Jinbe came out of the ship onto the deck looking a bit ruffled, having been woken up from his nap by spontaneous barrel rolls.
"Your music can even reach the hearts of these whales. Impressive." Jinbe praised Brook, though the skeleton didn't seem to hear his words. Brook was too focused on trying to sing whilst sobbing at the same time.
Jinbe heard Cherry shouting something into the dark waters to the starboard side of the ship. "Takako, no! You can't eat the whales, they're friends not food!"
Curious who Takako was supposed to be, Jinbe searched the sea with his eyes and was startled to see a deep blue colored kraken giving Cherry an aggrieved look.
"For how long was I asleep?" Jinbe wondered aloud. He hadn't yet seen Cherry's method of storing the kraken, so he naturally assumed she must have picked it up during his nap.
"Not too long, sleepy-head. You'll have to get used to the rapid developments and shenanigans, because I'm afraid that we're the only adults on this ship." Robin helpfully informed him.
"Hey, I'm an adult too!" Cherry protested.
"I distinctly remember you telling me that you had a chronic case of If-I-act-like-an-adult-I'll-die disease?" Robin raised a questioning eyebrow.
"It only flares up when I have an allergic reaction to responsibilities." Cherry answered shamelessly.
There was a great lurch from the ship as one of the island whales came up underneath and started lifting the ship towards the surface. Chopper translated their whale song to say that they would help them reach the surface.
Cherry received feelings of discomfort from Takako as they ascended so Cherry slurped her back up.
"..." Jinbe was rendered speechless by the sight and elected to ignore it for the sake of retaining his sanity.
"Takako said the water is getting hotter, uncomfortably so. Which means that whatever is going on up there is probably boiling the sea at the least. Keep that in mind before you decide to go for a swim." Cherry warned.
"Oh no! Will the Laboons, I mean, will the island whales be okay?!" Brook said in distress.
"They should be fine for a brief period. They wouldn't surface here if it was dangerous for them." Jinbe assuaged.
"Is it too late to go back down? I don't want to go somewhere hot…" Chopper bemoaned.
"Maybe Franky can whip up some sort of refrigerated suit for you." Sanji suggested offhandedly as he thought about cold desserts he could serve to the ladies.
"Really?! Could you do that, Franky?!" Chopper asked with excited, hopeful eyes shining at Franky.
"Hmmmmmm… Hmmmmmmmm…" Franky seemed to be in deep thought, adding to the building tension.
"If I cannibalized the refrigerator, maybe I could do something for you. Otherwise, you'd have to wait for me to get my hands on more materials." Franky answered practically.
"You can't touch my fridge." Sanji stated with finality.
"Cheer up, Chopper. If the island is that hot, any people that live there will definitely have the things Franky needs, right?" Usopp patted the little reindeer's hat.
"Y-you're right, Usopp! I'm sure we can get what we need from the people on the island!" Chopper said, doing his best to lift his own mood and optimism.
The ship breached the surface with the island whale pod. The short time they were suspended in the air afforded them a good look at the island before them. It was nothing but a sea of flame and a burning wasteland as far as they could see. Volcanoes erupted constantly in the distance.
The water around them was filled with the burnt corpses of thousands of fish. Sanji acted decisively to save what he could from their large catch before it too was burned black.
While Luffy was mourning the loss of his precious meat and others were panicking about finding themselves next to a dangerous island that the log pose didn't even point to, the ship's den den mushi started to wail.
"What wrong little, guy? Did you want meat too?" Luffy asked the snail with a look of sympathy.
"Don't be stupid, that's a distress call." Sanji said.
"Oh, then I'll ask them what's wrong-" Luffy said, reaching for the receiver.
"Luffy! Distress calls are more often than not traps set by the marines or other pirates!" Robin warned quickly.
"That's true, Luffy. However, it could also be a genuine call for help." Jinbe advised, ready to accept whatever his decision may be.
Cherry swooped in and grabbed the den den mushi before Luffy could answer it thoughtlessly.
"Hey!" Luffy shouted in annoyance, giving chase.
"It seems to originate from the island. Trap or not, it may offer valuable insight." Cherry said after feeling out the connection.
Cherry held the den den mushi out for Luffy to answer, which he did so immediately.
"This is Luffy, future Pirate King." Luffy said seriously.
"He's gonna kill us all! You gotta help us, boss!" Said the voice.
"I"m not your boss! Who's going to kill you, where are you?!" Luffy asked forcefully.
"The samurai… oh god, he's right BEHIND ME! I'm on an island called PUNK- GAAAAAH-!" The den den mushi went quiet.
The others discussed the incident, but Cherry's focus lay elsewhere. She had detected another signal latch onto the distress call and followed it back to its origin.
Far, far away a marine ship labeled G-5 was anchored near an island with constant lightning falling like rain.
