THE CHILDREN Set Sail!
Disclaimer: GAAH! This is more and more difficult with every try! Eiichiro Oda continues to claim full ownership over One Piece, while Takashi Shiina still own Zettai Karen Children. I'm running out of ideas to get ownership!
Back in the Children's home world, somehow or another Minamoto managed to stop the Chief and Kashiwagi from mobilizing the entire Japanese government force. He's now in one of B.A.B.E.L. Laboratory eying diligently at several sets of information that were popping all over his computer screen. After several minutes, Minamoto shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and exhaustion.
Just then, the laboratory door slide open allowing a tan man with messy black hair dress in a lab coat to entered.
"How is it going, Minamoto?" the man asked.
"No leads," Minamoto sighed, "what about you, Sakaki? Any progress?"
"Nope," Shuuji Sakaki sighed as well, "I've read the area of the bridge where they crashed and the lake where they could have fell into…nothing helpful…"
"Is that anything new? What about The Hound, did they get anything…"
"Now about that," Sakaki hummed, "according to Hatsune, no one else was in the area around the time that the Children disappeared…but she couldn't find any sign that they had left the area as well…"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah…but she also couldn't track them either…"
"Hmm," Minamoto hummed in thought, "then they only way they could have disappear was through the use of teleportation…"
"And the impact on the bridge was pretty hard too, I slightly sense that Aoi and Kaoru had took the hardest of the collision. Kaoru's esper center had a temporary delay while Aoi's had been slightly damage. So Kaoru couldn't halt their fall and if Aoi had used her esper power, she had no control over where they would end up…"
"So…in other words…they can be anywhere…even outside Japan…"
"That too…"
Minamoto sighed as he began to ruffle his hair in frustration. "Great~! That doesn't narrow down our search at all…"
"Hey, calm down, Minamoto!" Sakaki rested a reassuring hand on Minamoto's shoulder, "We'll find them…"
Just then, Kashiwagi rushed into the room, catching the two men's attention instantly.
"Minamoto-kun," Kashiwagi managed as she tries to regain her breathing, "Doctor Sakaki! Come to the Chief's room immediately!"
"What's wrong?" Sakaki wondered.
"Did the Chief find a lead?" Minamoto asked hopefully.
"Uh…no," Kashiwagi shook her head sadly, "but something just came up that you got to see…"
After giving each other questionable looks, Minamoto and Sakaki followed Kashiwagi to the Chief's office. Once there, they found Chief Kiritsubo and a white haired woman with "well-beyond-average" breast size (obviously proud of them since she was wearing flexible clothing and it doesn't seem like she had made any attempt to hid them) waiting for them.
"Minamoto-kun," the Chief nodded upon their entry, "Sakaki-kun! You two made it…"
"What going on," Sakaki wondered again before eying the large breast woman nervously, "And why is Director Fujiko up so early?"
"I beg your pardon," Fujiko Tsubomi, Director of B.A.B.E.L., glared, "Are you saying you didn't expect me to be here when something important comes up?"
"Uh…yes~?"
Fujiko grumbled.
"ANYWAY!" Minamoto loudly voiced before anyone could get off topic, "What's the situation that requires all of us to be present? Does it concern the Children?"
"Hmm~," Director Fujiko hummed, "Yes…and No…"
"Huh?"
"No…because it doesn't help us find them…"
"And yes…because of this," Kashiwagi pulled out a remote and pressed a button.
One of the walls suddenly opened, revealing a screen that displayed a graph. The graph was title "Prediction Probability of Change: Pending Issue #666" with the Sub-title of "Will the Children becomes Angels or Devils?"
"This thing again?" Sakaki noted, "What happen to it?"
"Take a look," Chief began, "Before it was Angel: 32%, Devil: 30%, and Either: 38%…"
"But now," Fujiko announced, "it's Either: 30%, Devil: 30%, and Angel: 40%!"
"WHAT?" Minamoto exclaimed as he rechecked the graph to find that it was true, "There is suddenly a greater chance for the Children to become Angels instead of Devils? How?"
