Ch. 8- The Meaning of Friends
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, and Anubis © Me
Meanwhile, within the bowels of Lord Bonbori, the Shark Emeralda rowed through the hot pink gastric acid by the beat of a drum. Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Kumi, and all the other men under the deck groaned as they continued to row the heavy oars while Nami and Robin beat the drum, one at a time. Nearby, Aika sat silently, hugging her knees to her chest while Olga sat next to her.
"Goodness me," Brook said, wearily. "This is too much for my aching bones!"
"I sure hope Luffy's okay," Chopper spoke up.
"Me, too," Kumi added. "And Blizzard."
"I'm also worried about Zoro, Sanji, and Franky," Robin chimed in.
"Hey, you guys got it easy," Usopp said. "All you have to do is sit pretty and beat that drum! We're the ones doing all the hard work!"
"I hope the Sunny is all right," Brook noted. "She might've been dissolved by Lord Bonbori's stomach acid and disappeared!"
"Jeez, Brook!" Usopp shouted. "Don't say such morbid crap! You sound like Robin! Err, no offense, Robin!"
"None taken," Robin answered.
"...I miss Big Brother," Aika muttered.
A pause...but then Nami sighed before she put on a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it, guys," she said. "No matter what happens, they won't die so easily. Everything will be fine!"
Upon hearing that, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Aika, and Kumi all smiled.
"She's right," Usopp beamed. "We just gotta look on the bright side!"
But then,CLENCH! The collars around their necks tightened, causing them all to gasp for air.
"Guys!" Aika cried, worriedly.
"You stupid slaves!" Treasure shouted as he approached. "Keep your mouths shut and keep rowing!"
"Stop it!" Aika yelled as she ran up and started banging her little fists on Treasure's leg. "Leave them alone, you big bully!"
"Shut up, you brat!" Treasure barked as he smacked Aika in the face, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to the floor.
"Aika!" Nami cried, worriedly.
"Aika, are you okay?!" Kumi asked.
"You idiot, what's wrong with you?!" Olga questioned. "Don't do anything to piss him off even more!"
"Mad Treasure, you coward!" Nami shouted, angrily. "How dare you hurt my little sister?!"
"Hmm?" Treasure hummed, inquisitively as he looked to Nami. "Oh! I recognize you! You're that Cat Burglar from long ago, aren't you?" He then grinned at her. "What? You wanna get tortured again, like before?"
Nami tensed up a bit...but then she growled.
"I'm not afraid of you," she hissed. "I have friends who I can depend on, now! I won't lose to the likes of you, again!"
"Yeah!" Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Kumi declared.
"Hmph!" Treasure scoffed. "Friends, eh? I'm surprised you still think like that...after what happened to you. I thought you would've known by now: it's best not to have any friends. Jarararara!"
With that, he turned and left while Nami glared after him. Then, she looked down at Aika, who stood up and held a hand over her right eye.
"Ow...!" she whimpered.
"Oh, Aika," Nami said as she opened her arms. "Come here."
Aika approached Nami, who pulled her up onto her lap and took a look at her face, and that's when she saw that her right eye had been bruised.
"Man, what a shiner!" Usopp exclaimed.
"That's what she gets for trying to talk big," Olga said. "She should've known she was gonna hit, but she went and did it, anyway!"
"Olga, that's not nice," Robin scolded. "We would've done the same thing if Aika was the one in trouble."
"Here, Aika," Chopper added as he handed her an ice-pack. "Put this over your eye. It'll stop the bruising."
"...Hey, Nami," Olga said as she looked up at Nami. "I can't help but notice that you've got some kind of beef with that Treasure guy."
"Well...a bit," Nami answered, "but it was such a long time ago. You see...many years ago, I tried to pull a heist involving Treasure's riches...but when I got to the safe, I found that somebody already beat me to the punch."
At that moment, an image of a girl with short lavender hair and blue eyes appeared in her mind.
"I considered her one of my biggest rivals," Nami said. "Hell, there was even a time when we worked together...but then...we slipped up and Treasure caught us both. Then...she used me as a decoy while she took all the treasure and abandoned me. It was because of her that Treasure almost killed me."
"Hmph," Olga scoffed. "Sounds to me that I should just stick to not trusting people. I should stick to taking advantage in order to get by. It's the way the world is."
"That's not true, Olga!" Aika exclaimed.
"Huh?" Olga muttered in confusion.
"Friends aren't people you betray," Nami began, "they're people you trust...and I'm confident that Luffy and the others will get us outta this mess."
Olga gasped silently...as she remembered hers and Luffy's promise.
"Hey!" Treasure shouted. "Get back to work! This ship won't row itself!"
Nami and Robin both glared before they continued beating the drum while Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Kumi, and the other slaves kept rowing.
"Just you wait, Treasure," Nami whispered. "You'll get yours soon enough."
XXX
Concurrently, Luffy, Acier, and Chavez had arrived at the same location.
"Here we are," Acier said. "The entrance to the second stomach!"
"Man, look at all this pink acid!" Luffy spoke up. "Looks pretty dangerous!"
Chavez jumped down a waterfall of acid, but as he landed and kept running along the surface, he began to screech in pain.
"YOW!" he yowled.
"What's wrong, Chavez?!" Luffy asked.
