Ehehehe I'm just going to leave this chapter here. Please don't be too mad about me not updating I just lost my muse for a while and this chapter has sat unfinished on my computer for too long.
Chapter 3: The Winds of Change
When Usopp ran he ran fast. That was one of the few good things about being a coward, his speed and endurance were absolutely incredible, seeing as he was constantly running away from dangerous situations (of course it all started with running from angry villagers in Syrupp). However at this particular moment he was knowingly running toward danger, and not just any danger, but one that according to Chopper defeated one Monkey D. Luffy, the strongest person that Usopp knew.
Focused solely on running so he wouldn't chicken out Usopp was jolted back to reality by a sharp bark from Row. The dog was right now proving to be an even greater help to Usopp than he had originally intended and he was going to use the dog to get in Luffy's good favor, now thanks to his sharp nose, a bit of Blackbeard's blood on Chopper's hoof, and the now rapidly clearing darkness Row was able to pick up a scent and was now tracking the man.
Usopp nearly tripped over Row from stopping so fast, but the dog was unperturbed. Row stood completely stiff his entire body seemed to increase in size as his fur stood on end growling savagely at the image before them. Usopp began trembling in fear now that the adrenaline from running was beginning to slow down. He watched in horror as Luffy was hanging limply from a broad man's shoulders, the mask wearing man gave a shrill laugh before speaking to who Usopp assumed to be Blackbeard. As much as Usopp strained his ears he couldn't hear the conversation between Blackbeard and the large masked crew member.
Then to Usopp's utter surprise and horror Row began tearing after them teeth bared as he leapt toward the masked man, the masked man merely looked toward the dog and held out his arm for the dog to bite. Row sunk his teeth on the man's arm who barely winced as Row's teeth dug deeper and deeper into flesh. "Talk about biting the hand that feeds, eh Burgess?"
Usopp continued to stare in utter confusion. Why was Row acting like this? Sure, he didn't know the dog for very long, but after two days Usopp knew that Row was calm and intelligent. So why was it acting so savage? Did it have something to do with that dark fog from earlier, or perhaps something else? Usopp then felt his breath catch as he realized what Row was doing, in putting out his arm the man known as "Burgess" had carelessly let Luffy fall from his shoulders onto the docks where their tiny boat was casually waiting. Row was providing a distraction for Usopp to grab Luffy and run, with a shaky gulp Usopp began to edge his way toward his former captain.
Zoro shot up fast as lightning, his head pounding frantically as the pounding on the door. Staggering slightly he realized that he was on the floor and not the chair he remembered falling asleep in. He then noticed that everyone was on the floor and was coming too as he was, he tried to gather his thoughts, but the constant pounding was dashing all hopes of that happening. "I'm coming," Zoro half-yelled, half-mumbled, but before he could open it the door flew open and two very familiar faces flew into him. "Chopper, Franky, what the hell is happening?" His eyes then drifted to Chopper's bleeding form, "Chopper, what happened to you? Where is Luffy?"
"Zoro, you have to help Usopp!" Chopper cried with a shaky breath. "He's going after Blackbeard." Zoro raised his eyebrow in confusion and looked to Franky for an explanation.
"Luffy has been kidnapped by some pirate named Blackbeard, he ambushed them and grabbed Luffy while Chopper here got messed up by their Sniper." Franky explained while moving Chopper to the bed. "Oh, by the way it seems that they may have been heading toward the docks on the northeast side of Water 7. See there is a hidden… and he's gone," Franky muttered.
"Tell me more about this secret dock," a smooth feminine voice commanded. Franky nearly jumped from his skin and metal as he turned and saw Robin standing there with her arms crossed and a tight smile on her face.
Usopp could not believe his luck; he was practically underneath the two men's noses mere feet from his captain. He spared Row a quick glance who still had his teeth stuck in Burgess's arm. Not even daring to take a breath in fear of giving himself away Usopp belly crawled reaching out to just touch Luffy, however at the slight brush of Usopp's fingertips Luffy shot straight up slamming unwittingly into Burgess's nose causing the man to jerk his arm, making Row slam into the small boat which they planned on using as their getaway vessel.
