A/N: Not much to say this time, was updating the others so here you go~! Enjoy~!
Chapter 12: Strawhats Outgrabe! The Jubjub Bird's Despicable Song!
Soon, a small, one-man craft docked outside the All-Blue. Ordinarily, such an occurrence was common place, people from all over came at all hours to sample the best fish in the Four Blues and the Grand Line combined. However, this ship bore a specific person, though he had disguised himself well, hunched over with fake sorrow, his light purple hair dyed black, and gloves for his hands to cover the screws in his knuckles. He was dressed in a striped shirt and ragged pants that he stole from the original owner of the vessel, now well on his way to Davy Jones' Locker somewhere fifty kliks due West by the log pose from the not-so-stranger's current location. His boots were his own, and the Marines ballcap was worn backwards.
Upon entering the restaurant, he removed it, twisting it in his hands in a show of nerves. "E-excuse me," He asked the first person to cross his path, "I heard the Pirate King was here?"
The fire-haired young sous-chef was a spitting image of the chef himself, though they were in no way related, from the lanky, toned muscles all the way to the swirled edges of his eyebrows. The only differences were a certain flame-like quality to his red hair, even the curls of his eyebrows were more fire than curlicue, and he kept the strands short and spiky, revealing phosphorus green eyes.
At that moment, a calculating light burned in the viridian orbs, as he eyed the man, but Boss's orders were clear: if they weren't making trouble, they were allowed. "...You'd hafta talk ta th' boss. Just a min." He crossed to the door marked 'Private'. "Oi! Old Man! There's a creep out here."
"Flambé! What have I told you about customers!? AND I AM NOT AN OLD MAN!" The bellowed response was accompanied by the sound of marching dress shoes.
Poking his head out of the kitchen, Sanji scanned the dining room, lovingly irritated at his sous-chef. The man at the bar wasn't exactly out of place but something about the scar on his cheek kept drawing the blonde's attention. Then he saw Flambé standing next to him, having returned as soon as his message was delivered, and frowned a bit. Just as the lanky redhead turned to call for him a second time, the head chef crossed the dining room.
"Welcome to the All-Blue. Can I help you, sir?"
There he was, there stood the cause of all his trouble and misery, and for a moment within the gloves the stranger's fingers twitched with want to take those pretty fucking hands and break every bone. But—but no, no. He had to wait. The final revenge would be all that and so much more.
He forced his voice to remain meek. "Um, yes, I h-had heard the, er, the Pirate King... was here...?"
The owner of the All-Blue frowned lightly, his eyes narrowing. "What business do you have with him?"
Yeah, that's it. Come closer to the bait... "I-it's about… um… his... h-his... wife. I er… h-heard a rumor... and..." The stranger twisted the cap some more, affecting nervousness with a touch of fear. He needed the fucking pile of shit to take the goddamn bait.
Sanji's eyes narrowed further. "Whatever you heard is false. I can guarantee it, but for the sake of argument, what drivel is circling among the riffraff these days?"
Yes! Now he just needed to hook the bastard and the trap would be all set, just like Bellamy said. The former marine in disguise let his voice drop as if he was frightened of what the reaction would be, though it was difficult to keep the sneer off of his face. Ha, like he gave a shit what these insignificant sons of bitches who ran with the man who ruined his fucking life thought!
"Well, um, y-you see... that is... rumor is she's pregnant. An-and I... I came to... t-take responsibility."
The notepad of a waiter walking past caught fire spontaneously. "I see. One moment."
The head chef spun on his heel and left before he said anything else, striding through the door marked 'Private' next to the swinging doors of the kitchen itself. Addressing the assembled Strawhats, Sanji took a moment to compose himself by lighting a very much needed cigarette.
"There is a man in my dining room..."
Zoro gave him a look. "Aren't there supposed to be people in your dining room?"
His voice was sarcastic, but as he took in how tense his lover's shoulders suddenly were, he abruptly realized this man, whoever he was, wasn't someone Sanji wanted in his dining room.
"...should I feed 'im to the sea kings?"
It took several more drags on his cigarette and the unconscious, not so subtle, leaning in from the crew, before the cook could answer. "He claims to be the father of Nami-swan's baby."
