THE CHILDREN Set Sail!
Disclaimer: I haven't claimed ownership over One Piece or Zettai Karen Children. Nor have I've been able to stop either Luffy or Kaoru stop hitting me for getting the…
Kaoru (knocking Normama over): D-Don't listens to him! Just go on, read, and review.
A few hours had pass since the departure of Mr. 2 Boy Kurei and we find the Children sulking over the rail of the ship's stern, along side Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro.
"Hungry," Kaoru whined, "god, if you exist, please let it rain food or something like that…"
"I don't think it could rain food, Kaoru," Shiho mumbled.
"This is the longest time I hadn't been able to eat," Aoi grumbled, "I'm so hungry, I can't even train with Zoro, who also isn't in the mood to train either…"
"Meat~," Luffy mumbled, "I'm so hungry, I could eat a sea monster~!"
"Knowing you Luffy," Shiho mumbled, "if one exists, you'll definitely be able to do it…"
"No doubts about that," Zoro murmured, "But Luffy, when one does show up remember that everyone else is hungry as well…"
"I'll try," Luffy gasped.
"Zoro-han," Aoi sighed, "you make sound like sea monster actually exist…"
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Wait! You don't know?"
"Know about what?"
Before Zoro could inform his student, the ocean began to bubble as a large figure suddenly rises from the sea.
The Children stared with wide eyes at the scaly creature that seem to resemble an Egyptian Cat, at least the head did.
"MEOW~!" it roared to the crew.
"W-W-W-WHAT IS THAT?" The Children screamed.
"A SEA MONSTER," Usopp screamed; his hilarious expression matches Chopper's who was comically screaming his head off.
Vivi, who was walking to the Stern of the Merry Go, immediately identify the creature.
"It's a Sea Cat," Vivi named in surprise.
Luffy and Zoro, on the other hand, had different expression…the expression of a desperate and hungry savage.
"OUR FIRST MEAL IN FOOD IN FOUR DAY," Zoro exclaimed in joy as he ready all three of his sword.
"FOOD~," Luffy chimed in, ready to battle the creature.
The Children stared at the two in horror.
"W-WAIT A MINUTE…" Aoi exclaimed in revulsion, "YOU'R PLANNING TO EAT THAT THING?"
"YOU CAN'T SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT!" Shiho insisted, before turning to Kaoru with a blank expression, "Uh…can't they?"
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?" Kaoru exclaimed in disbelief.
"WAIT YOU TWO," Sanji suddenly appear, directing Luffy and Zoro.
"Alright," Aoi calmed, "Someone who can stop them from…"
"When you kill it, remember not to eat before I cook it…!"
"WHAT THE...! YOU'RE PLANNING TO COOK IT?"
"THERE'S NO CREATURE IN THE SEA THAT CAN'T BE COOK OR EATEN! DON'T WORRY…"
"REALLY," Kaoru exclaimed in joy, "IN THAT CASE, I'LL JOIN TOO!"
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, the Sea Cat began to back away from the Merry Go.
"NO," Zoro exclaimed, "it's retreating!"
"PUT THE SHIP IN REVERSE!" Luffy ordered.
"The ship can't do that," Shiho informed, before turning to Aoi for support, "R-Right?"
"You honestly don't know?" Aoi lectured.
"AS LONG AS I'M HERE," Kaoru declared with a smirk, "THIS SHIP CAN INDEED GO IN REVERSE!"
"ALRIGHT," Luffy cheered, pointing in the direction of the Sea Cat, "FULL SPEED THAT WAY~~!"
"NO PROBLEM! PSYCHIC…"
"STOP IT YOU GUYS!" Vivi suddenly exclaimed, pulling a giant mace out from hammer-space and whack Kaoru, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji on the back of the head.
With Vivi's interference, the Sea Cat quickly went underwater, swimming to the safety of the depth.
"Ouch," Sanji whined with heart-shape eyes, "W-What's wrong, Vivi-chan?"
"Jeez!" Zoro roared, nursing his bruise, "Vivi, what's wrong with you?"
