A/N: Thank you ever so much for reading/faving/following/reviewing…you lovely people are ten levels of awesome (and then some)
*shakes fist while tearfully shouting*s ODA-CHII-SENSEI WHY ALL THESE FEELS
*lies on the floor while wrapped in a blanket of misery, tearfully mumbling Cora-san…*
Warnings: Language. Plus, this story will adjust to accommodate certain canon events, so possible spoilers here and there if you are not caught up to what's currently going on in the manga.
Chapter 33: Wanted! The News Heard 'Round the World!
**Countdown:Two Months, 11/10 days left**
Everyone was gathered into the ship's kitchen which thankfully had still enough room to accommodate two more people. Sanji quickly prepared food, while both Eurynome and Ebony sat and listened to Nami, Aang, Katara, and Zuko as they did most of the explaining. Being told, 'we can't divert our course' was something Eurynome felt Ebony needed to hear too, so she managed to coerce him to stop sulking and come listen to the explanation that was being offered. The twins listened to the details, watched the Benders give another demonstration of their abilities, and they even showed them the upside-down hour glass.
"That's pretty impressive; I've never seen anything like it before!" Ebony said, sounding upbeat once again.
"I think this is going well," Toph whispered to Sokka, but instead Sokka sighed.
He had no idea how it was possible for someone to sound so optimistic while at the same time have a look of downright suspicion. "His words say 'yes', his face says 'no.'"
"What?" Toph asked, not sure what Sokka was saying.
"He's not buying it. And neither is Eurynome."
Eurynome stared at the three Benders before her as she furrowed her eyebrows, folded her arms and tapped her finger, and only said the occasional "Mm-hmm" and "Huh" and "Is that so?" her tone sounding almost short. She also seemed hesitant on whether or not she should believe the incredible story that was being told.
Katara admittedly felt insulted because neither she nor the others had any reason to be lying to them in the first place.
"Look," Eurynome began, and she pulled out her Eternal Pose. Whatever she was going to say was immediately forgotten as she stared at the object. Her own Eternal Pose's needle uselessly pointed to the floor.
"What…what is this?!" she demanded, furiously shaking it, tapping it, and she even banged it a few times on the table. The needle simply shook back and forth, before settling due to lack of movement. Eurynome now glared at the Pose, unblinking. . "It was working before! We weren't ripped off or anything! This thing came from Jii-chan himself!"
"So, these…Spirits…" Ebony left his sister to mumble to herself about both Log and Eternal Poses, and not being cheated by the one who gave it to her.
"What exactly…are they like?" Ebony was obviously among those who were rational thinkers, even with his own eccentricities and the oddities of the world he inhabited. Ebony's question lead to more explanations of the various Spirits and even explanations of their World (although they left out the parts about war, Air Nomad genocide, and Zuko's Hunt for the Avatar) and Eurynome eventually stopped fussing with the Eternal Pose and listened, although she wore a scowl. It was as if she regarded the incredible tales of Spirits using the Pirates and Aang and his friends as pawns in some sort of game as almost being too incredible to believe, but she simply listened. Obviously, her plan hadn't worked out the way she hoped it would, but she showed mild interest in the creatures from another realm.
"That's right," Nami said with a sigh. "We never know where we're going. It's all guess work and hoping for the best. Both Robin and I have books of various islands, but unfortunately I don't have any books that have maps this far out east and Robin's collection is too varied to be relied on."
Ebony then grinned; seemingly back to his old self already. Nami felt a slight hint of discomfort, as he was difficult for her to read, as she couldn't be sure if he was still skeptical or not, even though there seemed to be moments when Ebony's look of suspicion lessened. "Then how fortuitous that we (and when I say 'we' I really mean me) have joined you, because I have just the very thing that you need."
Ebony dug through his bag and pulled out a large scroll, and everyone moved their things to clear the table. Ebony unveiled the scroll, revealing a map of the surrounding ocean and the majority of its islands. It was messily drawn with terribly crooked and uneven lines, (and the navigation lines only seemed to be added because well, maps had lines.) The islands were merely messy circles, and as evidenced by the messy handwriting, Ebony had been the one to leave that message on the sign in front of the trading port.
"Wow…are those circle-y things supposed to be islands?" Katara pointed to a circle. "It's rather…um, different. And messy."
