Chapter 35: Stuck Once More
"Why're you pulling me by my foot?!"
"Hm?"
"Found him!" The familiar voices drifted over to Luffy, now the one slung over Cobra's back. His leg was still irritatingly numb, but he was reassured that it would be fine eventually seeing as his arm had healed. It just seemed to be taking longer, which might have to do with the fact that it had been the sight of where he'd been poisoned.
"Luffy!" The cheers of his crew drew Luffy from his thoughts, a smile lighting up on his face.
"Hey, guys!" Waving cheerily, he watched as they ran up to him and Cobra, the king stopping as he saw the crew coming their way.
"Who are you?" Usopp asked in confusion.
"Ahh... Thanks for carrying that guy on your back. He's one of ours. I'll take him now." Sanji offered, rubbing the back of his head almost sheepishly.
"Oh, so this is your crew then? The ones who brought Vivi back to this country?" Cobra asked Luffy who nodded, still smiling cheerfully.
"Mm! They're the best!" Luffy praised, noticing that his words elicited happy feelings from his crew. It was nice to finally bask in some good emotions after all of the anxiety and anger that had clouded over Alabasta lately.
"Daddy! Everyone!" Vivi's shout announced them to her arrival as she ran over, rain falling all around them and pelting her in the process, yet she ignored it.
"Ah, it's Vivi." Chopper said.
"Vivi-san. Daddy? Vivi-chan's father?!" Sanji yelled, putting the pieces together.
"You're the king then?" Zoro asked.
"Yes, that seems to be the case. Are any of you doctors? Luffy-san was poisoned earlier by Crocodile and has yet to regain feeling in his leg." Cobra said, switching the topic away from himself as he shifted the captain on his back.
"Eh?! Poisoned?!" Usopp and Chopper shrieked despite knowing of his resistance.
"I'll be fine, my arms fine now so my leg will be too," Luffy said with a pout, skin crawling at the word doctor which was unusual. He knew Chopper would be the one to check up on him, but the previous night's anxiety attack was still too fresh in his mind. Not to mention all the flashbacks and the mentions of Haru.
"Doctor! We need a doctor!" Chopper shouted, oblivious to how much Luffy did not want to hear that word at the moment.
"Chopper, that's you." Zoro deadpanned as he helped Cobra set Luffy down on the ground.
"I'm fine! It's just a little cut." Luffy whined, gesturing to the small cut on his ankle that wasn't even bleeding anymore.
"A little cut that was poisoned!" Nami said, her own worry creeping through into her tone.
"Yeah, but I drank the medicine or whatever so I'm fine. My arm was numb earlier too, but it's fine now." Luffy repeated, waving his arm in demonstration.
"I'd still like to check it if that's alright with you Luffy." Chopper said, calming down from his earlier panic to ask the question timidly.
Realizing that he'd started getting a little snappish, Luffy tried reigning himself in. Taking in a few deep breaths he reminded himself that it was only Chopper, someone who'd helped him before, someone he trusted, someone who knew a little bit about the facility now as well as his medical history.
Letting out the final deep breath Luffy nodded.
"Yeah, alright." He said, nodding his head toward his leg. Chopper smiled at that but was careful not to rush over like he clearly wanted to and instead moved slowly, non-threateningly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was oblivious to Chopper's use or need for caution and were instead talking to Cobra and Vivi about what they would do now. Luffy ignored them, focusing entirely on what Chopper was doing; watching, at the ready if he pulled out anything even remotely needle-like.
"It's not too bad of a cut generally speaking. If it weren't for the poison there would be nothing to worry about in the first place. You said it made your leg numb? And your arm? Which one?" Chopper asked as examined the cut, using only sight and a very brief prodding of the surrounding skin before looking up at Luffy.
"This one," Luffy said, waving the arm again in demonstration.
"Same side. And it's fine now? No numbness? Any tingling sensations?" Chopper asks, only observing the arm as Luffy moved it around instead of moving to touch it.
"Nothing. It's all good." Luffy reiterated. Chopper lets out a breath at that, relieved.
"Everything should be alright then. If it had had more time to spread further than your left side I would have been worried about the effects it could have had on your heart, but it seems you should regain feeling in your leg eventually." Chopper says, smiling happily.
