Hey Guys! Crescent Rider here and I am back with another chapter.
There isn't much for me to say at the moment, but always remember that I'm open to Questions and What-if Scenarios.
That is all I have to say and enjoy the chapter!
Drinker's Hub Ruins
After Buggy's defeat, Marie approached her brother and handed him his straw hat, "Here's your hat back,"
Luffy would take it and notice the small holes, then he smiled and placed his back, "Thanks, Sis, now it's back to where it belongs,"
"Sorry that your hat's all torn up," Nami apologized,
"Don't worry, I can still put it on and I can have Marie fix it for me," Luffy assured, "I also got Buggy out of here, so I'm satisfied,"
"I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little longer for me to fix it. Because my arm hasn't healed from Buggy's daggers," Marie said,
"It's fine, I can wait. Shishishishi," Luffy replied with a cheeky grin,
Nami just blinked, then stated, "When I have time, I'll fix it for you, if you like,"
"Huh? What's that?" Luffy asked,
"Oh forget it," Nami stated while Marie smiled knowing full well what she meant, "I split this into two bags so give me a hand in carrying half of it, it's too heavy for me,"
"I'll help," Marie volunteered and hoisted one of the bags on her uninjured shoulder,
After then remarked that Buggy knew the quality of the treasure and declared that it was all hers. However, when staring at Luffy, she decides to repay him with the chart of the Grand Line, "Here you go, It's the chart to the Grand Line, you do want it, don't you?"
"You're giving it to me?" Luffy questioned,
"Because you saved my life," Nami said,
Luffy thanks her for the chart and gets all cheery while Marie giggles at her brother's enthusiasm. then he asked, "Oh, does this mean you'll be joining me and my pirate crew?"
"I told you, no matter what I'll never join a pirate crew!" Nami strictly repeated, then gave an alternate answer, "But okay, hanging around with you seems profitable enough. Just remember this, I'm joining you because it's in my interest,"
"Sure," Luffy agreed,
"Pirate or not, welcome aboard, Nami-san," Marie welcomed,
With that, Luffy woke Zoro up and asked if they took care of everything. Which Luffy confirmed by showing the chart to the Grand Line and Nami being their navigator. Zoro then gazes at Nami for a moment, then gets all paled, "I'm not sure about this, I feel lightheaded,"
"Of course you do, it's always something with you two, honestly," Nami bluntly remarked,
"Hey wait a minute, why did I do?" Luffy questioned,
"Are you kidding, you're the worst of them all!" Nami yelled,
"And me?" Marie inquired,
"You're bearable, but freaky," Nami summarized, "Also, you're almost like an obedient dog to Luffy all the time,"
"That's because it's natural for a crewmate to act upon their Captain's order," Marie said, "There's nothing wrong about that,"
'She's so freaking modest,' Nami remarked in thought, 'But it's better than being stubborn like Luffy here,'
Moments later, the people of Orange Town had arrived and clarified that Luffy and his crew weren't residents of the village. They also asked numerous questions about what was going on in their town, but then they saw the Mayor on the ground.
The villagers assumed that the Mayor was knocked out by the Buggy pirates that came and attacked their town. But Luffy had to be honest with them, "No, I'm the one who kicked that old man's ass,"
"What?!" The villagers snarled as they glared at the group,
"Hold on, you didn't have to tell them that didn't you?!" Nami frantically scolded, "Maybe you should explain to them so that wouldn't get angry,"
"Too late for that," Marie nonchalantly remarked as the villagers were fuming with anger,
"Tell me, why exactly did you knock out our mayor and leave him on the street to die?"
"You better explain yourself!"
"Who are you? Are you with the pirates?!"
'They're getting really bloodthirsty, we can't let them know that we're thieves and pirates!'Nami exclaimed in thought,
"We're pirates," Luffy bluntly admitted and Nami comically tilted over,
"JUST AS WE THOUGHT!" The Villagers yelled,
Zoro just laughed while Marie sighed to herself. But she wasn't against his honesty since they're pirates and all. As for Nami, she had one thing to say to him, "IDIOT!"
"But it's the truth!" Luffy reasoned,
"Pirates!? How dare you ravage our town!"
"We won't show you any mercy for one you've done!"
