Chapter 16
The Barraki had wasted no time towing us the hell out of there. I got some crap from the crew for not giving them a warning, which I'd been expecting. Man, my lack of diligence was really going to piss them off later in this arc.
"I enjoyed seeing your reaction most of all," I told Robin out of the blue.
"And why is that?" she asked.
"It's always fun to see a stoic character become…not so stoic."
Before she could ask me what that was supposed to mean, the Barraki emerged from the water. Once they were aboard, Ehlek roped me into another training session as Pridak began sparring with Zoro again.
Incidentally, what started out as two separate fights soon became a tag-team match. Zoro and I found ourselves back-to-back as the Barraki charged in from both sides. I ducked while Zoro blocked Pridak's sword and Ehlek's talons. Springing up, I gave Ehlek an uppercut and Zoro and I spun around to switch opponents.
I threw a sideways hammerfist at Pridak while Zoro took a slash at Ehlek, but our opponents didn't simply take our blows. Pridak blocked my punch with the flat of his blade while Ehlek blocked Zoro's sword with his talons. Then we all separated.
I faked an attack so the white Barraki would slash, then threw a roundhouse kick before he could recover. The kick hurt him but didn't stop him; he responded with a kick of his own, right to my groin. I leaned forward in pain and, knowing another attack was coming, rolled to my right—just in time, as Pridak thrust his sword into the spot where I'd been.
Switching targets again, Ehlek shifted away from close combat and opted to attack Zoro with lightning.
"Streaming Wolf Swords!" Zoro gracefully evaded the lightning bolts and got in close to the green Barraki. Right before he could swing his swords, a bunch of dead birds fell onto our deck, followed immediately by all of us being hit by metal stars.
"That's enough!" Usopp shouted. "The Merry's already plenty banged up, and you guys are making it worse! Especially you, green guy!"
As I looked around, I realized that some of Ehlek's bolts had left burn marks on the deck. One of them had even started a small fire, which Sanji put out with a bucket of water.
"I guess that means I'm done for the day," I said.
"Oh no you're not," Ehlek retorted. "We'll pick this up again once we reach land. Pridak, everyone, help me tow the ship."
None of the Barraki enjoyed taking an order, but they all likely wanted to get to shore.
Zoro grinned at me. "I'm glad you talked them into joining us. It's nice to spar with a partner who really knows what he's doing."
In no time at all, we reached Jaya. Once we docked, I gave everyone a reminder.
"Now listen, I barely know what to do here, so I'm not going to give out any foreknowledge this time. Everyone just do your own thing and hope nothing terrible happens."
With that, Zoro, Luffy, and Robin went into town while Usopp, Chopper, and Sanji stayed on the ship. Without any future knowledge to guide them, everyone pretty much stuck to what they did in canon. Well, everybody except Nami. This time, she stayed behind.
"One of you guys keep an eye on those two," she said to the Barraki, gesturing toward Zoro and Luffy.
"I'll do it," Mantax volunteered.
"Which leaves me free to play with the skeleton," Ehlek said gleefully.
He wrapped an arm around me, but before we could go anywhere, Chopper pointed something out to us, "Wait, Declan's the ship guard. You should give him a second to leave his clone here."
The green Barraki let me go so I could materialize Skeleton Buddy. Almost as soon as he was fully formed, he was reaching out to stop us too.
"Wait a minute," said Skeleton Buddy. "You did practically everything for the Alabasta arc. It's my turn to go out and do stuff!"
He regretted those words when Ehlek kicked him in the ass, launching him off the ship.
I couldn't help but chuckle. However, Pridak quickly killed my mood when he reminded me that it meant I'd be staying on the ship after all. "Our respective training partners are gone. I suppose we'll have to make do with each other."
The idea of fighting Pridak alone made me cringe a little.
"Mind helping me out a little, Fencer?" Getting no response, I looked around but didn't see my fire ferret anywhere.
Fencer had her eyes narrowed. Declan and the Monster Trio could handle Mantax and the others like him, so that left her in charge of watching Robin. Sure, Declan may not have objected to her joining the crew, but he had admitted on several occasions that he didn't know what he was doing, so she still had her doubts.
Robin walked into a thrift store. That made sense. Fencer had heard her say she wanted some new clothes, and in a town like this, thrifting was probably her best bet.