"Thanks for letting me look you over!" He tacks on, though not any less grateful than the words imply. Blinking, Luffy feels the tension release from his shoulders as he smiles back at the reindeer. Luckily the poisoned cut had been the most noteworthy injury he'd received. The rest were all smaller cuts from sharp edges of the rocks.
"So everything's good then? Nothing else left to do?" Usopp asks, alerting Luffy to his crew that was observing him. Zoro was slumped against the wall across from him, but everyone else was standing, watching Chopper as he looked over Luffy. Cobra and Vivi were gone now, Luffy apparently having missed their departure while Chopper was looking him over.
"Nothing else." Chopper agrees with a sigh of relief, as well as exhaustion.
In fact, his entire crew was exhausted. He hadn't noticed earlier- they had done a good job of pushing it down and ignoring it- but now that they were the only ones around in this deserted section of town, the exhaustion flowed freely through all of them, as if they were feeding off each other.
"Good." With Namis simple affirmation, they all fell to the ground, one by one, completely unconscious.
Blinking once more in surprise, Luffy let out a loud laugh, finally allowing himself to relax against the wall he was propped against.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It seemed he had only just closed his eyes when his haki and other senses alerted him to a large group's incoming presence. Annoyed that his well-deserved rest was being interrupted, Luffy tensed up. His leg was, unfortunately, still numb, but he'd proven with Crocodile that a numb leg wasn't going to hold him back.
Shifting the best he could with his functioning limbs, he shuffled himself into a standing position, leaning on the wall for a moment as he gathered his bearings. For the most part, there was a feeling of righteousness and determination coming from the incoming group, and from the sound of the marching footfalls, there was a high probability that this new group was marines.
At this, Luffy frowned, glancing at his scattered crew unconscious on the ground. He would be able to defend them just fine on his own, there was no question about it, but being handicapped meant that there might be some real trouble if this group called for backup.
Ideally, he'd hide his crew in one of the houses they were near, but there wasn't enough time, and with Luffys leg being numb it meant that it would take even more time.
Annoyed once more at the tiny cut that had caused this problem, Luffy focused back on the incoming soldiers, now visible to him as they rounded the corner. They were toting the standard guns and swords and their faces indicated that they were preparing themselves for a fight.
If they tried to arrest him or his crew, then that's exactly what they would get.
"11097, surrender now and come peacefully in the name of justice!" At once, the group of marines were aiming their weapons his way, all of them freezing in place as they stared him down. To their credit, they didn't seem all that scared of him, but Luffy could tell that some were underestimating him; assuming that after his fight with Crocodile he would be easier to capture.
"Mm, no. I don't think so." Luffy said easily, shuffling along the wall so that he was in between the marines and his crew.
"Surrender or we'll detain you through use of force!" Another yelled, this one slightly more nervous about this than the others.
"I'd like to see you try," Luffy said, grinning at the marines, though not maliciously. This group hadn't done anything for him to be mad about and all of them had good colors and feelings. They also had the lingering smell of Smoker on them which told the young captain that this group probably worked under him.
"Ready men?! Aim, and-"
"Stand down at once! That's an order!" The new voice was female and not one that Luffy recognized at all. Her arrival surprised the marines and they all hesitated as they lowered their weapons, giving her questioning looks.
"Sergeant Major! But this is a very rare opportunity! Look, 11097 is handicapped, and not only that, but his crew is down as well! We won't get another chance to-" The man that had first yelled at Luffy said, only to cut himself off at the look the woman was sending him. The woman, who Luffy actually did recognize, was staring at the man impassively, a stern expression on her face as she kept her back to Luffy.
"I will not allow you to lay a hand on them right now!" She yelled, her own sense of justice easily overpowering the marines'. Luffy blinked in confusion, not understanding why this woman he hadn't even properly met yet was defending him and his crew. Last he checked, he hadn't done anything to get on her good side, and she was a marine as well- with at least some power to be giving orders- which only made this all the more confusing to not only him but the marines.
"Wh-why?! They're all sitting ducks right now! O-on top of that..." The man, a different one than the first one, stopped talking at once as the woman's glare intensified in his direction, and despite their confusion and reluctance, the marines stood down, weapons slack at their sides as they shuffled around nervously.
