Chapter 64: The Franky House

Alright! I'm going to post this early because I have time and why the Hell not. I have a boatload of homework to do tomorrow and my job officially starts on Sunday, so that's good. Either way, let's go!

Chapter 70:

The Franky House

"Those damn yellow-bellied, long-necked, ugly, little assholes!" Nami raged, stomping through the streets of Water 7. Luffy followed several feet behind her, his stretched arm being used as his girlfriend's personal stress ball. Coby and Grace, having abandoned their captain with the fuming navigator, had fled with all four yagaras the first chance they'd gotten and, while Luffy was still pissed that they couldn't repair the Merry, he was currently terrified of the orange-haired girl dragging him along. Luffy watched Nami round a corner before them before feeling the tension on his stretched arm go slack.

"Nami?" the teen questioned. "What's wrong?"

"I found Usopp," the navigator whispered, all anger in her tone lost. Luffy followed her around the turn before freezing in his tracks.

The only sign of the sniper was a brown boot sticking out of an alley, but the slight redness on the concrete around him was not a good sign. Neither was the soft wailing emanating from the alleyway.

"Usopp?" Luffy asked, stepping toward the entrance of the alley. The sniper's sobbing stopped immediately, becoming replaced with wheezing and gasping.

"Luffy?" Usopp questioned quietly. "Luffy! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Usopp, calm down," Luffy ordered. "What happened to you?" There was silence for a moment, Usopp's boot pulling itself into the alley. Slowly, the long-nosed sniper carefully stepped out into the light.

Usopp was a wreck. His nose was bent at the wrong angle, pointing straight upward toward the sky and still dripping blood. His clothing was ruffled at the least, being torn and bloodied everywhere else. He was missing one shoe and both of the lenses from his goggles were gone. The worst part, however, were the tears pouring down from his eyes.

"Luffy," Usopp whispered. "I lost it. My part of the money... That 200 million i was supposed to protect... It's gone."

"We know, Usopp," the captain responded. "We'll get it back."

"B-But, Luffy!" he whimpered. "B-But..." Usopp trailed off, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. The sniper slumped, falling to ground. Luffy dove for him, just barely inserting himself between the unconscious teen and the hard ground.

"Those bastards," Nami growled quietly, but the venom in her words was gone. The spite had been replaced with pity.

Pity for the member of their crew with the most to lose from the lost of their beautiful, brave ship

With their injured friend, Luffy and Nami made their way back to their dying ship and had Chopper treat the sniper. Leaving Usopp to rest rest in the cabin and disregarding the doctor's worry about Robin disappearing mysteriously, Luffy, Zoro, Coby, Sanji, Gin, Amy, Grace, and Chopper set out to get the revenge they believed was do. The Franky House was located on a small island toward the north of Scrap Heap Island where the Merry was docked, the building being a mixture of every type of building material on Water 7.

"Is this it?" Luffy asked, eyeing the lopsided building covered in steel and stars. Zoro tapped Wado Ichimonji against his shoulder impatiently.

"Yeah," Coby confirmed as Sanji lit a cigarette. Next to him, Gin removed his headband and lit a cigarette of his own with a sparking thumb and Chopper pawed the ground.

"What are we waiting for?" Amy questioned with Grace munching on a rice cracker angrily, the sounds of a party reaching the pirates from inside the building. Stepping forward, the assault began.

The group walked over to the large steel door, Luffy knocking on it to get the attention of whoever was inside. The sounds within stopped, a palpable curiosity filling the air. The lock on the door clicked as a man who had to have some giant blood in him opened the entrance.

"What do you want?" he demanded before he seemed to recognize members of the visiting party.

"Revenge," Luffy answered, reeling his arm back to punch the man in the face. The huge man tumbled back, falling on and breaking a card table near the center of the room. The other people in the room stared at the entrance, each one of them dressed in steel overalls with a pink star in the middle.

"Who the Hell are you?!" a slightly-overweight man with spiky black hair questioned.

"That's Straw Hat Luffy!"

"And Pirate Hunter Zoro!"

"Tri-Horn and the Man-Demon as well!"

"It's time you bastards learned what happens when you mess with my Nakama and steal from us," Luffy growled, stepping into the building as he cracked his knuckles. His hat, usually nonthreatening, shadowed his eyes.

"Now hold on a second!" Spiky Hair tried to reason. "If this is about the 200 million, it's gone already! Big Bro Franky already took it to go on a shopping spree!"

