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“That’s amazing!!” Usopp shrieks.
“Are you a genius?!” Luffy screeches at him.
“Eh heh heh.”
Of course, Zoro chooses to ruin his moment by reminding them that they are all still in imminent danger. Marimo picks the worst times to be reasonable and logical. Probably he’s just jealous.
But he forgives Zoro two minutes later, because the awesome cannonball slingshot they just improvised with Luffy was pretty fucking sweet, even if Usopp does think they’re monsters. (They are, but he doesn’t have to be rude about it.)
With Nami at the helm, Merry carries them effortlessly through a storm of cannonballs and a treacherous terrain of whirlpools and eddies. And even he has to admit that Franky’s Coup de Vent is rather epic.
All in all, it’s the single greatest getaway in the history of pirating. They are unscathed and untouchable. They’re the gang of kids who stood and defied the World Government, spat in its face and told Mariejois to step the fuck off. And they lived to tell the tale because a nakama was there waiting for them in the end.
They skirt around the edges of the last of the whirlpools, and the sudden movement throws him against Merry’s railing. It’s then that he sees the cracks in her wood, long and deep and already splintering. He knew what to expect, but the shock of loss that goes through him still makes his heart ache.
“Thank you,” he whispers, hand pressed to her deck. “This last one belongs to you.”
A final triumph. Make it count.