"We don't know," Director Fujiko shrugged, "What we do know is that not long after the Children disappear, this prediction suddenly turn for a brighter future…"
"Hmm," Sakaki hummed grimly, "Is it saying that as long as the Children remains gone, we would all have a brighter future?"
"WHAT?" the Chief suddenly lunged at the Doctor and began to comically choke the man, "Are you SAYING that you want them to STAY gone?"
"I didn't say THAT!"
Minamoto stayed quiet for a moment before turning to Kashiwagi. "The prediction is considering the fact they are still alive and healthy right?"
"Yes," Kashiwagi nodded, "If they were…and I'm not saying they ARE…dead, then the prediction would have gone blank…"
"What are you getting at Minamoto?" Fujiko wondered.
"…I'm not quite sure," Minamoto stated, "but I believe that, where ever they are now, they are learning something important; something that is driving the future into this general direction…"
"So are they alright?" The Chief wondered dumbly, releasing Sasaki.
"I don't know about that," Minamoto regretfully shrugged, "But at least we know that they are alive…"
"But for how long?" The Chief cried, "I can't take this anymore! Kashiwagi! Prepare B.A.B.E.L. One! I'll go search for them myself!"
"Uh," Kashiwagi sweat dropped, "Chief, if they were going to die the precognition would have taken THAT in account as well…"
"I DON'T CARE!" The Chief wailed, "That shitty prediction doesn't tell us whether they are suffering or not right?"
"I suppose you got a point," Minamoto sighed in acknowledgement, "But there's nothing we can do about for now…"
"I can't bare to think that my…no, our country's treasure is going through hardship. I bet at this very moment they facing something gruesome and are so terrify that they're crying their little hearts out…begging for help…"
"Okay~ Everyone! We've had a rough day!" Usopp proclaimed.
It has been several minutes since Vivi and Mr. Toto's emotional encounter. By now, Mr. Toto had led them to one of the Inns before leaving to finish his digging. Luffy, who wasn't really sleepy, decided to follow Mr. Toto back out to "help" him dig for water. As you can see…or, in this case, read…Usopp had finally woken up from his pass-out only to once again be looking forward to sleeping again.
"Let's take a little rest to replenish our strength for tomorrow," Usopp happily suggested with a laugh before hopping onto one of the beds, "Good night~!"
The Children sweat dropped at Usopp's attempt to dodge the fact that he had nearly half a day of rest already.
But before he could even snore three times, Zoro threw a pillow at Usopp head hard.
"Rest?" Zoro huffed, "You've been sleeping the entire time!"
"…Asshole~!" Usopp growled back as he slowly turn to Zoro as if the pillow had actually hurt him a bit before throwing a pillow into the swordsman's face, "Don't compare me to the rest of you monsters!"
"…That's IT!" Zoro growled, totally pissed.
But before he could do anything, Usopp threw another pillow straight into Chopper's face.
"And besides," Usopp pointed at him accusingly, "today's prize for slacking should go to you, Blue-Nose!"
"But you know I can't handle the heat," Chopper cried back in defiance, "I'm built for the cold!"
"He has a point you know," Aoi pointed out, "he has more reason to pass out than you-!"
A flying pillow landed hard in her face ending her sentence.
"I don't want to hear that coming from someone who had a chance to ride on the stupid camel," Usopp declared, before throw two more at Kaoru (who manage to dodge) and Shiho (who also got hit in the face).
"Why you-!" Shiho darkly glared as the pillow slide off her face.
"Uh, Sanji-kun," Vivi sweat dropped, "this is my…"
Everyone turn to see Sanji in Vivi's bed.
"Ah yes," Sanji innocently smiled as he lift the bed sheet supposedly offering Vivi to join in, "I thought you would feel lonely sleeping by yourself-!"
Another flying pillow sent by Usopp stop Sanji in his sentence as it hit him in the face.
"And what the heck do you think you're doing over there?" Usopp asked in disgust as Chopper suppress a giggle.
"Yeah, Sanji!" Kaoru cried out in disbelief, "if you're planning to do that, why didn't you invite me?"
