Chapter 60: Travel, Training, and Responses

Hello, everyone! Good news, bad news time.

Good news: I got a summer job working as a camp councillor for nine weeks.

Bad news: I also need to take summer classes in my spare time.

Just news: I don't know what this will do to my writing schedule.

I'm trusting that all of you clever readers understand the ramifications of this news, so I'm going to probably reduce my updates to once a week on Saturday for the duration of my work. Next week from this chapter will be normal, but after that... There might be a week or two (never two in a row, I'll make sure of that) where nothing comes, that would be because of my summer classes taking priority. You all understand, right?

My regular schedule will resume at the start of school on the of the tenth of August.

In other news, I'm SO CLOSE. I'm (or is it we?) am/are only one singular follower from 400. Thank you all for enjoying my work.

Chapter 66:

Travel, Training, and Responses

"We did it~! We did it~!" Luffy and Usopp sang as they danced on the deck of the Merry. Beside them, Chopper was stitching up the head wound Coby had gotten while fighting on the bridge. It seemed the captain was no longer the only one with a scar on his face.

"So you ate that Devil Fruit?" Grace asked Gin who was sitting away from everyone else since sparks were still flying off him randomly. Gin nodded.

"And how did they not find you?" Nami added. "We had no time to think when we went into hiding."

"You mean you guys weren't the ones who put me in a closet?" Gin questioned in a surprised voice.

"Uh, no," Amy denied. "Last we saw, you were still knocked out on the medical bed."

"Well somebody had to have put me there."

"Maybe it was the same person who fixed the Merry," Zoro joked.

"I told you, I saw someone that night!" Usopp defended.

"Either way," Gin interrupted, "I woke up in a closet with the Devil Fruit next to me and some voices talking outside. They said there was a group that was trying to take the Donna's gold, but that they claimed the gold was moving when they had their backs turned. Anyway, I fell and they heard me, so I ate the Fruit to defend myself. But now, I'm not sure I want it."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Coby asked. "Once someone eats a Devil Fruit, they have that power until they die."

"Do you wish for a way to keep your powers in check?" Robin inquired.

"I guess so?" Gin answered, not exactly sure what he wanted.

"Sea Prism Stone would be out of the question," Robin pointed out, "but, as we saw in Skypia, contact with rubber forced Eneru into a human state."

"So what?" Usopp questioned. "It's not like we could have Luffy touching him all the time."

"But we could sew rubber into the underside of his headband," Coby thought aloud.

"I like that idea," Gin nodded with relief.

"Indeed," Robin agreed. "If you needed to, you could take it off to use your powers. Either way, though, you'll have to learn to control them."

The now-lightning-man turned toward his captain. "Don Luffy? Donna Nami? Would you two do me the honor of helping me train? Don Luffy can keep me in check and the Donna has extensive knowledge of weather, including lightning."

"Sure!" Luffy confirmed before Nami could answer. "Let's start right now!" Nami sighed as the three of them moved toward the front of the ship, the rest of the crew braking off to do their own things. Usopp stepped into the men's quarters to be met with the ringing of his personal den-den, a brown snail with an unexplainable long nose.

"Hello?" he answered, picking up the receiver on the shell of the snail.

"Usopp!" Kaya's relieved voice responded. "Thank Goda! I've been trying to reach you for the past few days!"

"Sorry, we've been pretty busy," Usopp chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "We've been pretty busy. We went to Heaven, killed God, partied with angels, and then crashed into a Marine base that we escaped from just a little bit ago. What's going on on your end?"

"...You did what?!" With a smile, Usopp launched into his own rendition of their trip to Skypia and their subsequent landing in G-8. All the while, Kaya listened happily. "And finally, I bravely fired a single Gunpowder Star from the crow's nest, my pellet hitting the gate's singular week point! The gate crumbled to bits just as our ship approached, the top only just missing our figurehead! The marines around us froze in awe of my power, granting us enough time to escape unimpeded! ...So what's new with you, Kaya?"

