29 To the Grand Line!!!
While our group of pirates were running, a small group of people arrived at the Going Merry.
[Around a minute after Kaizo gave the orders]
"Is this the place?" Asked a young kid.
The kid's short, slightly-tanned with short, spiked brown hair and thick, black eyebrows. He wears a blue and beige shirt, blue gloves that do not have fingers, light brown pants, blue boots, and a long red cape. He wears some sort of Fisherman's Emblem, a green triangular item, on a necklace, and he usually carries around a boomerang with him.
"It must be. Goat headpiece, big Skull with Straw Hat jolly roger…" Spoke a girl, no younger than the kid.
She's a young girl with a round face, large eyes, and a wide smile. She has short purple hair and wears a yellow zippered dress that has short black sleeves and a hood. She also wears a yellow hat that has a purple stripe with golden circles on it.
"Well, this ship simple enough so that the three of us can manage it and go to the Grand Line." Spoke a woman around Nami's age.
She's around Nami's age and physique with short light blue hair topped by a pink clip, and light blue eyes. She is wearing a white shirt with short sleeves and aqua green stripes and a light blue skirt with white lines, she's also carrying two short axes.
Dias, the kid, smelled something weird and looked back, he took his spyglass and saw Nami, Sanji and Usopp running towards the Merry.
"Guys! The pirates are here!" Dias yelled.
"Crap! Atoli, Dias, let's hide in the storage room!"
"Understood, Ann!" Atoli/Dias.
The trio entered the Merry and hid themselves inside a fish barrel that Dias proceeded to empty by eating it. Just then, the trio Straw Hat arrived at their lovely ship.
"I keep telling you guys, I saw someone near the ship." Usopp.
"Well, the ship looks fine, besides, we have bigger problems if the marines catch up to us." Nami.
"Nami-san's right! We have to prepare the ship for when the idiots arrive, we can already get out of here." Sanji spoke as he organized their supplies in the storage room.
Usopp nodded and began the procedures along Sanji. Meanwhile, the three stowaways were still in the storage room, managing to somewhat hear what they said.
"You hear that? They're being followed by the marines." Dias.
"Yeah, we heard, what I don't get is why we chose this ship in the first place." Ann.
"Sorry, big sister Ann. I heard the old uncle from the "Gold Roger" bar that this was a great ship to go to the Grand Line." Atoli.
Ann just sighs and pats Atoli's head.
"No worries, I just hope we can deal with this crew." Ann.
"HEHE, no worries, ladies. Dias, the Ultra-Hero of justice, will save you from any danger!" Dias.
"Don't yell." Ann smacked Dias in the head.
"Ow…" Dias.
"We should probably keep it quiet." Atoli sweatdrops.
(If you manage to guess where these three come from, I'll name thee, a true One Piece fan!)
(And now, the second Opening!)
🎵Mirai dake shinjiteru
Dareka ga warattemo kamawanai
Hashitteru jounetsu ga
Anata wo kiramekaseru
Mabushisugi, demo mitsumeteitai
Dokka "bigaku" kanjiteru
I'm really, really stuck on you🎵
🎵Dare nimo nitenai yume no senaka wo
Oikakete oikaketeku
Yoake wo yobisamasu you na
Moeru kimochi
Atosaki nante ima wa shiranai
Taikutsu na jikan yorimo
Doramatikku te ni ireru made
Believe in wonderland! 🎵
🎵Yamazumi no mondai wo
Karume no nori de kawashichau
Kono michi wa modorenai
Anata no puraido da ne
Toraburu tsuzuki yowaki na yoru wa
Gyutto daiteageru yo
I wanna, wanna be with you🎵
🎵Dare nimo mienai yume no katachi wo
Tsukamaete tsukamaeteku
Watashi wa tsuiteyuku kara
Atsui kimochi
Tsujitsuma awase betsu ni iranai
Arifureta nichijou yorimo
Paradaisu mezashite hashire
Believe in wonderland! 🎵
🎵Dare nimo nitenai yume no senaka wo
Oikakete oikaketeku
Yoake wo yobisamasu you na
Moeru kimochi
Atosaki nante ima wa shiranai
Taikutsu na jikan yorimo
Doramatikku te ni ireru made
Believe in wonderland! 🎵
(Songs are so fun!)
[Back to the present, and that means Kaizo, Zoro and Luffy running like crazy from the Marines]
"The wind's getting worse." Zoro.
"Jeez, these guys are too persistent. Should we beat them up?" Luffy.
"Beat those guys up or go to the Grand Line, choose." Kaizo.
"No way!" Luffy sticks his tongue out in disapproval.
Soon after, the trio are stopped by a blue-haired woman that challenges Zoro to a fight, Luffy and Kaizo go along with Zoro's wishes and left him fight the swordswoman. Luffy and Kaizo kept running but were once again intercepted by another Marine.
"There's someone ahead." Luffy.
"Yeah, I felt him." Kaizo.
They stopped their tracks and saw the captain with his emblematic cigars emanating smoke. It was none other than Smoker, who managed to keep their pace thanks to his specialized cycle.
"Grim Reaper, Straw Hat, I won't allow you to enter the Grand Line!" Smoker spoke as he released his fruit.
"Luffy, Haki!" Kaizo.
Kaizo and Luffy coated their arms with Haki and swatted the smoke away. Smoker, who was shocked by what had happened, releases more smoke to encapsule the duo.
[White Out!] Smoker.
The smoke engulfed the area in which Luffy and Kaizo were standing and binded them, Kaizo quickly made a blade of spiritual power and cut through the smoke while Luffy simply grabbed the smoke and squashed it with his hands.
