Chapter 39

Thunderbolt

Usopp checked the area, his binoculars aimed offshore. Nami had warned them. They were sailing around an island similar to that of Raijin, a land that Luffy had wanted to explore when they had entered the New World before the reality of the situation prevented him from doing so. These islands were true anomalies, constantly struck by lightning, and only the rock they were made of seemed able to survive. The navigator thought that the disrupted climate of the Grand Line must have had something to do with it, but it was impossible to verify given the dangerousness of the place. Yet the view was impressive and even at this distance, the brightness of the continuous lightning forced the sniper to regularly look away.

Suddenly, Usopp frowned. It was difficult to really make out anything in such an environment but a characteristic shape seemed to stand out among the stones on shore. The sniper adjusted his device, puzzled. Was it really…

Usopp abruptly lowered his binoculars, his eyes wide. He stumbled backwards in his haste and nearly collapsed on the grass of the deck. A few steps away, Jinbei looked up from the helm and Franky stopped hammering on his anvil next to the mast.

"What's going on, bro?" The shipwright asked.

"Jinbei, head to the island!" Usopp yelled back.

"Nami specifically told us to avoid it," the Fish Man reminded him, his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's an emergency! Luffy!"

A second later, the straw hat boy opened the kitchen door where he was having his snack, two slices of creamy cheese in each of his hands. "What is it, Usopp?" He asked, biting into one of them. Behind him, Sanji, Brook and Robin appeared at the same time as Nami and Chopper emerged from the mandarin trees they had been taking care of since the morning, curious.

"Did Law tell you what destination he was aiming for when you saw him?!" The sniper asked him, on the verge of panic.

"Eh? No, he didn't wanna tell me. Why?"

"Because I think it's their submarine stranded over there!"

Luffy paused as he was about to swallow the rest of his snack and around him, his friends froze. "What are you talking about?" The straw hat boy jumped over the railing of the first floor to join him, his crew hot on his heels.

The sniper pointed at the island then and Robin grabbed the second pair of binoculars that the cyborg had brought while Zoro landed softly at the foot of the mast. "It's them. Their submarine looks damaged."

"How is it possible?" The redhead was worried and she took the binoculars from the sniper. "This island is known for its extremely dangerous weather and everyone stays away from it!"

"Perhaps a current took them off course and they were carried away," Jinbei suggested.

"Half of their submarine is gutted and part is tilting towards the sea," Robin told them.

"Do you see the crew?" Sanji asked.

"I don't."

"It's just impossible to disembark out there," the shipwright grimaced, staring at the dazzling electricity even from their position.

"If they're still here, they must be sheltering inside," Brook said.

"They may be injured!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I can help them!" The straw hat boy decided, "Jinbei, let's go!"

The Fish Man pushed the helm to port but Nami intervened. "Wait, Luffy, it's dangerous!"

"You may be immune to electricity but the Sunny is not," Franky reminded him, frowning.

"We can't leave them here; they can't get out alone!" The straw hat boy persisted, pointing to the illuminated land. "Torao can't swim and he can't take his crew to the island!"

"They may be far away," Zoro pointed out to him.

"It is a possibility," Brook agreed, "Maybe it's just their submarine."

"But we can't be sure," Sanji muttered. "This is really weird…"

"We can't afford not to check!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Nami, what can we do?" Her captain asked, turning towards her with a tense face. The young woman bit her lips, her brain working at full speed. "Well… we can't get too close with the Sunny but I think Zeus could absorb some of the lightning while you take a look…"

"Awesome!"

"Luffy, listen to me, now is not the time to do crazy things." The navigator insisted as he was already warming up his limbs in anticipation of his next effort, "You're the only one who can go to the island so if anything happens to you, we won't be able to come get you."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," he assured her while giving his hat to his musician.

"If you find someone, the best thing is to immediately throw them into the sea so that Jinbei can pick them up," Robin advised him. "They couldn't survive long on earth even if your body or Zeus protected them a little."