"Oh, right." It seemed the young woman had nearly forgotten why she'd called in the first place. "I got this package a few days ago. It's a black flag with a skull-and-crossbones wearing a straw hat."

"Coby mentioned something about those," the sniper nodded. "Luffy decided that he would claim our home islands as his turf to ward off other pirates. If you fly that flag, you should be safe under the threat of retaliation from the great Captain Usopp!" The snail giggled in Kaya's voice.

"In that case, I'll have Merry fly it right away."

It was the next day that the first Package Gull arrived with a letter. The letter was from Nami's sister and included a photo of Nojiko and Genzo in front of a new flagpole proudly flying the Straw Hat flag. A number was scribbled at the bottom of the page, Nojiko's den-den number.

The second gull returned from Luffy's hometown with two letters and one photo. The first, written in small, neat handwriting, was from a woman named Makino asking Luffy how he was doing and if his crew was as lively as they looked in the news. The second, in barely-legible scrawl, was from someone named Dadan who was praising the teen for "sticking to those Marine bastards" and "driving his grandfather nuts". It was covered in other writings that couldn't really be made out. That photo showed a smiling, green-haired woman and a large, female redhead with the flag spread between them. An old man was pouting in the background.

The third arrived from Vivi and Carue and included a photo of them with the flag hanging in their room rather than outside. It also included a number with the instructions to call sometime. So much has happened since you left!

The final letter was from Kureha and Dalton. It held not only a picture of the flag flying next to Hiriluk's, which Chopper claimed as his own and hung it in the medical ward, but also an eternal pose stamped "Sakura Kingdom". As the letter explained, Dalton had been voted king by the people and renamed Drum before reaching out toward Alabasta. The two kingdoms now had a strong alliance.

In the time it took for those four letters to arrive, Luffy, Nami, and Gin worked out a schedule for training Gin's new Logia powers so he didn't accidentally hurt any of his crewmates. It would take him until they reached the next island for him to have enough control to not spark without his now-rubber-lined headband.

Another month passed before the next event of worth. Coby finished his growth spurt halfway through, now standing over his captain and just under his mentor. Sanji's food had finally fully counteracted the measly meals he'd had from his two years aboard Alvida's ship that had stunted his growth. Not only had he gotten taller, but puberty hit Coby like a truck, dropping his voice into a smooth tenor as opposed to his earlier squeaky alto.

Grace had also grown, but she only came up to the rosette's chin. She had blossomed into a lovely young woman and, though he had taken notice, Coby decided that he wouldn't act on his impulses for fear of denial or the awkwardness such a thing would cause. The two began an awkward dance around each other with Amy jumping in to drive Coby away whenever it appeared they were starting to make progress. Secretly, however, the rest of the crew decided to make a bet: not what would happen, but how long it would take. Luffy ordered Amy to stay out of it, but the fear had already been instilled into the rosette.

The month after their trip to Skypia passed quickly, giving the pirates many rewards with plenty of gold to spare. Sanji managed to afford all new cookware to withstand the new cooking dials. Robin asked for nothing but enough to buy more history and mythology books. Chopper was able to buy several medical textbooks he'd been wishing for and Usopp bought various supplies for his tinkering and upgrades. While Nami didn't buy anything, she did have Usopp upgrade her Clima-Tact with some dials. Grace restocked her paints and she and Coby had to get all new wardrobes after outgrowing everything.

Grace was now usually outfitted in a tie-dyed shirt and a red skirt that fell to her knees. Orange tennis shoes covered her feet and knee-length, miss-matched socks hid the rest of her legs. Upon her head sat the red cowboy hat that Robin had bribed her with after they'd left Alabasta, covering the top of her hair, the rest of which had grown down to her waist. She had also bought a new smock which was slowly accumulating stains that "made it her own".

