THE CHILDREN Set Sail!
Disclaimer: One Piece and Zettai Karen Children doesn't belong to me! Please spread the words! And Shiho, please stop pointing that gun at my crotch~!
Shiho: "Only if you keep writing~!"
Normama (sweat dropping with a comical river of tears flowing from his eyes): "…I can't focus~~!"
We last left the Children and Straw Hats in a peculiar situation. They had just survived from being buried under a ton of debris from a giant galleon that had mysteriously fallen from the sky. After being inform by Robin that it could have fallen from Sky Island, Kaoru decided to join Luffy, Zoro and Sanji as they dive down to retrieve anything that can help them get to the fable Sky Island. But while they were doing that, the 'Salvage King' Masira and his pirate crew arrived on the scene to claim the sunken ship as his own.
The so-called "Salvage King" is currently waving friendly to the remaining members of the Straw Hats on-board the Merry Go.
"…H-He's waving to us," Aoi whispered to her remaining friends.
"W-Wave back," Shiho responded back in the same manner, "Act casually!"
"Yeah," Nami managed as she joined everyone in waving to Masira, "We can't let him know about the air pump!"
"I know~!" Usopp nodded, as he continued to pump his feet on the mechanism that is providing air to the four people that went below.
"Alright, listen up guys," Masira turned to his crew once he was done waving to them, "Just pretend that those people are pumpkins. Just because there is someone watching, don't-…"
Up to that point, Masira had managed to keep a straight face. But perhaps because his own world finally registered in his brain (the fact that they had an audience), he lost his composure and now displayed an embarrassed grinned.
"…-D-Don't be nervous, alright~!?"
"Y-Yeah~!" The crew replied in the same embarrassed manner.
"…It seems they have a little pride in them," Usopp noted.
"Really?" Shiho frowned, "Seems to me they're more tense…"
"Drop the cradle~~!" Masira called.
"Aye-Aye Boss~!" His crew called and immediately went to do their task.
"Keep your eyes peeled for those intruders~~!"
"Aye-Aye Boss!" the crewmembers with diving suites saluted before diving into the water.
"…At least these guys take their salvaging jobs seriously," Aoi managed.
"Naw," Nami sweat dropped. "They probably just want to show off to us…"
"…Speaking of showing off," Shiho peered into the water where four friends dived into earlier, "I wonder how they're doing down there, Kaoru and everyone else…"
The four divers (Kaoru, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro) meanwhile had finally entered the ruined remains of the sunken ship that nearly crashed on top of them, blissfully unaware about what was going above.
With a collective nod, everyone split up. Kaoru, using her Psychic powers, glide through the water-filled hall of the ship. She is searching for anything that could be useful, anything to get them to Sky Island. But at the same time, she couldn't help but marvel at every turn she makes.
It hasn't even been two hours since the ship sank and already a collection of aquatic life is beginning to make the wreckage their new home. Little sardines and tuna darted every passage she enters. Some crabs show off their claws, warning Kaoru about approaching them. There were even some seahorses about, some attaching curiously to Kaoru.
But Kaoru only stopped momentarily with these distractions before returning to the business of finding clues to get to Sky Island. She gently blew away some of the sediments that was already piling on the ground, looking for anything. All she found, though, are some ancient vases that shatter on touch or weird shape shells.
Normally disregarding these stuffs as mere junks, Kaoru carefully collected them. She is no Psychometrist after all, so she'll bring them to Shiho. She might be able to find out something from them that could help.
She soon reunited with Luffy, Zoro and Sanji in what was once one of the cabin rooms of the massive ship. They too seem to have collected a lot considering the huge bundles on their backs. They were all now considering returning to the surface until something suddenly crashed through the hull of the ship.
"…! What is that!?" Kaoru managed as several more crashing noises alerted them that the object, what seems to be a large hook, wasn't alone.
"…What is that-!?" Kaoru's voice exclaimed through the valve that supply her air and communication to the rest of the shipmates. But it was completely plugged up in a hurry by Usopp.
Aoi, Shiho and Nami followed suit as they prevented any other valve from voicing by covering them as well. But Kaoru's cutoff exclamation had already drawn the curiosity of Masira.
