SadEcho is the best! Thanks for beta-reading, your advices, correction and you-know-what-else ;)
I don't own One Piece, just love to mess with the characters in my own way.
Warning: a LOT of cussing
Sometimes, the circumstances will force you to cooperate with the least expected person ... and maybe not for the last time.
Sunny, dangerously swaying under their feet, was caught in a strong and quickly speeding up current. Like a splinter in the raging rapids, water had been tossing and turning the ship around at mere whim. One doesn't need to be an outright genius to guess that the big problems were just ahead, moreover when the darkness had successfully complicating all attempts for observing the sea around.
"Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Brook! Take care of the sails! Franky, you're steering, try to steady Sunny and illuminate the way ahead of us! After that, I'll give you the next coordinates!" Nami was back in her element, like a captain, standing at the bridge, yelling orders at all sides.
Sunny's eyes lit up, sending two cones of bright yellow into the darkness, illuminating the angry waves and the visibly fast and wide current. Nami's face started to pale. Not too far before them, thanks to Sunny's bright eyes, everyone could see the hard, and high rocks, glistening with wetness as if the waves were trying to chomp at them. It wouldn't be so bad, if the actual size of this obstacle weren't approximately three size of the whole Sunny and a bit more as a bonus. But, the most frightening thing out there was the sight of many different shipwrecks, scattered across the rocks like as if some small child threw around its toys in affected rage. These parts of ships, in various sizes and shapes, were all shattered to the point of complete destruction. Presumably they had shattered upon the direct impact. The reefs just highlighted the already dangerous feeling this place successfully instilled in anyone who came near.
"There's some rocks ahead!" Franky announced cheerfully, firmly holding the steering. "One Coupt de Burst and we will fly past them like nothing! Usopp? Go load a cola barrel!"
"Working on it!"
"No!" Nami screamed in panic, "We can't get past that rocks at any cost! That's the Hollow sea before us!"
"Hollow sea?" Luffy's curious voice made Nami almost jump out of her skin when it suddenly sounded from behind her. "That sound's like fun!"
"Luffy!"
"I would agree with Nami-san. It wouldn't be the best idea to cross those reefs. Is there any way to avoid them?" Robin came from a door, woken up by sudden commotion on the deck.
"Franky! Hard to starboard!" The navigator lashed the order out, and the cyborg immediately complied. Pulling the steering to the starboard, he tried to maneuvre the ship out of the current, but it was already too strong for a small rudder to be able to overcome it.
"It won't do! The waves are too strong! Usopp! Set the rear cannon at a 10% and fire! Let's try to get past it with a bit more momentum!"
"Zoro, Sanji, Brook! Furl the sails!" Nami directed to the pirates above, who instantly fulfilled her order.
"Coup de Burst ready!" Usopp's voice came from the underbelly.
"Franky, be careful! There are shelves and reefs hidden just under the water surface! Try to avoid every whirl you see!"
"Easier said than done, I can't see a place without them!"
"I'll guide you! Usopp, fire it carefully, now! Everyone, brace yourselves!"
Sunny shuddered as the cone of compressed air steadily propelled her against the waves. But the meeting of two antagonistic forces merely caused the ship to jump slightly upwards, like fish, jumping out of the water, until she landed on the wild surface of the sea again. Something scratched hard against the hull upon the landing, most likely a part of the hidden, dangerous reef. Though thankfully, the hard Adam's wood did not get breached.
"Whohou! ... interesting thing, indeed." Joyce quietly muttered for himself, greatly interested in the sudden, surprising blast of air from the rear, which almost catapulted him off of the bathroom's roof. "Where the hell did they get such a thing? That might come in sooo handy ... I definitely have to ask them about that. But it almost blasted my mast off, dammit!" he cursed under his breath, throwing a threatening glare, at the crew. "What the hell do they think they are doing?!"
"Franky! That was too close!" Nami scolded the cyborg behind the helm, realizing how close they had been from actually shipwrecking.
