CH 24

It had been some time since they left on their new ship. Zoro was napping, Nami was looking over maps, Usopp was pretending to fight something by swinging a pole around, and Luffy was working on something in the corner. Usopp looked at them all relaxing.

"Aren't you guys a little too relaxed?" he asked.

"Done!" Luffy yelled, getting everyone's attention.

"With what?" Zoro asked as he woke from his nap.

"Our mark." Luffy said as he held up a Jolly Roger. The other three looked at it in confusion and horror. It looked just the same as when Luffy first painted it: bent and disfigured.

"This is our...mark?" they asked as Luffy smiled.

"Yeah. Pretty cool huh?" Luffy asked. Usopp sighed before he stepped forward.

"Shouldn't our mark strike fear to our enemies?" Zoro asked.

"Here. Let the artist show you how it's done." Usopp said before he painted a new symbol on the black flag before holding it up. It was better, though it looked like one for Usopp.

'Just like last time.' Luffy thought as he gave an annoyed look before he and Zoro hit him. "Rejected." he and Zoro said before Usopp redrew it.

"How about this?" Usopp asked as he held up the one that Luffy knew. The one with a skull and crossbones wearing a strawhat.

"That's very good." Nami said.

"That's the one. Draw it on the sails too Usopp." Luffy said as he pointed at the sails. Usopp did so before lying on the deck tired. Luffy looked up at the sails and smiled. "Now the pirate ship Going Merry has everything she needs." he said before it started clouding up. 'Oh yeah. And this is our first adventure!' Luffy thought.

()()()()

After their adventure with Gaimon on the Island of Rare animals, they sailed on a bit more. Luffy was looking around until he spotted a rock off in the distance. He smiled as he aimed the cannon and fired at it, missing it a bit.

"What are you doing?" Zoro yelled to him.

"Cannon practice." Luffy answered. "I missed though."

"Hang on. Let the pro show you how it's done." Usopp said as he came over and readjusted the cannon before firing, blasting the rock to pieces.

"Nice shot Usopp." Luffy said with a grin. Usopp just looked on in surprise.

"I...hit it?" he asked before he gave a confident look at them all. "I mean, of course I did. Impressed?"

"That settles it. You're the sniper Usopp." Luffy said.

"Huh? I'm not the captain?" he asked.

"No. I am the Captain!" Luffy stated as they walked into the cabin and sat at the table with the others.

"Alright. But you chicken out on something, I'm Captain." Usopp said.

"Fat chance." Luffy said with a laugh as they sat around the table. Luffy looked at the three of them as they talked. He then looked around the room, remembering everything that they've been through. He couldn't help but smile under his hat at the memories. He was brought out of his thoughts when they all heard crashing coming from outside.

"Come on out, ya stinkin pirates!" shouted a voice. Luffy ran outside, remembering who it was.

"Hey, who are you?" Luffy asked, getting his attention.

"It doesn't matter pirate!" he screamed as he charged at Luffy. "You'll pay for trying to kill me friend!" He swung his sword at Luffy, only to be stopped by Luffy grabbing the blade with his fingers. "What?!"

"Knock it off!" Luffy said as he threw Johnny over his shoulder, letting him slam against the cabin. Johnny slid down a bit before muttering. "You got lucky." Nami and Usopp peaked out the window while Zoro walked outside to see what was going on. He peeked down to see Johnny lying there in pain.

"Johnny? Is that you?" he asked in mild surprise.

"Who's saying my name like we're friends?!" Johnny shouted before he looked up and saw Zoro. "Big Bro Zoro? What are you doing on a pirate ship?"

"That's my line." Zoro said before looking around. "Where's Yosaku?" he asked, which caused Johnny to cry as he pointed over to the railing.

"Over there." he said. Everyone looked over to see a pale and bleeding Yosaku lying in a small boat.

"What happened to him?" Zoro asked as Luffy brought him up to the deck. Johnny explained how he was fine one day, then started getting tired, losing teeth, and his old wound opened. He said he was letting him rest at a nearby rock before some moron blew it up with a cannon. Usopp turned blue at that and bowed with Luffy, who stayed calmed and apologized for what they did.

"YOU THINK AN APOLOGY IS GONNA FIX THIS?!" he yelled, causing Usopp to turn even bluer. He then turned to Zoro. "Don't sugar coat it bro. Will Yosaku die?" Zoro had a grim look on his face, unable to answer since he didn't know. While they were talking, Nami knelt down to Yosaku before examining his face. Johnny started yelling at her, spitting on her as well, claiming that she was mocking his death. She pushed him away before telling them all it was scurvy.

