Chapter Text
The crew had been sailing on the Grandline for years now. Champions of the New World sailing under the banner of one of the Four Emperors, and very nearly the King of the Pirates. With the prints of the Four Road Poneglyhs in their possesion and Robin working alongside Nami to chart their course it was only a matter of time before the crew finally saw their captain to Laugh Tale. The weather on this stretch of the New World was strange though; bursts of gale force winds followed by eery calm and flashes of wide sheet lightning setting fire to the sky. Hale and rain fell in sheets and snow floated down in air so still the sails rest lifeless on the mast.
“I just don’t understand it!” Nami cried as she slipped a parka over her bikini top for the third time that day “There’s no rhyme or reason to these weather patterns! With these jumps and falls in temperature it’s a wonder we haven’t run in to a full-blown cyclone!”
The weather so far today had been warm enough to leave poor Chopper panting uncomfortably in the shade of one of the Sunny’s trees, but the winds had changed yet again and brought with them a small flurry of snow. Sanji had been quick to rush inside with the promise of hot beverages for the ‘lovely ladies~’. To be fair, the whole crew – minus Luffy and Zoro of course, the pair of fools – had kept their winter gear close at hand for the inevitable turn in the weather.
Robin slips on her own jacket with a thoughtful hum. “The air does feel particularly heavy here, doesn’t it? Ah, thank you Sanji-kun.”
“Not at all Robin-chan! Anything to keep you lovely ladies comfortable!” Sanji croons as he twirls over to deliver a second hot cocoa to Nami where she stands peering out over the railing.
“Thank you Sanji-kun.” Nami, accepts her drink with a tired smile. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to figure out or cart these changes in the weather – I can normally give you better warning…”
Sanji shakes his head with a smile. “Don’t worry yourself my sweet mellorine! You are the best navigator and weather woman in all four blues – if anyone can figure it out it will be you! In the meantime, take a small break and enjoy your cocoa it’s made with the last of the cream from our stores! The Sunny won’t fall apart if your put your feet up for a few minutes.”
With the ladies suitably cared for Sanji steps back into the kitchen to serve up some decidedly less fancy cocoa for the boys.
Down on the lawn deck, Franky and Usopp are packing away the clock they’d been fiddling with before the weather turned again.
“This is SUUUUPER weird…” Franky mutters as he packs away tiny tools and wraps polished wood in a protective cloth.
Usopp nods in agreement, brow furrowed in confusion still as he hefts the bag of tools up to take back down to the workshop. “Are you sure none of the gears were tilted at a weird angle? We did have a really rough time with that last storm – maybe something got knocked loose?”
Now, it should be said that Usopp normally sticks to the invention and production of his unique projectiles and the small garden he shares with Robin, but when Franky is working on something particularly complicated or cool, he doesn’t mind lending a hand. He wouldn’t normally involve himself in such a routine repair, but this was just plain weird!
“Nope, everything looked absolutely super on the inside.” Franky uses his tiny hand to scratch his chin, “It’s like the gears want to turn clockwise but the hands are being forced counterclockwise!”
Sanji sidles up behind the pair, and his curiosity gets the better of him as he sets down his tray of mugs. “What, so like – the clock is turning backwards?”
Shipwright and Sharpshooter both pause in packing up the seemingly broken clock to accept their drinks.
“Seems like it.” Franky confirms with a shrug, heaving the heavy grandfather clock under one arm like it weighed nothing.
Sanji stares at the ominous white bundle in confusion, following them as they headed toward the entrance to Franky's workshop. “What would be causing that?”
The pair pause before shrugging helplessly. “Maybe there’s a strong magnetic field nearby? Only thing I can think of…” Usopp scratches the tip of his long nose.
“You might be on to something with that idea bro!” Franky seems to brighten at the suggestion, pausing to shout up at the second floor. “HEY NAMI! ARE WE PASSING BY ANY ISLANDS WITH A CRAZY STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD RIGHT NOW?!”
