his mouth wide open and posture quite distorted.
"But I can fix that," Zoro said to himself as he tossed the pink dust into the face of his sleeping lover.
Luffy moved at that moment and was bombarded by powder in both his nose and his mouth. With an abrupt shutting of his lips, he tasted something strange as he inhaled deeply through his nose. Scrunching his eyes shut at a weird taste, he swallowed once, twice, three times before most of the flavor was off his tongue.
Watching Luffy with interest, Zoro wondered how the powder actually worked. He read the back of the bottle again, but it really wasn't that explanatory. "WORKS ON SLEEPING POPULI ANIMALS ONLY. DO NOT USE OFF-ISLAND."
"I guess it has something to do with the environment being special…" the green-haired man mumbled as Luffy flipped over onto his stomach.
There was something odd. Unlike when the Alabasta climate had made him sweat, his body was heating up. Unlike when Sanji fed him something full of sugar or caffeine, his senses were tingling uncontrollably. Unlike how sinking through water made him feel like he couldn't breathe, his lungs wouldn't let him draw breath correctly. If he opened his eyes, would he figure out why he felt this way?
Luffy's left eye peeked out into the world, followed by the right. His vision was a bit blurry, and stayed so as he blinked repeatedly. Then, he saw Zoro, clear as day, standing and reading something with an indistinct shape. The only focus Luffy had was for the male in the room that he knew could sate his rapidly growing appetite.
BAM! Zoro was on the ground, just as he had expected would happen. Sadly, he had been unable to get out of the way as he had planned to. If he had paid closer attention to Luffy, maybe he could have sidestepped the attack. In any case, the great force of hitting the floor knocked some strength out of the swordsman. Neither moved while trying to take in air.
Feeling the arms of the other guy wrap around his waist, Zoro reached to touch Luffy's head of hair. As soon as the ebony-haired boy felt a brush of the foreign fingers on his scalp, he gave have a small spasm of surprise. Zoro wasn't expecting such a reaction to being touched. Maybe it was actually just Fight Populi Powder and Luffy had registered the contact as an assault. The thought worried the older man to the point where he had enough strength to sit up and grab for Luffy's face. What he saw was a bit shocking.
"Zo… Zo… ro…" Luffy panted, eyes glazed over and hazy. Stimulating tingles ran from Zoro's fingertips into his physique and made him experience a bliss he'd never known before. He rubbed his cheek against the hand and sighed in amazement. It felt so good!
"Uh," the swordsman muttered, uneasy about the expression the other was giving him, "Do you feel like fighting?"
"Zo… ro…"
"Playing then?"
"Zoro…" Luffy broke free of the hands let were holding his head. He nuzzled his face in the haramaki that he wanted gone.
All the Straw Hat captain could see was Zoro. All he could think was Zoro. All he could say was Zoro. All he could want was Zoro to fuck the living shit out of him.
"Dammit; are you okay?"
KittyLuffy: Dun Dun DUN...
Robin: Death Populi Powder sounds useful.
Usopp: Zoro is in for it in the next chapter for sure, huh?
Robin: I could use it to murder so many people...
KittyLuffy: Usopp! You're back from wherever you went!
Usopp: Still getting over the Love Below Heaven blues. *glares at KittyLuffy*
KittyLuffy: Ah ha ha. Well, for this part two that was a cliff-hanger again, please -
Robin: Get me some Death Populi Powder! Oh, and favorite the story and love it and comment on what you like.
Usopp: That dreaded sales pitch. Thanks for reading!