Chapter 5
Disclaimer: Oda Eiichiro owns One Piece. I do not
"I really missed your cooking Sanji! Yours is the best!" Luffy yelled earnestly. They were gorging themselves on Sanji's absolutely magnificent feast as they celebrated his return. Kind of.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Crap cooks food is barely eatable," was the comment Zoro made with a smirk. Zoro didn't miss Sanji in the slightest but it was good to eat his food again. It was also good training when they fought, like now.
"What do you know about good food? Your taste is even worse than your sense of direction, shitty swordsman!" yelled Sanji as he went to kick him. Zoro blocked his kick with his swords as they exchanged hits.
"Can't believe that I kind of missed their fighting," sighed Usopp as he protected his plate from Luffy's wandering hands. Normally, Nami would stop their fighting by now, but she was too distracted from her impending fight with Arlong that she was barely paying any attention.
"Nami-swan, are you alright? I can make you an orange dessert or do you want a massage? I can write a poem of your infinite beauty for you and you can fall in love with me all over again!" Sanji prattled on, doing his noodle dance with a perverted look on his face. Everyone a sweat dropped at his antic, even Nami.
"Don't worry Nami! We can beat Arlong with no problem!" Luffy said resolutely.
"Yes! The Great Sogeking will defeat anyone in his way!" yelled Usopp dramatically.
"Really? Sogeking is here? I don't feel him anywhere though?" asked Luffy in confusion.
"Uh… w-well, he told me that he will be here for the battle, when he is needed the most!" stuttered the liar.
"So, what are we going to do when we get there?" asked Sanji seriously. They all looked towards Nami for answers. This was Nami's home so it was her call.
"I-I want to fight Arlong myself," said Nami quietly but firmly.
"I understand. We'll have your back, the whole way," Luffy said in encouragement.
"Yeah! The wonderful Nami-swan can take care of him on her own but if you need any help, your knight in shining armor will protect you and we can live happily ever after," fantasized the resident pervert. Zoro rolled his eyes at him but turned serious.
"What about the octopus?" asked Zoro. He was the one to fight him, so he needed to know how he should handle the situation.
"Oh, Hatchi? Just make sure he doesn't get too hurt. He is our friend," reminded Nami with a smile. Hatchi was their friend. Not all fishmen were bad. Even Arlong was understandable, once you know his full story. She will defeat them, but she'll try to give them back to Jinbei this time. She wasn't heartless.
"Oooh, I wonder, will he make us some Takoyaki?" asked Luffy with a drool.
As they were sailing on their happy little boat and having idiotic but fun times, suddenly, a sea monster appeared. Not just any sea monster, a sea cow.
"Oh, look! It's Mohmoo!" exclaimed Nami. None of the Straw-hats seemed scared. They just looked on with either an interested expression or a bored indifference.
"I remember this. He tried to eat me," growled Sanji, as he went to kick the poor animal. At that moment Johnny and Yosaku awoke from their nap and saw a giant sea monster lurking just above their faces.
"AAAAAAH!" they screamed and crawled to the very back of the ship.
"Hey! Don't hurt him! He could be our friend!" defended Luffy and put out his hand so the sea cow could shake it. Mohmoo looked at it for a while but rather than trying to shake it, he tried to eat it instead.
"Never mind, I found our next meal, Sanji," Luffy changed his mind and punched him so hard that all they could sea was a new star in the sky.
"Idiot captain! Why'd you punch it that far? How are we supposed to find it now?" asked Sanji irritably as he pulled at Luffy's cheek.
"Luffy bro! You're awesome!" cheered the bounty hunter duo, as they danced around the deck now that the monster was gone.
They could see the island in the distance. Nami felt extremely homesick for a moment because she really hadn't been back here for a long time. She had missed her town, her villagers, the farm and most importantly, her sister. She had missed her family. She sighed in melancholy.
A loud noise broke her thoughts. It was Luffy. He was messing around with Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku on the deck. His bright smile lifted every sad thought right off of her chest. She could hear every boast and exaggeration that actually turned even more ridiculous but 100% true, she could see Zoro dosing in a corner with a smile on his lips and she could hear Sanji humming from the kitchen and smell the wonderful aroma from his delicious food. She really didn't feel sad anymore because she was already in the midst of her family.
