Ferros snorted as he woke up from a nap, rubbing the bridge of his scalp as he tried to figure out what the heck just happened.
"Weird, I dreamt about a boy with ash powers with the Straw Hat Pirates...but me, Lithos, Merone, and Ariala weren't part of it. Not to mention, I think I saw Honey Queen of the Trump Pirates as a member...and Alvida as well."
He exited the cabin and noticed Ariala had dressed all the girls up in dancer outfits.
"Uh...what's going on here?"
"I bought these before we left Alabasta. I thought Vivi would appreciate a taste of home." Ariala explained.
"I kinda look like a dancer in this outfit," Robin noted.
"If you girls want, I can teach you belly dancing. I find it's great exercise. It's done wonder for my figure." Vivi offered.
There was a thunk sound of something hitting the deck.
"We lost Sanji," Boss said.
Usopp and Double-D were working together to help out Lassoo.
"My, my! Intriguing!" Double-D noted.
Usopp finished. "There. That hair trigger seems to have been causing your cold. How does that feel?"
"Ah, my sinuses are finally clear. Thanks, guys. And it still feels like I have my usual firepower."
"Usopp and I also took the liberty of making some adjustments to your mechanism to compensate for the trigger. Now you can fire ammo other than baseballs." Double-D explained.
The crew stopped at various islands along the way both to update the Log Pose and so Nami could update her rapidly growing sea chart. Chopper was also busy working on improving his Rumble Ball.
"How did you come up with this drug in the first place?" Double-D wondered.
"It was kind of an accident. The first time I made it I wound up dropping a couple of valuable medicines in a mixing pot all at once. I swallowed the result and it wound up altering my body in ways I didn't realize were possible." Chopper explained. "Doctorine really scolded me for that, but since then I've experimented to improve on the formula. Thanks to the reference books we were given in Alabasta, I can increase the effect to five minutes while drastically lowering the cooldown time. And I might be able to gain more special forms as I do further developments."
"Just don't go all mad scientist on us. I'd hate to find myself suddenly strapped to an operating table." Ferros quipped while drinking some lemonade.
"Even if I was going to do that, I wouldn't be so inefficient as to use you. You'd just turn your body to metal before the scalpel could even touch you."
"Come to think of it, you never showed your seventh form during the fight at Drum Castle." Zoro noted as he came in.
"It's called Horn Point. It boosts the power of my ramming ability." Chopper explained as he finished writing down his notes. "You know, Doctorine never verbally acknowledged me as a doctor. But she did once trust me with her life when she got sick. So for me, that's more than enough."
Robin was watching the entire crew going about their usual routine.
"You really get to work on this ship."
"We're sailing for the end of the Grand Line. Naturally, we have to get strong enough to reach it." Luffy pointed out.
Robin had been asking the crew all kinds of questions regarding their past, just enjoying the smiles of everyone. Vivi started to get the impression that despite how long she had been traveling, she'd never truly visited the places she'd been.
"Hey, could use some help here!" Kuishi called out.
The Fishman girl had been fishing and suddenly caught something that even put her natural strength to the test.
"Tally-Ho!" Ed said as he wrapped his arms around Kuishi and pulled as well. "We have captured the legendary Leviathan of the depths!"
"What could it be?" Merone wondered.
"You keep helping Kuishi pull," Romaz said to Ed as he was joined by Haruo and Hunter. "I'll go check it out from below."
He dove in and saw something strange; a large sea snail with a shell designed like a submersible. Shrugging, he hauled the sea snail right onto the deck.
"An Escar?" Ariala asked.
"It must have caught the line by mistake," Romaz suggested.
"I'm hearing a second heartbeat, lads and lasses," Grahambel noted. "Someone must be using it."
"Well let's not stand around. Let's get it cracked open already." Lithos ordered.
Kuishi quickly grabbed the side port and opened it, revealing a man who looked to be some kind of shady merchant sitting inside. It was the same merchant who talked with Ace and Sabo earlier.
"Thanks for that, strangers." He said in a semi-Australian accent. "Gets a little cramped in there sometimes."
"Huh, I think Ace and Sabo told me about a merchant they were friends with. Are you that guy?" Luffy asked.
"Indeed I am. After your exploits in Alabasta, I've been looking to doing business with all of ya." The Merchant said. "So then...let's get to it, ey!"
"What are you offering, sir?" Ariala asked.
"Just about anything you can imagine." The Merchant chuckled. "Got a selection of GOOD things on sale."