"As I feared," Acier said. "The gastric acid in the second stomach is too strong! Chavez's feet will get dissolved at this rate! We must find a place for him to rest!" That's when he spotted an island up ahead. "There! We can stop there!"
"Got it!" Luffy replied as Chavez kept running, and as they neared the island, Luffy gasped as he spotted a familiar ship on the shore. "Oh! Sunny!"
Once they had hit land, the Straw Hat Captain immediately headed to the ship.
"Sunny!" Luffy exclaimed. "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"So this is your ship, Luffy?" asked Acier.
"That's right!" Luffy answered. "Her name is the Thousand Sunny. Isn't she beautiful?"
Just then, several mysterious figures appeared...and they all looked Zoro, Sanji, and Franky, only their faces were different colors and were horribly mismatched, like something out of a painting. Plus, their bodies didn't match, either.
"Hmm?" Acier hummed. "And who are you boys?"
"Oh!" Luffy exclaimed. "Zoro! Sanji! Franky! It's you guys!"
But then, "Franky" held up a shotgun and fired at Luffy and Acier, who both yelped as they ducked down.
"Aren't these your friends, Luffy?!" asked Acier.
"Uhh...they should be!" Luffy answered.
"I...kill you," said "Franky" in a robotic-sounding voice.
Then, "Sanji", who had really long arms, tried to punch Luffy, who easily avoided the strikes.
"I'll dish you up!" exclaimed "Sanji".
Then, "Zoro", who was rather fat, held up a single saber.
"I'll take your life!" he added.
"Huh?" Luffy muttered in confusion. "What's the matter with you guys? You're acting weird!"
Just as they were about to charge at Luffy...a white blur dashed passed the Straw Hat Captain and tackled the impostors! Luffy gasped, for he soon saw that it was Blizzard!
"Blizzard!" Luffy exclaimed. "It's you!"
"Of course it's me, moron!" Blizzard barked.
"Wait, why did you attack Zoro, Sanji, and Franky?!" Luffy asked.
"Because it's not them, you idiot!" Blizzard shouted."Don't you know fakes when you see them?!"
"Fakes?" Luffy repeated before he looked at the three strangers, who groaned as they revealed their usual faces. "Oh! They are fakes!"
"Hmph! Makes me wanna throw up..."
Luffy and Blizzard gasped as they saw Psycho P appear before their eyes, along with many more of Treasure's crew.
"You actually noticed they were fakes," he said. "For that, you have earned my respect. However...I have to finish you guys off, here and now!" He then held up and shook his spray paint cans. "Copy Paint!"
FSSSSSSSSSSSSH! With a spray of his paint, he painted his subordinates' faces to look like Zoro, and soon after, they all charged with sabers brandished!
"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed. "Look at all those Zoros!"
"Yes...but their bodies haven't changed," Acier pointed out.
"Luffy, let me handle them," Blizzard said as he stepped forward."BULLET FANG!"
Using his hind legs for extra burst of speed, Blizzard charged forward like the gunshot from a pistol, delivering a swift but crushing bite to the fake Zoros, who all returned to normal upon getting defeated.
"My goodness!" Acier exclaimed. "How powerful!"
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. "Go, Blizzard, go!"
"Next up...is this!" shouted Psycho P as he sprayed his paint again...and Luffy, Blizzard, and Acier gasped as they saw that he had painted all of his men to look like Acier!
"Oh, no!" Luffy exclaimed. "Which one is the real Acier Pops?!"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Blizzard questioned.
Soon, the three came under attack by the fake Aciers, who fired pistols and rifles, tried to kick them with their martial arts techniques, and swung sabers at them, but Luffy and Blizzard effortlessly dodged.
"ARRRGH!" Luffy growled in frustration. "Dammit, this is so annoying! I'll just beat you all up!"
"No, wait!" the real Acier cried. "If you hit me, you might kill me with that monstrous strength of yours!"
"He's right!" added the fakes.
"Dammit!" Luffy cursed. "So annoying!" That's when an idea hit him. "Oh, wait! I got it! Hey, pops! Use that face that you made, earlier!"
"Oh, you mean my smug face?" asked Acier. "All right...that will prove who I really am!" He then popped his coat collar and grinned. "See for yourself!"
All the Acier fakes just looked at him in confusion while Luffy burst into laughter.
"Man, you're hilarious, pops!" he exclaimed.
"...Are you serious?" Blizzard grumbled, sweat-dropping.
"All right, then!" Luffy shouted. "Gum-Gum...GATLING~!"
BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP! With a flurry of punches, Luffy easily defeated the impostors, much to Psycho P's shock.
"He's...extremely strong...!" he whispered.
"Man, that face of yours is really funny, pops!" Luffy said.
"...I'm a bit hurt that you said that," said Acier, "but it seemed to work fine, so it's all right."
"Camo-Paint!" Psycho P called as he began to spray his paint all around. "Out of respect for your strong power, I'll spare your life and fade out, for now!"
With that, he and his subordinates disappeared.
"Jeez, what's up with that weirdo?" Luffy asked.
"Uh, hey, Luffy," Blizzard said. "Now that we have a moment, who's the fat old man?"
"Oh, yeah," Luffy said. "I'll explain in a minute. First, we gotta find a way to catch up with Nami, Aika, and the others!"
Nearby, Chavez just snored on the ground with a snot bubble in his nose and drool coming out of his mouth.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Review, please!