"What now? Doesn't look like they're up for a discussion," Zoro questioned,
"And I doubt anything we'll say change anything," Marie added,
Luffy grins, hoists Zoro's arm around him, lifted him on his back. Marie would hold onto a bag of treasure and what followed was Luffy's order, "RUN!"
With that, the villagers give chase to them and Marie openly remarks, "Looks like this village is going to last for a couple of decades. Twice if they're this angry,"
"How do you always make things worse!" Nami shouted,
"This is a good town," Luffy noted, "Everyone's so mad just because of that old mayor guy. Something tells me they're not going to listen to our side of the story,"
"Of course they wouldn't, even if it's the truth," Marie followed,
"We're turning here!" Luffy told, and made a turn to the alley,
But as they ran through the alley, they discovered Chouchou standing by and after they'd passed him. He started barking at the villagers and they seemed to stop considering they know Chouchou so well-known in town,
The Villagers tried their best to reason with him, but Chouchou remained firm in buying time and proudly grinned at Luffy as they made eye contact. He grins back and states, "Later, Doggy!"
With his assistance, Luffy and his crew escaped the villagers.
Orange Town Port
Nami was panting from all her running while Marie didn't break a sweat from all her running. She then decided to put the treasure down for a moment and Luffy would ask her a favor, "Hey, do you mind if you can leave that bag here for the mayor?"
"Why?" Marie inquired,
"They might need it, after all, the town was a total mess after Buggy wrecked it," Luffy replied,
"If you insist," Marie complied,
"That was close," Nami remarked with relief, "We only made it because of Chouchou, why do we have to put up with this!"
"Does it matter now, we're done here, anyway," Luffy said,
"Yeah, maybe so, but..." Before Nami could say, Luffy eyes on a large boat next to theirs, "Hey, is this your boat? It's great!"
"It's nothing special, but I guess it'll do," Nami stated, "I stole it from some dumb pirates, a few days back,"
"That's a big mouth you've got!" Buggy Pirate #1 said as he and his other friends appeared while Nami exclaimed in disbelief, "We've been waiting for you, you little thief,"
"Never thought you'd run into us here, didja, girlie," Buggy Pirate #2 added, which caused Nami to nervously laugh,
'Oh, they're all still here. I thought they'd go back they've gone back to their Captain,' Marie thought,
'They're probably here for Nami, she did say that she took their boat a few days back,' Solemn remarked,
'But they're just small fries. No reason to be involved in their trouble,' Fury stated,
Luffy asked Nami if she knew these guys and Nami uncomfortably replied. Buggy Pirate #1 then remarked that they and Nami were bound together by fate and proceeded to tap Zoro on the head to wake him as punishment for stealing other people's belongings.
When Zoro raised his head, they all got tense and ran off scared with their tails between their legs. However, they would hear Marie saying, "Take good care of yourselves!"
'She's such an angel...' The three Buggy Pirates remarked with tears in their eyes,
With them gone, they've decided to board the respective boats and sail on out of this island. Though Nami wouldn't notice Marie leaving one of her bags filled with treasure.
After the sails were unfurled, Zoro remarked, "Can I ask you something, Isn't that Buggy's mark on your sail?"
"Well, this used to be Buggy's boat. I think I should change it?" Nami inquired,
"Hey! Wait! Young one!" The Mayor called out,
"It's the old mayor guy," Luffy recognized,
"I wonder what he wants from us," Marie inquired,
After the Mayor catches his breath, he shouts loudly at the four, "Thanks! Thank you!"
"Don't worry about it, Take it easy!" Luffy replied loudly,
The four of them were now happy with the Mayor's words and continued to sail onward. But as they were a little too far, Nami noticed something next to the Mayor and recognized it, "Wait a minute, isn't that-"
Nami immediately turns to Marie, who sits on her boat instead of Luffy's, "Hey! Why in the world did you leave a bag of treasure behind!"
"Oh, Luffy asked me to leave it there for the villagers. So I did just that," Marie responded,
"You what?!" Nami angrily yelled at Luffy instead of Marie, "You told her to leave that bag of treasure back there!"