"You're not as sneaky as you think you are," the ex-Baroque Works agent said without looking up from the clothes rack she was sifting through.
Fencer tensed up and came out from around the side of the rack. "How'd you know I was here?"
Smiling, Robin answered, "I worked for Baroque Works for years. I know when someone's following me." Fencer scowled as Robin knelt down in front of her. "If you behave yourself, then perhaps I'll get you a toy while we're here."
Being talked down to made Fencer grit her teeth. "I'm just browsing. Do whatever you want, birdbrain."
Robin raised an eyebrow. She'd been called a lot of things over the years, but that was a new one.
Muttering angrily, Fencer began window shopping. The thrift store didn't just have clothes; there were various books and trinkets, and even weapons like pistols and knives. However, one thing caught her eye, something she certainly wouldn't expect from a thrift store in a town full of pirates: manga.
She used her tail to knock the volumes off the shelf; they weren't very heavy, but they were large to a ferret. With some difficulty, she reached up and used her paws to turn the pages. Her eyes widened as she became engrossed in the story.
Once she finished her shopping, Robin looked around the store and quickly found Fencer, who hadn't moved.
The fire ferret immediately asked her, "Could you buy this for me?"
Robin grinned. "I don't know. Maybe if you say sorry for insulting me."
Rather than give in to Robin's demand, Fencer made puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeease?"
This made Robin's smile falter a bit, but she held firm. "No."
Fencer sat up on her hind legs to enhance her cuteness. "Pweeeeease?"
Robin's eye twitched and she dropped her smile altogether. "Okay, I'll buy you the manga."
As Robin walked to the counter, Fencer whispered to herself, "Sucker."
"I'm surprised you haven't made me fight you yet," said SB as he and Ehlek meandered through the town.
"Now that we're here, I'm simply a bit curious as to what this town's like," Ehlek replied. They walked and walked until, naturally, some punk called them out on their bizarre appearances.
"Well, damn. Having pirates in this town is one thing, but a bunch of monsters? That's fucking cr—"
The guy didn't get to finish his sentence as Ehlek thrust his claws through his chest. He retracted them and the guy collapsed, dead.
"Would anyone else like to comment?" the green Barraki asked. No one answered. And so, they resumed their little tour.
Eventually, they came across a line of people. Wondering what it was they were waiting for, they looked to where it led and found a building with a sign that said Salty Spitoon. As they got closer, they could hear the sound of screaming and breaking glass coming from inside.
"Aw, jeez," SB muttered.
"I'll take that as our cue to go in," Ehlek said gleefully. They didn't have to wait too long in line as Ehlek threatened many people out of their spots. Finally, they got to the front.
At the entrance was a bald man in a bandanna and shorts. "Welcome to the Salty Spitoon. How tough are ya?"
Wanting to play along, SB said, "Punch me in the face."
The bouncer wound up and hit SB so hard his jaw was dislocated. The skeleton calmly popped his jaw back into place.
The clone reared back for a punch of his own when the bouncer spoke up, "Alright, alright, you're good." The bouncer stepped aside to let the skeleton in, but he stopped Ehlek. "Whoa there, buddy. It's bare knuckles only in there. You're gonna have to lose the claw things."
"They're not removable," Ehlek said. "Besides, I'm not here to fight. I'm the skeleton's…coach."
"Coach?" the bouncer repeated. He thought about it for a moment. "Okay, but if you fight anyone, you're out."
The Bionicle villain nodded and entered, quickly finding Skeleton Buddy. He was standing just outside the ring in the center of the room, where one guy was beating the crap out of another guy.
When it was done, an announcer spoke up. "Who's next?"
Ehlek used his mandibles to grab SB by the shoulder and throw him into the ring, shouting, "He is!"
Skeleton Buddy was really losing patience with Ehlek's antics by this point, but before he could object, the announcer, well, announced him. "Looks like we've got a living skeleton! Wasn't expecting that. Who will be his opponent?"
Entering the ring next was some punk wearing goth clothes. Specifically, an open trench coat with no shirt underneath, fingerless gloves, and black pants and boots. There were small spikes on the shoulders of the trench coat.
Even in a situation like this, SB couldn't help but crack wise, "Shouldn't you be moping somewhere?"
The goth guy just raised his fists, prompting SB to do the same. A bell rang, and the goth guy charged in, grabbing SB by the head and twisting it to snap his neck.
