Nexus HWR 8.7 Train to Sin City:
"Sora, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Nami asked, watching as the brown haired boy walked away. The navigator took a step towards him, "We could use your help. Roxas, could use your help."
Sanji and Robin stood behind Nami at the northern edge of the Dread Fort. Everyone was in a rush, people were heading out of the city, others were on their way to the train station to flee to the east. The airfield ahead of them was packed full of people loading onto planes and getting out of there as fast as they could. No one wanted to be in the city for when the force arrived to find out what happened to the Lord of the Dread Fort, or for the power struggle that was sure to follow.
Sora stopped walking north out of the city and froze where he stood. "I made a promise to Roxas," Sora stated, looking down a little as he spoke. "I promised I would help him save Naminé." He spun around and looked in the distance to the South, "And I also have Kairi to think about. If I knew where she was I would use the darkness to reach her right now." His eyes darkened and he glanced at the floor for a few seconds, his fists clenching hard. There's so much I want to do! But, but, I've spent more than two years doing things I thought I needed to do. More and more will compound on top, and it will never end, not as long as we're stuck here. King Mickey, I haven't forgotten your message. And now, I'm going to do what I'm meant to.
He lifted his head and looked at the three pirates watching him. "I don't know if you've figured it out yet. I don't care if you know anymore though. I have been all over the universe, or multiverse, or whatever you want to call it. This weapon," he slammed his right arm out to the side and a yellow hilt appeared. "This Keyblade," he stated. "I have it for a reason. It's not just about me, or Kairi, or Roxas or Naminé. I do want to stay with you all and travel with you North. I want to help Gray and his friends. I want to find Kairi and marry her today." He swung his Keyblade in front of him and it shattered into a thousand shards of white light that floated up in the air. Behind the shards of light they could see his eyes were closed, but when he snapped them open all they saw was the pure determination in his blue eyes. "But I can't do that."
A smile spread across Sora's face, despite what he was telling the pirates. They felt bad that he had this much responsibility on him right now, but there was nothing they could think of to say to him. "I'm going to find Goku," Sora stated, making the three pirates go a little wide-eyed at the declaration. He turned more to Nami, "and Timmy," he continued. "And together, we're going to save the world."
Sora turned around and took a step away from the pirates. A second later, a ten foot portal of darkness rose up from the floor in front of his feet.
"Where are you going?!" Nami called after him as he stepped towards the portal.
The teenager with spiky brown hair turned his head a little. He glanced at Nami through one eye, "I may not know where Kairi, Timmy, or Goku are. But Goku said he felt some Saiyans before he flew off, and I learned where to find them." The portal's darkness started to shroud Sora's entire body, but they heard his voice call out of it. "If I had to guess, that's where I'd say Goku would be. I'll see you soon!"
The door of darkness faded away to nothing and the three crew members just stared at the spot on the floor for a few seconds. "Sometimes I forget how strong some of the people we're traveling with are," Sanji said as he lit up a cigarette.
"It's not just about being strong," Robin continued, turning in towards the chef a little. "I do believe we have made friends out of heroes."
"You got that right," Nami said, turning around back towards the city. "Save the world?" She muttered in annoyance, just loud enough for the other two to hear her. "I came here to look for Zoro and Chopper. If we get sucked into another giant war..."
"Knowing Luffy," Sanji began with a deep frown. He and Nami groaned together.
"Luffy-san did agree to wait until day to attack the city," Robin brought up while they walked down the streets of the Dread Fort. Sanji and Nami both looked in towards the woman walking between them. Luffy's decision to wait until morning surprised all of them, but it surprised them in a good way.
Nami thought about it for a second and shrugged her shoulders, "Well, whatever happens, I'm just glad Sora's looking out for us. Though if he could find Timmy and Goku and get their help too, that would be more than appreciated."
The pirates all agreed on this point. Everyone nodded but Sanji came to a stop and made the other two look back at him after taking a couple more steps. "What is it Sanji?" Robin questioned.
"There's something else I've been thinking about since last night," he muttered. The chef looked up at the women and began, "My Nobody looked identical to me. He was completely different in many ways, but his physical appearance, it felt like I was looking into a mirror." The women did not see what he was getting at and Sanji looked over his shoulder, "So then, if Nobodies are supposed to look just like the originals, why did Roxas and Sora look, different?"
"I thought they looked pretty similar," Nami began, though she slowed down by the end of her sentence. "But you're right, they weren't identical. Are you sure that it's normal for Nobodies and Somebodies to look exactly alike?"
"I'm not positive," Sanji continued in a quiet voice. "But I have a feeling it is. So," he looked back forward at the other two, "what's so special about Sora?"
Robin cracked a smile and she repeated, "What's so special about Sora? I believe we already know the answer to that."
Sanji nodded his head as that was true, they had a good idea. Still, he thought, Sora's Nobody looked like, a different person altogether. It just doesn't make sense. He finally sighed and shrugged his shoulders before motioning that they should keep going.
They continued walking through the city that was getting more and more packed the closer they got to the train station. "How do you think they did on Luffy's disguise?" Nami asked as they neared the ticket booth. Good thing we got those identifications before we crushed their leader. She watched as someone put a few credits on the counter and then held out their identification that Nami was pulling out herself now.
"I am sure Franky and Usopp-kun have done a great job," Robin assured.
"Yeah..." Sanji mumbled, while turning his head to the right and lowering his bottom lip. "You've got to be kidding me."
Nami and Robin followed his gaze and looked the same way. The younger of the two woman smacked herself on the forehead and then dragged her hand down her face exasperatedly. Nami mumbled under her breath, "Well, there are enough crazy-looking people in this world that it isn't too unbelievable."
"That's absolutely right Nami-swan!" Sanji agreed loudly, though as he glanced back he did have his doubts.
Stepping through the crowd was a figure only a little shorter than the large cyborg he was walking with. Franky already normally stood out with his brightly colored armored plating, but now with the nine foot tall guy walking around off-balanced with red and blue striped pants, a tall red and blue hat, and a fake black mustache and beard on his face, their three crewmates could not stand out more.
Luffy turned heads every step he took, and Nami watched nervously as some of those people looked at him closely. They all turned away after a few seconds though and she sighed in relief. When she looked closer, she could see the rim of Luffy's straw hat sticking out from under the taller hat, but besides that and his goofy expression, there wasn't much way to recognize him if she weren't already looking for him. "You idiots," she growled deeply as Franky and Usopp stepped out of the crowd and in front of her.
Before she could yell at them and at the guy in stilts stumbling out behind them with a goofy smile on his face, they heard a voice call to them from the right side of the road. They looked over hearing some of their names, and saw a young man with messy black hair waving over at them.
"It's Rin," Usopp said, getting the attention off of Luffy's awesome disguise that Nami did not seem to agree with.
The pirate crew got off the main street and over to the side road next to it. There were still some people walking on it, so Rin waved them to follow him and made a turn down a more narrow alley off the side road. Everyone gathered up in the alley and Rin jogged right up in front of a tall wooden box that a kid with spiky white hair was sitting on.
Killua waved his legs back and forth but brought them to a stop when the pirates stopped in front of him. "Alright," he started, standing up on the box and looking down at the group. "We've got some good news, and some bad news. Who wants the good news first?" He asked.
"I'd rather end on good news," Usopp stated, holding up his right hand.
"Bad news first," Sanji agreed, lighting up a cigarette so that he could smooth his nerves no matter what happened.
"Alright," Killua accosted. "Bad news is, the train leaves in about fifteen minutes. Also, even if we take this train, we won't be able to get north of the Cataclysm Line."
"Cataclysm," Sanji repeated thoughtfully, pausing on it for a second. "I heard Meliodas mention something about that with Gray."
Rin spoke up from in front of the box Killua stood on. "It cuts from one end of Aebrith to the other. It's tens of thousands of miles long, over a hundred miles wide, and supposedly impossible to cross on foot."
