Author notes:
.
The chapter was beta'd by the amazing Gerbilfriend who helped me tremendously with grammar and paraphrasing and general ideas. Please go and check her stories. My greatest admiration and LOVE :D
.
.
Warnings:
English is my fourth language. Marcy's frayed nerves and issues, and cussing. Warning may change in the future.
.
Guest Reviews :-D
.
Guest
"This one did go on a bit kinda fillerish"
Thank you for your review and support.
*shrug*! I wanted the story of how they arrived to where they were be known.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Let me know your thoughts :) use nickname please! ;)
.
Jennifer
Thank you for your review and support and your prayer (they helped; did you pray to OH My Ace?).
I had a rough batch, but hopefully it is better now.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Let me know your thoughts :)
.
Chipmunks
Thank you for your review and support.
Glad to be appreciated! Humor is how I survive. ;)
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Let me know your thoughts :)
.
shyfox
Thank you for your review and support.
LOL! I will suggest binged again before reading the new chapter.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Let me know your thoughts :)
.
.
.
You probably should read the whole thing again to enjoy this chapter. It has been a while :D
.
.
.
Hope you enjoy,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey Marcy, how are thing..."
"We met your friend Oars jr.," Marcy said without preamble, cutting the greeting short. She was on a mission. A self-assigned mission. Vengeance would be hers. She would use the strongest of her weapons and she would not rest, would not sleep, would not eat, would not... give it rest with all the dramatics, Marcy scolded her brain. Short and to the point. Vengeance would be hers for the taking!
"Oars? Have you arrived at Sabaody Archipelago already?" Ace asked, confused.
"What?" someone shrieked in the background.
"NOOOOOOOOOO….."
"We missed it!"
"It should take another day, yoi."
"...OOOOOO..."
"Why didn't Dustin or A.O call us?"
"Yeah, they were supposed to call."
Oh, Were they?!
At least they were smart enough not to do so after seeing her reaction.
"I told you we should have called earlier."
"They aren't supposed to arrive yet!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO..."
Good, Good. The whole merry band of busybodies was in attendance.
Things were going smoothly.
She was glad she had chosen to sit farther away from all the action. She was on the upper deck, near the inner rails. She could see the lower deck clearly, and monitor what was going around with ease. The voices from the other side of the call, although high, did not reach the lower deck. Not even the very stealthy brave souls -that were wandering around her- and trying (not) to eavesdrop seemed to be able to hear her conversation clearly.
Perfect.
"Nope! They got impatient and came to get us," Marcy cheerfully answered. To her ears, it sounded really fake. Too bad, she did not care.
"When did that happen?"
"Yeah, we talked early in the morning and you said nothing," the voice sounded accusing, not even bothering to tone it down. Hatechy, was it? She would remember this.
"How did we miss this?"
"Nooooooooooo..."
"Hmm... five hours ago," She said flatly. Five hours, since her almost heart attack. She thought that meeting Hawkeyes was enough trauma for lifetime. But, nahhhhh. That would be too easy.
"Wait, wait… weren't Oars supposed to coat his ship before they arrived there..."
"Yeah, that's what we agreed on. Pops said so."
"Can't they sail normally when the ship is coated?"
"No, that's not how it works. Once the ship is coated it's meant to sink when the floating bag is removed… so sailing normally for long stretches is out of the question..."
Unfortunately, that was the truth.
She just had a crash course about coating for the last three hours. To put it simply, sailing and navigating was really complicated business. Good luck Nami (Big sister Marcy was cheering you on!).
Marcy was, to put it mildly, furious about the change of plans, she did not want to stay on the damned wretched island any longer than they had too. They had a plan, goddammit! Now, they had to stay three days until the coating was finished. It was asking, no, begging for trouble.
"We are supposed to coat the ship when we arrive. It is supposed to take three days. They already have someone booked to do it immediately."
She had personally monitored the call between the vice-captain of Oars' ship and the coating mechanic. A number of them. They all said the same thing, Three Bloody Days were needed! Her glower was there as encouragement while they tried to explain until her patience ran out, and she took over the call.
The mechanic they settled on was supposed to be the best. The bastard was too damn clam, and nothing seemed to ruffle him. Not threats, pleading, crying or shouting. Nope, no amount of money either-and yes, she was willing to pay a lot (it wasn't her money anyway)- would make the coating take less than three days. Her 'antics' seemed to amuse him, and he offhandedly mentioned that a good solid coating was important, after-all 70% of all ships that were headed for Fishman Island sank before reaching it.
No one had bothered to mention this bit of insignificant information to her before. It seemed to have slipped their minds. Her nerves were frayed. She was on the edge of having a nervous breakdown, and they just had to add this jewel of information on top.
Everyone had hurriedly assured her that they did this journey from Paradise to the New World -and back -few times, and that their navigators had the experience needed to make the trip safe. They also had some of their allies and even one commander already on Fishman Island, and they would coordinate with them so everything should go smoothly. She monitored those calls too.
She was too careless, trusting that they would do what needed to be done without her looking over their shoulders all the time. She would not repeat the same mistake again.
Now that she thought about it, she regretted not asking for that…. mechanic's name. His calmness grated on her already tattered nerves. She was going to have a few words with him in person, and maybe she would find his boss too. If she was going to stay on the damn island or near it, she might as well use it for some good.
"So are you on Oars' ship now?"
"How was the meeting?"
"First impression?"
"What are you doing?"
"Where is Luffy?" Finally it was Ace.
"Yup, we are on his ship having a party," Marcy said flatly. She really didn't want to explain. Not exactly a party, but it wasn't wrong either.
"A welcoming party?"
"Hey…. can I ask a dumb question?" She recognized Hatechy's voice. Luffy's crush. He always had a unique airiness to his tone.
"If it's about the coating..." someone from the other side began to say.
"Better than anyone I know," Marcy said condescendingly. Payback was her motto.
Marcy moved the Den Den Mushi away from her face, as the volume in the other side increased by a few notches. She could swear she heard someone's jumbled words, "don't forget to write this in your precious book."
