Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. It is solely the creation of Oda-sama.
One Piece Episode 635: So, Bartolomeo's seiyu! Bart's voice is somewhat shaky sounding, but it works for him. And I love the scene where Zoro's chasing the "fairy." It was funny.
As for the recent update, I've been snowed in by the recent freakish weather, so I have an armload of free time. Not much happens in this chapter except a lot of talking, but the next one will be far more action-y. So don't forget to read and review! I love hearing from all of you!
Chapter 4: The Most Awkward Dinner-For-Lunch Ever
Time: Undetermined. It might be noon though...
Location: The Galley of the Going Merry
If voiced aloud, the crew would undoubtedly unanimously decide this had to be the most awkward atmosphere they had ever been in.
Sanji was at the stove, preparing their dinner-for-lunch. He was smoking while cooking, which he never really did unless his thoughts were elsewhere. Luffy hovered over his shoulder, trying to snatch bits of food, but the cook wasn't so distracted that he couldn't slap the rubber boy's hand away. Younger Zoro was still up in the crow's nest. Usopp, Nami, and Vivi were seated at the dining table, watching as Chopper finished putting fresh bandages on the Older Zoro's shoulder.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say they were just watching the Older Zoro.
No one was saying anything, not even Luffy. It was probably the quietest the ship had ever been, and this was what made the atmosphere so... well, awkward. No one seemed to have any idea as to what to say in a situation like this. If there was a pirate handbook, it most likely didn't dictate what to do if you either ended up on an island with no sense of time or if a future version of your swordsman showed up. It was not normal, but it did evoke a lot of similar thoughts from the crew.
Vivi was thinking about what the Older Mr. Bushido said about Crocodile. According to him, Luffy defeated the warlord and the crew left her in Alabasta. Did this mean she would succeed in convincing the rebel army to stand down? A person from the future would have knowledge of future events. The idea of the crew staying with her through this despite it not being their problem made her feel happy, though. Still... they just left her? She knew she wasn't going to stay with the crew forever, but that thought made her feel a little sick.
Usopp was drawing circles on the table with his finger, thinking about the Going Merry. He had watched Older Zoro's reaction upon stepping out on to the deck through the open door. The expression on his face... it was as if he couldn't believe he was standing on the ship. It was as Vivi said, Older Zoro looked like he had seen a ghost. Just what happened to the Merry to make him look like that? And even before that, he'd said something about the crew bringing him back to the Sunny. What was "the Sunny?"
Nami was trying not to think about Older Zoro, actually. She was thinking about her log pose and the triple pose they found on the pink beach. Why did they just keep spinning? It was like when they first arrived in the Grand Line and her regular compass just kept spinning round and round. It did that because there were too many magnetic fields to lock on to. She doubted it was the same case here, so what was causing it? It was as if there was nothing for the pose to lock on to. Also, why hadn't it pointed at the island even before they came here? Islands didn't just appear from thin air, especially not islands where the sunset came six hours early.
Sanji was trying to focus on making the crew's meal, and succeeding for the most part. The only problem was his thoughts kept leading back to the Older Mosshead. Why was he blind in his left eye? The scar on his face looked old, so if this guy really was some sort of time traveler, would it happen the Younger Mosshead soon? What if it happened while they were in Alabasta? The Mosshead was an idiot, so Sanji could see him losing an eye doing something stupid for the good of the crew. He didn't care about that sword-obsessed moron, but the idea didn't sit with him well. And then there was all that talk of Luffy not having a chest scar. Going off the description the older sword freak gave, the scar sounded nasty and painful. What would happen to Luffy? What would happen to their crew in general?
Luffy... was Luffy. He was too busy trying to get food from Sanji to really think about Older Zoro. Besides, like he said, what was there to think? Zoro was Zoro. This older one shouldn't be that different... right?
Chopper was also thinking about Zoro's eye. He was still the ship's doctor in the future, wasn't he? Why would he let something like this happen? Had he been unable to doing something as simple as save a crewmate's eye? Chopper had to admit, their own swordsman scared him a little. The older swordsman scared him even more. However, a crewmate was a crewmate, even if he was scary. He would help him if needed.
Chopper sighed and tightened the last bandage. "There, that should do it. I've replaced the stitches, so as long as you don't strain yourself further, they should hold."