Each one of the pirates glanced in a little at Luffy and could see the captain trying to hold his eyes back from shining at the prospect of such an awesome adventure. Killua continued quickly onto more bad news, "We could switch trains at Sin City. The problem is that there, the rule in the city is that there are no rules. Most people heading East plan on getting off the train long before they reach the city."
"No rules?" Luffy asked, his eyebrows lifting. "Sounds awesome," he said, his smile stretching wider than was possible for non-rubber humans. He thought about how Meliodas told him the night before that he would find out why it's a fun place to visit, and he already agreed before even getting there.
"Yeah, it does sound pretty fun," Killua admitted, "But, to get on the train north after Sin City, you have to undergo pretty severe security checks. After what happened here, I'm pretty sure they might be looking for Luffy. The security is so tight because they don't want any terrorists on one of the only three bridges across the Cataclysm Line in Western Aebrith. This bridge furthest to the West that connects to Sin City is called the Bridge of Azulon. And the country that controls the land on both sides of the bridge, is not a very... forgiving, country."
"Alright alright," Usopp yelled at the boy. "Get on to the good news."
Killua grinned over at Usopp and nodded. "Okay," he clapped his hands together. "So, the train is big enough to carry almost everyone in the city, which is great since a lot of people aren't getting on anyway. Also, to check each of the citizens thoroughly would be a big waste of time, so they are only checking the I.D.'s of the person who buys the tickets. That means Nami can buy the tickets for all of us," he looked over at her, "that is, assuming she still has the money."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Nami yelled at him, pointing a finger his way accusingly. As she pointed, a glint shone from a gem on a ring on that finger, and her own jaw lowered a little as she realized it. The gem cost most of the money she took from the CA$INO the night before but damn did it look gorgeous. She lowered her hand and put it behind her back while receiving a few annoyed looks. "We have enough," she assured, then laughed a few times with a sweat bead dripping down her face.
"I hope so," Killua mumbled.
"That all the information you two managed to get?" Sanji asked the younger boys.
Killua nodded, but Rin looked away for a second. The younger kid looked at Rin in surprise, as Rin had told him what he said he learned before and Kil thought he reiterated it all. The black haired teen looked up at the younger boy above him, then sighed and apologized, "Sorry for not mentioning earlier." He looked ahead at the group in front of him seriously, "I heard from a demon I beat up in an alleyway that the leader of Sin City," he paused and looked down, "is known as Astaroth. He is a powerful demon, known as the Demon King of Rot, some call him the Demon of Destruction." It may be a lie, but I can't just tell them Mephisto told me Astaroth would be there.
"Do you think you could take him?" Killua asked the boy beneath him. "Because none of us can see demons."
"I can now," Luffy stated casually.
"Yeah Rin, you're going to have to-" Usopp stopped, then spun towards the funny-dressed pirate captain next to him. "What? Since when?!"
Luffy shrugged, but grinned as he thought about what Rin just told him. Sanji kept staring at the nervous teen intensely and he wasn't the only one who noticed something was up. "Rin-san," Robin started, "is there something else?"
"Huh? Nope, not at all," Rin replied quickly, smiling wide at the group in front of him. He looked a little suspicious and a couple of them noticed, but before anyone could pry further, they were snapped from their discussion.
"What are you guys doing?" A voice suddenly asked from the alley's edge. Everyone spun around and saw Riku standing there looking in at them as if they were stupid. "The train leaves in five minutes." He motioned with his head back out towards the main street, "Now let's get moving. We can talk on the train. I hear it's going to be a long trip."
"This is much bigger than the Sea Train," Franky admired as the group gathered inside one of the train cars. The trains he worked on when he was a young shipwright had nothing on the piece of machinery he just entered.
In front of the cyborg were three rows of booths: one in the middle and one on either side near the windows. The booths looked pretty comfortable with soft red seat-backs and cushions to sit on. There were tables in between the sides of every booth, and lights on the ceiling that had buttons next to them along with little knobs for the fans coming out of the air vents. Each booth had a little curtain pulled to the sides so that when it was night they could close it for some privacy and so that they turn off their lights without having to worry about the lights of their neighbors bothering them.
"Did we accidentally buy first class?" Rin muttered as he walked in after Franky.
"That lady at the ticket booth better not have scammed me," Nami growled angrily.
Killua walked in and shook his head, "It's alright. The technology in Aebrith seems a lot more advanced than Awul. Each of the High Lords have their own civilizations right? And since they're all allied under the King, they can trade with each other. Only way for nations to survive would be by not falling behind so that they still have things to trade with. That, or overwhelming military superiority," he added with a shrug as he knew there were some monsters who could just take over countries on their own if they wanted. Like the King, Killua thought to himself nervously. How much stronger is he now than back then?
"Let's go find a booth!" Luffy exclaimed as he wandered into the train behind the rest of them. Usopp had to help make sure Luffy didn't fall while walking on his stilts, and he was starting to doubt the practicality of the disguise they made for him.
"Monkey's right," Riku stated, surprising a few of them. They noticed a couple of people walking in behind them and realized why he used the pirate's family name. He turned to Monkey D. Luffy and continued, "Where do you want to sit?"
"Let's get a window," he said in excitement. "I still want to see more of this place!" Luffy started over to a booth on the left side of the train and the rest of the guys followed him.
"You boys go enjoy yourselves," Nami said in a disinterested tone. She grabbed hold of Robin's arm and pulled her female friend over to a different booth close to them. The older woman with black hair chuckled at her friend's eagerness to finally get to spend some time away from the boys. It wasn't that they didn't love their male crew members, just that they needed some space once in a while that they hadn't really gotten since they had their own room on the Thousand Sunny.
While the girls went over and pulled the curtains shut on their middle booth to show it was occupied, the boys all gathered in one booth a little farther back and to the left side of the train. Franky took up two normal spots, and almost a third on top of that, but luckily Killua was small enough to fit on the same side. They quickly realized they wouldn't all be able to fit in the same booth though so they thought about splitting up and half going with the women. Nami poked her head out of the booth up ahead of them and yelled back that they weren't allowed, so they just grabbed the booth in front of the other guys.
Kil was glad to not have to be squished with the large robot, even though he thought Franky was incredibly cool and shiny. He hopped over the booth into the one in front of it, while Usopp came running around as well and Rin not far behind him. Luffy was the first one in the first booth so he wasn't getting up, but Sanji wanted any excuse to get closer to the women and he jumped at the opportunity to move a booth up.
The train was filling up now and some other people were filling up booths around them. Riku noticed a couple of people having to sit with others they didn't know, so he came up with an idea fast. The silver haired teen, sitting on the same side of the table as Luffy, reached a hand over the table and it became shrouded with darkness. Franky and Luffy both looked at him in surprise for a few seconds, then jumped in even more surprise as dark figures appeared on Riku's right side and Franky's left. There were enough strange figures on the train that even these two monsters could be looked over as long as they didn't act up. The two tall Heartless had black squiggly antennae and glowing white eyes on their pure black faces. Their arms were crooked and held over the table with sharp black claws at the end.
The Neo Shadows sat casually on the booth, and the one of Franky's side turned its head to the cyborg and tilted it to the side while Franky stared at it. After a few seconds, Franky started laughing and he said, "You know, not that these guys aren't trying to kill us, they do look pretty cute don't they?"
"Cute, isn't the work I'd use," Riku muttered. He looked at the creatures he summoned and though not afraid of them, he couldn't say he liked them at all. "All I see when I look at them is my world falling to the darkness," he admitted, saying it in a casual tone and not dark like the words suggested. "It was my fault you know," he said, turning to Luffy and then Franky. "I opened the door to darkness on my world and welcomed the Heartless." What he saw in the Dread Fort's casino was fresh in his mind and he thought about it nonstop for the past eighteen hours.
He shook his head a few times, "I was just a stupid kid though."
"You're still a kid," Luffy teased the boy sitting next to him.
"I'm what? Three years younger than you?" Riku asked. He seemed a little aggravated, but calmed himself down as Luffy laughed at him. "Well anyway, I wanted to bring up the Nobodies if you two were interested," he offered.