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!" Aoi yelled as she threw a pillow into Kaoru face, igniting her anger.
"Oi, someone got guts," Sanji meanwhile glared at Usopp and Chopper, "Which one of you jackasses threw that at me?"
In no time flat a huge pillow fight broke out between everyone but Nami and Vivi.
"Honestly," Nami huffed, forming an comical vein pop, "Don't you people even know the meaning of the word "sleep"-?"
A random pillow crashed into her face, igniting her to join the frail as well.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU THREW THAT?"
"Why did you hit ME for?" Kaoru roared as she tries to hit Aoi only to hit Zoro instead.
"Why do you think-?" Aoi managed before a pillow from Shiho smacked her in the face.
"Ha! A Level 7 Psychometrist can't possibly miss-!" Shiho monologue before a pillow sent by Chopper caught her in the face.
"Dumb-ass! It was you wasn't it?" Sanji growled as he threw a pillow towards Zoro only for him to side step and hit Usopp instead.
"Miss, Rotten-!" Zoro sneered before getting hit by Kaoru's pillows.
"Drat, I miss-!" Kaoru managed before leaping out of the way of one of Nami's pillow which hit Vivi in the face.
"Ouch," Vivi managed with a smile as she watches everyone continue the pillow fight.
It was a while before things finally calmed down and eventually the bulk of the group was fast asleep.
Vivi sighed from where from her bed; she was unable to peacefully sleep despite knowing that she'll need it to continue on tomorrow, especially after hearing what Mr. Toto had said.
"I'll definitely stop the rebellion," Vivi muttered to herself.
"…You must seriously love your country do you?" Vivi jumped a bit as she turned to see the Children, wide awake, staring at her.
"Uh, yes I do," Vivi answered Kaoru's question.
"But really," Shiho frowned, "how could you honestly expect that you can stop a rebellion?"
"Yeah," Aoi nodded, "It's not like they just stop because you are the one telling them to; even your father the king of this country couldn't…"
"…I might be able to," Vivi gave a small smile, "I got one advantage…"
"And what's that?"
"…Do you all know how I came to know Mr. Toto?"
Though startled by the sudden question, the Children shook their head in response.
"It's a story that began ten years ago," Vivi began, "back then Mr. Toto was a lot more…uh, healthier and had just came to the capital after a drought devastated his village. He brought his family with him when he did, along with many other villagers from his town. One of them being his son, a natural born fearless leader in the making name Kohza. He holds his own sense of justice and, at the time, thought my father, the king, didn't care for his fellow villagers. He is so brave and just that he literally storm into the palace and told my father up-straight about the problem…"
"He what?" the Children sweat dropped, "Was he asking for a death wish?"
"Well," Vivi managed a small chuckle, "Mr. Toto thought so. Fortunately, my father is also a righteous person, much like Kohza, so he paid no heed towards Kohza's rudeness. In fact it was thanks to Kohza that my father became aware of the situation and offer them aid…"
"Your father sounds like a good king," Shiho commented.
"Yes he is. Anyway, Kohza didn't think much about it at the time ran off. That was when I met him…"
"Really~?" Kaoru sneered, earning her a sweat drop from the princess.
"Uh, yes?"
"So was it love at first sight?"
"Kaoru!" Aoi and Shiho hissed, keeping care to level their voice so they didn't disturb the others.
Vivi gave small laugh, much to the surprise of the Children. "Hardly," Vivi explained, "we got into a fight…a fight that I lost in…"
"H-He beat you up?"
"Yes, you can imagine how upset the loyal Captain of the Royal Guards Igaram was and how terrified Mr. Toto was when they saw me cover in bruises. Fortunately, Father recognize it just a mere children fight and stop Igaram from going ballistic and Mr. Toto from committing suicide…in his own way of course…"
"But still," Kaoru frowned, "weren't you a bit angry about the loss?"