"Thanks, uh..." Luffy trailed off, still confused and not even knowing who he was thanking in the first place. The woman turned to look at him as he spoke, but she looked as reluctant to talk to him as the marines did behind her.
"This is a one-time thing. The next time we see each other, we'll be arresting you, as well as your crew." The woman told him, still glaring, though not with much heat to it.
"Right... Ne, you know Smokey. Are you two friends?" Luffy asked, smelling the other marine much stronger on the woman than the other marines. His question seemed to take her by surprise as she shifted back slightly, but her face was quick to return to a more neutral frown.
"I-..." She didn't respond to that, her frown twitching lower for a second before she collected herself.
"Smoker-san says you have information on the government. Something that's supposedly important. What is it?" She asked, and unlike every other time Luffy had been asked that question lately, Luffy felt that there wasn't a hidden motive for asking. There wasn't any greed in wanting to know information that others didn't, there wasn't any desire to find out the government's dirty laundry, there was only genuine curiosity, almost a naivety to the words.
Surprised by this, Luffy took a minute to think carefully. It seemed the woman was going to take his silence as a non-answer and made a move to leave, but when Luffy spoke, she froze.
"A bad place," Luffy said eventually, not understanding quite what possessed him to tell the marine that. Both he and the woman blinked in surprise; the woman because Luffy had answered and Luffy because, well, he'd answered.
"A bad place... The mental hospital?" She asked distantly, more to herself than to Luffy, but she turned to watch his face regardless. Hearing this, Luffy couldn't stop the sneer from twisting his features which only made the woman blink again, not quite understanding.
As the silence stretched on, the two came to the mutual agreement that the conversation was over. With a nod, the woman turned and faced the marines, walking forward without hesitation and not bothering to see if they would follow her.
Luckily- for the marines that is- they turned and left after another short burst of hesitance. Some turned to look at Luffy, as if battling the idea of whether they should go back and fight him despite orders, but no one tried anything. Within minutes, Luffy and his crew were alone once more.
Letting out a heavy breath, Luffy slumped against the wall, falling back to the ground and stretching his legs out in front of himself. Maybe now he could finally get some rest in.
Oh hey, his leg wasn't numb anymore either.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Chopper was focused entirely on the medicine he was mixing up. Beside him was one of the castle doctors, an old man who was amazed by Chopper's methods, and seeing as there was no harm in it, the reindeer was letting him watch as he worked.
Three days had passed since the big showdown and for the most part, the crew was healed and ready to go. The first day had mostly been the entire crew resting and healing- save for Luffy who was raring to go, not having had many- if any- injuries to begin with much to his crew's chagrin.
After all, they were all exhausted and sore while their captain was bouncing around and talking their ears off.
After some time Nami finally reached her breaking point and told Luffy to either leave them to rest or to calm down, and surprisingly he had actually calmed down. He'd kept quiet and sat at their bedsides, helping Vivi as she switched out bowls of water and got fresh bedding when needed.
He'd even helped Chopper, though that hadn't happened until the second day. The captain was almost timid as he hovered around Chopper as the doctor worked. He didn't want to get too close- after all, some of those tools looked too shiny and familiar for Luffy to be comfortable with- but he was quickly getting bored with the menial tasks Vivi was doing.
Chopper was quick to notice Luffys attention, but instead of forcing anything, he let Luffy take his time deciding what it was he wanted. He'd asked Vivi on the first day if they had any medical books in their library, and she'd been happy to show them to him. In his downtime, he'd been reading up more on the mental problems he knew Luffy suffered from so he would know how to better help him, and he was making sure to keep Whiskey's words in mind as well.
So when Luffy finally worked up the courage to ask if Chopper needed help, the reindeer was happy to show Luffy a mortar and pestle, explaining that he needed some ingredients crushed up for a salve that Usopp needed.
This seemed to be the perfect task for the hyperactive teen as he was able to focus on crushing the different herbs, his nose only wrinkling a few times in the beginning at the pungence of them.