"Yeah," Luffy replied,
"That bag was worth over five million berries, you idiot!" Nami shouted,
"That's right, and they're gonna need that money to repair their destroyed town," Luffy pointed,
"But that was my treasure, jerk! Do you know how hard I worked to steal it!" Nami yelled, and proceeded to push his face into the water in an attempt to drown him,
Marie wanted to intervene, but one of her clones remarked, 'She won't kill him for it, just let her vent out some steam,'
She was unsure of this Zoro just laughed as it happened, "Well, for better or for worse, looks like we finally have a navigator in our crew,"
"I guess so," Marie agreed,
After Nami was done letting off steam, she'd let go of Luffy and complained about losing half of her treasure.
Open Sea
While sailing across the sea, Nami would strike up a conversation with Marie as the latter was meditating on the boat while Luffy and Zoro just waited.
"You know, I'm awfully curious with Devil Fruit over Luffy's," Nami stated,
"What do you mean?" Marie inquired,
"Well, for one, you can sprout out clones with their own personality, shape them into weapons, and make moves similar to animals," Nami said, "Just what kind of Devil Fruit is it,"
"To be perfectly honest with you, I haven't got the slightest clue," Marie admitted, "Even though the Jiga Jiga no Mi is listed in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, many still consider this fruit's power a mystery as well as danger to its user,"
"What kind of danger?" Nami inquired,
"The one that drives average people mad before they've gotten the chance to use it," Marie said, "One might say, that those who eat this Devil Fruit are cursed to live short lives whilst being driven mad to an early grave,"
Marie unintentionally frightened Nami since this was her first time hearing such a horrifying story. She gulped just at the thought of poor souls ever eating this fruit.
Meanwhile, Zoro had a say in the matter, "Hey, Marie. If people are cursed to live short lives for eating this fruit, how is it that you're still alive?"
"It's because I'm strong!" Marie replied with a carefree smile, and Luffy just laughed at her response,
"As if being strong would help," Nami rebuked,
"But it's the truth unless you want a much clearer answer. You could say I'm physically and mentally strong to use and maintain this power," Marie explained, "Because the other drawback of this fruit is that I'm more accessible to damage and urges than a regular person. An example of this drawback is when I'm hungry, I'll feel hungrier due to the clones' influence and when I'm in pain, it'll hurt more than should be,"
"Then that wouldn't make sense since I saw you get your arm struck by Buggy's blades," Nami pointed out, "With that much pain, you would have gone into a complete shock since your fruit intensifies that damage across your body. How could you have pulled that off at your age,"
"Like I said, it's because I'm strong!" Marie replied with the same smile, and small cat ears popped up from her head,
"Shishishishi! She sure is, and I've never once beat her in a match since she'd tie up my arms and legs all the time," Luffy admitted,
Zoro and Nami looked at them, then they sighed since this conversation wasn't going anywhere because of how cheery they responded. Therefore the latter had only this to say, "Well, whatever. The curse aside, it's pretty convenient to have those clones, you could be your own crew with just them and no one else,"
"A lot of people back home have said that before," Marie said, "And I can confirm their words to be true,"
With Marie's Devil Fruit aside, Nami then remarked that in their current condition, there was no way they'd be able to get into the Grand Line. Luffy only remarked that they'd need a lot of meat and Zoro remarked that booze is needed as well. This earned the latter a thrown apple while the former caught and ate it.
As for Marie, she remarked the following, "It's just not food and drinks we need, we'll also need a good ship since those waters are more dangerous than here,"
"See you, boneheads? At least she gets the point," Nami noted, "Not to mention that the place will be crawling with pirates who are also in search of the One Piece, and they all have ships that are way better than this,"
"And we don't have crew," Luffy added,
"We don't have a crew, we don't have any equipment, or even a real ship for that matter. There is no way we'll ever make it like this" Nami pointed out,
"Yep, we'll need a cook and maybe a musician to keep us entertained," Luffy remarked,
"A musician?" Zoro mouthed, before laughing
"So stupid..." Nami remarked, "A little to the south of here is an island with some settlements on it. And it looks like we might be able to get our ship and some of the supplies we need there,"
"Fresh meat at last!" Luffy cheered,
"Lots of booze as well," Zoro remarked,
"Is that all you think about!? Ugh, What am I going to do with you two," Nami yelled, while Marie just giggled
"Just bear with them, Nami-san," Marie advised, "I'm certain we'll get a ship while they eat and drink,"
"You're so optimistic," Nami said, "But at least you know our priorities than these two. Makes me wonder why you aren't the captain of this crew,"
Marie just smiled and sat back as they sailed their way to the next island.