She let the chatter, laughter and gibes settle down for a bit.
"Okay, okay, what is the question?" Marcy said placidly. She could play nice for a bit. "I lived with Luffy and Ace for few years, stupid questions were the norm," she added as an afterthought.
The laughter returned anew, but it wasn't that high that she couldn't hear the murmur, "Never mind, I forget."
She shrugged. She had tried.
"He and Luffy getting along?" Ace asked. It was slight, but she could detect the underlying worry in his voice. It was important to him that they get along.
"You could say that," Marcy answered vaguely. Getting along was not what she would call it. She eyed the two of them from her sitting place.
"What happened?" Ace asked
"Welllll... it's your fault basically."
Nothing new here.
"HUH! Why? What did..." Ace was panicking.
"It's about a hat." Marcy cut in, making sure her accusation was clear in the last word.
Mission is a go. I repeat it is a go.
"Holy Blasted Shit," Ace cursed colorfully, the use of profane language only helped emphasized his bemused amusement. She heard a few shouts in the background of "language," "Holy Balls," "Acedammit," "Holy Ace on Moby," "Dang the balls," "Hells balls". They were clearly egging him on.
"Yup," she said, popping the 'p'.
She heard several questions from the other side asking about the hat and its role here, but she ignored it and focused on Ace.
"You really made it?" she asked, making sure her voice was full of wonder, awe and a little bit of admiration too.
"Yeah, I learned how in Wano and…" Ace was clearly flustered from all the attention.
Someone in the background was explaining about the gigantic kasa hat that Ace made for Oars. From their reaction (and low whistles) they all sounded impressed with Ace.
"It wasn't easy, because of how big it had to be to fit Oars's head, and my Mera Mera no Mi powers did not help. It took me three tries until I got it right. But it was worth it to see Oars happy."
"Ohhh… how mushy," she said sweetly, holding the Den Den Mushi close to her mouth.
"Marcy!" groaned Ace, more like whined. While he didn't appreciate her output, his crewmates sure did. His complaints only fueled their hoots and laughter.
Her kind of crowd.
Some tiny, positive reinforcement was deserved and some, lots and lots really, sweet revenge for the harmless fun they had on her expense was very much needed.
She had a few hours to stew in anger, frustration and disappointment about the surprise meeting and the 'accidental' lack of coating. She used the time wisely to think of harmless creative ideas to get 'even'.
"It's good work. It looks good and sturdy, and yeah, Oars seems to like it," she said in a serious tone. A lot.
Oars had seemed so proud when he showed off his hat and explained that Ace had made it for him.
"It's really good to broaden your horizon and now you have more options! I completely approve!" She said in her most amicable manner and with one of her brightest smiles (Brighter than even Luffy's smile. Nahhh, who was she kidding. Luffy was the sun, but pretty damn close). Some of the brave souls that were obviously not looking at her subtly, took a few steps back or got back to whatever the hell they were (not) doing.
"Huh?" except for the eloquent reply from Ace, it was eerily quiet.
She wondered if her perfect smile was translated correctly by the Den Den Mushi. Maybe that explained the silence.
The calm before the storm, some would say. The perfect stage, she would say.
More like a predator waiting for prey to calmly enter its jaws before it swallowed it whole. And who was she to ruin this pretty picture?
Really, she might as well give the final nudge (push it all the way in more likely).
"If the pirate thing doesn't work out. I mean obviously you are not going to be the Pirate King. You aren't even the captain of your own ship anymore... Tsk tsk... How dreadful for you...Maybe you are just...not cut for this kind of profession… I mean… piracy needs a special requirement for you to succeed… maybe you lack a bit… but only a bit. Oh, don't get me wrong. I am not telling you to give up….at least not right away... Just... Oh ...it warms my heart as your younger sister... To know you have other options available..." She nodded her head encouragingly, moving the Den Den Mushi closer to her face, even if those on the other side couldn't see her, the Den Den Mushi was better be nodding along with her on the other side. Her acting was superb!
"You can open a hat-making company! Isn't this great… You're able to make such a big, huge hat… anything is possible for you… in the hat-making industry .. at least...hmmm... Now you only need to decide one thing...What would you name it?" She was utterly proud of her audacious speech. She trained in front of a mirror! As if. She was natural.
N. A. T. U. R. A. L.
"HUH?" his voice sounded mellow and unsure.
"The company, of course, it needs a name...aren't you paying attention? … how silly of you," she said extra sweetly.
"Hmmm… Spade? It isn't that creative, but You seem to like this name… Oh, right, you need a killer slogan too!" she paused for a second and hummed.
"Hmmm… let me think, as your younger sister…. It's my pleasure and duty to help such a dutiful older brother… let's see ...especially in time of need...let's see...with hat from Spade, you will have the ladies slayed…" She trailed off purposely. She was afraid that some idiot or another would cut into her 'speech'.
Surprisingly, it was still quiet on the other side. It felt as if they were holding their breath.
"No, it doesn't sound right! hmmmm….A Hat from Spade, in every shade, and for any Trade!"
Not yet. Hold, hold. She was mentally whispering to Ace's crew. She was trusting those busybodies to play their role. They better not disappoint her! They were already on her shit list.
"A hat from Spade, of gol….no...oh..of rays of gold made, and a beautiful jade to make your wife a happy maid!"
Hold, hold.
"With Hat from Spade you will definitely get laid."
Her flow was not disturbed too much, although she did hear some muffled laughs, and a few loud coughs. Good busybodies, such good busybodies.
"I don't know… Maybe we just need to personalize the name a bit. Instead of Spade... Go with Ace as the name of your hat-making company. Oh maybe …. use Oh My Ace that your crewmate likes to call or curse you."
Some cheered, and repeated 'Oh my Ace', as she had expected. Her busybodies were a predictable bunch. Such good and tame busybodies.
"Oh my Ace, a hat to win every race!" She announced in a loud, cheerful voice.
That earned her few chuckles and spluttering Ace. He was alive (Hallelujah!). She thought for a second maybe he had fainted from the shock and ruined the reveng… fun for her.