"You can't eat it," Vivi lectured, "In Arabasta Sea Cats are sacred animals…"
"Wait a minute," Aoi staggered, readjusting her glasses, "you're telling me that your country worship that thing?"
"Yes," Vivi huffed, "Sea Cats only appears near sandy, or desert, islands. And since Arabasta is consider a sandy/desert island…"
"It means we're almost there," Aoi summed up, at which Vivi nodded.
"Whew," Shiho huff a sigh of relief, "I'm glad that we don't have to EAT that of all things…"
"So the sea is filled with those kinds of things, huh?" Chopper wondered out loud.
"Ha," Usopp shakily laugh from the floor where he had collapse, "Y-Y-You kids hadn't seen anything yet. Those 'things' can get a whole lot bigger…"
"Really," Shiho huffed, before backtracking after touching Usopp, "Wait, that's TRUE?"
"Yeah," Usopp suddenly got into an 'ah-the-good-old-days' pose, "Which reminds me, did I ever tell you all about the time when we were caught right in the middle of a whole pod of giant ones?"
"EH?" the Children and Chopper exclaimed, "REALLY?"
"Yeah, big ones that make the one you just saw look like a pebble, actually…"
"WHAT? NO WAY…"
"Yeah, of course thanks to our combine strength and my leadership, we manage to survive, but barely…"
"Wow, Usopp," Sanji puffed, "I'm amazed that the only lie you made was the 'leadership' part…"
"Yeah," Zoro smirked knowingly, "Didn't you faint and nearly got swallow by one when accidentally fell off the boat?"
"H-HEY," Usopp backtracked, doing an unnecessary posture, "YOU DIDN'T NEED TO TELL THEM THAT!"
"…So beside that small part," Kaoru mumbled in disbelief, "everything else ACTUALLY happen?"
Zoro and Sanji nodded, causing the Children and Chopper to nervously chuckle.
"Dang it," Luffy moaned, biting on the wooden rail in frustration, "My food got away…"
"Don't worry," Vivi chuckled at Luffy's frustration, "you'll be able to eat all you want soon…"
"REALLY, WHAT KIND OF CAT WILL IT BE THIS TIME?"
"ENOUGH OF THAT ALREADY," Aoi snapped as she anime-backhanded the captain's face.
"Vivi," Nami called as she approach the stern of the ship, "The wind and temperature seem to be stabilizes…"
"Yes," Vivi confirmed, "We've enter the Arabasta Climate Zone. And the Sea Cat that showed up early is a clear indication. We're close to Arabasta…"
"Well, I bet those things behind us," Zoro literately pointed out to the sea behind them, "are even more proof that we're close to Arabasta…"
Hearing Zoro, everyone turn to sea and saw exactly what Zoro had meant: a huge fleet of ships had suddenly appear several hundred meters behind the Merry Go, all of which had a cartoon skull with a pair of purple wings and two court swords.
"What the hell! It's a giant fleet of ships," Kaoru exclaimed.
"When did they appear behind us?" Aoi added.
"Hey," Usopp exclaimed as he readjust his specialize scopes, "they all have Baroque Works sign on them…"
"That's Baroque Works sign?" Shiho hummed, "Wouldn't it obvious let people know that they're bad guys?"
"It wouldn't really matter," Sanji lit his cigarette, "the seas are full of pirates…"
"Those are probably the 'Billions'," Vivi guessed, "the servants of the Officer Agents…"
"And each of those ships is capable of transporting at least twenty crewmembers," Nami calculated, "So my guess is that there are about two-hundred at the very least…"
"T-Two-Hundred," Aoi gasped, "if we fight, that could only bring trouble…"
"Yeah," Vivi grumbled, "And they're on a different level than the two-hundred Elite Bounty Hunters we've faced before too…"
"…I-I don't think I want to know what that was about…"
"A-Alright then," Usopp panicked, "Let's shoot them with the cannons now!"
"No way," Luffy declined, "It will be faster if we just beat them up…oh wait, I need to eat first…"
"You'll choose food over fight?" Aoi anime backhanded her captain.