A part of her could have almost praised Sokka's artistic skills when compared to Ebony's. Her last comment was directed at the various ink stains that he hadn't bothered to clean up, along with what could have been food and drink stains.
"Oi, I'm not a cartographer!" Ebony said defensively. He put on his glasses with a huff. "Besides, I've never been to any of these islands; I only know where they are located. I've talked to numerous Pirates, Merchants, and the occasional Marine (if I had to), along with reading books in order to make this thing. This was hard work."
"What's this thing here?" Asking the question mostly for the sake of Toph, Sokka pointed to a rectangular box that messily housed the letters A, B, C, D, and S, along with symbols that took a few minutes for all of those viewing the map to realize that they were in fact skulls, the Marine logo, and so on.
"Are these the same symbols as those next to the islands? What exactly does that mean?"
Ebony pointed an island-circle that had an A and an S next to it. "This means the island is inhabitable, and there are people there, but it's S-rank, because it's so dangerous."
"Why is it dangerous?" Usopp questioned, afraid of the answer.
"Cannibals,"
"Cannibals as in "eating people" cannibals?!" Usopp squeaked.
"Well, yeah, that is what a cannibal does, right? An animal or person that eats that of its own kind?"
"Let's not go there!" Brook shouted. "They might find me delectable!"
"Why would they find you appetizing in the first place?" Zoro asked.
"You're nothing but bones," Sokka deadpanned.
"Here is that Ha Chi place," Ebony pointed to an island that, according to Nami's calculations, was weeks away, even without any interruptions.
"It has S.S. next to it…" she said uneasily after deciphering the terrible handwriting. "Why is that?"
"People disappear." Ebony said simply. "They go in but never come out."
"I don't like the sound of that! But I don't have any ears!"
"That's unsettling…" Nami whispered nervously, tapping her lip, not liking the fact that this was a quest that seemed to be even more in the Spirit's favor now that she knew a little bit more about Ha Chi.
"What's that place here?" Luffy pointed to another S.S. island with a question mark and a skull next to it.
Straightening his glasses, Ebony peered to where Luffy was pointing. "Oh, um…that's the Island of Silence. I don't know what else to call it."
"Why do you say that?" Toph asked.
"Well…there are those who have claimed to have been to it, and there are those who have actually been there." Ebony received confused looks which obviously demanded more of an explanation. "You see the ones who have "been there" talk of great tales and monsters. The ones who have actually been there won't even speak of it. I've asked other Pirates about it, and from what I understand, members of their crew have disappeared on this island, and none of them have been willing to talk about how. That's why I call it Silence. Completely unoriginal, I know." He waved his hand.
"That sounds so interesting!" Luffy said with a grin. "I'd like to see it!"
"You don't want to go there, Straw Hat Luffy-san, trust me." Ebony insisted, quite seriously. "But the history of the place and finding out why people disappear there would be quite fascinating…"
"I agree," Robin spoke up. The archeologist and the natural desire to learn part of her both were begging to find out more. "I wonder where the people end up when they disappear."
"Let's pray we don't go there…" Usopp said quickly, and Chopper agreed with such a fierce nod that his hat began to shift over his eyes.
"Anyway, use your functioning Eternal Pose to find out where we're headed." Ebony pushed the map closer to Nami.
After lining up the Eternal Pose with one of the islands, Nami grinned and pointed to a circle. "This is where we're headed. Chomei. I've heard of it; it's a resort-based island."
The rational-minded ones of the crew sighed with relief as they realized the pointy things next to the island were A.A. Everyone started making plans of things to do at a resort island, while a voice loudly complained with a distinctive whine, "But that sounds boring, I wanna go to that Quiet island place…"
Luffy was ignored, and with all of them being worn out from the evening's events, they went to bed for a well-deserved rest.
oOo***oOo
Sanji prepared a feast of a breakfast, and lovingly made five plates for five beautiful ladies. Eurynome stared at Sanji in a hesitant and flustered manner as he leaned over her in a mix of obvious flirting while still being a gentleman. Everyone sat around the table and chatted, when a tap at the window meant the News Coo had brought the morning paper, and Usopp retrieved it, and complained for Nami's sake on the price that seemed to be a bit more expensive for some reason this far east. He paid the bird, and as he looked at the paper, he noticed something in an article, and his eyes widened, and he let out a surprised "Gah!"