Blackbeard looked down at his prize who was now thrashing violently and spotted someone new. "Why, hello there. Is this your dog on my boat and your captain…?" Blackbeard got a twisted grin on his face as he slammed his foot on Luffy's face. "…under my boot!"
Usopp watched in horror as Blackbeard continually stomped on Luffy, not because of the act but how his captain was reacting. Every time Blackbeard's boot connected to Luffy's face he screamed out like he was being stabbed by red hot pokers. This of course confused Usopp greatly; why was Luffy acting like this? He went through worse than this with Lucci.
"Honestly captain, must you break our gift to the world government?" A calm voice asked.
"Cough, cough, I think the government would like the prize more if it was broken," another voice leeched in. The man belonging to the voice looked down to Row on the boat, "you poor animal. Would you like an apple?" The man placed a dull red apple right by the dog's nose. Rolling from his side to his stomach Row gave the apple an inquisitive sniff before looking at the man who gave the offering and giving a low growl. "Ah, it seems you don't like the 'extra flavor' I add to my apples, cough."
Usopp gave a slight sigh of relief before his attention snapped back to Luffy, though it was unintentional this time Row had managed to distract the crew again. His heart beat frantically as he grabbed Luffy by his vest and with strength he didn't know he had dragged Luffy from between the two giant men.
Unfortunately his former captain did not react well to the sudden contact and being dragged away. "Luffy, what is wrong with you?" Usopp hissed. Luffy thrashed even more violently than before, garnering the attention of everyone present.
"Would you like to experience what is wrong with your captain?" Blackbeard asked as a black blob danced across his fingertips, but before he could toss the inky darkness toward him Usopp with quick thinking reached into his satchel and fired a Tabasco Star at Blackbeard's eyes causing the man to scream in pain and miss his intended target. It instead hit an unfortunate small common lizard which began to run wildly into the dark fearing for its life.
The change in Luffy was immediate, shooting up quickly and looking around in confusion the first person he spotted was Usopp. The young captain immediately scrambled onto his feet and tightly embraced his friend. "Usopp, you're back!" He laughed.
Usopp was temporarily stunned. Would Luffy really just accept him back like this? With a confident smirk to cover his uncertainty, Usopp bragged. "I knew you would come running to me when the time was right… Luffy what's wrong?"
The young captain had relaxed his formerly tight embrace and his face became solemn. "Usopp, why didn't you just apologize?" Usopp blinked in confusion at his captain's question, and then his eyes widened with worried as Luffy turned and walked away from him, not even acknowledging his presence. A shot rang through the sky catching Luffy in the back of his head, rubbing where the bullet had struck more from annoyance than pain Luffy spun around his attention on the shooter. "What the hell was that for?"
"Fascinating," Augur breathed out in excitement. "It's just like Ace."
Collecting himself from his initial sadness about being rejected by Luffy, Usopp began to shout to get his attention. "Luffy! We need to get out of here! Those guys are dangerous!" Already beginning his run toward town Usopp looked back and saw Luffy standing there and looking determinedly at Blackbeard and the rest of his crew.
"Hey, I've got to beat you up for Chopper, eh where is he?" Luffy looked around for his crewmate before being interrupted by a distraught Usopp.
"Luffy don't worry about Chopper, he's with Franky and is fine, and we need to get out of here," Usopp was practically begging, but being Luffy he didn't listen, instead his legs began pumping and his body turned red and began to steam and shine as sweat evaporated off of him.
Intrigued by this, Blackbeard prepared himself for battle and then without warning he was unceremoniously knocked on his hindquarters as Luffy's head slammed into his chest. "Damn it not again!" This caused several of Blackbeard's crew members to chuckle under their breath.
Not wanting to lose too much face in front of his crew Blackbeard grinned before slamming his hands into the ground and yelling, "Black hole!" Black tendrils came from his arms and a small chasm of darkness opened.