"There's not enough place to move around besides the main current!"
"We need to get out at all costs! If we cross that reef, it's over for us! Can't you fire with more power?!"
"We can't fire more than 10% at once, or it might catapult us right onto the reef!"
"We might also just shipwreck like those other ships around there. Our blood upon the reefs could attract Sea Kings then, if we manage to survive the impact." Robin pointed out casually, with a morbidly curious tone.
"R-r-robin ... you are scaring me ... "Chopper rattled his teeth in dread, plastered on her calf in his usual tiny form.
"What's the Hollow sea anyway?" Zoro wondered, scratching at his mossy-green head.
"The sea that's hollow, dumb Marimo!" Sanji lashed out at him in answer. "If our dearest Nami-swan is saying to get out of here, then stop thinking about shit and try to find a way out of here!"
"Same applies to you, Swirly-brow! Stop ranting about women and try to do something useful in this situation!"
"According to the legends," Robin began, braced herself against the railing, as the ship skipped a few waves thanks to colliding forces of the current and the rear air cannon, "it's a mysterious sea, that appears during the moonless nights, when the water is highest at the coast and at its lowest in the middle of the sea. There were reports about it's appearing, but no one was able to get inside and reveal the truth behind this phenomenon. Not without disappearing... never to be seen again. It's rumored, that behind that reef is just a pitch black, bottomless hole that swallows everything that happens to cross the reef."
"That sounds like the White storm, to my ears! Though I don't have any, being just bones! Yohohohohooo!" Brook's unique laugh chimed from the upper yard, where he was helping to keep the sails tied.
"More like the exact description of Luffy's stomach." Sanji sweat-dropped. Certain similarity really couldn't be denied at this point.
"You are right, Brook-san. Certainly, like a White storm, this is also one of the secrets hidden within the Grand Line, waiting to be uncovered," the archaeologist confirmed.
"So it's just some weird, mystery hole in the sea?" Luffy pouted with disappointment upon such realization. "That eats everything that gets too close?" he asked innocently.
"Basically, yes." Robin smiled, looking how her captain's frowning face.
"No fun at all. It might eat all our meat! We can't let that happen." He nodded resolutlely, suddenly changing his previous decision.
"One more time!" Nami's voice brought them back to the reality, though she already knew a miracle would need to occur if they want to survive. Franky was still trying to fight the flow, but without much success. "We have to make it, or we are done for!"
"Ready to fire!" Usopp's voice informed them through the speakers on deck.
Unable to keep still and quiet anymore, Joyce's nerves finally snapped upon seeing the crew's attempts to get out of this tricky situation, and feeling the strain the ship was being put through under his feet. They kept trying the same, in his eyes useless, thing again and again.
"Aaaargh! Hell, I can't watch this anymore!" the frustrated, hoarse yell came from the redheaded pirate, who, until now, had silently been sitting on the roof of the bathroom despite his obvious urge to do something; if the occasional twitching of his body and limbs was any hint. Jumping down from his place, landing on the deck with a soft thud, Joyce quickly paced towards his sack tied to the railing at the rear. His movements were followed with the confused looks of almost everyone present.
"This is almost even worse than watching the marines try, really!" Joyce fumed with mixture of irritation and frustration, rummaging through his luggage before he pulled out a wide, sturdy, and very heavy looking belt. With a satisfying click, the item was secured with a clasp at the front over the green sash. Both of his swords were tucked behind it, though the belt was loosely hanging from the left hip down to the right, too big to fit tight on the hips.
Stomping harshly around, as the strawhats exchanged unsure looks, he stopped just beside Franky, who was occupied with handling the helm.
"Excuse me." The redheaded pirate unceremoniously shoved the huge hands of the cyborg aside, stepping behind the helm himself.
"What are you doing?!" Franky immediately grabbed for the helm, nudging the daredevil aside."Are you crazy?!"
"Sorry, but I'm not going to watch this nice ship sink down, thanks for asking. So now, do me a favor and move." The end of the sentence was almost growled out as the redhead reached back for the steering wheel.