Now, it was nearing the afternoon of the third day. Everyone had healed up enough to move around and had scattered from the room they'd been stuck in for so long the moment they'd had the chance. Luffy was still sleeping, his snores mere background noise for those in the room as they moved around.
Coming out of his thoughts, Chopper examined the paste he'd created, testing it to see if it was the right consistency before nodding to himself.
"And this works on what then?" The older doctor beside him asked.
"It's to help prevent infection from appearing." Chopper answered, still too focused to give more than an explanation than that as he transferred the paste into an empty jar to store.
"Ah, I see. My, the advancements Drum has made are impressive indeed." The doctor praised, causing Chopper to wiggle in his seat, focus lost entirely. Before he could reply to the compliment with curses and insults, Vivi got his attention.
"Tony-kun, I think somethings wrong with Luffy-san." She said, the worry dripping from her tone as she looked away from the rubber teen to look at the reindeer.
"Huh?" Chopper asked, a million different thoughts running through his head at her words. He hadn't even noticed, but Luffy's snores had stopped at some point and had been replaced with silence instead.
Hopping off his chair, Chopper scurried over to Vivi's side, trying to see what it was that would make her think this. It didn't take long to notice it though as he saw the grimace on his captain's face, a sweat having broken out on his forehead. Behind them, the older doctor left the room.
When the rest of the crew had still been recovering, Chopper had noticed that even though he wasn't the one being treated, the sight of other doctors in the room had put Luffy on edge and so he had asked Vivi to have the staff leave so he could work alone. His captain had seemed grateful afterward, and now whenever anything medically was happening, any nurses or doctors would leave the room so Chopper could work.
"How long has he been like this?" Chopper asks as he quickly moves to take Luffys temperature.
"I don't know, I only just noticed after I switched the bowls," Vivi said, gesturing to the bowl of water she had placed on the end table.
"Hey Chopper, I found more- What's going on?" Nami asked, taking in the atmosphere of the room and seeing that there was clearly something wrong. In her arms were some books that she'd chosen from the library after both Cobra and Vivi offered them.
"Somethings wrong with Luffy-san," Vivi told her, eyebrows slanted to express her worry as she went to stand with Nami, not wanting to get in Chopper's way.
"Somethings wrong with Luffy?" Usopp echoed as he and Sanji returned, bags of groceries in their arms.
"What is it? The poison?" Sanji asked, because if it wasn't that, then what? Luffy had been just fine, the worst of his cuts having been from falling rocks rather than the man he'd actually been fighting.
"No. I don't think so at least." Chopper said with a deep frown as he measured Luffy's heart rate.
"Then what could it be?" Nami asked, her own worry growing as she took in the sight of her captain. Whatever was wrong, it seemed painful, and he was even starting to twitch now, his hand jerking slightly, but then stopping as if it were restrained.
"It looks like... he's sleeping." Chopper told them, a realization hitting him as the confusion left his face.
"Sleeping? So he's fine then? But he doesn't look fine... Is he having a nightmare?" Usopp asked, the questions coming out quickly as he looked between Luffy and Chopper quickly. Chopper didn't pay the questions much mind though as he opened one of Luffys eyes, shining a light into it before nodding to himself, confirming his own theory.
"Have any of you seen Luffy carry around a vial? It would have been filled with liquid and have a really strong smell." Chopper says, turning to look at the crew assembled at the door.
"A vial? I don't think so..." Nami murmurs, finger on her chin as she thinks.
"I don't think I have either. Sanji?" Usopp says, turning to look to the chef who shakes his head and shrugs.
"Can't say I have. I thought strong smells irritated Luffys nose though. Why would he carry around something that smells?" Sanji asks Chopper, wondering what this mysterious vial was to begin with and how it was supposed to help at the moment.
"Its-... Complicated. I don't have Luffy's medical files with me, they're still on the Merry, so I don't know how to make what was in the vial without it." Chopper says with a frown, remembering that Whiskey had left a note detailing how to create another smelling salt should Luffy break, spill, or lose the one he already had.
"Wait a minute, what's this vial got to do with anything? I thought you said he was sleeping." Nami said, confused as to why- if he was only sleeping- they were making a big deal out of this.