"It's good to be back!" exclaimed Nami, as she jumped toward her homeland, as soon as they landed.
"Did they see us? Will they come looking for us?" asked Usopp a little nervously. He wasn't scared per se, but he didn't really want to fight as soon as they landed.
"Don't worry, it won't matter in the long run," answered Nami as she walked with a skip in her step.
"So, which direction are we going?" asked Zoro impassively. The others all looked towards Zoro in astonishment. Even Luffy looked surprised.
"Since when did you know any directions?" asked Sanji in shock.
"Of course I know," he looked affronted, "North means up right?" asked Zoro seriously. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. The sky wasn't falling down on them today.
"Shishishi, Zoro's an idiot," Luffy laughed and continued walking.
"I don't want to hear that from you!" the directionally challenged swordsman yelled, annoyed.
"We're going to my house. I want to see Nojiko first," answered Nami to the previous question. It felt great to be back on her homeland. It was familiar and comforting in a way no other place was, except for the Sunny and Merry. Cocoyashi village may be her hometown but the Sunny was her home now… technically, Merry was her home at this moment. She couldn't picture her life without her crew anymore. The last two years apart was a lonely and bleak part of her life. It's not to say it was bad, it was quite pleasant to learn from those naïve old men, but she just missed her crew. They might not have been together long, but they were a vital part of her life.
(-O-)
"So, you're going to take on Arlong by yourself?" asked Nojiko skeptically. It was good to see her sister again but it appeared that somewhere along her journey, she had lost her mind.
"I'm not going to do it on my own! I have my crew!" defended Nami self-consciously. She had missed her sister a lot, but it was hard to be happy when Nojiko was looking at her like she was Luffy. No matter how much she liked and respected Luffy, there was no denying that he was a retard; she didn't want to feel like a retard.
"A pirate crew… when you swore you hate pirates and never want to become one," continued Nojiko in that same disbelieving tone. Nami was getting more and more annoyed by her disbelief.
"I am stronger than I was before!" she shouted, irritated. She knew she was sounding mental, but after all their travel in the Grand line, they had to be a bit crazy to survive so long. Especially with a Captain that was bat shit insane and a crew that could be a circus show.
"You've been gone for a couple weeks, and you're telling me that you got strong enough to defeat Arlong in that short amount of time?" the big sister was worried for her sisters mental health the more they talked. Nami was usually a levelheaded person that was quite smart but from what she was seeing, those qualities were replaced by either stupidity or craziness.
"I can control the weather now!" Nami desperately defended herself.
"Really… with that stick?" was Nojiko's question. Her disbelief was evident with every word she uttered.
Luffy and Usopp were snickering behind their hands as her sister told off Nami and regarded her as an idiot. The funniest thing was Nami's expression as she tried so hard to defend herself and sounded even more ridiculous. Even Zoro couldn't hide his smirk, as the witch got more and more flustered.
"Nami-swaaaan, no matter how stupid you sound, you will always be beautiful!" shouted Sanji, trying to win her affection, which obviously failed. Horribly.
"Shut up, you idiots! You're not helping!" screamed Nami in frustration as she hit all of her crewmembers on the head. The numbskulls were making her look even more stupid, with Luffy with a finger up his nose, Sanji swooning like an idiot and Zoro sleeping in a corner.
"Nami-swan's so beautiful when she's angry," was the muffled out compliment. Nami's vein grew even larger.
"What happened to your plan of buying the village back? I thought you were quite close?" Nojiko asked, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"I got the required money, but Arlong will never let me go, so I'm going to just defeat him and get him out of our island!" Nami said resolutely. Nojiko could see how serious Nami was. She released a sigh, because she knew that once Nami got that look in her eyes, there was nothing she could do to change her mind.
"You should be more careful. Now that you have a crew that you trust and a lot of money, you could just go away. You don't have to stay here and work for Arlong. You could sail the whole world and draw the map you always wanted," pleaded Nojiko, trying to stop her little sister from dong something that dangerous. She didn't think that this ragtag group of Pirates could defeat Arlong, the strongest pirate in the East Blue. They were Fishman to boot. They were a lot stronger than any human she knew.