"No way I'll let you steer! Not super at all!"
"Like I care about what's 'super' and what's not!"
"Let it go! Let go let go let go let go let go!" Joyce was childishly slapping Franky's steel hands away, trying to get access to the steering.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing?!" Zoro roared from the upper yard, where he kept the sails firmly furled up.
"Do you intend to kill us, or what?!" Sanji accented from the other side.
"Franky! Concentrate on the steering!" Nami's voice cracked over their hearing like a whip.
"Super easy to say! You! Stop pushing me!" The cyborg tried to win the pushing contest with Joyce, who managed to successfully fight back, despite a huge difference in height.
"Then move aside! Hush!" The redhead stepped a bit aside, waving his hands resolutely in exaggerated gestures.
When the cyborg showed no signs of acknowledgment or movement, an irritated expression flashed through Joyce's face. "You deaf, or what?! Hush!"
"Hush!" The redhead stomped on the deck a few times, as if he was trying to chase away a child. Immediately, the shipwright felt that he was not going to win this argument, for so strong was the feeling of the stubbornness coming from the firm expression of the redhead, standing slightly crouched before him.
"Stop it you idiot! Oi, Marimo! Stop standing there like moron and do something!"
"Says someone who is standing here like a scarecrow in the middle of a field?! How about you moved your own ass for once?!"
"Who is a scarecrow there, you shitty Marimo?! Look at yourself, dammit!"
"Zoro, Sanji! Stop bickering and drag him away from Franky! We need to get out!"
"Hai, Nami-swaaaaan~!"
"Stop noodling you damn ero-cook, now's not the time for that!" Zoro jumped down and reached for Joyce's arm in order to drag him away, since the redhead and the cyborg were launched in another push-pull competition. But it was like trying to catch a snake; just when he though he had finally grabbed him, in a split of a second, his hand grasped nothing but air.
"Hell, I'll gladly listen to all your complains later! But unlike you, I don't want to be drenched again just when I managed to dry myself off! Especially since I would love to keep my current state intact for at least another hour, so get out of the way! You tried, you failed, now it's my turn. Do I make myself clear?!" Joyce roared, obviously irritated beyond belief, wrestling three members of the strawhat's at once, avoiding all attempts for oppression.
"Fufufufu ..." The archaeologist couldn't contain her amusement upon seeing such an absurd scene despite the obvious danger they were currently in.
"Robin!" Chopper's frightened and shocked voice scolded her, not quite getting the reason for giggling. Her calm freaked him out, maybe even more than any other reaction she could have had right now.
"Don't worry, Chopper, nothing is really happening." She assured him, yet still smiling.
"We are all going to die!" Usopp's terrified scream, about an octave higher than usual, resonated through the underbelly, when he realized the situation on board.
"I can't die, I'm already dead!" Of course, Brook couldn't resist another temptation to throw his skull joke into the chaos, much to Robin's amusement.
"Hell, captain, wouldn't you be so kind to do me a favor by taming your crew a bit?! It's pretty hard to work with all of them breathing at the back of my neck, you know?!" the redhead threw in Luffy's direction. Not surprisingly, the captain was bouncing up and down, sitting in a cross-legged position, greatly enjoying the whole situation.
"Shishishishishi!" Luffy giggled, folding his arms against his chest, slightly tilting his head forward to hide his eyes beneath the brim of his hat, which instantly gave him a pretty mischievous look. A look that secretly scared his crew, because it forebode some kind of …
"Ne, Odd-eye, do it! Let's have fun!"
… insanity. Oh well.
"Luffy?!"
"Do what?! Did you even think about the possible outcome?!"
"Nope!" The raven-haired boy grinned from ear to ear in complete obliviousness. "What thinking?" He switched instantly into a curious look, tilting his head to the side.