"Yeah, couldn't you just, you know... wake him up?" Usopp asks, agreeing with Nami on this. On the bed, Luffys head suddenly jerked to the side, as if he were dodging something, and his breath suddenly started coming out quicker.
"It's not that simple. I can't tell you much about it, but for now, just think of it as Luffy being in a coma. I can't just wake him up, not without the smelling salt." Chopper tells them, lifting his hoofs off of Luffy as the rubber man's entire chest lifts up, and then falls back to the bed- almost as if he'd been shocked.
"A coma?!" Vivi asked, having been listening silently up until now.
"For lack of a better term." Chopper told her, relieved to see that Luffys movements were ceasing, though his breathing was still fast and his heart rate had picked up speed.
"I don't know what's going on, but you need his files then, right? I have to go drop this stuff off on the Merry anyhow, so just tell me where to find them." Sanji says, jiggling the bags of supplies he was still holding onto.
"They should be on my desk in the infirmary-"
"What's going on in here?" Zoro asked as he pushed open the door, quickly noticing the tension. It didn't take long for him to see that something was clearly wrong with Luffy as he continued breathing fast, the grimace still plastered on his face.
"Luffys in a coma, or not. Actually, I'm not really sure," Nami said, a little frustrated at the lack of answers but understanding that there was a reason Chopper wasn't telling them directly what was going on.
"A coma?" Zoro asked in confusion, looking back at Luffy who had been just fine the previous day and coming quickly to a realization.
"Oh, he's stuck." The swordsman said, confusing the rest at this statement.
"You know about it?" Chopper asked, blinking in surprise at the man.
"Uh, yeah, he told me about it a while ago. Gave me some smelly stuff and told me to use it if he didn't wake up." Zoro said, realizing that maybe he should have gone and gotten the vial himself without saying anything. He remembered his promise not to tell the others about it the first time this had happened, but it wasn't as if they wouldn't find out themselves now anyhow.
"The vial! So you've got it then?" Chopper asked hopefully, trotting up to the swordsman.
"I don't have it with me right now, it's back with my stuff on the Merry," Zoro said with a frown as he looked back over at Luffy who was beginning to thrash lightly again.
"Then you and Sanji go back to the Merry. Zoro, you can get the vial and Sanji can get the files and we'll wake Luffy up." Nami ordered because even though they had the vial now, she was sure Chopper would still want Luffys files after this.
"Of course, Nami-san!" Sanji cooed before calming himself and leaving the room at a jog. Zoro was quick to follow after, knowing that the quicker Luffy was awake, the better.
Meanwhile, Usopp, Nami, and Vivi went to sit beside Luffy as Chopper continued monitoring his heart rate. It was disconcerting to see Luffy like this, but with the knowledge that he would be waking up once Zoro got back with the vial they were calmer than before.
"So he'll be fine then, right? Once he wakes up?" Usopp asks nervously as he took in the pained look on Luffys face.
"He should be. He's probably going to wake up disoriented and it might take him a second to recognize where he is." Chopper told them as he continued monitoring.
"This doesn't happen often, does it?" Vivi asks, more so to Nami and Usopp than Chopper seeing as he had only joined recently.
"I don't know. I've never seen it happen before, but Zoro seemed to know about it enough. Maybe it happened when it was just the two of them? Before I joined." Nami said, trying to think back.
"I've read that it's sporadic. There aren't really any warning signs that this will happen, but it seems to happen more often after stressful events." Chopper told them.
"Stressful events. I guess it has been pretty stressful lately, huh?" Usopp says as he thinks back on everything they'd been through recently. Civil war notwithstanding, Luffy had been on edge ever since Ace's visit, and then there was the event where they'd been locked in that cage.
Yeah, Usopp could definitely see those as being stressful events.
"I'm going to get go get a cloth," Vivi said softly, eyeing the sweat covering Luffys forehead again before scurrying off without waiting for a response.
After that, it was just a waiting game. Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly as they watched Luffy jerk and twitch every so often. Sometimes his breathing would become quick and rapid, and other times it seemed to stop altogether which was always the scariest. It would always come back with a loud gasping breath, but even then, Luffy remained sleeping.
When the doors finally burst open to show a panting Sanji and Zoro, each carrying the big stack of files and a vial respectively, to say the rooms occupants were relieved would be an understatement.