"I won't leave you guys to those blood thirsty pirates. We will beat them and we will release this island from his tyranny," answered Nami earnestly. "I won't leave you to their mercy anymore. You've got to believe me," she added, looking straight into her sisters' eyes. Nojiko looked into her little sisters' eyes. No matter how crazy Nami sounded, she couldn't resist the steel in her eyes.
"Fine. What's your plan?" she asked with a sigh.
"Uh… well, I was thinking we would storm their gates and beat them up?" Nami answered with a sweat drop at herself. Nojiko face palmed.
(-O-)
"Arlong!" Nami yelled out as she opened the gates to Arlong Park. Most of the crew was there and Arlong was sitting on his chair like it was a throne. They all looked in her direction as soon as she gave the cry. Luffy and the others were behind her, giving her the resolve she needed.
"Nami! What are you doing here with such a serious look on your face?" asked Arlong sardonically. He didn't believe that these mere humans could ever pose him a threat.
"I have the 100'000 belly right here. So, you're going to set my village free, right? It was our deal," reminded Nami suspiciously. She knew Arlong would never keep his end of the bargain.
The smile slid right off Arlongs' face as he processed the situation. There was no way in hell that he would ever let Nami go. He didn't think that she would get the money so soon, but it didn't matter, he would take care of this.
"Of course, I always keep my word," he smiled evilly, the other mermen murmured amongst themselves. They knew Arlong had something up his sleeve. "Although, some of my crew members decided to split up. I will let you and your village go, but I really can't say for them… They just might decide to attack this island again. Who knows…" he finished sinisterly. His crewmates also smirked and jeered, as they thought they had already won.
Nami just sighed. She knew that something like this would happen. Arlong was just a vile person. She knew nothing would or had changed. She wouldn't hate all fishmen because of this though. One man wasn't the whole race, after all.
The sky was getting darker and darker and rain clouds were forming above their heads, most of them didn't even notice and the ones who did, knew what was about to happen. Nami continued spinning her staff and making cool balls and heat balls, the fishmen assumed that it was just a nervous tick or something, but Kuroobi was suspicious. He knew that Nami was a deceitful woman.
"What are you doing, human?" he asked. Whatever she was doing couldn't be good.
"And who are you people?" was directed towards the Straw-Hat Pirates. They ignored him, because Nami was ready for her attack.
"Thunderbolt Tempo!" she cried out, as a large lighting bolt struck down from the sky, directly at Arlong. Arlong went down, like a sack of flour and the fishmen angrily got up to attack her, as soon as they figured out what happened.
"That was satisfying," she smiled, "I'll leave everything else to you," she said in a hurry, as she hid behind Usopp. Usopp panicked, because he thought he wouldn't really have to do anything this time.
"What?! I thought you were going to fight Arlong and the Monster trio was going to take care of everything else! Why am I fighting!" he shouted as he ducked under a swing from a random fishmen.
"Yosh! Here I go!" Luffy laughed out and he punched two fishmen in the face and they went down, out cold.
"Finally, a fight," Zoro growled with a bloodthirsty smile as he sliced five fishmen with a single strike. They also went down in a shower of blood.
"Nami-swaaaan, I'll take care of everything for you," Sanji sang and he kicked multiple opponents at the same time.
The fight was over pretty quickly after that.
"That was fast," whispered Nojiko, as she looked around at all the fallen fishmen in awe. She couldn't believe how strong Nami's friends were. Luffy and the others took down the fishmen, who was 10 times stronger than a normal person, with inconceivable ease. And Nami's attack was unbelievable, but her hopes were soon dashed, as Arlong stood up from the wreckage that used to be his chair.
Only Arlong and his top lieutenants were left. All the other fishmen were defeated, although none were actually dead. The Straw-hats didn't like to kill their opponent because their Captain didn't. It would be shameful.
"Shahahaha… not bad for a pathetic human," Arlong laughed evilly but soon his expression turned pissed "I feel a seething rage after seeing my beloved brethren be crushed by you pathetic insects," he was clearly extremely angry. "Do you know what hopeless difference there is between you and I?" he was also extremely arrogant.
"Yup," Luffy said nonchalantly.
"Then why do you fight a hopeless battle? You might be strong for a human, but fishmen are clearly superior. Do you want to die that badly?"