Masira stared at them, curious about what he just heard. If they don't do something soon, there's going to be unnecessary trouble.
"…Uh," Usopp suddenly began, pointing at the ship's figurehead, which looks like a monkey with a set of cymbals, "W-What is that!? That monkey! What's that monkey for!?"
"…Of all the things you could have pointed to," Shiho sweat dropped, "Why their ship's figurehead? Do you need a reason to have-?"
"Oh~, this?" Masira grinned proudly with a chuckle, "You've got sharp eyes! This monkey isn't just an ordinary decorative statue…"
"…It isn't?"
"Seriously~?" Aoi sweat dropped alongside her childhood friend. On one hand, she was glad that their secret is still safe thanks to Usopp's lie. On the other hand, she was flabbergasted at the fact that Usopp's desperate lie turns out to point to something rather important to the salvaging pirates, seeing the response Masira gave them.
"Barco Hunter, forward~!" Masira ordered.
"Aye-Aye, Captain~~!" his crew cheered. Soon the figure head began to move. Turns out, the figure head was separated from the ship as it slowly inched the rest of it out of the ship before going under the sea.
"Wow!" Chopper gawked in amazement, "That's cool~!"
"What is?" Aoi sweat dropped.
"Awesome~!" Usopp added in the same manner as Chopper.
"…How so?" Shiho rolled her eyes.
After several seconds, one of the men reported that the Barco Hunter is now in position.
"Yosh~!" Masira cheered as he grabbed hold of a tube that seems to be connected to the figurehead that went down, "Time to start blowing in the air~~!"
"Go for it Boss~!" His crew cheered in reply.
"… … …Huh!?" Aoi finally managed, once it dawned on her what he is going to do, "D-Don't tell me-!"
"…He's planning to raise that ship," Shiho sweat dropped, "by blowing air into it through the tube…with his own breath!?"
"No way!" Nami exclaimed in disbelief, "That's impossible!"
But to their disbelief, after taking a gigantic breath of air, Masira blew into the tube. It comically created a bulge, indicating the mass amount of air. The swell soon began traveling down the tube, disappearing under the waves.
"Boss!" a salvager suddenly called after about a minute, "the divers have reported that the ship has finally start floating!"
"Yosh~!" Masira nodded, stopping his air blowing, and handed the tube over to one his crew, "Now start reeling it up~~!"
"Yes Boss!" His crew cheered as they began to manually work on a reeling mechanism.
"And keeping pumping more air~!"
"Yes Boss!" another set of his crew cried as they worked on a pumping mechanism that was feeding air into the tube from before.
"Ah~! So they're not complete idiots," Shiho huffed in relief; the idea that Masira was actually going to continuingly manually pump air with his own breath was beyond her.
"I actually though for a moment he was going to continue doing that," Aoi admitted with a sweat drop.
"Well, either way," Nami sighed, "If they're right, we should be seeing the ship real-…"
"GYAAAAAAH~~~!" A voice suddenly echoed from Salvager's ship.
"Whoa-! What!?" Aoi jumped a bit.
"…It sounds like it came from speakers," Shiho guessed, "Maybe from one of those divers?"
"What happen?" Masira exclaimed in worry.
"Boss!" a crewmember reported, "It's the underwater crew!"
"What!?" Masira quickly ran over to one of the mikes and spoke into it. "What's happening!?"
"…ZZT-! B-Boss!" The diver's voice reported, "T-There's someone! Someone inside the ship-! GAH~~~!"
"Oi!" Masira cried as the line fizzed to silent.
"…Oh no," Shiho comically palmed her face, "…It's them…"
"Why do they have to cause trouble now!?" Usopp sweated.
Masira, meanwhile, suddenly leapt onto the rail of ship and bellowed out loud in anger. "ROAR~! WHO THE HELL ARE THEY!? HOW DARE THEY ATTACK MY CREW~! THEY'LL PAY FOR THIS~~~!"
"Eek~!" Shiho, Aoi, Nami and Usopp shrieked from the force of his angry roar, "H-H-He's mad~!"
"T-This is bad," Aoi managed, "If he finds out that it was our crewmembers that did it, he'll tear us apart!"
"Y-You're right!" Usopp nodded nervously.