Older Zoro rotated his shoulder, then reached for his boots, which were still laying on his folded coat. "Thanks, Chopper. You did a good job."
Chopper blushed furiously under his fur and danced happily. "Shut up, you jerk! Don't think you can butter me up like that, you idiot!"
Older Zoro smirked, but you could see the fondness in it. With his boots laced up on to his feet, the older swordsman stood up and put his coat back on. After which, he retied the bandanna around his bicep and the red sash around his waist. His three swords were immediately tied into the sash as well.
"That black one is different than the one our Zoro has," Usopp found himself saying. "What happened to the other one?"
"It died," Older Zoro replied simply, sitting back down.
"Oh, okay."
So, Zoro as a twenty-one-year-old was still as tight-lipped as ever. Usopp had a feeling the swordsman wouldn't go into detail even if he asked.
"Food's ready!" Sanji announced, holding Luffy away with an extended leg. "Someone go get Mosshead out of the crow's nest."
Luffy left to do just that, since the sooner Younger Zoro was there, the sooner he could eat. The galley once again fell into an uncomfortable silence. Older Zoro didn't appear to have any better ideas for a conversation than anyone else, so he too was staying quiet. Sanji began handing out plates (naturally giving Nami and Vivi theirs first), and it wasn't long before Luffy returned with the Younger Zoro.
Luffy ran to his seat and immediately began digging into the plate Sanji set before him, but Younger Zoro paused for a moment, glancing at his older self. The two swordsmen made brief eye contact before the younger one tore his gaze away and took his seat.
Soon everyone had their food (except Sanji, who was playing waiter) and they began to eat. The galley was still unnaturally quiet, save for the sounds of Luffy eating to his heart's content and the crew guarding their own food with their utensils. Older Zoro did a particularly impressive maneuver with his fork at one point to knock Luffy's hand away from his meat. Anyone could tell it was a move well practiced.
Speaking of eating, Older Zoro stopped and stared at his food quizzically.
"Something wrong, Other Mosshead?" Sanji asked, raising one curly eyebrow.
"Nothing," Older Zoro replied. "I just forgot how bad your food used to be."
"SAY THAT AGAIN, SWORD FREAK!" Sanji hollered, rearing back his leg to kick the elder swordsman.
"Sanji, we're eating!" Nami scolded.
"Sorry, Nami-swaaaaaan~!"
"Besides, he said 'used to be.' That implies your food gets better, at least to him, right?"
"I wouldn't say 'better,'" Older Zoro said, taking of sip of sake. "Maybe 'not as bad,' but not 'better.'"
Sanji reared back his leg again, but another scolding from Nami put an end to that before it even started.
"So, the fact that you're referring to Sanji's food in the past tense means you really believe you're some kind of time traveler?" Vivi asked as she tossed an apple to Carue. The duck took it and went to go eat it in the corner.
"It's the only explanation that makes sense," Older Zoro said with a shrug. "I'd know if this were an illusion, the chances of us all dreaming is unlikely, and you can't all be shapeshifters. Still, as far as weirdness goes, time travel really takes the cake. And I've been through a lot of weird crap in the last few years."
"Ooh, ooh!" Luffy said suddenly, food spraying from his mouth.
"What is it, Luffy?" Younger Zoro asked.
"I have a question for Other Zoro!" Luffy announced. He turned his head toward the older swordsman. "Why do you call Crocodile, 'sand croc?' It's a really funny nickname."
"Who's Crocodile?" Chopper asked. He was never answered when he asked it earlier.
"He's this evil guy Luffy needs to beat up in order to save Vivi's country," Usopp replied. "Naturally I offered to do so first, but being the generous soul I am, I decided to let Luffy have the limelight this time..."
"Wow, really?" Chopper gasped.
Older Zoro stared at the sniper with a tinge of annoyance, but ignored him and answered his young captain.
"You came up with it when you learned the guy ate the Sand Sand Fruit," he explained. He took a bite of food. "It's a devil fruit that allows him to turn into sand. Convenient, given he tried to take over a desert country."
"There's a devil fruit that can do that?" Usopp asked. He could only imagine how hard it would be to attack sand.
"They have a devil fruit for just about everything," Older Zoro replied. He frowned and muttered, "Never could stand Logias."