Now, for the climax. Using a bright tone, Marcy stated, "O My Ace, a hat stronger from any mace…Oh my Ace a hat to fit any face or race… a hat better than any ACE!"
Busybodies attack. Now.
The thundering applause -that she had earned with blood, sweat and tears- was a literal chaos.
Even though she tried to strain her ears to hear something, anything. She couldn't distinguish any spoken words or sounds. Just loud, loud uproar. Was that some kind of explosion she just heard or was it her imagination?
She tried to strain her ears a few more times. Catching a few unintelligible words that kept on being repeated 'Oh My Ace', 'Holy Hat', 'Silly Ace', 'you finally have a way to get laid', 'huge hat', 'dreadful', 'Ace a happy maid', 'God of hats and balls', 'Marcy be my sister' (someone had a death wish).
She had to let the Den Den Mushi rest on the wooden floor, it was trying to jump out of the palm of her hand. For now, it was thumping on the floor loudly. The not subtle busybodies on her side were staring at it, eyes full of curiosity.
She mentally patted her back for a job well done. She couldn't hear it clearly, but she could imagine the peals of laughter, chuckling, jeering and merciless teasing that was going on, which was her aim. And she hadn't even reached the height of her wickedness yet (Mada Mada Dane).
Ace was her prey after all.
The noise level was finally dying down and she could finally hear laughs and jeers, and the Den Den Mushi finally stopped jumping around. She could also hear Ace's repeated growls, intending to make them see that he wouldn't be made fun of, she inferred, but it only made them laugh harder.
"What do you think of him? Oars? yoi" Marco asked loudly, trying not to let his voice be drowned out by all the noise.
He was trying to spare Ace from all the teasing that was going-on on the other side, she mused.
"Oars?" She asked, wondering if she should let him change the topic, or she should just continue with the fun of making fun of Ace. Oh well, she was sure she would find a more creative slogan once she had put her mind to it. Just give her a few hours.
Her mind wandered back now to the fateful meeting a few hours ago….
.
There was a sudden eruption of noise on the deck which made her run from the kitchen, where she was with Luffy, to the upper deck.
She saw it.
It was hard to miss.
It filled her vision, instantly.
A huge, enormous, tremendous, vast, immense.
A really huge, big assed ship.
And on it was a man.
No, a big man.
A really biggggg man.
To sum it up, A GIANT.
If you missed it, her brain wasn't functioning at full speed. Someone had turned the speed-knob of her brain to turtle's pace (not to Barney or his nephew Bon-bon speed. To A normal, very slow turtle speed). But still, in that state, her brain was able to decrypt a few of the shouts, repeating, "it's Oars' ship".
Her first thought was, oh yeah, she understood why they kept who Oars jr. was a secret. Someone was going to pay (preferably Ace).
Her second thought was that her mental health couldn't take any more abuse. A damn good Shaman to expel the tragedy that was her rotten luck, wasn't going to cut it anymore, neither intensive therapy. She would need an army of both. It's a good thing that White-Bread (yeah, she shamelessly stole it from Luffy) was a loaded Yonko, he would happily and cheerfully pay for all of it for the rest of her life (and he better be happy and cheerful about it, she dared him not to be).
Her third thought was, of course it was a big huge assed ship, it had to fit a giant on it. How could you miss that, you idiotic Marcy.
Her fourth thought was, Of course there were giants. She thought she had seen everything -in her nativity- on this mini-adventure. Things had been overwhelming (she had 'met' a Warlord, mermaids, slavers and suicidal cheesecake, give her a f**king break). Had been her ass. It was still overwhelming. Giantly overwhelming. Almost 38-meter-tall overwhelming.
For comparison sake, she was 1.6 m tall.
For once in her life, she didn't want to shriek, rage, and strangle someone when her own mind called her small, tiny compared to him (if she really wanted to strangle her own mind, she would find a way. Oh, believe her).
Everyone was teeny teeny-weeny teensy teensy-weensy weeny itsy-bitsy, itty-bitty, eensy-eensy-weensy tiddly, measly and mingy in comparison!
"What was the first thing Luffy said to him?" Ace asked eagerly.
She had yet to answer the first question and she didn't want to share her thoughts on the Giant, it had only been a few hours since they had met and uggggehhh… things were a bit …. Errr complicated.
Luffy had stayed behind when she ran to the deck, of that she was sure. He was eating after all, and be it a small or big noise wouldn't deter him from enjoying his meat. But suddenly, he was leaping while shouting 'Gomu Gomu' to the direction of the big assed ship. Aiming specifically at the giant, laughing all the while.
"He launched himself from A.O's ship at him," she murmured thoughtfully, unsure how to explain the unforgettable scene (she tried to forget. Believe her!).
"Oh Luffy," Ace said laughing.
Of course, he would find it funny. He was mental just like Luffy.
"What does that mean?"
"He picked a fight?"
"Jumped from the ship?"
"Was the ship that close?"
"Is it because of his devil fruit..."
"Like when you ran from A.O's group?"
She could hear Ace explaining Luffy's devil fruit power in the background as she once again vividly remembered the scene.
Maybe if her brain hadn't been frozen or stuck on 'can't compute' she would have anticipated Luffy's reaction and stopped him from shooting himself at the giant.
Oars jr. (now that she thought about it, he was named Oars junior? Did that mean there was a senior too? Could she, you know, not meet him, please…. Pretty please with a cherry on top! She needed a Shaman, urgently! Was there a ceremony, a dance, a song, something she could do in the meanwhile to expel her bad, baddd luck? Bad luck go away~ here take a kiss, you don't need to stay~, oh yay~, it's okay, don't worry~, yes, sail away~, oh yay~, and leave me at the bay~ don't be swayed~ those are not sad tears, I say~ they are joyous, so I beg you leave me the f#$k alone~~~oh yay~ oh yay~) was huge.
It would take 24-25 of someone with her height standing over each other to reach his height (how many to reach his weight? She shuddered).
His skin was yellow-green and he had orange hair reaching down to his legs, which was quite small in comparison to his large belly and hairy forearms. He has large fangs (Bigger than her!) and horns pointing upward, black triangle-like marks just above his eyes, and some stubble on his chin.