"W-We got to get out of here!" Chopper added.
"Yeah, I agree, but how," Nami began to rack her brain for something.
"… … …Hey, what's he doing? …Or rather, what are they doing?" Shiho suddenly addressed with a sweat drop, bring everyone's attention back to Masira.
The said person, believe it or not, was still in the same angry bellow position he was in when made that angry declaration. By now, though, his crew has constructed what looks like a picture canvas with explosive angry as its theme; it's positioned right behind Masira, seemingly empathize his anger.
"…What are they doing indeed," Aoi sweat dropped.
"…Uh, sorry," Nami suddenly called, waving her hand nervously in front of her face, "I don't have a camera with me, so we're not going to take a picture or anything…"
"WHAT!? You're not!?" Masira finally reacted in shock.
'He was posing for a camera shot!?' Aoi and Shiho strained in thought; the absurdity was almost too much for them. 'Isn't he worry about his crew underwater!?'
"Boss~!" another radio voice echoed, "Help-! GYAAH~~!"
"Ah-!" Masira jolted, finally brought back to the reality of the situation, "I got to go! Continue working on reeling up the ship!"
"Yes Boss!" His crew proclaimed as Masira dived into the sea.
"…Oh whatever," Aoi and Shiho sighed; in the back of their mind, they could help but think even if they were to fight Masira he wouldn't be much trouble.
"Whew~! Air~!" Kaoru cried as she removes her diving suit.
"See~!" Luffy laughed, "It's okay if we take off the barrels…"
"I didn't think that this much air could come down here," Zoro noted, "You think someone is trying to raise this ship?"
"Maybe," Kaoru shrugged as she proceed to pulling off an octopus that had latch onto Zoro's back, "I don't think we need to come down if we could do this after all…"
"Could something have happened to the girls?" Sanji noted in worry.
"…What happen to Chopper and Usopp?"
"Did you try contacting them?" Zoro wondered.
"I did, many times, but didn't get a response!" Sanji informed.
"Hello~!" Kaoru huffed, "What about Usopp and Chopper?"
"Who cares…?"
"Who cares!?"
"As long as the girls are alright, then those two should be fine," Zoro huffed, "They're not pushovers now…"
"The girls aren't pushovers!" Sanji exclaimed, "Especially Nami and Robin!"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
Suddenly, the wall of the room they were in burst as a person came crashing in.
"Who dares to cause trouble in my part of the sea!?" The man bellowed.
"… …Ah!" Luffy and Kaoru noted in unison, "A monkey!"
"Eh?" the "monkey-like" man blinked, blushing a bit with a joyous smile, "Do I really look like a monkey?"
"Yeah," Luffy nodded, "You look more like a monkey than a real monkey…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro sweat dropped.
"It means the guy is so much like a monkey that he outclassed other monkey in 'monkey-ness'…" Kaoru explained.
"What~?" Sanji sweat dropped.
"You actually got what he said?" Zoro frowned uncomfortably.
"Yeah," Kaoru then turn back to the monkey-like man, "The name Kaoru, by the way. So who are you?"
"Oh! How rude of me," the man chuckled in embarrassment, "I'm Masira…"
"I'm Luffy!" Luffy cheered, "Man, you really do look like a monkey!"
"Gee, thanks!"
"Uh, that's not supposed to be a compliment, man," Sanji sweat dropped.
Meanwhile, back above the waves, Aoi and Shiho constantly glance over the side of the ship and into the water; they feel that if they do their friends would spring up from beneath the waves, shocking them and after a quick beating they would quickly make their escape.
Before they felt confident at the thought they might be able to take on Masira and his pirate crew, but when they saw a Sea-King floating up unconscious they began to worry; even more so after the salvaging pirates cheered that it was done by their captain.
"An ape-man with gorilla power doesn't bode well," Aoi frowned, "I hope they're alright…"
"If they can't handle that gorilla, nobody can," Shiho added.
"You said it," Usopp nodded nervously, "It's only a matter of time now before those guys tell that idiot that we're with them…I honestly don't want to fight him…"
"I'm not worry," Nami admitted with a shrug, "There's no way that idiot could beat those four idiots, let alone at once…"
"But he did that to a Sea-King," Chopper pointed out, indicating the Sea-King that is still knocked out cold.