"…Well…we can't fight on an empty stomach," Kaoru literally drooled at the mention of food.
"NOT YOU TOO," Shiho anime whacked Kaoru on the head.
"Calm down everyone," Zoro calmly smirked, "They're nothing but small fries…"
"Yeah," Sanji joined in the same manner, "All is lost if we lose sight of our true objective. After all there are only eleven of us, though four of us can easily be equal to forty or fifty…"
"Four?" Aoi wondered.
"That means Sanji, Zoro, Luffy," Nami listed, "and the newest addition to the 'powerhouse monsters' is Kaoru…"
"Oh…"
"Anyhow," Zoro stated, "let's get prepare for our real opponents…"
"That reminds me," Shiho noted, "How are we going to counter Mr. 2's Clone-Clone ability?"
A few moments later, everyone was tying a piece of cloth around their left forearm.
"…Tie them on tightly," Zoro reminded as he straightens out his piece of cloth, "Our enemies have plenty of mysteries…"
"I see," Nami complemented as Vivi tie her cloth on, "As long as we can see these, we don't need to doubt one another…"
"As expected of Zoro-han," Aoi added as she finished tying on her cloth.
"Does he really look like us that much," Sanji issued, since he wasn't present when Mr. 2 was aboard, "when he use his Clone-Clone ability?"
"Yeah," Shiho confirmed, "Even I will have to admit it was impressive how he look like us…"
"He doesn't just 'look' like us," Usopp corrected, "he literally 'become' us! Too bad, you really should have seen it!"
"I'm not interested in Okama," Sanji coldly stated.
"Now that we know that he's among the enemy," Zoro continued, "We can't allow for any careless individual actions…"
"But," Chopper innocently asked, "What should I do?"
"Just do what you can and nothing else," Usopp instructed, "Run away from enemies you can't beat! Just do your best!"
"Isn't that your style?" Sanji mumbled as he helps Carue with his piece of cloth.
"Do what I can," Chopper reviewed to himself, "Got it!"
"Okay," Luffy proclaimed as he and everyone else presents their left arm in a circle, "Whatever happens from now on, these left arm is proof of our friendship!"
"Okay!" Kaoru smirked, "let's get onto dry land…"
"TO EAT…then to Arabasta…"
"YOU CONSIDER ARABASTA AN AFTERTHOUGHT?" Everyone, except for Kaoru and Vivi, screamed at Luffy.
Meanwhile, Vivi gave a big smile as she inspects the cloth on her arm. What she didn't notice is that a particular Psychometrist had notice her expression and had secretly came in contact with her.
"Having friends really is something to be happy about, isn't it?" Shiho whispered to the slightly startle princess.
Despite being read, Vivi inwardly smile.
"It sure is," she whispered back, "being a princess most of my life, most of the people around me, even if they try hard to hide it, still sees me as someone to pay respect to. These people however…"
Vivi and Shiho glance over to the others who were busy reminding Luffy to 'be careful' numerous of time (Aoi is doing the same with Kaoru).
"…They don't care about status or royalty. If they're happy, they truly show me their happiness; if they're angry, they wouldn't mind at the very least pinching me; if they want to be funny, they would goof off even in front of me. It's being around people like them that really make me feel as if I'm really 'normal' like everyone else…"
Shiho gloomed a bit.
"Normal like everyone else, huh?" she repeated to herself.
"Hey you two," Kaoru suddenly cried, catching both Shiho and Vivi attention, "we're about to touch land…"
As Kaoru said, the Merry Go was indeed ready to touch. Vivi and Shiho smiled and join the others, ready to get what they need and move on to saving Arabasta.
However, one particular person seems to have completely forgotten about the whole 'saving Arabasta'.
"FOOD~," Luffy cried in joy as quickly leapt off the boat and began rushing into town.
"WAIT LUFFY!" The crew screamed after him.
"LUFFY WAIT UP," Kaoru suddenly volume, "Aoi, Shiho, let's follow him!"