"I was, very! So I found him later outside the palace and challenge him to a rematch. And remember when I told you that Kohza was a natural born leader? Well it just so happens he was currently at the time leading a group of children called the Suna-Suna Clan. At the time I thought 'What the heck, I'll beat Kohza and at the same time take over the Suna-Suna Clan as well'…"
"That's evil," Aoi sweat dropped.
"Thinking back it was, but in the end we both end up in a tie. Ironically though it was that fight that started our friendship and Kohza made me the Vice-Captain of the Suna-Suna Clan. Since then we became one of the closest of friends, which was shown during that incident…"
"That incident?" Shiho repeated in confusion.
Vivi suddenly stared off. "One time when I was heading towards the meeting spot of the Clan, a group of bandits suddenly showed up and attempt to kidnap me for ransom. But Kohza and the rest of the still able Suna-Suna Clan fought back against them to try and save me. Eventually, it came down to the point where the leading kidnapper cornered me and Kohza in some nearby ruins, the man threatening with a knife. Despite that, Kohza charge ahead and deliver a nasty blow to the man, at the cost of receiving a scar over his left eye. Shortly afterwards Father, Igaram, and two other powerful warriors took care of the remaining kidnappers and gave all the brave members of the Suna-Suna Clan medical care…"
"Wow," Kaoru wowed, "talk about dedication…"
"…And how," Vivi solemnly stated, "What kills me the most about it was the fact that during the time they were protecting me, Kohza had gave a frightening order…he told everyone to protect me even at the cost of their own life, which everyone readily agreed."
"Serious?" the Children quietly exclaimed.
"Yeah, after the event I wasn't sure whether to be happy that I had such a splendid friend or sad that I nearly sentence him to death by just being his friend. In the end I was just glad no one had died for my sake. Soon afterwards though, Father asked Mr. Toto to start up a town here in Yuba and Kohza naturally had to follow. I haven't seen him since, but our friendship is strong even now I guess; it didn't matter how far or long apart we are…"
"Understandable," Aoi nodded.
"But," Shiho suddenly wondered, "What does all of this have to do with the Rebellion?"
Vivi hesitated before answering. "The leader of the Rebellion against my Father's Kingdom…is Kohza…"
"HUH?" the Children yelped in surprise, nearly waking everyone else around.
"Yes, I obtain that knowledge through a very reliable sources…"
"Oh I get now!" Kaoru exclaimed, but kept her voice leveled, "Since Kohza is your friend and he's a very righteous person, once he realized what is really going on he would stop the rebellion without a second thought!"
"Exactly," Vivi nodded with a smile, "and with the Rebellion stop, Crocodile plan will fail and my country be saved…"
"This may actually work!" Aoi quietly squeaked in excitement.
"…I guess," Shiho hummed in thought; her face betraying her confidence in the plan.
"What's wrong Shiho?" Vivi wondered, being the only one to notice the Psychometrist expression.
But before the silver-haired girl can explain, the door slowly creaked open. The four turn to find Mr. Toto carrying a sleeping Luffy into the room, stopping when he saw the four.
"Oh dear me," Mr. Toto exclaimed quietly, "I'm sorry; did I wake you four?"
"Uh, no!" Vivi quickly eased the old man, "You weren't doing any such!"
"Yeah, we were just wrapping up our small talk…" Kaoru yawned before using her psychokinetic to lift Luffy off the man's back, "Here! I'll take him from here…Thanks old man…"
"Oh, I see," Mr. Toto huffed a small chuckled as he watch Luffy's sleeping body float over to one of the empty beds before dropping in it, "well, pleasant dreams young ones, princess…"
With that, he left.
"It is getting late," Vivi smiled in acknowledgement, "We better get some sleep ourselves…"
"Yeah, don't want to wake up with a pimple now," Kaoru joked, "for us girls that would be a nightmare…"
Everyone gave a small nervous chuckle before returning to their beds. Pretty soon they all fell asleep…but not before Shiho wondered to herself, "Would ending the Rebellion…really end this country's nightmare?"
The next morning, everyone was getting ready to embark onward again. With the knowledge of where the Rebellion HQ is now, Vivi decided that they should try to get there and proceed with convincing the Rebels to cease the Rebellion.