"What's going on?" Nami asked, and Usopp quickly handed her the paper, along with eight wanted posters. The newspaper had pictures of all of the Straw Hats and Law, along with Kin'emon and Momonosuke (questioning who the Samurai might be and what they were doing with notorious Pirates.) A caption under a picture of what could have been Sanji, because they could see his suit, but the picture of his face was blocked by some perfectly timed falling debris. The caption underneath the photo read, Clearer photo unobtainable. The news went on to some extent about G-24, the damage that was done and what was being done to take care of it ("Wow, they're building a whole new island because of those trees," Eurynome commented) along with Rorrim's resignation from the Marines. There was even an article about the assistant, along with a photo that showed him being lead out of the Base in handcuffs. Details about the new recruits of the Straw Hats were being asked for, and a reward for anyone with legitimate information was being asked to come forward. There was even a picture of Dragon and Saoirse Kiba, with more of Luffy and Law among them (depicting them at the town and at the Base) and the article involving them obviously was trying almost desperately to make some sort of connection between the Straw Hat-Heart Pirate alliance and the Revolutionaries.
But what was the most interesting thing were the wanted posters. Nami lined them up, and read each one out loud, "Arrowhead Aang, 95,000,000 belly. Water Witch Katara, 75,000,000 belly. Iron Maiden Toph Beifong, 85,000,000 belly. Scarface Zuko, 80,000,000 belly. Jester Sokka, 30,000,000 belly. Momo (pet) 75 belly. Gold Digger Saoirse Eurynome, 90,000,000 belly. Black Spot Saoirse Ebony, 95,000,000 belly."
Everyone had various reactions to the news:
"When and how did they take those pictures?" Sokka questioned with wide-eyed curiosity and fascination. All of them clearly showed that the vine-covered wreckage of the G-24 Base were behind them.
"Wow, Momo has a wanted poster too." Aang laughed, and Momo chirped in response.
"Why is Momo's higher than mine? I've worked hard, just like everyone else..." Chopper mumbled under his breath, becoming depressed. He chewed his food silently, while everyone else was reacting to the news, giving Momo occasional glares from under the brim of his hat.
"Why Water Witch of all things?" Katara looked horrified.
"That is so cool! How do I look?" Toph beamed.
"Pretty cool!" Luffy piped up.
"Not half bad for your first time," Zoro smirked in approval.
"S-Scarface…?" Zuko asked, looking deflated, a cloud of depression forming above him. He continued to mumble to himself, "Scarface…why…?"
"That is so cool! I'm already so close to being a super rookie with my first bounty! And Black Spot Ebony has such a nice ring to it!" Ebony admired his wanted poster.
"Why would they call me Gold Digger?! I could have thought of a better name than that! I'm not that obsessed with money! And look at that picture; they could have used a better one than that!" Eurynome fumed. The picture depicted her wielding her machete while being carried by Zoro (who was only identifiable by the back of his head). "It makes me look completely ridiculous! I demand a reshoot!" Eurynome banged her fist on the table for emphasis.
"Wow, congratulations everyone! We should party to celebrate!" Luffy laughed.
"WHAT KIND OF PICTURE IS THAT, YOU SHITTY MARIMO?!" Sanji demanded of Zoro as he accusingly pointed to Eurynome's wanted poster.
"What's the big deal?" Zoro asked. "She was injured and couldn't walk, so I carried her."
"It looks like you have ill intentions for her!" Sanji accused.
"My ass is up in the air! What gave them the idea to use such a picture in the first place?! I was walking around on my own at one point!" Eurynome continued to rant, completely ignoring Sanji and Zoro. "I'm gonna make sure to get a new picture for my poster – I'm going to demand it – even if I have to break whatever picture-taking bastard's arm to do it!"
"How many times do I have to tell you, Dartboard-brow? I had no choice!" Zoro pulled out his swords, going after Sanji.
"Of course, you'd say that! If you're going to carry a beautiful lady, at least have the decency to not toss her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes!"
Sanji and Zoro continued arguing, and Eurynome glared daggers at Ebony when he jokingly asked her if she wanted to sign her wanted poster.
