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It was Luffy's idea to have a campfire, the suggestion was random but the crew did wonder why such a thought came up in the first place. Luffy only stated that it would be fun, plus there will be marshmallow, sausage, and meat that they would cook under the fire (not that their captain would have the patience to cook it and would most positively eat his meat raw).
Chopper peaked up at the mention of marshmallow, Usopp also liked the idea and even suggested on telling each other's stories. Sanji was against it until Robin said it sounded like fun, within seconds Sanji also thought that it would be a lovely idea. Franky shouted SUPPER! While Brook said how great the heat of the fire would feel on his skin, oh, but he doesn't have skin. Yohohohoho.
Nami said that the weather was calm today anyways and it wouldn't hurt to join. Zoro agreed as well promising himself to bring some liquor on the way.
And so here they were, gathered around a campfire on the Thousand-Sunny telling each their own unique story. Usopp was the first to start, he was telling everyone how the brave warrior Usopp has fought a gigantic crab that did not only have two pincers but six! Chopper and Luffy were amazed as usual, but Luffy was more interested in the crab itself and how it would taste like. Brook was playing his guitar to fit in with Usopp's story while Franky brought in more firewood. Sanji was too occupied with his two beautiful ladies and offer them drinks, the girls didn't object. While Zoro was getting comfortable and was ready to sleep after he would consume his drinks.
After Usopp finished Franky decided to go next, he talked about a man who was reborn as a robot, telling everyone how this person still believed he was a human and have these strange and funny events happening to him, like that one time he discovered he had machine guns on his butt cheeks. Everyone had their share of laughter on that one.
Next was Robin, everyone was surprised that she was going to tell a story. But then she got a book out of nowhere and started to read a random chapter. Everybody was disappointed except for Chopper as he listened in closely, not the greatest ideas since her story was based around a cursed village and death. Her story didn't end well, of course, Chopper and Usopp were holding onto each other for dear life while the rest all looked at Robin in shock, wondering what was wrong with her. Except for Sanji, he was all heads over heels for her beautiful reading skills which earned him a familiar nickname from Zoro. They started to fight right after.
Luffy was interested in Robin's tale, it even reminded him of a story and asked if he could tell his own scary tale while chewing on a bone that once contained meat.
"Let me guess" Usopp started. "In a world without meat!" He said in a narrated voice.
Everyone laughed along on that joke, except for Zoro and Sanji as they were still fighting.
"A world without meat?" Luffy had chills, he couldn't imagine living in such a world.
"Well Luffy, what is that story of yours?" Robin said, interested to know what 'scary' meant for their captain, which brought Luffy back to reality with a big smile.
"Well, my story is based on a true event that happened in my village." He said.
Both Zoro and Sanji stopped fighting, interested since they didn't get to hear about Luffy's past often. Although, like everyone else around the fire they were all ready to get disappointed by a stupid story that would come out of the raven hair's mouth.
After everyone was seated, Luffy proceeded on telling his tale.
"Let me think, I'm sure the name was Juice. And he lived in with the high class."
"What is the high class?" Chopper asked
"You know, people who dress up fancy," Luffy answered.
Chopper still didn't understand, so Nami went ahead and told him that this kid named Juice was noble.
"So anyways." Luffy continued. "Juice was an energetic kid that liked to eat a lot, he ate so much that his parents couldn't keep up with him, and they lost more money than they were making."
The crew around the fire all stared at each other, knowing that this kid 'Juice' resembles a certain somebody, some of them even wondered if Luffy was telling a tale about himself.
"So, after a few months went by the parents were planning to adopt another child, one that they hope wouldn't eat that much and be of more use to them. Oh yeah, that reminds me! Juice was adopted too!" While Luffy continued his story, his big cheerful grin started to disappear, he stared down at his feet. His hat hiding his eyes.
"The couple was tired of the first child, they couldn't handle Juice anymore. They came up with a plan to get rid of him."
There was a short pause, no one was moving and the world around them seems to be standing still for a long time until Luffy continued.
"They decided to throw him in the forest with the wild beast in hopes that Juice would starve to death or even get eaten by some animal. Everyone in the village thought that he went missing and never suspected the parents for their son's disappearance. After less than a week the two couple had their new child and lived a normal life."
The whole crew was silent, waiting for the raven-haired boy to continue. But he didn't.
"Is that how it ends?" Nami asked Luffy in a tone that seems sad yet furious at the same time. It couldn't be true, can it? She thought to herself. I mean what kind of people would do such a thing?
"Luffy that's horrible…(sob)… He didn't die, did he?" Chopper was sobbing, which released a chain reaction to Franky, Usopp, and Brook, which Brook would have said a skeleton joke about him not being able to cry without eyes socket but wasn't capable since the mood felt wrong. Robin looked surprised and didn't speak.
Sanji lights up a cigarette and looked up, exhaling a puff of smoke in the night's sky while Zoro looked at their captain with a serious expression, trying to figure out why Luffy wasn't looking at anybody, even avoiding eye contact with the first mate.
But suddenly Luffy rose up from his seat with his usual big grin on his face and said.