He was also wearing a gigantic kasa hat on his gigantic head, and last but not least, hmmm.. There were three skulls on a beaded necklace around his neck (Huge skulls! Enormous! Okay; okay, I have three skulls here. What can I do with them? (not bury them of course). Hmmm... Let me see. A necklace, of course. It's easy, first we measure the neck. Then we use a beading thread. Slowly, we slide one Skull onto the string, followed by a crimping bead, then add another Skull, and one more time and TADA).
In short, Oars jr. was the bonafide of intimidation. If there was an image dictionary, his picture would be beside the word 'intimidating'.
It felt like a slow-moving picture as Luffy flew in air into the giant. One thought whispered in her head, 'maybe Luffy will miss him', another said, 'he is a giant, a huge big giant'. The first insisted, 'but this is Luffy, maybe you should have the crew ready to dive and save him from sinking', the other thought was quiet for a while before whispering,' even Luffy can't be that bad at aiming, it is a HUGE giant'.
After what felt like eternity, Oars moved his huge hand and caught the flying Luffy. One thought shouted in panic, another in relief. A third thought popped out, reminding her that she didn't prepare the crew to dive so this was a good thing, assuming that Oars didn't err… squish him.
Another thought pointed out that 'Luffy was made of rubber, he will be fine'. A thought in the background was buzzing, Marcy had to concentrate to hear it, 'for someone sooo big, he moved fast. This isn't a good thing for our survival chances'. There was a reason why she was ignoring the buzzing. Panic wasn't the answer right now, her adorable brother was standing on the palm of the giant's hand, beaming at him.
She was looking at Luffy's back, but she didn't need to see his face to know that he had a grin stretching his whole face as he looked at the giant.
"SO, what did he say?" Ace insisted, still eager, and so was the listening masses.
"What do you think he said?" she asked instead. This was Luffy they were talking about. He always introduced himself in the same manner.
"I am Luffy, I am going to be the pirate king," Ace mimicked Luffy's voice.
"Yup," she answered, resigned.
Luffy had basically beamed at him when he said it. She could feel the sun shining from him and blinding her. Her poor eyes.
"Typical Luffy... He never changes," Ace said between small bouts of laughter. His crew was discussing and betting on how he would introduce himself to Pops (someone shouted that he already had when they spoke on the phone) in person.
"Luffy then told him that he had a really cool hat, but his hat was way cooler," Marcy added after a few seconds.
With that, they came back to the issue at hand. The blasted hat.
It was kind of funny, right?!, to die by a hat. She had a feeling that hats, in general, would be the end of her.
"Oars explained that you made him the hat, which added few points of coolness to Oars' hat, but Luffy still insisted his hat was the coolest-est thing ever."
Hearing her brother and Oars discussing, with extreme enthusiasm, why their hats were actually the best, made her brain unfreeze itself.
She took a few minutes then to send an earnest prayer of thanks; for the fact that Ace wasn't here at this moment. She really wanted to see her big brother and not only hear him. She really wanted that. But adding Ace to this mix?
He would have egged them on even more. No, who was she kidding! He would have jumped right into this fight. Announcing that his hat; the orange thing with the blue 'frowny' and 'smiley' was the best hat hands down.
Thank the Fork and the Spoon that he wasn't here right now. It was a truly small mercy.
Between phrases like "It protects from the sun", "it's a treasure", "birds stopped nesting on my head, they nest on my hat instead" and "a pirate needs a cool hat"; She began to notice all the small things that she had missed in her earlier panic. Oars was treating Luffy very gently, whenever Luffy was excitedly moving and flailing his hands to make a point, reaching the edge of the hand in his quest, Oars would gently guide him back to the center of his palm.
And even though his voice was loud, he was giant (for goodness sake). It had a gentle undertone to it.
When the ships were finally close enough for some kind of bridge to be made for her to follow her brother, the giant had paused in his speech. He nodded at her and greeted her using her name. He didn't try to reach for her. Marcy had nodded back (She was proud of this achievement. Her vocal cords were taking a break at the moment).
Luffy, finally noticing her when Oars mentioned her name, had turned around and excitedly begun talking about how awesome Oars was and how cool his hat was (as if she didn't hear the whole thing from the beginning). She could swear that Oars was blushing, it was hard to tell with yellow-green skin.
That was when she finally realized. The deal was sealed. Not only was Oars jr. a giant, with a hat to top it, but he was a friend of Ace (Ace made him a hat, how cooooooooolllll was that?). Oars was a friend in Luffy's eyes (Oars hadn't even fed him yet).
"What is going on? Are they getting along or not?"
"Are they still fighting about the hat?"
"In a way yes," she answered vaguely.
Marcy was surprised that Luffy hadn't asked him yet to join his crew. Really, by how things were going, it was only a matter of time.
"What is going on!?"
"What do you mean?"
"How are they fighting?"
"Marcy," said Ace impatiently. He knew she was stalling.
"They had a real man argument who had the coolest hat!"
When words were not enough to convey the coolness-es of the hat, a more decisive measure was needed to answer the critical question of 'who had the coolest hat!?'
"Man Argument?" asked someone fervently.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Does that mean that we were having arguments wrong all the time?"
"Man Argument? I never heard this expression before. I like it."
"But what is it?"
"They stared down each other, of course, according to Luffy's logic, stares are manly!" Marcy had pity on their lost souls and explained the logic of DOOM that was Luffy.
"Who wants to have a staring match with me?"
"A Man Argument you mean!"
"I am the man, so I will win!"
"We will see about that!"
Marcy ignored the ruckus from the other side, as she recalled the horrendous battles of stares that took place. Their stares cut flesh and burnt skin.
The blissful silence that followed the death stare match between Luffy and Oars lasted for almost half an hour until Luffy's stomach growled loudly.
"Are they still staring at each other?" Ace asked smugly, apparently having won his own staring match. She was surrounded with small annoying brats. Why her?
Oh, maybe that explained why Whitebeard called his 'sons' cheeky brats, they were literal brats.