"Huh?" the rubber-brained idiot actually seemed confused. Why would it be a hopeless battle if he was so much stronger than the fishman? He put a finger up his nose to ponder the question. The surrounding villagers almost had a tear in their eye at the hopelessness of this numbskull actually saving them.
"Are you that much of an idiot that you didn't understand what I just said?" now Arlong just seemed annoyed that an idiot beat his crewmembers.
"Whatever, since I'm so much stronger than you, I don't have to understand you, I just have to beat you," his confidence was blinding.
Arlong got angrier and angrier at the nonchalant expressions on every Straw-hat members faces. Even Nami and the cowardly long-nose seemed absolutely confident that Luffy could beat him. Arlong would show them who was boss!
The fishman opened his jaws wide and went to bite Luffy. His teeth were incredibly sharp and looked like it could chew through stone, but Luffy caught it between his hands. Arlong tried to wrench his mouth free, but Luffy held him tight and the fishman couldn't get him to budge.
"Ret Go!" Arlong tried to say with his teeth in Luffy's hands.
"Make me," the Rubber-man cheekily smiled.
Arlong tried to bite Luffy's hands so hard that he broke all his teeth. All the spectators gasped in disbelief.
Another set immediately grew back and it seemed even stronger than before.
He tried to bite Luffy again but Luffy dodged every bite as if it was nothing. Trying to catch Luffy, Arlong bit everything from a pillar to the wall. Luffy almost seemed bored.
"You pathetic, weak humans can't beat me!" Arlong yelled, almost to himself. He pulled out two sets of teeth and held each in his hands. He tried to attack Luffy again with three sets, but Luffy dodged again but this time, he counter struck.
"Gomu Gomu no Kane!" Luffy yelled out and stretched his neck back and snapped it back for a devastating head-butt to Arlong's face. The force of the hit was so powerful that Arlong was sent back, but since Luffy was gripping his hands, Arlong got pulled back for a second hit.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy hit Arlong in the face. Arlong fell into and through the wall and slumped down.
"Captain Arlong!" Hatchan, Kuroobi and Chew, the only remaining conscious Fishmen yelled out and tried to attack Luffy. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp respectively stopped them.
"Don't interrupt our captain's fight," Zoro growled out and pushed Hatchan back with the hilt of his sword. The octopus seemed pissed.
"How dare you humans disrespect us superior beings," he tried to attack Zoro, but was easily blocked.
(-0-)
It was a typical day for the marines aboard the Raging Wind. Well, not really. In fact, it was quite a nerve-wracking day because they were about to fight Arlong, the fishman. Sure, the Krieg Pirates were said to be the strongest pirate crew in the East Blue, but it was pretty much because Arlong didn't like to boast about his strength. From what the marines had gathered, Arlong was lying low at the moment and collecting resources so he could make a comeback or something.
It didn't matter what his plan was in the end, he just had to be stopped.
Captain Rokkaku was just recently promoted. He was still idealistic about the true purpose of the Marines, so he just couldn't ignore such a big shot pirate that was doing so much harm to several islands. He hated people like Nezumi, who accepted bribes from criminals and did as they bid. As soon as he heard about the situation here, he investigated and discovered how corrupt the marines really were.
He knew that they couldn't exactly take on Arlong easily but he had to at least try, so here they were, sailing to their probable deaths.
"Captain!" his lieutenant called, breaking his morbid thoughts.
"What happened?" he asked nervously. They were in enemy territory now.
"There appears to be fighting at the Arlong Pirates Base."
"What?! With who?" this was unexpected. He hadn't heard anything about fighting. Who the hell was actually stupid enough to fight the fishmen (apart from them).
"…Pirates, I gather," the lieutenant said, pointing towards the Going Merry and the Skull and crossbones that it proudly presented.
"Have you ever seen that symbol? I don't believe I recognize it," the captain admitted.
"Me neither. They either have to be a brand new pirate crew or they're so weak that they flew under the radar," a loud explosion was heard. The closer they got, the more of the fight they could see and what they saw, blew their minds.
A young boy in a straw-hat similar to the one that was drawn on the Pirate Flag was beating Arlong! From what they could tell, he almost seemed unhurt and all of his moves seemed effortless, while Arlong was panting and snarling in anger and frustration.