"Huh?" Aoi asked dumbly as she and Shiho felt their body being lifted into the air.
"Kaoru, wait a-," Shiho stumbled, but never go to finish her sentence as she found herself screaming as Kaoru drag them after Luffy.
"WAIT YOU THREE!" the rest of the Straw Hats yelled after them.
"Restaurant, where's a restaurant?" Luffy mumbled to himself as he randomly ran around town, "How hard is it to find one lousy restaurant?"
"Hey, Luffy," Kaoru screamed as she, Aoi, and Shiho finally caught up to the running captain, "Did you find any restaurant?"
"No," Luffy replied as took a couple whiffed of the city air while still running, "There's a lot of weird smells in this town…"
"It's perfume," Shiho informed, "lots of it too. This town must be specialize in making perfume…"
"Yeah," Aoi agreed, "Even a dog will have problem sniffing out a restaurant in this place…"
"I FOUND IT," Luffy suddenly hollered, "THERE'S THE RESTAURANT OVER THERE!"
Kaoru, startled by the holler, scan around to find the restaurant. She saw people staring at them with either disbelief or the kind of look that could only mean "Are they crazy?" but no restaurant.
"Where," Kaoru questioned, "I don't see one…"
"I think he means that one," Aoi sweat dropped as she pointed to a building ahead of them…about fifty meters away, barely visible due to the distant.
"NO WAY, he found one from this distant?"
"Apparently," Shiho mumbled, only to notice that Luffy had stretch his rubbery hand to the restaurant, "Uh, Luffy, what are you…?"
"GUM-GUM," Luffy declared before he was sent at high speed at toward the restaurant, "ROCKET~…!"
The three watched as Luffy disappear into the entrance of the restaurant only to hear several screams and a loud crash within seconds. Several clouds of dust rose from behind the restaurant, causing the three to sweat drop.
"Well," Shiho lowly sighed, "that's not a good sign…"
"Why do I get the feeling," Aoi frowned as they quickly dash over to the restaurant, "that this is going to cause a huge ruckus…"
"Well," Kaoru chimed, as if she didn't have a care in the world, "we're about to find out…"
They enter the restaurant, ready to run or teleport if they have to.
Once inside, they found Luffy sitting eagerly at the dining counter; he was obviously impatience seeing how he was banging his utensil on the table, but also pleased at the thought of food evidently from the enormous and eager smile on his face
There were several other customers in the room as well, but none were eating their meal. All of them had the same expression on their face that was far from anything like hunger; the expression were a mixture of horror, surprise, speechless, and/or blankness.
What really caught the Children's attention, however, was located on the wall…well, at least where should be one. Almost directly in front of the entrance, something had caused a huge gap had replace the wall which seems to continue toward to the other buildings behind it.
Now, the Children would have normally thought something like, "Did someone fired a cannon in here," or "Did an ESP user a truck to crash through the building," but since they been with the Straw Hats long enough to know a thing or two, their single thought was, "What did Luffy do?"
"Hey you three," Luffy called to them, having finally realize that the three had enter, "Hurry up, you'll miss your share…"
Normally, in a situation similar to this, Aoi would have lecture to Luffy about the destruction he'd cause and Shiho would have wanted to know what happen. But a single growl from their stomach made them choose a different route.
"Uh," they mumbled embarrassingly, "sure…"
In a matter of minutes, both Luffy and the Children were gorging on the food that their stomachs were aching for just a moment ago.
"The food is delicious!" Luffy cheered as he stuff his comically full.
"Divine!" Kaoru shouted in the same manner.
"Don't talked while you're eating Kaoru," Aoi mumbled through her stuffed mouth, "you're spitting food out…"
"Hypocrite," Shiho mumbled, taking care to swallow her food before speaking.
"Um," the chef sounded, " I thank you for your opinions but…you people should really run…"
"Why?" Kaoru asked. But before the chef could answer…
"…Alright, who was the idiot?" an annoyed voice echoed from the hole.
The Children turn their heads to the hole to find a man entering the building through it.
