V For Vectors

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or To Aru Majutsu No Index. Nothing you recognize from any other works of fiction belong to me in any way, shape, or form. I am not profiting off of this story in any way and write for fun only.

A/N: Sorry, I know this one took a while longer than the first 3 chapters thus far. I got hooked on Dead by Daylight's Hallowed Blight seasonal event and basically did nothing but grind it for those dope skins and go to work for a few weeks. Should be back to business as usual now though!

East Blue: Gecko Island

"Are we there yet?" Luffy whined in a bored tone, sprawled out on the deck of their boat staring straight up at the tranquil skies.

"Not yet, Captain Luffy," Genpo jumped to attention, sweating profusely.

"You know you don't have to do that every time he asks, right?" Zoro drawled without even looking in the navigator's direction. "He's been doing it for hours now, the moron is probably just asking because it makes you panic like that."

"Shishishi! Don't spoil my fun Zoro, he's so scared of us!" Luffy snickered as Genpo just held the position until he dismissed him a few moments later. "If you hadn't stopped playing I Spy with me I wouldn't be so bored! There's nothing to do."

"Luffy all you ever did was pick the ocean or clouds because there's nothing else in sight," Zoro sighed in exasperation. "It's not fun at all."

"Well then unless you have a better idea of how to occupy our time, I'll keep asking if we're there yet," Luffy crossed his arms mulishly.

"It's like having to deal with a bratty little kid," Zoro rubbed the bridge of nose in exasperation. A bored Luffy was always a terrible thing to deal with, and Zoro ended up with a headache more often than not while trying to occupy him.

"Shishishi! Are we there yet?" Luffy just laughed in response.

"No." Zoro bit out through gritted teeth.

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No, we're not there yet damnit!"

"..."

"..."

"Are we-"

"Fine we can play I Spy again you insufferable moron!" Zoro finally snapped and punched Luffy in the side of the head to try and shut him up, veins pulsing on his forehead.

"Hooray!" Luffy pumped a hand in the air in what would have been a far more victorious manner if he didn't now have a black eye and a goose egg growing on top of his head. "Do you wanna go first, or can I?"

"You can go first," the swordsman snarled, fingers twitching in the direction of his blade. Just one quick swing, that's all it would take. If he was quick enough, maybe he could get some peace and quiet.

"I spy…" Luffy put a hand on his chin, looking in all directions for inspiration as though there were more than a few options. "Something blue!"

"Is it the ocean?" Zoro guessed in a voice cold enough to freeze a lesser man's blood. Like Genpo, who was fruitlessly attempting to back away from the green haired man further than the boat's size would allow.

"Wha-?" Luffy's eyes bugged out in shock as though this exact same question and answer hadn't been repeated dozens of times in the past day. "Are you some kind of mind reading wizard?!"

"I'm in Hell." Zoro groaned flatly, smacking his head into the mast over and over. "I was executed back in Shells Town, and the Devil is punishing me with an eternity in Hell dealing with you."

"Hey, he doesn't look so good. Do you think something is wrong with him, Goomba?" Luffy idly picked some wax from his ear with a pinkie as he turned to the navigator.

"Please don't kill us," Genpo completely ignored his 'captain' for the first time as he pleaded with a Zoro that looked mere moments away from snapping. Luffy did have a point somewhat, the sporadic twitching that the green haired man was currently doing didn't seem natural at all. Neither were the numerous pulsing veins. Or the tics.

Luckily for the dismayed navigator and Luffy's health, the distraction of an island appearing out in the distance near the horizon prevented the incoming rampage.

"Look, that's probably Gecko Island!" Luffy excitedly cheered, bouncing up and down on the spot. "Gumbo, bring us in!"

"That's still not the right name," Genpo whimpered dejectedly, tiny storm clouds appearing over his head. Nevertheless, he obeyed the order and aimed the boat in the direction of the small beach that was just barely coming into view. "Hopefully there's a navigator on this rock and I can be free from them…"

"What was that?"

"N-nothing Captain Luffy!"

Gecko Island was… rather peaceful at a first glance. Luffy was not a fan.

"Man, I keep ending up on boring little holiday resort looking islands," the bounty hunter in question pouted as the trio finished dragging their boat up onto the beach and took a moment to look around before heading up the incline to a trail that would hopefully lead to the nearest village. "When are we going to get some excitement? Make land on an island and immediately fight a dragon! Or a giant! Or some real pirates that aren't pushovers!"

"Easy for a monster with a Devil Fruit like you to say," Genpo gaped in disbelief at his 'captain's' definition of fun and exciting. What kind of insane idiot wanted to fight dragons?

"Nah, he has a pretty good point," Zoro sighed in a bored manner, hands behind his head as he walked. "What's the point of having it easy all the time? You'll never get stronger that way. We both have a long way to go if we want to reach our respective goals."

"So you're just gonna go out of your way to find monsters to fight? Won't that be dangerous for your other crew members, like me?" Genpo finished with a shriek.

"Why would we ever get weak cowards like you on the crew?" Luffy snickered in response. "You're just our temporary navigator for now, but we'll replace you soon hopefully! Then we can build a super strong crew with nothing but people who want to fight and can hold their own."

"I'm not that awful, am I?" Genpo sobbed dramatically as the mini rain clouds reappeared.

"It's not your fault that you're kinda pathetic," Zoro tried to console him with what could maybe be interpreted as a kind smile. "You just joined up with those Buggy Pirates and surrounding yourself with weak people made you content with being mediocre. You can just go back to them once we find your replacement though, so that you look even kinda strong by comparison again!"

"Shishishi! That's the spirit, Zoro!" Luffy cheered along, pumping a fist in the air. "Let's find some strong people and kick their butts!"

"W-w-well maybe we could help with that," a shaky voice from behind the group cut into the conversation. "With finding some strong people to fight?"

Spinning around to face the source of the voice, the trio came face to face with two rather odd looking people. The first was a rather tan looking teenager with bushy black hair, a rather slim physique, and a long pointed nose that drew attention rather easily. The second was a scowling young woman with orange hair, an odd looking tattoo on her arm, and bandages wrapped around her waist.

"My town has been taken over by p-p-pirates," the male continued quickly, stuttering even worse at the threatening pose Zoro had taken upon being snuck up on. "I-if you're looking for strong people to fight, maybe we c-can help each other? Also I think she needs some help," he trailed off with a gesture in the direction of the wounded woman.

"I don't need any help," said woman just scowled and crossed her arms over each other in an unimpressed manner, but her wince as she shifted exposed the pain she was in. "I just want to get back my berries from those damn pirates and be on my way!"

"Do the pirates have a name, and what kind of bounty does their captain have?" Luffy raised an eyebrow skeptically at the pair. Fighting pirates could be fun, but the caliber of the East Blue crews he had faced so far had not been impressive. "I don't really want to waste time fighting some common bandits if the Marines could handle them."

"W-well one time as I was busy fighting off over one thousand pirates all by myself to protect the town, I think I heard one of them calling him Captain Kuro," the long nosed man lied. "Does that help at all?"

