Chapter 24: Wave Crash
-Ten Days After Enies Lobby-
Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone were sleeping off their fatigue on some cots as Franky finished draping a massive tarp over the newly constructed ship. Iceburg, hands blackened with pitch and clothes soaked in sweat, smiled in satisfaction at a job well done as he watched Franky dust off his hands.
"So, that's your dream ship, Franky?"
"Yep," he answered shamelessly. "And I'll see it to the world's end as its shipwright."
Iceburg's smile faded into a neutral, quizzical expression.
"Franky."
The grave tone with which he spoke had Tom's other former apprentice turn to look at him in annoyance.
"I'm glad to see you chasing your dream. After everything that happened with Tom and everything you've done since then, I wasn't sure you'd ever forgive yourself. But while I'm happy to be proven wrong, how did it happen?"
Franky stared at his fellow apprentice in silence for a few moments. Then, sighing, he grinned ruefully.
"The Straw Hats got to me," he said, leaning back against the tarp. "I mean, first of all, how the hell was I supposed to tell them no when I had Going Merry's Klabautermann standing right in front of me, who only wanted to keep helping the crew that loved her? All I could think of was that you and I were probably the only ones in the world who could help them. And when Straw Hat himself told me he was going to be the Pirate King…"
Franky shook his head, grinning. "I don't know why, but something told me that he could actually do it. That scrawny kid is the guy to go all the way. And after what happened in Enies Lobby, I can believe it."
His expression turned grave, slightly afraid.
"We were just on the outskirts of that dragon's battle with Lucas, and the Pressure was enough to make me dizzy, and most of my Family passed out. The Straw Hats all stayed standing, barely, but their captain was the only one who never even broke a sweat. Behind that big, stupid smile is the will of a king," he finished, smirking again.
"And that was enough for you?" Iceburg asked, impressed but still skeptical.
Franky scoffed. "Iceburg, every step of the way building this ship, I've second-guessed whether I'd actually go with them. But every time I did, I just had to keep asking myself one thing: could I ever save the spirit of a ship like this if I wasn't a shipwright? No, I couldn't. But I did. Well, we did, but it was all my design."
Iceburg smirked briefly.
"But that's the bottom line: I built ships that led to someone's death. Now, I've built a ship that saved someone's life, or at least gave her a new one. Between that and Spanda finally getting what he deserved? Yeah. I know Tom would want us to make the most of our lives now. And while you keep Water 7 prospering and raise the next generation of world-class shipwrights, I'll cover the other half of his legacy: building the ship of the Pirate King. I'm ready to forgive myself, and I'm ready to follow my dream."
He turned back to Iceburg. "Of course, I'll need you to take care of my Family when I'm gone."
"I can do that much for you," Iceburg answered, smiling warmly. Then he extended his hand.
"Best of luck, Franky."
The cyborg stared for a moment. Then he smiled back and returned the handshake. And peace was made.
The moment hung there. And then it passed.
"Of course, I'm not heading straight out tomorrow," Franky chuckled. "I'm gonna need all the help you and Galley-La can give me for this next project first."
"Oh, do I finally get to see what you've drawn up for Lucas now?"
"Ice-for-Brains, I promise you, your jaw is gonna hit the ground," Franky grinned.
And he was right.
-o-
The sun had only just risen when Dock 1's foremen rushed into Galley-La headquarters to let us know that the Straw Hats' new ship was ready. And hearing the news that the pirate ship Iceburg himself had helped build was ready had attracted a sizable portion of the island's population as well. Nobody in the Marines was willing to attend since, after all, it was a pirate ship. But my team and I looked on eagerly.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, Bulls, and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes!" Franky was in fine form today, his distinctive voice carrying across the assembled crowd without needing a megaphone.
"Oh, and Ice-for-Brains too, I guess," the cyborg added, to the sound of general laughter and friendly insults from the Galley-La members present, "It is my pleasure to present the first of my newest SUPER creations, the first of many for the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Wooohooo! New ship, new ship, new ship!" The pirates in question were in a pretty good state themselves, with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper outright dancing in place, barely hampered by the exhaustion from yesterday's training.
"And now, without further ado, I give you one of Water 7's finest creations…"
With a single smooth yank, the gargantuan tarp was pulled away, and the Straw Hats' new ship was unveiled in all its glory.
"The New Battle Franky, Lion Gang Champion!"
… Name aside, I guess.
"Franky!" Luffy complained, despite his eyes sparkling at the sight of the large, two-masted ship that I could now recognize as some variation of brigantine. "I told you that wasn't going to be the name! It's the Black Bear Polar Bear Lion Tiger!"
"You idiot!" A foot to the head interrupted whatever Luffy was going to say next. "Don't insult Monsieur Sunflower with a stupid name like that!"
That, predictably, got a scoff from Zoro. "You're one to talk about stupid names, swirly-brow," he grunted. "Giving Big Boss Lionel a name like 'Monsieur' is somehow worse than what I thought you'd do."
"WHAT WAS THAT, MOSSHEAD!?"
"DID I STUTTER, SHIT-COOK!?"
Robin giggled at the sight of the two crewmates butting heads for the umpteenth time that day. "If I may," she said slyly, "I'd propose that the both of you are not giving the Being of Darkness his proper respect."
As the (relatively light-hearted) squabbling continued, dragging a protesting Nami and passionate Usopp and Chopper into the mix, I took the chance to truly admire the masterwork of a ship floating in front of us.
And "masterwork" was almost selling it short. Sinnoh was no stranger to shipwrighting, even if the practice had long since fallen out of favor outside of the heavily traditional areas of Canalave City. But unlike back home, where wood and rope had been substituted for metal and electricity long ago, the citizens of Water 7 had generations to perfect their craft, and that was on full display here.
It was nowhere close to as big as the battleships I'd seen at Enies Lobby, but it was far bigger than the Merry or the Swanda. From the lion figurehead to the panels on the sides, the two masts to the two house-like structures at the top and the aft, the ship was easily one of the most impressive things I'd seen.
The cannon ports and armor-like appearance of the red, gold, and white accents atop the wooden base emphasized its formidability as well. This was a ship meant to conquer the Grand Line, and I got the impression that it could do it. Though that might have just been me focusing on evolution, and how much more powerful this ship was compared to its predecessor. And speaking of which:
"Hey, Merry," I called. "You should have a say in your new name, right?"
The Straw Hats quieted immediately, and a couple of them facepalmed at the oversight. They looked expectantly towards the ship, but the specter was nowhere to be seen. All attention then turned to Gardevoir, whose eyes were closed.
It seems that the rebirth is allowing her to settle, Gardevoir said solemnly, her eyes closed. Maintaining herself over the past week has been greatly taxing; now that her resting place is finally ready, she's preparing for a long sleep.
The Straw Hats exchanged looks, and Franky sighed.
"Well, Klabautermanns aren't exactly known for showing themselves on a whim," he said. "Guess it'll be a while before we see her again."
Indeed. However, she did convey that she was most fond of Iceburg's suggestion.
Franky pouted and folded his arms while the mayor spoke up with a smirk.
"When we were collecting the lion's head, it reminded me of a sun, while Franky insisted it was a beast meant to conquer a thousand seas. My suggestion, then, was Thousand Sunny."
"OOOOH!" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp exclaimed.
"Oh, I do like that," Robin seconded.
"Now, that's a name I can live with," Nami agreed, nodding.
"Works for me, too," Zoro said.
"Yeah, it's better than our ideas," Sanji finished.
"Tch," Franky sighed before straightening up. "Well, whatever, it looks like I'm outvoted. All right, this ship's name is the SUPER Thousand Sunny!"
Cheers came from everyone watching, myself included.
-o-
At the highest point of Marineford, a pair of trays filled with rice crackers sat on a desk. Two old men were on either side of the desk, their eyes reflecting annoyed stubbornness and their mouths chewing on the snacks.
"The answer is still no, Garp," Sengoku said. "I appreciate the crackers, but one tray will not bribe me into changing my mind."
"Sengoku, I haven't seen him in years! And this is the closest I'm gonna get to being able to meet him as something other than an outlaw!"
"He's still an outlaw, Garp," Sengoku affirmed in a growl. "He has no desire to be subservient to the World Government. He's tolerating being Lucas's subordinate purely because they're friends, and due to that friendship, Lucas fully intends to dismiss them as soon as he has a valid excuse."