The elder swordsman sounded slightly bitter with that last sentence but no one called him out on it. Or asked what a Logia was. Luffy was content with the answer, and Vivi tucked away that nugget of information for later. This led to another few minutes of quiet eating, and a few glances from both swordsman. The Older Zoro kept glancing at Luffy and occasionally his younger self, while the Younger Zoro kept glancing at his older self. After a solid five minutes, Nami spoke up.
"Um, hey, Zoro?" she said.
"Yeah?" both Zoros replied in unison.
Nami sweatdropped. "Okay, that's going to be a problem. We can't call both of you Zoro, or things are going to get really confusing. We need to call one of you something different."
"Oh, I have the perfect names!" Luffy said excitedly. "We'll call them Zoro-chan and Zoro-ossan!"
"Who are are calling chan?!" Younger Zoro shouted.
"Who are you calling an old man?!" Older Zoro shouted.
"Don't worry, captain, I have excellent names we can call them," Sanji said. He placed a hand on Younger Zoro's head. "Idiot Mosshead." He placed his other hand on Older Zoro's head. "Bigger Idiot Mosshead."
The Zoros knocked Sanji's hands away, both snarling, "YOU WANT TO DIE, SWIRLS?!"
Great, they're already on the same wavelength, Nami thought. She stood up and knocked both swordsmen on the head, since they had been about to draw their swords on the cook. "ENOUGH! I'll decide what we call you!"
Both Zoros fell to the ground, large bumps forming on their noggins. Chopper squealed that the older one was still injured, but it went unheard by a furious Nami.
"Nami is by far the strongest," Usopp whispered.
Chopper nodded in fear. "I agree."
The two Zoros sat up, breaking through the pained stupor induced by their navigator.
Kuina, you were dead wrong when you said girls don't become as strong as boys, Younger Zoro thought, rubbing his head-lump.
There's no way she should be able to hit me that hard, Older Zoro thought, standing back up and reclaiming his seat. She has got to have Haki.
"Now!" Nami yelled. She pointed at Younger Zoro, who was also back in his seat. "We'll just keep calling you 'Zoro.'" She pointed at Older Zoro. "As for you, we'll call you 'Roronoa.' Sound good to you?"
Zoro and the newly dubbed Roronoa both agreed. It was better than Sanji and Luffy's suggestions, anyway.
Nami cleared her throat and sat back down. "Hmph. As I was saying... Roronoa, you said you were twenty one, right?"
Roronoa nodded. "That's right."
"So that means that if you really are a time traveler, then you're from two years in the future?"
"Give or take a year. It really depends on where we are."
Nami cocked her head. "Eh?"
"Just tell me the most recent thing that's happened to you all," Roronoa said, taking a draft from his tankard. "Considering Vivi's here, it must be a long time ago, but I'm trying to figure out how far back I've gone exactly."
"Well, we left Drum Island two days ago," Vivi offered.
Roronoa spit out his sake- after which he went into a coughing fit because some had managed to slide down the wrong pipe anyway. Luffy pounded his back and the coughs subsided.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Vivi apologized. "Are you alright? Was it something I said?"
"No need to apologize to the Bigger Idiot Mosshead, Vivi dear," Sanji said, patting her shoulder. "He's obviously so stupid that he doesn't know which pipe drinks are supposed to go down."
Zoro and Roronoa gave the cook a scathing glare, the latter's looking even more intimidating with the missing eye. Sanji suddenly felt very uncomfortable and thankfully shut up.
Instead of taking the cook's bait, Roronoa said, "It wasn't you, Vivi. It's just that... you guys seriously left Drum only two days ago?"
"Yeah, after being chased down the Drum Rockies by a homicidal witch doctor," Usopp said with a shiver. "What about it?"
"That's just brilliant," Roronoa muttered. "I knew we were back in Paradise, but this is just ridiculous. After all that effort to get to the New World, we're practically back where we started! The others are just going to love this..."
"The New World?" Nami echoed.
"Oh, right. I guess you guys never heard of it before."
"I've heard of it," Vivi spoke up. "It's what they call the second half of the Grand Line. Most pirate crews die before they make it there, and those who do make it are said to be the best of the best."
"Sounds about right," Roronoa shrugged.
The crew took a moment to let those words sink in.
"The best of the best, huh?" Zoro said. He grinned. "I like the sound of that."
