Author's Note: Sorry for making this short. It's meant to be a setup for the Baratie arc. Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"IT'S DONE!" Luffy announced as he held up a black flag. "Our jolly roger is done!"
Everyone turned their eyes to see Luffy's new flag, only to get weirded out by the emblem drawn on it. It looked like a classic skull-and-crossbones, but wearing a straw hat. The problem is, the drawing was crooked and bent.
"Luffy, that's not a jolly roger. That's a sad fellow." Harley said.
"Well, the point of a pirate flag is to inspire terror," Zoro said, "And it is scary to look at."
"What? You think you can do better?" Luffy asked.
"As a matter of fact, I can." Usopp said. "I happen to have already drawn up the flag myself." He held up his own flag with a different emblem on it. It was a skull-and-crossbones, but the skull looked like Usopp as a skeleton and one of the crossbones was a slingshot.
"That's not our emblem and you know it!" Luffy criticized.
"Usopp, we want our enemies to fear us, not gag in disgust." Boomerang said.
"I'm gonna knock you flat." Usopp growled. "Fine. How about this?"
Usopp spent the next few minutes drawing up Luffy's emblem idea and making it perfect. He then copied the design on the Going Merry's main sail.
"That's better." Nami commented.
"I like it." Harley said. "Certainly better than my ex's. His is just a smily face with a diagonal line across it."
"What about you, Harley?" Boomerang asked. "Do you have a jolly roger for our crew?"
"Actually, yes. I've drawn this up since I left the Grand Line saving it for when I get my own ship." Harley said. She then pulled out a black flag with a skull-and-crossbones on it. The skull had Harley's hair and lipstick.
"Why's a skull wearing lipstick?" Zoro asked.
"Why's a skull wearing a straw hat?" Harley returned. "Don't criticize my art and I won't criticize yours."
BOOM!
The close explosion of cannon fire made everyone jump. They all turned to see Luffy standing over a cannon that he just fired.
"What the heck was that?" Zoro asked.
"Target practice." Luffy answered. "There's a big rock over there and I've been trying out these cannons. Though, I think it's a dud."
"It's not a dud, Luffy. Your aim was just off." Usopp said. "Here, let me give it a shot."
Usopp took control of the cannon and began to reposition it slightly.
"Should we stop them?" Boomerang asked.
"What for? It ain't our business." Harley said. "Besides, what kind of damage would come from shooting a rock in the middle of the ocean."
"Fair enough." Boomerang said.
BOOM! KRASH!
Usopp's shot made the entire rock explode. Everyone watched with excited expressions while Usopp just looked proud of himself.
"Whoa! You nailed it in one shot!" Luffy yelled.
"Well, despite what I all thought, Usopp actually can hit the broad side of a barn." Boomerang said.
"Yes, I… HEY!" Usopp yelled out. "Don't forget all the times I made you drop your jaw!"
"And don't forget all the times I nearly cut your head off with one of my boomerang throws!" Boomerang returned.
"All right, boys. Cut it out." Nami said.
"Yeah. We gotta focus on building our crews." Luffy said. "We're gonna need a musician."
"Again with the musician?" Zoro asked.
"Pirates sing, don't they?" Luffy asked.
"You know, I could play a few tunes." Harley volunteered. "You should have seen me on stage. I killed it singing the song 'Say That We're Sweethearts Again'."
"I'LL MURDER YOU!" yelled out a violent voice. Everyone dodged just in time to avoid a sword swing down from above. It came from a man with sunglasses and a mark on his cheek.
"Sheesh. A simple no could have sufficed." Harley said.
"Who's this creep?" Usopp asked.
"I'm the guy who are going to kill you for trying to blow up my friend!" the sunglasses man growled. "I've hunted down some of the most infamous pirates known to man, and I'm going to tear you dogs to pieces."
Zoro stared at the man and blinked in confusion. "Hold on. Johnny, is that you?"
The bounty hunter looked at Zoro and gasped in shock. "Big Bro Zoro! It is you!"
"Whoa! You know each other?" Luffy asked. "Zoro, he called you his bro? Is he actually…"
"Only figuratively." Zoro said. "He and his partner used to hunt pirates with me back in the day. Speaking of, where's Yosaku?"
Johnny suddenly broke into tears and sobbed. "Oh, Big Bro Zoro! It's horrible! Yosaku is… dying!"
Johnny headed to the lifeboat he sailed on before jumping onto the Merry and pulled out another man who wore a headband. He was wheezing from his decaying teeth in bleeding everywhere.