"How long did it last?" someone else asked.
"No, they stopped that," Marcy answered.
"Who won?" several voices demanded.
"They are already in the main course of man fighting," Marcy announced as she grabbed the Den Den Mushi and stood up, surveying the ongoing fight happening below her.
It was bloody!
She added cutting into all the annoying questions fired at her, "Luffy's style!"
Ace didn't need any more explanation. His loud contagious laughter had told her and his crew that he understood her meaning.
It took him a few tries to explain to his insisting busybody crew.
"F… Food," he uttered between bouts of uncontrollable laughter.
"What do you mean?
"What was going on?"
"Food fight? But that is wasting food…. noooo... Luffy wouldn't do that, would he?"
Marcy sighed and explained.
"Luffy challenged him to a manly battle," She paused until the other side quilted down completely, "the manliest of all...an eating contest!"
Her announcement was greeted with more silence.
One, two, three and….
"He knows that he is facing a giant, right? Right?"
"Eating contest? Your brother has got balls!"
"Luffy saw him? … he saw him physically I mean?... how bigggg he is?"
"Wait, you said ongoing?"
"You mean Luffy didn't lose..."
"Maybe he will win?"
"Be realistic here, he is facing Oars!"
"How long has it been?"
"How is it going?"
"Draw for now, they've been at it for .. " Marcy paused, "a little less than three hours."
Everyone from Oars' crew and O.A's crew were either cooking the food, bringing them the food, or cheering them on. She didn't need to interfere too much, everyone had a role to play and they did it well. They had five huge assed grills on the deck that had meat on them nonstop, and the chefs and cooks in the kitchens were battling heroically against the tide of time (Luffy's and Oars' stomachs).
Oars' crew was made up of normal-sized humans that were, funnily enough, imitating their captain's look, with fake yellow jaws with big fangs and long orange hair. Which was great, marvelous. She didn't think she could handle another real giant. They seemed to care deeply for their captain and their captain seemed to like her (damn if she knew why) and Luffy, especially Luffy, so she was comfortably surveying the fight of the century.
The stream of questions coming from the other side finally penetrated her musings.
"How much food?"
"He is keeping up with Oars?"
"What are they eating?"
"Luffy is still going?"
"Ace you weren't joking when you said your brother needed a lot of food?"
Luffy and food as a joke. Oh boy, that was a rabbit hole she refused to even consider.
"You weren't kidding about his food consumption... huh"
"We are doomed..."
"I thought Ace is bad..."
"How the hell are we going to feed him and Ace and the rest of us..."
"Hey, your excellency... Please tell me you don't eat like them… I don't think we can take it... If there were three..."
"One is too much..."
"How long is this battle... Fight will go on, you think, yoi?"
"I will give it a day!" Marcy said decisively, choosing to graciously bestow an answer on them.
"A day? Really Marcy! We are talking about Luffy here, at least a week..." Ace said, sounding unimpressed with her estimation.
"Really, how much food do they have? Is it enough?"
"Ace, you are saying in a week they will finish all of the food? Or that it will take a week to sate their hunger," someone asked in alarm. Hatchey?
"The food stores were supposed to feed the whole crew for a month or two according to the vice-captain..." she said gleefully, adding her two beli to spread the panic.
"We need to reconsider the provisions and the budget..."
"We are screwed!"
"We need more hunting and fishing missions!"
"Maybe we should add a day of fasting each week!"
"You think one day will be enough, three maybe!"
"How is it going?"
"Who is winning?"
"I already said it's a draw..." she snapped irritably.
"...how much food is left?"
"Quarter… half...," Marcy murmured quietly to herself, while she was doing some fast calculation in her head. She had seen the stores of the food on the two ships. It was the first thing she learned to check with Luffy around. She better check them again after this call ended.
"They finished a quarter? seriously!"
"No, you moron, a bit more than half is left…." she snapped automatically. Marcy narrowed her eyes, ignoring the effect her words unleashed. A noise on the lower deck had caught her attention. She moved closer to the rails and stared. Loud shouts from the Den Den Mushi broke her focus. "Catch him, he is going to faint!", "Thatch!", "Stay with us!", "Ace have mercy on his soul!"
She shook her head with exasperation and refocused on the lower deck.
"Oh," Marcy uttered involuntarily and apparently, very loudly.
"What?"
"What's going?"
"The cooks are overwhelmed… there is no food ready for them to continue the contest..."
She could see some were bowing and profusely apologizing (for not supplying enough ammunition for this historical battle).
She was impressed. They were able to supply nonstop cooked food for almost three hours for giant and black-hole Luffy. She probably should give them a standing ovation. Well, she was already standing. Oh bummer, she had a Den Den Mushi in her hand. She couldn't clap. Better luck next time.
"What is going on?"
"So it's a draw…?"
"That's anticlimactic…"
"We want a clear winner!"
"Damn right!"
"YEAH!"
"Yeah, who has the cooler hat, the winner fights me!"
"Why you? It should be me!"
"None of you have hats!"
"No, me!"
"You are all losers!"
"With the blessing of God Ace, I will be the winner!"
"Oh please!"
"I think the inflated God blessing here is more critical!"
"Yeah, he is inflated because of the food."
Marcy let out a sinker as she watched Luffy inflate his arm and hand.
Her snicker lit a fire underneath them (or was that Ace? Had he finally snapped and burned them all), and they started demanding to know what the heck was going on, now!
His hand grew bigger and bigger.
"They are trying to have hand-to-hand combat instead," she was able to utter, before descending to wheezing laughter.
Their insistence on details grew louder.
"How?"
"I mean how? Just how?"
"Explain?"
"Details, please!"
"You know Luffy is a bit tin… smal.. Someone help please..."
"Shhhh.. These are the forbidden words!"
"What he is trying to say is the difference in size is a bit .. huge… yoi!"
"Luffy is using his devil fruit?" asked Ace knowingly. Marcy didn't bother answering. She couldn't if she wanted. Her stomach was beginning to hurt.
She could hardly make Ace's explanation to the crew.
