Chapter 20
Mr. Freckles & Miss Twig

"WELCOME TO THE GRAND LINE, PIRATES !"

A huge crowd had gathered on the shore to welcome the crew as if they were superstars. The people of Whiskey Peak were, to say the least, really hospitable.

The pirates gawked at the waving crowd. They weren't prepared for such a cordial reception.

Who welcomes pirates, anyway ? Eli wondered.

Looking at her crewmates, she saw the mistrust in Zoro, Nami, and Ace's eyes. On the other side, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were waving back like three idiots.

As they disembarked, they were greeted by the mayor of the town, Igaram. He was tall, a bit taller than Eli, and a large man. He wore a dark blue suit and had very large, pale blond curls.

"Your hair is way too curly," Luffy said, awed at the man's hairstyle.

The mayor laughed loudly. "We have a lot of liquor and food," he said. "Please tell us about your journey. We want to host a party for you."

Nami, Eli, Zoro, and Ace looked suspiciously at the mayor. These people were way too nice.

"SURE !" Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji immediately and happily accepted the mayor's invitation.

"I think we'll have a mission tonight, Mr. Freckles," Eli whispered to Ace's ear.

He nodded knowingly.

The mayor guided the pirates to a tavern near the port. A band started playing as they entered the establishment, and soon the waiters served them a ton of food.

The crew sat down, and without further ado, started eating the offerings.

The food was delicious and the general atmosphere was friendly. The people of Whiskey Peak were watching with amazement as the crew stuffed their mouths like wild animals, and they encouraged the gluttons by serving them continuously.

After the dinner, Usopp climbed on a table and started telling his wonderful stories.

"I'll tell you how I defeated an army of mermen !"

It seemed that each time the long-nosed boy told his adventure in Arlong Park, he embellished the story a bit more.

Eli looked at Luffy and Ace who were gorging as if they hadn't eaten in days. The two bottomless pits didn't belie their reputation, and since they were having some kind of eating contest, Eli could only fear for the cook's sanity.

"Would you like to drink something, miss ?" a waiter asked Eli politely.

"Do you have lychee liqueur ?"

"No, but we have mango if you want."

Ace twitched. "Twig..."

Eli ignored the young man's warning and accepted the waiter's offer heartily.

"We have a mission here, Miss Twig," Ace whispered to the girl's ear. "Keep that in mind."

"I know that, Mr. Freckles, don't worry," she replied, patting the young man's shoulder with a large grin on her face.

A few hours later, the moon had risen up in the sky and the welcome party was still going on.

Sanji was enjoying his harem, flirting with about twenty young and pretty women at the same time.

Nami and Zoro were participating in a drinking contest.

As expected, most of Zoro's challengers were going down like ninepins. However, what caught Eli as extraordinary was that Nami could actually stand up to the swordsman. Eli watched in awe as the redhead gulped her tenth pint.

"This girl can drink !" Eli stated with rosy cheeks.

"And I know one who can't," Ace mumbled.

"What ?" Eli sputtered, looking at him with hazy eyes.

Ace sighed and sipped on his drink. The young man had given up Luffy's eating challenge. Unlike his younger sibling, he didn't have a rubbery stomach at his disposal, so the outcome of the match was predictable.

"You should sleep now," he suggested. "I'll wake you up later for our secret mission... Miss Twig," he whispered softly in her ear before taking away her bottle of liquor.

Without a word, Eli flopped on the table and soon fell asleep.

"Miss Twig."

Eli raised her head sluggishly and looked at her surroundings with half lidded eyes.

Aside from the sleeping pirate crew, the tavern was now completely empty. Ace and Zoro were the only two still awake.

Eli felt dizzy as she stood up a bit too fast. Apparently, the alcohol hadn't quite finished vanishing from her system yet.

Ace and Zoro sighed while looking at the tipsy girl.

"I'm alright, don't worry !" She smiled goofily, giving the thumbs-up.

As the two young men conferred about the current situation, Eli was trying to focus but found herself incapable of keeping a serious face.

She looked down at her outfit.

Not very secret-agenty, she thought.

"Be right back," she said and disappeared with a gust of wind. Ace and Zoro exchanged confused looks.

A few seconds later, she came back.

"Could you be a little more serious, Eli ?" Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Shh, it's Miss Twig !" she whispered with a finger on her lips.