"What happened?" Zoro asked with concern.
"It was just a few days ago." Johnny said. "Yosaku was right as rain until he suddenly fell ill. He went pale, his teeth started falling out, and all his old battle wounds began to bleed out. I didn't know what to do. I thought he needed rest, so we set up camp at a nearby rock. But then, all of a sudden, a cannonball came from out of nowhere and blew it up."
Both Luffy and Usopp dropped their jaws and widened their eyes. They bowed their heads swiftly. "We're so sorry!"
"Well, that's terrible luck." Boomerang commented.
"Glad those two buffoons shot it instead of us." Harley said.
Johnny kept weeping over his dying partner. "I don't know what to do. My partner and I were a great team. Without him, I…"
"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Nami yelled out. She came out from the galley with a small barrel full of limes and passed them to Luffy. "Luffy, squeeze these limes and pour them down his throat. It should clear him up."
"Really?" Luffy asked before immediately pouring juice out of the limes and letting it drip into Yosaku's throat.
Johnny's excitement grew. "Is he…"
"Don't worry about it. It's scurvy. It's easily treatable." Nami said.
"That's scurvy?" Harley asked. "Never had to deal with that before."
"You probably just had a proper nutritional diet." Nami said. "Years ago, that used to be a big problem for sailors because fruits and vegetables rot after a while."
"So you're like a doctor." Luffy said after he was done squeezing out the lime juice.
"It's a basic survival thing." Nami said.
All of a sudden, Yosaku sprung up to his feet and danced around happily. "I'M CURED! I'M SAVED!"
"YOU'RE NOT WELL ENOUGH TO DANCE THAT QUICKLY!" Nami shouted.
Sure enough, Yosaku collapsed again. This time, he settled himself into a sitting position tired already. "Thank you for saving my life. And Zoro, so the rumors were true. You actually became a pirate."
"Yeah. It's a long story." Zoro said. "So what have you two been up to? Any pirates caught since we last met?"
"Well, yeah. Though, it wasn't as much as we did when you were with us." Johnny answered. He then reached into his bag and pulled out stacks of wanted posters. "We're looking for some big game these days though. Noah Cuttler. Selina Kyle. Arlong."
The last name made Nami dilate her eyes as if she was face to face with a ghost.
"Selina Kyle?" Boomerang asked.
"Yeah. I believe she's… right here!" Johnny said finding and pulling out a wanted poster.
The image on the poster showed a young woman with a beautiful face wearing a black cat-like hood and a pair of red goggles. It read, "Wanted: Catwoman Selina Kyle. Bounty: 60,000,000 berries."
"Hey." Boomerang said. "Didn't Kuro say he was betrayed by someone named Selina?"
"Come to think of it, you're right." Harley said. "What can you tell us about this Selina girl?"
"Well, from what we've heard, she's the greatest cat burglar in the world. Pulled off some of the most elusive heists in recent history." Yosaku said. "Word is, she's part of another pirate crew that's been gaining quite a reputation recently on the Grand Line. An all-female pirate crew with a mysterious captain named Oracle. They call themselves the Birds of Prey."
"They sound fierce." Usopp said.
"Oh, you have no idea." Yosaku said. He then groaned and began to pick himself up. "Okay. I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks. We'd be dead if you guys hadn't come along."
"You know," Harley said, "You guys are gonna need someone who can turn your food storages into something edible. Like a cook or something."
"You know, she's actually right." Nami said. "If we're going on such a long voyage, we at least need someone who can feed us. We can't just pick limes from the storage closet the whole way."
"All right then. So we'll find a cook." Luffy said. "We could use some grub."
"You know," Johnny said, "If you guys need a cook, I know where you can look."
"Really?" Zoro asked.
"Hey, what are old friends for? Besides, it's the least we can do for you guys." Johnny said. "You guys ever heard of Baratie?"
"Doesn't ring a bell." Boomerang said.
"Get this. It's a huge restaurant that takes up a whole ship sailing in the open sea." Johnny said. "It's only a couple days from here, and it's pretty close to the entrance of the Grand Line, so you're bound to meet some tough people around there." He smiled over to Zoro. "And Big Bro Zoro, I hear that a certain swordsman you're looking for is around that area."
Zoro's eyes widened for a minute before putting on an eager grin. "Sounds perfect."
"All right. Our new destination is settled!" Luffy declared. "We're heading for Barnacle!"
"Baratie!" everyone corrected before they changed their course.