"As do I!" Usopp said proudly. "Of course, with the Great Captain Usopp on board, making it to the New World is the least we can do!"
Everyone rolled their eyes at Usopp's boast, except for Luffy and Chopper of course. Roronoa was once again giving the sniper an annoyed look. Annoyed... with a dash of something that was akin to a reprimand. Usopp felt compelled to ask the swordsman why he kept looking at him like that, but forced the urge down.
"We're the best?" Chopper gasped. His eyes widened. "Does that mean I've found my cure for all diseases?!"
"Well-" Roronoa began.
"Have we come across the All Blue yet?" Sanji found himself asking.
"Sanji!" Nami scolded.
"Sorry, Nami! It slipped out!"
"You said Luffy defeated Crocodile!" Vivi blurted out. "Do I succeed in convincing the rebel army to stop the fighting?"
"Vivi, they-" Roronoa began again.
"Did we ever find Elbaf?" Usopp asked. He gasped and leaned forward on the table. "Has Luffy already become the Pirate King?"
If Roronoa was planning on answering any of their questions, he never got the chance to for Luffy decided to interrupt.
"STOP IT!" Luffy hollered, slamming his hand against the table. "NO ONE ASK HIM ANY MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE! THAT'S AN ORDER!"
Everyone fell deathly silent, shocked by their captain's sudden outburst. Except for Zoro, that is. He had a stoic expression on his face, as if waiting to see what Luffy was going to do next. His older self had a similar expression, only his looked more interested.
"Stop asking him stuff like that," Luffy said sternly. "Got it, guys?"
"We got it," Nami said slowly. "But why are you so upset?
"He's upset because if I tell you about all our future adventures, it'll take the fun out of living them for yourselves."
Everyone turned to looked at the future swordsman, who was casually resting his chin in his hand.
Roronoa gave Luffy a knowing smirk. "That would be boring, and you don't want any boring adventures, now do you Captain?"
"You got that right," Luffy confirmed. "I'd quit being a pirate before going on a boring journey."
The older swordsman grinned, for that was the answer he had been expecting. "That's what I thought." Roronoa straightened out and crossed his arms. "Sorry, but if you guys want to know your futures, you'll just have to wait and live them out yourselves."
Everyone looked a little sheepish. They supposed they got a little caught up in the moment there. While they were curious about their futures, and not just in the ways they mentioned, Luffy and Roronoa had a point.
"Sorry, Luffy," Usopp apologized. "We got carried away."
"Yeah, me too," Chopper apologized as well. "I'll wait for my all-purpose cure. I don't mind."
"Good," Luffy said with a serious nod. "Now, bring me more meat."
And thus returned the blunt, one-track-minded idiot for a captain they all knew and loved. Only Monkey D. Luffy could bring such a serious situation back to the topic of meat.
Sanji knocked the rubber boy in the head. "You've had enough already! What we have has to last us until Alabasta you know!"
"Stingy!" Luffy grumbled.
Sanji rolled his eyes and lit a cigarette. After taking a drag, he turned to Roronoa. "Speaking of knowing the future, how come you didn't see this coming?"
Roronoa raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
The chef jerked a thumb at Zoro. "Since you're Zoro from the future, then it stands to reason that you've already experienced all of this. Can you tell us anything about this island?"
"I see where you're coming from, but your logic is flawed," Roronoa replied. "I have no memory of ever meeting an older version of myself when I was nineteen, and I especially don't remember visiting this weird island after leaving Drum."
"That's impossible," Zoro said. "I think I'd remember something like this happening."
"Maybe you're just stupid," Luffy offered sincerely.
"I don't want to hear that from you!"
"It doesn't matter if it's impossible," Roronoa said. "I remember that we never visited any islands after Drum, and didn't even touch dry land until we weighed anchor in Nanohana."
"Nanohana?" Sanji asked.
"It's a city in Alabasta. It should be the first place we visit when we arrive there," Vivi clarified. "We'll get back to the memory problem later. What I don't get is how future Mr. Bushido is even here on this island." She turned to Roronoa. "You said your crew was in the New World, correct?"
"Yeah, we were," the older swordsman replied.
"And we were in the first half of the Grand Line," Nami said. "How can the same island exist in two different places? It doesn't make sense."
"Neither does having a nineteen year old version and a twenty one year old version of your swordsman in the same room, but here we are," Zoro pointed out.