"I'll get as close as possible," the helmsman agreed. "Electricity is distributed across the surface of the ocean so I shouldn't have a problem."

"Great!"

Nami bit her lips again as Luffy stretched his arms towards the island to propel himself. She didn't doubt her captain but he was good at taking risks and knowing that Law could be stuck in his submarine, she could easily imagine that he would be even quicker to put himself in danger. The young woman unfolded her Clima-Tact before switching it on and Zeus came out yawning.

"Zeus, you're gonna go above the submarine to absorb as much lightning as possible," she showed him.

"This is nice; they look delicious!" The cloud rejoiced.

"Eat as much as you want if it allows you to control them but your priority is to follow Luffy and then the men he'll meet. I count on you to protect them from the lightning, don't get distracted or I'll let you sleep outside the Clima-Tact and you won't have anything to eat for weeks!"

"No problem, Nami, I'll take care of it!"

The cloud rushed to catch up with the straw hat boy who had already jumped towards the island and the rest of the crew could only watch them disappear among the lightning.

Luffy walked directly towards the submarine stranded on the stones, his hand shielding his eyes to try to protect himself from the blinding light. Around him, lightning fell like rain and although he didn't feel the effects of electricity, the brightness bothered him. That's why he breathed in relief when Zeus darkened the place and without waiting, he jumped on the largely damaged hull, worried. The surgeon and his crew took great care of their ship and seeing it like this could only be a sign of the cataclysm they had encountered.

Taking advantage of a hole in the lower deck, Luffy jumped inside. "Is anyone there?!"

The straw hat boy tried to make out something but darkness reigned in the submarine and he grimaced as he felt water licking his feet. The sound of lightning regularly striking the metal shell created a real racket but at least, the hull absorbed the shocks that Zeus was unable to stop. Luffy pushed aside a wooden table that had shattered in the way and walked randomly down a long corridor. Almost everywhere, panels were torn off and electric wires hung to the floor, illuminating the place with orange sparks.

"Hey oh!"

"Straw Hat? Over here!"

Luffy turned his head to the left and saw several men from the Heart crew in an adjacent room blocked by electrical circuits falling from the ceiling. They were crackling on the floor covered with a thin film of water and he approached immediately.

"Straw Hat, it's really you! Did you get our SOS?!" Penguin asked when he saw him. "I knew it'd work!"

"No, we sailed off the island and saw the submarine!" Luffy shouted to be heard amidst the noise of the lightning and sparks.

"Oh…"

"How did you manage to get in?!" Another man asked him.

"I ate the Gum-Gum fruit," he reminded them while grabbing the bunch of electrical wires before dropping them further away to clear the way. "I'm gonna get you out of here!"

"How?! We won't be able to set foot outside with all this lightning!"

"Nami's cloud will protect you by the time I throw you into the sea. Then Jinbei will pick you up."

The Heart Pirates exchanged worried glances before quickly moving down the main corridor. The straw hat boy's proposal wasn't exciting but they really had no other option.

"Straw Hat, we have to go get Law," Penguin suddenly urged him while moving up to him. His captain's nodachi was in his hand. "He's probably still in the navigation room on the other side of the submarine…"

"Okay but first, you need to get out of there. What happened?" He added, pushing a broken door.

"We came across Blackbeard," Shashi fumed behind him. "I don't think he was precisely looking for us but when he recognized us, he used the Tremor-Tremor fruit and then that of darkness simply to have fun! Law did what he could but the rest of his crew joined him and they both took a beating…"

"Why is Torao not with you then?"

"Because Bepo fell into the water before we started to drift and Law wanted to recover the coordinates to return and find him. Unfortunately, the water had begun to invade the room and the computers crashed, everything became uncontrollable. We needed to do the calculations by hand but we hit the rocks of this island and the submarine was almost cut in half. The electric wires fell from everywhere so Law teleported us on the other side of the ship, assuming that the damage wouldn't be as important. He was right but, in the meantime, he stayed alone in the navigation room to try to calculate the trajectory when he was already clearly injured…"

Luffy gritted his teeth then climbed through the hole he had used a few minutes earlier to come out of the submarine while the crew remained cautiously sheltered. He then looked up to the sky. Above his head, the Homie had doubled in volume because of the power of the lightning he had swallowed and tried to contain.