"We do have some gold to unload. The weight on our ship would be better put to resources." Lithos noted.
"I can tell you take the role of the Quartermaster of this crew. I'm sure the two of us as well as any negotiators you have on hand can come to some...agreements."
The Merchant got things started by pulling out a double-weighted staff.
"This here is the Buru Buru Blade. Ironic name, considering it's a staff." He chuckled at his little quip. "This beauty comes with variable weight ends for use by a large variety of body sizes."
Boss took the weapon and started swinging it around to test it.
"Hmm... Good flexibility... Decent range... Excellent durability... Speed is almost perfect... I'll take it!"
The Merchant nodded. "A wise choice! And trust me, all my wares are in tip-top shape, I assure you."
"We might as well start up a tab sheet for this. Once we have the base price I can start haggling." Vivi said to Lithos.
By the end of it, the Straw Hats had started unloading exercise equipment, quality kitchenware, cleaning materials, several sets of binoculars, and an encyclopedia set.
"And for our last quality product, this special Millenium Paper. Specially crafted from the Thousand-Year Trees from Eight-Nine Island." The Merchant said.
"I've heard of that island. Completely unsettled, but the trees there are older than known history." Merone said.
"Yes, the paper made from them is especially durable. Guaranteed no rips, can stand out in the sun without fading, completely waterproof and weatherproof, and won't attract bugs while stored in your hold. Perfect for drawing up family trees, and better still for cartography."
"We'll take the lot!" Nami called out.
"Now hold on there, lass. I've got one last surprise for ya..."
The Merchant reached into the flaps of his coat and then pulled out something that shocked everyone; a Devil Fruit.
"It can't be..." Ariala muttered.
"Whoa..." Bella said in surprise.
The fruit resembled a spherical tan barrel cactus with two stubby arms pointing upwards. The fruit had the typical swirl pattern on it as well as a green T-shaped stem protruding out the top. The right side of the stem was longer and curled slightly.
"Indeed, it is, friends. The Devil Fruit formerly used by the now deceased Sir Crocodile; the Sand-Sand Fruit!" The Merchant said, smirking behind his mask. "I take it one of you would greatly benefit from it."
The Straw Hats all looked at each other, unsure of who should get it. Zoro, Usopp, Nami, Johnny, and Yosaku were right out as well as Romaz and Kuishi and everyone else already had Devil Fruits.
"Give it to me."
The crew all turned to see Vivi, her hand outstretched for the fruit.
"V-Vivi? You're sure?" Noctis asked his sister worriedly.
"As the princess of the country he threatened, a country of sand? I'll make sure to redeem it." Vivi explained. "Besides…I have a few fellow Logias to help me use it."
Lithos, Merone, Ferros, and Ariala all smiled at that.
"Let her have it. Every point she makes is valid. And I do so like the irony." Robin said.
And so, without any hesitation, Vivi bit into the fruit and gagged, as it tasted exactly like dry sand.
The Merchant nodded. "A wise choice, lass. And the best part...you don't have to pay me anything for it. Consider it a free bonus for all your lovely purchasing."
"Sweet! Free Devil Fruit!" Eddy smirked.
Vivi proved to be good at negotiating a decent price for the goods, and the Merchant even had a system in place for converting gold to Berris that involved a series of seabirds. Merone then pulled more gold out of her water body.
"You were hiding the other half of that golden croc in your water body?" Zoro realized.
"I was thinking Nami wouldn't want to leave without it. Glad to finally clean it out, though. It was really weighing on me."
"I thought you had gained weight but still looked as slim as can be." Hunter quipped, getting an elbow from Katsu.
"A pleasure doing business with ya, Straw Hats." The Merchant said as he got back in the Escar. "I need to get back to the other story now!"
With that, the Escar leaped into the sea and swam off.
"What a strange fellow..." Double-D noted.
"What did he mean by 'other story'?" Delphia asked.
"Ya got me." Sonson shrugged.
"Who cares? What matters is that I can get some real cartography done with all this new paper." Nami said as she took a bundle and headed into the cabin to start working.
"And I can get started training with my new weapon," Boss noted.
"Do you mind if I train with you?" Noctis asked as he pulled out one of the Royal Arms, the Sword of the Father, the very sword once used by Cobra in his youth.
