The two women walked away from the brawl. The town's shopping district was huge, Ellis was sure this entire debacle was only contained within the one section. They weaved between shops, circling the small square where the bar sat. They put distance between them and the two groups of pirates, to keep out of Buggy's view so they could sneak to the destroyed building.
Once they got a good distance away, Nami spoke. "They're not normal. Both Luffy and Zoro are completely crazy! If I join up with them, I can tell that nothing good will come of it."
"So you're not on their crew?" Ellis asked, intrigued by the minor drama.
"Why would I be on their crew?!" Nami shrieked.
"The scrawny guy in the vest sure seems to think you are."
"He's so annoying, he doesn't know when to quit!" Nami complained.
"Where'd they even come from, anyway?"
"I don't even know, Luffy fell from the sky and Zoro just showed up out of nowhere. I've known them for maybe about an hour."
"Interesting."
They finally circled to the other side of the destroyed building, across the square from the fight. If she squinted, Ellis could still see figures fighting. The two women approached the rubble, spotting a few unconscious figures.
"I'll search this side, you search the other side. If you find a cellar or any treasure, let me know." Then Nami narrowed her eyes. "I'll know if you try to hide it."
Ellis nodded. She eyed the fight one last time before digging around. She moved debris she could lift over to the side as she searched through. When she came across a body, she'd check for a pulse, remove one of their shoe laces, hog-tie the pirate, and drag them off to the side. She'd pat them down and check their pockets for any loose change or valuables. She removed any weapons and put them in a separate pile.
She had nothing against looting pirates.
A few of them were only pretending to be unconscious. All Ellis did to them was sneakily tie their shoelaces together and leave them be.
Then she heard Nami shout in glee. "I found it!"
Ellis moved to the other side to help her clear the cellar door of debris. It was locked, but the hinges broke off from the weight of the collapsed building. The two women were able to pull the door off, before they peered into the darkness.
"I'm going to keep looting the pirates up here," Ellis said. "Holler if you need me."
Nami gave her a thumbs up.
Ellis proceeded to find a few thousand berries, some jewelry, a pile of weapons, and a comb decorated in jewels. She pocketed everything but the weapons.
"I found a locked door!" Nami shouted from across the way.
Ellis was pretty much finished with her side, so she moved to the cellar entrance and walked to the stairs. The wood steps creaked as she descended. Toward the bottom, a large pirate stirred from his sleep. When she reached him, she slammed his head with her foot, causing it to snap back, hitting the wall. The man fell to the ground, unconscious.
The cellar had no light, except for the daylight shining from the entrance. Ellis's eyes took some time to adjust. In that time, Nami grabbed her arm and pulled her further in.
"This is the door."
Ellis felt for the lock. It was a large padlock at waist height. She knelt down and got to work. It clicked open after a few dozen seconds. She unhooked it from the door and stepped back.
"Now to steal their treasure and their chart and get the hell out of here!" Nami took the lead and opened the door first. It was too dark to see into the room, so Nami took out some flint, striking it, and lighting an oil lantern after a few hits. It revealed a huge pile of gleaming gold that filled the room.
At the sight, Ellis forgot to ask where she got the lamp.
"Stay at the door!" Nami ordered. "I don't want you anywhere near the treasure until I take inventory."
Ellis rolled her eyes, bemused. Typical Nami. She turned her back to the treasure room to keep an eye out for anyone sneaking up behind them. She spotted the guy whose head she slammed.
Yeah, why not?
She tied his shoelaces together and removed his sword.
"Hey, check this out!" Nami called out. Ellis turned back to Nami to see her walk out of the treasure room with a locked wooden box. The wood was polished, and the metal framing it was embellished with a swirling, nature-themed design. She handed it over to Ellis, who then looked it over. It was surprisingly light-weight. After thoroughly examining it, not finding any traps or trip wires, she proceeded to unlock it. She handed it back over, giving Nami the honor of opening it.
Red, velveteen fabric coated the inside, and a rolled up parchment was the only thing contained. Nami unrolled it and held it open over her head, to see it better in the lamp light. "Yes! The chart of the Grand Line!"