Coby's new outfit was still rather reminiscent of Marine uniforms with a white and blue color scheme, yet there were several key differences. He wore blue shorts and his sandals on his lower body, the backside of his pants folded over rather than being sewn to give his tail an opening when he transformed. His torso was clad in a white shirt with a face of a triceratops, something that he had gotten as a joke but had come to like nonetheless, the face partially covered by a light jacket that matched his pants and had a hood in the back. His hair had grown longer as well, now framing the top of his face and the back brushing his neck. A blue bandana was tied around his neck so the knot was even with the end of his hair.

The final change of the month was Gin's. He didn't change his clothing, going back to a cleaner version of what he had been wearing at the Baraté (dark pants and shirt, grey jacket with red dragons, grey-and-blue headband), but he did coat the weights on the end of his tonfa in gold since the shiny metal would be a better electrical conductor than their original iron should the need to use his powers arise. The ends now glimmered golden in the light while two lines spiraled down the shafts of the weapons. The golden lines, which twisted around to end on the handles, were tiny dragons that Gin had spent several hours making because "if I'm going to have gold on my tonfa, it's going to done right. And dragons are cool."

There was one scary day where the Merry had to sail through a particularly bad storm and almost crashed into a giant ship with a gold trip and a white fox figurehead, but the storm was so bad that the two pirate groups, for that was what the black flag and jolly roger on the other ship symbolized, were too busy sailing to meet. While Luffy wanted to go back and meet the captain with the "super awesomely big ship that Merry could beat in a flash", Nami quickly subdued him with promises of meat and otherwise. If she didn't run the ship beforehand, she certainly did now. Luffy was wrapped around every one of her fingers.

The island they landed on after that storm, Long Ring Long Land, was interesting but rather boring. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had a lot of fun playing with the aaaaaaanimals while everyone else talked to the man who fell from the giant bamboo stilts, however, nothing that met the standard Straw Hat Crazy® happened.

Their next exciting adventure began on an uninhabited island where the crew stopped for a barbecue. The party they had on the beach was nothing surprising, nor when Luffy declared that they were going to explore the island. What was surprising was when they found a man sleeping in a field.

The crew entered the clearing with their usual chatter, four or five different conversations happening at the same time. The clearing was absolutely flat save for one large boulder that sat in the center. What looked to be large black mushroom seemed to be growing out of the top of the rock.

"Oh, a mushroom!" Chopper commented, running forward the study the fungi.

"Hey, wait for us!" Luffy called after him as the reindeer rounded the corner, only to be knocked back.

"Are you ok, Chopper?" Coby asked, carrying Grace in his now-fully-grown Dino Mode, the girl munching on rice crackers as usual. The rest of the crew ran forward to check on the doctor and defend him if need be.

"Hm?" a sleepy voice hummed. As it turned out, the mushroom was not a plant, but the hair of a very tall man. The man stood at nearly ten feet and was thin. He was dressed in white dress pants with a blue under shirt and yellow tie under a white vest. His curly black hair ended just above his neck and a sleep mask covered his eyes.

Upon seeing him, Robin gasped and unconsciously stepped back. The sound of the woman caused the man to remove his headgear from over his eyes and sweep his gaze over the group.

"Oh my, look at you," the man smiled as his eyes landed on the archeologist. "You've grown into quite the stunning young woman, Nico Robin." Upon hearing her full name, every one of the pirates were immediately set on guard, falling into defensive stances. "Oh calm down. I'm not here on any official business."

"Who the Hell are you?" Luffy demanded.

"And who do you work for?" Gin added.

"That's…" Coby gulped. "That's Aokiji. One of the Navy's three Admirals."

"Oh, so you know me," the man yawned, lying down on his side. "I'm flattered."

"This guy's an Admiral?" Zoro questioned incredulously. "I didn't think marines were allowed to be lazy."

"He's almost as lazy as you," Amy joked.

"At least I'm not as lazy as Grace," Zoro shot back.

"Lay off of Grace!" Coby and Amy yelled in sync.

"Oh my," Aokiji muttered as his eyes landed on Amy and Nami. "Two more lovely ladies with some nice bazongas. Are you two free tonight?"

"You bastard!" Sanji yelled instinctively.

