AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so it's nice to see so many people following this story already. I have a P –atreon so if you want to support me and future works, link is in my profile.
"It's finished! Luffy's pirate flag!"Luffy shouted from somewhere out on deck, his voice loud enough that even in the men's bedroom it woke me up. I groaned tiredly as I was suddenly roused from my sleep, grabbing the blanket that was covering me I pulled it up over my head before rolling over onto my side to get back to sleep. In the half aware haze of still being partially asleep I had overlooked a very pertinent fact.
That fact being that I was not in a bed as I was used to but instead in a hammock suspended several feet above the ground. My attempt to go back to sleep had the opposite effect as my attempted roll had me falling out of the hammock and down the several feet to the floor. Landing face down with a loud thump, nose colliding painfully with the planks.
"Ow." I wheezed into the floor just before I rolled onto my back, staring up at the bottom of the hammock and the wood ceiling beyond it. Bringing one hand up to my nose I gingerly checked to see if it was broken or bleeding. It wasn't, instead it was already beginning to swell. I'd need to put some ice on that.
"You okay in there Vebulus?" Luffy shouted sounding concerned. "I'm fine, just forgot that I was sleeping in a hammock...again." I responded even as I forced myself up into a sitting position.
"Shihihihihi, that's the fourth time you've done that you should be more careful. Anyways hurry up I wanna show off our new flag!"
I groaned in response as the hand that had been checking my nose went up to rub my blurry eyes. While with the other hand I searched blindingly for my shirt and shoes. It wasn't a dignified start to the morning, or as a quick glance at my phone informed me, 11am. Which was still technically morning so it counted.
One wonders how, when on the island I woke up bright and early before dawn, I was now waking up nearly halfway through the day barely awake. The answer was as simple as it was tragic, I had gotten used to sleeping in almost complete silence on a bed, not in a room with three other people while I hung in a hammock. Suffice to say I hadn't slept well in the several days since we left the island behind and not just because of the noise either.
I'd never tried sleeping in a hammock before now so mornings had become an exercise in pain and frustration. I could manage to get into the hammock easily enough, even the sleeping wasn't hard, the part that I was continuing to fail at was getting out of it without getting tangled or hurt. It was mornings like this that had my longing for the bed I had left behind on the shipwreck. As my hand bumped against the sides of my boots I set that train of thoughts aside. In order to focus on getting my boots on.
Once the boots were securely laced up I pushed myself up onto my feet, snagging my jacket and shirt with one hand from where they hung by the hammock. The clothes that I had found myself wearing when I had arrived in the world of One Piece were actually holding up quite well still, the clothes hadn't faded nor did they seem to be the least bit worn. Honestly I couldn't be sure if V had done some kind of magic to keep them this way, if clothes in the One Piece world were just made stronger, or if it was Devil Fruit bullshit. Whatever the reason it was convenient.
Deciding that I had dallied long enough in my waking up and getting dressed I pushed the door to the room open and stepped out onto the deck to see whatever Luffy had been so excited about. Already out on deck and waiting for my arrival was the rest of the crew. "Alright Luffy everyone's here now so can you please explain what you've been yelling about?" Nami pleaded with her hands on her hips.
"I present to you our Pirate Emblem!" Luffy shouted as he unfurled the black cloth that he had been holding under one arm. On the cloth was a picture of a badly painted skull and crossbones, a straw hat perched on the top of the head.
"A pirate flag ought to inspire terror. And this is pretty scary." Zoro said while giving the flag such a look that it should have set the flag on fire. I nodded mechanically to Zoro's words, unable to look away from the horror before me.
"You like it then?" It took everything that I had to pull my eyed upwards to meet Luffy's, his grin so wide that it was almost blinding. The answer was an obvious no even if I tried to be diplomatic about it. "Luffy, I can honestly say that painting is not part of your skill set."
"What Vebulus is saying Luffy is that your painting stinks! Let me try!" The speed at which Usopp sketched out and painted a new emblem was impressive. Just as impressive was the trio of bumps on his head when he presented the flag from Luffy, Zoro, and me smacking him upside the head for it. A long nosed Usopp emblem was not going to be the flag, no matter how well done it was.
At Nami's suggestion a new flag was made with Luffy's flag used as an outline and Usopp being the one to paint it. Nami studying the flag silently for a minute before nodding. "Good, I like it!"
Looking over Nami's shoulder I couldn't help smiling at the image of the iconic flag. A feeling of giddiness welled up in my breast, one that was so powerful that it took effort to not burst into laughter. The feeling of giddiness coming from my realization that everything I had read about I'd now get to be part of.
"We should paint it on the sail as well. Make it really stand out that way." I suggested, a bit of the giddiness leaking into my voice. My suggestion was met with an enthusiastic response from the group. A few minutes later I was supporting a wooden plank that Usopp was using as a seat while he painted the sails. The plank being held up by a combination of chains, pulleys, and strength. We had started by just having me hold Usopp up with my chains but that hadn't proven to be stable enough for the work which was how we had ended up using the plank. Even with Zoro and Nami helping hold Usopp steady we were all tired by the time the sail was finished. "It's complete! Our pirate ship, the Going Merry, is ready!"