"All the more reason for me to go now!" Garp protested, crunching down another fistful of crackers. "Seriously, what gives? You never put your foot down this much!"
Sengoku exhaled heavily before glaring at Garp.
"Your methods of raising your grandson were your business, Garp. I don't approve of what you did, but it was your choice in the end, and I couldn't have intervened if I wanted to."
Garp's expression soured as Sengoku continued.
"I am forbidding you to approach Water 7 while Lucas is present because he has spent ample time with Luffy and a notable amount of time with Ace. He is well aware of your teaching methods, and I would bet my arm that he disapproves."
"Are you kidding me? His friends—" Garp began.
"Are not human," Sengoku cut in. "More to the point, I'm more inclined to believe it was Lucas's training methods, not yours, that allowed the Straw Hats to triumph over CP9 as they did." With their particular combination of skill and brute strength, CP9 was at the very least equal to the top end of Paradise, and could theoretically give certain Vice-Admirals difficulty in the proper scenarios. And the Straw Hats had come out largely unscathed without any active assistance from their 'superior.'
Garp's fists clenched, and Sengoku nodded firmly.
"And that is the crux of my argument. If you go, you'll end up picking a fight with Lucas. And unlike Zephyr, I don't trust you to be considerate of collateral damage to a city that's still recovering from a natural disaster. Especially not when you're angry."
Sengoku turned away, the sound of crunching crackers the only sound in the room.
"Is that all?"
"That should be enough," Sengoku responded, looking back over his shoulder.
His annoyance only grew at the look on Garp's face: the rare kind of serious perceptiveness that meant he'd only be satisfied with the truth. He sighed.
"Lucas and his team are from another world and despise the World Government. It is inevitable that we will lose him someday, whether he returns home or simply resigns the position. But right now, they are outrageously powerful, unbound by the laws of the World Government, morally just, and have no personal agenda. They are a living opportunity to root out some of the most well-entrenched injustices in this world. The fewer potential conflicts we have for the time being, the better."
Garp slowly got to his feet, the serious expression never leaving his face. But all anger was gone.
"You had your own agenda when you sent him after the other Warlords."
Sengoku didn't answer. And for several seconds, they just exchanged looks.
At last, a slow nod of understanding came as Garp conceded. They sat back down, and no more words were spoken as they continued snacking.
-o-
"What gives, Franky?" Sanji called from Sunny's deck (which actually had grass on it). "Aren't you gonna give us the grand tour yourself?"
"Sorry, but no can do," Franky denied, flexing his hands. "No rest for the wicked, and I've got another ship to build before we can take off. Though I could actually use your help for it."
"Our help?" Nami asked.
"Yours especially. I need a few proofs of concept before I build the main ship, and I wanted to see if I could start with that scooter you have."
Nami blinked slowly as she processed exactly what he was proposing. I don't know exactly what happened next, but I blinked, and she was suddenly off the ship and beside us with some kind of cross between a boat and a motorized scooter in hand, grinning as widely as Luffy.
"Let's get started right away, shall we?" she asked excitedly.
I couldn't help myself, looking between her and the ship and trying desperately to figure out how she had done that. A paw on my shoulder drew my attention to Lucario.
Humans are capable of anything when they don't know it's impossible, he chuckled. I still remember Riley telling us that story about the boy in Johto who could carry a Larvitar on his shoulder.
"Hey, I can believe that," I chuckled. "Hard not to after that one time Luxray got in an eating contest with Barry's Snorlax. She must have weighed at least that much when I carried her back."
And remind me why we didn't have her PokéBall at the time? Lucario asked cheekily. Luxray, at this point, had her paws clamped over her head and was pressing it to the ground in embarrassment.
"Oh, that part's easy," I laughed. "She was so caught up in the competition that she accidentally swallowed it whole! Poor Nurse Joy actually had to pump her stomach to get it back!"
Any conversation between Franky and Nami got cut short by the laughter that ensued.
"Hahaha, oh, man, I haven't laughed that hard in months!" Franky chortled before almost physically wrenching himself back on topic. "But anyway, I'll need whoever made that staff of yours, Nami," he said. "I can handle most of the mechanical stuff alone, but two heads are better than one here."
Another surprisingly short amount of time later, Usopp was standing right next to Nami, toolbelt around his waist and an excited grin fixed on his face. "I heard my name," he said eagerly. "You really want my help with this?"
Franky grinned encouragingly as Nami brandished her Clima-Tact. "I may have figured out how to use this staff to control the weather," she said with a large smile, "But you were the one to make it to my specifications this time, and even the first one was pretty well put together, party tricks aside."
Usopp started, taken aback by the sincere support, before rallying with an equally wide smile. "Well, when you put it like that, let's get going! The tale of how Captain Usopp built a ship that sailed the skies needs as many details as possible if I'm going to impress the crowds!"
"SUPER!" Franky declared. "Now, let's put some of my designs to the test! To the workshop!"
The rest of the crew slowly and reluctantly left the Sunny to follow after us, heading through the dispersing crowd back into the city.
While on the way, we passed by what looked like a massive living garden, with plants and vines of all types swaying in the breeze or actively twisting into complex formations. I could still make out Torterra's tree through the wall of foliage as he shifted around, testing his own plant control against Binz's Devil Fruit.
Ain, meanwhile, was still practicing with her powers a good distance away. She'd expressly forbidden any of my team from coming close, and after speaking with her at the start of the week, I couldn't blame her for still being cautious.
~Five Days Ago~
Ain held up a hand, manifesting a glowing pink energy sphere. "I ate the Return-Return Fruit," she explained. "It lets me regress anything back to how it was twelve years ago."
Well, to say I was shocked was an understatement. Time manipulation was incredibly rare back home, with Trick Room and Future Sight being the only examples I could think of, one of which was incredibly rare and difficult to use, let alone master, and the other of which was a mixture of precognition, control, and brute force available to very few Psychic-types. And to rewind the clock with such ease was far beyond the capabilities of any mortal Pokémon, and more in the wheelhouse of Legendaries like Celebi or Lord Dialga itself.
"And that's permanent?" I clarified, thinking back to Foxy's time limit.
"Unless I'm knocked out, or unless I rewind something far enough back that it no longer exists," she explained. "Which is why I'm hesitant to use my powers during our spars. I don't know how they'll react with your friends' biology, and I don't want to find out."
"That's something I can wholeheartedly agree on," I replied fervently. But after the surge of initial panic at the possibility of one of my team getting rewound out of existence, I couldn't help but feel curious about the extent of Ain's powers. "Though, uh, how does that work with something's position? If you sent an object twelve years back in time, but twelve years ago it was on a different island altogether, does that change anything?"
Ain shook her head. "I've tested that, and it only affects the target's state, not its location. I can turn a bullet into its component metals, but I can't send it back into the gun it was fired from. And the time frame tends to limit my options in terms of experimentation, I'm sure you understand."
"Well, I can understand if it's not letting you advance more than twelve years. But have you tried for less?"
She held out a hand in response, the pink energy growing on it before flickering out.
"As far as I've found, the energy is only stable enough to do anything with when it's compressed into a ball like this."
The way the energy danced and sputtered looked instantly familiar, and I grinned as the recognition hit.
"I think it may be more in how you're trying to use it," I said, gesturing to one of my team. Houndoom bounded forward eagerly, and I gestured to a bare patch of ground.
"Houndoom, show off Ember, please."
She glanced at me, then at Ain before nodding. Facing ahead, she opened her mouth and spat out a small cloud of tiny balls of fire, peppering the ground with bolts like rain. Soon, though, the tiny balls slowed into a stream of fireballs blackening the ground.
"Good job," I praised, rubbing her head and looking back at Ain. "If controlling that energy is like controlling flames, you need to release a lot of smaller sparks at once instead of one bigger ball."
Her eyes widened slightly at my words, and she glanced at the blackened ground before staring at her hand, frowning in concentration. Her fingertips started glowing, the energy flickering but not fading as she willed it to be stable. Slowly walking over to the ground, she touched her hand to it, and the energy returned the grass to its previous state.
"This is progress," she said, unable to fully hide her excitement. "I don't know how much less this energy is, but it's definitely less than twelve years."
"Once you've got a good measuring stick for your lowest point, try getting a clock," I suggested.
She looked at me in bewilderment. "A what?"