'... someone tell me, it's not true ..." Nami desperately sobbed, face-palming herself over her captain's idiocy. If it was bad two years ago, now it was obviously even worse. Not that anyone believed such a thing was actually even possible.
"You shitty rubber idiot, how dare you make our Nami-swan cry!" Sanji yelled out, red like a tomato, before he turned to comfort his favorite navigator. "Nami-swaaaan~! Have no fear, your knight on the white horse is there to save you~!"
"Damn swirly-brow, pay more attention to our situation and stop your goddamn idiocy!"
"Someone like you could never understand what it means to be a gentleman, shitty swordsman!"
"Gentleman my ass. Bleeding and drooling all over the women?!"
"Shut up you caveman!"
"Stop it, both of you!"
"Frankyyyy~! Let him!" Luffy grinned, unfazed by the complete chaos aboard.
"This person wanted to sink us, you shitty rubber head!" Sanji complained, as he viciously pointed at Joyce's direction, trying to drive his point home. Without any success at all.
"Luffy, you can't let him steer the Sunny! It's our Sunny!" The cyborg turned at the stubborn, crazy captain, trying to reason with him. The idea of letting a complete stranger to lay a finger at his baby was simply too much for him. "Our dream ship!"
"Captains orders!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his hands up to the air, skyrocketing the meaning of "enthusiasm" to a whole new level.
".. tell me, I'm dreaming …" Nami breathlessly let out, completely shocked. How could be this happening?! This was an absolute calamity they were stuck in!
"Hey, cook! I told you many times not to kick him in the head! Now, there's the end result! Satisfied?!"
"How the hell am I supposed to get him out of the kitchen then, Mr. Smartass?!"
"Then use your brain for once! If there was any shred of reason within him, now it's completely lost!"
"There was never any to begin with, Marimo!"
"Please slowly and calmly board the lifeboats! Don't panic!" Usopp's voice was everything but calming and assuring.
"Women and children first! Nami-swaaaan~! Robin-chwaaaaan~!" Sanji's attention immediately switched at the women.
"Yay!" Luffy exclaimed, rushing to the side of Sunny.
"No, you are not a child Luffy, you are an idiot! That doesn't count!" Sanji's foot stopped the rubber man in the midstep by a well aimed stomp towards the captain's face.
"Stop kicking him in the head, dammit! I just told you, he's already stupid enough!"
"Like this could make any difference!"
"We don't have any lifeboats, idiots! Stop fooling around like that!" Nami snapped in irritation.
"It looks like our guest has some ship-handling skills after all." Robin suddenly pointed out in a calm tone, successfully ending the argument. No one during the course of events noticed, that Joyce had finally gotten his hands on the helm and steadied ship on the raging waves, even starting to gain speed thanks to the current. The helm whirred under his deft hands, giving out the feeling that Sunny is literally purring under his firm, yet gentle touch. Yet, his style of steering was different from Franky's, as he was using the waves itself like slopes, to increase momentum by sliding across them instead of over them. Most of all it resembled some kind of slalom. But surprisingly, the ship seemed steady in its movements without unnecessary rippling, just fluidly swaying in regular intervals from side to side.
"This is going to be rough … not much time left." The redhead mused, slightly frowning, as his eyes scanned the situation, flashing from right to left and back. "But don't worry, sweetie, I'm not going to let you go down. I already see the way out." He cheerfully smiled, patting the helm stand, like the ship would be some kind of a pet.
Suddenly the redhead realized how silent his surroundings became, and started to feel the eight pairs of eyes drilling holes into his back. "Well, just about time," he thought.
"Hey, are you going to stand there and stare at me like a bunch of idiots, or can I count on your help?" Joyce turned his head towards the mostly pissed off and partially dumbfounded crew. Such impudence was definitely unexpected. "This is going to be one hell of a pain in the ass if I have to do this alone."
Already realizing that there's no way to talk the captain out of his "brilliant" ideas, Nami quickly counted their options. Their attempts had only ended in deadlock, and, given the fact how fast the current was dragging them, it didn't really leave them a better choice. As stupid as their captain's ideas were, his instincts were right all the time.