"Nobodies?" Franky asked slowly, trying to place where he'd heard that. "Oh yeah, that's what Sora called his friend Roxas."
"They were in charge of the Dread Fort," Riku added. Franky nodded as he remembered the guy he fought out in the streets who Robin called a Nobody. Strangely, Riku noticed Luffy was also paying attention to him. The teen smiled a little and looked past Franky at the booth behind him where Killua was sitting. Guess you really got to him. Good job Kil. He continued speaking for the two with him, "Saix, the guy Luffy fought. He was a high ranking member."
"What do you mean by high ranked?" Franky questioned. As he asked, he noticed the two black creatures in their booth turning their heads towards him, then looking back over at Riku while he spoke. It was a little weird.
Riku nodded at Franky and then reached down to his side and into his bag. He rummaged around in it for a few seconds and then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Organization 13," he said, writing the name at the top of the paper. "It's a group made up of the strongest Nobodies. Though," he took his pen and wrote a question mark next to the number thirteen. Riku continued, "The member I fought in the Dread Fort, Zexion, he mentioned something about new members. I fear who may have been added to their ranks since we arrived on this world."
Franky opened his mouth to ask a question, but Riku quieted him with a look that showed he was about to explain. The cyborg nodded and the teenager half his age continued uninterrupted, "When someone's heart is lost to the Heartless, a Nobody is created. Most Nobodies look like this," he drew a quick picture of a Dusk, one of the silver Nobodies that were most common. "However," he continued, looking back up at the two in the booth with him. "If someone with a strong heart is taken by the darkness, then their Nobody will retain its human form. That's what Roxas is. Who, Roxas is," he corrected himself, trying to keep an open mind that these Nobodies could be their own people like Sora wanted.
"Then," Luffy began, scratching his chin. "Roxas and Sora are the same person?" He asked confusedly.
"Kind of," Riku said, somewhat surprised Luffy was keeping up with him. "It's a little more complicated than that, but the important thing is that people with strong hearts who were lost to the darkness on this world most likely have Nobodies now." He glanced behind Franky a little at the other booth. "Sanji had one, but also Usopp maybe, and Rin," he whispered, then continued in a more grim tone, "not to mention the Flash." Thinking about the speedster as an opponent unnerved them a little, but Riku shook his head a few times and regained his calm expression. "Anyway, we can't be sure that any of them had strong enough hearts, but we can't rule out that all of them did either. For now though, I'll go over the original 13 ranks of the Organization, at least the ones I know." He drew a bunch of lines coming out of the title on his sheet of paper and started, "Number 13, Roxas..."
While Riku educated Franky and Luffy, the other four boys were settling down in the booth ahead of them. Killua leaned back in his seat with his legs propped up on the table. Sanji was looking around for some ladies to invite to come sit with him, but most people on this train car were already seated or were with a bigger group than two which was the number of spaces they had available at their table. When he turned back, he yelled at Killua to take his legs off the table as they would be eating on it for a couple of days.
The youngest person in their group grumbled in annoyance but lowered his legs anyway to appease the chef. Killua chuckled to himself as while Sanji was scolding him, two good-looking ladies walked past who looked like they were trying to find seats. He would have also liked to invite them to his table, but that seemed like a favor to Sanji who just yelled at him, so he let them walk by without saying a word. Usopp saw why the kid was snickering and he started laughing himself at the oblivious chef.
Before Sanji could question what they were laughing at, Rin said, "Whoa." They all looked at him and the boy next to the window was staring outside wide-eyed. "I didn't even notice we left the station."
"Huh?" They looked out the window and lowered their bottom lips. Sanji put a hand down on the table in front of him, and finally he could feel a little vibration, but it was still amazing. There was no jolt. The train started moving and we didn't notice at all. Only looking outside could he tell that they were moving at all, and they were moving fast.
"Heh, guess having a window seat doesn't matter too much," Usopp stated as he looked at the landscape rushing by like a blur. He could make out some hills and mountains in the distance to the north, but they looked to be passing them quickly. He looked over his shoulder at the seat behind him to mention it to Luffy in case the captain didn't notice they had left yet. When he leaned over the seat though, his jaw dropped at the sight of Riku, Luffy, and Franky leaning in and having a conversation over a piece of paper. His jaw dropped mainly because of the other two figures though, the black Neo Shadows leaning in over the table too and acting like they were part of the conversation.
The long-nosed pirate glared at the Shadows for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and sat back in his seat with an upset expression on his face. The Heartless are evil. Riku shouldn't be using them so freely. He clenched his fists angrily, wanting to say something to his friend again, but he already did two nights ago and it didn't seem like Riku cared to listen. Luffy and Franky don't even care that those monsters are next to them, the sharpshooter thought, getting angrier by the second. They made me fight my friends, and kill people!
"Usopp," a voice whispered into Usopp's ear and he quickly spun to the right. The three others in his booth were looking out the window at the cool speeding-by landscape. None of them noticed Riku standing next to their table and looking down at Usopp with a discerning gaze.
"What?" Usopp snapped at the tall boy with long, spiky silver hair.
Riku kept his voice quiet but stated, "I could feel the darkness radiating off of you. Is something wrong?"
The guy with the long-nose glared at him for a few seconds longer, then his eyes opened wide and his fists unclenched. "What the..." He whispered, looking down at his own hands nervously. Am I really that angry?
"Be careful Usopp," Riku warned, making the other teen his age look him in the eyes. "Don't let yourself fill with hate, and anger, and rage," he continued, staring straight into Usopp's eyes as he did. "I do not want your heart to fall to the darkness."
"Fall to the... What are you talking about?" Usopp snapped at him. The others in the booth looked over to see Riku talking to Usopp and they saw Usopp looking pretty pissed off. "Darkness doesn't just take hearts. You took my heart," he growled. Usopp stared back into Riku's green eyes for a few seconds, then his gaze softened again and he looked down. "I mean, Ansem took it," he corrected himself.
The damage was done though. Riku tried hard convincing himself the actions he committed for two years were not his own, but clearly Usopp didn't think that. "I'm sorry," Riku apologized. "Just trying to help," he stated, then turned and walked back to his seat. As Riku sat down he snapped his fingers and both dark figures in the booth vanished. There was no point in keeping them when everyone had already found seats.
Usopp watched as the Heartless vanished, then leaned back into his seat. He looked around him and saw all three of the others looking at him harshly. He sunk down a little in his seat and crossed his muscular arms across his chest. "What?" He muttered, looking around at the others. The three of them looked away as they understood why Usopp was angry, though even Rin had to admit Usopp sounded pretty mean right there, and he had been trapped by Ansem too.
It didn't take long for Usopp's mood to go back up and both booths full of boys stayed loud and boisterous for most of the day. Chefs/train-attendants came by with carts covered in food, and Riku and Franky had to keep Luffy from eating everything on it which would cost them a fortune they did not have. Night fell and many of the booths started going dark around them as people closed their curtains and cut off their lights.
A few rows in front of the guys' booths, Nami spoke in a hushed voice to her best friend across the table from her. The younger woman was giggling as Robin covered up her left ear, and Nami peeked her head out of the curtain to look back on the train. An ear appeared on the ceiling above the booth some of their friends were in and Nami smirked as none of them noticed it. "So, what are they talking about?" She asked, leaning in close to Robin again.
The older woman chuckled at her friend's childish excitement. She continued to hold her right ear closed and listened in to the conversation the boy's were having.
"Ohh? Who's Shiemi?" Killua's voice asked and Robin grinned a little, knowing this was exactly what Nami wanted to hear.
"No one! I mean, she's a friend. A good friend." This time she heard Rin's voice and chuckled a little at how nervous he sounded.
"A good good friend?" Usopp teased.
"No way," Sanji stated. "I refuse to believe it."
"What? Disappointed someone got a girlfriend before you, pervy cook?" Killua asked, making Robin smirk again in Sanji's expense.