"This makes things very interesting." Robin smiled. "You will now be hunted by bounty hunters for the price on your heads. Bounty hunters can be quite ruthless in obtaining the head of a fugitive, especially if they believe you to be part of the Straw Hat crew. There are bounty hunters more dangerous and deadly than the Defying Gravity bounty hunters we went up against. Fufufufu."
"This isn't exactly amusing, Robin…" Katara said. She certainly didn't want to add bounty hunters and panicked citizens to their already extensive list of troubles.
"Why is Toph's name on here backwards?" Eurynome asked, pointing at Toph's poster (very likely to take her mind off of her own poster). "Or is your family name Toph?"
"Beifong is my family name," Toph explained.
"So, your given name comes first and then your family name?" Ebony asked, looking curious. "Fascinating,"
oOo***oOo
Meanwhile, the news of the Straw Hat-Heart Pirate alliance and the Saoirse twins has spread around the World.
oOo***oOo
In a portside town in Zo, a young man wearing a black boiler suit and a hat that read "Penguin" ran through the streets while carrying a newspaper. His destination came into view. He skidded to a stop in front of a small, outdoor café, where Jean Bart, Bepo, Shachi, and their newest recruit named Siweard sat at a table drinking coffee or tea, and eating a variety of cakes and other sweets. Well, Bepo and Siweard were the ones eating the cakes.
The Pirates were pretty much ignored by the residents of the town. They had been there for almost a year now, and had pretty much become the norm of the town. It seemed as long as they didn't cause trouble, than the residents would not cause trouble for them in turn.
The four Heart Pirates stared curiously at Penguin who was bent over gasping for air after he had skidded to a halt.
"You alright, Penguin?" Siweard asked around a mouthful of cake.
"Captain…Straw Hats…Newspaper…Bounties…" Penguin gasped out, and held out the now-crumpled newspaper. Jean Bart took it and began to read, and everyone stopped what they were doing and listened intently. When Jean Bart had finished, everyone looked back and forth between themselves. All of them were pretty much thinking the same thing, and various questions popped up in their minds: Why would Captain get involved with the Revolutionaries? Wasn't he just supposed to go after Doflamingo and then come get them so they could face Kaido? Was he planning something else? What exactly was going on?
"Isn't Bháite in the exact opposite direction?" Siweard questioned, looking over the article after Jean Bart had put the paper down on the table. "I thought that after Dressrosa he was going to come straight here."
"It's in the east…" Bepo moaned. "What if Captain isn't coming back…?"
"Don't say things like that, Bepo!" Shachi scolded. "You, me, and Penguin were among the first, so there's no way Captain would leave. He promised he'd be back! Since when have you known our Captain to break his promises?"
"Never…" Bepo let out a whimper.
"That's the spirit!" Shachi patted Bepo's back.
"This is just…so strange…" Siweard looked at the new recruits of the Straw Hats. "Maybe he has something else up his sleeve by getting the Revolutionaries involved? I mean, Kaido is pretty dangerous, and it would be good to have plenty of powerful fighters, but…"
Jean Bart and Siweard both looked at Shachi, Bepo, and Penguin, expecting an answer, as the trio had known their Captain the longest. They could only shrug. While they were close friends with their Captain (especially Bepo) he often kept certain things to himself. All they could do for now was wait and hope that their Captain would return soon.
oOo***oOo
At some far away island, Sabo was running through the halls of some mysterious building, tightly clutching the morning newspaper. He kept nearly running into people going the opposite direction, almost going unnoticed due to his excitement. He would give them a quick apology, and they would only smile and wave off any need for apology. Of course, as they continued on their way, they wondered what had the Revolutionaries' second-in –command so excited.
Sabo burst through the door of the dining hall with such a loud bang that everyone jumped and stopped what they were doing to stare at him.
"Where's the fire?" one of the men joked.
A girl named Koala spoke up in an almost scolding tone, "Sabo, don't scare people like that…what's going on? Is everything alright?"
Sabo grinned, holding the paper up for all to see. "Guess whose awesome little brother showed up in today's paper?" Sabo went over to the table where Koala and a few others sat, spreading the paper out for all to see. "And look at this; he's got new crew members as well!"