I stood staring up at the sail as Zoro, Nami, and Usopp variously flopped or sat down on the deck. I felt a bit like joining them but I was too busy staring, besides it was only my arms that were really sore. As my gaze began to sink down from the sail I realized something concerning. While all of us had been focused on the sail Luffy had been left to his own devices, who knew what he could have gotten up to!
"Boom!" My frantic looking around to find Luffy was interrupted almost as soon as it began by the jarring sound of a cannon firing. As smoke drifted on by I turned my head slowly towards the prow of the ship. Where Luffy was still standing next to recently fired cannon. Honestly it was impressive that somehow Luffy moving a whole cannon around had avoided my notice.
"Luffy, what are you doing?" I said, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind. It was kind of obvious what he was doing, firing a cannon, the reason why he was doing so was what I was trying to figure out.
"Target practice. I'm trying to hit that rock over there but this cannon doesn't work right." As he spoke Luffy pointed a finger at a spire of rock off in the distance.
"The cannon works fine Luffy you just don't know how to aim. Usopp could you show Luffy how it's done?" Walking up beside Luffy, Usopp spent a couple of seconds moving the cannon before firing it. The cannonball hit the spire of rock dead center blowing off much of the top half. Luffy seemed impressed and was congratulating Usopp on his excellent marksmanship when his stomach growled. Seconds later my own stomach let out it's own growl, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything yet either. "I'll see what I can make."
"Make lots okay Vebulus!" Luffy shouted. I waved a hand over my shoulder at him to indicate that I'd heard.
Heading into the galley I took quick stock of the supplies still on hand, they were lower then I'd expected meaning that after I had made something to eat I'd need to fetch more. Keeping up with the insatiable stomach that was Luffy was a real chore. Secretly I was glad that Sanji would be getting recruited soon mostly because it would mean that I wasn't acting cook any longer. Eventually I decided upon using up the last of the venison, slapping the meat down onto the grill once it was hot enough.
The portion of the meal that I had prepared for myself was soon safely in my stomach, the leftovers set aside for Luffy to snap up. Before exiting the galley I set the kettle on so that there would be a fresh batch of tea for everyone else. As I exited the galley I passed the rest of the crew coming up the stairs with Luffy in the lead as I went down the stairs to the door to the storage room. Pushing open the door I began collecting the extra rations and supplies that should last for the next couple of days. While I was working I could hear the group in the galley discussing the need for an cook, Luffy declaring that we also needed a musician.
"Come out and fight, dogs! I'll murder the lot of you!" I was so focused on listening to the conversation taking place above me and what I was doing that the sudden shouting from outside startled me. Chains shoot out in every direction before pulling back to curl around me defensively. I was just about to poke my head out of the storage room to see what was going on when there was the sound of wood splintering. Then everything went red.
Luffy slammed the door to the galley open, glaring down at the tanned man wearing a blue hooded jacket, tan pants, sunglasses and holding a sword who had smashed a couple of their barrels. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
The man seemed to glare upwards at Luffy, lifting his sword threateningly. "What's it... to you..who I am!" And with that the man charged, swinging his sword at Luffy and the railing he was standing behind.
The door to the storage room slammed open a veritable flood of chains shooting out from the portal. The chains appearance was so sudden that both Luffy and the man froze. Which proved to be a mistake as the chains curved through the air and homed in on the pair, wrapping them both up so tightly that Luffy was finding it hard to not only escape but to draw breath.
Vebulus stepped out from inside of the storage room, a layer of spiked chains covering him from head to toe with only his face left visible. Vebulus's eyes fixated first on Luffy and then onto the other man, chains yanking backwards to drag both of them directly in front of Vebulus. Their feet dangling a foot off the ground.
"Now...neither of you were thinking about causing damage to this ship with your little scuffle, were you?" Vebulus's words were low, holding an edge to them that was absent in his usual manner of speech, and full of the promise that bad things would occur if he didn't like the answer.
"Hahahaha! Of course not Vebulus! Right friend?!" Luffy shouted, faking the laughter even as he tried to wiggle an arm free to wrap it around the stranger.
"Yes. Yes! Of course, best friends!" The stranger shouted back even as he to struggled to wrap an arm around Luffy.
There was a long pause as Vebulus just stared at them both, eyes flicking back and forth between them. Finally the chains loosened and set them down onto the deck, slowly unwinding until they were both free. The chains that were wrapped around Vebulus falling away just before he swayed in place, barely catching himself against the wall.
I blinked slowly as the red faded from my vision and wondered when in the hell I had gotten out onto the deck also why I was leaning against the wall feeling drained. The second question was why in the hell Luffy and this random guy in a blue hoodie were pretending to be friendly. While I was in the process of trying to figure out just what was going on Zoro stepped out from inside of the galley.