"Your max is twelve years. If you can go down to one or lower, try working out every number in between. A clock seems like a good aid for that."
She blinked, but her expression was thoughtful as she nodded. "How interesting."
"That you're learning new tricks after studying under Zephyr for so long, you mean?"
She looked up at me, eyes wide at how easily I read her words.
"He's a master of his craft, and I have no doubt he's a master at teaching it. But no matter how good you are at physical attack and defense, you need to be able to plan around the special kinds. And it seems like you've focused so long on honing your physical abilities that you decided not to bother with your powers."
"Master Zephyr sees it as a weakness to rely too heavily on one's Devil Fruit powers, and you have no idea how many pirates have vindicated that claim," she defended coldly.
"I'm not refuting that, you should never rely on just one tactic if you have a choice," I answered unflinchingly. "But with that much defensiveness, does he not like Devil Fruit users?"
Ain flinched, her grimace growing. Her silence spoke volumes.
"Is that how he lost his arm?"
"Stop it!" she snapped. I backed off, and she exhaled heavily. "It's not something you should be asking me about either way. Master Zephyr's stories are his own to tell."
I nodded in acceptance, privately considering bringing it up with Zephyr as we returned to training. It was several minutes before either of us spoke again, though.
~Present~
The less charitable part of me suspected that Ain's powers were why Sengoku had assigned her to join me since they could end a fight very quickly with just a touch. That same part, though, acknowledged that he didn't really have any other good options. Short of himself, one of the Admirals, or Garp (whom I was reluctant to meet after what Luffy's brothers had told me), Zephyr and his subordinates had the best chance of taking us down if we were to go 'rogue.' Though given Zephyr's opinions on the World Nobles and his apparent willingness to help root out corruption in the Marines, how willing they would be to actually do so was the real big question.
I hadn't yet had the chance to speak with Binz like I had Ain, but I could tell that both would follow Zephyr into a Beedrill hive without hesitating. Granted, the three of them could absolutely beat all but the oldest, most well-entrenched hives back home, but the principle of the saying still held true. Even if that metaphorical "hive" involved taking on the World Government itself, I'd wager.
And in the end, Ain was upfront with her powers, and her loyalty to Zephyr was worth respecting, so I had no reason not to be friendly.
"You're worrying again, Lucas," Luffy said warningly.
"About how well I'll get along with Zephyr and his group," I clarified. His frown turned to a grimace of understanding.
"Is it that different from when you were with Smoker?" Usopp asked. "I mean, obviously, these guys are a lot stronger, but it's not like you haven't already made a great first impression."
"In general, yeah. But we've got different approaches to training, and I feel like I'll end up opening a lot of old wounds. His and mine."
"Just take it one step at a time," Sanji advised. "As far as I can see, you're doing better than anyone else would at getting a stubborn old man to listen to you. If he's treating you like an equal, the hardest part's already done."
"And from my experience, I think he's carrying the kind of pain that never fully heals. Maybe look and see if there's any catharsis he hasn't gotten yet when you're on your way," Franky said, grinning as he opened the doors to our destination. "But for now, we've got a lot of work to do to get there. Shall we?"
Eager to see this work, I shelved my worries for later and followed into the warehouse.
-o-
"Alright, behold!" Franky declared.
In shockingly rapid fashion, Franky had modified Nami's Waver into some sort of ship-plane hybrid. Though, given that the modifications mostly consisted of wings, I suppose it wasn't that surprising. Everyone made appropriate oohs and aahs, before Luffy got the heart of the matter.
"Can it fly?"
"Let's find out!" Franky shouted, beckoning to Nami. She stepped onto the device slowly and glanced around.
"If anything goes wrong, I can catch you," Robin assured.
Smiling thankfully, Nami got onto the scooter and started racing around the warehouse's perimeter. The machine was surprisingly fast, probably on par with some of the cars back home, and its wings quivered eagerly as they started generating lift, which increased even more as Nami pressed a button and started pulling the Waver's nose upwards.
Amazingly, the whole machine slowly began to climb into the air. I cheered. So did everyone else, and Nami's grin split her face.
At which point the wings tore clean off the hull, and the Waver nose-dived into the water tank. Robin barely managed to grow her arms fast enough to seize Nami's body before she went down with it.
Franky, rigid as a steel rod, slowly said, "Maybe you guys should wait outside."
After seeing that crash, that sounded like a very good idea. But still—
"We'll at least cut down on the hazards ourselves. Gardevoir, Lucario, Crobat, Togekiss? Keep your eyes open."
All four nodded, and Nami and Franky looked reassured to have my team helping them.
The rest of us trooped outside to wait, and while we couldn't see anything, we could hear the mechanical sounds along with raised voices from Nami, Franky, and Usopp at various points. So we knew very well that it was a good thing we couldn't actually see the results of any of the tests.
-o-
We all flinched as an explosion rocked the warehouse.
"WHAT THE HELL, FRANKY?!" came Nami's voice.
"Hang on, hang on, let me… ah."
"Ah? What's 'ah'?"
"I, uh, seem to have put the fuel tank too close to the Jet Dial, so it heated up and… exploded."
A long silence.
"Don't worry, I can fix this!"
Lucas, a Rawst Berry, please, Gardevoir broadcasted. I winced as I made my way inside.
-o-
The sounds of profuse vomiting leaked out of the warehouse.
"Okay… let's not do that again… whatever that was…"
"I think we damaged the Jet Dial in the last test, just enough that it… vibrated wrong. Or something. I dunno, I'm spitballing here!"
"Can you fix the Jet Dial?"
"Yeah, just give me a bit…"
-o-
"Franky… why is the Waver on fire?!"
"Vaporeon," I said, more resigned than anything at this point. My companion sighed as well as he bounded into the warehouse, followed quickly by the sound of lots of water splashing.
"Going well?" a passing Binz asked dryly.
"You could say that," Sanji quipped as he served our makeshift camp.
-o-
"You are going to rebuild my Waver after this, correct?"
"Of course, of course. A rapid unplanned disassembly, how—-"
"'Rapid unplanned disassembly?' As opposed to 'slow, controlled disassembly?'"
"I mean, that's what ship-breaking is, so… Aha! The maintenance hatch blew out!"
-o-
"Okay, it hasn't exploded, lit on fire, spontaneously disintegrated, or ripped its own wings off. I think we can call this design a success."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Usopp-bro, we still have to land this thing."
"…Speaking of, isn't it coming in a little fast?"
"Yeah, I'm trying to—MOTHERFUCK!"
A loud and continuous crashing sound came out of the warehouse. Heavy breathing filled the silence.
"Huff…huff…thank you so much, Gardevoir," Nami panted.
"Ugh… Yeah, I think flipping over on landing is a design flaw."
"GEE, YA THINK!?"
-o-
Difficulties aside, it was a credit to Franky's abilities that all of that happened over the course of one day and one night; that many deconstructions and rebuilds, even for something so small, should have taken a lot longer.
But by the time the sun rose the following morning, the Waver's modifications were complete. Broad wings edged in steel folded backward as rudders while on the ground or water and spread out when she changed the gear of the device to take to the air. Straps to the deck and the handlebars were there to keep her from falling off, and the paint job, along with the nose at the front, made the whole thing resemble a bird. It was greenish yellow with a darker-colored face and round, shiny eyes that reminded me of a Starly or Fletchling.
"All right, everything seems to be checking out now," Usopp said as Nami climbed onto the Waver, her expression cautiously optimistic. "One last test out in the open; if nothing goes wrong, we'll call it a success."
"I'll be counting on you guys if anything does happen," she said, to which Crobat and Togekiss only grinned back.
"They could catch Torterra if they had to, so you're in safe hands. Or wings," I assured her. Granted, that 'catch' was more of a 'lift' and was only possible thanks to some specialized equipment and a Metronome-induced Superpower, but Nami and her Waver weighed considerably less than Torterra even when he was newly evolved, so she didn't need to know that.
Togekiss was quick to chirp mischievously at me, and Gardevoir was just as quick to translate for everyone else. She said, 'Not after last night's dinner, we couldn't,' she giggled. It seems that Sanji's getting a little too good at matching Torterra's appetite.
"Yeah, Sanji's the best!" Luffy cheered, while Torterra grumbled good-naturedly at the others' snickering.
"He said," I translated, though my words were still aimed at Crobat and Togekiss, "that this clearly means that you two need to up your training to match."