The days continued as the Merry sailed on through a rainstorm. The Dugongs kept hard at work making sure the bilge remained dry. Days like this tended to be days for board games for the crew. Lithos had a strict rule about no gambling below deck or in the cabin, though gambling on deck was permissible. Board games, however, were permitted anywhere on the ship.
"So how long have you all been on this game campaign?" Robin asked.
"Since just before we started our journey. Luckily the game is set up so you can save progress in a campaign." Luffy said.
Boss came in. "We're coming up to an island just off the port. Shall we dock?"
"Might as well. We can pick this up afterward." Ferros said.
The rain started to let up just as the crew reached the island. Nami noticed how drenched Vivi, Carue, and Noctis were. N'Doul was also meditating in the rain.
"You guys sure don't have a problem staying out in the rain."
"When you live in a desert country, you learn to handle any rainstorm that comes about."
"And the rain is a calming presence. Especially with a Devil Fruit like mine." N'Doul added.
The crew disembarked at the local town, with the Dugong deckhands staying behind to watch the ship. Luckily the town was aware of the Straw Hats thanks to the SHJ, so no one batted an eye at this particular pirate ship docking.
"Good to reach an inhabited island every once in a while. We do need to restock, after all." Romaz said.
"Yeah, and Merone is the only one besides you and Nishijima who doesn't mind eating nothing but fish most meals," Johnny added.
"Hey, guys, look at this!" Luffy said, checking out a poster announcing a fireworks festival.
"Wow! I've never seen fireworks before!" Vivi said.
"Looka like we picked the right time to arrive. We're just in time for their annual festival." Carue noted.
"Ah, that sounds like fun. I wonder what it would be like to shoot off fireworks like that." Lassoo said.
"You people must be new in town," a middle-aged man named Kadoyan said as he approached. "Our festival is four-hundred years old. Not the first time a friendly pirate crew has visited for it either, though yours is probably the most famous. Especially with that live show you always broadcast."
"Good to know no one's going to try and turn us in for bounties," Ferros said.
"We make more than enough money without that. Besides, calling in the Marines now would only disrupt the festival. As you can see from the poster it's being held tonight." Kadoyan said.
"It's pretty mind-boggling to think this festival has been going on for four hundred years," Usopp said.
"Do you see that mountain up there?" Kadoyan said, pointing to said mountain. "The family that lives next to it has been making the fireworks for the festival for generations. Right now the only ones living there are an old man and his granddaughter. Said granddaughter is also his apprentice."
"What about her parents?" Ariala asked. "Did they decide not to take up the trade?"
"No, they did. Unfortunately, they wound up killed during an accident last year. That can happen when handling fireworks." Kadoyan sadly explained. "So now it's just the two of them, spending all year making fireworks just for this one day."
"Wow, those must be some amazing fireworks," Usopp said.
"Why would it take so long to make fireworks?" Luffy wondered.
Nami shrugged. "You got me."
Interested in finding out how the family made fireworks, Usopp, the Eds, Noctis, Haruo, and Lassoo decided to head up and visit. They soon met an old man sitting outside the house.
"Greetings. I'm Boss Odama, the pyrotechnist. What brings you to my home?"
"We were hoping to learn how to make fireworks. Lassoo here wants to be able to launch them." Usopp explained.
Odama looked at the gun/dogy hybrid.
"Let me guess. Devil Fruit?"
"With another Devil Fruit letting me have a voice. I'm actually a gun infused with the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Dachshund."
"It was an experiment made by the legendary Dr. Vegapunk!" Double-D smiled. "And I do hope to meet him someday!"
Odama nodded. "Come inside. I'll see what we're working with."
The group entered, and were amazed at the sight of a large firework shell sitting right inside the threshold.
"Kodama! We have guests."
Lassoo suddenly found himself being picked up by a young girl.
"Ruh-oh!"
"Interesting... Specially modified to fire multiple artillery types. Where do you load ammo?"
"Ah, I actually generate my own thanks to my Devil Fruit so I don't need to reload."
"This pooch is a bottomless pit!" Eddy proudly said.
"Kodama, did you make sure to contact the launch team?" Odama asked.
"They'll be here shortly."
"Good. Make sure the mortars and wagon are ready. I'll tend to our guests."
Kodama put down Lassoo and headed out.
"She reminds me of Sarah," Ed noted.
"She's a bit conceited, thinking she's as good as me, but she is skilled for her age, no denying that. She understands the most fundamental part of fireworks. That they're unfinished until they become a beautiful blossom in the sky." Odama said. "That holds true for all our products in the warehouse. And this beauty as well."