"Huh? Johnny, what are you doing here? Where's Yosaku?" Zoro looked about as confused as I felt at the moment as he looked down at Luffy and Johnny, still with an arm thrown over each others shoulders. Since everyone visible at the moment had their attention fixed on each other I took the chance to dip back into the storage room and grab the supplies I had dropped. Soon as I had them safely in hand I headed for the stairs.
"That's right! Listen to me, Yosaku is dying!" I had made it halfway up the stairs when Johnny dropped that bombshell onto us. What followed was a frantic scramble as Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp helped Johnny bring Yosaku over from the ship and onto the Merry. The group then clustering around the wheezing Yosaku who did not appear to be in the best of conditions. I came back out from the galley after putting away the supplies in time to catch what Johnny said next.
"He was fine until a few days ago then he became pale and started passing out. Now his teeth are falling out and he's bleeding from old wounds." I felt my ears perk up at that statement and briefly shared a knowing look with Nami before stepping back into the galley to start squeezing limes.
I couldn't hear all of what was being said from inside the galley, but I did catch enough to get the general idea. Johnny had gone to rest at the rock only for it to get shot at by Luffy and Usopp. The pair ending up apologizing for what they had done.
Johnny rejecting the apology because he believe that Yosaku was going to die. Which was shortly followed by Nami shouting loud enough that I could easily hear her. "Don't be stupid! He's not going to die he just has scurvy! Vebulus bring out the juice!"
Mug of freshly squeezed juice in hand I briskly descended the stairs before kneeling down next to Yosaku. Tilting his head upwards just a tiny bit before starting to pour the juice slowly into his mouth. Ready to pull the mug back if he showed any signs of choking. "Okay, with luck he should make a full recovery in a few days."
"Wow! Really sister?!" I could practically hear Nami sighing in annoyance at being addressed in such a fashion by Johnny. Deciding that I should probably spare her from too much of Johnny's attention I spoke up.
"Scurvy has been the bane of sailors for ages. But the fact is that its caused by poor nutrition, because on long voyages fruits and vegetables rot. This is a basic thing that one should know if you want to survive at sea."
Luffy and Usopp stared at me blankly for long moments as they processed what I had just said. While they were doing that Yosaku had jumped up and broken into a dance with Johnny much to my shock. How the heck had he recovered that fast?!
A quick round of introductions followed where Johnny and Yosaku introduced themselves as Zoro's old bounty-hunting partners. As thanks for saving their lives the duo ended up informing us about the nearby floating restaurant Baratie. Johnny also mentioning that there were rumors that a hawk eyed man was known to frequent the place. Something that Zoro took immediate notice of.
Right Mihawk had shown up during this arc, Zoro had challenged him to a duel and lost badly. Pursing my lips thoughtfully I set about trying to dredged up what else I remembered about the arc. I recalled that Johnny and Yosaku would end up staying with us for this arc and the next one before they departed.
There was also a marine ship that had fired on the Merry only for Luffy to bounce the shot back in the wrong direction. Which of course hit the Baratie and they had made Luffy work as a chore boy to pay off the debt. Gin had shown up from somewhere and gotten fed then came back later with Krieg who was also fed. Of course after Krieg had recovered he'd decided to take the Baratie by force. That was when Mihawk had shown up and Nami had stolen the ship to head back to Arlong. I was pulled from further musings by Luffy waving one hand in my face.
"Huh? Sorry Luffy, guess I got a little lost in my thoughts there."
"Shihihihihi, I could tell! You practically had steam coming out of your ears. I wanted to ask you about that super cool move you did with the chains to me and Johnny?!"
A blink, followed shortly by a second blink before I responded. "What super cool move?"
"You know the one where you had all these spiky and sharp chains wrapped around you like armor then had a bunch of other chains wrap tightly around us, using way more chains then I thought you could control!"
I blinked once more, my expression one of utter confusion. It was pronounced enough that even Luffy noticed and grabbing my hand he dragged me over to a pile of chains just laying there on deck. "See these chains!" He said as if somehow seeing the chains would explain the whole thing.
"Sorry, I've got no idea of what I could have possibly done."
"Well once you figure it out it will be a really awesome super move!" And clearly having said everything he was going to say on the matter walked off. Leaving me there baffled with two conflicting emotions, the first being mysticism at how he thought I could figure out a move I couldn't remember doing. The second being an overwhelming urge to throttle my captain.
In the end neither emotion won out, which was how Nami found me in the galley an hour later. Head resting on the table as I stared unseeingly at the wall, an empty cup held in one hand. She found a seat across from me, setting down a book that she started working on.
We sat in silence for a while that was broken only by the gentle scratching of Nami's quill in the book before she finally decided to speak. "So Vebulus what's the combination to your safe?"
"Try 4200." Ever since I had boarded the ship whenever me and Nami happened to be alone for any length of time she would attempt to get me to reveal the combination. In turn I would give her a random number, usually something stupid or that would make me mentally giggle. It was a testament to how determined Nami was and how many times she caught me alone that I was running out of interesting combinations. I'd already gone through 8008, 6969, 3145, 6789, and 1234.