Before either Flying-type could properly retort (and resume a comfortingly familiar argument), Franky quickly tapped a wrench on a nearby sheet of metal.
"Save the ribbing for later; the sooner this is done, the sooner I can move on to the main project."
That quieted us, and Nami became the center of attention. We watched with bated breath as she slowly guided the Waver upwards, as the modified bike climbed higher and higher into the air… and this time, it stayed there. Nami drove in a slow, looping circle around the clearing to the sound of everyone's cheers, and touched back down without so much as a tremor.
"All right!" Franky pumped his fist victoriously. "Prototype number one, a SUPER success!"
This proclamation was almost drowned out by the cheers from the assembled Straw Hats, and for a bit, I just let myself be swept away by the jubilant mood. That lasted until I heard Franky muttering to himself, and an idea sprang to mind as I registered what he was saying.
"Next, I'll need something bigger."
I quickly sidled up next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "I might have an idea for that next prototype," I said. "Gardevoir, could you go ask Smoker if we can borrow his Billower Bike?"
She grinned and was gone in a flash.
"She should be back soon. But how many more prototypes do you think you'll need for this?" I asked.
"Hopefully, just the two," Franky said. "The Maxim's given me a solid base, so I've just gotta make sure I've got the numbers right for changing the size. Any trial and error after this, I can adjust with the main body."
Talking on those details went on for a few more minutes, with Usopp and Robin taking notes. Nami, for her part, didn't seem likely to come back down anytime soon.
Soon enough, though, Gardevoir reappeared along with Smoker's bike.
And along with Smoker himself, unsurprisingly.
"Let me just confirm this: you're offering to modify my bike so that it can fly?" he asked, and I could pick up the minute excitement in his voice.
"That's right!" Franky confirmed cheerfully. "We already got the concept down with Nami-sis' Waver, and now we're making sure the modifications hold with something bigger!"
"I owe you for helping me with Zephyr last week, so this is killing two birds with one stone."
Smoker actually gave me a half-smirk at that. "Well, then. Let's see what you can do."
And so the research and experimentation continued as my team and I were unceremoniously shooed out of the "blast zone." Well, with at least one definitely insignificant and not memorable in the slightest exception.
-o-
"So, uh… How did this happen?"
Franky grinned sheepishly. "I, uh, may have been a little too gung-ho with some of the Jet Dial placements."
Smoker's scowl was even more severe than usual, though that probably had something to do with how his body was completely missing from the waist down. It probably didn't help that Chopper was prodding at the smoke-filled gap in his waist where the rest of his body would have been attached.
"However it happened, it's really fascinating!" the little Stantler-doctor said, either ignoring or oblivious to how Smoker had started growling under his breath. "And it raises a lot of questions on how Logia powers interact with Skypiean technology!"
If this were a kind and merciful universe the Unown had thrown me into, the whole situation would have eventually fizzled out from there. Unfortunately, this was not a kind and merciful universe, because the exact wrong person decided to speak up at the exact wrong time.
"Question!" Luffy said, hand shooting up in the air like we were back in Jubilife's Trainer School. "Your bottom's stuck in the Mystery Dial, right?"
"You have eyes, Straw Hat," Smoker growled back angrily.
"So if you're like this," Luffy continued, oblivious to the glare coming from the Marine (and how the saner members of the crew were slowly edging away from him while Tashigi desperately gestured for him to shut up from behind her commanding officer), "What happens when you poop?"
For one long moment, there was silence. Then, a mad scramble as everyone rushed away from where Luffy was standing as Smoker's aura of murder tripled in size. "Cyborg…" he rumbled, "Unless you want me to strangle your captain to death with my bare hands, you'd better get me out of that thing right now."
"Ah! Yessir!"
-o-
But that aside, Franky quickly hooked up a flight system for the Billower Bike. A couple of fins and propellers and some added propulsion from the Straw Hats' spare Jet Dials hooked into the smoke-powered machine was all it took to turn the motorcycle into an aircraft. Something that Smoker took great pleasure in stress-testing to its limits as he soared around the island. And if anyone said there was any hint of a grin on his face in the process, Tashigi reassured me that those were definitely slanderous lies and should not be passed on in any capacity. Her own grin betrayed how sincere that was.
Not long after that, though, Franky had confronted me.
"I'm coming across a pretty major design flaw already, Lucas," he said. "I'm not gonna say I can't pull it off, but I'm thinking that if you're gonna be spending any significant time in the air, you're gonna need more than just Luxray helping you. And yeah, I've already considered other generators that run on water, fire, and manual force, but I wanna run something else by you."
He held out a blueprint that looked to be a garden or greenhouse, trees growing through the sketch.
"I already planned on giving you a place to keep growing those berry trees, but I'm hoping we can actually make that into fuel. I know how to make my own Cola, so if I can pull that off with your ingredients—"
"Say no more," I said. "Let me find the index I've got, and you can pick out the flavor profiles you think you'll need."
-o-
An hour or so after poring over the book, he had his first sample batch and left. It wasn't too surprising that Oran and Sitrus berries were among the groups he wanted to test; their restorative properties hinted at each berry being full to the brim with harnessable energy. The Coba Berry, one of the much rarer species that came from Mom's care package, was more of a surprise, though considering it could deter Flying-type Pokémon by apparently producing minute electrical shocks, I guess it was a bit of a given. The incredibly sweet Pecha Berries and incredibly spicy Tamato Berries were also on that list of unexpected candidates, but apparently, Franky wanted to see if the sugar and capsaicin respectively had potential as fuel.
Either way, though, I wished him luck. Fuel wasn't really something I put a lot of thought into back home, since walking, biking, and Pokémon were all the methods of transportation I needed. And if I recalled Volkner's half-distracted ramblings correctly, most of the vehicles back home were battery-powered since electricity—both Pokémon-generated and otherwise—was relatively easy to come by. Not that I knew much about how batteries were made, of course. There was some kind of paste, I think Volkner mentioned, that could store charge? Maybe that was a Berry-based thing Franky could reverse-engineer.
"Lucas."
I turned my thoughts away from the mechanics of electrical storage to see Zephyr looking down at me, glasses off and a perplexed expression on his face.
"Just out of curiosity: has anyone talked to you about the price tag at the end of this? Because something like this is on the scale of a Marine battleship."
"Oh, I asked about it from the start," I shrugged. "But Iceburg approached me the first day and told me not to worry. Apparently, between saving his life, the novelty of the project, and the profits from the two ships I had sold, pretty much everyone in Galley-La is fine with doing it at cost."
Zephyr shook his head incredulously. "And what about sailing it? The nine of you have the power and coordination of a thousand soldiers, easily, but can you handle that much space on your own?"
"It'll be a challenge, sure," I shrugged again, smirking wryly. "But that's what I've got you all for, right?"
He blinked.
"I mean, if you're not flying onboard with me, how else will you keep up with me for your assignment? Not that I won't be learning how to sail myself, of course," I added. "But if you and your subordinates are there, I can't imagine it taking too long to pick things up."
Zephyr stared for a bit before finally giving up and laughing. "Retired Admiral and two Rear-Admirals, and he wants them to show him how to sail. Well, you'd better be ready to work your ass off, Warlord." He grinned widely as he stared down at me. "I run a tight ship, and I'll be taking no slacking, especially from a 'pirate' like you."
"I've been used to doing that for the last four years, sir," I smirked back. "And I'm still the captain here."
The old man shook his head, still grinning. His smile slowly faded.
"And on that note, 'captain,' I have to ask: are you going for flight just because you can? Or is it to try going after that dragon?"
I blinked in confusion, and he scoffed.
"Really? You hadn't thought about that? If this 'Distortion World' is the kind of place that Smoker described, I'd have thought your battleship was meant to traverse it."
"That's…well, maybe," I said. "I'll have to pass through there when Giratina comes back. But the only way in and out is with its powers. It told me that if I…"
I trailed off, my eyes widening as I thought over exactly what I was about to say. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked back at Zephyr.
"Can you excuse me? I just realized something very important."
He waved me off, and the next minute, I was flying on Togekiss to the coastline.
-o-
In a courtroom deep in Marineford, Sengoku presided over the final trial that had come from Enies Lobby. He anticipated that it would be comparable to the previous two: Doberman and Spandam had both been completely honest and readily confessed to everything they were accused of.