Skeleton Buddy went limp but stayed standing, letting a few seconds pass to make it more dramatic when he popped his neck back into place. Some of the audience members were intimidated, but the goth guy wasn't. He kept up the attack and tried kicking SB in the pelvis.
In response, the skeleton shot his arms downward, crossing his wrists in an X to block the kick. He then countered by backhanding his opponent across the face.
"Press the attack!" Ehlek called out from the crowd.
SB wanted to take the advice, but in those precious few seconds, the goth guy re-took the initiative and pulled SB's head into his knee. He then drove the skeleton backwards and slammed the back of his head into one of the ring posts repeatedly. The first slam cracked the back of SB's skull. The second hit right where his neck and skull met.
Growling, SB pointed his fingers at the guy's torso and fired all his fingertips. The small bones pierced into him and he dropped dead. SB let out a breath. Without a word, he leapt out of the ring and dashed toward the green Barraki.
He grabbed Ehlek by the neck. "Happy now?" he asked.
His self-proclaimed coach chuckled. "I am. Though I would've preferred you killed him out of malice and not self-defense."
Skeleton Buddy wanted to punch Ehlek so badly, but he realized that would just be playing into his claws. Instead, he let go and simply exited the club.
Ehlek followed. Neither said a word on the way back to the ship.
I must've gotten a bit too used to sparring with Zoro, because every once in a while, I would dodge Pridak too early, as if I was expecting a swift move from the swordsman. This allowed Pridak to get in a couple of good slashes. As a result, I was now missing my left arm from the mid-forearm down. There was also a clean cut running down the side of my ribs.
Rather than go for a finishing blow, Pridak stored one of his swords in hammer space and punched me in the face.
Kalmah stood on the sidelines and watched us. I wouldn't be surprised if he was enjoying my pain.
"Hey, guys."
The Barraki and I looked from our spot on the docks to see Luffy, Zoro, and Mantax had returned. Strangely, Luffy and Zoro weren't nearly as beat up as I thought they would be from what I remembered of canon.
"Did you get any information on Sky Island?" Usopp called out from the ship.
"No," Luffy groaned. "When we asked about Sky Island, everyone just laughed."
"You forgot to mention how you two got into a fight within the first minute of us entering town," Mantax added.
"Did you join in?" Kalmah asked.
"Yes and no," the black Barraki replied. "I didn't take part in the same fight as the captain and Neon, but several people threw racial slurs at me, so I rose to their taunts."
Pridak nodded. "Did you kill them?"
"No, I wasn't feeling that generous."
The next of our crew to arrive were Robin and Fencer. In addition to the stuff she bought in canon, she was also holding a bunch of books. Once I got a better look, I saw that they were Dragon Ball Z manga!
"What's up, bitches?" Fencer asked. Before I could say anything, she climbed up to my shoulder and hugged my skull. "Thanks so much for teaching me how to read, dude! I found these awesome comics in a pawn shop and I got birdbrain here to get them for me!"
I looked from her to Robin. "Birdbrain? Wh—Oh, I get it."
Almost everyone was back now—everyone except Ehlek and SB. But we didn't have to wait long, as they showed up a few minutes later.
This time, dispelling Skeleton Buddy had a direct effect on me. My vision flashed red, and I walked over to Ehlek and threw a punch, which the green Barraki blocked with the back of his hand.
"What the hell was that?" Fencer asked. "You literally just turned red for a second."
Zoro looked between me and Ehlek. "Did something happen while you two were out?"
"Nothing major. We just went to a fight club," Ehlek explained casually. "He's just annoyed he came so close to losing."
"Declan almost lost?" Luffy repeated.
Not wanting to be the main subject of a conversation, I tried to move things along, "I'm gonna wait in the cabin. You guys just do your thing."
As I stewed below decks, Fencer asked, "What exactly happened, dude? Is this really just because you almost lost a fight?" When I didn't say anything, Fencer frowned. "You don't need to show me a flashback or anything. You can just tell me."
"Skeleton Buddy almost got killed, and so he killed his opponent. When I made him disappear, all that fear and anger went to me," I explained.
"Was killing him really that bad?" she asked. "I mean, you killed that otter a while back."