Next Island
After they've made landfall, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami disembark from their respective boats while Marie pulls the boats off the water.
"It feels good to be on dry land again," Zoro commented while stretching his arms,
"There's a village around here somewhere right?" Luffy asked,
"Yeah, and it looks like a small one, though," Nami noted,
"Oh! Oh! Then there's meat," Luffy assumed while drooling and closing in on Nami, "There has to be a place to eat meat in this village,"
Marie grabbed Luffy by the ear and pulled him back, "Stop hauling at Nami, Luffy. We'll know whether or not there's meat in this village,"
"Careful," Zoro advised while he slowly drew onto his swords with his thumb, "We're being watched,"
Luffy asked who and where they were while Marie looked cautious in their surroundings. Moments later, Zoro shouts and Luffy starts jumping around due to projectiles hitting under his feet.
Nami rushed for cover while Marie assumed her fighting stance. Then out of the bushes come several pirate flags.
"Whoa, that's is so cool!" Luffy exclaimed, while cheeringly waving his arms,
"Is this supposed to be when you're impressed?" Nami questioned,
Laughter was soon heard, and above the cliff was a man with a long nose, green bandana, brown overalls, a white sash, bag hanging on his right shoulder, "I am Usopp, leader of the invincible nation of pirates who reign over this island! You stand before a living legend, the most feared pirate who has ever lived! I am the Great Captain Usopp"
Luffy just gazes at him while Marie just shakes her head due to her brother's oblivious nature.
"Surely you know that plotting an attack on this island would mean certain death? My army of 80 million super mean pirate soldiers would squash you like bugs!" Usopp added,
"AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed in utter amazement while his crew deadpan stared at him,
"You expect us to believe that?" Nami inquired,
"Ah! she knows!" Usopp exclaimed,
"Yep, well now I do," Nami said,
Usopp soon finds himself shaking around in disbelief for having his lie exposed while Luffy turns to them, "What?! He was lying?"
"Sorry, Luffy," Marie apologized, "But it's the truth,"
Luffy looked a bit down by this while Usopp cursed, "Curse you, you crafty tactician! 80 million may have been an exaggeration, but I have a great and many men under my control!"
When Nami and Marie motioned their head toward the waving flags in the bushes. They already know the estimated number of 'pirates' under Usopp's command.
"My guess is three," Nami guessed,
"Three Small Children!" Marie added,
Then out of the bushes were truly three kids holding their pirate flags and screaming, "AH, THEY DO KNOW!"
They soon ran out without their captain, and Usopp yelled, "Hey! Where are you guys going?! Come back!"
Usopp now finds himself alone with the four pirates and Nami picking up a steel ball from the floor, "A pirate using a slingshot. Well, now I've seen it all,"
Luffy just laughs and turns towards Usopp, "That's pretty cool!"
"Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you!" Usopp demanded, and pulled out a slingshot with a metal ball at the ready, "I am a proud man, and I won't stand for it! This is your last warning, or you'll get to see why they call me, Proud Usopp and not Pushover Usopp, is that clear?"
'He's really funny,' Ecstatic Marie remarked,
"He really is," Marie agreed, but she would see her brother tipping his hand down,
"You've already seen for yourself just how good I am with this thing," Usopp reminded, "So, you know I can rival anyone carrying a pistol,"
"Now that you've drawn your pistol, Are you willing to use it?" Luffy asked seriously, "Guns aren't for threats, they're for actions, are you willing to risk your life?"
Zoro and Marie knew where Luffy was going with this, and they decided to join in with Zoro slightly drawing his sword from its sheath, "I can assure you we're real pirates! Consider your next move very carefully,"
"And if you do shoot, make sure it hits its mark. You won't get a second chance after you fire," Marie added,
Usopp was now sweating buckets and his hands trembling all over while the three just gazed at him without the slightest change of expression. After a minute or so, Usopp released his slingshot but the bullet dropped to the ground before he followed suit.