Granted, in Spandam's case, that was because he thought he'd still get away with it all. After all, he had obtained Pluton's blueprints. Sengoku had been worried, briefly, until the designs were dismissed as nonsense by no less than Saint Jaygarcia Saturn of the Five Elders. In the face of that humiliation, Spandam would never hold a position of authority in the Government again.
But presently, as the charges were read out for the newly recovered Onigumo, he anticipated far less catharsis and schadenfreude.
"I maintain that Commodore Smoker and a Warlord had no authority to impede a Buster Call," Onigumo stated firmly. "The protocol of the attack clearly states that when the summons is issued, the only acceptable time to stop is when the island has been completely destroyed. That they were correct in this case is irrelevant; those who obeyed the order to stand down were the ones who broke the law."
Sengoku's eyes turned to another part of the room.
"Admiral Sakazuki."
The red-clad man rose, grimacing.
"For the record, please reiterate the details of my briefing the day we learned of the snail's theft."
"Per your instruction, I verified the innocence of everyone in the towers," Akainu recited, having given the same speech for Doberman's trial weeks before. "Everyone from the cadets to the Vice Admirals were clear, and the snail was nowhere to be found. With the confirmation that the thief was not among the Marines, as the snail in question was registered under my name, I ensured that all Vice Admirals on the base were informed of the theft. As stated previously, Vice Admiral Doberman was assigned elsewhere at the time and did not learn of the theft before Spandam's Buster Call."
"But did you inform Onigumo?"
"He was the first person I told," Akainu confirmed sourly.
Attention returned to Onigumo, whose grimace seemed to have grown.
"How do you justify your actions?" Sengoku demanded.
"Firstly, regardless of the circumstances, I was obeying the law. I would sooner accept a punishment for obeying protocol than risking that esoteric circumstances made it irrelevant at the time. Secondly, if I was mistaken, any casualties would be restricted to criminals or those who have already surrendered their lives to Justice. There was no risk in that. And thirdly, it struck me as ridiculous that someone would steal a Golden Snail and then trigger it on Enies Lobby. The most likely conclusion to be drawn if that were the case was that CP9 had gone rogue. A notion impossible to entertain while Rob Lucci is in their midst. Or so I thought before he lost to an upstart pirate."
Sengoku's grimace grew. Doberman he could let off with a warning due to his ignorance. Here, however, was obvious guilt coupled with reasoning that he was forced to admit was logical for the circumstances. Tainted by the perspective of Absolute Justice, but logical. This wasn't rebellion, it was following orders the right way at the wrong time. He shook his head before speaking again.
"Two weeks of probation," Sengoku stated. "Your recovery time has consumed half of a month already."
Onigumo exhaled but nodded in acceptance; he was unsatisfied being punished for following the rules, but this was barely a slap on the wrist.
"We have no written procedures for protocol if a Golden Snail has been reported stolen. That will change so that confusion will be avoided in the future. Court adjourned."
The Marines began to disperse, and Sengoku descended to speak to the Vice Admiral directly, Akainu already beside him.
"How powerful was that dragon?" he demanded quietly.
Onigumo actually shuddered, his scowl growing. He seemed to chew on his words before grudgingly admitting what Sengoku had suspected:
"It was like one of the Emperors."
-o-
Luffy had been right about what Giratina said. But focusing too much on the promise that it would return eventually, I had forgotten to think about what was said before that. Namely, the instruction to find it if I found my way back.
Which implied that I had a way back as I was now. And that could only mean one thing.
With five of my team keeping their senses open for anyone coming near to witness this, I withdrew the Griseous Orb from my pocket and held my hands around it. I narrowed my eyes and tried to concentrate, envisioning Twinleaf Town, the castle of the Pokémon League, Professor Rowan's laboratory, the Solaceon Ruins…anywhere I could link to, to get back home.
I tried every location I could, and while the power remained strong in the stone, it never surged. Several minutes passed in silence, and I sighed.
"Beggars can't be choosers," I murmured, closing my eyes and calling to mind what I knew was the only location I could choose.
I envisioned the midnight blue abyss, the eerie plants, the shifting stones. I recalled the hollow silence, the dark pressure, the twisted air and gravity. I opened my eyes with a perfect memory of the Distortion World in my mind—
And still nothing. I frowned.
"Am I missing something?" I asked nobody in particular.
"Probably," someone answered. I jumped and spun around to see Sabo, free of his black-haired disguise, along with a smirking Torterra.
"Very funny," I groused to the pair of them. "What are you doing here? It's gonna be a problem if anyone sees us talking."
"We've been lying low here for the past week and a half, just making sure there aren't any unfortunate rumors from what happened to Rhode. But since everything seems to be taken care of, we'll be leaving tonight."
He shook his head. "We were planning to try to stay in contact, but between this project and you having Zephyr as a minder, it's too dangerous to try anything. And besides, you'll be rooting out corruption either way. If I need to contact you or you need to contact me, we'll go through Ace."
"Sounds good," I nodded. "I don't plan on turning against the Marines again until I'm forced to, but I'm not going to forget the Government's corruption along the way. We'll root out the cause soon enough. And thank you for everything you've done for us."
"I should be thanking you a lot more," Sabo said, grinning. "And on that note, it looks like you need some help. What's going on?"
I hesitated briefly. But it seemed I wouldn't figure this out anytime soon, so I raised my hand, showing him the orb.
"Giratina left me this and told me to find it if I found my way back, which makes me think that this will give me a way back. But I can't figure out how it's supposed to work."
Sabo frowned. "And you think it's as simple as just trying to will it into existence?"
"I don't have any better ideas," I shrugged helplessly.
"Have you tried calling it out?"
I froze. Turning around before he could see my embarrassment, I clutched the crystal again.
"Well, it's worth a shot," I said, raising my fist with the stone. I considered what to say for a second, which had the side effect of neutralizing my embarrassment. I decided to skip wishful thinking and go straight for what would work.
"Open a passage to the Distortion World," I called.
The stone surged with power, shining silvery white before suddenly growing quiescent again.
And before me hovered a dark portal, easily large enough to step through.
I couldn't feel embarrassed, and Sabo didn't seem to have the presence of mind to gloat, either. For several moments, I just stared into the darkness. Then I shook my head.
"Close the passage," I called again, and in a flash, the portal was gone, and I returned the crystal to my pocket. "I can't jump into something like that without preparing first."
"Good mindset," Sabo said, grinning. "Still, once you work that out, any chance you could share that power with us? You're already making waves with this flying ship idea, but if you could make portals anywhere—"
"We'll see if I can. The Distortion World isn't somewhere I ever wanted to go back to," I said, shaking my head. "It might be less of a mind-screw for one of you Grand Line natives, but it's still not exactly the easiest place to navigate."
The Distortion World wasn't kind to the unprepared. Gravity, of course, was the main issue, since it worked maybe half the time, and maybe half of that was in the "proper" direction instead of either sideways or straight-up upside down. There wasn't much in the way of solid ground, either, just crudely hewn stone platforms that could float and drift off in any direction at any time. Or more likely, at the whims of its ruler.
And, of course, the main issue: even if I could now open up a portal to the Distortion World, I had no way of knowing for sure if I could open a portal back out, let alone to any location in particular.
"We can table that for another time," Sabo conceded. "But how's your whole flying ship plan going? The island's been buzzing with it the whole time I've been here."
"It's been going relatively smoothly, I guess…" I trailed off hesitantly, glancing in the direction of Franky's workshop. I didn't have any firsthand experience with helicopters or airplanes, and no manuals or blueprints along those lines were among the care packages. Not that there was any reason they should be. But the trial and error up until now still gave me some reservations about being able to control the thing—
BOOM!
And then there was the sound of crashing metal for the umpteenth time over the past several days, re-emphasizing that this would be the first time anyone ever tried something like this. Something that worried me only slightly less because Franky had done a lot of those while making the Sunny, too.
"…OK, I know you didn't have a part in deciding this, but I need to ask someone: are you sure this is a good idea, Sabo?"
He walked closer to us.
"It'll be fine, Lucas," the man said with a nonchalant wave. "Galley-La are the best shipwrights you'll find anywhere on the Grand Line, and we've seen firsthand what Franky's capable of. Working together? This baby will be the most badass thing in the seas or the skies."