She gave up, and quickly paced towards the redhead."Fine, so what are you planning?"
"To get us out. I found the way." Joyce replied with hardly suppressed excitement, which secretly scared Nami pretty well. "You are the navigator?"
"Yes."
"Great." Joyce grinned. "Try to guide the ship alongside the waves like I'm doing it right now, not over them as usual. That would slow us down. Can you do it?" The self-confidence tingling in Joyce's voice was kind of calming she had to admit. Whatever Joyce had on his mind, he was pretty sure that it would work.
"Are you doubting me?" Nami narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"I would never dare to, Miss." the redhead winked at her, playfully, which earned him a blazing, jealous glare from Sanji, before he turned towards Franky.
"You better not." Nami slid her glare across the pirate. Did he just tried to flirt with her?
"Hey you! Ferro with the speedos!"
"What? You better not inflict a single scratch on this ship." Franky gave up too though, believing Luffy was kind of hard to deal with in times like these.
"Don't worry about that, this ship is too brilliant to be harmed in any way. The steering is reacting to a mere touch, it's a pleasure to maneuvre with her!" Though it might sound like an empty tickling of his ego, Franky couldn't miss the genuine excitement and joy in the pirate's voice, which was only proving he meant every word.
"It's the most super ship, that sailed these seas!" He couldn't resist striking his trademark pose, with a loud metallic clang upon such praise.
"Although, I still kind of prefer my own vessel over anything else. Yet, I can't deny that this ship is really great."
"This ship is the best. So what do you want me to do?"
"Whatever." Joyce waved his point off. "See that breakpoint of the waves, on the reef to the left?"
Franky's eyes scanned the appointed side, but whatever the redhead was referring to, it weren't there. "Where exactly?"
"Right over there! On the left!"
The pirate was pointing to the right side.
"Is that on the left or the right?! You are saying one thing and pointing in the other direction!"
"On the left!" Joyce stubbornly pointed at the right side. "Not on the right! On the left!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"... does he really know where is he pointing?" Zoro sweat-dropped.
„... is asking the person who is able to get lost in a straight corridor with no side paths?" Sanji jabbed, aiming directly for the swordsman's ego.
„I don't get lost, it's just the surroundings that keep changing!"
„No Marimo, you are just an idiot."
"Damn! This is getting us nowhere!" the redhead cussed. Curling his lips, he gave out a sharp, ear piercing whistle. "Lissy!"
The falcon instantly dropped down from the sky, steadying herself in midair just before Joyce.
"Show them the way towards that wave breakpoint at the left side of that reef. I'll try to aim there for a Gainer."
Lissy questioningly chirped in answer.
"I think I know what you want to say, but no, Rai is not here right now, so we need to do with what we have."
With that, the falcon landed on Franky's round shoulder, content with the answer, as the cyborg stood behind the helm again.
"Rai? Gainer? What is that?" Nami asked confused.
"Rai is who, and Gainer is a kind of maneuver... and none of this is important right now. Hey! You two color-heads over there!" Joyce turned towards Zoro and Sanji.
"Who is the color-head here?!" an irritated yell of unison came from the two men.
"Damn Akage!"
"Shitty Sea urchin!"
"... whatever floats your boat. Now, get back up on the yard. When I say, drop the sails down immediately."
"The hell are you are planning?!"
Joyce completely ignored Zoro's question. "Can I count on you?"
"Sanji! Do it for me, please!" Nami decided to step, using her pleading voice and puppy-eyes, when she noticed that both men intended to complain "And Zoro, you will do that, or I'll raise your debt again!"
"Hai Nami-swaaaan~!"
"... bossy witch." The swordsman rolled his eyes and shot a glare at the redhead. "You better not to do something stupid, or ..."
„... you will kill me, I heard that already. Now, get your ass up." Joyce rubbed him off, pointing upwards at the upper yard.