"She's not my girlfriend," Rin yelled at them all. "She's probably not even on this world," he said in a more disappointed tone.
"Don't write her off, I was stunned to see my father here," Usopp said, trying to encourage his friend.
Rin's eyes darkened, "Yeah, me too..."
Robin stopped listening and looked at Nami with a small grin. "Sooo?" Nami started, "What'd you hear?"
"Turns out this 'guy talk' you mentioned may be true after all," Robin admitted, making Nami's eyes widen. The orange haired, younger woman explained that 'guy talk' was guys talking about girls and other stuff they wouldn't talk about with women in the same area.
"What did you hear?" Nami asked, leaning so far over the booth she was only a foot away from Robin's face.
"It seems," Robin began. She took her sweet time to keep Nami on the edge of her seat. The older woman continued, "Rin-kun has a girlfriend."
"Eeee," Nami exclaimed. She covered her mouth a second later as if the boys had heard her and knew what the squeal was for. She started giggling and despite how childish the conversation was, Robin joined in with the laughter. "What's her name?" Nami questioned.
"Shiemi-chan," her older friend replied.
"Shiemi huh?" Nami whispered. "Lucky girl."
This made Robin smirk but she regained a cool expression to ask, "How so?"
"Huh?" Nami asked, then realized what she said.
"Why is she lucky?" Robin questioned again, making the younger woman frown at her since Nami could see what she was doing.
The orange haired woman grinned after a few seconds though. This was half the purpose of girl time after all. "Well," Nami began, looking over her shoulder as if to check if anyone was there even though they were the only two in the booth. She turned back to Robin and said, "It's not like he's bad-looking. Plus, he's got style."
Robin nodded her head, thinking about Rin's choices of nice button downs, jackets, and pants to match. "He seems a little young for you Nami, but I can understand-" the older woman began.
"What?!" Nami exclaimed at her friend before realizing Robin was just teasing her with the small smile the woman gave her after. "Ha ha," she laughed sarcastically at her friend who kept grinning at her. "Just because I'll admit he is somewhat attractive, does not mean anything. I think we can both admit, and appreciate, that we are traveling with some above average looking men."
This time Nami smirked at Robin and waited for her older friend to respond. "That is true," Robin stated, though she would not tell Nami whether or not she had thought about it before. She took a few seconds to respond almost as if she were thinking first of her answer.
Nami saw through it though and laughed. "Although," she began with a proud smile. "They must appreciate it much more to be privileged enough to share an adventure with beauties like us." She beamed in her own self-image and Robin couldn't help but giggle. Nami saw she had her friend off guard and leaned in fast, "So who do you think is the most handsome of the guys?"
Nico Robin prided herself in not being surprised by much anything. Yet at the sudden question her eyelids widened, and Nami smiled a toothy grin that she was able to catch Robin off guard. The black haired woman knew Nami had her, so she thought fast. With a calm smile on her face, Robin replied, "Son Goku was quite handsome. And he was cute as a child," she added on after, thinking about the man's child form he got transformed into before leaving them.
Nami frowned. She was hoping more for someone closer to them. It was easy to get out of the question by picking the man who looked like a God. I should have been more specific...
As she thought it, Robin spoke up. "Out of the boys on the train, Nami," Robin began, the one to catch her friend off guard this time, making up for her mistake a minute ago. She continued, "Who do you think is the most attractive?"
Nami's face went red and she looked away. "Attractive? Those idiots?"
"Did you not just say that Rin-kun was 'not bad-looking'?" Robin questioned, and smirked at Nami's flustered expression that followed.
"He's not," Nami said, "but..."
"So you think Rin-kun is the most attractive?" Robin asked, knowing exactly how her friend would react.
"No!" Nami exclaimed. The orange haired twenty-two year old saw Robin grin at her and she knew she was trapped. She shifted her weight around a little and frowned, but she wasn't really upset. Her frown lifted up a little and she muttered, "Keep an eye on them, make sure they're not listening."
Robin smiled and then covered her left eye. Her eye appeared hidden in the ceiling, watching over the train car. She told her friend, "Most of them are trying to sleep, the others are not listening."
Nami's frown lifted up a little more as she sighed in relief. "Good," she whispered. The navigator leaned far over the table, and this time Robin came out to meet her. Nami whispered as quiet as possible into Robin's ear, "I guess, Riku is pretty hot, right?"
Robin leaned back and smiled devilishly at her friend, making Nami sweat in panic. "You can't tell anyone I just said that."
"Of course," Robin agreed. "Why do you think he is 'hot?'" The older woman asked interestedly.
"What, you don't?" Nami asked in surprise. Robin didn't say anything which was smart, and Nami appreciated it. "Good," the younger woman said with a small grin. "I mean, he's pretty muscular."
"So is Usopp-kun," Robin stated.
"Yeah but Usopp is... Well he's Usopp!" She exclaimed in a whisper, and Robin nodded as she knew exactly what her friend meant. Nami continued, "Riku isn't just muscular, he's got amazing silver hair, his green eyes pretty much trap you when he speaks to you."
"All of these are true, Riku-san is handsome," Robin agreed with her friend.
"It's not just that he's handsome," Nami continued, a far off look in her eyes. "He's been through so much. There's so much darkness in his past and in his heart, but yet," Nami hesitated and she realized Robin was looking straight into her eyes, listening closely for Nami to continue. Nami never told anyone this, mainly because she had only thought of it in the past few months, and a lot more so recently. "But yet," she continued again, less on a rant now and more just talking to her best friend. "He is still so, good. When we all went insane on the ship, he ran around trying to save us from ourselves. In Atlantis, he escaped the battle, but went back down because he wanted to help the Atlantians. The only reason he's following us right now is so he can save our lives if the moment comes, and back in the Dread Fort..." Nami faded off as she thought back on it.
Robin had been wondering about this for a while. "What did happen when you two were in the casino?" The black haired woman questioned. Nami had been acting strangely ever since they met up after the long night.
The younger girl stayed quiet for a few seconds, then whispered, "Riku saved us. Our worst demons were attacking us," her voice came out trembling. "Yet when Riku arrived, he was able to defeat Zexion, because he fights his demons every day. I, I had to face my mother, while she choked me, blamed me..." Nami clenched her eyes shut and didn't want to think about it anymore. While she had her eyes closed though, she thought about Riku showing up and knocking Zexion back who was pretending to be her mom. "Riku saved me."
"That is why you like him?" Robin questioned, hinting that maybe Nami was just in a phase because of him saving her.
"No," Nami replied, shaking her head. "When Luffy, or Zoro saved me, I never, felt like I do now."
Robin smiled lightly at her friend. She started quietly, "Unfortunately, I do believe Riku-san has his eyes set on another."
"I know," Nami said sadly. She wasn't sad for herself though, but for the boy she was speaking of. "I want to help him though," she continued, looking up into Robin's dark eyes. "We all know Sora and Kairi are meant to be together, but Riku still has feelings for her. So," Nami continued, a huge smirk coming to her face, "I have an idea."
THE NEXT MORNING
Rin turned the page on the menu he was holding up over the table. "It's amazing how many different types of pancakes they can make on this train. Chocolate chip, blueberry, I don't even know what jellyfish jelly tastes like." He closed the menu and licked his lips. "I might just have to try them all."
"There's gotta be an entire train car solely for cooking all this food," Usopp muttered in amazement as he also looked at the menu. He looked up at the huge car they were in right now with dozens of rows of booths going three columns wide. There were hundreds of people in a single booth, so using an entire full-length train car just for cooking seemed crazy to him. Then again, if there are hundreds of people in only one train car, then there've gotta be thousands of people on the train for them to cook for.
"It's pretty impressive huh Sanji?" Killua asked the blond-haired chef on the other side of the booth as him.
Sanji hummed to himself for a moment and he put down the menu, "I was not overwhelmed by the dinner last night." The chef casually stood up and put his hands in his pockets. He walked out into the aisle, pushing by Usopp who grumbled at him for being annoying or something.
"Where are you going?" the long-nosed pirate who Sanji squeezed past questioned.