"I bet Luffy would have something to say about that," I chuckled, grinning and patting Torterra's head. His answering grunt was full of amusement, and I laughed. "You're right, he'd definitely say the Sunny is cooler, but I think we've got the edge here."
Luxray bounded back over to my side for head pats, and I was glad to give them.
"After all, no other ship can say it's propelled by Poké-power. Right, Luxray?"
Looking up, I whistled, and Togekiss swooped back down. I rubbed her for a bit before sliding down from Torterra's back and walking back towards the city.
"Let's go check on the rebuilding. The city was hammered by the storm, and I bet things can get fixed up much faster with our help."
It was a paper-thin excuse, and we all knew it; as much as Galley-La was focusing on my new ship right now, the worst of Aqua Laguna's damage was already fixed.
"Are you sure you're OK?" Sabo asked.
I stopped walking and sighed, reaching into my pocket and feeling the power of the Griseous Orb. Considering the feat of navigating the Distortion World. Imagining the risks, the twists and turns, the threat of getting lost without a suitable guide, and having to come back here anyway. It was something to consider only when the ship was ready.
"I will be okay if I can use this to navigate back home. If not…"
My eyes closed as I reflected on my father's story of Giratina. On what it wanted above all else. On what I needed to make a difference in this world. On the gratitude it had shown me when I healed it.
And on the cloth-shrouded item at the very bottom of my pack that had stayed there, all but forgotten, since I received it from Cyrus.
"Then I'll have to wait for next time. And I have a plan."
-Sixteen Days After Enies Lobby-
Zephyr had thought he had some idea of what to expect when he received this assignment. The first week had proven him mostly right: getting to know the Pokémon Champion and his team, feeling the strength of their abilities and medicine firsthand, and grudgingly warming up to the pirate crew he had as subordinates.
The second week, however, was far more unusual. They were still training frequently, but the fact that they had yet to leave the island after this long wasn't what he expected. Nor would he have ever guessed that it was because the ship they had chosen to have built was a flying battleship. And the proof that it was possible was clear from the Straw Hats and Smoker getting prototypes along the way to the main ship.
This brought him to his current situation: personally looking into the ship's design ahead of time while escorting half of Lucas's team. Everyone from Iceburg and Franky to Straw Hat had insisted that Lucas didn't see the ship until it was ready, but ensuring that its crew could handle it was an argument that Galley-La couldn't refute.
And he couldn't deny that some long-buried part of him was excited about it in a way that far dwarfed how excited he'd been about his Battle Smasher. Losing his arm had muted the amazement in that case.
A chirping sound brought his eyes away from his prosthetic arm and towards the concerned expression on Lucas's bird-like companion. There was something inherently calming about Togekiss, and he found his expression softening.
"Bad memories never really go away," he grunted. Togekiss nodded sadly, one wing briefly brushing his shoulder. He smirked softly and nodded back. The Pokémon was surprisingly skilled at deciphering the emotions of those around her and carried herself with wisdom far beyond her actual age. If not for the briefing Lucas had provided, Zephyr never would have guessed that Togekiss was closing in on a mere five years old.
As they reached the construction dock, the workers let the five of them in immediately. It was an interesting thing to have half of Lucas's team beside him, but any discomfort between them had been eroded through their spars. Besides Togekiss, Luxray and Houndoom walked on either side while Vaporeon was draped across his neck. Which Zephyr was only permitting for efficiency's sake. Really. It had nothing to do with how comfortable and pleasant the fish-cat was, especially on a hot day like this.
He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Togekiss smirking innocently, one stray breeze short of whistling.
In any case, it was as much because of their inability to speak as it was their heightened senses that they were with him to look over the ship. He doubted he'd reach Lucas's level of understanding anytime soon, but for now, he had nothing but time for practicing.
Finally, he reached the building site, raising his glasses as he drew closer.
"Damn, they work fast," he muttered.
What was before him was still in the process of transitioning from a framework to a proper ship. But the fact that it was even half as far along as it was now could only be a testament to the skill of Water 7's finest. Most of the shipyards the Marines had access to were nowhere near as efficient in their work, let alone for something as unique as Lucas had proposed.
Scaffolding piled high around the structure, with everything from wires, pipes, and beams to furniture and trees being carefully maneuvered around and into the half-built ship. His experience over the years allowed him to pick out the designated locations for living and storage, as well as the weapons. Yet, attracting his attention more than anywhere else was the engine room. And he could tell that Lucas's companions were about as bewildered as he was looking at the chamber and the various machines therein. Luxray quickly bound over to a steel platform while Houndoom and Vaporeon examined what were clearly a furnace and waterwheel.
Franky himself was half-buried in the semi-organized maze of piping connecting several of the things in the room, with his head and the upper half of his torso obscured by the metal he was obviously working on. Fortunately, it looked like he was finishing up whatever he was doing because it only took a minute before he pulled himself free (and nearly jumped out of his metal skin at the sight of his visitors).
"Ah, Commander!"
"What's this?" Zephyr grunted shortly. The former Admiral could understand the cyborg's transition to piracy, one taken to keep one of his finest creations in good condition and to see his dreams out to the end. Not to mention everything Spandam had done to him, as he'd picked up over the last week.
He could understand it. It didn't mean he had to like it.
"Well, over here," Franky indicated Luxray's resting spot, which on closer inspection had long, thin metallic prongs coming out of it, "Is the main power storage for Lucas's ship. Apparently, that Enel guy the Straw Hats ran into could use his lightning Devil Fruit to constantly power his own flying ship, but Luxray obviously can't be expected to do that." The Pokémon in question nodded emphatically from her perch atop the thing.
"So you put together an easy way to store her electricity?" Zephyr was impressed despite himself. Vegapunk had done that and far more impressive things during his employment with the World Government, but Franky had figured out a similar method on his own, without any of the Doctor's expertise or notes available.
The cyborg shrugged. "Eh, I got a good look at one of the old batteries Lucas had on him and scaled it up. And," he added smugly, "Those Coba Berries were just what I needed to refine the more fiddly bits. How a fruit can produce and conduct electricity is beyond me, but it makes a heavy-duty thing like this SUPER effective!"
Yet another reason, the Marine mused, to get Lucas to meet Vegapunk as soon as feasible. A straight beeline to the genius's laboratory wouldn't be very worthwhile because of how deep in the New World it was and how out of the way it was compared to the Warlord and Marine bases he wanted to inspect. But if he could set up some sort of meeting point closer to Lucas's intended path, there was no chance the genius would pass that up.
"And then these are obviously the furnace and turbine that supplement the electricity," Franky continued. "So that Houndoom and Vaporeon can help generate power too. Thinking of putting in a windmill next if I can fit it."
"The more, the better, if it means we don't crash land," Zephyr muttered.
"My thoughts exactly. It's why I've got this right next door," Franky grinned. Zephyr followed him carefully through a massive doorway, clearly meant to accommodate Torterra, and blinked in bewilderment. Half a dozen silvery silos and three giant copper kettles filled the room, with several bottles and growlers lining the walls and floor.
"This looks like a brewery," he stated blandly, staring at the vats.
"Because that's what it is," Franky confirmed. "With how fast these berries grow, nothing wrong with having a short-term power supply like what I've got in my body and the Sunny. Took a while to figure out how to duplicate the recipe, but I've got it down now. And this power source is one you can enjoy."
He turned around with half a dozen bottles of bubbling brown liquid in his hands. "Care to try?"
The Pokémon all gave him flat looks, each raising a paw or wing. A blink later, four of the bottles had straws, and the four of them grinned eagerly, taking large sips from their drinks and letting the flavor sink in. And from the way their eyes were widening, it looked like the cyborg knew what he was doing when it came to making drinks. All four continued slurping their beverages, purring or grunting in delight.
Sighing, Zephyr brought the remaining bottle to his mouth and took a gulp. He considered the taste for a few seconds.
"…If there's one thing I can compliment your crew on, it's your taste in drinks."
Franky's smile split his face, and Zephyr grudgingly smirked back.
-Thirty Days After Enies Lobby-
"Hello?"
"Commander Zephyr, what is the status of your mission?"
"Agh," the snail winced briefly. "Sorry, Sengoku. Galley-La works fast, but the ship Lucas commissioned is pretty big. Trying to get enough space to practice and make sure Torterra can navigate the insides."
"Ah, I see," Sengoku sighed. "That would require a more unorthodox design. I assume you and yours will be crewing it?"