Everyone cheered, praising Straw Hat and the Surgeon of Death for their actions and for showing up in the newspaper a third time in less than two months. Koala glanced at the article, and furrowed her brow. "Saoirse-san…uh…you should come and look at this…"
Saoirse Kiba walked over to see the article for himself. His eyes widened and a look of worry showed on his face upon seeing that his children now had bounties. The upbeat mood had decreased slightly, upon the news. Kiba shook his head and sighed.
"Although I never wanted them to have bounties and wanted them to lead a peaceful life, it was bound to happen eventually…" a wistful yet amused smile showed on his face. "They both have very high bounties for their first time. Although I imagine that Eurynome isn't happy with her poster or that epithet…but I'm sure Ebony is quite proud."
Dragon looked downright amused as Sabo read the article aloud. Another very troublesome Marine had been brought down, although he secretly wondered about the man's assistant and why his crimes seemed so extensive compared to that of the former Vice-Admiral's. Dragon had to admit he was quite proud of his son for causing quite the chaos on Bháite. He smirked as Kiba commented, "I never liked that bastard Rorrim; he was always so full of himself. Always was trying to gain approval and promotions, downright obsessed with it all, he was. Also had a disturbing fascination with girls who were years younger than he is…disgusting bastard."
oOo***oOo
On a Marine vessel somewhere out at sea, the G-5 laughed and cheered at Straw Hat Luffy's newest exploits, while at the same time scolded each other for praising a Pirate in the first place. Captain Tashigi sighed and adjusted her glasses at the rowdiness of the men, while Vice-Admiral Smoker read and looked over his own copy of the morning news.
"This is downright odd." Smoker said around his usual pair of cigars. "Something's off, and I don't like it."
"What makes you say that?" Tashigi questioned.
"It just doesn't feel right." Smoker replied. "Too many questions arise from this. Such as, why are the Straw Hats and Law getting involved with Saoirse's brats? Are they planning something? And where did all these other brats come from all of a sudden? They look out of place, sort of like they don't belong somehow…But good riddance to that idiot, Rorrim, I never liked him anyway, or that weasel of an assistant."
"We're close to Bháite, aren't we?" Tashigi asked as she read over Smoker's shoulder. "Do you want to head there?"
"What's the point? Neither Straw Hat or Law are there, nor the Revolutionaries. They're all gone by now."
"Smo-yan, Captain-chan!" one of the men called, interrupting the conversation.
"What is it?" Tashigi asked, looking over the railing.
"Over there, Tashigi," Smoker said (thankfully, any exasperation he might have had had been used up long ago) when Tashigi had been looking over the railing into the ocean. Tashigi blushed, and quickly and wordlessly headed over to where she needed to be. Smoker had to sigh quite heavily at the man's reasons for interrupting them.
"We're low on supplies, but there is an island near here that we can go and restock. It's called Chomei."
"Seriously?! We just restocked two days ago! We should have enough supplies to last for two and a half more months at least!" Tashigi berated the men, and then berated them even more when she found out the reason behind their stock being depleted so quickly: Straw Hat deserved to have a party in his honor, even if he was a Pirate.
Smoker got a familiar feeling in his gut. He grinned. Somehow, he knew that Straw Hat would be there. "Tashigi!"
"Ah! Sir?" Tashigi jumped in surprise at his voice and turned to Smoker.
"Set course for Chomei."
The men cheered, as Chomei was also known for being an island resort. They hoped they could relax while they were there. Already, they were making plans for what they would do.
Next Time: When a Dragon of all things attacks, the Saoirse twins quickly realize what kind of dangerous Game their temporary escorts are involved in, and a Dragon is just the beginning of their troubles.
A/N: Smoker's here! Just what is going to happen when he and Straw Hat meet? Honestly, I didn't want to include a canon Marine as awesome as Smoker unless I had a decent story behind it. Well, I thought of it! Please stick around to find out what happens, and I hope I do both Smoker and Tashigi justice.
Rorrim's not a pedophile; he just likes his girls young (so the girls are just of age, Eurynome's 18.) Otherwise, I would have had some kind of warning. He's a pig and a creep. And quite obviously, not very popular with other Marines.
A big thanks goes out to X-chick303 for pointing out that Chopper probably would be upset at Momo having a higher bounty than him. So I decided to add it in.