"Exactly! I'm still trying to figure that out, on top the whole sunset-at-noon issue!"
Roronoa frowned at Nami's words. What was it that brat said?
"Time does whatever it wants here," he whispered to himself. Everyone heard it anyway.
"What does that mean?" Usopp asked.
"I don't really know myself," Roronoa admitted. "Remember when I said after one of my crewmates got himself lost, I went looking for him and had to duel some creepy witch? Well, right before that, I met this little brat who kept swinging around in the trees. And she said that on this island, time pretty much does whatever it wants."
"So there are people living here?" Chopper gasped.
"I saw just the one kid, but she seemed to know enough about this place to be local. She left before I got any real answers though."
"If this kid knows something we don't, maybe we should try to find her," Zoro suggested. "She might have the answers to why Roronoa's here or why the sunset is so freaky."
"Not to mention why all that fruit was ripe at the same time," Sanji added. "I don't know this kid, but she's right about time doing what it wants. It's not following what standards we consider normal."
"Then it's settled!" Luffy decided. "We'll go out and find this mystery kid, then make her tell us about the mystery island!"
"Luffy, it's dark out," Chopper pointed out. "We'd never be able to find her in the jungle at night."
Luffy crossed his arms. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yosh! Then we'll find her at sunrise!"
"Sounds like a plan, Luffy. Now, Mr. Bushido, can you tell us how you arrived at this island?" Vivi asked the elder swordsman. "It might help us get an idea as to what's going on."
Roronoa scratched his head. "Let's see... we left Dock Island the other day and were basically just following the pose. I remember being asleep-"
"Of course you were," Sanji interrupted.
"Shut up. As I was saying, I remember being asleep until I heard Nami screeching at me to get up and help deflect cannonballs. Apparently, a ship of bounty hunters showed up and started firing at us. While we were trying to escape, the ship got caught in a current that was pulling us toward an island covered in fog."
"That's what happened to us!" Luffy said. "The Merry got caught in a mystery current and that's why we're here! Was your log pose not pointing at it either?"
Roronoa looked a little surprised by the question. "Um, yeah. At least, that's what Nami was saying while yelling at us to pick up the pace. She kept shrieking that the island just appeared out of nowhere, and none of the log pose needles were pointing to it-"
"Needles? Plural?" Nami asked.
"We have to use a different log pose in the New World," he explained. "I don't know the specific details, but the log pose has three needles to help navigate the many different islands there. Each needle points to a different island, I guess."
Zoro, Usopp, and Nami remembered Luffy's idea about the triple pose earlier that day. He had been right?
"Hey, we found something like that on the beach today," Luffy remembered. "I accidentally kicked it into Nami's head. Nami, show him."
Nami reached into her pocket and pulled out the triple pose. "Like Luffy said, we found it on the beach. I've been comparing it to my pose, and all the needles keep spinning. I've been trying to theorize why and it's almost as if-"
Roronoa didn't wait for her to finish. He snatched the triple pose, or rather the New World Log Pose, right out of her hands. Nami protested, but he ignored her, instead examining the pose that was now in his hands.
"Oi, Bigger Idiot Mosshead, what was that for?" Sanji shouted. "Apologize to Nami, right now!"
Roronoa didn't apologize. He frowned and said (mostly to himself), "She would never just drop this. She never lets it out of her sight..."
"Who would never drop it?" Vivi asked. "Mr. Bushido, what's wrong?"
This New World Log Pose wasn't just any New World Log Pose, Roronoa could see that much. And he knew its owner wouldn't have left it lying on the beach unless something was very, very wrong.
Roronoa stuffed the pose into his haramaki and stood up. Without so much as another word, he walked out of the galley, slamming the door behind him.
Next Time:
"These guys are New World bounty hunters," Roronoa snapped. "You guys are not ready for that kind of enemy yet!"
"Come on, how tough can they be?" Sanji said. "We've kicked the asses of the biggest names in the East Blue and have managed to survive the Grand Line so far. Maybe these bounty hunters are a challenge to a cyclops like you, but we can handle ourselves."
"CYCLOPS-?" Roronoa began to yell and draw his black sword, but he stopped and rubbed his temple. "Okay, you know what? Forget it. I'm not wasting my time fighting someone weaker than me."
"WEAKER?!"