"That's not how it ends! Juice came back of course."
Everyone was relieved to hear that the young boy didn't die.
"So, did Juice tell everybody about what his parents did?" Brook asked.
"Nope," Luffy said, still smiling.
"Why not!" Nami asked furiously.
"Why not you ask? Well, because he didn't know that his parents were trying to get rid of him."
Everyone was stunned by his answer. What does he mean that Juice didn't know that they were trying to get rid of him, this 'Juice' guy really does resemble Luffy, since he too doesn't seem to be thinking through a situation. And with those thoughts, Franky asked a question that worried the whole crew again.
"Luffy, bro? Did Juice go back to his parents?"
"He did." Luffy said, "He came back to them… covered in blood."
The captain's voice changed on that last speech, it became deeper and he started to speak slower than usual. His expression changed as well, his eyes looked more dangerous, threatening even as he continued.
"The mother brought the kid inside, she feared that other neighbors would have seen Juice and would start gossiping. She was afraid that the marines would knock on her door and find the boy covered in blood, so she gave Juice a long bath, she had also opened a medical kit to stitch up any wound she would find on him. But she didn't, she didn't find any injuries on his body."
Everyone was on edge at this point, this is the first time they ever saw or heard their captain speak in such manner, his words flowing so softly it made the story feel so real.
"The mother dared asked the son where all of the blood came from. You know what he said?" Luffy asked.
The crew gazed, they didn't say anything as they waited for Luffy.
"My dinner."
They didn't know why, but those two words sent shivers through their spines. The way that the Luffy said it sounded so disturbing. Usopp and Nami both gave a little squeal.
Before continuing Luffy stole a piece of meat that was resting on top of the fire, he held it by the bone that was sticking out of it. But it was strange how the ravened hair boy didn't eat the meat yet, he just held onto it as he started walking around behind his friends.
"It wasn't until an hour later that two marines came knocking on the door, they received word form a neighbor that something strange happened not too long ago. Something about a small child being covered in blood. They had no choice but to investigate, but even after knocking on the door a couple of times, no one seemed to reply. So, they tried the door, it wasn't locked and so they opened the door with a creaking noise. The marines knew that entering now would be against protocol but they knew something was wrong."
"They were right to feel suspicious, the first thing they saw upon entering the house was blooded footsteps that led upstairs down to a hallway. They followed the trail until they reach a door that led to the bathroom and they enter without thinking. The images that they saw would scar them for life as they came upon a dead woman's body with torn-off limbs. What terrified them the most was that they couldn't recognize her since her face was ripped off."
Luffy stopped for a moment and looked at his friends, they were all still staring at the fire, some of them were shaking out of fear and held onto each other for comfort. But while looking around at each crewmate Luffy's eye stopped at Zoro's, which was staring back at him. Zoro was the only one that acted differently, unlike the rest, he didn't seem to be showing any fear or worries. Guess it was to be expected since it is Zoro we are talking about, but Luffy did wonder why Zoro was listening to his story, normally he would be sleeping when his liquor was empty. But the boy had to admit that he liked the attention and reaction he was getting from his crewmates and continued.
"The marines called reinforcements on their transponder snails, and that's when they heard the faint cry coming from the first floor. They got their weapons out while heading downstairs, they tried to be sneaky, but the stairs were creaking on every step. They knew that whoever was down there heard them coming, but they didn't turn back, they only kept going. And it was then that they finally arrived in a room that was filled with child toys, and on the floor was a small boy on his knees facing back to the marines holding a small crying baby. The marine asked the boy what had happened, and if he was okay. 'I'm okay, I feel great even' The small boy said. 'And as for what happened, well mom didn't taste as good as dad did, she tasted like makeup and product, dad though tasted great! I was able to finish him.' "
"It was funny how the guards looked dumbfounded as they didn't understand what Juice was trying saying, they looked at each other and back at the boy, and it was then that Juice started to gently put the baby down and stood up while slowly turning towards the guards showing the hidden blood that has stained the new shirt he was wearing. 'I should have finish mom tho, I'm still so hungry.' Juice said while facing the Marines, an innocent smile spreading across his face. 'It's a good thing you're here."
Luffy was able to get a frightened wimp from the coward trio, he also heard Brook's bone-shaking. But he wasn't done with them, he has one more thing to add to his tale before reviling the whole truth to his crew.
"After a few moments later, reinforcements arrived at the scene. They couldn't find anything but corpse after corpse, the only living thing they found was a baby which wasn't hurt, and as for Juice… He vanished, And I know what happen to him, it was a secret that I have been keeping all this time."
He could feel the tension in the air, Luffy was standing behind Usopp as he said "You see, Juice's decided to get his old name back, the name that he had before he was adopted, Monkey. D. Luffy." As soon he said those words he tore off the chunk of meat that he was holding this whole time, making a noise of skin being ripped off, right beside Usopp's ears.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed at the top of his lungs, which made Nami, Chopper, Brook, Sanji and Franky scream as well. Sanji went to rescue Nami the second he heard her in distress while Franky fell off his chair from the shock, but mostly because Sanji pushed him out of his way to get to Nami. Robin looked stunned and kept her eyes wide open. And as for Zoro, he actually grabbed onto his sword. After the bloody screams have died down everybody could hear Luffy laughing.