"Nice." Sanji snickered upon hearing how the redhead just owned Zoro.
"Shut up, curly-brow!"
"What about us?" Robin asked, clearly meaning herself, Brook and Chopper. Luffy already settled on top of Sunny's head figure, emitting excited sounds in all directions, so no help could be expected from him.
"I would ask you to try to catch anyone who intends to fall off, or help the others if there is a need. Especially keep an eye on that Anchor on the head figure, since I don't really want to fish him out of the sea again. Can you do that?"
"Sure." The archaeologist smiled.
"Great." Joyce politely smiled in answer. "And don't forget to hold on tight yourselves!"
"Robin, will it be really okay?" Chopper worriedly asked the archaeologist.
"Who knows …"
„... you are scary, Robin-san …" Brook whispered as a shiver ran through him.
„What about me?! Don't forget the great Captain Usopp!" came the partially angry voice of the sharpshooter, resonating through the underbelly. Even if he was scared, he didn't wanted to be left out.
"I was just going to tell you, Long-nose!" Joyce yelled in answer. "Can you continuously shoot that thing at the rear again? Preferably without blasting my ship apart in the process?"
"I'll try! Just don't kill us, I don't want to die this young!"
"Don't worry!" Joyce grinned. "We need to get as much speed as possible, while still staying at the water surface! I can't tell you right now how much, since I don't have any experience with that kind of gear so start at those ten percents and I'll tell you upon how it will turn out!"
"Roger!"
"I don't like it but it looks like this is our only chance." Nami uttered, letting out her worries.
„I like that even less, but if Luffy said so ..." Franky shrugged in defense.
"Yeah. ... do you believe in a God?"
"Not really. But maybe we should start to pray. There's still a chance that he will be merciful enough to let us and Sunny out of this unharmed."
Like a squirrel, Joyce climbed up the rear mast, standing at the upper yard, facing forward.
"Minna! Let's go!" Luffy' exclaimed, when Joyce opened his mouth to do the same.
"I'm really starting to like his style." He mused quietly to himself.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Zoro frowned, drilling holes into the redhead's back. It didn't make the slightest sense, but if Luffy believed him, then he should do the same. Though very, very reluctantly and carefully.
"Shoot!" Joyce ordered, the rear cannon firing up to life. "Not enough! More!"
The air current from the rear started to propel Sunny forward even more when both the force from the current and the air combined their strengths.
"Franky, a bit to the right! Just a tiny bit!" Nami was guiding the ship over the progressively difficult water swirls, as they were nearing the reefs with every second.
"More speed!"
"Roger!"
"... scared, Marimo?"
"... dream on, Swirly-brow."
"MORE!" Joyce yelled out.
"Stop overdoing that, like this we will lift from the waves, unable to maneuvre!" Nami shouted upwards when the Sunny stopped sailing through the water, and instead started to glide on the surface like they were on ice.
"This is just perfect! Lissy! Show us the way!"
The falcon left Franky's shoulder and carved an elegant arch in the air, guiding them towards the right side.
"So it was on the right! I can see it now!" Nami shouted, pointing at the place where the waves were creating an upwards slope when they crashed into the reefs.
"Okay, everyone, hold on tight, this will be a sharp curve!" Franky warned and dragged the steering towards portside, mimicking the exact way the falcon marked.
"Go for that point in direction, almost paralell with the waves and at the same time almost perpendicular to the current! Can you do that?!"
"Sure! Count on me!"
"What now?!" Nami asked in a hurry, uncertain about what to do next.
"Now, leave it to me!" Joyce grinned from ear to ear in his already trademark roguish grin, which sent the shivers up everyone's spine.
"Odd-eye! Go!" Luffy encouraged the pirate, happy in his own element. He had to enjoy every single pinch they went through.
The reefs were approaching with blinding speed. When the Sunny was just at the last few meters from the waves breaking point, Joyce's voice resonated loudly over the sea surface.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Crazy Airline. Please get a firm hold of your hats and don't forget to put on your seatbelt. In a matter of seconds, we will be taking off."