The effect was immediate, the road began to warp beneath the darkness and the pieces of wood from the dock groaned against the nails as splinters flew into the chasm. Luffy felt incredible pressure on his head then the rest of his body as it snapped in toward his head due to the tremendous gravity. Despite the great energy boost Gear Second granted him Luffy found it difficult to stand and found himself lying flat on his stomach splinters from the dock embedding themselves in his skin.
"Can't get up," Luffy mumbled. This caused Blackbeard's crew to howl in laughter. Surely the little shrimp who took down CP-9 would be more difficult to take out. Being the first attack that Blackbeard had mastered with his Devil Fruit he had great mastery over this particular attack. Adjusting the gravity level allowed Burgess to enter the field unscathed and pick up Luffy who was still feeling the effects of Black hole was finding it difficult to breathe.
It was then that Usopp decided he needed to something, but what? Blackbeard had easily dispatched Luffy and the rest of his crew seemed to be very strong. The one Usopp worried about the most besides Blackbeard was the sniper. Being a sniper himself Usopp could tell that Blackbeard's sniper was skilled and could have easily redirected the tabasco star away from his captain, but decided not to for his own amusement. He knew this by the way Augur seemed to reach for his rifle and contemplate shooting the tabasco star that Usopp fired at Blackbeard's eyes then decided against it.
The other thing that Usopp was worried about was Row; the dog had disappeared from the boat in the chaos and had run off somewhere. Usopp hoped that Row was alright wherever he was…
"Damn it all, where is he? Luffy!" Zoro yelled out in frustration. The green-haired man was surprisingly closer to his captain than he would have thought; in fact if he would just walk (or run) 200 paces west he would find Luffy slumped on the shoulders of one Jesus Burgess while another was slowly and methodically lifting the anchor from the sea floor.
Anyone who knew Zoro would be surprised that he had gotten this close to Luffy. After all this was the guy that could get lost going to a big red barn in an open field, while being three feet from the barn. However, in some strange twist of fate the fog that Blackbeard had created which was meant to confuse and rattle all forms of navigational experience had actually helped Zoro find his way toward Luffy, but alas it couldn't last for as Zoro neared his captain the fog lifted and the setting sun illuminated the lavender sky giving great sight to everything around. This of course meant that Zoro was completely lost.
Zoro grunted in frustration at the lack of response, before deciding to turn east (of course). That was when he heard barking. Zoro did another 180 to find the source of the incessant noise and spotted a large black dog barking manically at Zoro to get his attention. Not one to back away from a challenge Zoro drew his sword and headed toward the dog.
"You should know not to challenge someone you can't beat mutt." Zoro grinned as he walked toward the dog. Said dog immediately began to run towards the west and towards where Luffy was. Zoro of course didn't know this and sheathed his sword muttering coward under his breath and heading out to look for Luffy again.
That was until the damn dog came back and stole his bandana from his trousers. Gleefully the dog ran towards the west with his prize and Zoro chased after it. "Hang on Luffy." Zoro griped. I've got a mutt to catch.
"How could we have gotten so far off track?" Franky muttered to himself. The fog had finally cleared and the purple sky tinted with the orange of the setting sun told Franky that they were in the shipping district which happened to be on the south side of Water 7.
Sanji looked towards Franky with a very irritated expression, "How could you have gotten so lost? Haven't you lived here your whole life?"
"It was the damn fog's fault." Franky groaned in exasperation, "I don't even think Nami could navigate through it." The second those words left his mouth he knew that he made a mistake. He verbally lurched before slowly turning to see Sanji's raging face and flaming leg.
"Apologize before I murder you," Sanji growled under his breath.
"Sorry about that bro, it's just that I am really worried and say stupid things when I am." Franky spilled uncharacteristically somber.
Sanji sighed lowering his leg before turning to Robin. "Robin-Swan, are your powers working yet can you see Luffy?"
Robin shook her head in slight frustration. "With the fog gone I can use my powers but I don't know if we are close enough to Luffy for me to see him." She explained.
Sanji hummed in slightly frustrated understanding, not at Robin (never at Robin) but at the situation, nothing seemed to be going their way. "What are we going to do? How close do you need to be for your powers to work?"
