Disclaimer: I do not own One-Piece nor any of it's characters. Those belong to Oda Eiichiro.

Nunya Bizniz

Chapter Twenty-seven: The Sunny

Luffy watched as the Nunya pulled away from them. Zoro, the longest standing member of his crew, on board. It wasn't the first time they went their own ways during a battle or for training so he wasn't worried about not seeing him again. Ace, Sabo and Rachel were there with Zoro so he wouldn't get lost.

Luffy turned back to face the newest threat. He wanted to confront Blackbeard right away, but now wasn't the time. He had learned a few things in his training. One of them had been about knowing the right time to fight. The training they had all gone through made them stronger. Both in strength and in trust as a crew. But that didn't matter if they didn't have a plan for taking out someone like Blackbeard.

Sanji was currently letting out a fresh inhale of smoke. "So now what?" he asked. He gestured with his hand to where they still had Ceasar Clown in chains. "We have no idea what to do with this guy now that we've taken out that factory as well as Doflomingo. It's not like he's useful anymore."

"We can't just let him go," Nami pointed out. "After what he did to those poor children, this man is a monster. Plus, the chances of the government hiding everything he did and then using him for their own gain is really high."

"We'll decide once we meet up with Tra-guy again," Luffy announced. He walked past Ceasar, not even looking at him. "Right now we need to concentrate on getting Blackbeard to follow us and then loose him."

"You want him to follow us?" Franky asked. "That's SUPER reckless."

"I don't want him knowing that Ace is on the Nunya," Luffy declared. "If he thinks that Ace is on board the Sunny then it's better. I wouldn't put it past him to try and capture Ace again. He did it before to become a Warlord."

"Which he threw back into the government's face," Usopp pointed out.

"Then he took over Whitebeard's territory as a Yonko," Robin added. "He used trickery to get what he wanted then and we should expect him to do it now."

"So we need to be careful," Brook agreed. "This man is one of the worst. I've known some pretty bad pirates in my time, but this man is something else. Thinking about it makes my skin crawl. Except that I don't have skin. Yohohohohoho!"

"We should leave the area for now," Sanji advised. "We'll come back once we know that the coast is clear. Luffy's right about not confronting Blackbeard. Though I don't see why we should worry about Ace. He's a grown pirate."

"It's something that happened earlier," Luffy recalled. "Back in Dressrosa during the tournament for what we thought was the Flare-Flare Fruit. One of Blackbeard's crew had joined the fighting. I ran into him while he was talking with Blackbeard over a snail. When he found out that I was nearby he tried to taunt me, saying that when his man won the fruit it would be like having Ace in his crew. I didn't think much on it then cause I was so mad. Now, knowing that Ace is alive and safe, I think it's weird."

"Luffy thinking that something's weird?" Usopp's eyes were bugging.

"Never mind the fact that he's thinking at all," Sanji teased. "This isn't like you Luffy."

"It's different now," Luffy said. "I have my nakama to protect. I also have my new sisters to worry about as well. I'm just worried that Blackbeard will try to either get Ace to join his crew or use one of our sisters to get him to join the crew."

"Is that why you had Zoro stay with Rachel?" Franky asked. He raised his sunglasses to look at Luffy directly. "You're protecting her without her knowing. But what about Missy?"

"She's with Tra-guy," Luffy said. "I know both will keep them safe."

"You don't think that Sabo and Ace could protect Rachel?" Nami asked.

"Ace could become a target of Blackbeard," Luffy said. "That means just being in the same area as him will put her in danger. Sabo is a member of the Revolutionary Army, I think he said he had an important position there too."

"HE'S SECOND IN COMMAND," Usopp snapped. He slapped Luffy upside the head for emphasis.

"That's right," Luffy responded with a grin. "Anyway, there's no telling how long he'll be sticking around for."

"I'm impressed Luffy," Robin giggled a little. "You seem to have grown up a little. Just don't change so much that you're no longer the captain we know and love."

Luffy let out a huge grin and put a hand on top of his hat. "Shishishishishishi, don't worry about that Robin," he said. "I'm still me. I just have things that need to be protected no matter what."

"That still doesn't answer how we're getting away from Blackbeard," Sanji pointed out. "He's gaining on us." At his words all turned their attention to the oncoming ship that had started to follow them. Usopp, Chopper, Nami and Brook all started crying nervously at the sight.

"We'll let them get a little closer," Franky announced. He took his place at the helm with a wide grin. "Give the Nunya a little extra time to put some distance between them. Then we'll make our SUPER escape."

The sound of cannon fire rang through the area. "Gum-Gum no... Fusen!" Luffy inhaled a deep breath, extending his stomach out like a balloon. The cannon balls hit his stomach and bounced right off. Some got past him though. Luffy followed their path with his eyes, a look of panic on his face.

"Barrier!" A translusent wall apppeared in front of the cannon balls. When they hit the wall they exploded. Bortolomeo was looking up at Lufffy with a grin. "I'll help protect the ship," he announced.

The crew spent the next few minutes fending off attacks from Blackbeard's ship. Brook took a small break to get the bearings of their ship. "Luffy," he called out. "I can't see the Nunya anywhere. They've gotten away without trouble."

"That's good," Luffy answered. "Franky?"

"One step ahead of you Captain," Franky grinned. He was already getting the Sunny ready for their next move. Bortolomeo and Usopp were raising the sails so they wouldn't slow the Sunny down in it's escape. Once that was ready, Franky put his hand on a lever. "Coup de Burst!" As he shouted he pulled down on the lever. The ship surged forward and into the air with the powerful burst coming from the rocket in the rear of the ship. Luffy laughed at the sudden rush. They blasted away from Blackbeard. As the ship started coming back down, the sails were lowered once again so that the wind behind them would carry them away a little further.

~Blackbeard slammed his fist on the nearest thing he could. "Straw Hat," he growled as he watched the Sunny burst away from him. He felt as though he had been robbed of the opportunity he had been waiting these two years for. He had originally wanted to use Luffy's capture as a way to become one of the Seven Warlords after he defeated Crocodile. He took advantage of Ace confronting him and used his capture instead. Now things were a bit different. Luffy had gotten away from him through sheer luck. Now the papers were showing that Ace never died at Marineford. His pursuit of the brothers now was all a matter of principle. He didn't doubt for a second that Straw Hat knew where Ace was. With Straw Hat escaping, Blackbeard lost his chance to make up for the two brothers escaping their deaths.