"This isn't about the money," Luffy growled. "You attacked our friend and we're gonna make damn sure you regret it."

"You think you can take us on?" another man with giant blood laughed. "You think the eight of you can take out the entire Franky Family?"

"Amy," Luffy grunted, holding out his right hand. With a nod, the woman jumped onto his palm as Luffy stretched his arm back. "Gum-Gum Parasol Cannon!" The captain launched a one-half kilogram Amy as fast as he could, the blonde increasing her mass as soon as she was away while keeping her speed. With a yell, she slammed her 5,000-kilogram body into the giant man, shattering his armor.

"What?!" the natives of Water 7 yelled. Amy just smiled menacingly, twirling her parasol from atop the downed man who groaned in pain as she increased her mass. The floor gave way a second later, forming a crater beneath her.

"Fire the cannons!" Spiky Hair ordered, five cannons booming in response as they released their contents at the invading group.

"Three Sword Style: Ravens' Talons!" Each of the iron cannonballs split in half, exploding behind the stationary pirates. Zoro then lowered his left sword, seeming to barely touch the closest cannon which split down the middle. Spiky Hair growled, charging Zoro. Coby intercepted, punching the man in the face without changing.

"Zanbai!" several members of the Franky Family cried, identifying the man. "Run for the back door!" There was a flash and a whiff of ozone. Suddenly, Gin was standing in front of the only exit, idly spinning one sparking tonfa.

"Fire the Anything Cannon!" Another boom, and swords, nails, wooden boards, cups, and other random things were fired at the man blocking the exit. None of it was rubber, however, so all the items just went through the Man-Demon, the latent electricity in his body frying the items to a crisp. Gin smiled evilly.

"You asked if we thought the eight of us could beat the entire Franky Family?" the Logia chuckled darkly. "We could have beaten you with only four. 3000 Watt Slam!"

"Party Table Kick Course!"

"Rumble! Horn Point!"

"Colors Trap: Sadness Blue!"

The building had exploded. Nothing remained of the Franky House save for its foundation and the charred outer walls. Scattered amongst the debris were the smoking bodies of the Franky Family, each considerably wounded but not dead.

"They really didn't know where their boss went or what he wanted to buy," Sanji sighed, blowing smoke and glaring at the yellow-green painted Franky Family mook beneath him. Gin leaned against the rubble next to the chef, a cigarette between his own fully-human lips. Amy sighed next to him, idly tossing the grunt she'd been grilling for information over the wall behind them.

"80 million is still a lot," Coby muttered optimistically in his Dino Mode with Grace using him as a pillow. "We could still buy an amazing ship."

"So you managed to talk to that long-nosed shipwright," Zoro grunted. "I still don't like it. The Merry's been with us a long time. We all love her."

"I'm starting to not like this island," Chopper whined. "First Robin goes missing and then we find out that the Merry's on her last legs. The only thing that could be worse is if somebody left the crew."

"Don't jinx us," Gin commented. "I just want to know who'll be the one to break the news to Usopp. He loves the Merry more than any of us."

"I'll tell him," Luffy stated. The teen was a ways away from the group, watching the sea from atop one of the building's moon-shaped decorations that had survived the explosion.

"Captain Luffy..." Coby whispered sadly.

"I'm the captain, and it's my decision that we're getting a new ship. I love the Merry as much as you guys, but she's just a ship. If she were alive, it would be different, but that's impossible. We have to let her go here."

"Should we go get it over with, then?" Amy suggested. "Rip the bandage off, so to speak?"

"When Usopp wakes up," Luffy agreed. Not exactly filled with the sense of accomplishment that they had set out for, the group of eight returned to the Merry to await their friend's return to consciousness.

Luffy was watching the sunset when Chopper announced that Usopp was awake. Despite the others' excitement, Luffy was solemn for once. He'd talked with the rest of the crew for their opinions and approaches, and now it was time to use them.

"You moron," the captain heard the cook chastising as he entered. "Do you know how worried we've been?" Usopp didn't react to the good-natured taunt as a fresh wave of tears began leaking from his eyes, his hands crumpling the sheets in their grasp.

"I'm s-sorry, guys," he babbled. "I'm j-just w-weak. You c-can't trust me w-with money and now I've gone and l-lost it all."

"We didn't lose it all," Gin corrected. "Only a fifth. We still have 800 million."