"Forgive me for behaving so disgracefully the night before, Vivi-chan," Mr. Toto apologized.
"No it is quite alright, Mr. Toto," Vivi reassured, stopping the old man from bowing.
"Yeah, no need to be so formal," Kaoru chimed before receiving Shiho's elbow in the stomach, "Ouch!"
"We'll be leaving now sir," Aoi informed the obvious, "take care now…"
"Don't do anything that will get yourself killed now," Kaoru chimed again, receiving another elbow from Shiho in the stomach, "Ouch!"
"Don't worry young ones, I won't," Mr. Toto chuckled before turning to the Straw Hat Captain, "Oh, Luffy-kun, a moment please!"
"Huh?" Luffy wondered as he came over, "What's up?"
"Here, please take this," With that, he gave Luffy a small barrel, and judging from the sloshing sound inside, it contained…
"Wow! WATER!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement.
"WATER?" Usopp and Kaoru drooled in excitement.
"You got some?" Luffy asked Mr. Toto in amazement.
"Yes," Mr. Toto nodded, "Right after you fell asleep digging last night, we made it to the water level. From there I manage to squeeze out the water and distill it…"
"Wow, sounds difficult!" Luffy awed as he stared at the barrel, "Thanks, I'll drink it VERY carefully!"
"You better, that's genuine Yuba water! I'm sorry that's all I can give you…"
"No it's okay…"
"Aw! No fair!" Kaoru pouted, "Why does Luffy gets the water?"
"Well," Nami sighed, "he did kind of 'worked' for it…"
"Goodbye, Mr. Toto," Vivi called back as she and the other wave back to Mr. Toto, whose figure soon disappear as they walked farther away.
"Well then," Sanji huffed as he adjust the pack on his back, "let's get going…"
"Yeah we got a Rebellion to stop after all," Usopp muttered.
With that, the group head on until…
"Hey," Chopper suddenly noted as he stared around, "Where's Luffy?"
"Huh?" everyone echoed as they scanned around for their captain…only to find him resting by some dead bush some meters back, "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Luffy," Aoi and Nami yelled back as Zoro and Shiho simply stared.
Luffy didn't respond even after the rest had jogged back to him. No matter what was said, Luffy didn't even budge.
"Seriously," Kaoru wondered, "What's up?"
"Yes," Vivi spoke, "is something wrong?"
Finally after about another minute, Luffy spoke. "…I quit…"
"HUH?" Everyone, aside from Shiho and Zoro, sweat dropped at the response.
"You 'quit'," Kaoru sweat dropped as she repeated his words.
"What do you mean, Luffy-san?" Vivi wondered in worry.
"We have no time for your stupid games, Luffy!" Sanji steamed, "Now get up so we can go!"
"Go?" Luffy muttered in the most straight face manner the Children had ever seen, "We're going the Rebellion Base?"
"Yes," Sanji huffed, "Let me spell it out for you: we're using the road we took yesterday to get there and stop the rebellion! If a million citizen of this country clash, it's all over! This is all for Vivi-chan! Got it? Good, so let's go-!"
"Boring~!" Luffy simply stated.
"WHAT did you SAY?" Sanji comically shouted in anger, "Did ANYTHING I just said penetrate that MEAT-FILL head of yours?"
"…Vivi," Luffy, ignoring Sanji's outburst, addressed.
"What?" Vivi wondered.
"I want beat up Crocodile," Luffy stated, "Stopping the Rebellion won't stop Crocodile. It won't stop him from trying something else and maybe the next time more people could be involve. Crocodile is a pirate after all, he's willing to do what he must…"
Everyone just stared at Luffy, unable to replied or argue for the moment.
"Did Luffy just made a point?" Sanji frowned in disbelief.
"Let me guess," Aoi huffed, "You don't see this often do you?"
"I think it's likely he hit the 'bull's-eye' without even thinking," Shiho muttered.
"How you know that?" Kaoru wondered only for Shiho to glance at Kaoru solemnly.