"I have to be within one mile of him for a clear picture, any further out and the image will be blurry." Robin explained. "I have a bad feeling though. We might not make it on time."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Franky grinned. "Grab onto my shoulders you two." Sanj and Robin looked towards each other in confusion, before each shrugged their shoulders in curios acceptance and grasped onto the Cyborg's shoulders. Immediately Franky's heels began to transform and tiny rockets spouted out. "This is a new modification and congratulations you are the first to help me test them out."
"What are you talking abou-…. Ahhh !" Sanj yelled as him Robin and Franky began rocketing forward at ridiculously high speeds.
Usopp looked out to the horizon in utter shock. In just the span of a few seconds the Blackbeard pirates had gotten Luffy onto the boat, tied him up, raised anchor and set sail. He could still make out their boat as they hadn't gotten very far and he knew that he had to do something but what could he do? There were despite there being a dock no boats nearby in the water he could pursue them in and even if there was one what would he do? There was no way Usopp could take on a crew of pirates by himself in open water.
Usopp stalked up and down the deck wondering what to do when he heard a voice, "Damn it mutt give me back my bandanna." The voice was loud, gruff, annoyed, terrifying, and beautiful to Usopp all at the same time.
Usopp looked up and saw Row running toward him with a gleeful expression and a dark green bandanna in his teeth and a familiar green haired swordsman running close behind. "Zoro!" He cried out in joy. Zoro looked up from his chase, a look of shock changing to one of anger. Confusion crossed Usopp's expression until he looked down and saw that Row had dropped Zoro's prized bandanna at his feet with a look of triumph in his eyes. "Ah, Row, good job on getting Zoro, but now he is going to kill us!" Usopp cried voice growing frantic. Zoro now stood less than 4 feet from Usopp, arms crossed, tapping his foot in waiting, Usopp took no time in handing the swordsman his bandanna.
"What the hell Usopp," Zoro reprimanded. "Did you send that mutt to steal from me?" He asked pointing at Row.
"No, I, He, did that all by himself." Usopp explained. Zoro not fully convinced raised a skeptical eyebrow as Usopp fumbled his words; that was when Row started barking manically at the water and Usopp's eyes widened in realization. "Zoro, they got Luffy we have to help him!"Zoro wasted no time jumping off the dock into the water. Usopp sweatdropped. "What the hell Zoro," he murmured.
That was when he heard Sanji's voice. "Look out!" Usopp shrieked in terror as he sidestepped. Everything happened in slow motion Franky was yelling something indistinguishable as he, Sanji, and Robin sped off the deck into the murky water below slamming into Zoro.
"Ow, what the hell was that you damn cook?" Zoro yelled immediately blaming Sanji for his pain.
"Me?" Sanji responded incredulously before jerking a thumb toward Franky, "This is the guy that nearly got us killed."
Before Franky could give a retort, Usopp yelled, "Guys Robin is drowning." Everyone immediately froze before Sanji dove into the water to find and save Robin. Less than two minutes later they both rose to the surface, Robin looked absolutely exhausted while Sanji simply looked concerned. "Here, I'll help pull her up," Usopp offered extending a hand. Working together Usopp and Sanji managed to get Robin back onto the dock the gentle rise and fall of her chest indicated breathing and that she was fine. Usopp sighed in relief before looking back out to the water that was when dread filled his very being, for he could no longer see Blackbeard's ship. "Guy's I can't see them anymore, Luffy is gone."
The mood shifted from worry over Robin to somber, Zoro and Franky climbed back onto the dock. How were they supposed to swim after a boat that even Usopp couldn't see? Zoro and Franky made their way back onto the deck at this point Robin was coming too as well. "Robin, how are you feeling?" Sanji asked without the usual over dramatics.
Robin nodded her head slowly. "I'm fine." As the pain subsided she found herself chuckling at the absurdity of everything "I haven't almost drowned like that since I was a kid."
Everyone gave a small but brief smile before turning somber again, "We'll need to get Nami and Chopper, we'll need both of them if we're going to find Luffy." Zoro pointed out.
"If you guys can wait a few hours and if I get enough help from the Galley-La shipwrights I can get your ship ready." Franky offered.