"That's not what we're here to talk about, though," Luffy grunted. "Usopp, there's something you need to know."

"What is it?" Usopp questioned. "Is it about the Merry? Do we have enough for the repairs? They're going to cost more than we thought, aren't they?"

"It's not that." Luffy shook his head and pulled out a chair to sit down. "We talked with the shipwrights. They said that the fact that we made it here in one piece was a stroke of luck."

"What are you saying?" Usopp demanded, drawing the right conclusion, but denying it all the same. "Are you saying that they want to buy us a new ship? ARE YOU GIVING UP ON THE MERRY?!"

"SHUT UP!" Luffy ordered, silencing the sniper. "I... I don't want to. Merry's been with us since you joined in the East Blue, and we have a lot of memories with her, but that doesn't mean she's invincible." Luffy was choking up. "I don't want to give up on her," he whispered sadly.

"Then don't!" Usopp cried.

"Her keel is busted," Amy offered. "The shipwrights called it the backbone of the ship."

"Can't we just replace it?" Usopp tried.

"I asked the same thing," Luffy responded.

"The shipwrights said they could do that," Coby answered with a shack of his head, "but it wouldn't be the same. They'd be building another boat, just with Merry's pieces."

"I'm sorry, Usopp," Luffy apologized, "but we have to let her go. If Merry was alive, it would be different, but she's just a ship. And she wasn't meant for the Grand Line."

"When a human gets hurt, we get stronger," Zoro grunted before Usopp could interject, "but ships don't heal. They're wounds just keep on growing and adding up. And let's admit it, Usopp; you aren't a shipwright."

"Usopp, I want you to do something for me." The sniper turned toward his captain whose eyes were steady, but looking deep within, Usopp could see the pain this conversation was causing. "I want you to call Kaya and talk to her."

"What does Kaya have to do with this?" Usopp demanded, rounding on the rosette.

"Kaya gave us the Merry," Coby replied. "She knew that we would have to replace her eventually. We want you to get her opinion."

"...Ok," Usopp finally choked out. He wanted nothing more than to yell and scream and punch right now, and in another life, he may have, but he had known this day would come. He had known somewhere in the darkest, furthest pits of his heart that they would have to part with their ship at some point. Maybe, depending on what Kaya says, he still will scream and fight for the ship, but until then, he would hold himself off.

"Here, Usopp," Sanji muttered, holding out the transponder snail Usopp had bought for himself back in Alabasta. It was purple in color with Usopp's personal Jolly Roger painted on the side of its white shell. He had jokingly named it Captain.

"We'll give you some alone time," Nami offered, she and the others exiting the room one by one, Chopper being the last to leave with a backwards glance. Usopp sat in bed, staring at the sleeping snail for several minutes, his mind running faster than anyone with a cheetah Zoan could ever hope to. Finally, he picked up the receiver and dialed Kaya's number with a shaky hand.

BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP...

CA-LICK!

"Hello?" Kaya's soft voice floated out of the snail's mouth.

"Kaya," Usopp said, trying, and failing, to keep his voice steady.

"Usopp! How are you? Have you gone on any new adventures lately? How's Coby doing? He's got to have grown since you all left. Merry's been wondering about him."

"Kaya, Luffy wants to replace the ship."

"...Wait." The snail blinked, mimicking the girl on the other end of the line. "You mean you're still using the Going Merry?" Kaya's voice held surprise, awe, and confusion. It was then that Usopp realized that the others were right: Kaya did know that the Merry wasn't cut out for the Grand Line. "I thought you'd replaced it already!"

"You did?"

"Well, yeah. Merry said that the Going Merry could have lasted two more years here in the East Blue, but that she would probably only last about two and a half months on the Grand Line. It's been nearly four since you left! I thought you just hadn't wanted to tell me you got rid of the ship I gave you and that's why you didn't mention getting a new ship. The crew must be pretty cramped on a ship that small."

"Kaya, are you suggesting-?"

"Yes," the girl responded. "You need a new ship."

"Fine," Usopp whispered, a fresh wave of tears rolling from his eyes. "Fine! We'll replace the Merry."

Little did any of the crew know, but the figurehead was defying the laws of nature, a steady stream of tears falling from her own, forever-open eyes. They were sad tears, not because they were replacing her, not fully, but because her plan had worked. Because Merry had been right.

They didn't know she was alive. And from what the captain had said, that's why they could move on.

End of Chapter 70

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-SwordOfTheGods