Luffy was on his feet in an instant. His hat was low, and he cracked his knuckles. Though unsteady on his feet, Usopp followed their captain, not more than a pace behind. There was a moment of hesitation, Franky reached out but stopped his hand before he touched the captain. Sanji contemplated continuing to stand in the way, but after a few long, agonizing seconds, he stepped to the side with the very real acknowledgement that if he hadn't and the Pirate King wanted him to move, he'd be moved. Judging by the shine beginning to form along the rubber man's skin, rather violently, too.
Outside, Fullbody pursed his lips and wrung his cap again, this time from very real agitation under the watchful gaze of the sous-chef. Wait for it, he reminded himself. The line is set and the bait is wiggling, gotta be patient. He'll take the bait, and when he does...
Wait. Was that—shit, was that steam coming out of the room the fucker had gone into? Suddenly, Fullbody wasn't acting his nervousness anymore, because abruptly it really didn't seem like such a good idea to lie to the Pirate King's face about fucking his wife. Gulping, he forced himself to stay, trembling just a little.
The door burst open in a fit of Haki that left the knob and frame quite damaged. Franky inwardly winced, knowing he'd have to fix it and anything else that would come out of this conversation, if it could even be called that. The steam from Luffy's anger rolled out like the monstrous fog of the Florian Triangle, clouding the windows and significantly darkening the dining room. For a few tense moments nothing happened, but then they were on the move, striding in formation, the infamous Strawhats. They may have been missing a third of their crew but it wasn't something that seemed to significantly affect the terror they inspired. Flambé, having been keep an eye on the man at the bar without needing to be told, specifically because his head chef hadn't said to, shrieked like a little girl and ran, knees and elbows flying, for the safety of the kitchen.
Luffy marched straight up to the disguised former Marine, tilted his head to look down on the man and his neck cracked, "You said you wanted to talk to me."
Fullbody released a squeak and cowered down. Oh God, how could he have forgotten the sheer power and aura the Pirate King produced?! It was definitely no longer acting as he clung to this little play certain that it was the only thing that would keep him alive. "W-we-well, s-sir, your, um, your l-love wife, s-sh-she… um, w-word is sh-she's pregnant. I-is she?"
"What of it? The One Piece doesn't get handed down like a crown. So why do you care if she is?"
The shadows and the angle from which the man was resolutely not whimpering made the Pirate King's eyes glow. There was an ominous mechanical click and the shkt of a katana being popped loose. Without turning, Luffy knew that Sanji would have his weight on his back foot, Robin had her arms crossed, and Usopp's targeting would be locked on the pathetic creature at his feet. All in all, if the man wanted to survive he'd have to come up with some very colorful and creative excuses for why, at that moment, he'd decided to come in and disrupt their strategizing.
He closed his eyes and blurted the whole spiel, too terrified to do it carefully. "SheaskedmeforhelpandIsaidokayeventhoughIknewshewasmarriedandIcametotakeresponsibility! I'm sorry! Ijustcouldn'tsaynoandIthoughtI'datleasttrytohelp I'M SORRY!" He assumed the fetal position, arms protectively over his head.
"Wha'…?" Luffy tilted his head, the steam dissipating.
The others shifted uncomfortably, sensing something was off about all of this.
"I… Nami wanted to have a baby, and she asked for my help, so I-I did, even though I knew she was married, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell her no," the worm tried not to let his voice shake too hard, knowing if he got this wrong he was mincemeat. "I only came to… to take responsibility, help out with the baby once I heard, you know, I had no idea she hadn't told you!"
Shaking like a leaf, he raised his head slightly to gauge the Pirate King's reaction. He made his eyes big, trying to look as innocent as possible as the litany of lies spilled from his mouth.
"She... ah..." The captain turned his back on the other man, deflated. "Nami... is very hard to say no to."
Then Luffy retreated to the privacy of Sanji and Zoro's quarters. Franky and Usopp lowered their weapons, confused, while Sanji raised his visible eyebrow and lit a new cigarette. Robin was watching the man closely, with hard eyes. Something about this wasn't right, and it was really rubbing her the wrong way. Zoro downright glared. He wasn't going to say anything, yet. No airing the crew's dirty laundry in front of strangers. But as far as he was concerned, this confirmed everything he'd thought when this situation first came up: Nami was a lying sea-witch, and she'd betrayed them.
