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

Nunya Bizniz

Chapter Thirty-one: Hitting the Fan

Rachel, Ace and Zoro were getting ready to head out the following morning. The supplies that the Revolutionists gave them were secured. Rachel nearly lost it when she saw they were giving her a few hundred pounds of copper, she was in heaven. Now they needed to head back to Zou, certain that Kaido and Blackbeard would be long gone by the time that they returned.

Ace was getting ready to untie the anchor lines when Sabo and Dragon came up. He stared at them curiously. Sabo stopped in front of him with a smirk. Dragon continued on, walking up the ramp and onto Nunya. "Got room on the ship for two passengers?" Sabo asked. Ace smirked and shook his head in an exasperated manner. Somehow he didn't think that they were going to have the option of refusal.

Rachel was about ready to head up to the bridge when she saw Dragon step onto the deck. She made her way over and met him half way. "Is there something that you needed?" she asked.

"Sabo and I are going to come with you," Dragon said. "This way I can explain my intent to your sister in case she refuses to do business with us."

Rachel couldn't really argue that logic. Missy and her had agreed at one point that they weren't going to sell their energy solutions to the marines, bad pirates or the revolutionary army. Despite that agreement, here she was already trying to think of ways to get Missy to agree to it. "I suppose that's the best plan of action," Rachel agreed. "You can explain your position and reasoning better than I." Not too much later, Ace and Sabo appeared on the deck. Shortly thereafter they were under way. As Rachel operated the Nunya, Dragon stood with her. He was watching the way that the controls worked, how fast the ship responded when Rachel gave it an 'order'. He admitted in his thoughts that the controls and response time were quick and notable. He was quite impressed.

When Zou came within sight, Sabo joined the two on the bridge. Ace and Zoro stayed on the deck, ready in case there was an attack of some sort. Sabo started looking through a telescope, checking out the shoreline. "I can see a bit of debris that floated up to the shore," he announced. "Nothing that would suggest an entire ship sank. There's no evidence of anyone staying on the beach either. At least not since we left it almost two days ago."

Rachel slowed the speed of the Nunya. She opened the window to call out to Ace and Zoro. "According to Sabo, it doesn't look like anyone is around," she repeated. "Do you think we should risk getting closer or hang back and observe?"

"It's pointless to stay away," Zoro voiced his opinion. "If there are any enemies waiting for us, they won't be so foolish as to make it known, even if we watch for several days or longer. It'll be best to head up to the island and draw them out into an open confrontation."

"Let's not rush into this," Ace objected. "We really can't risk the Nunya falling into enemy hands. Her weapons are too much of a temptation for anyone. In the wrong hands they could do a lot of damage. It would be best to just wait for one of the other ships to get here before taking any action." The two men squared off, staring the other down. It was a battle of wills.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the spectical. "Men," she muttered like it was a curse. Two male voices next to her chuckled. It wasn't lost on her that she had two males within hearing distance. Their laughter proved her point, in fact. They weren't denying the accusation or defending the actions of the two below.

Rachel sat back in her seat as she thought. "Sabo, can you take a look all around? That includes out to sea. Do you see any ships approaching?"

Sabo did as she asked. He did a full circle with the telescope, going around Dragon when he came to that point. "I don't see anyone or anything besides that island," Sabo announced. "Of course, that doesn't mean a whole lot when one of your allies travels in a submarine."

Rachel tapped her chin in thought. One of the upgrades Missy had done would help in that department. It was just a matter if she wanted Dragon to know about it or not. After a long, internal debate, she made her decision. She was going to work her hardest to convince Missy that selling energy and weapons to the Revolution would be in their best interest in the long run. Following that line of thinking, Rachel didn't think that it would be a problem letting the two hovering around her to know one of the Nunya's secrets. Letting out a sigh, Rachel moved one of her hands to a cupboard next to the wheel. She opened it to reveal a screen along with several buttons. "What is that?" Sabo asked.

"It's our cheat sheet," Rachel smirked. She turned on the monitor. The screen remained blank until Rachel pressed the green button. It showed what looked to be a type of land mass in green.

Both Dragon and Sabo leaned closer to get a better look. "What is all of that?" Dragon asked.

"That's what's directly below us," Rachel answered. "To be more precise, it's the seabed below us." Dragon looked at her sharply at the explanation. To have gone so far as to be able to see the bottom of the sea was astounding. "It does have a certain range though," Rachel continued. "We can only see the bottom of the sea right now because we're so close to an island. If we were further out then the screen would hopefully be blank."

"Why hopefully?" Sabo asked.

"Otherwise that would mean a sea king was around," Rachel answered. "You remember that time when I said we had a sound that chased off sea kings?" Sabo nodded after he gave it some thought. "Missy took that theory and utilized it into a type of radar. The Nunya Bizniz emits a sound, or 'ping' if you will. That sound bounces off a surface and returns to the Nunya. A sensor connecting to this monitor shows the things that the sound bounced off of. It will help us 'see' if there's a sub nearby. It's range goes a little further the louder the ping is." Rachel's index finger hovered over a yellow button. "A side effect is that if a sea king is near it draws them in." Taking a deep breath, Rachel pressed the button. The men heard a high pitched noise sound for a second. Sabo and Dragon had to agree that it did sound like the word 'ping'.