“We shouldn’t be, we’re still at least a week out from Laugh Tale, and the nearest Island is more than three weeks behind us!” Nami looked down at the log pose with a frown. “AH! The damn thing is spinning like a top! It wasn’t like this a few minutes ago!!”
“We can’t have possibly stumbled across another island this close to Laugh Tale – unless we’re terribly off course that is…” Robin muses, looking up from the book she’d been reading.
Nami looked ready to cry, or maybe tear her hair out in frustration. “That can’t be it! I’ve followed your directions to a T! We spent weeks pouring over these plans they can’t be wrong!”
Sanji looked torn as to what to do – the girls usually got along so well; he wasn’t sure how to handle his lovely ladies having a spat! – when Jinbei called their attention to the helm.
“Ms. Nami – it looks as though we’re about to have another turn in the weather!” Jinbei calls from his post and the crew looks up to see a raging storm cell just up ahead. In all the stress, no one had noticed the snow slowly turning to hail, and the winds increasing steadily around them until they stood right on the edge of a visible divide in weather.
“Oh, not now! Sanji fetch Zoro we’ll need all hands on deck!” A flash of blinding sheet lightening lit the sky half a second before a deafening crash shook the Sunny. Hail and rain began to fall over the ship and freeze in an icy sheet over the deck. “Franky, Usopp! Strike the royals!”
The boys set down the clock and tools and rushed to obey Nami’s command – the wind was really howling now. Another crack of thunder reverberated, and Zoro came rushing out of the crow’s nest to help before Sanji could fully make it up the ladder.
He hops down to the deck and begins to furl the sails, hauling the halyard with bulging muscles. “Nami! What are we doing just charging right into this thing!” He yells, shivering lightly as the hail pelts his skin.
“Stupid mosshead, don’t question Nami-swan’s judgement!” Sanji launches himself off the ladder after the swordsman and very nearly kicks him in the head.
“Can you two morons focus!” Nami shouts angrily. “There’s no time to avoid it Zoro – the Sunny is more than strong enough to make it through a storm like this! Now just help Sanji to furl those sails!” Hail continued to pelt the crew as they rushed about to get the Sunny ready to face the storm.
Brook slips and nearly goes overboard, but Chopper quickly shifts into Heavypoint and grabs the back of his shirt. “Everybody please be careful! The deck seems to be extra slick right now!” He calls over the wind as the last bit of rigging is secured, only to shriek in rage when he see’s Luffy dangling precariously from the Sunny’s figurehead. “LUFFY! GET DOWN FROM THERE!!”
“YAHOO! JIMBEI! LET’S SURF THAT ONE!” Luffy seemed utterly unperturbed as the ship lurched over a wave, arms stretching to keep him secured to the Sunny as he catches air. “WOOHOO!”
Jinbei firms his stance, and his eyes glint with determination and excitement. “I will try my best Captain!”
The wave that was bearing down on them was at least triple the size of the surge of molten candy that Perospero had sent after them during their escape from Big Mom and her children.
“You want us to surf that massive wave?!” Usopp turns between the wave and their helmsman with a look of horror. “WHAT? NO! THAT’S A TERRIBLE IDEA!”
“We don’t really have much of a choice Usopp! Take us through Jimbei!” Nami shouts as she grabs hold of the slick railing to steady herself and Chopper follows suit.
“Somebody get Luffy down before he falls!” The reindeer yells, sticking close to Nami.
Brook hunkers down against the trees on the lawn deck, laughing giddily. “Yohohoho! This is going to be fun!”
“Hold on to something everyone!” Robin smiles, grabbing hold of Franky as he anchors himself near the main mast.
Luffy howls with excitement even as he allows Zoro and Sanji to haul him back behind the rail of the deck. “YAHOO!”
A flash of blinding light washes over them as the Sunny crashes into the wave.