He looks almost like Luffy, but with a touch of seriousness, child-like freckles instead of a scar, slightly taller, and more muscular. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, an unfasten and loose blue belt with and a large red 'A' on the silver buckle, and a dagger in a green sheath for his lower body while his upper body was bare with the exception of a red beaded necklace. On his arm he has a tattoo that spelled 'ASCE' vertically on his upper bicep with the 'S' cross out, a log pose similar to the one Nami wore and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, and an orange elbow guard. On his head was an orange hat, equipped with two smileys (one frowning and one smiling) and a string of red beads sitting above the rim, that has two long orange side straps hung down from the sides of it which met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. His back has the most interesting feature since it was a huge tattoo of purple bones forming a cross behind a skull with a large white crescent mustache.
The man seems pretty piss about something; his face was enough to make almost everyone else in the restaurant backed to the wall in fright.
"…My guess," Shiho quietly whispered to her two friends, "is that Luffy sent this guy crashing through the wall earlier…"
"Oh boy," Aoi mumbled as the man glared at them, "we're in trouble…"
The man continues to glare at the Children before diverting his eyes to Luffy. At first, the Children were sure that the man was get super anger, probably even attack their captain. But instead, the man's anger and annoyance quickly disappear and were immediately replace with joy and shock.
"Well, I'll be," he cheered, not noticing another figure had crept up from behind, "Hey, Lu-…"
But before he could finish, the figure had grabbed the back of his head and slammed him into the ground.
The person was a muscular and slightly bluish-hair man with two cigars in his mouth. He wore a large, thick, white and blue Marine jacket (that was kept open) with greenish fur lining neck, wrists, and hem. The jacket had several cigar of the same brand strap to its front and a Japanese kanji of "justice" printed on the back. He also had brown leather gloves, blue jeans with a brown belt, and large military issue brown leather boots. He was also carrying a jutte (apparently his weapon) on his back.
This man was also enraged, seeing how he had heavily slammed the first guy into the ground. But he wasn't angry with the now unconscious man; in fact, it didn't even seem like he had realize what he had done and to whom. He was currently glaring at…
"…STRAW HAT!" he shouted as he stomped over to the still eating rubber man.
The Children blinked at the display as the bluish-hair man ignored the unconscious man and walked over to them, still glaring Luffy who was still eating.
"So you actually came," he muttered, despite the two cigar in his mouth, addressing Luffy.
Luffy didn't respond as he continue to stare at the man as he stuff his mouth
"Uh," Shiho began in Luffy's place, "Do you know Luffy?"
The man glared at them, actually making them shiver a bit, before turning to Luffy.
"So they're your new crewmember, huh Straw Hat?" the man growled, "To think that you'll even accept youngsters…"
Luffy still didn't replied as he continues to stuff himself.
The Children watch as the man, now getting really annoyed, finally yelled, "Stop eating already!"
Finally, after another long minute, Luffy finally reacted…by spitting his food all over the man and bulging his eyes out comically, much to the horror of the Children.
"HUH!" Luffy sounded in surprise, "You're that SMOKER guy…what the HECK are YOU doing HERE?"
The man twitched his eye in anger.
"Why YOU," the man lowly growled, "Disgusting little…"
"Hold it," Luffy insisted, holding out his before pushing all of his remaining food into his mouth then addressing the stunned chef, "Thank you for the food!"
With that, he grabbed the Kaoru, Aoi, and Shiho by the arms and bolted out the door.
"Whoa!" Kaoru screamed in surprise as she and her two childhood friends were getting dragged away in a rush by their captain, "Hey Luffy, what's going ON?"
"Do you know him?" Shiho loudly asked as manage to get a glimpse behind them see the man chasing them, "Who IS that guy?"
"His name is Smoker," Luffy hurryingly informed, continuing to run like the wind, "he's a Marine Captain I met near the beginning of my journey in the Grand Line!"
"A Marine!" Aoi exclaimed, "you mean pirate mortal enemy?"
"Yep! But he's VERY bad news! My Gum-Gum power can't hurt him, so running is the only choice I have!"