Everywhere around them, fishmen seemed to be defeated. A green-haired swordsman that somehow seemed familiar was fighting what looked like an octopus and winning. A blond man in a suit was kicking a fishman around like it was nothing, and a curly haired boy with an extremely long nose was bombarding a fishman with huge lips non-stop.
The Captain didn't even know what to feel. It was great that Arlong was being defeated, but by another Pirate crew? He feared fighting them even more. They seemed monstrously strong with the ease that they were fighting. Even worse, the villagers seemed to be cheering them on. He came here to save the village and defeat the villain, or at least die trying, but it appeared that the situation had changed.
"C-Captain, what's happening? What are we going to do?" his lieutenant asked in trepidation. He looked back and could see the fear starkly in all of his subordinate's eyes. He felt himself swallow thickly and couldn't get the words past his throat. He looked towards the fight. They could see everything clearly, but couldn't hear what they were saying.
Captain Rokkaku couldn't even keep up with the fight, not really. The boy was darting here and there, dodging here, kicking there, jumping here, punching there, that his eyes just couldn't keep up. Apparently, neither could Arlong.
His eyes finally caught up with the fight after the Straw-Hat boy kicked the fishman so hard that he flew through several floor of the building behind them. The boy waited for him to emerge.
Meanwhile, the swordsman had broken the octopus' six blades and appeared to be threatening him. The Octopus looked defiant so the swordsman hit him on the head with the hilt of his sword and he passed out. There was something so very familiar about the green-haired man that it was killing the marine, trying to figure out what it was. He heard a gasp behind him.
"My God, that's the Pirate Hunter Roronoah Zoro!" a marine gasped. It clicked. Of course it was him. He was the strongest swordsman in the East Blue. What was he doing here, fighting with a Pirate Crew? Wasn't he supposed to hunt them? He looked to be working with the unknown pirates! Oh God, did he actually become a pirate?
The blond one was also winning. Was there no end to these monstrous strengths? He thought there were very few people that could stand up to the Fishmen in the East Blue but out of nowhere, they appeared. The blond man was kicking the Karate Fishman so hard and so fast that he couldn't reorient himself and attack. The barrage of kicks was increasing speed and he actually looked like he was flying. With a final kick so strong that he broke the concrete under him and burrowed underground, the Fishman stopped moving. Hopefully, he didn't die.
"Have you ever heard of him?" Rokkaku asked his marines. Someone this strong couldn't go under the radar for this long, right? They all shook their heads.
Lastly, the long-nosed man finished his fight. His fight looked a lot different from the others. For one, he wasn't a close range fighter like the others. Second, he wasn't as confident and straightforward like the others. He used tricks and faints and non-lethal projectiles that were impressive in their flashiness to disorient and confuse his opponent. He wasn't as strong as the others, but he appeared craftier. The long-nosed sniper also finished his fight with a hit that looked quiet painful from the ship. The big-mouthed fishman went down.
The Marine Captain thought that the fight was over and they had sailed close enough that they could land as well as actually hear what was happening.
Arlong had got up from the rubble. He looked so beat up that a soft wind could make him go down but he was standing straight and glaring up at the other pirates.
"Who are you, that you could defeat us so easily?" he growled out.
"We're the Straw-hat Pirates," the boy answered, as he stood right in front of the fishman.
"Why?" was the only question.
"Because you hurt my nakama," the boy answered honestly and frankly.
"Heh," Arlong chuckled ruefully with no humor in his eyes, "What are you going to do to us?"
The boy looked at him for a while without saying anything. After a long tense silence, he answered "Nothing." He looked Arlong straight in his eyes and said, "As long as you never come here again and you never hurt anyone like this again, I'll let you go."
Arlong looked shocked.
"Right, Nami?" here, the boy looked back and smiled towards an orange haired girl.
"Yeah, Luffy," an orange haired girl, Nami smiled back.
Arlong looked towards Nami, "Why would you let me go after all the pain and misery I caused you?" he looked genuinely confused and at the end of his wits. Nobody should be this forgiving.
She was silent for a moment, looking deep in thought, "We should learn to forgive and forget if we ever want to truly live freely." Arlong honestly couldn't believe Nami could ever forgive him. He knew she could survive, he even knew that someday she'd try to fight him. He doubted very much that she'd ever win, but he never believed that she would forgive him. He had killed her mother… right in front of her eyes. He didn't know anyone human could ever be this… kind…
"Do you promise?" the question from Luffy that was directed towards the fishman was deathly serious, with a promise of deadly retribution should he lie.