"Yeah, basically he inflates his hand...his mouth... big and then …. yeah..."
She tried to speak between breaths.
"Well… it didn't work out… Luffy basically... he is trying to make his hand even bigger… bigger… yeah, it isn't…. oops!"
"What?" a hundred voices shrieked demanding details.
"A ball!" Marcy had lost the ability to produce a coherent sentence. It was hard. But she would give it a valiant effort.
"Luffy seem…ed.." she choked and gasped, "to lose...co... control over his breathing…" she took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes. She knew if she looked at the scene below, she would lose it again.
"... and made himself a huge assed ball!"
Ball Luffy had then flown to Oars' belly and bounced to the ship's deck and up into the air, and Oars hurriedly tried to catch him, to the surprise and screams of the crews. Really, Oars' crew shouts of horror, insisting that it was their fault that Luffy 'blow up' like this because they made him over-eat had cracked her up completely.
"Oh my Ace… the inflated God himself!"
"Protect us from the cannonballs!"
"Ball of gold!"
"Yeah, make them balls of gold instead!"
"Hey Ace, can you make our cannonballs all gold instead!"
"Hey, that's a great idea!"
"It's a terrible idea!"
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? What do we use the cannonballs for? Huh?"
"To shoot enemy ships…. OH!"
"You want to shoot them with gold balls! That won't scare them. It will encourage them to attack you!"
Marcy ignored the nonsense she was hearing (trying to decipher it was making her head and stomachache) and cautiously opened her eyes. She took a deep breath.
Inhale, wait and exhale, repeat.
She didn't burst laughing. She was in total control. She relaxed.
"Marcy, what is going on now?" she finally paid back attention to the Den Den Mushi, which miraculously was still in her hand. Ace seemed to have been repeating his question for a while.
"Oars is ...throwing him up and then catching him…" She tried to say it flatly. She wasn't sure she succeeded.
"He is playing ball!"
"Catch the ball!"
"Catch the inflated God!"
"Luffy is okay?" Ace sounded a bit worried. Only a bit, but mostly amused.
"Don't worry about him. He is encouraging Oars to throw him higher…"
She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard Luffy say that the one that threw the other the highest would win. How the throw-thing was supposed to work when Luffy's turn arrived, she would have to wait and see.
"He will reach Skypiea no problem!"
"Luffy is having fun, huh?" Ace said clearly amused.
"The time of his life… and so is Oars," Marcy told him, still in full control of her facilities.
"As long as he doesn't drop him on the water…. It's a sailing ship …. You don't seem worried about that?" Ace asked cautiously. Like her, he was ignoring all the ruckus on his side.
"Well, I don't think Oars is using all his strength despite Luffy's demands… I mean he hasn't completely disappeared in the sky. And almost the whole crew in both ships are waiting by the rails, some are spotters, their eyes on the sky and others in positions to dive. I think they are more afraid for him than me!"
She wasn't worried, she would give it another two tosses until he noticed the smell of the food that the cooks were bringing to the deck.
"Hey Marcy ….Then why a day?" Hatchey asked, a little hesitantly (didn't he faint? Or was it someone else?). The burn he received earlier was still aching it seemed.
"Huh?" she wasn't trying to be mean. Really! (no, she doesn't want to swear to it. You should take what she said as face value.) She just had no idea what he meant.
"You said the food fight … contest will end in a day...why? how?"
She did say that. His real question was how do you satiate two giants? (yes, when speaking about food, Luffy was a giant) … in simple terms, how to save the Whitebeard crew from the brink of destruction and starvation.
"We are supposed to arrive at Sabaody Archipelago tomorrow," Marcy told them patiently.
"In a few weeks we will get to meet the inflated God and her holiness!" someone shrieked excitedly.
Marcy ignored the cheers, intending in explaining why the fight would end in a day.
"Are you intending to set foot on Sabaody while waiting for the coating?" Ace cut in worriedly. He knew how she felt about the island. A place that allowed slavery and those blasted Celestial Dragons and CP0 to roam around wasn't her cup of cocoa, to say the least. The existence of that place should not be allowed in her eyes. If she had the power, she would burn it to the grounds.
"A.O suggested that we wait on his ship in the sea until Oars' ship is ready. He said they can coat their ship after we leave."
"Are you going to visit the island?" Ace repeated his question.
"May as well, for a few hours. As food is mysteriously and speedily vanishing, we are going to need a massive restock, someone needs to make things go smoothly."
Yup, Luffy and Oars were back to eating. The contest was still on.
A few hours on that island won't harm anyone. She had already gone over the plan with both the crews, get the food, keep Luffy happy and occupied on A.O's hidden ship, coat Oars' ship, and then merrily be on our way. A.O's ship would then be coated afterward and they would meet them in Fishman Island. No one had any objection to it. Not even Luffy, though she wasn't sure he was listening. But, oh well.
Of course, no one dared to object after she raged rampantly at their stupid asses.
Instead of coating the ship and waiting for them for a few days. They had to come to escort them as a surprise.
Surprise! Surprise.
In her rage hearing the news, she had even halted the eating contest temporarily to shout at Oars. He was the captain, which meant it was his darn responsibility.
Luffy tried to defend him, but Marcy was not to be stopped. She had lashed out vehemently.
For a short glorious while, she was able to push out the thought that she was shouting at a giant.
A giant that could make a mashed potato of her with his pinky finger.
She shouted and Oars apologized until there was unmistakable mist in his eyes. She was sure if she had continued shouting, she would have ended drowning in a drop of his tears.
She ended up feeling guilty (what strange notion!), he looked like a kicked puppy that was a moment away from releasing those big drops of sparkly water.
She could count on one hand how many times she felt this bad (most of them involved Luffy somehow), and Luffy was glaring daggers at her, which wasn't helping her non-existent conscious.
So, she did the only thing she could do.
She accepted his apology, and she emm.. Apologized for using a high tone at him and Oars then earnestly and solemnly promised not to do it again.
Of course, they ended up shaking on it (It was a promise! Thank the blue sea, that he didn't ask for a pinky swear….).