"…No reason, just a guess…"
"Well," Usopp sighed, "either way, that's Luffy for you…an idiot who isn't exactly an idiot…"
"You just don't want anyone to die in this war," Luffy continued, "the people of your country, or us, or anyone! You're talking about a fight against one of the pirate warlord, in which over a million people will be in battle, and all you want is for no one to die…That's naïve!"
"Huh?" the Children jerked back in confusion.
"Stop, Luffy!" Nami burst out, "Can't you think about Vivi's felling?" Nami made a move to go over only to be halted, surprisingly by Sanji.
"Wait Nami-san…" Sanji motioned.
"But…"
"What's wrong with that?" Vivi finally replied back, offended, "What's wrong with not wanting people to die?"
"People die," Luffy simply stated, only to receive a smack across the face by Vivi.
"Stop talking like that! Don't you dare say that again! That's what we are trying to stop!"
Vivi gather her breath as she watch Luffy got up. The Children and the rest of the Straw Hats just continuing watching, unable to think of a good way to intervene.
"You can't blame the Rebels or the Army for this! Why should anyone die? This is all Crocodiles fault!"
But before anyone even knew it, Luffy punched Vivi across the face.
"Then WHY are you risking your life?" Luffy growled as he and Vivi began to start beating each other up.
"That's going to far, Luffy!" Usopp exclaimed as Aoi covered her eyes in horror.
"Damn it, Luffy!" Sanji steamed, ready to kick Luffy out of rage, only for Shiho to stop him.
"Even I can tell what this country needs the most!" Luffy managed as he was getting beat up.
"What?" Vivi huffed in confusion.
"Just by looking at the situation! You think risking one life is enough?"
Vivi pause in her beating before shouting back, "Then what am I suppose to do? What am I suppose to RISK? There is nothing else I have to-!"
She never got to finish her sentence as Luffy suddenly grip her shoulders sternly. "WHY DON'T YOU RISK OUR LIVES TOO? I THOUGHT WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS!"
Things got extremely quiet as Vivi pondered what to say against that.
"I don't get it?" Kaoru whispered to her two friends, "what's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Aoi whispered back in reply.
"…I do," Shiho whispered, catching her two friends attention, "All this time, it would seem Vivi is fighting with no actually support; she's been fighting this on her own, unwilling to risk others for the cause. At the rate she is going, with no support whatsoever, she will fail. Luffy realize that…"
"Thus starting the fight," Aoi concluded.
"Oh," Kaoru thumped her palm, "So in a sense, if we want to help Vivi, she have to let us help her…"
"…And you wonder how I figure Luffy get things without thinking," Shiho chuckled to herself.
"Huh?"
"…Look at you," Luffy sighed as Vivi try to cover her face with the hood of her cloak, "You're crying. You're the one who wants to beat him the most…"
Everyone watched on as Vivi continues crying and Luffy continue watching. The Children too awaits for their next course of action. Finally, after readjusting his hat, Luffy got up.
"Tell me…Tell where Crocodile is…"
Normama: "Ugh~!..."
The Children (glaring): "... ... ... ..."
Minamoto (sweat dropping): "...What did you three do to him?"
Aoi (huffing): "It's his fault!"
Shiho (monotone): "He wouldn't update the story fast enough..."
Kaoru (fuming): "AND HE TOTALLY CUT OFF SOME GOOD EROTIC SCENES TOO!"
Minamoto: "... ... ...I can understand the fact that the story didn't update...but, Kaoru, I don't think your reason is enough..."
Aoi and Shiho (sweat dropping): "We would have to agree..."
Kaoru (making a dramatic depress pose): "Ah~, Goddess of Erotic Scene, of Eroticism, how much longer are you planning to torment me~!?"
Minamoto (comically furious): "QUIT IT KAORU! A TEN YEAR OLD GIRL SHOULDN'T BE SAY THOSE KINDS OF THINGS! AND THERE ARE NO SUCH GODDESSES!"
Kaoru (comical shock): "CRUSHED~~!"
Minamoto: "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...I give up..."