Arlong looked thoughtful for a moment, then he met Luffy's eyes head on and nodded. "I promise," he said solemnly and passed out from the pain.
The smile was back on Luffy's face and he jumped up and yelled "FOOOOOD!"
"Take a picture," Rokakku ordered his men, "Of all of them. This needs to be told to the Marine HQ." There were several flashes of light.
The Pirates noticed them then. The happiness slid of their faces but no one looked worried, they looked more bored and annoyed.
"What should we do?" a marine asked behind him.
Rokakku steadied himself and shouted, "Are you Pirates?" They looked around blankly.
"We're the Straw-Hat Pirates! I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy shouted exuberantly. The swordsman Zoro, the girl Nami, the blonde man, and the long-nose boy all smiled indulgently. They didn't seem surprised by the bold exclamation, they seemed to expect and believe it while everyone else seemed extremely surprised.
"WHAT?!"
"Shishishishi," the boy, Luffy laughed.
"Then as a marine, I captain Rokakku of the 112th division, am required by law to arrest you, for the crime of piracy," he tried to sound confident and probably failed. His subordinates behind him were readying their weapons for the coming fight but were almost shaking in their boots.
"Hah, I don't think you want that," Zoro smiled evilly.
"Don't worry my beautiful ladies, it'll only take a second," the blonde assured Nami and the purple haired beauty beside her.
"Shishishishi, it'll be good exercise before the feast," Luffy sounded excited.
The marines stood looking at them for a while, unable and unwilling to attack. They knew that they were so far outmatched that it was laughable, but they couldn't run away. It would be disgraceful and everything they hated about the marines. It was pretty much a stalemate.
The decision was out of their hands when at first Johnny and Yosaku, and then the villagers stood to arms and defended their criminal heroes.
"We won't let you persecute our saviors!" who appeared to be the mayor of the village moved in front of the pirates holding a sword in front of him defensively.
"Yeah!" the other villagers followed his cue and they all got between the marines and the pirates. The marines almost looked relieved.
"Uhhhh… then we will report this to the Marine HQ and you will officially be wanted by the government," Rokakku finished lamely.
"Bye!" Nami sand cheerfully.
"By-" a marine almost replied but was stopped by an elbow to his ribs.
After the marine beat a hasty retreat, Sanji broke the silence, "Why is everything ending so anticlimactically?"
(-0-)
The after party was everything the Straw-Hats were famous for. The food and booze were plentiful, the women were grateful and the audiences were captivated by the stories. Usopp didn't even have to lie or to make up stories anymore. The truth was far more bizarre and unbelievable than anything he could come up with. Nobody would believe that what he was telling was the truth.
He was regaling their adventures on Thriller Bark to the town's people. They were entertained but disbelieving. Zoro and Sanji had smirks on their faces while Luffy was gorging his face. Nami on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. That was a given though. This was her hometown, she probably had things to check and people to meet and just reminisce.
Usopp was just happy to be back. To the beginning where their opponents weren't monstrously strong and the whole world wasn't out to get them. They didn't have to worry about anyone for a while, not until Crocodile at least. They even missed Mihawk! It was nice to not be afraid constantly even if it wasn't as exciting. He would enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted.
(-0-)
For Nami, it was great to be back. To see the familiar faces that she hasn't seen in years. It was almost melancholic. Everything here remained unchanged while she had changed so very much.
She visited her mothers' grave in silence. She didn't know what to say. Not really. She bid her farewell and asked her permission last time. It seemed redundant to do so again. She stood up.
"I hope you're proud of me," she whispered with a smile, "I don't regret any of my choices, past or future, but now that I've got the chance to change it, I'll do it all again with the same determination. It'll just be like the continuation of our journey, rather than starting over. Everything will be fine so don't worry. Even when they're not, it all works out," she breathed out and left towards her nakama.
As she was leaving, she could almost feel a wind passing by her and it felt like a hug.
She left with a smile on her face and a suspiciously wet look in her eyes.
(-0-)
"The same farewell?" Zoro asked with a smirk. They were just sailing away from Cocoyashi and towards Logue Town.
"Why change what works?" Nami answered with a cheeky grin.
