Chapter 58- Franky
'Iceburg is dead?! Did I forget about it?' Luffy was shocked at the revelation, but then he panicked, 'If I forgot about Iceburg, I must've forgotten about other important events. I need to reorganize myself fast and put things back on track, it can't be too bad.' Luffy thought with determination as he tried to remember what other events he missed.
"I didn't know you knew Iceburg, he never talked about you," Paulie said in surprise as he witnessed Luffy's unexpectedly shocked reaction. "Um, I didn't know him, but I heard amazing things about him and his company," Luffy answered half mindedly. "I see..." Paulie said in an awkward tone as he saw Luffy was deep in thought and he didn't know how to change the subject smoothly.
"Um, we came here in the hopes that you will build us a ship fitting a Yonko, with enough room to house our current ship in its hall." Usopp stepped in to move things forward as he saw that Luffy wasn't focused on the matter at hand. "Do you have any sort of special requirements or needs besides fitting your current ship in the new one's hall?" Paulie jumped on the new subject. "We want to build it from Treasure Tree Adam, as well as some other plans our captain wanted, so for now please secure the Adam Tree for the ship." Usopp continued. "Sure thing," Paulie responded as he immediately sent workers to find and buy Adam Tree wood.
"Are you alright, Luffy?" Nami asked with a concerned look. "Yeah... I wanted to recruit a shipwright here, so let's go find him." Luffy said slowly as he tried to reassure himself.
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In the edge of Water-7 lied a weird base {I'm not going to even try to describe how it looks like. I'll put a picture, but I don't know how to do that so please comment here and tell me how.} Inside it, was a depressing atmosphere. The lighting was dim, and the place was a mess. The wooden chairs and tables that were placed closely were now broken to pieces at the corner. The red curtains that engulfed the center stage were tattered, and the giant star above it, the Franky Family insignia, was torn off. The walls were cracked, and the upper floor's railing was completely broken. The only thing intact was a wooden bar and a man with blue hair drinking something on a single stool.
"Boss, are you awake?" Two girls entered the house. One wore a white fur collar, yellow goggles, bikini-top, slacks, and high-heels, and she had smooth hair the shape of a square. The other one wore a lilac pearl necklace, a pink cropped top, a pink bikini-bottom, gloves, and high-heels, and curly hair the shape of a square.
"I'm awake," The man said in a sleepy voice while somehow getting drunk off cola. "We couldn't recruit anyone to the family today, but don't worry, the others are trying their luck in other parts of the city and I'm sure it will get better!" The one who wore yellow, Mozu, reported. "Heh, thank you for your enthusiasm, Mosu, but you don't need to try so hard." Franky took a sip of his cola.
When Iceburg was assassinated, Franky's plan came to a sudden and unavoidable halt. His entire purpose, the reason he made the Franky Family, the reason he wanted to build the greatest ship, was to make amends for Tom. He wanted to make his mentor proud! And the one who helped him the most in his endeavor was none other than Iceburg. When Iceburg discovered that Franky was alive and his goal, he immediately did everything in his power to secretly help. Iceburg allowed the Franky Family to operate basically openly as long as they didn't do anything too drastic. He helped take the Marines off their back and didn't pursue them when they robbed other pirates. He knew what Franky strived for was a good cause, and so he helped.
However, the moment he was assassinated, the Franky Family fell at a rapid pace. The Marines easily took them down when they attempted to rob people and made various operations to subdue the gang under the orders of the new mayor. Franky couldn't come up with strategies that would save his gang, and so they slowly withered. Their income was reduced to an almost nonexistent amount, and members were slowly leaving. The ones that stayed, stayed because of their loyalty for Franky, but loyalty couldn't feed their stomachs. Still, there was a good number of Family members who stayed, and that was a testimony to Franky's charisma. It's a shame his intelligence wasn't on the same level without considering his mechanical skills.
But that wasn't the biggest blow for Franky. When faced with Iceburgs assassination, he couldn't care less for his Familia's situation. He suspected the World Government tried to kill him for the plans for Pluton as they wanted its power for themselves. It happened once, and it happened again. And so, both Franky and his dream drastically changed.
*Knock knock* Franky and the two sisters turned to the door where an individual hidden by the light emitted from the sun behind him stood at the entrance. "Who are you?!" Franky stood up, ready to fight. "Hello, Franky. My name Is Straw Hat Luffy, I came to recruit you." Luffy said with an ice-cold tone as he looked at the pathetic state of Franky and his Familia.
Franky stood there, not believing the man, but as he came closer his face started to look like the wanted poster, not to mention the Straw Hat. Franky couldn't believe such a chance presented itself to him. He was scouted by one of the emperors! If he excepted, he could extract his dream of avenging his fallen mentor and friend with the most deadly ship known to history, a ship he could be proud of!
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So... I'm a little afraid of the reaction of making Franky like this. I do believe that after the same thing happening twice in a row, and with iceburg no there to cover for him, Franky would go down that path, and it's up to Luffy to change him.