"…Those four can do it too…"
"Underwater? With Luffy, who can't swim?" Aoi listed.
"Hey, I'm trying to think positive here!"
"Well, Nami is right," Shiho shrugged, "Beside Kaoru is there too; I don't think she'll be quiet about it…"
"There, see~? Someone who speaks my language!"
Aoi rolled her eyes. "Your language is found in people wallet…"
"…Well, that's one of my languages…"
"…Uh guys," Usopp managed, sweating nervously like crazy as he peered over the side of the boat.
"…? What's wrong-?" Nami began as she too peered over the side of the boat, only to cut herself off in fright, "T-T-There's something there~~!"
Alerted by Nami's distressed voiced, everyone peered over the side of the boat to see a huge shadow looming almost beneath them.
"…T-That shape," Aoi sweated nervously, "D-D-Doesn't that like a turtle?"
"I-It does," Chopper managed, comically gawking nervously.
"Sea Turtle," Shiho suddenly corrected, "Not just 'Turtle' in general…"
"Who CARES!?" Chopper and Aoi exclaimed in comical disbelief.
Meanwhile, back in the sunken but raising ship…
"Really!" Masira laughed like a chimp, "So you guys are from the East Blue?"
"Yep!" Luffy answered, also laughing.
"Well, not me though," Kaoru nervously scratched the back of her head, "I came from another world altogether…"
"Seriously!?" Masira comically gawked, "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, well, we don't really travel that much so I'm not surprise you're surprise…"
"My face looked like this when I found out," Luffy added, twisting his face into gawking wild take face.
Masira laughed. "That's a good reaction!"
"Thanks…you really do look like a monkey…"
"Yeah," Kaoru nodded, "I don't think anyone my world comes even close to having your looks…"
"Aw~! Stop it!" Masira giggled in embarrassment, "You're making blush~!"
"They're getting along pretty well," Sanji sweat dropped.
As this strange exchange was happen, all five are blissfully that just beyond the wooden frame separating them from the water outside, the mouth of a huge sea turtle opened its wide mouth and…
CHOMP! …ate the sunken galleon whole.
Back on the surface, despite the water making it difficult to see, everyone had witness what just happen.
"…What…just happen?" Aoi managed with cold sweat.
"…I-I don't know," Nami went into complete denial, "I-I-I didn't see anything!"
"I-I-It's just a nightmare," Usopp proposed, "None of it is real! This all just a dream!"
"Eh!? It's really just a dream," Chopper exclaimed in relief as he whipped his forehead of sweat, "Phew, thank goodness~!"
Aoi, Nami and Usopp followed suit.
"…Um, those four," Robin suddenly broke the silent, "they were swallowed by that thing, right-?"
"DON'T SAY IT~~~!" Usopp wailed comically.
Shiho stared at the giant sea turtle had by now raised above the wave. It was as big as a small island and it was slowly crunching away at what remain of the sunken galleon.
"…Well," Shiho managed calmly, "the air tubes for them are going into its mouth, so I guess you're right Robin-…"
"DON'T SAY IT~~~!" Aoi wailed comically in the same manner as Usopp.
"WAH~~~!" Chopper comically panicked on the spot, "Luffy and the others were eaten alive~~~!"
"Kaoru~~~!" Aoi called out in despair.
"This is your fault!" Usopp suddenly accused, pointing an accusing finger at Nami, "You told them to go to the bottom of the Grand Line~! You said it was going to be okay without any proof~!"
"…Yeah," Nami replied with a guilty look before shout out at the top of her voice towards the munched up ship remains, "Sorry~!"
Cricket noise commences; Nami now had a guilt-free look on her face.
"Hey," Usopp drooped comically, "You can't cast off your guilt so easily like that, right?"
"Well, it not like you're not guilty of anything," Nami reasoned, "You built those diving suites-…"
Nami was interrupted by a shape kick from behind her kneecaps; it was from Shiho.
"Ouch! What was that for!?"
"One of those people you are feeling guilt-free for sending them to their death was one of my best friends!" Shiho glared back in defiance, "So don't go giving me that I-feel-better-now face!"
"Ugh-! S-Sorry!"