"Sir Smoker, was that…?" Captain Tashigi asked.
"Just what route is Straw Hat taking…?" Vice Admiral Smoker wondered aloud.
The black den den mushi they were just using to listen in on the distress call swiveled around in place to look at them, unnoticed by anyone.
They discussed the circumstances behind the island of Punk Hazard. How an incident had destroyed all life on the island four years prior, as well as the duel between Aokiji and Akainu.
"That's our only lead, though, so we'll go with that. Set sail for Punk Hazard!" Smoker ordered, shouting at anyone who complained.
"Congratulations on the promotions." A woman's voice spoke behind them.
This immediately put them on guard as Tashigi was supposedly the only woman on this ship. When they spun around to face an unknown threat they found… nothing.
"Where are you looking? I'm down here." Said the black den den mushi.
This unnerved Tashigi and the rough looking G-5 marines. Black den den mushi weren't meant for two way communication. Even Smoker felt uneasy.
"Who are you?!" Tashigi interrogated, brandishing her sword and looking around with caution filled eyes.
"I'm hurt! Even though we compared swords back at Alabasta, you've already forgotten me!" The woman said with false sorrow.
The crew suppressed lewd giggles when Smoker glared at them.
"Harpin D. Cherry?!" Tashigi spoke after a moment of thought.
"If you're coming over, I'll let you see my sword again. I named it Sakura Tengoku, by the way. It's made of lightning, cool right? I see you're still using the same sword. I guess your quest to take all the Meito out of the hands of pirates isn't going so great?" Cherry rattled off.
"Where are you hiding?!" Smoker suddenly shouted, twisting around every which way looking for her.
Tashigi was the first to understand that Cherry could see them, as she had mentioned her using the same sword.
"Silly, I'm not hiding anywhere. I can see you just fine from right here." Cherry said, then the den den mushi winked at them.
*SMASH*
Smoker crushed the poor den den mushi with his fist.
"Good thing we have a spare…" The G-5 quartermaster muttered.
"What are you gawking at! I told you to set sail!" Smoker shouted, prompting them to move swiftly into action.
"How…?" Tashigi asked under her breath.
"I don't know, but we'll need to be more careful with the den den mushi from now on. Damn it, I suppose I'll need to write a report about this…" Smoker took a long drag on his cigar, trying to calm his nerves.
'How rude.' Cherry thought, opening her eyes to focus once more on her immediate surroundings. 'I ought to turn Smoker in for snail abuse and destruction of world government property!'
Cherry chuckled at her own joke and drew the attention of Nami. "What were you doing, Cherry?"
"I was just chatting with Smoker. He had intercepted the distress call, you see. He seems pretty eager to catch us." Cherry said casually.
"What?! Are they coming here?! Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Cabernet just took the Merry Junior to shore!" Nami said, somewhat flustered.
"What are you getting so worked up for? It's just Smoker, Tashigi, and his crew of ruffians in uniform. Nothing that we can't handle. Hell, nothing that I can't handle by myself." Cherry spoke confidently.
"If he isn't a fool, then he will call for backup, no?" Jinbe asked.
"Doesn't seem like the type, if you ask me. Also, I learned a bit about this island from them. It's called Punk Hazard, and it seems that it's a restricted area. If Smoker tattled to get back up, he would probably be told to back off. Something he wouldn't accept, if I've understood him correctly." Cherry said.
"He did chase Luffy all this way from Loguetown…" Nami said.
"He really didn't take it well when Luffy got away from him, huh?" Usopp added.
"It's sooo hooot!" Chopper moaned in discomfort as he lay on the deck, tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"The other side of the island should be frozen. Want to circle around?" Cherry offered.
"How can it be frozen when this side is on fire?" Usopp asked incredulously.
"No, she should be right!" Nami exclaimed in realization. "The clouds in the distance are like those found in an arctic climate, and the distress caller also said it was cold!"
"Makes sense, since this was the location of Akainu and Aokiji's battle for the position of Fleet Admiral." Cherry said.
"Wait… you mean all this…?" Usopp widened his eyes in shock.
"Was caused by two dudes duking it out, one on one. Yeah." Cherry confirmed.
It was one thing to be vaguely aware of the admirals' position as the strongest powerhouses in the marines, and another entirely to see with your very own eyes the true breadth of the destruction they were capable of.
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper gulped. The encounter with Admiral Kizaru two years ago had left an impression of the admirals' strength on their minds, but this sight made them realize that he probably hadn't been trying all that hard to catch them.
"I hope we don't run into anyone like that ever again." Usopp mumbled.
"You jinxed it, good job." Cherry snickered as he clamped his own traitorous mouth shut with his hands.
…
"How come you aren't sweating at all, Robin?" Luffy asked, dripping with his own sweat.
"Don't ask Robin weird questions, Luffy!" Sanji rebuked.
"Is it hot? I hadn't noticed. Perhaps you're just imagining the heat?" Robin teased.
For a cultivator, this level of ambient heat wasn't any big deal, certainly not enough to break a sweat over.
"I'm not sweating either, why didn't you ask me?" Cabernet said. All their eyes went to the flame that perpetually burned on her shoulders.
*BOOM*
A massive red form landed before them. Its armor was like tenfold shields, its teeth were swords, its claws spears, the shock of its tail a thunderbolt, its wings a hurricane, and its breath… death.
*ROAR*
Robin, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji leapt out of the way as a great horizontal column of flame, bright as the sun, reduced all in its path to ash or lava.
All except for Cabernet who stood right where she was and came out completely unscathed. Rather she had stars in her eyes, excited to see a supposedly mythical creature standing right in front of her in the flesh.
Seeing that its flames did nothing, the dragon didn't back down. Instead it tried to bite down on the winged woman and swallow her whole. It could not have predicted that the woman would not flee, but instead charge right down its gullet.
"That idiot…" Zoro said, drawing his swords.
"Don't call her an idiot! You're an idiot, Mosshead!" Sanji said, preparing to attack the dragon as well. "I don't care that you're a legendary monster. I'm going to cook you up and serve you!"
"Shishishi! Dragon barbeque!" Luffy was naturally most excited over the prospect of food.
"Who goes there! Show yourself! -bu" The voice came from the dragon, but strangely it was too 'normal' for a dragon, even considering the antiquated accent.
"It talked?!" Luffy gawked, then smiled. "Join my crew!"
"I won't allow it! It ate Cabernet!" Sanji shouted.
"That's not the only problem…" Zoro said.
"Luffy, the voice isn't coming from the dragon. There seems to be a person on its back." Robin added.
"Hm, is that so?" Luffy said, his eagerness clearly dampened.
The dragon had been surprisingly docile after swallowing Cabernet, as they just began to notice. It started to tremble on its legs before collapsing to the ground.
The dragon let out a belch of flame, smoke trickling out from between its teeth, then it moved no more and its eyes dimmed.
When its jaw opened, Cabernet climbed out of its mouth, smoke billowing out behind her.
"Hmph, if you can't handle the heat, then stay out of the kitchen." Cabernet said, striking a cool pose.
"Hm? Did I stop moving? -bu" The voice said, clearly not coming from the dragon.
Luffy went to search for the voice's origin whilst Sanji and Zoro worked out how best to start carving up the dragon's corpse.
"Oh, it's pretty well cooked as is. As expected of Cabernet-chan~!" Sanji complimented Cabernet, who blushed a bit at the praise.
Luffy, with the guidance of Robin, finally found the source of the voice. A pair of legs sticking out of the dragon. Luffy grabbed hold of the legs.
"Unhand me! -bu" Said the man.
Luffy gave a hard pull and the legs came free, but with nothing else attached above the waist.
"How odd." Robin said.
"He's awfully lively for someone with no upper half." Zoro commented.
"I've been pulled free? -bu" The legs said. "I would ask who you people are, but I have no eyes or ears. -bu"
"Shishishishi, let's have him join the crew!" Luffy said.
The legs seemed to sense danger as they suddenly leapt into action, attempting to flee. "I have no time to waste on you, whoever you are! -bu"
Sanji appeared in the path of the legs with dragon kebabs he prepared for the ladies. Unfortunately, the legs had no time to change directions or stop and rammed right into him.
"That's a good look on you, idiot chef." Zoro mocked with a smile.
Sanji was aghast at the pair of legs they were now protruding from his stomach.
"No fair, Sanji! I wanted to be a centaur!" Luffy pouted.
"Why do you look so upset? Now you have twice the kicking power, hahahaha!" Zoro openly laughed at him.
"Damn it, I've gotten stuck again! -bu" The legs lamented.
Although the air was filled with a sulfur-like smell, Sanji could tell the medium by which these legs were speaking wasn't something sanitary. The legs had just farted on his carefully prepared kebabs.
The legs sensed his hostility and attempted to kick at him preemptively, but Sanji wasn't about to be kicked by another man, especially not in front of two lovely ladies.
What occurred then was a strange, but fascinating duel of kicking legs that were attached to the same body. Ultimately, victory was Sanji's when he kneed the offensive legs in the groin, subduing them for a time.
"Get this thing off of me!" Sanji growled at Luffy, who had been rolling on the ground and laughing at his expense.
Cabernet stepped forward and , placing one hand against Sanji's chest and grabbing the legs' sash with the other, yanked the two apart. She then carried the legs over to Luffy and affixed them to his back as he had wished.
"It's not nice to play around with other people like toys, Cabernet. It isn't in good taste." Robin said.
"He's the captain, though." Cabernet said, failing to hide her true feelings. She really just wanted to see a centaur, even if it wasn't a real one.
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