"Real pirates definitely have a lot more punch behind their words because they can actually back them up," Usopp commented, "That's so cool,"
After that, Luffy, Zoro, and Marie start laughing before the captain admits the truth, "I stole that!"
"Huh?" Usopp mouthed in confusion,
"I stole those words from Red-Haired Shanks, a pirate I know," Luffy said,
"What?! You know Red-Haired Shanks?! You really are a real pirate! Wait, you've got to be lying, do you really know him?" Usopp exclaimed,
"Yep! I knew your dad too, his name's Yasopp, right?" Luffy assumed,
Because of this, Usopp becomes ecstatic but ends up tumbling from the spot down to the shore. Marie, being the most helpful of the bunch, went to Usopp and lent him a hand, "You okay?"
Usopp wouldn't take her hand as he sat upright on his own, and fixated his gaze towards Luffy, "You're right, my old man's name is Yasopp, but how... How in the world do you know him?"
"I'd tell you after we find a place to eat," Luffy declared,
Usopp immediately agreed and proceeded to escort them into his village, Syrup Village. But along the way, they have introduced themselves to him.
Food Tavern
After they'd all sat at a table, Luffy was taking a big bite out of some meat, Zoro drinking down booze, and the rest ordered some plates of regular food. As they ate, Luffy would reveal how he knew Yasopp.
It goes way back to when Shanks and his crew were in Foosha Village and Yasopp was the best sniper the Red-Haired Pirates had as he could shoot an ant in between the eyes from across town.
In extension to knowing Yasopp, Luffy also revealed that he knew Usopp beforehand because Yasopp would never stop talking about his own son to Luffy and it felt like his ears would bleed.
Usopp takes great pride in what his father is doing right now, sailing for adventure across the endless sea. Then Nami brought up a different topic, "Maybe you could help us, Do you know someone who can provide us with a decent ship? Or even anyone who knows how to sail for that matter?"
"Well, it's a pretty small village," Usopp commented, and leaned against his right hand, "Sorry, but I just don't think we'll be able to help you,"
"What about that huge mansion?" Zoro inquired and caused Usopp to squeak in response, "The one on top of that hill over there,"
"Hey! Do you know them, Usopp?" Nami asked, "With all that money, surely they can help get us our boat,"
"You stay away from there!" Usopp yelled and stared at him. He then gawked at what he said and averted his gaze elsewhere, "I just remembered something that I really got to do. Everybody knows me of this place, so uh, stay and eat as much as you want,"
Usopp then grabbed his bag onto his shoulder, and ran to the door, "Gotta go!"
"Why was he in such a rush?" Nami questioned,
"It's probably because there's someone precious to him in that mansion," Marie assumed after drinking some water, "I could follow after him,"
Marie turns to her brother, "Is that okay for you, Luffy?"
"You can go on ahead," Luffy insisted, "I'm staying here until I'm stuffed,"
Marie smiled, stood up from her chair, and went out of the restaurant. Nami watched her, then she turned back to Luffy after she left, "That little sister of yours sure does follow your orders, huh, Luffy,"
"Of course she does! And it's been like that after I asked her to join our crew when we were kids!" Luffy revealed, "Either way, I'm happy that my big sister came with me on an adventure,"
"When you were kids?" Nami muttered, then it dawned on her when he heard the term 'big sis', "Wait, hold on. Are you saying that she's older than you?"
"Yeah!" Luffy replied,
"Y-You're kidding right?" Nami inquired,
"Nope!" Luffy clarified,
"It's truth," Zoro added, "When we first met, I thought that she'd be his little sister. Not the other way around, but if have to take a guess. That height of hers much been affected by that Devil Fruit of hers,"
"Well, that sorta makes sense," Nami said, 'But what I don't understand is how someone like Marie becomes a Crewmate than Captain,'
This thought alone would continue to linger inside of her mind for a long time...
Mansion
As Marie closed in on the mansion, she remained hidden from the guards standing at the front gate, 'Security's average, but professional, and forcing my way in is a no-go,'
'Perhaps I could help,' A Clone suggested
"You sure? It's been a few days since your manifestation from Nami's influence," Marie said, "What if you aren't ready,"
'I can do it, just trust me!' A Clone promised.