"... Airline …?" Zoro frowned, confused.
"...taking ... off?" Sanji wasn't doing much better. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"... you can't mean ... " Nami suddenly realized what the redhead was probably aiming for. She didn't like the idea in the slightest. Who would have thought that he wanted to do the most insane thing possible in their situation?!
"Huh? Where did he go?" Zoro noticed that Joyce was not standing at the rear mast anymore and is nowehere to be seen.
"That's completely crazy! Insane! Everyone, grab onto something and fast!" Nami warned the whole crew in panic, bracing herself at the railing.
"WHAT?!" seven other shrieks yelled in answer, accompanied with a trademark laughter of their captain.
"Whohoooo!" an excited scream came from somewhere in the sky. "Let's go up together sweetie!"
Joyce must have jumped upwards, given the fact how fast he was now dropping down, literally like a solid red brick, aiming for the back deck.
"... too late!" Nami grabbed the railing so hard, her knuckles turned white.
Shockwaves from the thunderous impact shuddered through the whole Sunny, forcing her rear down and the nose up. While being supported with the air stream coming from the rear, and the thin watery mass under the hull, the ship slid up the water slope, aiming right for the sky. Joyce immediately sprang back up into the air, lightening the load so that the rear of the vessel would gain a considerable height.
"Stop shooting!" came his order from the midair and Usopp immediately complied. Though the sniper's yell of dread had to be heard even from the opposite side of the Grand Line.
"Holy shit?!" Zoro's eye almost bulged out, when he suddenly felt the loss of support below his feet.
"... The hell?!" Sanji screamed, searching for his ladies to assure himself that they were safe and sound.
"Aaaaaah!" Nami let out a frightened scream when the ship lifted off the water.
"Robin!" Chopper shrieked, plastering himself almost inside the archaeologist, who sprouted numerous arms to help the others stay on board.
Additional impact came from above, aimed at the underside of hull near the front side of Sunny, causing her gyrating around the horizontal axis. Steps, rattling at the underside of the hull, could be heard and made most of the crew wonder what the hell Joyce was doing there.
"This can't be happening!" Nami was shouting in disbelief.
"We are flying to the heaven! I hope they accept skeletons there too! Yohohoho!"
"Yaaaay!" Luffy and Joyce were probably the only ones who were clearly enjoying this whole insanity.
Just when the Sunny started to turn over, Nami realized the importance of unfurling the sails. It made sense, because like this they would overturn and crash into the water (or reef, since they were just flying over it) straight on. But still, no order came from the redhead pirate, who, upon sending the Sunny to gyrate, was nowhere to be heard, nor seen again.
Another subsequent impact came down as the ship passed the point of being completely turned upside down, helping Sunny to start to return to her natural position. Nami became even more nervous.
"What is he doing?!" she was thinking in alarm, knowing well that if they did not do anything soon, they were as good as dead. Not being to able to stay still, she decided to step in at the last possible second.
"Sails now!" the voices from Nami and Joyce hit the ears of everyone in surprising unison.
"Hai, Nami-swaaaaan~!"
"From this position?!" Zoro spitefully shouted in surprise. Sails were usually dropped down due to gravity, which didn't really work if they were turned upside down.
"Treinta Fleur!"
Chains of hands sprouted from the bottom yard and started to grow downwards to grab the hem of the sails, helping them unfurl. As Zoro and Sanji joined in, both jumping upwards, they successfully set the sail and Sunny considerably slowed down her rotation. Like this, they would be able to land the hull flatly and safely on the water surface.
But a sudden gust of wind caught in the sail and Sunny dangerously changed her position, starting to turn her to the side, still flying in midair.
"Oh no!" Nami breathed out, realizing the danger.
"Crap!" came a frustrated tone from above. "That wasn't exactly in the plan!"
"I'll take care of that!" the navigator yelled out. "Robin! Lend me a hand! I need to get behind the sail!"