"That was pure luck. If I had to take a shot from that distance again, I'm sure I'd miss," I responded. "And anyway, killing them didn't scar me for life or anything, but I still didn't like it." We felt the ship start moving. "I guess we're off now."
Fencer tilted her head. "Where are we going?"
"To find some guy named Cricket."
"Oh, yeah. I heard Robin talk to some guy about that. I didn't pay much attention 'cause I just wanted to read my new manga." Fencer then gasped. "I should get back to that!" She hopped off my shoulder and left the room.
I stayed where I was for a little while longer before I heard a loud noise from above deck. That wasn't enough to prompt me outside, but eventually, Luffy came in to collect me.
"Hey, Declan, we're on the other side of the island now. Wanna come ashore?"
"Nah, I'm fine. You guys go get intel and stuff," I droned. "I'm the ship guard, remember?"
Luffy frowned. It seemed like he wanted to say more but didn't know how to convince me. He gave me one last look before he left.
Alone again, I went back to daydreaming and fidgeting with my hands. I don't know how much time passed before I heard another voice.
"Wake up!"
Looking over, I saw Fencer and Ehlek had now entered the room.
"You've done enough moping for one day," the green Barraki said. "Now, get out here and help us look for the South Bird."
"What do those look like?" I asked.
Fencer turned around to leave. "Cricket has a statue of one. Come on and take a look at it."
Realizing that our adventure was likely going to progress, I got up and exited the cabin with them to see that the sun had completely gone down. It was night already? No wonder Ehlek had said I'd moped enough for one day. I followed the two to Cricket's house and took a look at the statue Fencer mentioned.
Cricket was surprised to see me. "A living skeleton? Even on the Grand Line, that's something you don't see every day."
Ehlek didn't wait to let me reply before grabbing me by the arm with his mandibles and dragging me off into the forest. It was all I could do to leave Skeleton Buddy with the Saruyama Alliance.
"Hey, let him go!" Fencer ordered.
Once Ehlek released my arm, I gave him a side-kick right in the crooked Technic piece that was his torso.
That just made him chuckle. "Alright, I'll allow that."
And so we began searching. It wasn't easy; right away we were hassled by giant bugs of all kinds. It was almost like being back on Little Garden. Fortunately, I was immune to bug bites and stings, Fencer burnt any bug that got near her and, amusingly, Ehlek lit up his spines and used them like bug zappers.
Unlike on Little Garden, however, bigger and bigger bugs started coming at us. The first wave was a trio of giant praying mantises. We each dealt with their attacks in our own way: Fencer countered with her tail, Ehlek with his claws, while I parried a mantis's slash and redirected it at itself.
Next came a wave of freakishly large crickets. "What's going on? Is every insect on this island territorial?" Ehlek wondered aloud.
We all heard an odd call, which Fencer promptly translated, "I'm telling them to attack you, smart guy."
Looking around, we saw the source of the call: the South Bird.
The bird called again, and the sound of flapping wings and clicking mandibles rippled through the forest.
"Now what?" Ehlek groaned.
We all wondered what big bad creepy crawly would show up next, and got our answer in the form of—
"Oh, for God's sake," I muttered as I facepalmed. "Kamen Rider Shin? What are you doing here?"
The South Bird called out again, with Fencer translating. "What the hell is Kamen Rider? That's just a grasshopper monster."
With that detail explained, said grasshopper monster charged at us.
SB remembered this part: Bellamy, having heard that Cricket had gold in his possession, had come to steal it. And so, he stood with the Saruyama Alliance, staring down Bellamy's crew.
"They call you the Hyena, right?" the skeleton asked.
The blonde pirate's grin widened. "Indeed. I'm pleased at least one of you—"
"You don't seem handsome enough to be a hyena," SB cut him off.
Masira and Shoujou laughed, while Cricket just smiled at his crack. "Ha! Good one, kid!"
"I'm twenty-one," SB muttered. "I've got the leader. You guys take care of the rest."
He began walking toward Bellamy. That made the enemy crew laugh.
"You? You'll take on Bellamy yourself?" Sarquiss asked in disbelief. "Do you even have a bounty?"
"Forget that. Are you even a pirate?" Bellamy followed up.
SB stopped right in front of Bellamy, craning his neck to look him in the face. "Yep."
With that, he threw a thrust punch right into Bellamy's abdomen. The blonde man doubled over in pain. Skeleton Buddy took the opportunity to punch him in the head.
When he threw a third punch, however, Bellamy crouched under the attack and turned his shins into springs. "Spring Sniper!" He sprang forward with immense force, tackling the skeleton into the wall of Cricket's house. Bellamy then rebounded off the wall and slammed SB into the ground.
Desperate to turn things around, SB began pulling Bellamy's hair.
Thrown off by the childish attack, Bellamy broke his spring stride and held the skeleton up by the neck bones. The two began trading haymakers. After several punches, the two paused and looked past each other at their respective allies.
Jabbing their thumbs behind them, they shouted, "Get them!"
The two sides quickly engaged each other, leading to a large-scale brawl with SB and Bellamy in the middle. Making use of his springs once more, Bellamy bounced them high in the air before slamming SB into the ground.
The living skeleton grunted in pain and pointed his fingers at the blonde pirate's face but paused suddenly.
'Wait, Bellamy becomes an ally in the future. I can't kill him!'
Lacking the same foresight (and mercy), Bellamy used this hesitation to leap into the air again, this time slamming Skeleton Buddy into the deck of the Going Merry, breaking through the floorboards and landing them below deck.
SB gritted his teeth at the damage to his crew's ship. "You fucker!"
The Straw Hats' ship guard kicked Bellamy in the chin. Undeterred, Bellamy bounced them back up through the hole they'd made and back onto the shore.
To get free of Bellamy's grip, SB grabbed his own skull and detached his neck from its base, leaving Bellamy holding nothing but his neck bones. Keeping his skull in one hand, Skeleton Buddy had his body hit the blonde pirate in the abs with a couple straight punches before leaping up and uppercutting him. Thankfully, that did the trick and knocked him out.
The fighting around him paused as Bellamy's crew looked on in disbelief.
"Hah, good one, Bellamy," Sarquiss laughed. "I almost bought that. Now, get up and crush that fool!"
"I knocked him out, idiot," SB replied tersely.
"Bullshit! Bellamy would never lose to some no-name like you!" Sarquiss shouted. "Come on, Bellamy! Get up!"
While the Bellamy Pirates continued fussing over their eponymous captain's defeat, SB walked over and looked at the Merry. Despite his efforts, it had still been damaged. He felt like he'd just stolen Luffy's thunder for nothing. To make things worse, the stress had caused his mind to start racing, making it hard for him to focus.
He was snapped out of his rapid-fire thoughts by Masira's hand on his shoulder.
"Good job, kid. How 'bout you help us fix up your ship in the meantime?"
That reminded the skeleton of something. "Hey, you guys are gonna make the ship up to look like a chicken, right?"
"Yeah."
"I have a better idea."
Fighting this pseudo-Shin was tougher than we thought it would be. Practically every other part of its body was a sharp point, so it could safely block Ehlek's talons, and it was fast enough to dodge his lightning attacks. Fencer was handicapped too. She couldn't use her fire powers without the risk of burning the forest down.
I was in charge of holding onto the South Bird. Ehlek had stunned it with a weak blast of electricity. "Can you guys handle this on your own?" I asked.
"We'll be fine. Just take the bird," Ehlek said rudely.
Taking his advice, I left the scene.
"Hey, everyone, I caught a South Bird! If you can hear me, get back to Cricket's place!" I paused for a moment and listened to my words echo through the woods, realizing I was a bit lost. That was an easy fix though. One leap above the trees and I saw my destination in the distance. I made my way back there, calling out all the while in case my crewmates could hear me.
After I got back to the ship, the crew showed up not far behind me. Dispelling Skeleton Buddy, I learned that he'd fought and defeated Bellamy on his own.
"Aw, the Merry isn't done yet?" Luffy complained.
"Well, this gives us some free time," Ehlek said. "Come, skeleton. We can use this time to train."
Zoro walked over to us eagerly. "Mind if I join in?"
Ehlek nodded. "Sure, why not?"
'Training,' I scoffed inwardly, remembering this morning's fight, but quickly gathered myself. Looking at the rest of the crew, I said, "You guys should train too." That surprised them, so I kept going. "It'd just be good to get stronger, y'know?" It wasn't my most convincing argument.
"Uh, that's nice, Declan, but I'm not really a physical fighter. You know that," Usopp replied.
"Well then, uh, make some new ammo or something," I suggested.
Mantax followed my lead by addressing Nami, "You join us too, Dinosaur. You're too strong not to join in."
Sanji got up in his face for that comment. "Hey, where do you get off telling a lady to train with a brute like you?!"
"If you really want to join, you can too," Mantax droned.
"What?! No, that's not what I said at all!" Sanji sputtered.
"He's actually got a point," Zoro chipped in to keep the chat on course. "Your transformation's made you stronger. It'd be a waste if you didn't hone it at least a little bit."
Nami frowned and looked at her hands, opening and closing them," I…guess you're right."
Pridak continued the tangent next, "If that's the case, then Dr. Teddy Bear should train with us too."
Our doctor's eyes widened. "What?! Me?!"
"Yes, you. Now get over here," the white Barraki commanded. "Neon, let him borrow some of your weights."
"Alright then, Pridak and I will stick with our regular partners, Mantax can spar with the chef, and Kalmah will take on Dinosaur." Ehlek announced before asking Zoro, "Neon, how many sets would you recommend the teddy bear does?"
As Zoro decided how much iron Chopper should pump, I heard Fencer mutter, "When did we become a gym?"
And so, our mostly unwilling mass training session began. Thankfully, we spread out a bit so we wouldn't get in each other's way. I had the same problems against Ehlek as always, finding new ways to evade his claws and lightning. Thinking fast, I aimed my right hand at him and sequentially fired all my finger bones.
He managed to block most of them with his talons, but one of them hit him in the shoulder. Seeing a chance, I charged in, only for him to fire more lightning at me. To dodge, I let my upper half fall off my lower half, which kept running until it was close enough to kick him in the groin. Before he could attack my lower half, I recalled it using Reassembly and righted myself.
The green Barraki and I stared each other down for a moment. However, before either of us could make a move, our captain leapt in between us and threw Gum-Gum Pistols at each of us. When we dodged those, he crouched and swung his leg around like a whip. This time, we dodged by leaping upward. Unfortunately for us, Luffy had apparently thought ahead and launched his gatling move, which we couldn't dodge because we were already in midair. As a result, we both took a pounding.
My self-proclaimed coach and I hit the ground. As we got to our feet, Luffy asked, "Does this mean I win this round?"
"I hate to admit it, but yes," Ehlek conceded. He took a fighting stance again. "Now, let round two commence!"
With that, a new melee a trois began.
Meanwhile, Zoro and Pridak clashed blades with as much enthusiasm as ever. As they got into a blade lock, Zoro commented, "That build of yours is limiting your range of movement."
"True," Pridak conceded. "But it also lets me do this." Without needing to move the rest of his leg, he rotated his left foot clockwise by 220 degrees, using his weirdly long heel to trip the young man's feet out from under him.
With Zoro on the ground, Pridak threw a downward slash. The green-haired swordsman responded by thrusting one of his blades at Pridak's chin. The two stopped less than an inch from their respective targets.
"I suppose this is a draw?" the white Barraki said. Zoro nodded.
Sanji was in a bit of a conundrum. He wanted to be more aggressive in attacking Mantax, but he had to tread carefully, otherwise his legs would get pierced by the Barraki's pincers. Not only that, but sometimes Mantax would match the chef's kicks with his own, and their shin-on-shin contact hurt.
Getting an idea, he beckoned at Mantax. "Come and get me, ugly."
The black Barraki took the bait and lunged. Sanji matched his lunge and landed hands-first in front of him. He straightened himself out, kicking Mantax in the chin. "Bouquetiere shot!"
Any satisfaction the cook might have felt was dashed when he felt himself get pulled along with his sparring partner. Taking a look, he saw that Mantax had managed to grab him by the ankle. He tried to kick with his other leg while pulling his caught leg free, but the Barraki kept his grip and blocked his kicks.
"Give up. I've got you right where I want you," he said menacingly. Without waiting for a response, he threw Sanji to the ground. "You could've done better if you'd attacked with more than just your legs."
"That's not my style," Sanji said as he got to his feet.
"Oh, please. Limiting yourself like that is one of the reasons people criticize that boxing sport I've heard of," Mantax retorted.
Sanji glared at him. "I cook with my hands. I can't risk them getting damaged in a fight."
"Then wear armor," Mantax said. "I'm sure long-nose could fashion you some gauntlets if he tried."
"No."