Ace looked up to the bridge when the noise sounded. "Rachel must be looking for Law's sub," he muttered.

"How do you figure that?" Zoro asked.

"She just activated the radar 'ping'," Ace answered. "It'll 'show' what's under the surface of the water." He started to head for the bridge. He was curious as to what Rachel had possibly found.

~"We're close to Zou," Jean Bart informed Law. "It shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

Law nodded in understanding. He headed off of the bridge in search of Missy. He wasn't surprised to find her in her room. It was the only place except the hall where she wouldn't have to see they were surrounded by water. Just as he was about to knock on the door, a strange noise caught his attention. He looked up to the ceiling, wondering if he should be concerned for the hull's integrity.

"That bitch!" The sudden shout from Missy drew Law's focus back to her door. Before he could knock, it came flying open. "Oh good, you're here. Can we surface already? The only ship around is the Nunya."

"How do you know that?" Law asked.

"Because that noise was Rachel looking for us." Law remained silent as he folded his arms over his chest. He was waiting for her to elaborate. "I sort of put a system in the Nunya that would let us know what was in the water. It gives off a sound that bounces off of objects in the water and reflects back to the Nunya on a special sensor and screen that I had installed. Surface or don't, but Rachel already knows where we are."

Law turned around and headed back to the bridge. There was a murmur from the crew, wondering what the noise had been. Some were concerned that it was the hull finally giving out. "Don't worry about it," Law ordered. "That noise had nothing to do with us." He then looked at Jean. "It's safe to surface." Jean stared at Law, wondering how he knew that. He didn't question his captain though, the man wasn't known as the Doctor of Death for nothing. Jean started the process of breaching the surface.

~Dragon and Sabo stared at the screen. A few seconds after Rachel had sent out the 'ping' an oval shape appeared on the screen. "That's a blip," Rachel answered. "It could either be the sub we're looking for or a small whale. Considering whales are rarely seen outside of their pods I'm guessing that's Law's sub."

"With any luck it isn't a sea king." Ace came into the bridge. He was followed closely by Zoro. "Are you sure that it's not?"

"It's too small for a sea king," Rachel assured. "Like I said, whale or sub. Hell, it could even be a ghost ship."

"Don't tell that to Luffy," Zoro said. "He would want to board it and search for ghosts."

"That would be over romanticizing it," Rachel said. "I don't mean ghost in the literal sense. I mean that it's a sunken ship with a pocket of air in it somewhere that won't allow it to fully sink to the bottom of the sea. Considering it's moving against the current, it's not a ghost ship."

"You're a very logical thinker," Dragon noted.

"Being superstitious is a waste of time and energy," Rachel said. "Nothing is going to happen if I don't throw salt over my shoulder." She was looking out in the direction the screen showed the blip to be in. She then pointed in that direction. "Look, the water is starting to churn."

All eyes focused on the specified area of the sea. Soon after a submarine started to emerge. It turned out to be Law's crew. "A million beris say that Missy heard the 'ping' and told them to surface after cursing me out," Rachel smiled.

"I don't take sucker bets," Ace rolled his eyes.

"Damnit," Rachel looked back at him. "You get another point now. Is it safe to assume that Missy and I have finally succeeded in corrupting you?"

Ace paled at the question. He started to head to the exit. "I'm going to my room to contemplate my life," he muttered. "That and some serious soul searching."

Rachel laughed as she looked back to the sub. The hatch flew open with a bang. Missy and Bepo were climbing over each other to get out of the sub and get some fresh air. "Missy's wrestling a bear," Rachel deadpanned. She pulled her camera snail out from seemingly nowhere and took a picture. "I wonder how much Nami would be willing to pay me for this." Sabo let out a laugh while Dragon remained silent, though he did have a smirk.

Once Missy had finally calmed down, she took a look around. Upon spotting the Nunya she put her hands on her hips and glared. The ship slowly pulled up alongside the sub and stopped it's engine. Rachel leaned out a window for the bridge, smiling. "You know that look doesn't work on me," she greeted.

"You had to use the sonar before me, didn't you?" Missy accused. "You know that I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it myself."

"You snooze you loose," Rachel shrugged. Their conversation ended when the sub's engine turned off with a whine. "Trouble?"

"I'm not sure," Missy mumbled. She looked to the hatch just in time to see Penguine rush out.

"There's been a problem," he announced. He was looking directly at Missy. "We've lost power to the engine. The solar system doesn't seem to be functioning properly."

"What?" Missy hissed. She started storming towards the hatch.

"Looks like the crabs just hit the fan," Rachel teased. Missy sent her a scathing look as she disappeared into the sub. "Ah crab, she's going to kill me."

"RACHEL!"

Rachel closed the window with a laugh. She looked to see the men giving her different looks. Some in amusement, others in confusion. Rachel shrugged as she gave them her answer. "I have to make up for lost time."