"Not a lot of choice, we wouldn't be able to keep up with it otherwise," the old instructor grinned. "And we won't be waiting much longer; Galley-La said they'd have it done in the next 24 hours. We should be heading out for Amazon Lily today or tomorrow."
Sengoku nodded, relaxing. "Very good, then. The other Warlords should be a worthy challenge for his strength, whether they willingly submit or not."
Zephyr stared over the snail for a few seconds before nodding, and a wry smirk came over his face.
"I feel like I'm going to enjoy this assignment. I'll let you know how everything goes, Fleet Admiral. Just, whenever we get back to Marineford, don't be too surprised when you see the ship fly in."
"Understood. Keep me posted, Commander," Sengoku nodded, making to hang up and turning his attention to the draft of what he'd be telling the media—
Then he froze as he replayed what he had just heard. His mind rejected the absurdity, but then he rejected that rejection when he recalled exactly who he was considering here. Slowly, with a perfectly neutral expression on his face, he turned back to the snail.
"Did you say fly?"
-o-
"And now, everyone, may I have your attention, please!"
Somehow, Franky had managed to rig up a makeshift stage to present from, complete with theater-style draping curtains concealing the ship from view. A lot of curtains, it must be said, because the area he was trying to cover up was as long as one of those Buster Call ships.
"I present the latest, greatest creation to come out of Water 7 and yours truly! A truly SUPER marvel of engineering! One of the most fearsome vessels to ever sail the seas and skies, the—HEY!" Franky's grandstanding was abruptly cut short as he ducked under a flying wrench.
"Get on with it, Flunky!" Iceburg heckled, grinning unrepentantly as he tossed another wrench up and down in his hand.
"Spoilsport," Franky grumbled, reaching to the large pull-cord behind him. "Anyways, behold!"
The curtains fell away, and my jaw dropped. I barely heard the awed gasps and excited yells coming from around and behind me, fixated as I was on the newly revealed ship.
"Feast your eyes on the New Travel Franky, Basculegion Champion!"
And what a feast for the eyes it was. Even with half the ship hidden underwater, it was massive, several times as wide as Torterra with a length to match. The front of the ship—or prow, I guess—was a perfect recreation of a Basculegion's head, with the eyes masterfully painted on and the jaw hanging open to display an intimidatingly large cannon. I could see the almost one-for-one resemblance to the ancient Pokémon. Even the bridge that served as the top "fin" of the boat was a perfectly crafted replica of the real thing. And, most impressively, Franky managed to replicate the ghostly "foam" around Basculegion's rear using what looked like a set of gently churning propellers just beneath the surface of the water.
All in all, it was a masterpiece, a testament to the skill of the shipwright responsible. It just had one small issue…
I tore my gaze away from the ship to give Franky a dry look. "…Really, with that name?"
Franky snorted. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. It's your ship, so you all get to name it."
"Well, I had originally thought of just calling it the Basculegion," I said, gathering general nods from my team, "But that's a little too plain for what we've got here." Dad's Basculegion was (allegedly) a prime example of the species, but the ship on display in front of us figuratively (though maybe not quite literally, it was Dad's Basculegion after all) blew it out of the water.
"I'm sure that in that case, the Flying Fish wouldn't be suitable either," Sanji commented. "The name's a little too small for what we've got here." That got a couple of grins and some laughter from the others.
Based on the sizes of Pokémon back home, it'd be more of a Flying Wailord than anything, Lucario added, much to my team's amusement. And once I got around to pulling up a picture of the average Wailord on my PokéDex, the amusement spread pretty quickly, though there was surprisingly little awe or amazement from several of the Straw Hats.
"Meh, Laboon was bigger," Luffy shrugged, turning back to where the still-unnamed ship was floating in the water. That led to a whole other explanation in and of itself, where Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp told the tale of how exactly they got onto the Grand Line in the first place.
"…So then our idiot captain here," Nami finished, pointing at the semi-oblivious Luffy, "Goes and draws our Jolly Roger on Laboon's head, calling it a promise for a future rematch, and somehow convinces him to stop hurting himself on Reverse Mountain."
That… was somehow completely in line with what I expected from the man. "Huh. Well, I guess good luck with that?"
"Thanks!" Luffy grinned. "Now c'mon and pick a name already!"
"Alright, alright," I said, jokingly raising my hands in surrender before looking back at the vessel floating in front of us. "Hmm… The Battle Ship, maybe? Like one of the Frontier locations?" I wasn't exactly a Frontier Brain, but I don't think any of the actual Frontier Brains would mind giving the name to a ship like this.
Hmm. A bit plain, but I like the wordplay—
"Agh, come on, Lucas, it's obvious! Call it the Fish Out of Water."
Everyone stopped, and I sloooowly turned back to Luffy, who was still grinning unrepentantly.
"What was that, Luffy?"
"Robin said that that's what it means when you're thrown from one world into another, plus if you're going to be flying, you'll be out of the water. And it's a fish."
All of this was delivered with his typical 'this is obvious' tone.
I exchanged glances with my team. "I kind of hate that he's right. But…he kind of is."
I don't think I've ever felt this before, Lucario said, his eyes narrowed. I hate it, and at the same time, I love it.
My thoughts precisely, Gardevoir agreed sourly. The rest of my team seemed to share the sentiment (except Vaporeon, who was just snickering at everyone else's reactions).
"Does this count as a good idea? I can't tell," Zoro asked nobody in particular.
"I mean…it's not terrible?" Tashigi responded, audibly conflicted.
"Well, I like it," Bentham grinned.
"It's pretty clever," Franky agreed.
Despite the mixed feelings, no pirate, Marine, bounty hunter, or civilian objected. So that was it.
"All right, everyone," I said, looking back at my team, Zephyr, and the Straw Hats. "Take a good last look around the island because we've got a lot of work ahead of us. The Fish Out of Water's maiden flight will be in one hour."
Aye, Captain, Lucario said with a wry smirk, saluting me.
"Guess it's about time to say our goodbyes, then. We've got our own patrols to get back to now that you're setting out," Smoker said, stepping up to me and extending a hand. "See you around, Lucas."
"Hopefully, for something other than a power-hungry pirate trying to take over the world," I answered, accepting the handshake.
Bentham, though, went for a full-on rib-cracking hug. "Oh, Lucas! You will soar among the heavens, more graceful than any swan! I wish I could be there to see all of it, but duty calls, so I will only leave you this okama's most fervent well-wishes!"
"Thanks… Bentham…" I gasped, taken aback at how strong his grip was. Seriously, arms that wiry had no business being so strong! Thankfully, he let go soon after, letting me catch my breath and semi-seriously check for any actual broken ribs.
Tashigi was… surprisingly hesitant to come forward. I could see her eyes dart back and forth between myself, Smoker, and the rest of my team, before she darted forward, knocking me a step backward with a hug of her own. And it was only because of the hug that I could barely make out her whispered, "I'm sorry."
Wait, what was she apologizing for—oh, that… I quickly squeezed her back, before pulling back and giving her a smile. "You've got nothing to apologize for, got it?" I said encouragingly. "Keep getting stronger and stick to that strong moral compass of yours, and I'll consider us more than even."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucario's eyes glow, and Tashigi nodded, eyes suspiciously shiny behind her glasses, before snapping me a picture-perfect salute and marching off to join Smoker, determination radiating off her. As they left, I turned to the Straw Hats.
"Your Log Pose reset a little bit ago, right?" I asked.
Nami nodded, pulling out the modified compass to show that it was pointing at a very slightly downward angle. "According to Granny Kokoro," she explained, "The Log's pointing towards Fishman Island. And to get there, she said we'll need to go through a place called the Florian Triangle."
Oh, well, I guess that takes care of that. Though it wouldn't be good for them to head into that sort of thing blind…
"I think I remember hearing about the Florian from the Fleet Admiral," I began slowly, noting how the Straw Hats' attention was now firmly on me. "He said it's the base for another Warlord on this side of the Red Line, Gecko Moria."
Usopp gulped. "Another Warlord? Oh, that's just great," he groaned. "Luffy, I think I might've just caught some Can't-go-to-the-Florian-itis, we might have to…" he trailed off as he realized that Luffy wasn't even listening, focused as he was on my explanation. "Oh, no…"
"Officially, I shouldn't allow my subordinates to start an inter-Warlord conflict," I continued, looking all of them in the eyes. "So I will definitely not tell you that heading to the Florian Triangle to pick a fight with Gecko Moria is the most effective way to get dismissed from my protection."