In a desperate bid to avoid further questions I headed out onto the deck once more, gathering up all of the chains from whatever Luffy said I had done. I carried them with me to the back of the ship where Nami's tangerine tree's would one day be and sat down. How had I managed to create a length of chain where each individual link was bladed? There must be some difference between the way I was creating the chains normally and the way I had created these chains.
Closing my eyes I went over what I had felt just before seeming to pass out. I was listening to Luffy and Johnny talk before hearing the sound of wood breaking after that it was just blank. Letting out a groan I pressed the palms of my hands against my eyes. Why? Why couldn't I remember what had happened? Luffy had been no help having somehow failed to realize to I was clueless as to what he was saying. But Johnny had been there as well which meant that I could ask him.
Questioning Johnny turned out to be the correct choice in the end as he explained everything that he had seen. Afterwards I returned to the back of the ship and the pile of chains. Picking up one of the chains I ran it slowly through my hands, careful to not cut myself.
It was anger, anger at the possibility of Merry getting damaged that had allowed me to do two things that I didn't believe I could do. Create a bladed length of chain and control more chains then I thought I could. Did that mean that right now the limitations I thought I had only existed in my head?
Several hours and a splitting headache from concentrating so hard found me no closer to replicating the process then when I had started. I had given it my best shot for today though and figured that was more then enough practice for one day. Plus with the way my head was hurting I probably wouldn't manage anything else.
The next day I found myself up early for once, somehow the introduction of more people had helped me sleep easier. Additionally I had managed to get out of the hammock without landing on my face, so I was making some progress. I crept out of the room careful to not disturb anyone, not that I needed to be careful since nothing short of a stampede of elephants was going to wake the men up.
Out on deck I found that I wasn't the only one that had gotten up early. Zoro was exercising with single minded devotion, eyes fixed on the horizon. Settling down on the stairs I watched Zoro for a few minutes before speaking. "The hawk eyed man that Johnny mentioned, why is he so important to you?"
Zoro hesitated breaking the flow of his workout but quickly picking it back up before he answered. "That man is supposed to be the greatest swordsman in the world, Hawk Eye Mihawk. I want to challenge him and see how my skills match up."
"Do you think that you can beat him?" It was a question that I expected I already knew the answer to. Which was probably why his actual answer was so unexpected.
"No. I don't think I can beat him yet but I need to see how big the gap between us is."
"What?!" Zoro once more paused in his workout, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, I was just expecting a different answer after knowing you for a few days." I responded quickly, earning me a shrug before Zoro went back to his workout. When a few minutes had passed without further conversation I got up to start going through some stretches of my own. Only once I felt that I had stretched out enough did I start on my actual workout. A combination of exercises to improve my stamina and speed that Zoro had suggested once I'd joined the crew. They were proving to be a huge improvement over the cobbled together exercises that I had been using on the island, even if at times they proved to be even more exhausting. After the workout I did a few more stretches to cool down just before Zoro suggested that we should spar. He wanted to see how I fought and offer any suggestions that he could.
The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out over the water as we sparred, the rhythmic noise broken whenever Zoro defeated me. Whenever he did he would point out a flaw in how I moved or something that I could have done better. That probably more than the spar itself was starting to give me ideas about how I should go about fighting in the future.
A mix of mainly mid to long range techniques but with the ability to handle those that tried to get close. Squishy as I currently was though it would be safer if I avoided fighting at close range if at all possible. I had my doubts however that I would manage that particular task, not with the adventures that the Straw Hats would get up to.
The sun was high in the sky when Johnny's shout from the front of the ship brought all of us running. Bobbing in the water a short ways off was the Baratie, a white beacon to those that were seeking a meal. Joining in with the excited cries that everyone else was making, I felt something tickling at my nose. Taking a deep breath the smell of cooking filled my nose and I could feel my mouth start to water. God that smelled heavenly, making me regret that we weren't already at the restaurant.
As we all stared at the Baratie and Marine ship pulled into view alongside of us. A man in a suit with a set of metal knuckle dusters over one hand stepping out onto the deck, head turning to stare in our direction. "Unknown Pirates huh... I am lieutenant Ironfist Fullbody, minister of the Navy. Who is the captain of this...tub?"
I bristled at the implied insult to Merry, clenching my hands around the nearest railing to prevent myself from doing anything rash. At the very least not yet, that could come later.
"Monkey D Luffy, we made our flag yesterday."
"They made their flag yesterday, Johnny!" Yosaku managed to get out over his laughter even as Johnny was holding his sides as he joined in the laughter.
"And what does it say about the two of you that you got beaten and then saved by those same pirates?" That comment immediately sobered them up and the looks of betrayal that they shot at me almost making me crack a smile.