"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked.
Before Luffy can explain, Smoker called passed them.
"Tashigi!" Smoker called.
Up in front of them, a glasses wearing woman with chin-length dark blue hair and brown eyes turn toward their direction. She was wearing box-pattern button shirt, a katana by her waist, and long dark pants and was giving what looks like towels to a group of men in uniforms.
"Ah, Captain Smoker," the woman, apparently named Tashigi, called out, "Are you finally going to stop acting tough and grab a towel? Though I can't blame you, considering the heat of-…"
"STOP THEM!" Smoker interjected, "It's Straw Hat!"
Hearing her captain, and seeing the Straw Hat captain, Tashigi cheerful face quickly switched to a serious and determined face.
"Understood!" she called as she rushed towards the fleeing pirates, ready to cut them in half.
"AH!" Aoi exclaimed as she instantly made herself and her friends glow faintly green, "Emergency Teleport!"
Within moments of being slice, Aoi had teleported them to the tops of the nearby building, surprising everyone who saw it.
"What the?" Tashigi hissed, before finally noticing that Luffy wasn't alone, "Wait! There were CHILDREN with him? Crap, I nearly slice them!"
"Whew, that was close," Kaoru sighed in relief, "now they can't get us…"
Boy, had she spoke too soon. The Children stared back in amazement as Smoker's body suddenly turn into…well, smoke and flew up to the tops of the building to continue the chase.
"W-What the?" Shiho stammered, "Did he just…turned into smoke…and flew up…onto the buildings…?"
"Yeah," Luffy informed, "He ate a Plume-Plume Fruit that allows him to become smoke…"
"A Devil Fruit!" The Children exclaimed.
"Tashigi!" Smoker called down to the swordswoman, "Assemble the men! Comb all corners of town and find the rest of his crew!"
"Yes sir," Tashigi called up and took off to do as she was order to.
Meanwhile, Smoker had turn his right arm into smoke and launched it forward.
"White Snake!" he declared as the "head" of the attack took form of a serpent, trying to swallow them.
"WAH!" the four escapees cried in fear as Luffy quicken their pace to avoid being caught.
"Why are you here, Straw Hat?" Smoker shouted as he withdraws his attacking smoke serpent.
"Leave me alone Smoker," Luffy cried back, "I just want to kick Crocodile's ass!"
"Luffy," Shiho hissed, "don't tell him that, or he'll know how to find us next time!"
"Oops!" Luffy sounded, but it was already too late.
"Crocodile?" Smoker repeated to himself, "do he and that Warlord have some connection?"
"Luffy," Kaoru spoke up, "let go of us, would you? Things can get done much quicker if we aren't going up and down in your arms…"
It was true; Luffy was STILL holding on to the three, and the way he's going make it almost impossible for them to use their powers freely and correctly.
"Huh, oh right," Luffy stated as he let the three go, allowing him to speed up and the three to fly in the same pace.
This, no doubt, surprised the Marine Captain.
"What the," Smoker muttered, "they can fly?"
Meanwhile, over by some rundown ruins, the rest of the Straw Hats were listening to Vivi's "plan of action". They were all in different outfits now, with the boys looking more like bandits and the two girls look more like dancer (that's Sanji's fault).
"…First and foremost," Vivi explained, "I want to stop the rebellion; we don't know when they will rise up and cause needless bloodshed. And the base of the rebellion where the leader lives is at an oasis town call Yuba! So to get to Yuba, we need to-…"
"Wait, hide!" Zoro suddenly ordered, dragging Vivi behind the ruins. Everyone else, though they don't know why, did so as well.
"What the crud, swords-boy," Sanji murmured, "why did you told us…"
"Quiet, Love Cook," Zoro hissed, as he peeked around the ruin, "It's the Marines…"
"HUH?" A collective gasp sounded as everyone peeked around their hiding spot.
"I thought I just made it clear to STAY quiet!" Zoro hissed.
Everyone ignored Zoro as they watch the Marines run hither and thither, shouting orders and scanning the environment for something or someone.