Suddenly without warning, the ship jolt as the giant sea turtle began to twist its head, making preparation to dive again.
"It appears that if we don't cut the line," Robin noted calmly, "we'll be pulled underwater along with the boat…"
"WHAT~~~!?" Aoi and Chopper comically exclaimed in shock.
"NO~~~!" Shiho and Nami wailed.
"Robin!" Usopp called, "You're strong! Do something~~!"
"I can't," Robin replied calmly, "It's too big…"
"Then how can you be so calm about it!?" Aoi exclaimed in disbelief until she notice that the salvaging pirates were scrabbling about, shouting orders to rescue their captain, "…Are they trying to rescue their captain?"
"…That's right!" Usopp blinked, "This is just a trial to test our bond and teamwork!"
"Oh~!"
"Aoi," Nami suddenly called, "Usopp!"
"Yeah!?" Aoi and Usopp ready themselves for Nami's command start the rescue operation.
"Cut the air pipes to ensure our safety!"
"What~~~!?" Aoi and Usopp perform a comical head-desk, slamming into the rail with their heads.
"You devil!" Shiho exclaimed with a comically eye take.
"Devil!" Chopper exclaimed in the same manner.
"What!? You want to die!?" Nami argued.
"No of course not, but-!" Shiho began before her surrounding suddenly darkened, "Huh?"
"…!? WHAT~~~!?" Aoi exclaimed in shock once she notice the entire area was suddenly dark, "What happen!?"
"Why is it suddenly nighttime!?" Chopper gasped as he comically rubbed his eyes.
"No way!" Nami stared at a pocket watch she pulled out, "It's not even the right time yet!"
"Then what the hell's going on!?" Usopp wailed in comical despair, "Luffy~! Zoro~! Sanji~! Kaoru~~!"
"Oh no! This is bad!" one of Salvaging Pirates exclaimed, catching Robin and Shiho's attention, "Sky turning to night, this is the sign for monsters!"
"The ship will be sunk!" Another cried in panic, "Hurry and rescue the captain!"
"What are they talking about?" Shiho wondered.
"I don't know," Robin admitted, "But it appears at the very least they seem to be familiar with this situation…"
"Maybe-! Huh?" The cause for Shiho's cutoff was that she felt water droplets hitting her face. Looking up, she saw something human-size and wet was falling towards her. "WHOA-!"
Shiho barely dodge in time as Luffy with a huge knapsack landed on the ship.
"What-!? Luffy!?"
"Oi! Luffy!" Nami exclaimed, seeing her captain unconscious, and began to repeatedly slap him, "What happen to you!? Are you dead!?"
"Quit slapping like that or you will kill him!"
"Zoro!" Usopp exclaimed as the said person came aboard with a large knapsack of his own.
"Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed as well, seeing the pirate chef coming aboard with a large knapsack as well.
"Kaoru~~~!" Aoi tackled her childhood friend as soon as she came into view with, you guess it, a large knapsack, "You're okay~~~!"
"Of course I'm okay," Kaoru chuckled, "what's with you?"
"Never mind that!" Zoro managed between panting "Let's go! We got to get out of here!"
"Yeah," Sanji huffed in agreement, "That guy was a pain…"
"You're safe!" Usopp cried out in joy, "Yeah, you're right! We should run away from that giant sea turtle first!"
"Turtle?" Zoro frowned, "No, it was just a monkey…"
"Must be some kind of sea dweller," Sanji noted.
"Me and Luffy got along with him just fine at first," Kaoru added.
"Since all three of them were monkeys in their own rights…"
"HEY!"
"But when he saw these sacks full of stuff we found," Zoro picked up, "He started going berserk on us!"
"Yeah! Like King Kong when you steal the babe from him!"
"Wait," Sanji blinked, "What's this about a babe?"
"…Ah~!" Aoi readjusted her glasses knowingly, "The monkey was Masira; he's here to recover that sunken ship…"
"Well, either way," Usopp shrugged, "good job escaping from that giant sea turtle's mouth-huh? That's weird; the turtle has its mouth wide open. No wonder you were able to escape…"
"…Eh? Turtle?" Kaoru blinked in confusion, "What turtle?"