Everyone looked at each other before Robin spoke up looking at Usopp. "Usopp did Blackbeard give any indication as to where he was taking Luffy." Usopp gave a pondering expression before shaking his head. Robin frowned. "Then we'll have to assume the worst. We'll have to assume that he is being taken to Impel Down."
"What!?"
"Seriously?"
"Wait didn't we destroy Enies Lobby? How are they going to take Luffy to Impel Down without going through Enies Lobby?" Usopp pointed out.
"Idiot, Enies Lobby was a ruse," Sanji pointed out. "There isn't any need to actually bring someone through there."
"Actually Usopp may have a point Mr. Cook." Robin explained. "Yes, you are right that Enies Lobby is a ruse we have to remember that the World Government cares very much about keeping up the appearance of Justice. If a pirate is brought in alive before them he must go on a trial no matter how biased or obscure before sending him to Impel Down. In other words he'll be fine for at least a week unless Blackbeard kills him."
Everyone blanched slightly at Robin's last statement before Zoro spoke again. "So we have time but we'll need to be fast. Alright here's the plan Robin, crap cook and I will go get the she-witch and Chopper, Franky you go get to work on finishing the ship."
Usopp looked to Zoro expectedly waiting for him to speak some role for him but nothing came. "Zoro, what about me?"
"What about you Usopp?" Zoro responded. "Didn't you leave the crew? Why do you care what happens to Luffy?"
Sanji, Zoro, Robin, and Franky looked at Usopp expectedly, hopefully even for his response, "I, I-"Usopp's voice shuddered in uncertainty. He didn't know what to say, that was when he felt Row nudge his hand, Usopp smiled at the affectionate gesture and gained confidence. "I have to apologize to Luffy for everything that happened between us."
Everyone grinned. "Well I can't say welcome back to the crew, but let's say we get back the idiot who can." Zoro spoke up.
"Right," Everyone cheered.
Nami stared at the door as the sound of loud rapping rang from it. Unlike last time she approached the door with caution. Chopper was on the bed sleeping peacefully thanks to the drugs coursing through his body, with the adrenaline of trying to save Luffy gone he realized how much pain he was in and was treated by the only other crew member that had some semblance of medical knowledge.
"Nami, it's us, open the door." That was Sanji's voice. Breathing a sigh of relief, Nami unlocked the deadbolt and relief turned to utter sadness at the sight before her. Robin, Sanji, and Zoro stood before her soaking wet and downcast. There was no ray of sunshine known as Luffy with them.
"What happened?" Nami asked with a demanding tone. At this moaning was heard from Chopper's bed and Nami rushed over to reindeer to care for him. "How are you feeling Chopper?" She asked gently. The little reindeer had shifted back to brain point after being injected with the drugs luckily the wound had already been cleaned and taken care of to avoid complications.
Chopper ignored the question and looked toward the front door. "Luffy, he, he didn't come back did he?" His voice shook as he continued. "I couldn't save him from Blackbeard and now he's gone."
"It's not your fault Chopper…" Nami began. "That idiot probably would have run off even without your consent and gotten captured anyway."
"Yeah, he gets captured all the time. I'm sure Luffy has probably already escaped and is-"
"Stop treating me like a child!" Chopper snapped. Everyone turned their eyes toward Chopper, even Zoro was slightly taken aback by his tone. "You weren't there, you don't know- you didn't see the fear and the terror in Luffy's eyes." Tears began to fall on his legs as he struggled to sit upright. "Do you know what it's like to see someone you admire so much become so afraid."
Nami immediately began to hug Chopper rubbing his back in soothing comfort, Sanji and Robin leaned against the doorframe and wall respectively. Only Zoro had the ability to ask what was on everyone's mind. "What do you mean Luffy was afraid?"
"When Blackbeard attacks he uses what appears to be darkness itself." Chopper explained. "I'm not sure how it works but when he attacked me I felt like I was being swallowed whole; like there was a crushing darkness threatening to consume my very being, and the worst part was the feeling of absolute loneliness."