"Yeah! My perfect Nami-swan can do whatever she wants!" three guesses who said that and the first two don't count.
"Things are going pretty smoothly," Nami said with a smile.
"Yes… almost too easy," Zoro was always the suspicious one.
"Except for me almost dying because you were late," Usopp was still bitter over that.
"Really?" Sanji asked surprised. He hadn't heard about that.
"Shishishishi, we had to row really fast," Luffy, always the cheerful one.
"No kidding," the swordsman mumbled.
"Well, we made it in time," the navigator answered resolutely, "We just have to be sure to always be on time, otherwise things have been going very smoothly," she was pleased.
"True. Maybe we'll be lucky and not change much of the timeline. Then when the time comes we'll be ready and prepared for anything the world throws at us!" Usopp really was feeling confident.
Zoro wanted to agree but there was a sinking feeling in his gut that it wouldn't be that easy.
(-0-)
The first apparent change came in the form of a bounty poster, or more correctly, bounty posters, plural. None on them thought it strange that Luffy would get a bounty, it happened before after all. What was strange was that in between the pages of the newspaper that Nami was reading, there was not one, not two, not even three, but four new bounty posters.
"Shishishi, it's even higher than before!"
"About time."
"Thank god this is actually my picture."
"Huh… I actually got one of my own this time."
"Why did you guys get one?" Nami was curious, "I didn't get one," she was almost pouty. It wasn't like she wanted the extra notoriety but why was she the only one who didn't get one!
Usopp thought about it. How did Luffy get one last time?
"Oh! Last time Luffy beat the rat bastard and he tattle tailed. None of the marines actually saw us fight, while this time the lazy ass marines came after we defeated Arlong. They probably saw us fighting and increased the bounty to something that would better define us," Usopp guessed.
Usopp's bounty was 5'000'000 beli. He looked tired and bloody but with a smile on his face. Considering his last bounty photo from Dressrosa, it wasn't that bad.
"This picture is actually good! All the pretty ladies around the world could rest easy, knowing that a handsome prince like myself will watch out for them," Sanji fantasized. He could picture a beautiful lady holding his bounty poster to her bosom and hugging it tightly. The pervert got a nosebleed.
Sanji's bounty was 15'000'000 beli. His picture honestly was very flattering with him standing amidst chaos, smoking a cigarette with a secret smile on his face.
"Tchh, they'll wipe their ass with it," Zoro muttered as he lay, trying to sleep.
"What did you say, you stupid marimo!"
"I said women wouldn't even look twice at your ugly picture,"
"Watch your mouth, you brain dead idiot. My picture is so much better than yours, you ugly bastard!"
"My bounty is still higher than yours," and their fighting escalated towards physical. Nami sighed in exasperation, Usopp tried to pretend that they didn't exist and Luffy felt amused.
Zoro's bounty was 25'000'000 beli. His picture was almost pretty much the same as his old one, bloody, feral and scary.
"You guys are funny," Luffy laughed as the fight escalated even more. As Sanji kicked and obliterated a part of Merry, Usopp had had enough.
"Enough you guys! You're breaking Merry!" he yelled and hit both of their heads. They mumbled and grumbled and went their separate ways. Luffy's poster read 55'000'000 beli. It was a significant increase.
"Hey Luffy! Do you think this would change anything?" Usopp was curious. Even though he knew that they were a lot stronger than they were at their previous lifetime, he was still wary, especially about change.
The sniper knew that weird things happened to them, but this time they had an advantage on their side besides their increase in power, they had an increase in knowledge. He could plan everything accordingly and avoid any major, scary incidents if he knew what was going to happen beforehand. The only thing he was scared about was change. He sure as hell hoped everything they did up 'till didn't affect anything in a big way.
Oh, if he only knew…
AN: I am soooo very sorry for the unbelievably long wait. I got stuck in the Logue Town arc and just… forgot about it for a while. Again, sorry… The next chapter is hopefully going to make up for it.
Thank you very much for your favourites and your reviews. They means so much to me and I'm sorry if I don't reply. To answer some of your questions… a lot will be answered in the next chapter. As for the beta reader, I don't have any. I don't even know how to have a beta. I know I probably have typos, I try to read and re-read them but I guess I don't catch them all.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you like it.