"Zeus, I'm gonna get them out! Get ready!"

The cloud took a breath and its mass stretched again, covering the entire submarine and part of the surrounding sea. "Hurry up, Straw Hat! These lightning bolts are not that good, they give me a stomach ache," he whined.

The straw hat boy turned his attention back to the pirates who stared at him with apprehension from inside the submarine. In the end, he took a deep breath. "Hang tight, it's gonna be rough!"

"You said it yourself, Bepo's a polar bear and he knows how to swim. I'm sure he's fine."

Law glared at the straw hat boy facing him and he straightened up as best he could on the bed of the infirmary. His whole body hurt but it was nothing compared to what he had felt a little earlier.

When he had opened his eyes for the first time two hours earlier, he had tried to get up but the little reindeer who had placed him under general anesthesia to treat him had only pressed on his shoulders to make him stay put and Law had given in. The doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates had explained that he had suffered serious burns due to electricity in addition to injuries because of his fight and his extended period in the water.

The surgeon had listened to him absent-mindedly, much more concerned about his crew and especially about the one who was still missing. He had been relieved to hear that all the men on his submarine had been rescued and cured but concerning Bepo, there had been no miracle.

His crew had been allowed to see him for a few minutes and Law had tried to look good before the other doctor made them go away to let him rest. Despite his protests, the Heart captain had received another dose of morphine which had left him groggy and he hadn't been able to fight very long against sleep while the little reindeer applied new compresses coated with cream on his raw skin.

Less than an hour had passed before he woke up again, this time with a start. He had tried to get up again, to no avail. The sound of the gurney hitting the floor when he had tried to lean on it had alerted the cook from the next room and the blond had been quick to call his captain when he had seen how irritated the surgeon was.

Luffy had also encouraged him to stay calm but the surgeon of death didn't care about his recommendations. He was aware that with a single move, the straw hat boy could knock him out but since the other captain didn't move, just staring at him calmly, Law decided to regain his strength before trying again. He took deep breaths, his eyes blazing with anger.

Luffy had taken the upper passageway to find the navigation room on Penguin's indications and then pierced the ceiling to enter. This part of the submarine tilted towards the ocean and the straw hat boy had expected to discover the surgeon in bad shape. He hadn't been wrong.

Control panels had tripped everywhere and Law was half-conscious, the sea water reaching almost to his shoulders and electricity crackling all around him. The pain from the salt on his burns was the only thing keeping him from passing out and Luffy had instinctively stretched his arms in his direction to get him. On this occasion, he had noticed the gaping wounds of the other captain and he had known that simply holding Law in his arms would cause him excruciating pain. Yet he had had no choice and the doctor's body hadn't failed to twitch when he had grabbed him but that hadn't stopped the surgeon from clutching a piece of paper in his right hand with all his might. As Luffy had returned to the passageway, Law had half-opened his eyes and when he had recognized the straw hat boy, he had made him swear not to let the coordinates get lost in the water.

In response, Luffy had folded the paper in four to slip it between his teeth in order to have free rein because Law could no longer stand on his legs and he had climbed out of the submarine as best he could. Above their heads, Zeus couldn't take it anymore and the lightning hitting him relentlessly made him wince more and more often. In the distance, Jinbei had finished repatriating the Heart crew aboard the Sunny with the rest of his crew and Luffy had extended his right arm straight before him.

As soon as he was fastened to the railing, he had propelled himself forward while Zeus had collapsed with an exhausted sigh in the sky. The landing had been rough but Luffy had never loosened his teeth from the paper in his mouth nor his arms around the surgeon. Chopper had then jumped towards them to assess the injuries of the now unconscious Heart captain and he had placed him in the infirmary before tending to the rest of his crew.