Ellis moved behind Nami to get a glimpse of the contents. Then she looked back into the treasure room, only to do a double take. Nami already packed the treasure into a huge burlap bag.
"Well, we're done here, so let's get going." Nami tucked the aged paper into her pocket and walked to the bag.
It took both of them to heave the bag up the stairs. Nami pulled from the front and Ellis pushed from behind. Once they reached the end of the stairs, they rushed to pull their ill-gotten goods out of sight of the square. Once they got behind a line of buildings, they took a moment to catch their breaths.
"Why can't we take a few trips, instead of doing everything at once?" Ellis gasped out.
"If you think I'm taking my eye off of even a single piece of this treasure then you're mistaken!" Nami panted.
"Okay," Ellis conceded. "Just checking."
After catching their breath, the two women retraced their steps and made their way closer to they left fight. The closer they got, the easier it was to follow the sounds of battle. Upon arrival, Ellis noted there were only two pirates left standing. Buggy and Luffy.
"I scored an impressive haul from the buggy pirates!" Nami boasted to herself. "But hauling treasure is tiring. I guess it's worth the effort, though." Nami wiped away sweat on her brow. "Anyway, I gotta find a way off this island ASAP."
"If you're King of the Pirates, then that would make me God!" Buggy shrieked, dragging their attention to the showdown. The rest of their conversation was barely legible, but they deepened their fighting stances, so it was clear they were about to go at it again.
"Why do they keep talking?" Ellis complained. "It only draws things out."
Buggy pulled out four knives for each hand. He held each blade between each finger.
He might have decent enough finger strength to hold them like that, Ellis thought, and even fling them around. But it's not very practical for an actual fight.
Then Buggy showed off a retractable blade coming out of his shoe. So he's a gimmick fighter. They're easy to counter once you know what they're doing. Drawn out fights tend to be their downfall.
Then again, Luffy's kind of a gimmick fighter, too. If Ellis took the Devil Fruits out of the equation, Luffy would have more raw fighting skills. At least, that's how things are looking so far.
Nami pulled the bag up behind Ellis as she examined the fight, and peeked around the corner with her. Buggy stood in a baseball pitcher stance. "Chop-Chop Rice Cracker!" he shouted, flinging his entire lower body as a spinning projectile.
Luffy jumped over it, dodging, but Ellis was stuck staring at the floating upper body of the freaky clown pirate. She's going to have nightmares for weeks.
Also, why doesn't Buggy bleed when he separates? There's just a flat, flesh-colored surface.
"Can't move in mid-air, can you?" Buggy taunted. "Too bad," he cackled.
"No, you're wrong," Luffy countered. He stretched his right arm out to the wooden column of a house and pulled the rest of his body as his arm contracted. Then Buggy's legs returned to him and reattached, like some deranged boomerang. The two men then stood there, sizing each other up.
"Ohoho! How interesting!" Buggy exclaimed.
"You're not so bad either, but here comes Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy shot out his arm in a punch, stretching past Buggy's head as he dodged to the side.
Luffy's gimmick is that he stretches like rubber. He uses the momentum from swinging his arm around before launching his attack. The power behind his attacks have less to do with raw strength, and more to do with weaponizing momentum.
Does the stretching power of his Devil Fruit make it hard for his muscles to micro-tear and heal to build muscle? Or is it just a way to enhance the power of already strong blows?
"They're neat abilities, all right, but they leave you wide open!" Buggy held up one of his knives as Luffy's arm kept stretching. He swapped his knife to a reverse grip, and swung. "I'll carve you up!"
Then Luffy would be forced to rely on outside forces such as momentum to strengthen his hits.
However, Luffy pulled himself at Buggy exactly how he did with the wooden column. This time with more force over a longer distance, flying straight at Buggy. "Gum-Gum–"
"Chop-Chop Quick Escape!"
"Sickle!"
Buggy's head flew off as he dodged Luffy's forearm, which was aimed right at his neck. Luffy flew past his target, demolishing a house on impact.
Ellis should not have been surprised.