"Then use your elbows, use headbutts, have blades installed in your shoes. Do something to improve your moveset," groaned Mantax. "I'm bored. I'm going hunting."
With that, he walked over to the shore and jumped in the water, leaving Sanji to contemplate his words.
Being a part of the Straw Hat Pirates meant Nami had had plenty of time to get used to the unusual. Devil Fruit powers, crazy weather, getting turned into an anthropomorphic Carcharodontosaurus—try saying that three times fast!—she'd been through a lot. And now, to add to the list, she had just been bitch-slapped by a tentacle. Turns out Kalmah's limbs were good for more than just grabbing and wrapping.
Though she was hit several times in the process, she was able to determine that the limit of the Barraki's reach was about seven feet. She leapt back to create heat and cool balls, but she was thrown off when, in his latest assault, Kalmah's tentacle stretched an extra three feet, allowing him to grab her weapon.
"You will not evade me!" the crimson Barraki growled. Nami wasn't about to let go of her Clima-Tact, so Kalmah simply planted his feet firmly and pulled her toward him. Getting up in her face, he said, "Our teammates say you're stronger than your slender build suggests, but you haven't thrown a single punch." He let go and leapt to the side to evade a swipe from Fencer's tail as she came suddenly from behind.
"How'd you see me coming?" she asked.
"The tentacles on my head allow me to detect things directly behind or above me," Kalmah explained. "As you can see, the odds are stacked against you. But two on one should make for a more entertaining session."
The fire ferret stood beside Nami. "Sheesh. You guys act more like bullies than training partners…Wait, that's it!" She gasped and looked up to her crewmate. "Training! Do you want me to teach you how to use your tail in a fight?"
"Uh, no thanks," Nami replied.
"Well, how about I teach you to grab things with your tail?" Fencer suggested.
"No, I don't want—"
They were cut off by Kalmah's tentacles wrapping around each of them. "Enough talking," he said. "Now, Dinosaur, try getting out of my grip. I won't let go otherwise."
Kalmah leaned closer when he heard her mutter something. "What was that?"
"I said, don't call me Dinosaur!" Nami yelled. With her arms tied to her waist, she sank her teeth into the tentacle grabbing her, severing it. Charging in, she tried to bite Kalmah in the face, only to get snap-kicked away.
Fencer chose that moment to join in, setting herself on fire and forcing Kalmah to release her. As Nami went in for another round, she ran alongside her and leapt up for an attack.
The dual assault put Kalmah in a tough spot. He'd already lost half of one tentacle to Nami and using the other to counter here risked Fencer cutting it off; all he could do was twist sideways so Fencer's slash missed him. As for Nami's punch, he blocked it with his forearm, though the blow still made him stagger.
Her next attacks were scratches which, again, he couldn't block without getting hurt. Kalmah desperately wanted to use killing force, but he had only just joined this crew, and he wasn't going to be thrown out before he could reap any of the benefits that had been described to him. Losing his patience, Kalmah did something he usually hated: call for assistance.
"Can someone do something? I think she's gone feral!" he yelled.
Chopper paused his bicep curls and tried to restrain the navigator. "Nami, calm down! This is just supposed to be a sparring match!"
"Right! I don't like this guy either, but we're not supposed to try and kill him!" Fencer agreed.
Nami thrashed for a moment before reigning herself in. Taking a moment to think about what she'd just done, she glared at Kalmah and said, "I'm done."
With that, she went back to the ship.
The rest of us paused at Nami's little outburst.
"Is that something you should be concerned about?" Ehlek asked me and Luffy.
Our captain frowned. "Don't you mean something we should be concerned about?"
Ehlek shook his head. "No, I mean you. I don't have enough empathy to care."
Luffy frowned at Ehlek's statement, but instead of calling him out on it, he called for Chopper.
Once our doctor came over, Luffy addressed both of us, "I think you guys should talk to Nami." Before either of us could say anything, he continued, "I know I'm not that smart, but I can tell something's bothering her, and I bet it has something to do with her being a dinosaur."
With how Nami had been acting recently, I had already guessed that myself, though I hadn't expected Luffy to pick up on it as well. "How did you realize that?" I asked, not unkindly.
"Well, she did just yell 'don't call me Dinosaur' a minute ago," our captain pointed out.
"Oh, right," we muttered.
"So, I thought maybe you guys could cheer her up," Luffy said.
I raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Why us?"
Luffy paused to think before answering. "Because she's upset about how she looks. You two know more about looking different than the rest of us."
"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you be this insightful," Chopper commented.
"I can be smart too!" Luffy defended himself. "Like that time in the desert when I told Vivi about how people die in war."
"Fair enough," I nodded and headed toward the ship. "Come on, Chopper. Let's raise some spirits."
As we walked, Mantax emerged from the water with a fish in his mouth. He chewed it a bit with his mandibles before swallowing it. "What'd I miss?"
"Declan and Chopper are fixing a mess you and your friends made," Zoro answered.
Sanji stepped up beside him. "And I'm sure you remember how we deal with big screw-ups, right?"
The other three Barraki joined Mantax. "Why don't you remind us?" Ehlek taunted.
In response, Luffy joined his cook and swordsman, completing the monster trio. Not one to be left out of the action, Fencer stood with them as well for good measure.
The two quartets were silent for a moment before Pridak declared, "Let the battle begin."
As the "training session" resumed, Robin commented from the side, "All things considered, I wish I had some popcorn."
First, we checked Nami's map room just in case she'd decided to find comfort in her cartography, but it was empty. When we checked her room, there Nami was, sitting in a corner and hugging her legs to her chest.
"Uh, are you okay?" I asked.
"I want to be alone right now," she muttered.
"Yeah? Well, we're not leaving," I said firmly. "Not until we talk this out."
Chopper nodded. "Nami, everyone can tell you're bothered by your transformation. This is something you need to work through."
"Okay, fine! I'm not happy with…this." Our friend looked at her scaly hands before glaring at us. "Is that better?"
"A little," I said. Chopper punched me in the hip for that.
"Nami, you don't have to feel alone. We've both been through the same thing," the young doctor said gently.
Our friend's eyes softened a bit but re-hardened just as quickly. "He hasn't," she said, turning to me. "You knew what your Devil Fruit would do and ate it willingly. You knew what you were getting into."
I didn't have a comeback for that. It didn't stop me from trying to get through, though,
"Even so, I'm here for you"—I pointed my thumb in the general direction of the crew—"and so are they."
"Do you remember what Declan told me back on my island?" Chopper continued. "He said you guys would take me in even when I felt like I didn't belong. That applies to everyone here. I'll bet the crew haven't brought up your transformation not because they're avoiding it, but because they just don't mind."
"That does sound like them," I added.
We must've been making progress, because Nami finally smiled. "Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"
"Feeling better now?" Chopper asked.
Nami got up from her spot in the corner and walked over to us. "Thanks, guys."
"You're welcome," I said. "Wanna join us outside?"
"Sure."
When we got outside, I cringed as some sunlight hit my eye socket. The sun was rising already? I shook my head, chalking it up to anime time. As morning arrived, the Saruyama Alliance showed us their work on the—
"What the hell is this?!" Usopp shouted.
I couldn't blame him for that, even though I was holding back a chuckle. How could I not? Masira and Shoujou had given the Merry a beard! A chinstrap beard, to be specific.
"Well, we were working on your ship when the skeleton you left with us suggested we make our design vulture themed," Shoujou explained casually.
Zoro nodded. "I take it the beard is because—"
"That's right. We went with a bearded vulture," Masira finished for him.
"Why a vulture, of all things?!" Usopp shouted at me.
I shrugged. "I like vultures." Before the sniper could say more, I added, "The beard was their idea."
"Less talking, more sailing," Pridak said as he made his way to the ship.
Boy, was I anxious. We were about to ride the Knock Up Stream! I'd been on roller coasters before, but I knew this would be on a whole other level. I was so anxious, I was so anxious, I was so anx—
"Dude!" Fencer's voice snapped me out of my thought spiral.
"Huh?"
"You might wanna stop. You're literally walking a hole in our ship," she said.
When I stopped to pay a little attention to my surroundings, I saw that the section of the deck where I'd been pacing was now ever so slightly sunken in.
"If you're that eager to get to the sky, then you're in luck," Ehlek told me.
The sky was darkening above us, and Shoujou and his crew were telling us where we should sit. I was so out of it, I didn't even bat an eye when Blackbeard showed up. Everything was blurring together for me.
Next thing I knew, the Knock Up Stream "fired" and we achieved liftoff.