"No," Zoro flatly responded with an unimpressed glare. " And nobody is going to believe such a ridiculous lie as someone like you fighting off thousands of pirates."

"Bwah! He saw right through my perfectly crafted lie!" Usopp struck a dramatic pose with a horrified face.

Zoro's uncontrollable twitching returned in a flash and his hand crept towards the hilt of one of his blades as the over-the-top idiocy gave him traumatic flashbacks to endless games of I Spy with Luffy on their way here.

"Hey, you guys haven't introduced yourselves yet!" Genpo quickly cut into the conversation and switched the topic as he spotted the danger and incoming violence. "My name is Genpo, this is Roronoa Zoro, and this is Captain Luffy! How about you two?"

"Well, my name is Usopp, but you can call me Usopp the Great like everybody else around these parts!" the long nosed man seemed to brighten up again instantly at the chance to talk about himself, pulling a slingshot out from behind his back and holding it up proudly. "My slingshot skills are far greater than your average pistol user. If those pirates hadn't caught me off guard, I would have easily taken them all out before one of them even stepped foot on shore!"

"Usopp the Great, huh? That's pretty neat, even if your weapon is lame," Luffy grinned widely at the liar who deflated at the insult.

"It's not lame at all! I'm not lying when I said I'm more accurate than most pistols with this," Usopp yelled back, pulling a few pellets out of nowhere and firing off three of them one after another at a tree roughly 15 meters away. Impressively enough, all of the pellets managed to strike the exact same spot.

"Huh, I guess it's not useless after all then," Luffy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "That was a little bit cool!"

"How about you, Miss Silent?" Zoro cut in with a glance at the orange haired girl who still hadn't spoken other than to refuse help.

"Tch, my name is Nami," she scowled around at the three newcomers with poorly concealed derision before pointing an accusatory finger at Luffy. "You called him Captain, right? You're just some more damn pirates, aren't you? Even if you could beat the ones currently in control of Syrup Village you'd probably just take their place!"

"Shishishi! Not quite," Luffy burst out laughing again at the accusation before his eyes hardened slightly. Pointing one finger up to the sky, a soft smile spread across his face as he continued. "I'm a bounty hunter, not a pirate. I'm going to build a strong crew of friends, sail the Grand Line, and become the strongest man in the entire world! I made a promise, and I intend to keep it!"

Both Usopp and Nami were completely taken aback by the sudden passion in this stranger's voice as he spoke about the future of his goal as if it were a certainty and not a nigh impossible dream.

"I…" Nami opened her mouth to say something in response but was suddenly cut off by a gaping Genpo pointing his finger in her direction.

"Wait just one second! Nami, orange hair, lots of berries, and I'm guessing that's a bullet wound under those bandages! You're that damn thief that stole almost all of our berries back in Orange Town!" Genpo's eyes bugged out of his head and his jaw dropped comedically as his mind finally managed to connect the dots laid out in front of him. Reaching behind him to pull out a small knife from its location tucked into his pants, the former Buggy Pirate waved it in the thief's direction. "Give it back, or I'm gonna s-ghurk!"

Luffy's fist planted itself so deeply into his stomach that Genpo nearly bent in half.

"Genpo, maybe I didn't make myself clear back in Orange Town," Luffy calmly spoke down to the wheezing man as he collapsed to the ground. "You are not a Buggy Pirate right now. I don't care what you do once we let you go, but until we do let you leave you are a member of my crew. So put the knife away, shut up, and let the big boys and girls talk."

I think I prefer when he's messing around and calling me stupid joke names, Genpo distantly thought to himself as he continued struggling to breathe and nod his head frantically. Acting so ridiculous all the time almost made me forget that he took down Captain Buggy with a single punch.

It was now Nami and Usopp's turn to look on with gaping mouths and wide eyes as this bizarre bounty hunter casually knocked down one of his supposed crewmates with less effort than an average person would spend swatting away a pesky fly. Sharing a nervous glance with each other, both of them non-verbally communicated the same thing: Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"W-why stand up for me like that against your own crewmate? He's right, you know. I did steal from the Buggy Pirates back in Orange Town before escaping." Nami nervously asked, internally berating herself for not even bothering to see what kind of people they were before accusing them of something like that.

"Shishishi! Glimpo isn't really a crew member of ours," Luffy's mood abruptly changed back to the more carefree manner from before as he turned back to Nami. "He's just temporary until we can find ourselves a real navigator to take his place. Zoro is as dumb as they come with directions and I can't be awake all the time to keep us on the right track and not get lost at sea. So I conscripted this weakling from the Buggy Pirates for now after we kicked their asses."

"I'm not as dumb as they come," Zoro grumbled under his breath but was promptly ignored by everybody else around him.

"If you need an experienced navigator, I can do it for you. I'll be charging you 1,000,000 berries per day with interest though!" Nami grinned greedily with shining eyes before the rest of Luffy's statement sunk in. "Hold up, you guys beat the Buggy Pirates?" Nami's mouth was once again hanging wide open, albeit for a different reason this time. "Just the two of you? How? There were at least dozens of them when I was still there in Orange Town!"

"Well Zoro beat up those two officers and their pet lion all at the same time while I was enjoying a nap," Luffy put a hand on his chin as he recalled their quick jaunt through the previous town. "Then when Buggy cheated and caught him off guard, it woke me up. So I came outside and knocked the crap out of him. The rest of the weaklings knew better than to mess with us after that, so we stole Gimli here and set sail."

"You make beating him sound so casual! They could have killed me!" Nami yelled at the aloof bounty hunter while gesturing wildly to her bandaged side.

"Well it was pretty casual," Luffy responded in confusion while turning slightly to look at Zoro. "The only reason those officers could fight Zoro was because it was three against one, and I beat Buggy with just one punch."

"O-one punch…" Nami gasped weakly as her world was turned upside down on its axis by this pale boy. The only reason she had been able to get away with robbing the Buggy Pirates was the massive party and trickery, and even then she had still almost failed. The bullet wound in her side was an unpleasant testament to that fact. Now this stranger was claiming that he had demolished a pirate worth an entire 15,000,000 berries! That was practically a fifth of her debt to Arlong in just one easy haul, and he mentioned it with the same type of nonchalance as some stormy weather.

"I can't speak for the majority of the pirates since I haven't seen them fight, but they all seem pretty scared of the Captain," Usopp finally managed to choke out an answer to Luffy's earlier question in the following silence. "That means he's probably going to be a good fight and pretty strong if that's what you're looking for. N-not as strong as me, of course! Why, I'm known as the strongest warrior of the sea in all of the East Blue! But I'm gracious enough to let you handle these pirates for me so that you can get some practice in, if you want."

Giving Usopp another unimpressed look at the ridiculous lies he seemed to spout every other sentence, Zoro crossed his arms. "Look, why don't the two of you just explain to us everything that has happened with the pirates, how many of them there are, and how you want us to help. Then we can decide on what to do."

The entire group, sans Genpo who was still crumpled over on the ground, nodded their assent to the idea and focused their attention on Usopp who cleared his throat.