Luffy's grin only grew while half the crew groaned.
"I could have done with keeping it up a while longer," Usopp sighed.
"No way, Usopp," Sanji scoffed. "How are we supposed to get bounties like this?"
"Another rare time when the cook and I agree," Zoro said, smirking.
I left the Straw Hats to their arguing to head into the ship, taking in my new home and headquarters for the first time.
-o-
"Remember when we thought it was ridiculous that we got a small, unfurnished house for free?"
It was. This is simply a thousand times more ludicrous.
I should have been euphoric about everything I was taking in here, but all nine of us were a bit too occupied with being utterly shocked. And we hadn't even gotten past the main deck, mainly because Franky had fitted an entire stadium's length and width of fighting space in front of the bridge, painted lines and all.
That shock only grew as we descended below the deck. Everything from the gun deck, living area, and barracks near the front to the greenhouse, brewery, and engine room near the back was top-notch in a way that was parallel but comparable to Rhode's ships. Best of all, Torterra had no issue maneuvering the passages, broad doors meant for his size triggered by pressure plates going through most of the rooms, especially the greenhouse.
"This is amazing," I said, glee finally slipping through. And soon enough, our cohesiveness as a team gave way to a desire to see what all the place had. Togekiss and Crobat zoomed around the ship, taking in every gunport and entrance, while Vaporeon looked over everything from beneath. Luxray, Houndoom, and Lucario looked at the engine room, which seemed to double as a training room, while Torterra settled amidst the growing trees in the greenhouse. Gardevoir chose to look at the control room in the bridge, updates filtering from her to all of us from everything we took in.
As for me? I wound up in the captain's cabin and living area. My room. And it was a clear attempt at recreating my villa in the Battle Zone. An ornate tray designed to hold eight Pokéballs rested where the TV should have been, and a stationary was on the desk instead of a computer. There were no statues and no sound system, but the music box and even the piano were there. And in place of the painting hung a proud silver flag, the Pokéball surrounded by Arceus's wheel emblazoned upon it.
"Home away from home," I said with a small smile, moving to sit at the piano and absently going over a few notes. Not too competently, mind, as piano lessons had fallen to the wayside long ago, but I remembered enough to string together something semi-coherent.
The sound of a throat clearing behind me interrupted me, and I looked back to see Zephyr giving me a wry smile.
"Lucas, it's been an hour. Everything's finished with my men and cleared with the Fleet Admiral; it's time to go."
I nodded, and Gardevoir called the rest of my team to their stations as I headed for the control room.
-o-
"Alright, so I need to pull this lever here to prime the Dials, this one is thrust for height, that wheel's the maneuvering fins…" I muttered, flipping through the manual Franky had provided. While the cyborg himself obviously wouldn't be on hand if something were to need maintenance while we were out, he'd had the foresight to make a very extensive list of all the possible malfunctions and ways to fix them. And I did mean extensive. Seriously, I don't know when a procedure for "Spontaneous non-energy-based meteor damage" would come in handy. Draco Meteor was an energy-based attack, after all, and according to Dragon, almost all Sky Islands were made of clouds and dirt.
But potential malfunctions aside, Franky was also kind enough to make the ship's controls and maintenance 'idiot-simple' so that figuring things out wouldn't take too long for me or the Marines that Zephyr had brought with him.
"Alright, everything looks set. Engine team, are you guys ready?" I asked the Den-Den Mushi connected to the rest of the ship (and what a world this is, where talking to a Communications Shellos stopped being weird).
"Ready to go on your cue, Champion." That was Jones, one of the Marines who had taken a shine to the engines and (according to Franky) had something of a knack for machinery.
"Alright, then, let's fire it up!"
For a moment, there was only the sounds of machinery coming through the engine room's connection. Then there was a lurch beneath my feet as the Jet Dials activated, churning water from the outside, and the ship started to move. Only forwards, at first, slowly building up speed while the fins caught the incoming wind… until with another powerful lurch upwards, I could see the skyline falling away in front of me, and…
And the Fish Out of Water took flight, tearing free of the waves to soar into the sky above it.
For a long while, I couldn't say or do anything, controlling the ship almost on autopilot as I took in the marvel of engineering that had just occurred… then a wide, unconscious grin tugged at my lips as pure, unfiltered joy surged through me.
I turned to the other Den-Den in the room, one that had Franky's face on it. "All systems are green, and she flies like a dream, Franky." I didn't bother hiding my grin at the cheers from the Straw Hats in the background of the connection. "The Fish out of Water is now mobile and ready to go!"
"SUUUUPER!" the Den-Den Mushi bellowed, and I'm sure that based on the way the thing's neck was flexing Franky was doing his signature pose. "She looks incredible from down here, too!"
The sound of a brief scuffle ensued over the connection, until eventually the Den-Den Mushi assumed the appearance of… a pair of lips, with no other facial features evident. "And where will you be headed with your new flying machine?" Robin's voice asked. Presumably, she'd used her powers to hide the Straw Hats' communicator away from the rest of them.
"Well, I'm going to be checking on the other Warlords like I promised the Fleet Admiral, starting with Boa Hancock. I bet I'll be hearing all about what you guys get up to from Commander Zephyr and Navy HQ, but either way, I'll probably meet you at Sabaody." The archipelago in question was the only gateway between the Paradise and New World halves of the Red Line that pirates could access, in addition to being one of the very few gateways to Fishman Island. And after all the stories Koala had about the place, no way was I going to pass up the chance to visit!
There was a knock at the door, and Zephyr stepped through soon after, followed by Ain, Binz, and the rest of my team. "No problems with the takeoff, I take it?" Zephyr asked, neglecting the magnificent view in exchange for looking around the compartment for any potential issues.
"Everything checks out," I said, adjusting the wheel and feeling the Fish Out of Water respond beneath us. "Next stop, the Calm Belt and Amazon Lily."
At that moment, behind the helm and feeling the entire craft soaring through the sky, the entire world open before me now to explore and seek out new battles, excitement raced through my body of a magnitude I hadn't felt in years—
And I must have gasped at the realization that came to me at that moment, as Zephyr turned to look at me curiously.
"Something wrong, Lucas?"
"No, not really. I just realized exactly how I wound up here now."
Gardevoir's eyes opened, gracing me with the same curious look as the others in the room. I smiled wryly.
"I'll spare you the deeper details, but the Pokémon that sent me here were a cluster of Psychic-types called Unown. Some of the strangest Pokémon in the world, but the more of them that are there, the stronger they are, capable of bending time and space however they want. Or, more commonly, however someone else wants. Their raw power needs a direction to form anything substantial. And for months, I've been trying to figure out exactly how my desire to protect everyone back home from the Unown led to me being flung into this world. But I've finally got it now."
I grinned. "I was giving up one of my favorite parts about being a trainer to take up the mantle of Champion: the freedom to travel anywhere I wanted and test myself against anyone I could find. The freedom to keep growing however I wanted to. The life of a Champion…at some point, it grows stagnant. It's why the position rotates out so often.
"The Unown granted the wish to keep everyone safe. But standing here now, they also gave me what I had been wishing for: a chance for more adventure and exploring, without the opportunity for my responsibilities to force me away from it." I choked on a laugh. "Though maybe part of it was getting somewhere that nobody would recognize me."
That led to everyone laughing.
"Well, that part didn't last long," Ain giggled.
"Nope," I agreed, refocusing on the wheel and the sky ahead. "But the rest…between the way back being something I can't control yet and how much of a difference I can make in this world, it feels like I've been given a chance to keep adventuring without feeling guilty about it. This is a new chance for me. And I'm going to savor every minute of it that I've got left."
So it turns out that a) New jobs tend to take up a lot of the time you would use for writing, b) Non-action/transition-y chapters are still the bane of my writing existence, and c) Patient is an excellent co-author who picked up a lot of my slack here.
But at least it's finally done. Lucas and his team finally have their own ship, and are going to go derail canon even harder or something like that idk I haven't thought that far ahead. What I do know is that you shouldn't think too hard about the length of those time-skips in the chapter. It's mostly an acknowledgment that hey, major feats of engineering are really frickin' difficult to pull off, even for a guy like Franky.