Zoro, Sanji and Kaoru turn to see a giant sea turtle with it mouth gasping open, the remains of the sunken smashed up inside.
"… …WHOA~~!" The three exclaimed in shock, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT~~!?"
"You just notice it!?" Aoi comically dope slap the air above the three's head in comical shock.
"That thing swallowed the ship," Usopp screeched in comical anger, "with you four in it!"
In the meantime, Luffy finally regain conscious only to glance around in confusion. "Huh? Is it nighttime already?"
"Uh, no," Shiho waved her hand in denial, "But we don't know what's going on either…"
"Oi!" Usopp called, "Luffy! Help move the ship! You too, Shiho!"
"Alright! Alright!"
"…You cannot leave~~!" A voice roared as Masira exploded out of the sea and landed on the Merry Go, "You think you can just come into my territory, steal my treasure, and just run away from me!?"
"Treasure!?" Nami perked up immediately, "You found treasure~!?"
"Yup!" Luffy grinned proudly, "Lots of it!"
"Can't we talk about that later!?" Aoi comically lectured.
"This is bad! We can't let him go berserk on the ship!" Zoro growled as he began to draw one of his swords, "Oi, Aoi, help me out here!"
"Huh-? Ah-! Right!" Aoi nodded before reaching for her swords.
"B-B-Boss~~~!" One of the Salvaging Pirates suddenly cried out in fear, "D-D-D-D-D-Danger~~~!"
"Huh? What?" Masira noted as glance around to see what was making his crew so frighten.
That is when the Children saw it. That is when the Straw Hat Pirates saw it. That is when Masira saw it. The giant sea turtle had already seen it, thus explaining why its mouth was wide open, but for the sake of the pattern let's say that it just saw it as well.
Their collected reaction? Complete shock and fright.
The reason? What stood seemingly just a few meters or so away from them were five shadowy giants, each as tall as mountain with large shoulder wing and armed with spears.
The children could not believe their eyes. Never before had they seen anything so large and alive. It was just impossible. But they didn't have the luxury to stay frozen with fright either. The center most of the five has slowly began to raise it spear high into the air, taking direct aim, supposedly, at them. And just as it began to descend…"
"MONSTERS~~~!" Everyone cried.
What happen directly after that, The Children couldn't exactly recall. All they did remember is that in their panic they had used all their effort to help get the ship the HELL out the area as fast they could row the boat and as fast as Kaoru's power could allow. Their mind were in so much in disarray that by the time they regain their senses, they were all lying about on the boat panting and sky above them was sunny and blue once again.
"…Impossible," Shiho finally managed.
"Yeah," Zoro panted as well, "Nothing could be that big…"
"Today has been a really weird day," Sanji noted.
"A Galleon fell from the sky," Aoi sighed.
"The Log Pose keeps pointing up," Nami added.
"The strange monkey appeared to recover the sunken ship," Usopp strained upon remembering.
"A giant sea turtle ate the ship," Chopper included.
"The sky went black," Robin noted, still being the most relatively calmness on the ship.
"Finally giant monsters a hundred times bigger than regular giants showed up!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Yup!" Masira nodded, "That really scared me!"
"I'm not quite sure I want to see those things again," Kaoru declared.
Everyone nodded with a sigh…
…
… …
… … …
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE~~~!" the Monster Four exclaimed as they comically launched the surprised Masira screaming off into the distance with a collective megaton kick.
Kaoru: "Jeez that shock me~~~!"
Shiho: "Which one~? The fact that you came out of a giant sea turtle's mouth?"
Aoi: "The fact we nearly got killed by some strange shadowy giants?"
Kaoru: "No! The fact that we took the monkey with us…"
Aoi and Shiho: "THAT SHOCKED YOU THE MOST~!?"
Nami: "Who cares~? Let me see the treasure already~~!"
Normama: "Next time, the Children and Straw Hats continues their search for the route to Sky Island and landed in place good little girl should never get to see~~~!"
Minamoto (strangling Normama by the collar): "What the HELL do you mean by that!? What are you going to show them!?"
Normama (Sweat dropping while being shaken by the collar): "Uh…Reality? Anyway please review~!"
Nami: "… …This ISN'T Treasure~~~~!"