"Have you done this before, Zoro?" Chopper asked as the swordsman walked over, uncorking the vial as he did.
"Yeah, once." He says, holding out the vial to Chopper to take. The reindeer shakes his head though, moving away from the bed.
"You should be the one to do it if he gave it to you." Chopper said, omitting the fact that Luffy would probably rather see anything but Chopper right after waking up from being stuck.
Not questioning it, Zoro only shrugs and moves to stand beside Luffys shoulders. He was about to place the vial under his nose, but at the same moment, Luffy moved his head to the side, a low groan rumbling from his throat. Moving his hand back to keep the liquid from spilling, Zoro waited for his captain to settle before trying again with much better results.
The crew and Vivi watched with bated breaths as they waited for something to happen. It was almost as bad as waiting for the bomb that Crocodile had placed to go off.
Thankfully, Luffys eyes shot open wide within the minute. Zoro was quick to pull his arm away and recork the vial mere milliseconds before Luffy was springing upright in the bed, breathing heavy and eyes darting around the room quickly, though they got the impression he wasn't truly seeing anything.
"Luffy." Zoro's voice was calm and even as he said the rubber teen's name and at once Luffys eyes were snapping to the swordsman's. There was a brief moment as Luffy took the time to register what and who he was seeing with names and locations.
"Zoro," Luffy responded finally, and like the first time this happened, the way he said Zoro's name implied that he was in fact confirming that that was Zoro's name.
"You were stuck." Zoro continued to tell him, noticing that Luffy still looked lost.
"I was- oh," Luffy said, turning and noticing the rest of the crew, as well as Vivi, standing around the bed. A silence filled the room that no one quite knew how to fill, but thankfully Chopper was able to speak up.
"Are you alright Luffy? Headache? Dizziness?" Chopper asks softly, staying at the end of the bed and making no move to get any closer. Taking a deep breath Luffy shakes his head slowly, trying to parse out what were his emotions and what were everyone else's.
The room was clouded in concern and worry, his entire crew emitting the emotions with varying levels of intensity. It was almost suffocating, the intensity of it all. The underlying currents of tension were nothing in comparison to how heavy the concern and worry weighed on him, and he all but fell into a panic right then and there because of it.
Slowing his breathing down, Luffy looked out a nearby window, trying to gauge what time it was.
"How long was I stuck?" Luffy asks no one in particular, knowing that someone would at least have a general estimate.
"We're not sure. It's well into the afternoon now though so maybe about an hour. " Chopper told him, trying to think back to the exact time Luffy had stopped his peaceful snoring and had gone eerily silent.
"Hm. I missed three meals then." Luffy said, a little of his usual carefree tone returning with those words. It was obvious that Luffy was on edge- tense- but at the same time, they could see that he wanted to change topics.
"Where did you get three from? It's only been an hour!" Usopp said, confused as to how that worked.
"So when can we eat? I'm starving!" Luffy said, slowly coming back to himself as he felt his stomach rumble.
The crew facepalmed, their worry dissipating instantly as they saw that Luffy was just fine despite what had happened.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The rest of the day passed by quickly. From a feast that Igarams wife- which reminded Luffy that he never told Vivi Igaram was alive to begin with, but that was alright, she knew now- to going to the royal baths, it was soon night once again.
Nami had decided that it was best they leave that night, and after Luffy agreed they began talking with Vivi about their plans to go. While they were, they got a call from Mr. 2, or Bon Clay, telling them he had their ship- or more accurately, he had moved their ship- and after Luffy told them he wasn't lying and that he was their friend, the crew decided to meet him at the new location.
After a quick discussion with Vivi that, should she want to join, her only opportunity would be tomorrow at noon, they got ready to leave. Goodbyes were quick and packing was quicker as they knew they needed to leave fast before the marines were able to trap them in the kingdom, but thanks to Vivi, they were on their way speedily with the use of the duck squad.
Once they reached the Merry, as well as Bon Clay, the eccentric man explained to them that he moved it due to the fact that the marines were blockading the island, and if he hadn't they surely would have taken the Merry. Hearing this, Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper were quick to welcome Bon Clay as their friend, the four of them dancing together.