Fullbody noticed the pair, head tilting slightly to the side. After a moment his expression shifted to that of one finding something unpleasant on their shoe. "Well, well, if it isn't Johnny and Yosaku, a pair of pathetic bounty hunters that hang around Naval bases looking for scraps. It's not surprising that ones as pathetic as you got beaten." Roaring in rage the two bounty hunters took a running start and leaped across the several feet between the two ships. Johnny was the first to reach Fullbody, bringing his sword downwards in an over head swing. Fullbody stepped aside to let the blow whistle harmlessly past him before slamming the hand with the knuckle dusters into Johnny's gut. Even as Johnny started to bend over wheezing for air, Fullbody's other hand came scything in from the side to deliver a powerful hammer blow to Johnny's face. Yosaku let out an animalistic howl at seeing his partner injured before closing the distance between himself and Fullbody. Yosaku trying a quick one two cut only for Fullbody to weave out of the way of the first cut and parry the second by smashing the flat of the blade with his knuckle dusters. Before Yosaku could try again Fullbody was upon him, the Marine rapidly punching Yosaku in the face until he fell over. Picking both bounty hunters up by their shirt collars Fullbody shook his head and tutted before flinging them both back onto Merry's deck.
"You pirates are lucky that it happens to be my day off, so as long as you stay out of my sight I'll ignore you." As Fullbody spoke he pulled out a handkerchief to clean the blood off of his hands before turning away from us. The ship he was on tacking away from us until it was presenting only its bow to us. Well that and the cannon that was pointed straight in our direction. My eyes only part of the way through widening in surprise when with a roar the cannon fired.
"Chain..., Gum Gum.." Simultaneously me and Luffy acted. Luffy jumping into the path of the cannonball even as a heavy iron sphere and chain formed in my before I threw it like a shot put.
"Shot! Balloon!" My throw was just a smidge too slow to connect with the incoming cannonball, passing uselessly though the space the ball had occupied seconds earlier. Luffy was just in time though, inflating like a gigantic balloon and deflecting the cannonball away. Not back at the Marine ship though but instead straight into the second story of the Baratie.
Deflating back to his normal size Luffy scratched the back of his head. "Oops guess I need more target practice. I should apologize."
"Luffy if you need money to pay for the repairs we can use some from the emergency stash." It's not like we couldn't pay for it since we did have the money.
"No, I was the only one who did damage so I should be the one to pay for it. Besides I've got a feeling that I'll find our cook here." I couldn't actually argue with that since he was correct, Sanji would be joining the crew after this. So with some careful steering the Going Merry was soon resting at anchor beside the Baratie. Luffy had decided that he would go in alone which left the rest of us sitting around on the ship.
"Soooo..." I started drawing out the word. "Is this kind of thing common with him?"
"Yeah. Pretty much. Yep." Zoro, Usopp, and Nami answered from where they were sitting. Zoro had his eyes closed in preparation for taking a nap, Usopp was tinkering with something that I couldn't make out from my current angle, and Nami was looking through the bounty posters that Johnny had dropped, her eyes unfocused as if she was deep in thought. I lasted a total of 5 minute before boredom overcame me. Pushing myself to my feet I stretched with my arms above my head until my back popped. "I'm going for a walk." Usopp, Nami, Johnny, and Yosaku offering distracted waves in my general direction before I descended the gangplank.
I wasn't walking just to stretch my legs however, after all I had a goal in mind for this trip. A little bit of payback to the Navy for having shot at us. I strode around the outside of the Baratie until I was as close to the Marine ship as I could get without seeming suspicious. I even waved my left hand at the two Marines that were visible on deck, both of who were glaring at me, before leaning against the railing and pretending to stare off into the distance.
A common trick of showmen is to use one hand to distract the audience from what the other hand was up to. The wave in this case acting as the distraction while my other hand, tucked in close and practically hidden by my body, was creating a length of chain that quietly slid into the water. I had thought that contact with seawater would have instantly negated my control over the chain but as I had learned from my experiments that was not the case. No idea why, just that that was how it worked.
As I leaned against the railing creating lengths of chain that slipped into the water I was also controlling them. Carefully wrapping the chains around the deployed anchors until they were so weighted down that it would be impossible to pull them back up. Once that was finished the last couple of chains were wrapped around the rudder to jam it up. I couldn't be sure that it would actually work all that well considering my limited knowledge of how other ship's moved but it was worth a shot.
It was while I was finishing wrapping the chains around the anchors that I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A scruffy looking man was creeping silently down the gangplank. Our eyes met for a moment, his body tensing up upon realizing that he had been spotted. However as my eyes swept past him without me raising any kind of fuss he relaxed giving me a quick nod before darting out of sight. Once I was satisfied with my sabotage and believed that Gin had enough of a head start, I offered a cheeky wave to the Marines still on deck before walking back the way I came.
My walk took me around to the entrance of the Baratie just in time to see Gin shooting a Marine in the shoulder. The soldiers body falling forward as Gin walked past him. It was strange but despite seeing something so gruesome I didn't feel queasy in the least. I'd never encountered such a situation in my life before was this just how I would feel if confronted such things or did it have something to do with being here? It was a question that I couldn't answer and maybe I never would. I guess in a way what the answer was didn't matter, just as long as I could continue down my chosen path with my head held high.