Sanji grinned while he walked off and he just lifted up a hand that he waved next to his shoulder. He turned to his right as he was walking past Nami and Robin's booth and he pulled the curtains aside a little, "Nami-swann, Robin-chwann! I am going to make you the best breakfast you-"
"Out!" Nami snapped, lifting her head from the pillow she had it resting on right on top of the table. Robin sat across from her holding a book in her hands and she smiled at Sanji, but motioned with her head for him to leave as well.
Sanji's face filled with rejection and he bowed his head, letting go of the curtain and starting to walk away. Robin lowered her book and looked at Nami with eyebrows raised for a few seconds until Nami finally sighed. The tired woman who was up late gossiping with Robin lightly slapped herself in the face to wake herself up, then poked her own head out of the curtain. "Sanji-san!" She called out in a lovey-dovey tone. The man staring at the floor as he walked away with his hands in his pockets flinched and lifted up his head.
Nami smiled and said, "Bring us the tastiest treat you can make!"
"Yes Nami-sann!" Sanji exclaimed. He spun around in a blur and then sprinted off down the aisle so fast that wind rushed into the booths around him.
While Sanji headed off to go find the kitchen car, Nami shook herself fully awake. She knew there was no way she would be going back to sleep considering how loud it was in the booths around her. She was already trying to just cover her ears and go back to bed when Sanji checked in on them.
As she was rummaging through her pack on the same side of the booth as her, looking for an outfit to wear today, she noticed Robin watching her over the top of her book. Nami glanced over wondering why that was, then her own eyes opened wide as she remembered what they talked about through most of the night. Nami turned again and she leaned her head out of the curtains.
She looked back a few booths, past the one with Rin, Killua, and Usopp, to the one behind it. She could see the back of their giant cyborg on the side closer to her, Luffy on the other side near the window, and a teen with spiky silver hair sitting in the aisle at the perfect angle for Nami to see him. Riku had his head leant back and his hands interlocked behind it.
"So," Robin began, and Nami yanked her head back into the booth as she realized she had been staring for too long. Robin chuckled and continued, "Let us begin."
Nami felt a bead of sweat rolling down the left side of her face, but she nodded determinedly and pounded her fists down on the table. "Yosh!" She started getting changed fast while Robin kept watch, and as soon as she was finished, Robin put down her book and stood up. She opened up the curtains and left them that way as she walked back down the car towards the boys' booths.
Robin walked past the booth closer to theirs, and up to the one where her captain was sitting. Luffy looked away from the window feeling her approaching and Riku leaned forward a bit as well. Franky saw them looking behind him and he looked over his left shoulder to see Robin strolling right up to his side of the booth. "Franky," she began, smiling at the cyborg next to her. "I have an idea for a vehicle that I would like to work on with you if you are not busy."
"Really?" Franky asked in surprise. Robin nodded at him and he smiled wide, and he posed with his arms up above his head. "Suuu-per! Sit down-"
"Actually," Robin continued before he could finish. "I already made a sketch of the design, but I would like to keep it a secret until it is complete. I believe Luffy-san would like it better that way," she flashed her captain a smile and tilted her head to the side.
"Whattt?" Luffy moaned. "I want to see the cool thing now," he complained childishly, making Riku start chuckling in his expense.
"You're a hundred percent correct!" Franky agreed and jumped out of his seat. "The best inventions are most Super right when they're revealed! You got it!"
"Thank you," she said. She motioned with her head for him to follow her back to the girls' booth, but she paused for a second and looked back at Luffy. "I'm surprised to see you still here Luffy. I would have thought you would be with Sanji."
"Huh? Where'd Sanji go?" Luffy asked in confusion. Riku leaned out of the aisle a little too and looked over the seat behind Franky, and he noticed the blond haired chef's head was nowhere to be seen.
"He said something about making breakfast, and he went looking for where they cook the food-" Luffy slammed his palms down on the table and jumped up on top of his seat. Riku had to duck as the captain jumped over him, and he sighed as Luffy ran off faster than the other two pirates who chuckled to each other and then continued walking away themselves, Franky asking all sorts of questions about Robin's vehicle design.
Riku watched them go and then looked farther down the aisle to see a pink blob monster sludging its way towards him. If he hadn't already seen the thing yesterday and heard it ask him what he wanted for dinner, he would have been more concerned. The thing was covered in gooey tentacles making it easy for it to carry several trays of plates, water pitchers, wine bottles, silverware, and anything else a waiter might need all at the same time.
He sat back in his seat again figuring he had a few minutes until the guy would show up. Though I'm not really all that hungry anyway, he thought and closed his eyes.
"Hey," a voice said from about a foot away from him. He flinched and turned his head, managing not to grunt in surprise or make any more than just that small motion. Even his expression when he turned was not of surprise but instead looked like he was awaiting the person to continue, surprising Nami who thought she had caught him not paying attention. She got nervous for a second, but didn't let it show and leaned down more over the table next to Riku. If she did not always wear such indecent clothing, Riku may have been tipped off to her intentions, but still his eyes lingered on the top of her low cut blue tank top. It definitely showed off her... assets. "Come with me," she demanded.
"Why?" Riku questioned, looking up into Nami's brown eyes with his green ones.
She stared into his eyes for a second and suddenly forgot what he just asked her, making her flustered. What did he say? What did he- WHY! "Because I told you to," she replied, keeping on a sense of authority on the issue. She continued anyway to explain herself, "I'm going to take a look around, there could be some dangerous people on this train."
"Ahh, I see," Riku replied, smirking up at Nami as she leaned back and looked at him with a smirk of her own. He pulled his arms from behind his head down in front of his body and he pointed a finger at her. "You know, this is getting to be a habit," he said. "Didn't know you needed so much protecting."
"Hmph," Nami humphed. She turned her head and her long orange hair flipped behind her. "It's not that I need it," she stated while starting to walk away, swaying her hips a little more than usual. She turned her head a little and looked at Riku out the corner of her right eye as he stared ahead at her, "I'd just rather not get my hands dirty. Besides, you should be honored I'm asking for an escort-"
"Alright, alright," Riku started, getting up out of his seat. "Guess I don't have much of a choice do I?" He asked, stepping out of his booth and crossing his arms in front of his chest. The six foot two inch tall teenager had on a pair of jeans and a yellow shirt with a black, sleeveless jacket on over it. There was a large black X over the front of his t-shirt as well, crossing lines from his shoulders down to the opposite sides of his waist. He walked up to a waiting Nami and the two of them walked down the wide aisle together in the opposite direction as Luffy and Sanji went.
Robin was in the middle of a conversation with Franky who was sitting on the side of the train closer to the boys' booths, so she was able to see around him into the hallway. While Franky talked about her design and pointed something out on the drawing she had made that morning before Nami awoke, she smiled watching Riku and Nami leave the train car for the next one. The orange haired younger woman glanced back once and gave her a small smirk before heading out.
Okumura Rin was staring out the window, while Usopp bragged about some crazy story to Killua. The assassin with big spikes of white hair was tuning him out though, instead watching the door between train cars close and start chuckling to himself. Usopp thought he was laughing at his story and he tilted his head back and laughed, "It is pretty amazing isn't it?! Hahaha!"
Kil nodded his head, but he looked away from the man across from him and back a few booths from him where he could see Nico Robin looking over at that train car door Nami just left from. Robin saw the boy looking her way and she made eye contact with him, and Killua started laughing at the expression she made when she realized they were discovered. Usopp asked him something and Robin sighed internally as Killua waved him off, playing it off as nothing.
I should have expected Killua-kun would see right through that, she thought to herself, then shook her head slightly and refocused on the design that Franky was putting additions on now and was actually looking pretty impressive.
In the car behind them, Nami and Riku walked in to see another car full of people in booths just like theirs. "How many train cars did you see back at the Dread Fort?" Riku questioned as he tried thinking back on it.
"You know, I think we were closer to the front," Nami began, "because when we got on I could barely see the first car."