"Shishishishi I got you guys!"
Everybody looked at Luffy, he laughed even harder now and started rolling on his back.
"The story is fake I- Hahaha, I made it all up." Luffy said. But while laughing, the peace of meat that was still in his mouth got caught in his throat and he started choking on it.
Nami was pissed and pushed the caring Sanji out of her way only to give Luffy a piece of her mind, she hit him so hard on his head that he bounced off the ship and into the water as if he was a rubber ball.
Zoro let loose of his sword and cursing lightly, hating the fact that their captain's tale has gotten inside of his head. He took a few seconds to clear his mind before diving into the water after Luffy.
Chopper was waiting for Zoro to come back with their captain, and when they did Chopper proceeded on doing CPR only to dislodge the piece of meat that was still in Luffy's throat.
"Are you okay Luffy?" Chopper said worriedly.
"Shishishi, I really scared you guy didn't I." Luffy kept laughing. And Nami got more pissed, fire coming out of her eyes as she went off to chase after Luffy, but lucky for him, he saw her coming and got all of his energy back and started to run away.
The rest of the crew only stared at the chaos that was going on with Nami and was amused by the chase, but some of them were worried about Luffy's life.
"Man, that was one hell of a story, I never thought he had it in him," Usopp said while standing with the rest of the crew watching the boy run in circles around the ship.
"I mean I didn't think it was possible for Luffy to be able to come up with such a gruesome story." Franky answered back.
At this point of the conversation the rubber men was unfortunately caught by Nami and was receiving furious punishment. Even Chopper, the doctor of the ship was afraid of Nami and told himself that he will check on Luffy after Nami was finished. He just hoped that their captain will live until then.
"Isn't it strange?" Robin started "While thinking about it, Luffy's capacity on lying is lower than the ocean itself. Even if it is a story, for Luffy to come up with it is very surprising."
"What are you trying to imply?" Zoro said. He didn't like where this was going.
"I was just thinking that maybe he was telling an honest story. One of which he actually became a cannibal at a young age. Or…"
"Or what? It's not possible for Luffy to do something like that right? What is the other explanation!" Usopp started to shiver.
"Or he learned how to lie."
Everyone knew that Luffy can't lie, but can he actually be a cannibal? For a boy with a stomach made of a black hole, I guess it would be possible.
"This can't be real." Sanji was now the one that was starting to get a sick feeling.
But all confusion ended as Nami walked towards them, giving her own thought on the whole situation as she was obviously listening in to their conversation. "Or… He was told the same story before by another person and reused it on us." She looked at Robin "What were you trying to do, scare them?"
"Sorry Nami, I was just having fun." She said as she smiled.
"Well, I'm going off to bed, you guy better keep it down." She walked into her room. Slamming the door behind her.
"Oh, how Nami-san looks beautiful when she's mad!" And weirdly enough the cook didn't get a disgusting glare from Zoro since he was staring at his captain, that was now being healed by Chopper.
"Is something worrying you?"
Zoro turned to look at the black-haired woman.
"It's, nothing." He said. Walking away to find a place to sit. But Robin knew what was on his mind. The hints that Luffy gave while telling his tale gave doubt to the swordsman and her. The fact that Luffy said 'True story' in the beginning while having a straight face is suspicious enough, but then he started telling the story as if he saw those events himself. And she was sure that Zoro saw something on Luffy that she missed.
Zoro, on the other hand, hated to thinking of his captain in such a way, but he can't get the image out of his mind. The look of satisfaction and no regrets appeared on Luffy's face as he talked about how he was still hungry. It was the face of a killer, but he knows that Luffy was no murderer. Then why? Why was he thinking this way? It felt so wrong. But he guessed he could always ask Luffy, as he saw the wounded boy walking in his direction.
"Hey, Luffy!"
Luffy turned to face Zoro. "Hey, Zoro!" He was all bandaged up now.
"Luffy, about your story…"
"Shishishi, it was good wasn't it. It was hilarious seeing you guys freak out like that."
"First off, I didn't 'freak out!'" He said with a scary tone. "And Second…" He got calmer now, realizing he didn't know how to ask his question.
"Luffy… Even if you say that Juice doesn't exist does not mean that he didn't in the past. You know you don't have to hide anything from us right? That we will stay by your side no matter what."
"Zoro, I know my story was creepy but I didn't think it would have affected you. Besides, I know that it's bad and I don't do it anymore."
And just like that, the straw hat boy walked away to join with the others around the fire.
(I don't do it anymore). Those words lingered in Zoro's mind? He looked at the raven-haired boy one last time, he was playing with Chopper, Brook, Usopp, and Franky as they were all dancing around the fire.
"Does it really matter?" Zoro asked himself. "He is my captain, he saved my life, all of our life's. But still, He'll keep a close eye on him."