"Robin, how are you feeling?" Sanji asked. He noticed the woman's eyes grow wide and her hands had started shaking slightly.
"I'm fine. I just need to sit down for a moment." She responded.
Zoro began to stalk the floor in angry thought. This was going to be more complicated than he had anticipated. He originally thought that he would and the rest of the Straw Hats would be able to track Blackbeard with the help of their navigator, they would kick ass before Luffy got to Impel Down, and they would sail off on their merry way. However- "Chopper, didn't you say that when you left you were going to test Luffy's strength before leaving? " Chopper nodded his head slowly. "And his results?"
Chopper gave a sigh before speaking. "Luffy has been at 100% ever since his examination this afternoon."
Everyone's breath hitched. "Damn."
Iceburg sipped his tea slowly and methodically. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a little bit glad when the fog rolled in and they had to stop work on Franky's dream ship, for he was still in quite a bit of pain from nearly being killed and he had refused painkiller medication to keep his mind sharp while working on the ship.
He looked at the wanted posters before him and began to ponder. As mayor of Water 7 the closest major city to Marine Headquarters he had frontline access to new Bounty posters that come out. He had posters for all of the Straw Hats (which was quite the accomplishment very few pirate crews had bounties for all of their members) and one Cyborg Franky. Iceberg had been thinking about how he could get him to join the Straw Hats when they were finished building the ship, it was time to let the past go.
He was brought out of his musings by his front door being knocked down and being grabbed by Zambai and taken outside his home toward the Shipyard. There was a part of him that wanted to ask why the Franky Family was kidnapping him, but honestly he decided to just go with it. What was the worst that could happen?
Usopp smiled at the sight before him. The entire Franky Family and Galley-La crew were working diligently on the Straw Hats new ship under the glow of lamplight. Although Merry was now gone he knew that her spirit would carry on in this new boat (he wasn't sure what she was called yet).
Usopp was surprised at how easy it was to convince the Galley-La workers to come out to work in the evening time, of course it may have had something to do with the small lie he gave about Franky leaving Water 7 to join the Straw Hats. Even though he believed that would be the case there wasn't anything definitive yet, but when he mentioned it every one of the workers had jumped up at the chance pulled up their boots and got to work.
Usopp walked up to Mozu and Kiwi who were scratching Row affectionately behind the ears, they along with the rest of the Franky family had teared up when they heard how the dog did everything that it could to save Luffy. "I'm surprised you guys are helping us out like this." Usopp pointed out. "I would've thought you would want Franky to stay."
Mozu smiled sadly rubbing Row's head absentmindedly. "Don't get us wrong we will miss our big brother, but he needs to move on with his life. We appreciate everything he's done for us, but he will never get another opportunity like this." She then turned directly to Usopp and spoke in a low tone. "Not to mention Kokoro informed us that Franky has a bounty on his head now."
Usopp felt his stomach drop. If Franky had a bounty, then it was likely that the rest of them had bounties as well which gave him even more motivation to want to leave and get Luffy. "Wait, I haven't seen anything about bounty posters in the newspaper today, how does Kokoro know about this?"
Kiwi shrugged her shoulders. "Kokoro has her ways of getting information but she most likely got it from Iceburg."
"I didn't tell Kokoro anything." Usopp spun around and saw Water 7's mayor standing behind them along with Franky and Zambai. "So tell me why I have been kidnapped from my home."
Franky rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "We kind of need your help getting the ship done a fast as possible. You see-"
Iceburg held up his hand. "Then we don't have time for explanations. Let's get to work."
Franky sputtered slightly, mumbled some curses under his breath, and ran after Iceburg. "Hey don't act like you're in charge here. This is my project."
Usopp sighed and watched as the two bickered the entire way to the ship. He could tell that they were close. "We'll definitely need to come back to Water 7 one day." He mused to himself.
It had taken nearly 36 hours of nonstop work from everyone but the dream ship was finally finished, and just in the nick of time as well. For everyone's bounty posters had been released to the public.