"Oh. You're right, the front car was in sight," Riku said, and he added, "I couldn't see the last car of the train from the station though."
"Big train," Nami commented.
"Yep," Riku said and nodded his head.
They kept walking and though Riku was thinking about the number of train cars, Nami was mentally panicking. Big train? BIG TRAIN?! He just said it went on farther than he could see, of course he knows it's a big train! AH! It's so much easier flirting with guys I don't like! She calmed herself down as they both spotted a strange couple of aliens with green skin covered in spikes almost like cactuses. Neither of them said something as they approached, but once they were past they glanced at each other and shared a grin, before Nami started giggling and was unable to hold it in despite putting a hand over her mouth.
She looked over her shoulder to make sure the couple did not spot her, only to see them staring at her. Her face turned blue and Riku put an arm interlocked with one of hers at the elbow, pulling her along as she had stopped walking in that sudden embarrassment. "Geez," Riku muttered once they were a good distance away, "laughing at a couple of aliens right behind their backs." He shook his head disapprovingly, "I'm disappointed."
"Wh-What?!" Nami exclaim-whispered at him. "But, you, that look-"
Riku could not help the grin from pulling at the corners of his lips and Nami's flustered expression turned into one of shock, then anger and she smacked him on the arm. "Not funny," she muttered, looking back ten booths to the cactus aliens... "Wait, those were aliens?" Nami asked, spinning around again.
"You know Nami, most aliens I've run into have better hearing than humans," Riku continued as he kept walking. "So you really should stop talking about them." Once he said it, Nami's bottom lip lowered seeing both cactus people turn their heads and glare back at her again.
'Sorry,' she mouthed their way, but their angry expressions showed it was not forgiven. Nami turned and jogged after Riku who kept walking away only with his arms crossed in front of his chest again. In a quiet whisper she began, "How'd you know they were aliens?"
"There's a simple trick to that actually," Riku started, and Nami looked at him with interest, wondering what kind of trick Riku had for this. The boy opened his mouth, and explained, "They were green and covered in spikes. What else would they be?"
Nami lowered her bottom lip. She held up a hand and opened her mouth wide to say something in response, but nothing came to mind and she dropped her hand and closed her mouth. "That, is true," she mumbled. You are blowing it! He probably thinks you're an idiot!
Wow, I thought Nami was smarter than this, Riku thought, trying hard not to crack a smile at how tactless she was being only a minute into their excursion around the train. "How you managed to hustle an entire casino escapes me," Riku said smugly.
Nami gawked at him for a second, then retorted confidently, "A crooked casino mind you. They were cheating too, and they robbed their customers." She tilted her head back like she was looking down on everyone else and she finished, "But I'm the best thief there is. No two-bit casino's going to pull one over on me."
While she tilted her head back, she unknowingly pushed her chest outward making her large breasts bounce in her tight-fitting shirt, catching a quick glance from Riku. The nineteen year old had to remind himself where Nami's eyes were after an instant and looked up while she was still talking. He smirked to see she had not witnessed his momentary lapse in judgement and thus could not hold it over his head to gain some of the imaginary power she had over everyone else.
Never really understood how the navigator got to be the one giving out most of the orders, he thought while they continued to walk and banter with each other. Luffy gives out orders when he really wants to, but those occasions are pretty rare. Nami controls the course, watches over the money, scolds the captain... and she couldn't figure out those were a couple of aliens back there. He shook his head and sighed with a small smile, It's the little things.
They walked through the train car and a few of the next ones, talking without any real purpose. As they were walking through a car maybe ten away from the one they left their things, Riku overheard some people talking on his left. He looked over across the middle booths at the aisle across the train and listened in as they were walking the same direction he and Nami were. "Alright, follow me up at the end of the car."
"Y-You sure there isn't a special area?" the man walking next to the one who spoke first questioned.
"I'm sure. This is not my first time taking the train you know," the first guy responded. He was wearing a dark yellow button down and black pants, and he had a soft hat on with a rim on the front of it. The hat was gray and black and looked like something someone would take hunting, which made sense considering he had a double-barrel shotgun on his back. He was a few inches taller than the man following just behind him who wore a pair of glasses that he pushed up nervously as he continued towards the end of the train car.
"Where do you think they're going?" Nami questioned. The two of them watched as the men reached the end of the car near the door they just entered from, but the men did not reach for the door. Instead, the man in a yellow button down lifted up one of his muscular arms and tapped a button on the right of the doorway.
Riku lifted up his eyebrows interestedly as a panel on the ceiling opened up and light from outside flooded into the train. The wind pushing against the train seemed like it would make a lot of noise, but there must have been barriers up on the top of the train car because the buffeting noise Riku expected did not come with the open panel. Ten prongs of a ladder stuck out of the wall a second after the ceiling opened and without delay, the taller man with broader shoulders started climbing up.
The chubby guy wearing glasses looked back and forth as if wondering if this was okay, but even if it wasn't, there were no guards on this train car to stop them. He finally just looked up and hoped his companion knew what he was doing before climbing after him.
The silver haired teen watching this go on glanced around and did not see anyone looking that upset that those two just climbed up on top of the train. We're moving so fast that they would fly off easily, unless there's actually something up there. He turned to Nami, "Let's go check it out."
She spun in surprise, "You want to climb, up there?" She asked, right as the ceiling panel closed again and darkened the edge of the train just a bit so only the lights inside kept the vehicle illuminated. "We'll fall right off," Nami exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"I doubt it," Riku said, then motioned with his head back the way they came and started walking off.
"Riku," Nami hissed but started following him back anyway. "This seems like a bad idea. We're already being hunted. Doing something out of the ordinary like this is a really easy way to get caught."
"I think I can handle any guards this train might have," Riku said calmly. Nami opened her mouth to argue, solely for the sake of arguing as she knew he was right there. It isn't about if you can beat them. I don't want to have to leave the train.
"Rrggh," Nami grumbled, but she followed Riku over to that section of the wall where the button was and said nothing as he pressed it. "Guess we're going up," she said, and before Riku could start, she grabbed the rungs that stuck out of the wall and started to climb. He looked at her in surprise for a second, and then a second later he was still watching her as she climbed, only for a different reason.
Nami got halfway up the ladder and then looked back down, seeing Riku staring exactly where she wanted him to. The short shorts she was wearing purposely made her ass look great and she smirked down at him and asked, "Are you coming?" There was already space on the ladder beneath her and she caught Riku hesitating because of the view he had.
He grabbed the rungs without rushing so as to avoid suspicion, but Nami was not fooled and turned back up with a more smug look on her face. Here we go, she thought, finally getting out of her rut. With newfound confidence, Nami climbed through the roof and pulled herself to her feet on top of the moving train. She could feel some forceful wind, but nothing too strong for her to stand in, just enough to make her hair get in her face. Nami started tying her hair into a ponytail while Riku finished climbing, so they both saw the top of the train at pretty much the same time.
Nami's confidence was shaken as she looked around the top of the train car they were on. She turned around and looked over the gap to the car they had just came from, and her bottom lip lowered even more as it turned out this was not the only roof to look like this. "The tops look different than back in the Dread Fort. I'm guessing these barriers lifted up when we started moving," Riku mentioned. He looked far back and then far forward on the train cars where there were a lot more than just two people standing up there. He had figured as much, whereas Nami half expected the two men who climbed up before them to be the only ones up there.
On every single train car's roof there was at least one person, and the one they were on had one other person up there other than the two who just climbed up. The muscular man in yellow and his glasses-wearing companion were on the right side of the train, looking over the curved glass barrier that went up five feet. The closer they got to it the less wind was blocked so the guy with glasses was standing back a little. There were other wind-breakers sticking out of the sides of the glass walls though and at the ends of each car sticking up much taller than five feet.
"Don't be such a coward," the muscular guy with short cropped brown hair and a thin mustache told the other behind him. He walked right up to the barrier and took his shotgun off his back, pressing a button on the side of it that made a small circular iron sight lift off of the gun. There was a red dot in the middle of the sight, and a beam of red came off of the glass circle that the man started looking through and cut through the air far off of the train. The weapon in his hands may have looked like a double-barrel shotgun, but telling from how far he was aiming, it looked like he had a lot more range than a normal shotgun would.