"Alright, so this is what happened…"

This place kinda reminds me of Foosha Village, Luffy hummed thoughtfully to himself as he strolled through the main path of Syrup Village. The same peaceful aura, the same sense of tranquility, the same type of unworried inhabitants.

It was rather amusing to the bounty hunter that none of the civilians lazily meandering through the square had any clue that their town was essentially being held at a knife's edge by the nearby Black Cat pirates. Even if they turned out to be weak, Luffy had to at least give their captain some credit for the sheer audacity of his plan. Hypnotising a rich heiress into signing over her entire fortune to him after hiding undercover as a butler for years wasn't something he would see coming in a million years. Long-con planning like that had never been his forte, he was far more of a straight forward fighter. It was fortunate that Usopp had managed to overhear as much as he did, without the additional information they may have never even realized something fishy was going on.

"How hard can it be to find a big mansion?" Luffy questioned the air rhetorically, scratching the side of his head in confusion. "I'm not Zoro, I shouldn't be lost like this."

After Usopp had explained the current situation that Syrup Village found itself in, an incredibly simple plan had been quickly formulated in order to take down the separated pirates in one decisive attack.

"So to summarize, none of the villagers know about the pirates because the majority are hiding away from town on their ship near one of the beaches," Zoro repeated back a brief version of Usopp's long winded story to make sure none of them were missing anything important buried in the constant lies and exaggerations. "Captain Kuro and one or two of the pirates are currently holed up in Kaya's mansion in town, holding her hostage because for some reason they either can't or haven't succeeded in hypnotizing her. Am I missing anything crucial?"

"No, that's about it," Usopp gulped nervously at the hungry grin spreading its way across the swordsman's face. These new guys were absolutely crazy, treating this current situation like a game.

Zoro and Luffy turned towards each other with completely straight faces, sharing an unspoken conversation for a few moments before taking combat stances. Both held one hand out in the direction of the other before shouting out in unison.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

"..."

"..."

"Shishishi! I win!" Luffy jumped up into the air with a cheer, wide grin splitting his face. "I get to go to the mansion and fight the captain, you're stuck dealing with the grunts on the beach Zoro!"

"Damnit, I hate this game," Zoro growled under his breath with a heavy scowl. "It makes no sense. Rock should just crush everything."

"Too bad, so sad," Luffy stuck his tongue out at his crewmate childishly. "You can take these three with you, I'm not going to need them. Ya never know what kind of tricks all those pirates might have or how many there are."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro waved his captain off irritably. "Quit rubbing it in. We'll be fine, I can pick up their slack."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Nami suddenly interjected, frowning heavily as she looked back and forth between the two. "Who said I was going to come fight at all? I'm only here because I had to abandon my boat and run when the pirates saw me. I would have left already if they didn't have all of my treasure. I don't live here, I'm not involved in this situation right now other than taking back my money once it's over."

Luffy just stared at her for a long time, leaving Nami oddly ashamed at the disappointed look in those red eyes. Despite not knowing this man at all, he had this odd aura around him that seemed to make her want to be better than she was.

"Yeah, I guess. We can't force you to fight for the defenseless civilians in this village if you really don't want to," Luffy flatly responded with a scoff. "Is money really the only thing you care about?"

"I… look who the hell do you think you are to judge me?" Nami bristled at the accusation and dodged the question. These bounty hunters would never be able to understand the horrible position she was in attempting to save everybody in her village from Arlong's reign of terror. "You're just some damn bounty hunter trying to make money off of criminals just like me!"

"Nah, I don't think we're anything alike," Luffy shot her assumption down with a shake of his head. "I don't do this for money and neither does Zoro. Both of us just want to fight strong people and get stronger in the process so we can chase our dreams. Bounty hunting is just a good way to accomplish that. Look, if it will get you to help, you can have any bounty money we might make off of taking down the pirates and their captain."

"Absolutely!" Nami's eyes bizarrely managed to transform into the berry symbol, defying all logic and reason. Her previous indignation disappeared in a flash at the prospect of extra money on top of what she had already stolen from the Buggy Pirates, and she sloppily saluted to Zoro in a mocking manner. "I'll be right behind you all the way!"

"...Uh huh," Zoro eventually sighed, headache already forming at the prospect of having to fight alongside the three stooges against most likely a bunch of weaklings. "This is going to be so annoying…"

"Then it's settled!" Luffy grinned, already walking off in the direction of where Usopp had pointed for the town. "I'll meet up with you all at the beach after I finish dealing with Kuro and saving Kaya at the mansion. Good luck!"

"W-we won't need luck with the Mighty Usopp here," the long nosed liar shouted with false confidence that was undercut by his knees shaking hard enough to know together.

"Shishishi! Whatever you say," Luffy chuckled under his breath as he walked off. He had a 'princess' to save.

"Ah! There it is!" Luffy happily exclaimed as an opulent home easily three times the size of any others he had seen slowly came into view ahead of him on the outskirts of the town and dragged him out of his thoughts. It was a beautiful two story Victorian building surrounded on all sides by a relatively low fence and an impressively decorated set of gates. "Man, it's gonna be a real pity if I have to wreck this place, huh?"

Whistling a jaunty tune to himself as he strolled up towards the gates without a care in the world, a frown crossed his face and he paused at the lack of any visible response from inside of the manor. The distinct lack of any type of reaction was eerily reminiscent of the pathetic lack of security back at the Marine Base in Shells Town.

"Ah, what's with all these bad guys and not having any security or guards around their operations," he mused under his breath. Reaching out with one foot, the bounty hunter nudged the gate open slowly without any kind of resistance and walked inside. "Not even a lock, huh?"

The inside of the home was just as lavish and gaudy as the grounds and outside as Luffy entered through the front door into the entrance hall, glancing around curiously. Extravagantly decorated pillars, expensive looking artwork hanging on every other wall, gold inlay on the window frames, and polished marble floors stretched through the entirety of the room and further into the building.

"Ah, I guess this is pretty nice," Luffy sheepishly admitted to himself, picturing himself settling down and living with such money that something like this became casual. He would never actually do it, but the mental image was really cool. Dragging himself out of the daydream with a quick shake of his head, the bounty hunter took another look around the room while trying to guess where the pirates and Kaya could possibly be hidden. "Man, this is going to take a while to search every room if I'm not lucky…"

"Hey, you!" a surprised voice came from down the hall, prompting a grin from the white haired man.

"Great! This is going to take much less time than I thought," Luffy happily walked over towards the newly arrived pirate who was brandishing a flintlock pistol in his direction. "Do you happen to know where your captain and Miss Kaya are at the moment? I have business with them!"

Rather than answer his rather reasonable question, the pirate instead chose to fire the pistol as he approached. Causally tilting his head to the right and dodging the incredibly predictable attack, Luffy just sighed.

Then he charged.

Less than 5 seconds later, the poor fool unlucky enough to run into him was barely holding onto consciousness after having his head smashed down into the marble floor hard enough to dent the rock. Luffy crouched down into a squat before the trembling man, appraising him in a manner not unlike a shark looking at its next meal. The wicked grin with far too many teeth helped cement this idea.

"Now, let's try this again, shall we...?"

"Damn, there's just no end to these insects, is there?" Zoro panted with exertion as he did his best to straighten up and fall back into his usual Santoryu fighting stance. Despite the average member of these pirates being rather weak, there were a lot of them. It felt like every time he took one down, another two popped up to take their place while that freaky disco hypnotist in the back used his voodoo to help the injured one get back into the fight. "Maybe it wasn't the best idea to just attack them head on like we did…"

"WE TOLD YOU THAT, IDIOT!" Usopp shrieked from his place higher up on the path leading up the hill. Tears were streaming down his face in terror as he fought, but surprisingly enough the cowardly teen was still managing to be effective. The majority of his projectiles he fired managed to get another one of the pirates in a critical spot, making up for their non-lethal nature. An eye here, a crotch there, knocking pistols out of hands, it was an impressive display of marksmanship that had managed to slowly start building some respect from Zoro. "WAIT, DID NAMI ABANDON US?"

Zoro just grit his teeth in anger as the cat burglar's name was mentioned, repelling yet another pirate in a blinding flurry of his blades. Nami had seemingly disappeared just a minute or so into the current chaos, leaving both him and Usopp with one less person to watch their backs. Even Genpo hadn't been that bad, stating from the very beginning that he wouldn't be fighting. They had quickly realized that having Usopp in the thick of things was a foolish idea, and the marksman had backed up the hill with Zoro guarding the thinnest point of the path and preventing any of the pirates from reaching the long ranged combatant. Still, it wasn't enough. Thanks to the hypnotist healing their wounded, Zoro and Usopp were only able to hold the current stalemate rather than end the battle.

"Uhyahahya! Just give up already, you can't stop the Black Cat Pirates," Jango slowly moonwalked around in circles from the very rear of the fight at the relative safety of the ship, punctuating every few words with another dance move. "You should have known it's bad luck to cross our path, baby!"

"Stop dancing and come fight like a man, damnit!" Zoro roared back with a vein pulsing on his forehead as he danced around a pirate's clumsy swings and dispatched him with a backhanded swipe. A bead of sweat dripped down into his eyes and he blinked it away furiously as a pellet came from behind him and smacked into the nose of another pirate who was attempting to take advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration.

"Not a chance, Uhyahahya! I'd rather just stay over here and keep on dancing, baby!" Jango laughed uproariously at the idea of him coming and fighting the terrifying swordsman himself.

"Tch, what a coward," Zoro muttered darkly to himself as he tuned out the obnoxious man once more and lost himself back in the deadly flow of battle.

Swing, block, stab, dodge, block, dodge, swing. On and on it went, each strike getting just a millimeter closer than the last as the swordsman's stamina began to waver and his reaction times slowed. Finally, just as one of the pirate's cutlasses managed to lick out and score a bloody trail along the length of his arm, Zoro had enough and decided for a change in tactics.

"To think I would be forced to use something like this on weaklings like you all," Zoro scoffed to himself as he angled his next attack straight down and forced up a massive cloud of dirt between him and the Black Cats enveloping both groups.

"Gah, what a dirty trick! Blinding us!"

"Where is he? Is he running away?"

"AAAHH, that's me you idiot!"

As the gentle breeze finally lifted away the curtain of dust and dirt, Zoro could be seen a meter back from his original position. The swordsman was scowling heavily as he adopted an unfamiliar pose, both arms widely outstretched and all three of his blades pointing slightly up. Blood slowly dripped down to the ground from his elbow as all of his muscles tensed in preparation for his next move, winding up.

"You should feel honored, I was initially going to save this move for a much stronger opponent," the green haired man growled out around Wado Ichimonji. "I guess it can't be helped, there are just too many of you and that hypnotist is cheating to keep you in the fight."

Exploding into motion with enough force to blow back the surrounding dirt in a circle, Zoro whipped his three swords around in a circle hard enough to displace the air and form a twister. The apparition of a dragon appeared behind him, roaring out in defiance as Zoro tore forward and enveloped the stunned pirates inside of the miniature tornado of wind blades. "Tatsu Maki."

Usopp watched in stunned silence from behind as the man-made natural disaster tore through the ranks of the Black Cats with ease, sucking each and every member that got close enough into it and spitting them out a few moments later covered in sword wounds. It took only a few moments to demolish the majority of the pirates, leaving only a few of the hardier members standing at the end when it dissipated just as quick as it had appeared.

"Weaklings," Zoro scoffed once again as he slowly sheathed his swords once again with a soft click. As the few remaining Black Cats flinched away from him in fear and fell to their knees at being so easily beaten by a single attack, the swordsman just ignored them and walked directly towards a now trembling Jango.

"Wait why didn't you use that in the very beginning of the fight?" Usopp shrieked in rage at the bounty hunter's back, still shaking from the adrenaline coursing through his system. "I thought we were going to die!"

"There's no honor in just throwing out your strongest abilities at those who are below you," Zoro looked back over his shoulder at the marksman while explaining. "If this creepy disco guy hadn't been forcing them to ignore their wounds and keep fighting through hypnotism, I wouldn't have needed it."

"No honor…" Usopp murmured to himself thoughtfully. That sounded like something a brave warrior of the sea would say.

Abruptly, a triumphant Nami popped up out of the Black Cat Pirates' ship hefting a large sack over her shoulder and humming happily to herself. Sparing a single glance towards the hopeless last stand those two idiots Zoro and Usopp were currently locking themselves in, the cat burglar decid-

Wait, Nami froze on the spot as her brain caught up with her eyes, what happened to all of the pirates?

Taking a longer look at the former battlefield, her eyes bugged out at the heaps of collapsed pirates who all looked like they had been on the losing side of a fight with a wrecking ball. The green haired swordsman was mostly unharmed other than the occasional small nick and one longer cut on his arm while Usopp appeared totally uninjured. Then she noticed that both Usopp and Zoro were staring at her. Then that they both had hands on their respective weapons. Both with the same undiluted rage in their eyes.

"Shit."

"You ran away and left us to die," Usopp pointed a shaking finger in her direction, voice cracking as the stress of the fight caught up to him.

"W-well you didn't die, so it's not really-" Nami began before being cut off.

"You had no way of knowing that," Usopp screamed at her with clenched fists. "You just tried to use us as a distraction to get those stupid berries!"

"I… but…" Nami helplessly stammered as she tried to search for a more gentle way of rephrasing what she had done to the both of them. He wasn't really incorrect, she had assumed that they wouldn't be able to win the fight.

She was not successful.

"Figures," Usopp spat derisively in her direction. "Luffy was right, all you care about is money. I shouldn't have helped you when you arrived here."

"Hey, calm down, we don't have to let her get away with it," Zoro consoled the sniper with a conspiratorial grin. Turning back towards Nami, the swordsman thought for a few moments on how best to get back at the cat burglar for her actions before reaching the most obvious conclusion. "We're going to be taking that treasure now."

"NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!" Nami's response was immediate and fiery as she adopted a clearly practiced stance, pulling out a bo staff from behind her back. With all of the money she had accumulated on this latest trip in addition to what Luffy had promised, her deal with Arlong was almost complete. She would finally be able to buy Cocoyashi Village back from those Fishmen and keep everybody safe. "You'll take this money over my dead body!"

Zoro's already low opinion of the thief actually managed to drop even lower at the declaration, looking back at Usopp again in disbelief. "You would fight to the death for that money, but not to help us?"

"You don't understand," Nami began panicking as Zoro's hands fell down to the hilts of his blades. She was so damn close to buying her village's freedom, she let anybody or anything stop her now. "I need this money! You can't take it!"

"I think I understand this current situation just fine," the swordsman mildly disagreed as he approached the burglar, rolling his shoulders slightly to stretch. "I just beat all of these pirates in a single attack, and you're just one woman with a wooden bo staff. No matter how good you might be with that, I can just cut through it. So, if you think you can take me, come!"

If looks could kill, Zoro would have been an incredibly dead man given the intensity of how Nami glared at him. Her teeth ground together hard enough that it was a miracle none of them cracked, and to the thief's shame there were tears prickling in the corners of her eyes.

No! I refuse to break down like this and cry in front of some complete strangers, she viciously swore to herself internally, I am stronger than this! I've survived this long stuck under the rule of a vicious tyrant, a little bit longer won't be enough to finish me. I can always just steal it back in the future, along with their boat for good measure.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Nami looked back up at Zoro with the hateful glare only slightly diminished. "Fine, take the damn berries. I can just get more another time." With that said, she picked up the large bag full of stolen treasure and cradled it in front of her as though it was a newborn baby.

Grinning triumphantly at the 'victory' over the witch who had tried to stab them in the back so easily, Zoro strode forward across the small distance remaining between the two and grabbed the bag.

It didn't budge.

"Uh… are you going to let go?" Zoro sweatdropped as the question prompted a whimper from the woman in front of him.

"But he's so perfect," Nami didn't move or relinquish her grip, staring at the riches like a starving man would stare at a meal.

"He? Uh, right…" Zoro continued waiting patiently for the thief to let go, now incredibly uncomfortable with her berry obsession.

"Fine! Take him!"

"You, you still haven't let go…"

As Nami finally allowed Zoro to take the money off of her hands, the swordsman's eyes shot wide open in surprise as the unexpected weight caught him off guard and nearly sent him crashing to the floor.

"Damn woman, how in the hell do you carry something this heavy so easily?" he huffed in exertion, slowly swinging the bag up over his shoulder to help with the heavy load.

"I would carry the world on my back for enough berries," she shot back with a face so serious that it actually managed to convince Zoro she wasn't bluffing.

"Jeez, you really need to get your priorities straight," Zoro muttered to himself, now more weirded out than angry. "I didn't even think it was possible to be this obsessed with money."

"So now what do we do?" Usopp questioned hesitantly, looking around at the various incapacitated pirates and the still trembling Jango. "Just wait for Luffy to get back from beating up Klahadore? Or should we head up to the mansion and see if Kaya is alright?"

"Who exactly is going to be beating me up, you miserable little brat?" a cold voice suddenly cut across the beach from behind the small group, dragging everybody's attention to a smartly dressed man standing at the foot of the cliffs. Slicked back black hair, wire frame glasses, and a smart suit would have given the perfect impression of a butler if not for the murderous look in his eyes and the numerous long blades extending from a set of gloves he wore. Pushing up his glasses with the palm of one hand, he continued, "I suppose Jango was right about one thing after all. I shouldn't have allowed you to live after overhearing our plans. I shall simply have to correct that error right now."

"C-captain Kuro!" Jango choked out, confusing the three others with the sheer terror on his face. Shouldn't the dance obsessed man be happy that his captain had now arrived for reinforcements? "We, uhm, we were just… uh-"

"Shut up Jango," Kuro snarled back, showing absolutely no concern for either the state of his crew or second in command. "You've all failed me, and I'll deal with you in just a moment after these pests." Returning his attention to Nami, Usopp, and Zoro, the man surveyed the three much like a set of particularly unpleasant bugs buzzing around his head. "I don't know who you two newcomers are, but you have made a grave mistake in joining with the liar to interfere here. I cannot allow either of you to escape this island alive, but please don't take it personally."

"Don't take me so lightly, you're just a single man," Zoro boldly declared, dropping the heavy sack of treasure and walking towards the pirate captain. Taking Wado Ichimonji from its scabbard and placing it in his mouth, he then drew both other katanas and fell into his familiar Santoryu stance. "Your crew had nothing going for it but sheer numbers and hypnosis to ignore injuries, and you've been hiding out and living easy for years now. I'll happily take those odds in a one on one fight."

Kuro just sneered at the response, clearly unimpressed with swordsman. "So what if you beat them, I don't even truly need any of them other than Jango. Truth be told, they have outlived their usefulness and cannot be allowed to link Klahadore the butler to Kuro of a Hundred Plans. Nobody will be leaving this place alive but me and Jango."

"Captain…" Jango seemed to be at a loss for words in the face of the cold blooded declaration. Hadn't they all loyally served Captain Kuro for these many years? None of his men deserved to die for simply knowing his true identity.

"Do you wish to die as well, Jango?" Kuro asked the pirate who shamefully shook his head in response. No matter how much he may have protested, there was nothing he could do against the formerly infamous pirate. "Then be silent and don't interrupt again."

"I won't allow you to kill anybody!" Zoro drew the pirate's attention once more as he took a step forward, pointing one katana menacingly at him. "Enough talk, I will be your opponent."

Swaying side to side on the spot for a few moments, Kuro's head hung forward shadowing his eyes and leaving only a wicked smirk showing. "Not for long."

Then the pirate captain disappeared.

The battlefield lapsed into almost complete stillness at Kuro's disappearance, the only movement being some wispy clouds of dirt kicked up by the vanishing act. As the silence and lack of action began to stretch on, Zoro relaxed slightly with a disappointed sigh.

"Did he run away instead of fighting me after all that talk?" Zoro questioned uncertainly, looking around in case he somehow missed something. Turning back towards the battered and bruised Black Cat pirates who were just now managing to struggle their way up to their feet, the swordsman's eyes shot wide open and he fell back a step as one pirate's chest was suddenly slashed wide open without warning or any visual indication of an attack. "What the hell?" Zoro swore under his breath as the strange phenomenon repeated itself and another pirate fell to the ground screaming.

The previously serene beach was quickly filled with the screams of the wounded and dying as Kuro continued his relentless attack. The fact that he was exclusively harming his own crew seemed entirely irrelevant as the Black Cat pirates' cries for mercy were ignored.

"So what do you think of my ultimate technique Shakushi, Roronoa Zoro?!" Kuro flickered back into view standing atop the cat figurehead of the Bezan Black with a sickening smile. The former pirate captain had both arms spread out wide as though trying to display a great work of art. "I can move and strike so quickly that you can't even perceive my attack, much less defend against it! Admittedly I can't really tell who I'm attacking during it, but that doesn't matter when I'm surrounded by trash anyways. This is the power of a true pirate captain!"

"How low can you get, attacking your own comrades like that?" the swordsman growled back, disgusted by the appalling level of dishonor being shown off. "Slaughtering them after they had already been beaten by me…"

"They've failed me too many times to be left alive," Kuro continued with a laugh as though the idea of having any kind of decency was a joke. "Once you, the thief, and that little lying brat are taken care of, they're the only loose end left in my perfect escape from this life of an outlaw or servitude!"

"Shishishi! Don't get too far ahead of yourself now, I'd rather you didn't try to kill my first mate," Luffy called out from the top of the cliffs overlooking the beach, unintentionally replicating Kuro's entrance to a degree. Despite the laughter and generally nonthreatening words, none of the amusement reached his eyes which remained deadly cold. "Nobody touches one of my people"

"Captain…" Zoro seemed speechless at the possessive declaration before abruptly swearing and sheathing his blades. "Damn, I don't get to fight him if you're here thanks to that stupid game earlier. Couldn't you have waited just a bit longer? What happened to you rescuing Kaya?"

"Relax, I already took care of that, this fight is mine!" Luffy waved away the swordsman's concerns with a shrug before hopping off of the cliff and taking the quickest route down to join them on the beach.

"S-so cool!" Usopp cried out with stars in his eyes as the bounty hunter fluidly landed in a crouch with one fist on the ground, the other hand resting on one leg, and his head hanging forward towards the ground. "It's like some kind of superhero landing! Is this what a true brave captain of the sea is like?"

Gritting his teeth in frustration at the now seemingly constant interruptions to his perfectly crafted and implemented plan, Kuro rolled his eyes at the teen's question. "Brave warrior of the sea, what a joke! He's just another interruption that I'll need to squash like a bug."

Upon hearing Kuro's instant dismissal of him, Luffy began to laugh. It wasn't his normal amused 'shishishi' chuckling, but a genuine deep laughter that had him clutching his sides and stumbling slightly from the force of his guffawing. "Ah, I appreciate that! It's been too long since I laughed that hard Klahadork. Squash me like a bug. That's a good one!"

With each second that the mocking laughter continued, Kuro's face steadily grew more and more red as tic marks appeared at random. Hands twitching, the perceived disrespect eventually became too much as he fell back into his Shakushi stance with a scream. "How dare you! I'll show you the difference between a notorious pirate captain like myself and some no-name kid like yourself!"

"You're no pirate captain," Luffy disagreed without losing his smile as Kuro vanished into thin air once again. "You're not fit to be a pirate if just having a name on the sea can scare you into hiding like this. The day I lose to a coward like you, I'll give up on my dream of getting strong enough to take that hat from Shanks one day."

"Luffy look out!" Usopp cried out to the white haired man as Kuro blurred back into sight directly behind him with a deranged smile on his face.

"You think you can talk down to me? Take this!" the pirate yelled as he darted forward to deliver a spinning slash directly into the back of the motionless man. As the multiple katanas attached to each of his fingers flashed forward, Kuro was already planning the next few steps of his attack to shut the infuriating pest up.

Then Luffy whirled around and planted his fist into Kuro's face.

"Your 'ultimate attack' has too many unnecessary movements," Luffy calmly explained as the pirate was sent crashing back into the wall of the cliff with a pained grunt, "It makes you real easy to predict. I spent a few minutes watching before you all noticed me, I think I've got an understanding of how it works and when you reappear."

"You… you…" Kuro snarled breathlessly as he pulled himself out of the indentation his body had made in the cliff face. His previously neat appearance was now disheveled with small cuts littering his face and hair frizzing out of its slicked style. "You dare!"

"How many times are you going to ask me that?" Luffy frowned at how easily the supposedly notorious pirate lost his composure at the first sign of a competent opponent. "You're supposed to squash me like a bug, remember?"

"Don't get so cocky you little shit!" Kuro howled back, veins pulsing on his forehead. "I was just going easy on you to make this final fight of mine last a little longer! I'm only toying with you, do you understand that? Why are you even getting involved in this? You don't live in this village."

"Ah, I don't really know. I just like fighting strong people, I guess. Although you've been kinda disappointing so far Klambchop," Luffy scratched the back of his head with one hand sheepishly with a wide grin.

"How simple. And you're okay with that being the reason you die?" Kuro's eyes tightened at the nonchalant answer but held off on attacking just yet out of curiosity at why these strangers seemed so determined to get in his business.

"Are you even listening? I'm not gonna lose to someone like you who abandons the sea and treats his comrades like trash," Luffy sighed as the captain seemed to entirely miss his point and fly into a rage again. I really need to find some more crew members and make it to the Grand Line already, the East Blue caliber of pirates is sad.

"I'm going to let you taste plenty of fear before I cut you up like sushi!" Kuro's eyes were wide and deranged as he blurred away with Shakushi again, mind incapable of comprehending his current situation. He had always been the one in control, always 10 steps ahead of the Marines, pirates, and civilians around him. But now this one boy was causing that invincible self-image to crumble. "I will destroy you!"

"Ah, probably not," Luffy disagreed again with a shake of his head as he managed to whip an arm out to the side and lock it around one of Kuro's as he sped past faster than most could follow. Using the pirate's considerable momentum against him, the bounty hunter flung the man forward over his shoulder and slammed his head down hard enough to sink into the bedrock underneath their feet. Looking down on the crater, Luffy popped his neck from side to side slowly. "Give it up Klahadoofus, it's over. I'm out of your league."

"He… he's manhandling Kuro like he's nothing more than a little kid," Nami was deadly pale and shaking as she watched on with bated breath. The only beatdowns she had ever seen that were this one sided was Arlong punishing some poor fool back in Cocoyashi for breaking one of his rules. "And I stabbed his first mate in the back!"

"Yeah, kick his ass!" Usopp cheered from the sidelines, jumping up and down in excitement like a little kid on their birthday. There was a beautiful sense of comeuppance in watching the 'butler' who had verbally abused him for so long get taken out like trash. Then he noticed Kuro was standing up again and that murderous gaze was solely focused on him. "Eep."

"I'm going to rip out your insides and play with them like a ball of yarn," Kuro promised viciously, pointing one hand in the village liar's direction. His glasses had been shattered beyond repair by the last blow and he was missing more than a few teeth, but to the pirate captain's credit he still managed to stumble back up to his feet and charge at Usopp. "I won't be looked down on by trash like you!"

Instinctively knowing that his reaction speed wasn't going to be enough to evade the furious pirate's attack, Usopp began closing his eyes and trying to turn away anyways before snapping them back open and standing his ground. I don't want to be a coward anymore, the least I can do is face him head on like a brave warrior of the sea, the teen thought grimly to himself as his death approached.

Then Luffy arrived between the two of them as fast as a lightning bolt and twice as dangerous.

"When I say the fight is over..." the bounty hunter began in a frigid tone, cocking a fist back menacingly. "Then it's over!"

"No! My perfect plan…" Kuro whispered weakly, flashes of his years spent meticulously planning and hiding flickering in front of his eyes as the hand rocketed towards his face with all the power of a cannonball. "Cannot be interrupte-"

Luffy's knuckles collided with Kuro's jaw, and the pirate had no more time to think before his body crumpled, his jawbone shattered, and the world went dark.

"Just stop talking already," Luffy sighed dismissively as the pirate captain went down for good, crouching down low over his collapsed form. "So now the question is…"

"What should I do with you?"

"Kaya! You're alright!"

Usopp's excited cheer dragged the rich heiress out of her deep thoughts and she couldn't help the soft smile that crossed her face as the long nosed teen sprinted towards the gates of her manor.

While Usopp charged ahead to greet his longtime friend and crush, Zoro and Luffy followed along behind him at a more sedate pace with the swordsman holding a large sack of treasure and the white haired bounty hunter dragging an unconscious Kuro behind him by the collar. Nami brought up the far rear of the group, sulking along in the back and alternating between glaring at Zoro's back with an intensity that could make an experienced warrior cower and sending longing glances towards the bag of money.

"Yes, I'm safe from that disgusting man now thanks to you all," Kaya gratefully pulled the long nosed teen into a hug before wincing and cradling one arm.

"Oh no! What happened to your arm?" Usopp gasped softly as he noticed the heiress' heavily bandaged right hand, face falling at the thought of her being hurt.

"Ah, well… Klahadore, er, I mean Kuro, bragged all about his plan after capturing me and thinking he had already won," Kaya stammered, softly rubbing the injured hand. "So when I heard that he was going to use that weird hypnotist guy to force me to sign over my fortune to him I sort of… brokemyownhandtostophim!"

After taking a moment to decipher the rushed jumble of words that Kaya had so quickly blurted out at the end, Usopp's jaw dropped and he stared at the girl in admiration. "Wow, that's so brave of you to defy him like that! I don't think that I could have done that."

"Oh, it was nothing," Kaya blushed and tried to wave off the praise before Zoro cut into the conversation.

"No, he's right," the swordsman gave the smaller girl an impressed once-over with his arms crossed and the bag of treasure dropped for now. "That takes a lot of willpower to do, especially for someone in a life threatening situation like yours."

"Shishishi! That's exactly what I told her when I first heard about the injury too!" Luffy smirked in the embarrassed girl's direction. "So, did you think about my offer at all? Or do you need some more time?"

"Huh? Offer? What's he talking about, Kaya?" Usopp asked in confusion, looking back and forth between the two of them rapidly. Kaya's brow furrowed as she fell into thought again while Luffy waited patiently, still smiling expectantly.

"I offered Kaya a place on my crew, if she wants it," the bounty hunter answered simply.

"You did WHAT?" Usopp shrieked loudly enough to startle away a nearby flock of birds, almost falling over as his jaw dropped.

"I offered her a place on my crew," Luffy repeated for the teen, his smile growing even wider. "It takes a lot of guts to do what she did, and we spoke for a little while before I came over to the beach to see how you all were handling things. Kaya wants to become a doctor, which we're going to need eventually."

"Kaya… you can't possibly be considering this, can you?" Usopp's disbelieving gaze fell back on his crush, who didn't respond and still seemed lost in thought. Staring at the heiress for a few moments, the habitual liar took a deep breath and squared his chest before turning back to Luffy. "Then you'll be taking me too."

The white haired man tilted his head to the side like a dog and scrutinized the other teen for a few moments. "Why should I? I made the offer to Kaya, not you."

"Because I won't let her go alone, and I'll kick your ass if you try to stop me!" Usopp firmly responded, reaching behind him to pull out his trusty slingshot and hold it at his side.

"I beat Captain Kuro without breaking much of a sweat, do you really think you can beat me?" Luffy asked curiously, wondering at the rapid change of personality. I wonder if he even realizes that this is the first time that he's managed to speak to me without lying or stuttering yet?

"I…" Usopp finally seemed to falter and realize that he had threatened the powerful bounty hunter, who was now looking at him like a particularly fascinating piece of meat. The tiniest of shakes started to work their way into both legs before the teen forced himself to stop and hold his ground. "Maybe. Maybe I can't beat you, but I'll give it my best shot. And you won't be able to stop me from following after you guys if you still won't let me. I'll chase you to the end of the sea and beyond."

"Oh, Usopp…"

The softly spoken words drew the long nosed teen's attention out of his stare-down with Luffy and back to his not-so-secret crush, who was staring at him in shock.

"Ah! Uhm… well what I meant to say, uh…" Usopp panicked, eyes wide and frightened as he looked in all directions for some kind of distraction or out. "I just, you know, I'm a brave warrior of the sea! Staying trapped here on Gecko Island forever would be denying the world the chance to see how incredible I am!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy chuckled at the abrupt turnaround in Usopp's personality as he lapsed back into lies and false bravado. He had seen enough. "Sure, I guess you can join if you want. You've got a lot of heart too. Plus we could use a sniper!"

"You could?! Er, I mean, of course you could! Who wouldn't want Usopp the Great on their crew? I'll be the captain, and you'll all be my loyal crew!" Usopp struck a dramatic pose, one leg propped up on a barrel that had appeared out of nowhere. "The Usopp Pirates!"

"No. Talk nonsense like that again and I'll beat you senseless," Luffy flatly swore, cringing hard enough that it physically hurt.

"O-oh okay," Usopp deflated, barrel slowly fading away. "Well I can at least be first mate then, right?"

"No. Talk nonsense like that again and I'll beat you senseless," Zoro responded this time, copying Luffy's exact words and expression.

"My poor heart," Usopp sobbed, crocodile tears streaming down his face as he curled up into a ball on the ground. Then he popped up again like a jack-in-the-box, springing over to Kaya's side grinning like a lunatic. "So, we'll be going out to sea together then?"

"I'm sorry," Kaya gave her longtime friend a shaky smile, her voice much stronger than she currently felt. "I'm not going to be coming with you guys."

"Eh?! What do you mean you're not coming with us?" the teen scratched his head as though trying to figure out a difficult puzzle.

"How can that statement possibly be interpreted in any other way?" Zoro deadpanned, glancing over at Usopp in exasperation.

"Going out to sea and having grand adventures has always been your dream, not mine," the heiress explained apologetically. She turned back to Luffy momentarily and gave the bounty hunter a short bow. "I'm still planning on becoming a doctor and helping people, but I can't just leave my home like this. Thank you for your generous offer."

Usopp's throat jammed and his brain went numb as her words sunk in. "You… but… okay. I won't go either then."

"Don't you dare say that!" Kaya's voice trembled and her eyes watered as she glared at Usopp. "You've always dreamed about going out to sea and becoming a great warrior like your dad. I can't let you throw away that chance now that it's here just so you can stay around me. I won't forgive you for that."

"Kaya…" the long nosed teen's face was scrunched up as he bit his lip and fought against the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Hey, it's not like we'll never see each other again," Kaya tried to console her friend and put up a strong front. "I'll always be here to patch you up if you need it, and you'll be able to tell me all about your adventures when you come back."

"Y-yeah. Our adventures are going to be so crazy that they'll seem even more lie-like than lies!" Usopp boldly declared before pulling her into a long hug.

"I'm looking forward to it," Kaya agreed, smiling fondly.

"You're sure about this? I don't know when we'll be able to return to East Blue once we've made it to the Grand Line," Luffy warned her, but he could already see the answer in her eyes. She would not be joining them.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sorry that you'll need to find another doctor," Kaya apologized to the bounty hunter before a wide smile spread its way across her face. "I may have another way to help you all, though."

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Luffy stared back curiously.

"Well, you guys need a new boat, right?"

An hour later found the small group gathered around Kaya's private dock, staring in awe at a gorgeous caravel gently bobbing up and down in the swell of the ocean. Red and white striped sails patiently waited to be unfurled, a sheep's head figurehead proudly jutted out over the clear blue water, and a blank flag canvas rippled gently in the wind.

"She's beautiful," Luffy murmured in awe, slowly walking forward along the dock and running a hand softly along the hull. "This is for us?"

"Yes," Kaya responded easily. "This is the least that I can do for you all after saving my life and giving Usopp the chance to follow his dreams. Her name is Going Merry, it was custom designed for me when I was younger but I no longer have the time to sail her."

"It seems a little old-fashioned, doesn't it?" Nami questioned hesitantly.

"Perhaps so, but I designed it myself," Merry declared proudly. "The ship's frame and its triple mast sails are all part of a stern-centered control system. We have also prepared everything that's needed to set sail aboard the ship."

"Wow, thanks! That's really thankful of you guys," Luffy exclaimed happily, eyes squinting as he smiled widely.

"It's 'really thoughtful', idiot," Zoro had to turn away in embarrassment as his captain somehow managed to mess up the common phrase.

"Ah, who cares? They both know what I mean! Shishishi!" Luffy ignored the criticism with ease and boarded the caravel gleefully. "This is such a cool figurehead! I wonder if it will be comfortable to sit on while we're sailing?"

As Zoro and Usopp moved to follow Luffy onto the caravel and load up the hefty sack of treasure and the massive pack of supplies the long nosed teen had brought with him, Nami was left behind to watch on helplessly.

I still need that treasure, and I lost the dinghy from Orange Town, Nami's thoughts were racing around like like lightning as she internally panicked. There's no way I'll be able to make anywhere near that many berries on the way back to Conami so this entire trip will be for nothing. Not to mention that without a boat I can't even leave this island. Steeling herself for the inevitable argument that was sure to occur, she took a deep breath.

"Take me with you. At least just for now."

"Yeah, okay. Get on," Luffy agreed with a casual shrug.

"Because I ca-wait what?!" Nami shrieked at the top of her lungs, jaw dropping to the floor. "You're supposed to be mad at me, why are you just agreeing without any difficulty?"

"Why are you upset about me agreeing?" Luffy tilted his head to the side, scratching at his chin thoughtfully. "Do you want me to hold a grudge instead? I could charge you 1,000,000 berries per day if you'd li-"

Before Luffy could even finished his sentence, Nami had somehow blurred across the distance separating them, boarded the ship, and slammed one hand across his mouth cutting off the rest of that statement. Shadows covered the thief's eyes ominously and miniature storm clouds crackled with thunder over their heads as she leaned forward slowly and got up in Luffy's face. An apparition of a demonic mask floated in the air just behind her head, leering over the bounty hunter.

"Don't. Ever. Suggest. That. Again."

"Aaaaaahhh! She's a monster in disguise! Zoro! Usopp! HELP ME!" Luffy panicked with tears streaming down his face, flailing around helplessly.

"We don't even want her on the crew! Why would we help you out?" Zoro roared back with a tic mark and vein popping out on his forehead. "Did you forget about her stabbing us in the back already?"

"Hey, whatever happened to that weird pirate guy you were all travelling with?" Usopp ignored the commotion to ask a question that had been bugging him for a few hours. "Aren't you worried about him at all?"

"Nah, think of Genpo kinda like a baby bird," Zoro drawled uninterestedly, relaxing back against a side rail on the deck. "We nurtured him and helped him grow over the past few days. Now he has to leave the nest and find his own way."

"In what world is how you two treated that poor guy nurturing?" Usopp's jaw dropped, backing up a few steps from the relaxed swordsman.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Zoro mentally tuned out of the conversation, preparing himself for a nap.

"Pull up the anchor, let's set sail already!" Luffy called out gleefully from his new favorite spot sitting cross-legged up on the Going Merry's figurehead. "The Grand Line is waiting for us!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

A/N: I know, Genpo was literally completely uninvolved with the fights and just kinda disappeared. I just don't care about him enough to do more with the character, especially since he's no longer in the story. I DID say he was an incredibly minor bit character that would only stay until Luffy had a proper navigator, which he has found in Nami for the moment.

Same deal as last chapter if I'm being honest. I originally had an entirely different plan for Syrup Village that involved Kaya and Nami being far more important than how I wrote this, but then I realized it would likely be around 25,000 words for a single chapter set in an arc that I don't really care about that much. I'm going to be sticking to what I said in the beginning, East Blue and the very beginning parts of the Grand Line are going to be fairly quick, with most small fry fights done briefly or skipped to the aftermath of them. THIS WON'T CONTINUE FOREVER, but right now it's essentially just cannon fodder numbers being thrown at the crew until we're deeper into the Grand Line and away from the very beginning chapters. They're not terribly entertaining to read since it feels like everybody and their mother has written their own FF about those arcs and they're not super fun to write for me personally since I can't change too much yet without consequences like not picking up certain crew members or missing important plot points that I need for where I want to take this story in the future.

I'm heavily considering a time-skip at the moment directly after Luffy and the others arrive in the Grand Line to near the end of the Alabasta Arc (definitely not going to skip Crocodile!) so that I can avoid having to write 5-6 chapters of just slightly rewritten canon material. I can't skip East Blue (for plot reasons that will become apparent in the next few chapters) but for Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, Drum Kingdom, and the beginning of Alabasta I don't have any major changes in mind and it would likely turn into just a tedious retelling of canon with different abilities for Luffy.

I know myself and my patience fairly well, so having to force myself to write probably around 100,000 words on arcs that aren't terribly important (as far as where I want to take this story goes) has a decent chance of making me tired or bored of writing this and prompting me to abandon the story. It isn't a character trait I'm particularly proud of, but it's true. I started writing for fun, and even though I absolutely appreciate and love everybody on who reads and enjoys what I'm doing, I won't be able to write at a quality I feel comfortable publishing if I'm hating every minute of it. Feel 100% free to give me feedback on why you would/wouldn't like a timeskip like that, your opinions ARE important to me even if I end up doing it the way I have planned anyways.