"Did you actually go to the Merry just to put on boots ?" Ace asked, looking at her dark brown knee-length boots.

She huffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Mr. Freckles..." she said, frowning at the young man. "I also brought sunglasses !"

The young man laughed, and Zoro just ignored the girl's silly behavior and kept on giving Ace his information. Apparently, Whiskey Peak was a den for a secret organization of bounty hunters called Baroque Works.

Without any kind of warning, Eli swiped Ace's dagger.

"What are you doing ?" the young man asked as the girl was admiring the nice piece of weaponry.

"I'm a secret agent, Mr. Freckles; I need a weapon," she said, pointing the dagger shakily in his direction. "Now I need your sheath... and your belt."

"Eeeli..." Zoro growled.

"Told you to call me Miss Twig !"

"If I give you my belt, I lose my pants," Ace pointed out.

"... Okay," she said perkily.

Ace's eyes widened as she leaned forward and grabbed his buckle.

"Just kidding, Mr. Freckles." She stuck her tongue out and gave his dagger back. That wasn't the kind of weapon she needed.

Maybe guns... Eli thought.

"Can we go now ?" Zoro said impatiently, rubbing his forehead. Apparently, the girl's behavior was starting to get on his nerves.

"We need to give you a codename first," Eli said. "What about... Mr. Caterpillar !"

"What ?" Zoro barked.

Ace took a guess. "Because... they have green hair ?"

Eli nodded.

Mr. Caterpillar's face darkened. "You're not going to call me Mr. Caterpillar..." he said grumpily.

Eli brought a hand to her chin and made a series of thinking sounds. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers. "I know ! What about Mr. Green Bear ?"

Ace snickered. "Because they're green and grumpy !"

Eli nodded with a gleeful smile on her face.

"YOU'RE NOT CALLING ME MR. GREEN BEAR !" Zoro snarled, giving the girl a blood-lustful glare.

Eli sighed; nothing seemed to please the swordsman.

"You're never happy, Mr. Three-swords-is-way-cooler-than-two... and-one-is-for-sissies." She barely finished the sentence before she found herself enjoying a good, hard laugh that quickly brought tears to her eyes. Ace couldn't help but join in.

"Okay, that's it, I'm leaving," Zoro said angrily before leaving the laughing pair behind.

Ace wiped the tears out of the corners of his eyes as the laughter finally died out. "And what about Mr. Bushido ?"

Eli pondered the name for a few seconds and finally nodded.

"Let's go, Mr. Freckles ! Mr. Bushido is already gone !" She grabbed his wrist and the pair ran after Zoro. Ace smiled as they ran. She was such a simple girl sometimes….

The three pirates were sitting on top of a house, eavesdropping on the discussion between the mayor and his subordinates. They watched as the gathering crowd of hunters grew larger and larger.

"Oh God, they sure can eat and drink !" a large woman said. "We should have taken care of them at the port. At least then we could've saved some of our food." She glared accusingly at Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday. They hadn't managed to kill Laboon; the town would soon be lacking food supplies due to their failure and the pirates' gluttony.

"Miss Monday ! You shouldn't underestimate those pirates," Igaram scolded. "Their total bounty is worth 100 million belies."

The hunters gasped. "100 million !!! For this crew ? But they look so stupid !"

"They might have been overrated…." Igaram said.

Overrated ? Eli huffed. Wait for us to get a bounty and you'll see if we're overrated.

"Anyway, time to get to work ! Go get their treasure and then tie them up !" he ordered.

Before the hunters could react, the pirates stood up sneering.

"BAROQUE WORKS !" Zoro yelled out. "We will be your challengers tonight !"

The hunters gaped. "How... how do you know our company's name ?" Igaram stammered.

"When I was a bounty hunter, your company had sent an agent to ask me to join your organization." Zoro sneered. "But I rejected it."

"Wah, Mr. Bushido is cool !" Eli whispered in Ace's ear.

"Well… since you know our secret, we will have to add three more gravestones to the cactus mountain." Igaram scowled. "KILL THEM !"

The hunters gawked as the two young men disappeared from the roof. Eli waved at them, a large grin plastered on her face.

"So ? Shall we begin ?"

Ace and Zoro were already amongst the crowd, ready to battle.