He pointed to the large fireworks shell.
"Impressive." Noctis noted.
"Can't wait to see what that'll be like when it goes off," Usopp said.
"Heck yeah! Maybe we can make some extra Berri setting up our own fireworks show!" Eddy grinned, rubbing his hands together deviously.
"Well, you might not get the chance. We tried an identical one last year. Which sadly resulted in the death of my son and his wife... They were both dedicated to the craft, and I lost a month of work mourning them." Odama said before noticing the rain starting up again. "Ah, blasted weather. Well, it'll let up before tonight. The wind's picking up from the east."
Later the group watched Kodama as she packed up the equipment, smiling proudly.
"You guys want to know something? We used to be able to fire 200-gauge shells like the one inside, but at some point, the tradition was broken."
"Gee, I wonder what caused that," Haruo said.
"Did they consider it too dangerous?" Lassoo asked.
"I don't know. But Mama and Papa dreamed of bringing that skill back. And I want to finish that dream." Kodama said.
"Why tell us this?" Usopp asked.
"Because you're likely to keep Grandpa occupied with his modifications," Kodama said with a smirk, pointing to Lassoo.
Usopp noticed the tall tower attached to the house, with a flag out to check the wind.
"Hmm... Maybe we don't have to..."
"Lightbulb!" Eddy grinned.
"Oh dear..." Double-D muttered.
That night, the crew all gathered for the festival. Odama had finished helping Usopp and Double-D modify Lasso to be able to fire out fireworks at will, bringing great cheers from the crowd. The 200-guage was dragged out of the storehouse using a makeshift pulley made from a cartwheel. It was loaded into the tower, which was actually a launch platform designed to fire 200-gauge shells.
"I had no idea this launch platform existed," Odama admitted.
"Well, the best opportunities hide under our noses sometimes." Haruo shrugged.
Odama nodded. "I wonder how long the tower was sealed up like that. If only we'd known about this a year ago..."
"And it turns out all the graves had instructions for this as well. I'm amazed no one deciphered them." Usopp noted.
"We foolishly adhered to letting the dead rest peacefully. But sometimes they want to be heard from beyond." Odama admitted.
He tapped his pipe into the special chute before getting clear. The 200-gauge shot into the sky. Kodama's eyes lit up in amazement as the shell exploded in a magnificent blossom. The whole crowd stood in stunned silence for a few seconds, before erupting in loud cheers.
"Mama and Papa's shell... It actually went off. It finally got finished."
Tears of joy welled up in her eyes as she cheered for her parents' amazing work. All in all, it was an amazing end to a beautiful night.
Today was a big day for three best friends who had a dream to fulfill. It was not unlike Luffy's dream to become King of the Pirates as they all wanted to live a life of freedom outside of their sleepy village. They had made a small ship and everything and had gotten all they needed for the journey ahead.
"When is Hilda getting here? We can't set sail without her."
The girl who spoke had lightly tanned skin, ruby red eyes, short black hair, fanged canines, and whisker marks on her cheeks. She wore a red and black shirt with the number '86' on it, baggy blue pants, and black boots. Her name was Lara.
"I don't know. Probably saying goodbye to her mom or gorging on another pound of burgers."
The next girl who spoke wore a black sleeveless top with "DARK" written in red letters, a red skirt with a black line around the top, striped black-and-red socks, black shoes, and a white skull necklace. Her hair was long and black reaching her mid-back and she had crimson-red eyes. The most bizarre thing about her, however, was her deep blue skin.
"Oh come on, Luna! Big girls gotta eat to keep her strength up!"
The blue-skinned girl, Luna, rolled her eyes while leaning against a nearby tree and blowing some bubblegum. However, it was at that moment the third of their trio decided to show up.
"Hey, guys!"
Lara smiled as she and Luna looked to see a girl with long dark brown hair in a ponytail and bright blue eyes and on her head was a white and pink with a picture of a pink Poké Ball on it. She wore a white tank shirt that reached her waist underneath a black waistcoat and a pair of denim shorts with white tear details on them. She also wore black wristbands with a small pink stripe on both of them, matching black ankle boots with pink laces and soles, and a pair of black socks underneath. She also carried a pink messenger bag around.