Buggy's head meandered back to his shoulders, and he laughed.
"Not good enough, Gum-Gum!"
Man, the universe really said today was going to be full of body horror.
Smoke from the impact cleared away to reveal Luffy's legs sticking straight out, before moving out of view. Luffy popped up, standing. "Damn, you keep breaking into pieces!" He fixed his hat on his head.
Ellis spotted Zoro, laid out on the ground behind Buggy. There was a small, growing pool of blood underneath him.
Buggy just chuckled in response.
"Wow, they're still going at it? I can't believe these guys!" Nami stated, completely absorbed by the fight.
Buggy held out his fist, holding his knives between each finger. "Chop-Chop Cannon!" His forearm detached from his arm and flew off, headed straight for Luffy.
Luffy caught it–
"Separate!"
His hand detached from his forearm. Luffy barely dodged, getting his face sliced, and flew back into the debris.
"So, runt, you want to give up yet?!" Buggy's manic grin turned into a grimace. Luffy just sat, face bleeding from a cut that barely reached his eye, staring at the hat he held in his hand.
The look he gave when he finally turned to Buggy was dark. "You bastard!"
He wasn't that angry when Zoro kept getting stabbed repeatedly in his wound. The rage he emitted left Ellis shaken.
"How's that? Was I not supposed to scratch your face or something?" Buggy asked.
Luffy stood up, looking back down at his hat, teeth clenched and visibly shaking. "Bastard. No one damages my lucky hat and walks away from it alive." He paused. "This hat is my only treasure! And anyone who so much as lays a finger on it is gonna pay!"
A furious and bloodied Luffy is a thing of nightmares. More so than the rest of the day turned out to be. It left a striking image.
"And I didn't think there was anything that could faze him," Nami muttered. "But look at him, so upset about a hat."
"It seems that hat has a history to it," Buggy commented.
"That's right!" Luffy agreed.
"Is it really all that special?" Buggy, weirdly amicably, asked.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
Luffy spun around, dodging a thrown knife.
"If that's the case," Buggy's detached hand, now holding three knives between his fingers, shot forward, "You should protect it better!" He pulled the hat from Luffy's hand, three blades protruding from the top. Luffy reached out after it, too surprised to catch himself after his earlier dodge. He fell on his front, arm still reaching out.
Buggy's hand reattached.
"How is this old, tattered hat a treasure?" Buggy questioned, not reading the room, and laughing. "Treasure refers to sparkling gold, silver, and jewels! And all those things reflect their owner's grandeur." He examined the hat. "You really consider this worthless, dirty straw hat, a treasure? You need to grow up, boy," he cackled.
"Shut up," Luffy sneered, sitting up. "When Shanks gave me that, I made a promise–"
"The act of stabbing with an improvised weapon, shanks?" Ellis muttered to herself. What's with all these weird names?
"What?" Buggy exclaimed. "So you're telling me that this used to be Shanks's hat?!"
Buggy threw the hat on the ground. "No wonder it looked so familiar! He always wore it when I knew him."
Luffy dropped his angry glare for disbelief. "So you and Shanks were members of the same pirate crew?"
"Yeah, back when we were pirates-in-training. We were fellow comrades."
Ellis blinked. There's such a thing as pirates-in-training? The more you know.
"That damned, detestable red-haired bastard!" Buggy angrily stomped on Luffy's precious hat, making Luffy seethe.
Luffy bolted. "Shanks is a much better man than you'll ever be! You don't have the right to call him comrade! And don't you ever bad-mouth him again!"
"Time for my Chop-Chop Quick Escape!" Buggy exclaimed, detaching his head. Only for Luffy to slam him in the balls.
"I . . . think we should get moving," Ellis finally said. "I don't want to get in the middle of that."
"I don't want you to ever mention Shanks's name to me again, you bastard!" Luffy shouted.
"Yeah, good point. We don't want to get spotted with the treasure," Nami agreed.
Buggy reattached his head. "I can say whatever the hell I want about Shanks," he coughed out.
"Let's get going, then," Nami continued. "They're busy monologuing." Then Nami started pulling the sack of treasure out into the street they were just observing.