His mashed potato pinky and her two hands, or that was how it was supposed to go. But Luffy decided to join in (Whoops).
He twisted his body around her, almost choking her (Air was overrated, right?!) and around Oars' finger tightly and that was how they sealed the deal.
Pinky swear it was.
It was fun. Chills didn't run down her spine at the memory. Nope.
Luffy was beaming again (she hoped that Ace and his crew didn't hear about this whole affair, but she wasn't holding her breath, this time at least it wasn't the literal meaning).
"I think you are being too optimistic, Marcy," Ace's voice dragged her back to reality.
"What?" she didn't seem to keep up with all that was going on around her. She was bone tired. Burnout. Utterly exhausted. It was a long day, and it was still noon.
"You said only a day to stop their fight about the hat! I don't think arriving at Sabaody will stop them from fighting…maybe a small break... But we are speaking about Luffy here... It will go on for a while... Even months… maybe you can convince him to change the way they fight... from food to something else…preferably not the hand to hand combat…" Ace snickered a bit, before adding, "but he will not back down from fight.. Especially about the hat...you should now!" Ace trailed off. The crowd around him was suggesting manly ways to compete that she should suggest to Luffy and Oars in turn.
"It will end in a day!" Marcy said in convection.
"You have a plan?" Ace asked intrigued. The others quieted down, anticipatingly listening in.
"Oh No, but it will be when my patience runs out," she paused.
She was calm, dignified, and serene; there was no excessive elation, no excited manner, no haughtiness.
Okay, maybe she had an air of haughtiness (a large air, so what?!) and after all the shouting she did today, she felt calm and serene for once (maybe it was the exhalation. Whatever!) and she was always dignified (anyone had a smartass comment to say, better be smart and kept to himself...hmmm).
"And I explain to them the obvious ...that I …. I have the best hat!"
"You don't have a hat," exclaimed an indignant Ace.
"Exactly," she intoned, nonplussed. The "Duh" was left hanging in the air.
"The fact that I don't need a hat to look cool makes me the coolest thing ever!"
Clank.
She hung up.
Den Den Mic(ushi) Drop!
….
..
.
XXXXX
.
..
…
"They should arrive tomorrow," the voice paused and asked, "Should we attack upon arrival?"
"No, we should have 2-3 days until they coat the ship… keep an eye on them, and keep me updated."
….
..
.
XXXXX
.
..
…
"So …."
"WB Press!"
"That's pretty obvious, it's the WhiteBeard Press!" sighed Izo for the tenth time. Why was he here again?
Oh yes, he was dragged here by Thatch and Haruta.
"No, it could be a lot of other things..."
"Like….?"
"Acronym for what?"
"I still don't understand why not choose a different name, any name, like Dragons Press, Lily Press, Ship Press, Duck Press, Heroes Press…."
"Happy Press!"
"We are idiot's Press."
"Please Spare me Press!"
"Help Press!"
"We can go with WLWB Press!"
"What does that even stand for?"
"We Love WhiteBeard Press."
The merry band of chaos, AKA the editors were all gathered in the newly built Press Office (newly built?! They just took over a few rooms and kicked a few people out, when Marco found out about this!? Oh boy! There will be a hell and half to pay). Izo, Thatch, Haruta, Gerald, Darren, Shiky, Rin, Tim, Lee and Ben (the seven that had witnessed the miracle of balls were worthy additions, according to Thatch).
They had built a book printing machine (how, when, why? From what money? Nobody was supposed to ask).
They were about to print the first draft of THE BOOK. They intended to print only a few copies to give to few readers to check for misspelling, quality, and the impact of this glorious (PRAISE BE in John Oliver's voice) new religion.
By 'a few copies' he meant, half the Moby's crew (only on this ship, and after Marco had put his clawed foot down), the Red Hair crew, the Jewels gang (half the Fishman Island), and oh, for some reason the Warlord Hawkeyes had demanded a copy after Red-Hair Shanks told him. The Jewels especially were insufferable with their demands. The shitty son of mermaid Aladine was calling every few hours to check on their progress and to once again add a few more copies to the number of copies they had already agreed upon.
Izo reminding him repeatedly that this wasn't the final draft but that didn't change his demands, and when Izo had put his foot down yesterday and said enough was enough. Aladine, the bastard, had the little mermaids make a call to Pops. Izo was gently reprimanded. What was he seven? (Aladine was going to pay one way or another).
So yeah to sum it, few copies.
That all assuming they agreed on what to call their new business venture… something Press. How complicated could it be? right?! (wrong!)
"Marco said we could do this, but the crew can't be in any way known to be involved in it," Izo reminded them again.
"See, I said I would convince him," Thatch boasted brightly. One of the good things about Thatch was his recovery time, pondered Izo. Looking at him now, who would believe that just a while ago he was on the ground moping, drained of energy, with his head held in his hands, mumbling to himself, "She hates me… she is so mean to me, WHY?... Why does she hate me? What did I do? I was trying to be polite! I thought she would love that...Should I apologize… I should! I will write her a letter...I like her...she is going to be my sister, right? How can I make her like me… hmmm… Izo… I am a likable guy? Right? Everyone likes me! Right? Right?...maybe she doesn't like me because she hasn't met me in person yet… I am really charming, I will cook for her... Would she love me then? Wahhh… Izo… I am a likable guy, right? Tell me..."
"I was pretty sure, he was going to kill you, and then kill himself," Haruta said, amused. It had come very close to this.
"Nothing stands in the way of my determination," Thatch cheerfully shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Totally recovered.
"Nagging..." murmured Izo under his breath. Really, it wasn't Marco's approval they needed exactly. After all, Pops had given his blessing. He had also demanded that the first copy be sent to him at once. But they needed money and Marco was the master of all that was budget and beli. So in a way, they needed his 'consent'.
"Let's just go with WB press," Lee said in despair. They were going at it for an hour, and they wanted to go over the rough draft before they printed it today. And let's not talk about an actual title to the bane of his existence (the book). Why was this his life?
"If anything goes wrong, we could say it was Marco's suggestion," Haruta proposed, with a shrug of his shoulder.