Arms crossed I leaned against the doorway watching the inside of the restaurant as Gin slouched into a seat, one leg kicked up onto the table. It was honestly impressive how unafraid he was despite being surrounded by hostile cooks and panicking customers. "Hey, bring me food. Anything will do. This is a mess joint, ain't it?"
"Welcome squid-face!" Patty replied, at least I think it was Patty, who had probably the fakest grin I'd ever seen plastered across his face. Seriously showing that number of teeth was just unnatural.
"I'm only going to say this once more, I'm a customer so bring me food!" Gin wasn't even bothering to look towards Patty as he responded, practically ignoring the other man.
"Pardon monsewer, but can you pay?" This question from Patty made Gin's head snap up so that he was glaring at Patty, one hand reaching down to grab his pistols grip. "You take lead?" He asked as the gun was leveled inches away from Patty's skull.
"So you don't got any money then." Patty didn't seem fazed in the slightest despite the gun pointed at his head. Even as he spoke however Patty was moving his hands together, fingers lacing. The movement was so smooth that I didn't even realize what Patty was going to do until he swung his arms up over his head before bringing them down on Gin's head hard. There was a loud crack as the chair shattered, Gin's foot even hitting the table hard enough that part of it snapped off.
"If you can't afford to pay you ain't a customer. Which means I don't have to play nice." Patty then proceeded to beat the stuffing out of Gin drawing the eyes of the whole restaurant. Which was the perfect excuse for Fullbody to slip out of the the Baratie, my eyes tracking him as he headed back to his ship. He was so focused on getting away that he didn't even take notice that I was there, someone else did notice me however. Luffy shooting me a grin before nodding in Patty's direction and then giving me a questioning look. I shook my head before inclining it towards Sanji who was still standing there smoking.
Luffy's grin grew even wider as he turned his attention to the blonde haired cook, but not before I managed to give him a matching grin of my own. It was time to let Luffy do what he did best, recruit reluctant crewmates, while I headed back to the Merry.
"Vebulus what did you do?! Ever since you went for you walk things have gotten crazy around here!" Nami shouted before I had even managed to set foot on the gangplank.
"Like I said earlier I was taking a walk, it just happened to become a very enthusiastic walk. Also Luffy seems to have found who he wants as his cook so we might be here for a bit." Before I could saying anything else there was the tortured squeal of metal grinding against itself. Fullbody's ship appeared to be trying to raise the anchors, the mechanisms clearly not up to the task of lifting the increased load that I had provided. Eventually they were forced to abandoned the anchors, letting them sink to the bottom of the sea in order to actually depart. They didn't appear to have any trouble with maneuvering so either my sabotage had failed or I hadn't done it properly. Ah well one out of two wasn't so bad.
As the Marine ship became little more then a speck in the distance Nami clapped her hands before looking at Zoro, Usopp, and me all signs of her earlier exasperation gone."So who else is hungry?" It turned out that all of us were hungry for a decently prepared meal. Well at least one with more variety then I could provide. Again while I could cook I was not a cook, meals tending towards the simple with no flourishes and little in the way of spices.
That was how we found ourselves sitting around a table inside the Baratie waiting for the food to arrive. All the signs of the earlier scuffle having been swept away with surprising efficiency. "Hey guys, here's your food." I blinked as I found Luffy setting our plates on the table, none of which appeared to have been eaten from!
"Okay who are you and what have you done with Luffy? Cause there is literally no way that Luffy wouldn't have eaten all the food on these plates." I asked jokingly, my lips quirked into a half smile to show that I wasn't being serious. Luffy could control himself with food, it was just extremely rare when he did so.
"Hey! The only reason that I'm controlling myself is because it's you guys! Plus I snagged food from the kitchen before hand." That got several seconds of stunned silence out of those of us gathered around the table before we all burst into laughter. That certainly sounded more like the Luffy that we knew, only once the laughter bad died down did Usopp manage to get a word in.
"Uh, well thanks Luffy. How long are you going to have to work here to pay off the damage you caused?"
"The old guy in charge said a year."
"Uh I'd rather not take an entire year to continue our voyage, especially one that I just joined. You sure you don't want to break into the emergency stash?" I asked even as I shared a look with everyone at the table. No one looking excited at the prospect of waiting an entire year in this general area.
"Not yet, I still haven't recruited our new cook yet. Oh I should introduce you to him. Hey Sanji! Come over here and meet my mates." Sanji looked up from the wine bottle he was pouring, one swirly eyebrow raised in curiosity. After a moment he set the bottle down, offering a wink at the woman whose glass he had been filling, before strolling unhurried over to our table. Ignoring the woman's date who had steam issuing from his ears.
"So this is your crew then Chore Boy?" Sanji asked eyes slowly moving from Luffy, to Zoro, to me, to Usopp, then finally fixing on Nami. "Mademoiselle your beauty is without compare, you are a shining star upon the sea! Alas that the obstacles between us be so great!" Sanji cried out his eyes turning into hearts even as he clasped Nami's hand. I rolled my eyes and then shared a grin with Luffy when he noticed my expression.