"Yeah ! Go kick their asses, boys !" Eli cheered from on top of the roof. "Woohoo !"

She watched the fight with amazement. The two pirates easily dodged every attack and due to the confusion, most of the hunters ended up firing at their own teammates.

Eli had yet to see Zoro fight, and she had to admit, he was awesome. The swordsman was swift and sharp. Not a single movement was wasted, and he always executed his attacks gracefully. The girl inwardly applauded Luffy's nose; he had picked up a wonderful swordsman.

Seeing the hunters falling one after the other made Eli laugh… until she heard footsteps behind her. She swung around to face two hunters pointing guns at her. The girl dodged the bullets easily.

"Come on guys, I'm not the real threat here!" she said, jumping away.

But they weren't going to just give up and run away. She wound up facing more enemies ready to shoot her down.

She squeaked and rushed behind her first attackers to use them as meat shields. Once they were down, she stole their guns and dashed away giggling, leaving the other hunters stunned with disbelief at her impossible speed.

"Oi, Mr. Freckles!" she yelled, spotting Ace fighting with a bunch of hunters. "Having fun ?"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "What about you, Miss Twig ?"

She strolled bouncily toward the young man.

Hearing some noise above her, Eli raised her head and spotted three hunters ready to fire at them from a roof, but her reaction was quick as lightning. She shot first, disarming the three men skillfully.

A low whistle escaped Ace's mouth. The girl was infamous for her terrible lack of aiming skills, but apparently the alcohol could do miracles to fix that.

Eli twirled the guns around her fingers, a slight smile curving the corners of her mouth.

"Do you know where Mr. Bushido is ?" she asked, looking around questioningly.

"Nope," Ace replied while fighting with about two dozen hunters. "Hold on, let me finish this first."

He ignited his fist and launched it toward his opponents. "FIRE FIST !"

His mighty attack instantly filled the small street with flames.

Eli rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

"This is nothing," he said scornfully.

Without any kind of warning, he grabbed Eli's waist, pulled her to his chest and made a fire-propelled jump into the air.

The girl looked down with wide eyes as the town got smaller and smaller... Eli never had a fear of heights, but maybe today was a good day to start one. She was petrified.

"He's over there!" the young man said, pointing a finger at the very small swordsman.

Eli couldn't care less where Mr. Bushido was anymore. Her heart was racing so fast she could feel its beat pounding in her ears. The jump had reached its climax, and they were now falling down… fast.

Oh God...

The girl gulped, her hair fluttering violently upward. She closed her eyes tightly as the ground started getting dangerously close….

"We've landed now, Miss Twig," Ace announced in a playfully mocking tone of voice.

Eli opened her eyes and quickly became aware of her surroundings, including the large smirk on Ace's face. They were on the roof of a house. Alive.

She exhaled a deep, shuddering breath she didn't know she was holding. The adrenaline finally starting to run out, the frightened girl let go of him and took a few trembling steps back. He was mocking her still, his arrogant smirk growing wider as he looked at her pitiful state.

After a few more seconds to clear her head of the thrill she had just experienced, Eli raised her head and gave the young man a vicious look.

"Don't ever do that again !" she said threateningly.

to be continued

Betaed by Iwin Ulose.

Yup I have found a beta, and I'm really happy. Maybe a little too happy... and annoying :x

Anyway !
Hope you like the chapter now I have two very important questions.

- Do you mind that I use the word "frak" ?
- Do you mind the space before an exclamation / interrogation mark ?
(It's a french thing, but if it bothers you I'll make an effort ! Though it's way better I mean, ! has its life on its own, how cool is that !)

Review time !

Shibo26 see ? My first named chapter !
ThexWhitexPhoenix. His instincts maybe.
I will Emma0707, thank you.
Yes, Eli has good drawing skills Art-sama.
Thank you Tropicall, but as I said earlier I found a beta (YAY). So you can just relax and focus on reading.
Dear frak (I love your name btw) I come from bad-mouthing's motherland. I'm not afraid don't worry. I just like how 'frak' sounds, and it gives Eli something special. Now if you are not the only one against it, I'll remove them. (fyi, wiki 'frak')
iBeautifullyBroken, the anime will come to an end in like, what, ten years ? Soooo I'm guessing I won't be able to write till then. Sorry ! But I'm really flattered :)
Thank you Regal Panther.

See you soon~