Maria pondered to herself for a brief moment, then she decided on the matter, "Alright, show me what you can do,"
From Marie's back, what emerged was not a human hand but an orange cat paw that clung to her shoulder. It then fully emerges from and jumps from her shoulder down to the floor.
"From this point onward, you will be known as..." Marie thought of a particular name for this one, and then it clicked to her, "Wily Marie,"
"I'll take that name, thank you," Wily Marie replied, "Now let's go,"
Marie would follow her cat clone to a specific area whilst avoiding the guards' attention. Upon arrival, they'd arrive at the side of the manor and Wily Marie slipped through the gaps of the fence easily.
For Marie, hopping over the fence is quite easy as she uses her Ushigaeru Form at minimal power and lands on the other without making any noises for the guards to hear.
She and Wily Marie soon heard the sound of laughter and the two made their way to the source. Peeking by the wall, she'd spot Usopp sitting on top of a tree branch and a girl laughing at every word he'd spoken.
Or rather, every lie and make-believe story to her.
As bad as it may look, Marie smiled knowing that Usopp was doing a good job in cheering the girl up. For Wily Marie, it decided to climb up the tree on its own and meowed without Usopp expecting it.
He'd shrieked in fright while the girl was a little startled by it. Marie pulled her head away, cleared her throat a few times, and went for a believable story, "Milly! Milly!"
Usopp and the girl turn their attention to Marie as she conspicuously appears in the area and turns towards the tree branch where Wily Marie is, "There you are, I've been looking all over for you,"
Wily Marie just meowed while Usopp had to ask a particular question, "What in the world are you doing here, Marie?"
"You know her, Usopp?" The girl inquired,
"Oh, it's just someone I've met, Kaya. no need to worry about it," Usopp answered,
"My name's Monkey D. Marie, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Kaya-san," Marie greeted, gave a bow, "And I must apologize for the intrusion,"
"Nice to meet you too," Kaya greeted back, "And it's fine,"
As for Wily Marie, she decided to go down the tree and reunite with Marie while the latter picked her up in her arms. But moments later, Kaya notices something from the sky, "What's that?"
Marie and Usopp turn up to the sky and they see Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and the children falling from the sky. Usopp gawked at the sight while Marie was gaping at the group.
She then ran out of harm's way and watched the group crash into the ground. When the dust settled, Luffy and Zoro were the only ones that crashed into the pavement, Nami onto solid ground, and the children into a bush.
"That worked well," Luffy nonchalantly remarked,
"Yeah, real well!" Nami sarcastically yelled,
"My goodness, are you okay?" Kaya inquired,
Usopp, on the other hand, tried to explain to Kaya that they're just new recruits to the Usopp Pirates and stuff like this happens to him all the time. However, Luffy would reveal his true intentions to Kaya, "Nope, not me. I came here to see you, I wanted to ask you a favor,"
"A favor? For me?" Kaya inquired,
"Uh-huh," Luffy replied, "I wondering if there was any way you could help us get a boat-"
"You there!" A man yelled and everyone turned to see a black-suited man approaching the group, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Klahadore," Kaya muttered, and Marie's ears caught on with the man's name,
"Get out!" Klahadore demanded, and unusually tipped his glasses, "I'll have you know that this is criminal trespassing,"
Everyone just stared at the butler, and normally, Marie would apologize on the group's behalf. But as she stared at Khaladore's face. She only had one thought in mind, 'Why does that man look rather familiar...'
A thought that would stay in her mind for a long time...
That is it for this chapter. There isn't much for me to say except for this one answer to a particular question: How can Marie's clone transform into an animal? That's because her clone's work is similar to Gecko Moria's Devil Fruit but the variety of its shapeshifting powers is vast compared to his.
The only limit is her imagination and her energy to use particular forms.
It may as well be mistaken as Zoan Type Devil Fruit with Marie partially transforming into an animal. But I'll let your imagination run wild on this one.
That is all I have to say, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Marie's Jiga Fomu (Ego Forms):
Supaida (Spider)
Ushigaeru (Bullfrog)
Dakusu (Daggers)
Unnamed Mantis Fomu
Unnamed Cat Fomu
Marie's Jiga Kuron (Ego Clones):
Ecstatic Marie
Purist Marie
Fury Marie
Solemn Marie
Wily Marie - New
One unspecified Marie