'They managed to negate the abilities of my devil fruit, I never expected to see Haki users in the East Blue.' Smoker.
As a captain of the Loguetown base, as well as a genius graduate, Smoker was already aware of the existence of Haki and its role on the further seas, he was just overly reliant on his devil fruit, adding the weight of instructing his new cadets, he really didn't have much time to even train on it.
Even if his knowledge of Haki was just around the most basic of it, Smoker experimented with his fruit to somewhat stop Haki users in case one of them came to cause havoc in Loguetown.
[Gomu-Gomu No: Pistol!] Luffy.
Coated with Haki, Luffy send a punch towards Smoker. The marine saw the trajectory of the punch and dissipated that part of his body into smoke, leaving a clear hole that allowed him to evade the attack.
'Isn't this Smoker a little too...strong? Under his usual standards.' Kaizo thought.
Smoker grabbed Luffy with his arms and pulled him towards him, he also took out his Jitte and attacked Luffy in the chest, making him weaker with his Sea Prism stone.
"You're indeed worthy of 40 million, but you're too inexperienced." Smoker looks at Kaizo who's just standing still.
"Aren't you going to free your captain?" Smoker.
"No need, there's someone that beat me to that." Kaizo points to Smoker's back.
Smoker then felt that his Jitte was no longer touching Luffy's body and saw a hand grabbing the handle alongside his. The hand was powerful enough not only to overpower him, but also to do it without him realizing it.
"You're...!" Smoker.
*RUMBLE*
Dragon's face is revealed through the lighting as he smiles at Smoker. He then looks at Kaizo waving at him.
'It's almost as if he knew that I would've come here.' Dragon.
"Why is a criminal as wanted as yourself here?" Smoker.
Dragon Smiles.
"The world awaits our answer…!" Dragon.
In that moment, the very next millisecond after those words came out of his mouth, every wind and rain ceased. Only to be replaced by an unnatural whirlwind that ravaged through Loguetown.
Luffy and Zoro were immediately thrown towards the port, while Kaizo did his best to withstand the wind.
'So, this is the power of one of the strongest men in the current era?! Man, the Manga and Anime didn't make him justice! I feel that if I continue to resist, my skin will rip apart!' Kaizo.
Kaizo looked at Dragon and gave him one final smirk.
"Don't forget our promise...!!!!!!!!!!!" Kaizo.
He was taken by the wind where Zoro and Luffy where and crashed besides them. After that, everything went back to normal.
"Ow…! Where's the ship?" Zoro asked.
"I think it's there." Luffy pointed at the ship that was quite far from the port.
"Eh?! Why did they leave?! Didn't they had Sanji to help them protect it?!" Kaizo.
"Who cares?! We need to go there right now!" Zoro.
"Hey! I've got an idea!" Luffy.
The two crewmates knew that whatever was gonna happen wasn't gonna be good, so they embraced their fate by trying to outrun Luffy while he catapults himself.
[Gomu-Gomu No: Rocket!!!] Luffy.
Luffy literally tackled both Zoro and Kaizo, Kaizo managed to protect himself with Haki, and were shot towards Merry.
Kaizo couldn't help it and said:
"The Straw Hat crew is blasting off again...…!!!!!!" Kaizo.
The trio eventually landed on the Going Merry "safely". Kaizo got up and saw that he had a small cut in his left arm.
'Must've been from the wind. Gotta be more careful.' Kaizo.
"YAHOO!!! The ship's flying through this storm!" Luffy.
"This is fun, I should get a surfboard." Kaizo.
"Hey, over there!" Usopp.
They all see a lighthouse on the distance.
"What's that, a lighthouse?" Zoro.
"More than a lighthouse, it's the point of reference known as the "Light of Guidance"." Nami.
That's a sign of the entrance of the Grand Line, right?" Sanji.
"Yeah, it means that beyond this route, we'll eventually sail towards Reverse Mountain." Nami.
"G-guys, s-shouldn't we take a breather before entering the Grand Line just like that?!" Usopp.
"So, since we've reached this point in our adventure, how about celebration ceremony?" Sanji spoke as he was dragging a barrel filled to the brim with sake.
"I like the idea!" Luffy.
"Seconded." Kaizo.
"Thirded." Zoro.
"Listen to me!" Usopp.
They put the barrel in the middle of the ship and put their feet on top of it as they declared their dreams.
"To find All Blue." Sanji.
"To become the Pirate King!" Luffy.
"To be the World's Greatest Swordsman." Zoro.
"To draw a map of the world!" Nami.
"T-to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!" Usopp.
They all looked at Kaizo as he wasn't raising his foot.
"What are you waiting, Kaizo? Raise your feet!" Luffy.
"Give me a second, such a precious moment can't be rushed." Kaizo.
He then raised his leg and put his foot on the barrel.
"To have the best adventure ever made!" Kaizo.
"An adventure, huh?" Zoro.
"Yeah, the adventure's supposed to end when the treasure's found, right? So, I wanna enjoy every second of this adventure alongside you guys!" Kaizo.
"Alright! Ready, set..." Luffy.
The Straw Hat crew raised their legs at the same time and smashed the barrel, the Sake inside of it drips alongside the rain and everyone cheer.
"Off to the Grand Line we go!!!" Luffy.
"Yeah, Captain!" Everyone.
Little did they know that their journey would be delayed for a few more days thanks to a dragon whisperer and a trio of stowaways.
(Sorry for the short ch, I thought it would be a little too anti-climatic to change the pace from this memorable moment.)
(Also, please leave a review, it really helps.)