"Hunting huh?" a voice said behind the man who started looking over the grassy yet hilly area south of their train. The man whose mustache looked sinister lifted his head a little and turned it with an annoyed expression. He had caught a glance of these two coming up but did not have any interest in them, but now it seemed like they were going to try and start conversation with him. The person behind him was much younger than him himself, though the boy's green eyes and spiky silver hair caught the man's interest more than they did a second ago. "What are you hunting for?" Riku asked.
"Whatever crosses my sights," the man replied. "Smee," he started and the shorter man next to Riku jumped as he was suddenly referred to. "Get out your rifle, no time for dilly dally."
"Of course Clayton," the shorter man replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black rectangle that Riku and Nami stared at oddly. The man called Smee wore a blue and white striped shirt and a pair of red pants. He pressed a button on the black rectangle that the younger people could not even see as it blended in with the rest of the box. What looked like a box turned out to be much more interesting however, as the rectangle extended out in both directions and started splitting in different sections to create a rifle that the somewhat pudgy, yet also toned five and a half foot tall man held in his hands. It was a smaller rifle than his comrade Clayton's, and had a green holographic sight on it without a red laser sticking off.
"You don't even know what you're looking for?" Nami questioned, her voice sounding like a scoff. The two hunters said nothing and she frowned, crossing her arms in front of her in annoyance as she did. "It's not like you're going to hit anything at the speed we're moving."
"I would not expect a woman to understand," Clayton began. Nami's forehead twitched and Riku frowned at the man's back as well while he continued to pan his sights over the landscape south of them. Nami saw movement to her right and glanced down the roof of the train car a bit to see a person in a black cloak with their hood up had flinched as well and turned partially their way. The person spun back to look off the north side of the train instead of their side, but Nami smirked as she definitely saw some long, woman-like hair sticking out of that person's hood. She could also see the rifle that woman was holding in her hands that proved Clayton was really just being arrogant and misogynistic.
Clayton continued, "But the rifles in our hands have aim assist as well as homing bullets. Best on the market."
Nami lifted up her eyebrows as she examined the weapons again. She looked at the black one in the smaller man's hands and nodded her head, I wouldn't expect tech that could transform a box into a rifle to be super common, so I guess maybe he's not just bragging. And 'homing bullets?' What the Hell are those?
Riku was thinking the same thing and guessing he was about to find out. There was something else bothering him though, and he questioned, "How did you two manage to obtain such great weapons?"
Smee froze and tensed up, his gun no longer panning over the landscape. "And now that I mention it," Riku continued. "Whatever you kill out there, you won't be able to get off the train and take your catch."
Clayton's hands were slowly tightening on his rifle as Riku spoke in a superior tone and he finally snapped and slammed the bottom of his shotgun down on the glass top, not cracking the strong glass in the slightest. He turned his head and glared at the teen behind him, "Hunting is as much a sport as a way to obtain money." Nami was staring at him harshly and Riku did not flinch from his harsh glare which only made Clayton angrier, "What? The majority of creatures we hunt are man-killing monsters. You should be thanking us for eliminating as many as we can."
Riku's look softened, but Nami spoke up behind him, "The majority?" She questioned his specific wording. "Which creatures do you hunt that don't kill people?"
Riku's eyes widened, but before Clayton could snap at them, Smee spoke up in a rushed voice. "Clayton!" The more muscular hunter spun back around, and Riku and Nami moved closer to their backs. The hunters in front of them aimed out on the hills and there was one they were approaching with something on it. The large gray beast was about a mile south of them and they were coming up on it fast.
"That creature on the hill," Riku said, his voice low and cold, making the men in front of him flinch. "It's called a Rhydon, and it is a Pokemon."
Smee gulped and lifted his head from the rifle a little. Clayton kept aiming down his sights and moved his rifle towards the direction of the huge creature that got up on two legs on the top of the hill and was looking their way at the fast-moving train flying by it.
"You kill Pokemon?!" Nami shouted at the men as Smee looked back at them nervously. "Aren't there laws against that here?!"
"Laws?" Clayton muttered, not tearing his eyes off his sights once. "What world do you live in woman? This world has no use for laws or rules. Any place that tries to implement them can not speak for the entire land."
"The hunting of Pokemon is only banned in Leam and Resistance lands," Smee began. "And also Lagann Island," he added.
"It's wrong," Riku said, staring straight into the man's eyes through his glasses to see if he understood that. "Wait a second," Riku muttered, blinking a few times as he stared at the chubby man there. The guy wearing glasses tensed up and started sweating badly, and Riku mumbled under his breath, "Don't I, know you from somewhere?"
Smee shook his head fast, but Clayton heard this and he actually lowered his rifle, turning around and glaring at Riku first and then at Smee. "You recognize this brat?" The hunter questioned his partner. Clayton saw the two of them staring at each other but he could not tell if they did or not, so he spun around fast and lifted back up his rifle.
Nami got up next to him though and pushed his rifle's barrel down. He glared at her but she glared right back, "Why would you kill Pokemon? They're gentle, nice creatures! You could just as easily catch them as kill them."
"Sometimes I do catch them," Clayton said while he yanked his weapon from her hands. "A live Pokemon is worth much more than a dead one after all." Nami's eyes widened and Clayton smirked as he lifted back up his rifle and turned off the side of the train, staring out towards the Pokemon they would be passing in seconds. He had his gun almost completely straight out now instead of pointed ahead of their car and his finger tightened around the trigger. "Rhydon meat is tough and chewy though, so not many humans like to eat it, and I don't like dealing with alien or ant scum. The black market's full of people who would love live Pokemon to be their slaves too, which I find more tasteful than selling other people."
Nami stared at this man in shock, having no idea who she was talking to until this moment. Riku figured out something right as Clayton was firing, and he rose up his hand which stopped Clayton's finger halfway through pulling the trigger. "What?!" Clayton shouted. Then, out of nowhere his weapon crumpled up and he dropped it in fear.
"Do not kill Pokemon, they are better creatures than you," Riku said. Nami turned to him in surprise, then shock as she saw the black surrounding his right hand that he was holding straight out in front of him. Clayton turned around and the hunter's eyes went wide making him stumble back into the glass barrier which he half-wanted to jump over to get away from the teen who suddenly had a very strong appearance.
"R-Riku," Smee whispered, knowing it for sure now. The last time he had seen this nineteen year old was when Riku was still a kid, and he had only met him the once.
"Mr. Smee," Riku said, his voice harsh while he still held that blackened hand out in front of him. He looked closely at the shorter man than Clayton and he moved his right hand towards him. Smee stumbled back so he was pressed against the glass too, and Nami was starting to sweat as Riku looked very angry in the moment. Nami saw the woman on the other end of the train car turning their way and her weapon was half-raised, almost like she agreed with what Riku was doing stopping them, but also felt hostile towards the sight of the darkness like most people would be. "I remember you now," Riku said as he looked at the former pirate. "You were on Hook's ship." He looked at Smee's cool weapon, made his darkness surround it, and then lowered his hand and let the darkness fade without crushing it. "You were on Maleficent's side, but so was I back then. And to tell the truth, you helped me find Kairi when she lost her heart."
Clayton was staring at the two of them with narrowing eyes. This talk about hearts was pissing him off and his fists clenched in front of him. He and Smee had been traveling together for a while, and they knew things about the other that connected them. "Another world traveler I presume," Clayton snarled.
"'Another?'" Nami asked, her eyes widening.