"Back off!" Luffy ordered, stepping in front of Nami.

"Oh ho. So the report Garp was laughing about was true."

"Who's Garp?" Nami asked as her boyfriend went as white as Aokiji's vest.

"Nobody!" Luffy tried to claim. "He's nobody!"

"Do you mean Vice-Admiral Garp?" Coby asked. "Hold on a second. His surname is Monkey... Marine Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp is your father?!" Luffy shook his head, his voice refusing to work.

"A couple months ago, Garp was laughing about his grandson getting himself a girlfriend. It looks like the betting pool he started is over."

"The Marines had a betting pool about a pirate's love life?" Gin asked in surprise. "That... doesn't seem like something they would do."

"Garp is a special case," Aokiji waved. "And let me say, you are one lucky pirate for having such a babe on your arm." Several of the pirates tried to hold in their laughter with limited success. Aokiji thought Luffy was the one in charge of that relationship! "What's so funny?"

Before anyone could answer, a group of ten or so people stumbled out of the bushes. All of them were covered in dirt and the two children with them clung to a woman the pirates supposed was their mother.

"Is it true?" the blond man who was their leader asked. "You're a Marine Admiral? Can you help us?"

"Who are you guys?" Usopp questioned. "I thought this island was uninhabited." Chopper panicked and ran over, checking the health of every person.

"How are they?" Luffy asked.

"They haven't eaten in days," Chopper answered. "Luckily, they aren't badly injured, so all they need is food." At that diagnosis, Luffy declared another meal to begin shortly.

"A passenger ship disappeared about a month ago," Aokiji drawled several minutes later, munching on a stick of barbecue that Chopper had offered him. "I'm guessing you're the survivors."

"Yes, we are," the blond confirmed. "We were returning to our home island when a giant frog doing the front crawl slammed into our ship."

"That's ridiculous," Nami denied.

"Everyone knows frogs do the breaststroke," Sanji added nonchalantly.

"Nope," the marine yawned. "That was probably Yokuzuna."

"After what felt like forever, we landed on this island," the blond continued, "but our food ran out soon after that. We were praying for a miracle and we thought we'd gotten one with he thought he saw a ship on the horizon, but it was just a guy on a bicycle."

"Don't be stupid," Luffy laughed. "You can't ride bikes on the water!"

"Actually, that was me." Aokiji raised his hand lazily.

"And then, when he finally saw a ship, it was a pirate ship!"

"And that was us," Coby finished. "I guess we'd have enough room for you, but just being on our ship could brand you as pirates."

"Nah," the admiral waved off. "I'll handle it." Rising from the ground, Aokiji began walking into the forest and, whether out of hope or curiosity, the pirates and survivors followed. Reaching the edge of the island, Aokiji dipped a single hand into the water and spoke two words.

"Ice Age."

In a flash, the ocean for as far as the eye could see was frozen solid. The viewers' mouths dropped open in shock at the display, only brought back to their senses as the marine continued to speak.

"That should stay frozen for about a week. If you keep walking in that direction, you should reach an inhabited island in four days. It'll be a bit chilly, so remember to bundle up."

"That was awesome!" Luffy yelled.

"Uh, thank you?" Aokiji didn't seem to know how to react to Luffy's praise.

"We can finally go home!" the survivors cried. The Straw Hats offered them food and water for their journey and the group staggered off over the frozen ocean, calling thanks back the way they came. The pirates waved back while playing on the ice.

"You know what, Old Marine Guy?" Luffy smiled. "You're not half bad."

"I was about to say the same to you, Straw Hat," the marine responded before he frowned. "That's why I can't let you continue to travel with that woman. Hand over Nico Robin and I'll let you go."

End of Chapter 68

I'm sorry to all of you Foxy fans out there that were looking forward to the Davy Back Fight and/or Foxy getting his ass handed to him, but I can't stand that character and every time I tried to write him, I just couldn't. Not for lack of trying, mind you, so various small choices have caused then to just miss each other. Who knows? Maybe he'll show up later.

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods