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Grand Line – Paradise
In the middle of the sea, on the way to Alabasta
A few hours after the 'Great Fridge Heist' operation, aboard the Merry, in the morning, the sun beginning to rise on the horizon, Sanji wakes up and heads to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast for everyone.
As soon as he enters the place, he feels that something is strange, but he can't quite tell what it is.
Approaching the fridge, his cook's instincts kick in, alerting him that something was definitely wrong; the padlock was intact, in the same place where he had left it the night before, and it looked exactly like the one Luffy had broken.
Typing in the password on the padlock, which opens without any problems, Sanji then opens the fridge with a suspicious look; everything seemed perfectly normal, and that's not what his instincts were telling him.
Not noticing any abnormality inside the fridge, everything seeming to be just the way he left it the night before, Sanji thinks, 'Someone definitely messed here, right?'
=Scene Break=
"Hey, Vivi! You have time?", entering the girl's room without even bothering to knock on the door, Luffy asks with a smile, holding a small chest under his arm.
"Hey, Luf! You could at least knock before coming in, right? What if we were naked?", Nami, who was also in the room, comments. The two seemed to be having a conversation before Luffy came in.
"What's the problem? I've seen you naked before", Luffy replies, confused, not understanding why he was getting scolded.
"That's not the problem, idiot! What if Vivi had been naked?", rubbing her forehead to keep from getting irritated, Nami asks, being more specific.
"If Vivi had been naked? Is it a problem if I see you naked, Vivi?", scratching his chin while thinking, Luffy asks Vivi, wanting to know if she minded him seeing her naked.
"Ehhhhh... I mean, I... there's supposed to be a problem, right?", not knowing how to respond to that, Vivi says, looking at Nami, her tone sounding more like a question than a statement.
"Oh! Alright then! Next time I'll close my eyes if you're naked!", Luffy says with a smile, none of the conversation actually sinking into his brain.
"Urghhh! Forget it, Vivi! He didn't understand anything we talked about! In fact, better get used to it, if what we discussed works out, it's always going to be like this! But I guess it's part of his charm," letting out a tired moan, Nami says to Vivi, Luffy next to her not understanding a thing that was said.
"Get used to what? What were you two talking about before I came in?", Luffy asks, becoming curious.
"Nothing, it's just girl talk! Boys aren't allowed to know!", Nami says, not wanting the conversation she had with Vivi to leak, at least not yet.
"Wait, you guys have a secret club just for girls?", Luffy asks, surprised, deducing something completely out of touch with reality.
"Something like that, only girls are allowed to join!", Vivi replies with a playful smile.
"Awww, but I wanted to be part of the secret club too!", Luffy says sadly, hanging his head.
"It's not as cool as you think it is! Actually, it's pretty boring", Vivi responds, not wanting Luffy to feel sad.
"Really? It's that boring?", Luffy asks, a little less downcast.
"Yes, our meetings are downright boring", clearly lying, Nami says, backing up what Vivi said.
"Phew, then! Good thing you guys told me", sighing in relief, Luffy says innocently, grateful for having been told, in no moment questioning whether Vivi and Nami's words were true or not
"Hehe! You're funny, Luffy! By the way, did you sleep well?", laughing at Luffy's naïve way, finding him cute, Vivi says with a smile, before turning to Nami as if seeking her support to go on, and upon receiving an encouraging nod from the navigator, she turns back to Luffy and asks in a sweet voice, trying to make conversation.
"Shishihshishi! Yeah, I went to bed with a full belly last night and passed out like a rock as soon as I hit the bed! Anyway, I came to give you something", Luffy answers her with a smile before then showing the chest he brought with him and commenting.
"Oh, what's inside the chest?", Vivi asks, curious.
"The Akuma no Mi from the guy the crew killed in Drum! It's the Mori Mori no Mi, a Logia; it'll basically turn you into a living forest! I want you to eat it", opening the small chest, Luffy shows them an Akuma no Mi, more specifically the Mori Mori no Mi, the fruit that belonged to the late Aramaki.
"Luffy, I can't accept this! It's too valua...", Akumas no Mi are already extremely expensive, let alone one this powerful, and knowing that, Vivi tries to refuse after seeing it, but is interrupted mid-sentence.
"Ah, shut up! You're my friend and part of the crew! Besides, this fruit is perfect for you, it's practically the complete opposite of Crocodile's fruit! And with enough training you could turn all of Alabasta into a kingdom full of forests", Luffy interrupts, trying to convince her.
"Are you sure? It's a really powerful fruit, from what you said. Wouldn't it be better to give it to Sanji or Zoro, or even Sabo?", Vivi asks, a bit unsure, for her, it didn't make sense that Luffy would want to give this fruit to her.
"No, it has to be you. Zoro wants to be the world's greatest swordsman, so he wouldn't accept eating an Akuma no Mi just to get stronger quickly. Maybe he'd accept giving the fruit to one of his swords, but we still have no idea how to make a weapon eat an Akuma no Mi", Luffy says, insisting.
"And Sanji?", Vivi asks, still in doubt.
"He wouldn't accept taking a shortcut to get stronger than Zoro! If he did that, Zoro would never let him live it down", Luffy responds. If Zoro refused to eat an Akuma no Mi, Sanji would follow the same path.
"And Sabo?", Vivi asks, continuing with the excuses.
"Sabo's my brother, but I don't want to give this fruit to him! And I don't think he'd want to eat an Akuma no Mi right now either", and one more time, Luffy responds, he had already made up his mind, this fruit was Vivi's.
"But there are people much more deserving than me in the crew...", Vivi argues, trying to make another excuse, not feeling 'worthy' of eating this fruit.
"Vivi, just accept the fruit already. He decided the fruit is yours! So the fruit is yours, unless you don't want to eat an Akuma no Mi, but I think you'd be making a mistake if you decided not to! Don't you want to turn Alabasta into an island full of forests, rivers, and lakes?", Nami comments, advising her.
"...Sigh... Fine, I'll eat it", letting out a sigh, Vivi agrees. The idea of turning Alabasta into an island full of forests, rivers, and lakes was too tempting for her.
"Alright! Now we'll start your training, and Karoo's, and Chopper's too! Come, follow me, I've got an idea and we'll need Usopp's help to make it happen", Luffy says with a happy smile before turning and leaving the room, expecting Vivi to follow him.
"Come on, I'll go with you! I haven't done my training yet today!", Nami gives Vivi a pat on the back before following Luffy, the princess following right behind them.
"Hey, Usopp! Where are you?", going out onto the deck, Luffy yells, calling for Usopp, too lazy to go look for him around the ship.
A few moments later, Usopp comes out to the deck, stretching as he feels the fresh morning breeze "Ughhhh... what is it, Luffy? I was working on a new kind of ammo."
"Something powerful?", Luffy asks, curious.
"Don't know yet, for now it's just an idea I had", Usopp says, rubbing his neck. It would still take a lot of testing and research before this ammo was ready for use.
"Cool! Anyway, I had an idea and I need your help, specifically your powers", Luffy says, explaining why he called him.
"Alright, what do I have to do?", Usopp asks, agreeing to help.
"So, I was thinking, everyone here is already strong enough that this kind of training on the ship doesn't make much difference anymore. Even though we all still train, space is limited, and we can't carry too much weight, or else the Merry would sink! For example, I can't train my body, the weight I use would just sink the ship!", Luffy begins explaining his idea to Usopp.
"Okay, go on", nodding, Usopp gestures for him to continue.
"So, I had this idea! What if you used your powers to make the Merry bigger so we can train? That way we'd have a lot more space and you guys could train with heavier weights since the Merry would be able to carry more weight", Luffy finishes his explanation excitedly.
"It would work, but we have to consider that there's going to be scaling, meaning the stairs will become giant, basically everything fixed to the Merry will get huge", after thinking for a second, Usopp explains. It wouldn't be feasible to make this a permanent thing.