"Obstacles, Sanji? Just go and follow your heart already and become a pirate. Your services aren't needed here anymore." Glancing around Zoro I could see Zeff leaning against a chair, arms crossed as he glared at Sanji. That was a really tall hat how did he manage to get anything done without it falling off.
"I'm the assistant chef here and you know there isn't a better cook then me. Besides I still owe you geezer." Zeff snorted before throwing up his hands and stalking off. Now my memory of the exactly what occurred during the Baratie Arc wasn't perfect but I could have sworn that this exchange had been more heated and involved at least one broken table. I couldn't think of a reason as to why anything would have changed so I set the question aside, it probably wasn't important.
Returning my focus to the table I found that while I was distracted Sanji had delivered some kind of fruity dessert to Nami and was even now pouring wine into her glass with his other hand. Both items I was positive he hadn't been holding in his hands the last time I looked, a quick glance around failing to provide a clue as to were he had been hiding the items. After that the rest of the meal passed peacefully Sanji eventually dragging Luffy back to work.
Since Luffy was stuck working as a chore boy and continued to refuse my daily attempts to just pay for the repairs, we ended up staying the next two days anchored alongside the Baratie. Johnny and Yosaku making full recoveries from the injured dealt to them by Fullbody, the daily regiment of juice 3 times a day to Yosaku stamping out any last bits of scurvy in his body. Nami kept to herself not even trying to get the safe combination out of me if we happened to end up in a room together. At times I'd run into her flipping through the bounty posters while gazing off into the distance.
Usopp practically locked himself in the storage room, tinkering with something. Whenever anyone would ask he'd give them the run around, leaving the questioner with even less of an idea what Usopp was up to then when they'd asked in the first place. Out of probably everyone else on the crew Zoro wasn't up to anything strange or mysterious. He spent the days doing what he always did exercising, sparring with me, or sleeping.
I spent much of the time that I wasn't engaged in sparring with Zoro either trying to figure out how to create bladed chains, the chain armor, or control more then 4 chains at once. Whenever I grew too frustrated with my lack of progress or the headaches got too bad I'd go and take a nap in my favorite spot on the ship, the crows nest. I found the swaying of the mast to be especially soothing for my headaches.
I was taking a nap in the crow's nest after a particularly exhausting spar with Zoro when a shout from down below yanked me back to the land of the living. Sitting up I was in the process of peering down at the deck to find out what the shouting was about when my eyes landed upon the likely source of the commotion. Less sailing and more just barely floating along Krieg's ship was approaching the Baratie, and oh boy was it a wreck!
The ship looked like it had gone 10 rounds with a hurricane and lost badly. It was surprising to see that the ship was even managing to stay afloat, until I noticed that most of the damage was confined to the upper sections. Somewhere deep in my gut I felt a pang of sorrow at the treatment of such a fine ship. Clearly Don Krieg had never bothered to pay an once of actual respect to the vessels that had carried him.
I felt a burning desire to say something, anything, in prayer for the ship. "Oh Davy Jones, take this ship to it's final rest, I know not it's name only that after today it shall no longer sail these sea's, though it's crew may not have treated it well, please keep it safe in your memory." I wasn't sure where the words that I spoke came from, only that in that moment they seemed right. The way the planks beneath my feet were creaking it was almost like Merry was speaking along with me. Glancing down I could see that the crew were panicking over the continued approach of Krieg's ship.
They weren't the only ones who were panicking judging by the sudden stampede of people exiting the Baratie. Which probably proved to be for the best since seconds later the sounds of gunfire echoed out from inside of the restaurant, it seemed that Krieg was feeling well enough to become violent at least. As shouts continued to erupt from within the restaurant Zoro and Usopp took one look at each other before rushing to provide assistance to Luffy.
As the sounds of fighting grew louder and louder Johnny and Yosaku started to shoot nervous glances from the Baratie to Krieg's ship. It seemed like for a moment they were going to do something only to duck down behind the railing when Don Krieg stepped out of the restaurant carrying a large bag of food over his shoulder. They had only just gotten back to their feet when Nami shoved them over the railing. She then started to scramble around the ship pulling up the anchors and gangplank before unfurling the sails.
Apparently in Nami's rush to steal away with the Going Merry she had been forgotten about me. Grabbing onto the rope ladder that I had used to get up in the first place I quickly made my way back down. Jumping off of the ladder to fall the last several feet with a heavy thump. Nami whipped around to stare at me in shock, mouth hanging open. We stood there staring at each other, Nami in shock, and me with a studiously blank expression.
"I thought you were off the ship since no one had seen you in a while."
"I was taking a nap in the crow's nest. Look I'm not gonna ask why your doing this right now, that can wait until we've gotten further away. Instead I'm going to perch myself as a lookout at the front of the ship while you steer." Having said my piece I spun around on my heel and walked casually to the front, a length of chain wrapping around the railing just in case. After several minutes of silence Nami finally called out. "See anything?"