However, the most interesting thing about her was how huge and fat she was. Her stomach was the size of an exercise ball, rounded and bouncy like one too. It hung down to her thighs, the flesh totally exposed. Her behind was equally absurd, sporting two gargantuan cheeks three times the size of her head. Her shirt didn't cover up any of her stomach, only able to support her chest as it was stretched to its limits. Her pale orb of a gut was on full display, along with all of her thighs. Her shorts looked more like underwear, a large section of her behind was fully exposed. Whether she hadn't noticed or simply didn't care was anyone's guess.
Despite all this, her soft-cheeked face was marked with a beautiful sweet smile and both Lara and Luna knew that despite how fat their friend was, she had always managed to keep up a strong body and good health. She was just too damn active for anything to slow her down, even including tripling her body weight.
"Glad to see you could make it, Hilda!" Lara smiled. "Ready to set sail!"
"Yup! Glad we could build a ship strong enough to carry my big butt!" Hilda joked with a giggle.
"Well, we're not getting any younger. Let's head out." Luna said.
The three girls pushed their ship out into the sea, bidding their loved ones and friends goodbye as they saw them off. The ship wasn't anything special, but it would manage the journey ahead.
"Hey, did you hear on the broadcast?" Lara asked after the girls had made it out into the waters. "Apparently the Warlord Sir Crocodile was killed by the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Well, he did try to subjugate a whole kingdom," Luna noted. "Wonder who they're gonna replace him with."
"Who knows, but I wonder if we'll be able to meet the Straw Hats." Hilda wondered. "Wouldn't that be awesome if we could join their crew?"
Luna scoffed. "What are the chances of that happening?"
However, a shadow passed over them and they saw the very familiar Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates. As it turned out, their ship had just crossed paths with the Going Merry by chance.
"I should've kept my big mouth shut..." Luna grumbled.
"This must be fate!" Hilda smiled as she waved. "Ahoy there! Can we come aboard?"
Her words caught the Straw Hats' attention as they helped hoist the girls onto their ship.
"Well, this is a well-fed girl if I've ever seen one!" Grahambel quipped as he looked Hilda over.
"What are you three doing on a small ship out in the middle of these waters?" Lithos asked.
"We were actually hoping to run into you!" Lara said. "We've heard about your adventures on the broadcast and we wanted to join!"
"Wow, aiming high, huh?" Sonson grinned cheekily. "What do you guys have to prove?"
"I want to be the Strongest Woman alive!" Hilda proudly said.
"I want to defy authority. Maybe cause some anarchy and have fun." Luna said. "Other than that, maybe write a novel about my journey."
"And I want to find the One Piece!" Lara beamed. "Not because I wanna be the next King of the Pirates, but because I want to prove everyone wrong and show that it's real!"
"Heh, I like these girls," Eddy smirked. "Can we keep 'em?"
Luffy grinned. "Shishishishi! you guys are more than welcome on our crew! Just be sure to pull your weight!"
"That's okay! We've been training for this moment our whole lives!" Hilda said. "And we have a little extra help as well!"
"The strangest sense of Deja Vu has passed over me, Ed." Double-D hummed. "What do you think?"
Ed nodded. "I feel it, Double-D! Like voodoo!"
With three surprise new crew members, the Straw Hats set sail for the next leg of their journey.
We got a little filler done and introduced three surprise new crew members to the Straw Hats! We also have Vivi getting Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit and a surprise appearance from the RE4 Merchant, who actually made a cameo earlier in this story. He also made mention of 'the other story', which you can probably guess is the collab work by me and Mrtorax; "The Four Great Captains"!
Also, Ferros' dream at the beginning is a direct shout-out to mtnetsurfer's story "Ash and Rubber", which this story takes most of its stuff from.
Also, in regards to Hilda, Luna Payne, and Lara, here's the info on them.
Hilda is the main female character from Pokemon Black & White as a BBW. For reference on her body shape, look up Pig Out by Jeetdoh.
Luna Payne is an OC owned by an acquaintance of mine on DeviantArt, Dimensional-Expander.
Finally, Lara is an OC owned by another DeviantArt user, rongs1234. All rights go to them.
-NICO ROBIN-
Epithet: Devil Child
Position: Archeologist
Age: 28
Birthday: February 6th
Favorite Food: Sandwiches, cake, and coffee
Dream: To learn about the Void Century
Devil Fruit: Flower-Flower Fruit
Devil Fruit Type: Paramecia
Devil Fruit Description: The fruit allows Robin to replicate and sprout pieces of their body from the surface of any object or living thing through the medium of flower petals. She can control the limbs as an extension of her own body, granting her versatility in combat, espionage, and restraining.