"No problem, we'll only do that when it's time to train, and after we're done, we just make it go back to normal size", Luffy says. It wasn't really an issue.
"So... do I do it now?", Usopp asks, wanting to know if he should go ahead and do it.
"That's right... I mean, wait a sec! Nami, can you go get Karoo? And Chopper too", speaking on autopilot, Luffy corrects himself and asks Usopp to wait a bit. He then turns to Nami and asks her to go get Karoo and Chopper.
"Sure!", Nami says before heading back inside the ship, in search of Karoo and Chopper.
"While we wait, here Vivi!", opening the chest he was carrying, Luffy turns to Vivi and hands her the Mori Mori no Mi.
"...Chomp, almost pukes, chews, swallows, chomp, chews, almost pukes, swallows... ewwww! I... I had heard before that the taste of an Akuma no Mi wasn't good, but this is on another level! I think this is the closest I've ever come to eating poop!", Taking a big bite of the Akuma no Mi, Vivi feels a strong urge to vomit from the fruit's taste and texture, but holding on tightly, she devours the entire fruit, not wanting to risk it not working just because she didn't eat the whole thing.
"Look on the bright side, now you have powers!", Luffy says, showing her the positive side.
"You gave her the Akuma no Mi of that fat guy who tried to eat the Merry?", Usopp asks, curious. That Akuma no Mi didn't really fit Vivi, but who was he to say anything? An Akuma no Mi was still an Akuma no Mi; it was basically a quick power boost with a few drawbacks.
"No, the one Vivi ate is the Akuma no Mi of the guy who fought you, Zoro, Chouchou, and Sanji in Drum. Sabo and I recovered it before we left! I have two more saved, one is for the Merry, and the one you mentioned I plan to give to our future carpenter or engineer", Luffy responds. He already knew who he was going to give the Akumas no Mi in his possession to from the moment he acquired them.
"How is the Merry going to eat an Akuma no Mi? And won't he sink if he eats one?", Usopp asks, completely confused. Since when can a ship eat an Akuma no Mi?
"Relax, it'll work", Luffy simply says, not explaining a damn thing, as if that alone was enough to clarify anything for Usopp.
"Relax, he says! It'll work, he says! Can you believe this guy?", turning to Vivi, Usopp asks sarcastically.
At that moment, while they were talking, Nami returns with Karoo and Chopper, who were following right behind her, the little reindeer hopping toward them and the duck looking like he had just woken up.
=Scene Break=
Going back a few instants in time, to when Nami went to look for Karoo and Chopper, the navigator quickly makes her way through the ship, finding the little doctor reindeer first.
He was finishing organizing his equipment in a small room that had been designated for him, a rap beat with a piano melody starting to play from a small boombox connected to a Den Den Mushi.
[As Flores e o Louco – Fabio Brazza – I'll translate the lyrics into English, but for those who want to listen to the song along with this scene, just look it up on YouTube. Honestly, I think this song fits Dr. Hiriluk's character perfectly.]
These equipments was in his possession only because the Doctorine, whom he believed to be responsible for this, had placed a large bag with everything he would need on the sleigh they used to escape from Drum.
Leaning against the frame of the open door, Nami watches Chopper doing his own thing with a smile, nodding her head to the rhythm of the music.
"He believed that wealth was not in the pocket
Those who passed by laughed
This guy got too high"
"He had a habit of talking about a world that didn't exist
That only he saw it
And his flaw was thinking that the world had a solution
Foolish utopia"
"One fine day, as he was leaving the flower shop, a man questioned his madness
Why spend money on flowers that will die
With people you don't even know on the other side of the grave?
And he retorted
Don't you see that your money is like this flower?
A piece of a dead tree that you still believe it has value
Flowers are to remind us that we are fleeting
Flowers are our ultimate gift
To show us that even after death, life still leaves its scent
And under the coffin
Flowers accompany you, money doesn't
And if I leave flowers it's not just to praise those who have gone
But to warn those who will stay"
"You really liked that song, huh?", Nami asks suddenly, catching his attention; Chopper had asked countless times to play this song again during the party.