"Yeah a guy in what appears to be a floating coffin with a massive sword on his back." While Mihawk wasn't directly in our way he was passing for too closely for comfort. Too close in this case being anywhere within line of sight. Our eyes met, and my brain felt like it seized up for a moment.
Mihawk's eyes tracked the sheep figure headed Caravel as it passed well within range of his abilities. Standing on the main deck and watching Mihawk was a man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. The two figures studied each other, Mihawk with a caution born from years of battle, the brown haired man with curiosity. Deciding to test this curious watcher Mihawk's arm twitched towards Yoru, where it sat at his back.
That simple movement provoked an immediate reaction, spiked and barbed chains shot out from the man's body, hovering and curling over and under each other like a many headed hydra. Then the man spoke, his voice colder then most winter islands. "Harm so much as a single nail on this ship and not even death will stop me from hunting you down."
One eyebrow rose in surprise as Mihawk stared into the man's eyes. There weren't many things that could actually surprise him anymore, which was probably why the second surprise completely floored him. The world fell away around him replaced by nothing but chains that stretched out in all directions, smothering and crushing everything that they came in contact with, in the center floating atop the chains as if they were waves was the ship he had just been watching. The chains were protecting that ship, ready and willing to destroy everything that would try to harm it.
The moment passed and the world snapped back into focus around Mihawk as the man on the ship swayed and nearly collapsed. How interesting, Mihawk thought as his gaze turned from the caravel to the ship that he had been hunting and the Baratie just beyond it. Perhaps this trip wouldn't be a total waste, as he wished to see the kind of captain that could inspire such devotion to a ship from a member of its crew.
I found myself swaying in place, the last couple of seconds of memory totally blank except for the uneasy feeling that I had just narrowly avoided death. Mihawk had floated past the ship in those couple of seconds, no longer looking in my direction even if I swore I could still feel him watching me. A hand dropped onto my shoulder making me jump and whirl around, heart beating a million miles per second, to find Nami standing there with her hand still outstretched.
"What did you do? I heard you saying there was a man in a coffin floating on by then the next thing out of your mouth was you saying that if he damaged a single nail on the ship that not even death would stop you from hunting him." As my legs gave out beneath me and I sank to the ground, my mouth hanging open in slack jawed surprise. I had just threatened Mihawk of all people and somehow lived through it. I didn't even know why I had done it either, just like before with Johnny and Luffy I had no memory of the event. Looking up at Nami I closed my mouth and tried to swallow, my mouth dry. "I think I just threatened the greatest swordsman in the world, who also happens to be one of the seven Warlords of the sea."
"You did what?!" Nami shouted just before she brought her fist down onto my head. Stars danced in my vision as I tenderly poked the newly formed bump on my head. The only plus side was that I remained conscious, good to know the gummys were actually doing their job.
"Ooww..you didn't need to hit me, I'm smart enough to know when I've done something stupid."
"That remains to be seen." She huffed, for a moment she looked like she was planning on saying more but instead just sighed. Holding out a hand she helped me back onto my feet before stepping away, arms crossed defensively.
"Since it looks like we're out of danger for the moment do you wanna tell me just what this is all about?" Nami sighed deeply as I asked my question remaining silent at first. Eventually in starts and stops she told me the whole story, of Cocoyashi village, of her sister Nojiko, of Bellmere, of Arlong and his Fishmen, and of the deal she had made with him. I didn't interrupt her during the retelling of her story, instead waiting till the end to say anything.
"That's why you've been trying so hard to get the combination off of me. So that you can get the money inside."
"Yeah, with that money plus everything that I've already stole and hid away I'll be at 99 million berri. Almost enough to buy the villages freedom." She looked so happy when she spoke of freeing the village that it hurt me to say what I was going to say next.
"Nami you have to know Arlong won't keep his word, he won't free you or the village just because you've fulfilled your side of the deal. He values too much to ever free you." Nami's eyes snapped up to meet mine as she scowled, her expression thunderous.
"You don't know anything! He'll keep his word, he has to otherwise...otherwise..." She trailed off into silence and looked away, fingers digging into her arms as she held them tight. Sighing deeply I ran one hand through my hair, then titled my head back until I was looking up at the sky. We sat there for several minutes, neither of us speaking as the silence continued to stretch.
"How about this." I said slowly, waiting until Nami was looking at me before I continued. "I'll bet that Arlong won't keep his promise, you bet it that he will. The stakes are simple, if I win you'll join Luffy's crew for real, if you win I'll serve you for the rest of my life. Deal?"
Nami glanced down at the hand that I was holding out then back up into my eyes. There was a long moment were it didn't look like she was going to accept before finally she grabbed my hand and shook it. "Deal, now give me the combination to the safe."
AN: Curiouser and curiouser, things don't seem to be going in the expected manner. What could these gaps in Vebulus's memory be? Why does he appear to be so protective of the Going Merry? Guess you'll all need to keep reading in order to find out.