"Nami is studying the coordinates, she's gonna find him," Luffy repeated, his eyes fixed on those of the bedridden doctor who gritted his teeth.

"We're in the middle of the Grand Line, Straw Hat-ya, we ain't on a boulevard! Plus, it's been hours!"

"Jinbei can dive to find him and Franky will use the Shark Submerge. It's gonna be okay."

"What do you know?! Goddamn it!"

The pirate sent flying the medical equipment that Chopper had placed next to him and the instruments crashed to the floor among the rolls of compresses and bottles of medicine.

"Law." The surgeon looked up at the other captain, his hands trembling in anger as much as because of his weakened state. "I said we're gonna find him. I promise."

The Heart captain rolled his eyes then leaned against the wall of the infirmary. Even when he was sitting, he felt dizzy and he closed his eyes for a moment to try to regain his calm. Getting carried away by his emotions was the last thing he wanted because he knew that his body wouldn't cope well with an additional dose of stress and he needed to recover as quickly as possible to find his first mate.

"We're already on our way and we'll be there in less than an hour so you should rest while you wait," the straw hat boy continued. "Chopper said you almost died."

"I can't rest." The doctor gritted his teeth.

"Try," the other pirate insisted.

"Would you rest if one of your crew members was lost at sea?!" A little silence stretched out in the infirmary then.

"I wouldn't," Luffy finally agreed. He walked over to sit on the bed next to the surgeon and grabbed his hand clenched in the sheets. "I made you a promise, I'll keep it."

Law jerked away. "Words and prayers are useless, Straw Hat-ya. Reality is far crueler. The chances of survival in such an environment are low. Very low."

"You wouldn't have chosen him to be part of your crew if you didn't believe in his abilities. Trust him."

The surgeon sighed. He knew the straw hat boy was right. Bepo possessed the natural strength of the Minks in addition to many abilities he had learned from the Heart Pirates over the years. On second thought, he was probably the one who had the best chance of survival in such a situation, but that didn't make the situation any easier for his captain.

"Blackbeard is dangerous." Law sighed again after a few moments, "He gains strength a little more each time and his appetite is as excessive as his ambition. All he wants is to claim the power of this world and he thinks that the One Piece is the best way to reach it."

"I'll pulverize him."

Law couldn't help but turn his head to glance at him at these words, surprised by his harsh voice. He noticed that his eyes were just as bright then, shining with fierce determination.

"Next time I see him, I'll pulverize him," Luffy repeated darkly.

The surgeon looked down before running a hand over his face. "I was so stupid… I should have tried to get away instead of fighting back. I got screwed like a rookie!"

Luffy didn't say anything and the other pirate let his head fall back against the wall.

"Have you ever noticed what a demanding role being a captain is, Straw Hat-ya?" He murmured after a moment. "Every choice we make comes with consequences and constant responsibility. Being captain isn't that difficult, but being a good captain… That's something else."

The straw hat boy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know; I always wanted to be captain."

Law couldn't help but laugh. "Of course. Who would be crazy enough to give you orders…"

"It's not that. I know I wanna be the King of the Pirates but I don't really understand the details. That's why I wanted a crew. Without them, I knew I couldn't do it."

Law nodded as he felt exhaustion gradually creeping up on him again. "I see what you mean…" He took a long breath then, his eyes closing in spite of himself. "By the way, Straw Hat-ya. Thanks for saving my crew…"

"No problem! We're allies after all!"

Law didn't bother to protest. His body was a little less painful when he wasn't moving and his eyelids felt far too heavy to even consider opening them again now, especially to refute the other captain's words.

"Wake me up when we get to the right place then… I wanna be there…"

"Count on me!"

Law slipped into sleep and his head rolled onto the straw hat boy's shoulder without him even realizing it. Luffy stared at the clock above Chopper's desk across the room then, more determined than ever. In less than an hour. In less than an hour, he would find the Heart Pirates captain's navigator. He had promised.

Happy New Year!