"Your way will probably be better, if you are certain it will work!"
"It will!"
Without further asking, the archaeologist sprouted another chain of hands, swinging the navigator towards the marked place.
Assembling her Clima tact, Nami aimed the staff right at the sail.
"Tornado tempo!" The blast of wind that came out of her weapon hit the sail under the angle, forcing Sunny back on track. But in the same time, it also nudged the ship considerably forward.
*SPLASH*
The hull crashed into the waves alongside the reef, finally out of the dangerous current. The wood ominously creaked, but it would take much more force to break the hard wood of the Adam's tree.
Like two sacks of potatoes, Zoro and Sanji hit the deck when they came down from their jumps. Nami landed right on top of them.
Finally realizing that they are still safe and sound, everyone started to gather up.
"... is … everyone all right?" Nami asked uncertainly, still greatly shocked as the realization of what they just done finally kicked in. It was really hard to believe that they just made Sunny backflip out of a current like this.
"It looks like it." Robin assured her. If she was shocked, she didn't let that out. "Chopper, you can let go now."
Violently shaking his little head, the frightened doctor pressed himself further into Robin's waist.
"Usopp! Are you still alive?!" Franky shouted down, since the frightening scream suddenly stopped at one point.
"... ask me later … I .. don't know …" The sharpshooter crawled from the underbelly, eyes wide, scared half to death. "... is this a heaven …?"
"Such thrilling action! My heart almost burst out from fear, though I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!" Brook chimed, snapping himself out of the shock with his own skull joke.
"Yay, that was fun! Hey! Let's do that again!" Luffy bounced from the figurehead as soon as Robin released her technique.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" The unison of voices almost knocked him back with their force, creating the same effect like if he had been standing before a huge speaker, turned at the maximum possible volume.
Then, some kind of red and black blur dropped down from the air, completely missing the ship by more than just a few meters.
"Man over board!" Usopp shrieked, jumping to the railing to see what happened. Without a doubt, Joyce came skyrocketing down from whatever he had been doing with Sunny in the air.
A surprisingly loud splash, followed with a geyser of water, burst out of the place where Joyce was supposed to land.
"Whoaaaah!" a warning yell from the hoarse voice cut through the air, as the human body incoordinatedly flew through the air, instead of sinking down into the water.
"Shi …!" Zoro's only eye bulged out as he stood up, when he noticed what was flying towards him, a split of second before Joyce knocked him down.
"Auch! … Ow! … Ugh! … *CRASH*!" Both swordsmen literally bounced together off the deck a few times as an intangible mess of limbs, crashing right through the doors that lead into the underbelly. Sounds of them rolling down the stairs just crowned the entire scene. But that still wasn't the end of it.
"Thanks for choosing the Crazy Airlines." A hoarse, slightly muffled voice resonated within the Sunny's belly. "We hope you were satisfied with our company, and wish you to have a nice rest of the night. ... and hell, I should really start to work on improving my landings, or I'm going to kill myself one day for real!"
„No! I will kill you myself before you will ever have the chance to do it yourself! And get the hell off me you crazy bastard!"
"Awww ... come on, you don't need to be so mean!"
"Get! Off!"
"... Greenie meanie. No fun."
" ... Die."
Notes:
Ne - kind of "Hey" :)
Minna - everyone
Gainer - backflip executed while running forward (if interested, try to look on Youtube)
Illustration: planned (kind of comic strip, so it might take a lot of time, before it will get out)
This chapter was pretty interesting to write. At first, I was completely stuck ... but after a few days, it literally burst out of my mind and crashed into the keyboard all at once. Maybe spontaneous writing isn't that bad ... :)
Though I'm feeling a bit sorry for SadEcho, since this kind of writing style contains a LOT of grammar mistakes and missclicks I keep missing upon re-reading ... X_x
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! (and that your diaphragm doesn't hurt too bad XD)
Jitt
P.S. Thanks for all the reviews! :) (My muse is sending her thanks too ;))