The Straw Hats all reacted very differently. Usopp and Nami were acting scared but couldn't help the sense of pride that welled up inside them. Zoro was grinning manically when he saw that his poster was over 100 Million Beli. Robin was indifferent, Chopper was sad that his bounty was so low, Franky was surprised, and Sanji was well-
"How could they have done this to me?" He wailed. "I don't look anything like this; no girl is ever going to want to talk to me."
Zoro laughed heartily at Sanji's dismay which caused the cook to growl. Honestly Zoro wasn't sure which made him smile more at this point his bounty poster or the cook's. However his mood changed when he saw Luffy's poster stating that he was wanted at 300 million belis. He and the rest of the crew learned as much as they could about Marine Headquarters and Impel Down. Though he was normally a head right in without thinking kind of person Robin had convinced him that they should take the opportunity to plan.
So plan they did. He, Chopper, and Sanji all worked on their techniques and strategies to take out Blackbeard, even Usopp came by from helping out on the shipyard to give them what little information he had on the rest of the crew. Nami was studying maps and waterways of the area trying to figure out an escape route once they got out to open waters and Robin was studying World Government affairs in dealing with pirates. She informed them that if a pirate over 150 belis was taken to Impel Down they would go straight to the bottom level and there was rumored to be a level below even that.
With Luffy's bounty being as high as it was there was no doubt in Zoro's mind that unless Whitebeard himself decided to just surrender to the World Government, then his captain would take precedent over all other matters. It filled him with an odd mixture of pride and dread. Squaring his shoulders in determination he spoke to the rest of the crew. "Let's get going."
Everyone nodded in the affirmative and boarded the boat before Franky stopped them with a cry of "Wait" for they haven't christened the new ship. Everyone paused briefly before suggesting names. Franky scoffed at the notion that since the figurehead looked like a flower it should have a floral name, honestly didn't they see that it was a lion.
"Why not name it the 'Thousand Sunny' for it will carry you over a thousand seas and will shine like the sun." Iceburg suggested. Everyone smiled at the suggestion except for Franky who was too stubborn to admit that it was a damn perfect name.
So off they went, all of the Straw Hats boarded the newly christened "Thousand Sunny" and began to sail towards Marine Headquarters. "I'll be back after I help rescue Luffy!" Franky waved good bye to everyone.
"Oh no you don't Cutty Flam." Iceburg scolded. "I can't have people with bounties running around my city, therefore I hereby banish you."
Franky nearly fell over. "Don't ever call me that again, and besides who will watch over the Franky Family."
"Row will!" The entire Franky Family cheered. The dog had wormed its way into everyone's hearts and despite Usopp being sad about letting the dog go he knew that Water 7 was Row's home and it would be wrong to take him away. Besides Row was being spoiled rotten by them, the Franky Family really was just a big group of softies.
Usopp and the rest of the crew laughed loudly as they held back a raging Franky. It was time for everyone to set sail. As the sail unfurled revealing the Straw Hats logo everyone could feel a sense of hope surging inside of each and every one of them. They would get their captain back no matter what.
"Let's sail."
"RIGHT!"
Luffy sat in the tiny boat staring angrily at Blackbeard who was laughing with Wrestling Mask guy. It would be easy for him to escape if he didn't feel so heavy from Blackbeard's power and sluggish from the Sea Prism stone.
"You know I was going to drop you off at Marine Headquarters straight away to get into the Warlord seat, however something very interesting has come up so we are heading to the Florian Triangle."
Luffy perked up at this. It was the first time that Blackbeard made any mention of what they were going to do with him. The other members of the crew looked to their captain in confusion.
"We're not going to Marine HQ? What about our plans?" Augur asked.
Blackbeard grinned manically. "You obviously didn't feel the wind shift."
Everyone was puzzled by Blackbeard's statement and their captain merely laughed in a much darker tome that made Luffy involuntarily shutter.
LINE BREAK
A/N: What's this, a contrived plot twist? Oh no help I have been taken over by the bad fanfic writers disease.
But seriously folks please read and review. Where do you think this story is going? (it's not like I need ideas or anything *cough cough*)
Also on a more serious not I am sorry for not updating for so long and I hope I didn't rush the ending too much.