Meeting the Crew

"When I said 'tell me what to do', I didn't mean this!"

We were standing at a secluded part of the island where "The Polar Tang" was docked. I couldn't help but admire the submarine. It wasn't the strongest ship, but it was just so practical.

And fucking Blackbeard destroyed it. If I'm still alive when that happens, I swear I won't let him touch this beauty.

The reason why I was yelling at Law right now was because he just dumped his cleaning duties on me. Fucking lazy captain. Also, I needed to talk about my salary. I'm totally broke right now.

"Look, if I'm joining your crew, I need a monthly pay and health insurance."

"What's a health insurance?"

"It means you treat my injuries without charging me." I lied.

"I already treat my crew without charging them, so sure, you can have that insurance thingy. But as for pay, I can't do it monthly. You'll get your share like everyone else after we cover the crew's expenses."

"And we're mostly robbing other pirates for that money, right?"

"Of course. How else would we earn money? Looking for a treasure chest using a fake map? No, thank you. I like my treasure in cash and preferably stolen."

"And we'll get to fight strong pirates. Maybe this isn't such a bad deal."

"You really are a battle maniac, aren't you?"

"Maybe just a little."

"Alright, enough stalling. Let's go meet your new crew."

Ikkaku POV:

The Heart Pirates were having a blast today. Ikkaku had some booze, and the party was in full swing. Law and Bepo were on the other side of the island doing logistics work. Bepo could be such a "Mom" sometimes.

She was feeling great—like, really happy. She'd just won 10,000 Belly from Penguin. That idiot didn't know a thing about cards. But she didn't feel bad about taking all his money. If you don't know how to gamble, you shouldn't sit at the table.

As she thought about who to scam next, the metal door opened with a loud thud.

Crap!

It was the captain and the vice captain. Why did they come back so early? And who was that new guy with them?

Ikkaku could see the anger on Law's face. Everyone else saw it too. The whole room went silent, and it turned into a staring contest.

The new kid was the one who broke the silence.

"Law?"

"Yes."

"I'm not joining your fucking crew if I have to wear that hideous boiler suit."

"Don't worry," Law replied, his voice calm but still irritated. "I'm not sure if there will be a crew left after today." His tone was harsh. "Why are you all partying in the middle of the day? I gave you one job. Just one job. Fix the scanner before I get back. And instead, you're having a party! We already have enough money problems. I don't need a drunk and lazy crew on top of that."

Ikkaku tried to explain, "Don't worry, Captain. We got the booze for free."

"What do you mean free? You clearly used the money you won from Penguin last month. Stop ripping off the poor guy, will you? Also, Penguin, if I see you gambling again, you'll be on cleaning duty forever." Everyone seemed to shut up after that outburst.

Law sighed heavily, took a deep breath and pointed at the new guy.

"Everyone, this is Zephyr. He will be the new member of our crew. He's a swordsman."

That much was obvious, with the sword hanging by his waist and the weird clothes. But a new recruit? Law never added people to the crew without talking to them first. Some of the crew spoke up.

"Who is this guy, Captain?"

"Can we trust him?"

"Why didn't you talk to us before recruiting him?"

Ikkaku had the same questions. Since when did Law start recruiting random people? The new guy, Zephyr, just smiled at the complaints.

"Look, I know you don't trust me. And to be honest, I don't trust you either. But Law recruited me because I'm strong. Maybe not Grand Line-level strong yet, but in the North Blue, I'm pretty tough."

The crew started laughing.

"This kid's got a big mouth!"

"At least he's got guts."

"More like stupid confidence."

But Zephyr didn't seem bothered. He was still grinning. "Listen, I'm pretty sure I can beat every single one of you without even breaking a sweat. Except for your captain. His devil fruit is a real pain in the ass. Also, since when do pirates gain trust using their words?"

"What did you just say?"

"You want your ass kicked?"

"Let's take this outside. We'll see if you can back that up."

"Yeah, let's go!"

Ikkaku sighed as the whole crew got riled up for a fight. The Heart Pirates were good people, but being the only woman on the crew could be really annoying sometimes.

'Boys are so stupid.'