Here is Chapter 2! I hope you all enjoy it; please read and review!
Chapter last updated: Saturday, July 21, 201
Chapter 2 - Departing
Nami and Luffy stood in a long corridor in the midst of a pile of fallen marines. They stood facing each other, getting a good long look at the other's predicament. Nami was very self-concious about her clothing, keeping a close eye on her torn shorts and frayed T-shirt. Her shoes had been lost long ago, left somewhere on the ship. Being ambushed in the night didn't leave a lot of time for grabbing your shoes.
"We need to find our nakama," Luffy said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Shouldn't we get our weapons first?" Nami pointed out. "It won't be easy getting out of here without our weapons. And your hat." Who was the infamous Straw Hat Luffy without his straw hat? Not much of anyone, to most people. But to her, Luffy was Luffy, the man who she... stop.
"I suppose…." Luffy scratched his head, like thinking gave him a headache.
"Come on," Nami sighed, grabbed Luffy's wrist, and stared from left to right, trying to decide which way to go. "Which way is up?"
Luffy raised his hand, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. "Geez, Nami. Did Zoro's directional skills rub off on your or something? Up is that way!"
Nami rolled her eyes, holding back the urge to whack him upside the head. She revised her question. "Which direction is to the top floor?"
"That way." Luffy pointed in the direction his procession had been coming from.
"How do you know?"
"Cause we went down."
"That doesn't make any sense." Nami shrugged.
"Does it have to?"
The navigator sighed. "Come on."
She and Luffy began to run in the direction Luffy had indicated. Both of them were malnourished, but they each were able to run relatively quick. They encountered no guards on the way upstairs, though all the prisoners they passed begged to be freed, some even offering to join the Straw Hat crew as repayment. Neither Luffy nor Nami stopped to heed their pleas.
Finally, Nami and her captain reached the top level, four flights up from where they had started. "Now, which way is the Captain's room?" Nami wondered aloud to herself. She wished she had a map of the place.
"Let's ask for directions," Luffy suggested.
"Yeah, because the marines will definitely tell us where our weapons are," Nami said sarcastically.
"Maybe they're generous people."
"Dumbass!"
Luffy clutched the new bruise on his face. "It was just a suggestion."
Nami opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by running footsteps. Someone yelled, "Straw Hat Luffy has escaped with a crew member! All units are to report to battle stations immediately!"
"Shit!" Luffy grabbed Nami's arm and ran in a random direction, Nami stumbling behind him.
The marine fortress was a labyrinth of twisting hallways and doors leading to more hallways. The insignia of the World Government was painted on the walls, glaring down at the pirates as if daring them to try and escape. The two Straw Hats ran in every direction, desperately trying to avoid being discovered. Both were breathing heavily, and couldn't go on much longer. They stopped momentarily, leaning against a wall.
"This is…just like… G-8…" Nami gasped.
"G-what?" Luffy huffed.
"After we got down from Skypeia, we landed in that Marine Stronghold G-8, remember?"
"Uhm…" Luffy racked his brain. "Oh, yeah, with Fortress-guy!"
"Jonathan."
"Sure… man, I could use some meat right now."
For once, Nami agreed with her captain. Having not had sufficient meals in weeks, food would help their situation. She voiced her thoughts, and Luffy immediately decided to put off the captains quarters for food. That, Nami didn't quite agree with, but there was no changing Luffy's mind once it was made up. As a bonus, he even put off finding his hat, something Nami was sure would have been a first priority, even to meat. But, to a rubber man who hadn't eaten in weeks was a scary sight.
"Alright. To find the kitchen!" Luffy stood up, suddenly full of energy at the thought of food. He and Nami continued their journey though the marine compound, on the lookout for both the kitchen and the weapons vault. Small troops of marines would occasionally engage them, but Luffy easily took care of them, kocking them all to the ground in a single attack.
That got Nami to thinking. I'm useless without my Climatact, she thought to herself every time another marine hit the shiny linoleum floor. Even energy-deprived, Luffy is still dealing with the enemy like nothing! She watched her captain dispose of the fourth group. I need to get stronger.
"Nami!" Luffy's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I think I found the kitchen!"
"Really?" Nami followed Luffy's finger to the sign hanging above a huge pair of swinging double doors to their right. Sure enough, KITCHEN was written in big bold letters high above them. "That's great!"
"Let's get the meat!"
"Wait, Luffy! We need a plan. The cooks are probably in there making meals or something."
Too late. Luffy was already flinging the doors open to the kitchen. "Give me food!" he yelled demandingly.
Nami facepalmed. Well, there was no use sneaking around now. She walked to the door and looked over Luffy's shoulder into an empty kitchen. No cooks stood at the ovens. No fires roared in the hearth. No pots sizzled with the aroma of delicious ingredients. The room was completely bare. The only sign someone had been there recently was a platter of half-diced onions lying on the counter, the knife stuck inside one. Nami found this extremely suspicious.
Luffy wasted no time at the opportunity. He bounded into the room and began raiding the refrigerator. "Oh man! These marines sure know how to make a guy happy! Nami! They even got marbled meat! Oh man, I've missed maybe a hundred meals!" He continued to jabber to himself, stuffing his face with meat until he looked like a chipmunk.
Nami avoided the refrigerator and examined the onions. A small pile of perfectly cubed onion sat in a top corner. Two more solid onions rolled on the table, while another was in the midst of being diced, the knife sticking out from the vegetable, the juices still oozing around the blade. Nami wrapped her hand around the hilt and tugged the knife from the onion. She tensed, waiting for some sort of booby trap to be sprung.
Nothing happened. Nami breathed a sigh of relief and stuck the knife into her belt as a temporary weapon. She didn't want to use it, but it was better than nothing. She moved on to the cabinets and began shuffling through the many boxes. Sanji would be impressed; each spice was in alphabetical order.
As she pulled a container of preserved tuna from the cupboard, the door to the kitchen opened again, and a small, hunchbacked man entered the room. He wore the traditional marine uniform, only a cook's apron was tied around his neck and waist. A tall chef's hat sat proudly atop his head. Although it wasn't as big as Chef Zef's it was still very tall. He didn't appear to notice the intruders until he had taken off his hat, placing it by the door, revealing his graying hair. He turned to see a frozen Nami, her hand still halfway into the cabinet. "Hey, girl! Please don't touch that! Do you know how hard it is for a little man like me to reach up there! All the other cooks are on leave so it's just me feeding four thousand men here!"
"Oh, sir!" Nami jerked her hand from the shelf, folding her fingers behind her back at attention. What's this man's game? She wondered. Doesn't he know we're pirates?
"And you sir!" the man addressed Luffy, who was chugging a large gallon of water, small drops sliding messily down his chin. "Clean yourself up! You're a grown man, not a two year old. If you are my new helpers, I will then require help!"
Luffy put down the bottle and wiped his hand across his mouth. "Listen, old guy…"
"You will address me and Chef Shawn, young man." The old man said, wagging his finger like a grandfather might berate a child. Oh. Maybe that wasn't the best comparison at the moment.
"Right, old chef guy. Do you have any more meat?"
"What kind of a question is that! Do we have meat? Of course I do! I have – " Chef Shawn noticed the open refrigerator and its empty shelves. "By jove, boy! Did you eat all the meat? The carefully organized meat?"
"Sure did, old chef guy."
Nami rolled her eyes. I don't know how, but Chef Shawn must think we're marines, she reasoned, watching the chef continue to verbally batter Luffy. Maybe if we play along, he can get us food and directions to the captain's quarters!
"Excuse me, Chef Shawn," Nami said sweetly.
The old man turned. "What?" he noticed the tuna on the counter. "Gah! My tuna! Put it back exactly where you found it! Or I'll have to reorganize the entire kitchen cabinets! Every single one! Do you have any idea how long that takes?"
"Yes, sir!" Nami quickly put the tuna back into the cupboard, turning the can so the brand label could be seen clearly from every angle. "Chef Shawn, is there any way you could whip something up for the captain of this place? Genzo over there – " Nami pointed to Luffy, using the name of the mayor of her hometown, Cocoyashi Village. She had a sudden urge to see them again, but it would have to wait. "—and I are new here and we would like to meet our boss. We need the meal as an excuse to see him."
"What's your name, girl?" Chef Shawn cocked his head.
"Nojiko, sir." Nami fingered the golden bracelet resting on her wrist.
"Miss Nojiko, I am sorry, but I have just come from delivering Mr. Ramius-sama his lunch. You will have to wait until dinner."
"Oh, but sir! We would like to meet him now!"
"Nami, what are you doing?" Luffy asked.
"Shut up, Genzo!" Nami told him sharply. She didn't like using that tone with him, but it was imperitive that his real name not be revealed, nor hers. This man most likely knew that Straw Hat Luffy and a crewmate were running rampant around the stronghold. If he found out they were standing in front of him, he would sound the alarm, and the whole plan would be ruined.
"Nami?" Chef Shawn asked suspiciously.
"That's my nickname," Nami improvised. "Genzo tends to have a sort of memory lapse and he thinks he's someone else a lot of the time."
"I see." Something in his eyes made Nami believe he didn't quite believe her story. "Well, Nojiko-chan, if you want to see Captain Ramius-sama so badly, he's two floors up, take a left, right, left again, left, right, right and another left. It's the second door on the right."
"Oh, thank you sir, Chef Shawn sir!" Nami crossed to Luffy and grabbed his wrist. "Come on, Genzo," she said, and dragged him out the door.
"Wait! My meat!"
XXX
The doors swung shut behind them with a soft huff. Chef Shawn cracked a small smile and chuckled as he crossed crossed to a small drawer, where he pulled out a small cigarette and lighter. He lit the butt of the cigarette and took a long puff. His entire demeanor changed from his overreacting orderly marine self to his preferred cunning and sharp personality.
"Pirates, huh?" he said to himself. "Had a feeling they'd show up here eventually." He looked at the board of recipes he kept above the sink. The only WANTED poster he kept there was that of the smiling Monkey D. Luffy, the bounty of 300,000,000 belis. "Achieve your dream, kid," he said. "I'll see you again real soon."
As he rolled up his sleeves to begin washing the dishes, the tattoo of the Revolutionaries was momentarily revealed on his arm before being immersed in bubbles.
Well, I hope you guys know the drill; please read and review!
As one of those facts that no one really cares about, Chef Shawn has multiple personalities. But he can decide which one to have at any given moment. When he's with the marines, he's an OCD maniac. By himself, he's this cool and collected guy. Stay tuned to find out more!
Coming Up: Chapter 3 - Darkness