"Gosh, what a ruckus they're causing," Usopp noted.
"I wonder what's going on…" Chopper noted as well.
"Knowing the Marines," Sanji puffed his cigarette, "they probably just found some idiot pirate…"
Everyone glared at the Pirate Chef as they muttered, "…Idiot Pirate…?"
Just then, a group of Marines came running onto the scene…following a particular person wearing a Straw Hat followed by three floating children, screaming their heads off.
"IT'S YOU!" the Straw Hats anime drooped (indicating Luffy), as some of them anime slapped themselves.
"It's bad enough that HE'S always a magnet for trouble," Nami grumbled, "but I didn't think that he'll drag the Children into this…"
"And I thought it will be okay with the Children going with him," Zoro sweat dropped.
"Oh man!" Aoi complained, "just when we thought we've escape that Smoke guy, these people shows up!"
"Don't worry, Aoi," Kaoru glee, "if we get caught, all you have to do is teleport us out of jail and we'll get bounties for sure! Of course, we're not going to make it easy for them to catch us…"
"Are you SERIOUSLY still thinking about that stupid bet? With how these Marines are acting, we won't even make it to the jail cell!"
"True," Shiho mumbled as she stared back at the chasing Marine soldiers, "it looks like we'll be cut to mince before we'll get bounties…"
"If this is how Marines act," Aoi commented, "how are they any different than pirates?"
"Hey," Luffy sounded, staring towards a bunch of ruins, "There's Zoro!"
Sure enough, when the Children turn to the same direction, there was Zoro, cloaked but still recognizable, who had flinched at being noticed.
"We're saved!" Aoi cheered as Luffy led the way towards them.
"You IDOITS," Zoro shouted as the four draw in closer, "Come back AFTER you ditch them!"
"It's the rest of the Straw Hat Crew!" One of the pursuing marine soldier exclaimed, just as a large puff of smoke flew pass him.
"Get back, soldiers!" Smoker ordered, forming from the smoke.
"Captain!" the soldier exclaimed in surprise, catching the Children's attention.
"Yikes!" Aoi alerted, "Creepy smoke guy, Six o'clock!"
"White…" Smoker declared as he sent his extending smoke right fist forward at a high velocity, "…Fist!"
"AAH!" Shiho exclaimed, "He's going to get us!"
But just as the attack was about to hit them…
"…Sun Flare!" a voice rang out as a stream collided with the front of the smoking hand, forming a barrier between the attack and its targets.
"Huh?" the Children exclaimed as they and Luffy turn back to see the flames suddenly turn into a human…the very same man they had met earlier in the restaurant.
"You…" Smoker growled as he came to a halt.
"Give it up, Smoker," the man smirked confidently, "You may be smoke, but I'm fire; we can be at this all day and still with no clear winner…"
"Who the hell?" Usopp, who was only mere moments ago preparing to run, exclaimed.
"Who's he?" Nami questioned.
"That's what I want to know," Kaoru huffed, before noticing Luffy's surprised expression, "Luffy? Are you okay?"
"…Ace!" Luffy finally managed.
Hearing Luffy, the stranger turn to him with a smirk.
"Still causing trouble like always," the man, apparently named Ace, spoke to the Straw Hat Captain, "eh Luffy?"
Normama: "And...Done! Phew! That was a serious brain case..."
The Children (glaring at Normama): "..."
Normama: "W-What?"
Shiho: "When EXACTLY are you planning to update next time?"
Normama: "Uh..."
Aoi: "You have no clue don't you?"
Normama: "S-Sorry! There was this and that and...well, sorry..."
Kaoru (holding out her glowing hand): "IDIOT!"
Normama (slammed into the wall with high force): "GAAH!"
Minamoto: "KAORU!"
Kaoru (floating away with her two friends): "HMPH!"
Minamoto: "Oh boy, this is serious! Hey, Normama's fellow readers! You think you can cheer them up by sending some of your reviews? At this rate, Normama is going to die before he can post any other chapters/stories."