"Brother, mad, mad
The city came together and decided to set fire
In all the flowers he put and soon
They accused him of being a demagogue
They lynched him with punches
And on the cemetery floor agonizing and almost dead instead of petals
They threw stones at his body and this plea could be heard everywhere"
"Madman, just another madman
Liar
Dreamer
Whatever it be
He's just another madman, madman"
"Nami!", Chopper exclaims happily upon noticing the navigator's presence.
"And after he disappeared
The city lost its colors
There were no flowers, just the smell of rot
Flowers are to say that we love someone
If love goes away so does the flower
And love is a dying flower
In the gardens of ambition
What blooms are only hundred bills
The mad people are no longer seen
Because in the land of sane, the crazy ones are the ones who see the most"
"I loved this song! It's my favorite! It has such a powerful message!", Chopper comments. He remembered Dr. Hiriluk every time he heard this song.
"When I remember this madman I think that the poet is a madman too
Wanting to make another flower bloom in someone's dead heart
And that's all a madman has
Today when I pass by the cemetery
I see the dead wanting to tell me
Will you only realize when you die?
That madman was serious"
After listening to the song a little longer, Chopper turns off the Den Den Mushi and asks Nami, "Do you need something?"
"Luffy asked me to call you! Now that you're part of the crew, we're going to train you to get stronger", Nami says, letting him know why she had come to him.
"I'm going to get stronger?", Chopper asks, his interest piqued.
"That's right!", Nami exclaims with a smile.
"Strong like big bro Chouchou?", Chopper asks enthusiastically.
"Since when is Chouchou your big bro? You've only known each other for a few days and have already become such close friends?", Nami asks, intrigued. In terms of age, Chouchou was older than Chopper, right? She wasn't sure.
"Are you serious? He's super strong, on the same level as Zoro and Sanji, and even though I admire those two too, Chouchou is an animal like me, and he's super cool and chill too! He's my inspiration", Chopper exclaims excitedly, stars shining in his eyes.
"Well, alright, I guess! Anyway, let's find Karoo and then head back to the deck!", Nami says before turning and leaving the small room, with Chopper following right behind her.
They then quickly find Karoo in the boys' room, sleeping sprawled out on the floor, not a care in the world, his beak open as he snored loudly, drool dripping from the corner of his beak.
Nami and Chopper then wake him up after an effort that was nothing short of herculean, even resorting to violence and shouting, all that for the duck to wake up sleepily without even realizing what was going on, barely registering that the navigator told him to follow her, which he does looking like a zombie.
=Scene Break=
"Quack quack quack? Quack quack quack?" "What's going on? Why did you guys call me?", Karoo asks, still sleepy.
"We're going to start the training of you two and Vivi as well! Now go for it, Usopp!", Luffy answers him before turning to Usopp and giving him the green light to increase Merry's size.
"Quack quack quack quack?" "You woke me up to train?", Karoo turns to Nami and asks incredulously, feeling betrayed.
"What? You'd rather stay a weakling and have Chouchou tease you every single day?", Luffy asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Quack quack quack!" "He wouldn't do that!", Karoo says, not very confident in his own words.
"Actually, he would! And he'd probably even call Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Luffy, and even me to join in on the bullying", Chopper says. Karoo and Chouchou had a mutual teasing relationship, and the man's best friend, aka Mango String Dog, wouldn't let such a good opportunity slip by him without doing something. [Mango String Dog = The dog, King Charles, from the meme]
"Alright, guys! Everybody hold on just in case, it's my first time doing this, but there shouldn't be any problem! Ready or not, here I go!", crouching down and placing his palms against the ship's deck, Usopp says before using his powers.
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(AN: 3,151 Words)
If you guys decide to give ideas or suggestions about things I should pay attention to in the story, keep in mind that on Patreon, the fic is currently at the Alabasta Arc, more specifically, on Rainbase/Katorea/Nanohana.
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