"Luffy. Usopp. There are some limes in storage. Get them." she ordered. Both nodded before they ran off, then came back shortly with a lot of limes. They then started squeezing lime juice into his mouth. "Scurvy's caused by a lack of vitamin C." Nami explained. She then explained how sailors used to sucumb to scurvy often until they learned to store fruits and vegatables. "He'll need some rest, but he'll be okay now."

"Really big sis?!" Johnny yelled happily, spitting on Nami more before she pushed him away. She told him not to call her that again as Luffy and Usopp shoved limes into Yosaku's mouth.

"That's smart Nami." Luffy said. "Are you a doctor as well?" he asked, knowing what was coming.

"EVERY SAILOR SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SCURVY!" she screamed before Yosaku coughed up the limes and sat up. He looked dazed for a moment before he and Johnny started dancing around.

"I'M CURED."

"HE'S CURED."

"HOORAY!"

"YOU DON'T RECOVER THAT FAST!" Nami screamed. Both stopped before they looked at them all.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Johnny."

"And I'm Yosaku."

"We're pirate hunters." they both said.

"Big Bro Zoro here once travelled with us." Johnny said.

"Nice to meet ya all." Yosaku said.

"Never thought we'd meet again." Zoro said.

"And we never thought that you'd-" Johnny started.

"End up being a pirate." Yosaku finished as he and Johnny went to shake Zoro's hand before Yosaku went pale and fell down.

"PARTNER?!" Johnny yelled. They helped Yosaku up to a room to rest as they all gathered in the lounge to eat.

"You should learn from this." Nami said as she wrote in the logbook.

"You have to be prepared when going out on the seas." Zoro said.

"Yeah." Usopp said. "Without the right amount of nutrition, you'll die out here."

"Like a chef." Luffy said as he ate some bread. "That's what we need on our ship."

"If it's a chef you're after, I know the perfect place." Johnny said before he looked at Zoro. "But be warned. It's close to the Grand Line, and there have been some rumors about that place. Some of which include a certain Hawk-Eye man is around there as well." Zoro looked up with a grin as he held his sword. Johnny then pointed his finger outward. "Then our heading is clear. North by Northeast. To the sea restaurant, Baratie!" Luffy smiled wide at hearing their next destination as his stomach roared with hunger.

'Finally. Sanji's cooking's the best!' he thought.

()()()()

Some time had passed as they sailed towards the restaurant. Yosaku had woken up from his rest and was talking with the others as Luffy listened.

"So you guys are pirate hunters like Zoro used to be?" Usopp asked.

"That's right." Johnny said as he pulled out some wanted posters from his jacket and placed them on the table. "The higher the bounty, the better the pay."

"After we take out all these guys, we'll go after the bigger fish." Yosaku said as the group looked at the wanted posters. Everyone was looking at the wanted posters with different reactions. Johnny and Yosaku were confident. Usopp looked a little frightened at some of the pictures. Zoro looked at them with a bored expression. Luffy, however, didn't pay any attention to them. He was watching Nami out of the corner of his eye as she picked up one of the posters. She started trembling a bit before she walked towards the door. "Where ya going Big Sis?" Yosaku asked before Johnny clapped his hands over his mouth.

"Just...to get some air." she said as she walked out of the cabin. Everyone stared at the door with a bit of confusion.

"Wonder what's up with her?" Usopp asked as he looked at the others.

"She took a wanted poster with her." Zoro said.

"Maybe Big Sis is aiming for the bounty on that guy." Yosaku said. "What do you think Big Bro Luffy?" he asked. He didn't get an answer though as Luffy had left the cabin as well.

Nami had walked to the stern of the ship with her bangs covering her eyes. She was looking at the wanted poster she picked up earlier as her body trembled some more as she scrunched the wanted poster up.

"Something wrong Nami?" came Luffy's voice from behind her. She tensed at his voice before she put on a fake smile and looked at him, hiding the poster under her shirt.

"N-nothing. Nothing's wrong Luffy." she said as she laughed a bit. Luffy just looked at her with a blank stare. He knew she was lying through her teeth.

"Nami." Luffy said in a calm tone as he stared at her. Nami just gave Luffy a nervous look as she held her hands up.

"Don't worry. Nothing's wrong at all. I'm alri-"

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