Chapter 71: Escape

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 71: Escape

Vivi crashed against the back of the ship and managed to hold on to the rails.

"We need a little help here!"

At this point, she was so tired that she could barely manage to hold on.

"Got you!" Zoro grabbed her arms and pushed her up with Luffy still clinging to her back.

Luffy fell face up and could not move an inch but still manage to let out a laugh.

"We made it shishishi!"

"The Merry is alive!" Usopp was crying like a kid.

"It's the Merry! I love you, Merry!" And so was Chopper.

"I don't get it, didn't Usopp put it in one of the inner docks? How did it get out?" Asked Sanji.

"That's not important right now! Give us orders, we need to get out of here!" Yelled Zoro.

"I just want to say one thing before we part…" Said Robin. They all looked at her.

"Everyone, thank you!"

"Don't worry about it! shishishi." Were their Captains words.

"Talk nonsense later. We need to leave first!" Grunted Zoro.

"What do you mean by nonsense? you seaweed head!" Sanji and Zoro started fighting.

"Shut up! If we die here, everything we have done would be a waste!"

"Apologize to Robin, punk!"

"Sanji!, go steer the ship!" Ordered Nami.

Sanji immediately let go of Zoro and went to follow his orders.

"Yes, my orange Goddess!"

Nami rose an eyebrow."What did you call me?"

"Nami. I hope you have a good plan to escape from this" Vivi pointed up.

They were surrounded by four warships.

"Shit!, what now?!. We are blocked!" Said Usopp.

"They are aiming their cannons at us too!" Cried Chopper.

"FIRE!" They heard the command from one of the ships.

Instead of hitting the Going Merry, the cannonball hit another warship.

"They are hitting each other?." Said Usopp.

"The other cannons are missing too!" Zoro pointed out.

"The Gates of Justice are closing. This has created a lot of strong whirlpools that are messing with their aim." Vivi realized.

"This is more than I expected to be honest." Commented Sanji.

"You did this, Sanji?" Asked Chopper.

"Amazing!" Said Usopp.

"You are a genius!" Yelled Luffy.

"Don't be all so happy!." Complained Zoro. "The whirlpools are also dangerous for us!"

"Ohh yeah!. We are going to die!" Chopper went into panic mode already.

"Guys, shut up already! There is no sea that the Merry can't get through!." Said Nami with confidence.

"That's right! we are counting on you! our beautiful navigator!" Said Sanji.

"Just hang in there until I manage to read these currents." Said Nami.

"KEEP FIRING!" They heard the orders from the warships.

They had managed to get away from the encirclement but now they had all the warships behind them, ready to shoot.

Several cannonballs were flying toward the Merry.

"We can't dodge that!" Cried Usopp.

"Don't worry, we got this" Said Zoro and Sanji with confidence.

They then grabbed hold of Luffy, who still could not move. And proceed to use him as a rubber net of sorts to catch the steel balls and send them back to the marines, damaging the marine ships.

"See?" Said Zoro after tossing their Captain back on the deck.

"You guys are demons!" Yelled Usopp.

"I see a way to victory!" Nami finally said.

"Chopper!, hard to the port." She started giving orders.

"Towards nine o clock"

The marines keep firing but the Merry had caught the flow of the whirlpools and gained a lot of speed, making it almost impossible to hit.

"Franky!, is your turn!" Ordered Nami.

"Leave it to me!" Franky positioned himself at the back of the Merry.

"Coup de….VENT!"

The Merry went flying out of the currents and well out of the range of the warships. They were finally safe.

"We did it!" They celebrated.

"Is this good enough?" Franky placed Luffy, who still could not move, on top of the 'head' of Merry.

"Yes. This is my favorite spot." Said Luffy.

"We managed to get away thanks to you. Thank you, Merry!"

"What you guys have done is truly crazy! First of all, how can you shoot the flag of the world government!." Said, Franky.

"We just went to retrieve the friend they kidnaped, that's all." Said Vivi.

"I have been meaning to say something for a while." Said Sanji with a serious face while looking at Vivi up and down.

"Is that the uniform from the sexy secretary?"

"Uh?...yes. My clothes were damaged so I borrowed this from Kalifa after beating her."

"That's the uniform that all CP9 members use." Robin pointed out.

Sanji said no more and just gave her a thumbs up, but his face said it all.

Nami smashed Sanji on the head. "Would you stop ogling her already?!"

—--------------------------------------------------

"Guys, I checked. but there is no one else on board." Said Nami.

"That's strange…" Sanji came back after looking around.

"I did hear a voice calling us." Zoro was sitting on the wooden rail.

"I'm sure we were called." Said Robin.

"Wasnt that the Merry?" Asked Vivi.

"Yes!, that's what I thought too! That was definitely the voice of the Merry!" Exclaimed Luffy.

"What? really?" Asked Chopper with shock.

"Merry!, come on!. say something else." Requested Luffy.

"Idiot, ships can't talk!" Admonished Zoro.

"I thought so too…but…" Muttered Nami.

"Hey!, there is a big ship approaching!" Shouted Luffy.

"What?. who are they?" Usopp goes on guard, thinking that it could be more marines.

"It's a Galley-La ship!" Said Franky.

"It's the Strawhats!"

"They are alive!"

"You are safe!"

Voices came from the other ship.

Once they got closer, they were able to see Mister Iceberg along with a lot of Galley-La members.

"Is the Old Man!" Shouted Luffy.

"Bakaburg…" mumbled Franky.

"What a bunch of outrageous guys…they really managed to get everything back from the World Government." Said Iceberg.

"CRACK!"

Before they could process what was going on. The front part of the Merry was torn open and started to collapse.

"Merry!" Shouted Usopp.

"Look!, their ship!" The Galley-La members yelled.

"What is going on all of a sudden?." Asked Luffy.

"The Merry is collapsing!" Said Zoro.

"This is not sudden…" Sanji pointed out. "This is expected."

"He is right. The Merry was already broken beyond repair. And it somehow managed to leave Water Seven during the Aqua Laguna, travel to Enies Lobby, and get us out while navigating through whirlpools. Is a miracle that it lasted this long." Said Vivi.

"But…." Luffy turned to Iceberg. "Old Man! The Merry is in danger. Please do something!"

"Yeah. you guys are shipwrights, right? Please do something!" Begged Usopp.

"She is our friend that has traveled with us all this time! She just save us right now!" Shouted Luffy.

Iceberg looked at Luffy with a serious expression.

"Then…let her rest already!"