"Nami!" Ellis whisper-yelled. "What are you doing?!"
"Crossing the street, duh."
"They'll see us!" Ellis argued.
"They're too busy yelling at each other to notice us," Nami countered.
"Buggy's literally facing this direction!"
To emphasize her point, Buggy yelled after them. "Death to those who try to pilfer my hard-earned treasure!" He shot his upper body at them, "Get back here, you thief!"
"Fuck!" Ellis cursed.
"Don't think you can escape me, Nami!" Buggy shouted.
"Why does he know your name?!" Ellis cried, running from her position around the corner and into the street, after them.
"Damn it! He spotted me!" Nami ran ahead.
"No shit!" Ellis wanted to cry. "Why do I keep getting myself into these situations?" she bemoaned.
"You don't stand a chance of escaping me!" Buggy continued.
Once Ellis almost caught up, she jumped, kicked off a wall, corkscrewed into the air, and ax-kicked Buggy in the back of his neck.
"Ack–!" Buggy grunted.
Then, as Ellis stood over him, holding his head down like a soccer ball, blocking him from pursuing Nami. He cried out again. "Ow, M-my balls, my balls, that was a cheap shot, arrgh."
"Don't run off yet, we're not done," Luffy stated, leg still out in front of Buggy's lower half.
Ellis turned back to Nami, who stopped running, and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm going, I'm going! No need to tell me twice," Nami complained.
"Hey!" The two women turned to face Luffy, who was pointing at them. "You better drop that treasure and get out of here, Nami. You don't want him coming after you again–"
"No!" Nami interrupted. "Drop the money and go?! No way! Why should I leave my treasure behind?!"
Ellis felt Buggy move under her. "Did you just call it your treasure?" he growled.
"That's right, you heard me! I'm a thief who steals from pirates, and I just stole a lot of treasure from a really annoying one. So that makes this my treasure now, understand?!"
"Ah, that makes sense!" Luffy exclaimed.
"That's pure nonsense! That's my treasure, just 'cause you stole it from me doesn't make it yours, you dirty sneaky thief! Honestly, what did your parents teach you?!"
"A criminal, trying to lecture another criminal? Ridiculous!" Nami (ironically) lectured.
"What's that?" Buggy growled.
"Whatever! The day I take a morality lesson from you is the day I stop being a thief!" Then, Nami stuck out her tongue.
"I hope you're ready for the consequences!" Buggy turned his head, causing Ellis to adjust her balance. "Now, here comes Chop-Chop," Buggy drew out in suspense, "Festival!"
His body sprung apart in cylinders of various volumes, swirling around. As he did so, Ellis felt a hand grip the ankle not holding Buggy down, yanking forward. She fell back.
Buggy's body parts coalesced around him, and he turned to face Luffy. "I'd like to see you try and save your friend from me now, Gum-Gum!"
Ellis's elbows and the back of her head smacked the ground, causing her to cry out. She quickly rolled, and the hand holding her leg let go.
His disembodied head slowly turned back to face the woman, creeping Ellis out. "Nami . . . give me back my treasure!" Buggy flew at her, knives first.
Nami turned and ran. "No way!"
Buggy cackled behind them as Nami screamed. Then he kept making other weird, pained noises.
Then he screamed.
"Damn it! Knock it off!" He paused from chasing them to turn and yell at Luffy.
Nami stopped running.
"No, you knock it off!" Nami retorted before swinging the bag of treasure from her shoulder and slamming the clown. However, the bag stayed in the air as Buggy caught it. He slowly lifted his head over the edge of the bag to peer back down.
"Thanks for giving me my treasure back, Nami," he taunted. However, seeing as his hands and head are detached from anything with mass, Nami was able to swing the bag around to try and shake him off.
Ellis snapped out of her shock to look at the situation. The body parts flying around are too small and fast to stab, if they can be stabbed, considering the Devil Fruit. Nami got caught by Buggy, or at least by his hands. Luffy was keeping his feet occupied.
"Let go!" Nami grunted.
What could Ellis possibly do?
"No, you let go!"
The body parts flying around are starting to get really annoying.
"No, you let go!"
"This is my treasure so get your grubby hands off it! Just give me back my treasure!"
Oh! Ellis shot up. She knew what to do, and she got to work.
They kept shouting over each other, making it hard to understand what either was saying.
Then buggy let go of the bag, causing it to fall in front of Nami, and Buggy pulled out his knives.
"Die!" He swung them at her. Nami screamed.
Ellis ran around, trying to catch various body parts. Once she caught a few, she went to an empty barrel she found earlier and deposited them. She put a weighted crate on the lid and left to catch some more.
Over Buggy's laughter, another voice spoke. "I already told you, you haven't finished dealing with me yet!"
Luffy was in the air behind Buggy, leg super stretched to slam into his head. He pushed Buggy back as his leg arched overhead as Nami fell back. Buggy was slammed face-first into the bag of treasure.
The bag tore as one of the knives skimmed the side, gold and jewels came pouring out. Both the bag and Buggy slammed into the ground, skidding, carving into the brick road. Luffy landed on one leg facing her and Buggy, behind Nami.
The many flying Buggy parts fell to the ground, as if deactivated. Ellis took this opportunity to gather the rest of them and shove them into the barrel. It was no longer shaking around, the body parts no longer trying to get free. She quickly placed the heavy crate back over it, and then Ellis sat on top of the crate.
All the running around she's done that day is starting to really catch up to her.
Everything was still for a few moments before Luffy straightened up. "Consider that finishing move a little gift from the old mayor guy!" His smile was a little deranged.
"Thanks a lot, I owe you one," Nami shakily spoke up.
"Sure! No problem," Luffy responded. Nami was still trying to catch her breath, from all the heavy lifting lugging that treasure around was. "Oh yeah, the map," Luffy mentioned as an afterthought.
"The treasure," Nami trailed off, turning to where Buggy landed, only to see his head, and cape, floating over it and glaring at them. Real horror movie shit.
"This isn't over yet, Gum-Gum!"
"He's still alive!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Shut up! How dare you flashily do this to me?!" Buggy shrieked. "You'll pay for this!" Luffy's face flattened to a blank look, though his brows were slightly furrowed, and he held his hand in a fist in preparation. "Assemble! Chop-Chop parts!"
Only his hands and feet returned to him, though the barrel Ellis sat on certainly tried to join them. Buggy and Luffy both just stood there, taking in what just happened. Well, what didn't happen.
"Heh?"
Nami approached Ellis and her barrel with rope, securing it shut. Then the two turned to Buggy.
"Looking for these, Buggy?" Nami goaded.
Said man screamed. "My parts!" Luffy just laughed, stretching his arms up (without his strange stretching ability).
"All right!" Luffy gave them a closed-eye smile, before swinging his hands down and behind him, arms stretching back obscenely far. "Way to go, Eyelash!"
"Ellis," she corrected.
Buggy shouted something illegible.
"See ya, Buggy!" His smile turned deranged. "Now, Gum-Gum," Luffy's arms snapped back, shooting ahead of him, "Bazooka!" Buggy was hit so hard, he disappeared into the sky. Not even arching back to fall.
Ellis was pretty sure the dude almost broke the sound barrier.
Luffy's arms retracted to a normal length.
Why doesn't the force of his arms returning also snap back? Why, when his arms were returning, did they move so much slower? It naturally wouldn't be as fast as that 'bazooka,' but– Ellis cut off her thoughts. She's too tired for this
"I win!" Luffy exclaimed, holding his fists in the air. Nami sweatdropped as Luffy cackled.
Then he sobered up. He solemnly turned his back to them and walked to his damaged hat, only the chirping birds filling the silence. He picked it up.
"Sorry your hat's all torn up," Nami sympathetically stated. Luffy seemed to remember where he was, before placing the hat on his head.
"Don't worry, I can still put it on. And I got Buggy out of here, so I'm satisfied for now," He turned his head to look at them. The two women didn't buy it, but chose to leave it be. They saw how he reacted earlier.
"When I have time, I'll fix it for you, if you like," Nami offered.
Nami's still going to sail with him, after all that?
"What's that?" He turned to face them.
"Oh, forget it," Nami turned her head from him. Then she held up one of the treasure bags. "I split this into two bags, so give me a hand and carry half of it. It's too heavy for me."
Ellis only observed the conversation by her barrel. She was feeling left out, but what would she even say? Plus, the conversation had nothing to do with her.
Luffy looked at the bags. "That sure is a lot."
Nami held up the other bag too. "If anything, that clown Buggy knew quality treasure when he saw it, and now it's all mine!" She squished her face against them, like one would do with a puppy. "I bet I can sell this for at least ten million Berries!"
After her moment with the treasure was over, Nami put down the bags and pulled out the rolled up map. She held it out to Luffy. "Here you go."
"Huh?" Luffy replied.
"It's the chart to the Grand Line. You do want it, don't you?"
"You're giving it to me?" Luffy ran over.
"Because you saved my life," Nami replied.
"Heh, thanks, Nami!" Luffy took the map and turned his back to them. "Now I finally have it! A map of the Grand Line!" He threw his hands in the air and cheered, before turning back to Nami. "Oh, does this also mean you're joining me and my pirate crew?"
Ellis remembered Zoro. She turned to look where she last saw him. He was still laying in a pool of his own blood in the same position. She walked over.
"I told you no matter what I'll never join a pirate crew!" Nami sternly reminded him, hands on her hips. Then she smiled. "But okay! Hanging around with you seems profitable enough. Just remember this: I'm only joining you because it's in my interest."
Luffy gave Nami a boyish grin. "Sure!"
Ellis just glanced back to Luffy before looking back down at Zoro. He was snoring. Perfectly fine.
Luffy skipped over.
"Hey! Zoro! Wake up!" Luffy crouched next to his snoring friend. "Zoro!" Luffy repeatedly smacked at Zoro's head like a child trying to wake a parent. "We're leaving!"
Ellis returned to Nami. "Are you sure about them?" She asked, gesturing at the two men.
Nami was practically sparkling, "I'm gonna make so much money!"
"If you say so . . ." Ellis trailed off. She's not convinced the two pirates wouldn't pull something when Nami inevitably tries to part ways, based solely on how he was badgering Nami the whole day. Not to mention his anger. He may seem like a happy-go-lucky guy, but you don't just stumble into piracy.
You can't know a person only after a single day, either.
And isn't he going to the Grand Line? If he makes Nami go, there is no guarantee she can ever get back to East Blue.
How big even is his crew, anyway? It can't be just the two of them.
"–And we got a navigator, and we got a chart of the Grand Line!" Luffy rambled. Zoro, now sitting up, turned to look back at the two women. Ellis pointed to Nami. Zoro stared them both down.
Then he started looking pallid again. "I'm not sure about this. I feel lightheaded."
"Of course you do," Nami stated. "It's always something with you two, honestly!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Luffy turned to look back at them. "What did I do?"
"Are you kidding me?! You're the worst of them all! Anyways," Nami calmly stated after screaming, "let's go help the mayor."
"Oh yeah," Luffy said. They all turn to the old man, still collapsed on the ground. Luffy stood up and walked toward him. "I guess we should wake the old guy up, now that it's all over."
Oh shit, the mayor.
"You there!" A new voice yelled to them. A large group of people with improvised weapons stood on the other side of the mayor. "You're not residents of this village!"
That explains who they are, then. The large group stared them all down. Ellis could feel her limbs tremble, and she eyed her surroundings for an escape plan.
"Nope, who're you?" Luffy responded.
"What was all that cannon fire we heard?" The same villager asked. He stood at the head of the group. "It sounded like there may have been a battle here, earlier. If you know anything, please tell us!"
"Oh, good, they're just citizens!" Nami said, relieved. "I thought that maybe they were more pirates!"
"Oh, Mayor!" One of the villagers gasped in horror.
They finally noticed.
"Oh no! Say something!"
"Can you hear me?"
"He's out cold!"
"The pirates definitely did this!"
"How horrible!"
Then, Luffy just had to talk. "No, I'm the one that kicked that old man's ass."
All of the villagers snapped their heads to him, outraged. That much attention from an angry mob will only lead to something horrible. Ellis inched back.
"Hold on! you didn't have to tell them that, did you?!" Nami angrily whisper-yelled.
"It's true," Luffy replied.
"Maybe you should explain to them so that they don't get angry!"
The villagers closed in on them.
"Tell me, why exactly did you knock our mayor out and leave him in the street to die?!"
"Better explain yourselves!"
"Who are you? Are you with the pirates?!"
"We're pirates," Luffy stated, to Ellis's horror.
A moment of silence.
"Just as we thought!" The mob chorused. Zoro was laughing so hard he was grabbing at his injury in pain.
"You idiot!" Nami shrieked.
"But it's the truth!" Luffy defended.
"Pirates! How dare you ravage our town!"
"We won't show you any mercy for what you've done!"
Luffy meandered closer to the crowd-turned-mob, approaching Zoro.
"What now?" Zoro asked as Luffy crouched next to him. "Doesn't look like they're up for a discussion."
Luffy let out a snicker. Then, so quickly that Ellis barely registered it, he grabbed Zoro and yelled at them to run. Nami immediately bolted, and Ellis followed suit. There was no way in hell she was sticking around.
The mob raced after them, shouting.
"How do you always make things worse?!" Nami complained.
"This is a good town!" Luffy responded.
"Huh?!"
"Everyone's so mad, just because of the old mayor guy! Something tells me they're not gonna listen to our side of the story. We're turning here!"
Luffy abruptly made a sharp turn, causing Ellis and Nami to overshoot and miss it, skidding a little before turning back and following him.
"Hold on! You gotta let me know sooner!" Nami retorted. Ellis stayed silent.
They jumped over Shushu, continuing to flee. Then the dog guarded the way, barking and blocking the way from their pursuers, much to her relief.
"Later, Doggie!" Luffy laughed.
They were able to make their way back to the port with no other trouble, where two small ships awaited on the sand. Both ships were pretty small, though one was slightly bigger than the other. The larger one had a black sail, the smaller had white. Both were rolled up. The larger ship had a small indoor area, and two lifesavers.
Nami stood hunched over her treasure bags, panting, trying to catch her breath. "That was close!"
Ellis let herself fall flat on her back in the sand. Her anxious trembling died down, leaving her to run on fumes after all the running throughout the day. The sun felt nice on her skin. If she isn't careful, she might fall asleep. She cloudgazed to keep her eyes open.
Luffy stood Carrying Zoro over his shoulder.
"We only made it because of Shushu," Nami continued. "Why do we have to put up with this?!"
"Does it matter now? We're done here, anyway," said Luffy.
"Yeah, maybe so, but–"
Luffy cut Nami off. "Hey, is this your boat? It's great!"
"It's nothing special, but I guess it'll do. I stole it from some dumb pirates a few days back."
"That's a big mouth you got!" Three pirates then stood up from said boat.
"We've been waiting for ya, you little thief!"
"Never thought you'd run into us here, now didja, girlie?"
Nami awkwardly laughed.
"You know these guys?" Luffy asked, not reading the room.
"yeah . . .sort of," Nami replied.
"Hey, it's not just sort of, we're bound together by fate!" One pirate approached Luffy and Zoro. "So, these are your friends! I guess we'll have to punish the three of them as well." Luffy turned to him, smile turning flat.
"It's time you learned what happens when you steal other people's stuff! Hey you," He slapped the back of Zoro's head, who was still hunched over Luffy's shoulder. "You hear me? It's time for your medicine!"
Zoro slowly lifted his head, eyes shadowed, and glared. "Huh?!"
The three pirates shrieked, literally crying in fear, then fled.
All four of them watched them flee until they ran out of sight. Then Luffy got to lifting Zoro into the smaller boat.
"Hey, Luffy! Grab that other bag of treasure while we get the ships ready to sail!" Nami ordered. "Ellis, that means you!"
Ellis groaned as she sat up, then got to work.
Before long, Nami and Ellis were pulling the boats back into the water, and then climbed in. They put distance between them and the beach.
"All right! Let's get going!" Luffy exclaimed.
Once they were both in, they connected the two ships and rolled down the sails.
Once the two women settled down, Zoro asked, "Isn't that Buggy's mark on your sail?"
"Well this did used to be Buggy's boat. think I should change it?" Nami replied.
They hear shouting in the distance. "Hey! Wait!"
It was the mayor.
"Young'uns!" Ellis could barely see him at the edge of the dock if she squinted. They all looked back at him. "Thanks! Thank you!"
Luffy chuckled. "Don't worry about it! Take it easy!"
Then, Nami noticed something. "What'd you do, Luffy? Huh?! Don't tell me you left that bag of treasure back there!"
"Yeah," Luffy said, not realizing the danger he just put himself in.
"That bag was worth around five million Berries, you idiot!"
"That's right," Luffy obliviously replied. "And they;re gonna need that money to repair their destroyed town!"
"But that was MY treasure, jerk!" Luffy finally adopted a look of fear at the beast he just unleashed. "Do you know how hard I worked to steal it?!"
Nami shoved his head into the water, actively trying to drown the man. Luffy resisted as best he could, but he was no match for both Nami and sea water. However, his body contorted in disturbing ways, thanks to his rubber abilities.
"Why did you do that?!"
"Stop, I can't swim!"
"That's the whole idea!"
They continued to bicker. Zoro started laughing at them.
"Wait, Nami!" Ellis jumped into the fray. "I still have the loot from my half of the building!" She pulled out the bejeweled comb.
Nami snapped her head to her. "And why didn't you give it to me earlier?!"
"I forgot! Things kept happening, and it slipped my mind!" Ellis nervously sweat at the antagonizing stare.
Luffy just laughed at her, as if she didn't just save his life. Nami swiped the comb from her hand, and Ellis emptied her pockets under her watchful eye.
Later on, when the island sank below the horizon, and things calmed down, everyone settled. Luffy sat on what he called his 'captain's seat,' and Zoro lounged in the back of their boat. The two women were on their own boat.
Nami was pacing as Ellis hung her now unbloodied blouse to dry.
"There's absolutely no way we'll make it to the Grand Line in this condition!" Nami ranted.
"Hm?" Luffy hummed, biting down on the core of a red apple. He took it out of his mouth. "You're right, we're gonna need a whole lot more meat." He swallowed the entire thing, not even chewing it. "Eating fruit every day is for the birds."
Ellis sat down, facing the other ship, Zoro's now unbloody, still wet shirt in her lap. She pulled out her sewing supplies.
"We'll also need some booze," Zoro added, only for Nami to hit him in the jaw with an apple. The fruit bounced up and would have gone overboard if Luffy didn't catch it. Nami took another apple out of the barrel.
"Shut up, you boneheads!" Nami grabbed an apple from the half-opened barrel. "That's not what I mean! The Grand Line is a dangerous place, we'll need more than beer and meat to survive there!"
Luffy took a bite of the apple with a loud crunch.
"Not to mention the place is crawling with pirates who are also in search of the One Piece."
The what?
"And they all have ships that are way better than this!" Nami gestured.
Where had she heard that from?
"And we don't have a crew," Luffy added.
"We don't have a crew, we don't have any equipment, or even a real ship, for that matter!" Nami continued. "There is no way we could ever make it like this."
"Yep, we'll need a cook," Luffy said. "And maybe a musician, to keep us entertained!"
"A musician?!" Zoro mocked, laughing.
"So stupid," Nami muttered. Then she pulled out a map. "A little to the south of here is an island with some settlements on it. And it looks like we might be able to get our ship and some of the supplies we need there.
Fuck.
Luffy stood up. "Fresh meat at last!" he exclaimed, arms thrown up in glee.
Ellis remembered.
"Lots of booze as well."
It was faint, but the memory was still there.
"Is that all you think about?!" Nami shrieked. "What am I gonna do with you two?!"
Her brother's favorite anime, from a life lived long ago.