"So, did she do it for him then?" The sniper's voice was quiet, and not quite directed at the newcomer.
Fullbody licked his lips and his Adam's apple bobbed nervously. "I-I really don't know. She d-didn't, um, exactly talk once I-I-I'd agreed. Guess sh-she figured I d-didn't n-need to kn-know."
"Well, if nothing else, the situation has been cleared somewhat." The cook used his smoke to articulate his sentence. "I assume you're here to trying and claim some right to the child? Or, are you implying that there was more than just you donating to Nami-san's cause?"
The disguised man shook his head frantically, waving his hands. "No! Nononono, no no, I had no relationship with the Queen! Ou-outside of the obvious, of course," he was quick to put in; like fuck he wanted to hang around with these shitstains waiting on her! "And, not to claim, but uh, if h-he doesn't, y'know, want the kid... which is w-what the rumor is... I was g-gonna help Nami. Y'know, since it's kinda m-my 'help' that um, st-started this?"
"Well, the rumor is wrong." Usopp jumped in, hobbling forward on his crutches. After all, lying was his specialty and this nobody had no need to know that there were troubles between the captain and his navigator. "Any child of Nami's is a child of the Strawhats, regardless where she got him or her. So, you just go back to wherever you heard that and tell them that the next scumbag that says otherwise will have Captain Usopp and his eight thousand subordinates to deal with!"
Fullbody nodded and bolted, but the moment he was on his ship and shoved off from the All Blue, he dropped his act with a vicious smirk. Hook, Line, and Sinker. Now if Bellamy was right, they'd destroy themselves from the inside and taking them out one by one was going to be easier than crushing a baby bird beneath his boots.
From within the quarters behind the crew there came the loud bang of a door being forcibly closed. Usopp winced, then groaned in pain at the wince, leaning more heavily on his crutch. His tibia was fine, but his femur on the other side was still too weak to walk on unaided and the way the crutches rested under his arms made the fracture in his left arm ache if he leaned on it too much. On the upside, his nose and hand were back to almost absolute normal.
Franky was quick to support the smaller man, but at the same time he frowned back at the damaged door. "What do you suppose he's up to in there?"
Sanji rolled his eyes, deliberately using his latest cigarette to keep himself from spontaneously combusting anything else in the vicinity. "If I know our captain he's probably destroying one of my rooms again."
Robin was disturbingly silent. And she remained just that way as she slowly walked outside, to the railing, where a line of hands brought her the white hat she had left behind. No more Robin. No more 'Bobby'. The situation had become too bad. It was time to bring out the demon, to sink into it, and stay that way.
A deep, rumbling growl came out of Zoro. "I knew it. It's proof. I knew she was a liar!"
His whole body was tight and humming with killing intent. His eye glittered with murderous rage—for who, it was difficult to tell. His nostrils flared, and with a long, low snarl like an angry tiger, he turned on his heel and stalked off to his training room to take out his fury in a constructive way.
"O-oi! Marimo! What do you mean she's a liar!? OI! SHITHEAD! DON'T IGNORE ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Sanji stormed after his lover, the cancer stick between his teeth giving him the appearance of a dragon blowing smoke through his nostrils.
Franky and Usopp watched them go, then the cyborg broke the silence that followed. "Let's get ya someplace ta rest, Soge-bro. Yer startin' ta look like Pandaman."
For once, the sniper merely nodded, exhausted by the excitement.
"Oi, Flame-boy." The large man called for Sanji's sous chef.
When the lanky redhead appeared, he nodded and escorted the two of them to a separate private room. One that was set up ordinarily for small gatherings, but could be turned into an infirmary at a moment's notice if the space wasn't occupied. It was where Chopper stayed when he was on board, so the sheets were fresh and the bed was soft. Usopp was out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow. Then Flambé gestured for the shipwright to follow him back to the bar.
"You look like you could use a drink, Aniki." The young man poured him a tall, ice cold, cola, which earned a bright smile across his face.
"Thanks, kid!" Franky knocked it back, and gratefully slammed the thick glass down for a second one. He figured with new information to process, he'd give Robin a bit of space.