"It is his fault, for saying it out loud," mused Rin.
"Noooo...The Whitebeard Pirates are not becoming the Whitebeard Press, not on my watch." The look on his face when Marco realized that he said it out loud was priceless. The horror was written plainly on his face for all to see.
"It was because he was living in his worst nightmare when you told him, Pops' approved! Give us money. We are gonna print the book and then mass distribute it..." for someone that loved pranking others. Thatch tended to be very straightforward, blurting it all out to Marco's terror and enlarged popping veins.
"It was funny … hearing him shout not the Whitebeard Press. I won't accept it. No budget, nooo.. Just no…." Shiky mimicked Marco's voice to the amusement of all.
He wished he was a fly on the wall for the conversation between Marco and Pops about the printing of the book. All they knew was that Marco came back, his shoulders hunched his face blank, and with a nod of approval and warning "in no way, shape or form should this be linked to us, yoi!", they had been given the green light.
"Right, it's his little contribution to this magnificent book," Thatch agreed.
"I thought it was a spectacular book," Izo said mockingly.
"That too," Thatch answered, nonplussed. Izo sighed.
"So WB stands for what?"
"Whitebeard," Thatch immediately answered.
Everyone as one groaned.
"We know… we are just trying to find camouflage or something..." Ben said.
"A good Lie!" Darren explained.
"Maybe Welcome Back?"
"Welcome Back Press?"
"It has a ring to it." Gerald snickered.
"You suggest something then..."
"White and Black..."
"Maybe just change beard for bread? White Bread Press! "
"Smart! Play on words."
"It's awful!"
"Then you suggest something!"
"Emmm …."
"See!"
"World Bank?" Rin suggested abruptly.
"What is a Bank?"
"A heap, slope..."
"This makes no sense...World heap?"
"No, Bank is this place where you store your beli to keep it safe, and it has lots of beli and gold..." Rin tried to explain.
"A pirate treasure? Then why is it called a bank, call it a treasure!"
"You mean a Budget?"
"Shhhhhhhhh … do you want Marco to pop out?"
"No, it has lots and lots of money from all over the world…" Rin tried
"One Piece….?"
"Oh here is an idea, let's call it the One Piece Press!"
"Nooooo," all of the others shouted. That was just cringy!
"Where do you learn all this unreal shit..." Tim asked Rin with a sneer.
"There was this book..."
"You and your fantasy stupid books."
"Hey don't insult my book... And we are here because of a book too!" Rin defended hotly.
"Wild Banana Press…?"
"Warm Bodies?"
"Wild Book Press?"
"White Book?"
"WB...Warner Brothers..."
"Huh? Who are those...?"
"I heard about them! They are trying to use Visual Den Den Mushi to capture moving pictures with sound..."
"Is there something like that? "
"Why would we need something like that? Are they stupid?"
"How are they doing it? I want it." Thatch perked up.
"Why?"
"I can catch a moving picture of all my pranks..."
"It could be a great device for blackmail materials," Izo said thoughtfully.
"Before that, are you sure about the preface?" Inquired Lee worriedly.
"Yeah, isn't it great...it took us a lot of time to get it this perfect!" Thatch said proudly.
Lee opened his mouth, probably to disagree.
"Don't bother!"
"Please don't"
"Spare us, please!"
"Just roll with it."
.
.
.
.
Preface:
.
Oh My Ace, the one true religion for those that seek creativity, adventure, freedom, survival, gold, culinary and fashion advice. It's a way of life.
.
The spectacular journey of two Gods (and their big bro Gold Balls Ace). A quest to conquer all that is evil (e.g. tomato, dresses (kimono aren't evil!), slavers, nobles… the full list is inside). Find the truth that you never knew you sought and how to ensure that the (very sharp) pointy end of fate does not end up aimed at you. Find your inner jewel and how to protect it from the vacuous kick (if you have experienced ('the kick') you may not be able to reproduce afterward; you have been warned). Discover the meaning of meat and when it is permitted to share it heroically. Hats maketh man (also manners sometimes). Learn how to use permanent markers as weapons of mass destruction, and discover the secret prayer (100% guaranteed) to make you gold (not any kind, but balls of gold. The literal kind!). Sisters of all kinds should be feared and adored. Their words are pearls of wisdom. Ignore at your own risk. No problem, big or small can withstand the test of 'brainstorming exercise' (if one brain is not enough, try many, many more). The miraculous use of rubber and the power of a hundred thousand volt smile (we are not speaking about the sun, almost but not).
.
Remember never think of yourself as little, small, or tiny. Don't say the words. Please just don't say them (words make reality and all the bullshit). You are part of something bigger than you, but that doesn't make you insignificant. You are big, bigger, huge. The biggest!
(Basically, this book explains how you must live your life, cause (no shit genius) you have been doing it all wrong.)
.
.
WB PRESS
About us:
We had been blind but now we see the world for all its colors. We were empty-headed but now their pearls of wisdom guide us. We were starved but now we are meatly sated. We were ignorant, but now we bow to their greatness. We thought we knew joy, but now we know better. We thought our life had a meaning, now it has a true one. A purpose. A resolve. A drive.
We are many, we are big, we are one. We are merely followers in this great adventure called life.
We took it as our Solemn Duty to enlighten the world as we were once enlightened.
Share the light of Oh My Ace.
May Marcy never find your soul or jewels!
.
.
.
.
.
WB stands for…..? Slogans, anyone?
When I began writing this story, one of the first scenes I thought about was a meeting between Oars and Luffy and how that would go, hats in my mind were a must! So what do you think?
.
.
Hello all, it's been a while. I hope you are all safe, in your home. Social distancing to the win.
I had been stuck in a roller-coaster of uncertainty for a while. I was in the hospital, changed jobs, doctor visits, family problems… but (hopefully) I am back. Do I still have it? Do I? The magic touch?
I have been working mainly on D Sway the Waves of Time and Anchor & Compass.
.
Please send lots and lots of positive reinforcement (Not Marcy's kind, pleaseeeeeeeee). We accept reviews, M&M's, love and more reviews. :D