Riku turned back to Clayton as well, and he smirked as he saw the hunter's expression. "My guess is he's acquainted with Sora." By Clayton's instant snarl Riku knew he was right and chuckled some more. Nami closed her eyes and shook her head, Everyone. They literally know everyone! Riku turned back to Smee and his glare returned, "I did not destroy your weapon Smee, but if you use it on Pokemon again." He looked back at the other hunter, "If either of you do…"
The two men tensed up and then their fear tripled as out of the train's roof in front of either of them appeared beings that had their exact shapes only pitch black with creepy glowing white smiles on their dark faces. "I will know," Riku said. The men covered in sweat and beneath their dark shadows appeared circles of black that Shadow Smee and Shadow Clayton started sinking down into, slowly. "And if you harm a single Pokemon without the intention of becoming its master and treating it well," Riku continued, right as the heads of the shadow hunters sank down into the darkness. The circles vanished and Riku finished, "I will pull you two into a void you will never escape from."
Nami kept staring at Riku in almost the same way the other men were for a few seconds. He turned to her and opened his mouth to say something, and he caught a glimpse of her expression before she tried lowering it fast back to normal. She was too late and he turned away and back towards the panel on the roof to go back inside. He walked away leaving the terrified hunters behind, but Nami ran up to him before he reached the panel and grabbed him by the arm. "Riku," she said softly while he paused.
He looked down at the panel and clenched his teeth. Why do I keep using the darkness? I know what it can do. I know it's evil. "It is power. When one has power, it becomes hard not to rely on it." It would be easier if I just didn't have this power. "You do not truly wish for that, and you know it as well as I do." …I know. The strength to protect my friends comes from my darkness. "Our darkness." Ansem correcting him there was the last straw and Riku shook his head to get the voice out of his mind. He reached for the button on top of the panel sticking out of a four foot steel prism coming off the roof that said 'OPEN' over it, but Nami tugged on the arm she grabbed. "What?" he muttered.
"We're not going inside this soon," Nami said. Riku turned to her confusedly and got even more so as Nami smiled at him. She motioned her head towards the front of the train and there looked to be cracks on glass panels separating the cars. She let go of his hand and walked towards the panels, tapping a button on it and making the glass doors drop down to become glass bridges that went over the gaps between cars. "Come on," she said without looking back at him, expecting him to follow along anyway. "There must be better company on the top of this train than a couple of lousy hunters."
Riku stared at Nami's back for a few moments and this time his eyes never lingered to her butt. He just stared right at the back of her head and the ponytail swinging back and forth behind it. "Yeah," he muttered and finally started following after her. "Guess you're right," he admitted. Riku put his hands in his pockets and shot a glare back at Smee and Clayton who were staring at him but spun away when he gave them that look. Yeah, what am I upset over? I probably just saved a lot of Pokemon by doing that. Even if it was with the darkness. Usopp's been getting me down, but I know that good can come out of using the darkness, from being the darkness.
Deep inside his mind, a being hiding its true thoughts from Riku ground its metaphysical teeth. Riku's rage and sadness faded but the darkness was still there. Riku continued to smile even though the darkness was on his fingertips. Ansem said nothing to the teenager controlling him, but Riku's hold over the darkness was stronger than he had ever felt it. You have become much stronger. I know I have. Riku thought and he could almost hear the gasp inside his mind that made him chuckle as he continued to walk after Nami. Yeah, thought I couldn't hear your thoughts right? Sometimes if I'm really paying attention I'll hear you back there Ansem. "You should only be able to hear me when I permit it." Well, it's like you said. I'm becoming stronger. Thanks by the way. "You thank me?" Couldn't have become this strong without you. Hurts to admit, but I know it's true. Zexion couldn't handle just me alone, just thinking about what we can do when we really work together excites me for our chances for future battles.
Ansem said nothing back to him. Riku chuckled some more to himself as he kept walking and caught up to Nami though, the woman looking at him confusedly as he seemed in oddly a good mood after the depressed look he just had on his face. Riku turned to Nami and saw her look to which he said, "It's nothing. Let's head up a couple of cars to that crowded one," he said it while still looking at her and Nami spun forward to look past a few more glass barriers at what he was referring to. She nodded her head as she saw a dozen or two people standing up there, many of them looking like children which she definitely preferred to disgusting older men who liked killing Pokemon for 'sport.'
The two of them strolled over to the crowded car that was full of loud people. There were three kids running around and older teenagers looking down at them in annoyance. A few adults were standing on the right side of the train looking out over the southern hills in amazement, but Riku and Nami looked the other way as they heard someone shout to look. The two of them walked over and some people made room for them at the edge.
Nami let out an audible gasp and even Riku had to whistle as he stared out to the left. The train looked like it was not heading directly east, as it must have headed north a little bit too and they were nearing something massive. The ground below the tracks was green and covered in grass on both sides, but only two hundred meters to their left side, the ground vanished. They were closing that two hundred meter gap slowly and far in front of them they could see the start of the train was much closer to the ledge. Nami and Riku stared over that ledge and into the black crack that stretched farther than they could see. About twenty to thirty miles out from the edge of the crack there was a low fog rolling about so the northern side was not visible.
"That's the Cataclysm," Riku said softly.
Nami glanced at him and saw Riku frowning deeply. "What is it?" She questioned him.
"Ansem's been here before," Riku said in a low voice. His expression darkened and he continued, "I didn't remember, until now. but I've definitely seen this before. Looking at it now, brings back memories, memories of when I had no control." All that time he spent under Ansem's control was a blur, most of the time he barely remembered any of it. He felt like his life ended when Ansem took over and started back up again when his friends saved him from Castle Oblivion. Still, he remembered this place, he remembered looking over the crack and seeing nothing for miles.
Nami stared at the side of Riku's face and she could not tell what he was thinking. His expression was hard to read, but she could see the pain masked by that serious gaze. She lifted her right hand, hesitated, then put it down on Riku's shoulder. He started and glanced at his left shoulder to see Nami's hand there, but on the other side of it the woman was looking out over the Cataclysm like he was a second ago. He looked surprised for a moment, then smiled softly and looked back out to the north again. "Thanks," he said. Nami did not respond, but she squeezed the hand on his shoulder lightly and just nodded her head, while desperately trying to stop a grin from spreading on her face.
A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the new pairing of characters from different universes which we have not seen much since Nexus began. Anyway, I just finished my last final of my second year at college, I turned 20 a couple of days ago, and in a week I'm going on a trip to Italy! Until that flight though, I'm planning on posting erry day! I was about to start my drive home (23 hours long), but I decided to post this chapter first, and I'll probably post another at whatever motel I stop at tonight! The group is on their way to Sin City and then they plan on heading north to continue their search for Zoro. Next part of Chapter 8, Sin City, get ready...
Joebob323 chapter 44 . May 10
Sorry about the guest account, I am currently going through problems with my actual account. I liked this chapter a lot, particularly the part where Luffy finally defeats a strong opponent in Arbirth. You did well this chapter, and I cannot wait for the next time we see the group. A few questions though, which group will make it to the prison with black star and the others first? And when will we see more Super sayian action? I also wondered if Xoupps is actually strong, unlike his counterpart. Or if it simply is the fact that his bluff skill is OVER 9000! XD couldn't resist the puns
Glad you liked the final battle! Luffy's getting his name known in Aebrith as a lot of people definitely saw him kicking Saix's butt. Can't answer that first question... SPOILERS! But the second q, I'll let you know that within the next 5 parts you'll get some SS action... XD No news on Xoupps, but I liked the puns! Thanks for the review!
Darugus chapter 44 . May 11
Nice chapter
It's good to see you back after a break
Well it looks like said is defeated by luffy without luffy going all out
Looking forward with what comes next with sin city and what's going on with the other group
I wonder what color luffy is going to get promoted to since he beat a lord and it wasn't really a secret since they were fighting in the middle of town and saix was screaming luffy's name out
Thanks! Yeah, Saix gave away Luffy's name, though because of the IDs they might have figured out who he was anyway. Luffy didn't go Gear Fourth and he still took down a Lord, showing he's got the power to be a major player on Aebrith. Luffy's rank... ;) Well you'll just have to see, soon, hint hint... XD Thanks for another review! Thanks again to everyone who faved, followed, read and reviewed! 'Till next time!