Until Zoro made the comment that he only did it so he could get out safely as well. After spinning the words around with plenty use of the word friendship, Bon Clay quickly won over Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy once more.
Together, Bon Clay's ship and the Going Merry set sail down the Sandora River, and by the time the sun was up they were in the heat of a battle with the marines. Instead of shooting at them with cannonballs, however, they were using iron spears which were much harder to deflect.
As much as Luffy wanted to be able to balloon up and cover his stomach in haki, he wasn't good enough at yet to do such a thing. It was easy to cover his fists, feet, or sometimes even head, but when he ballooned there was too much area to cover, and if he didn't cover it all there was a chance of the giant spear going through him which wouldn't do anyone any good.
The formation of the eight ships they were up against was too tough to get through because whether they moved to attack or moved to retreat, the formation would remain the same, and at this rate, the Merry would sink.
Chopper was trying to repair holes that the spears were making, but it got to the point that they were coming faster than he was fixing them. Despite this, there wasn't much they could do to prevent the spears from hitting them. At one point, they noticed the ships at the South had not only Fullbody, but Jango on them, and while they were distracted with that Usopp had gone to the cannon. With one shot, he managed to hit one of the two southern ships, causing it to fall into the second and creating an opening that the Merry would be able to get through.
Just as they were getting ready to head through the opening, someone from Bon Clay's ship informed Bon that a marine by the name of Hina was here, and apparently, she was dangerous. Despite the man's will to leave immediately, Luffy refused, telling him that they had a friend they were meeting at noon at the harbor.
Pausing at this, a new plan was formed. Disguising themselves as the Straw Hat crew, Bon Clay and his crew became a distraction, sailing away from the Merry and taking on Hina themselves. After a round of explosions and fighting, Bon Clay and his crew were captured which caused a round of tears, more so in Luffy, Usopp and Chopper.
With Bon Clay captured, a group of ships headed after them, but this time they got close enough that they were able to fight them. On a time limit, Luffy was more than enough to destroy the ships himself, barely even batting an eye at it. Now that they didn't have to worry about the spikes, this battle had turned in their favor.
When noon came they waited at the harbor, Vivi's voice traveling to them. Nami told them it was only the transmitters, however, that she was actually giving her speech now and wouldn't be joining, but that was proven wrong when the princess appeared on the rocky cliff.
Wanting to go and get her right away, Usopp ran off to move the ship despite the extra navy ships that had started coming their way. He was stopped however when Vivi, still using the loudspeakers, told them she couldn't come with them and would be staying.
When she asked if they would still be friends, Nami stopped Luffy from responding, having noticed that the marines had spotted Vivi, and if they confirmed their connection she would become a criminal herself. Hearing this, Luffy looked to the 'X' that was still on his arm, the same one as his number tattoo, and smiled.
Moving to the back of the ship where Vivi would see him, he raised the arm in the air, and with a smile, the crew moved to do the same.
Even though they couldn't respond with the words they wanted to, they were able to show her through this gesture that no matter what, no matter how much time passed, they would always be friends.
And now Alabasta is at its end. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! There are still things that need wrapped up- such as Robin and her ever so mysterious purple aura- but we'll be seeing more of that in later chapters. I'm happy to see people getting excited for the next arc! I enjoy reading all of your speculation and thoughts on what might be coming up and I can't wait to get into it! As I stated in the last chapter, the next chapter will be a transitioning chapter and the one after that will be the start of Konoro Town.
Things are getting interesting now though. Luffy's hinted to Tashigi that the information he has on the marines has to do with the 'mental hospital'. Whatever she decides to do with that information, though, is the real mystery. Not to mention, the crew have now bared witness to Luffy getting 'stuck', incorrectly assuming that this is the first time it's happened with them around. While these things won't be touched on at this very moment, rest assured they will come back into play in the future!
I hope you all are staying safe with all the craziness in the world at this moment. I really do appreciate each and every one of you for following along with this crazy plot bunny that hasn't let go of my brain in years now. Truly, I would not be here without all of you and I want you all to know just how much I value you all.
So, as always, I hope to see you again in two weeks with the next chapter! You all are the best!