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Law groaned as he woke up, “…What happened?”
“You overdid it. Again, according to Luffy,” Chopper said.
“…That tells me nothing,” Law said as Chopper passed him a cup of coffee. “We were fighting the Big Mom Pirates, right? Some of them?”
“Yeah and then this jerk called Hody Jones got involved and that weird guy Vander Decken threw a giant ship at the island!” Chopper said. “Well, at Shirahoshi. Who was on the…anyway you were using Tact to stall it. After a bunch of other fighting.”
“That shouldn’t have knocked me out,” Law complained.
“And then the ship started falling because Decken got knocked out and you caught it,” Chopper said. “With a Room like…three times the size of Fishman Island.”
“That obviously should have knocked me out,” Law corrected, doing the math in his head for the volume of that sort of Room.
“Yep. Luffy’s mad at you.”
“I’m sorry I got the volume wrong and knocked myself out,” Law said dryly. “It was kind of a hectic day and I was tired, so I overestimated…did the ship hit anyone?”
“No, Princess Shirahoshi summoned Sea Kings to stop it.”
“…The mermaid princess summoned Sea Kings to do her bidding and I missed it on account of passing out?” Law groaned.
“You deserved to miss it.”
Law sighed ruefully, “Hello, Luffy-ya.”
Luffy was in the doorway, arms folded and a frown on his face, “Don’t do that again, Traffy.”
“Luffy-ya, exhaustion is a natural side-effect of my abilities, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to be tired after using them excessively,” Law said.
“But not to where you pass out in the middle of a fight!” Luffy said.
“I wasn’t thinking,” Law admitted.
“Darn right you weren’t. Don’t do that, you’re good at thinking,” Luffy said, nudging him over so he could sit on the cot.
“I’m sorry,” Law said sincerely.
“Good…can’t you guys do something about that, anyway?” Luffy asked.
“What do you mean?” Chopper asked back.
“Well, can’t you guys come up with something to fix that problem?” Luffy said.
“We did,” Law said. “I can take an energy booster…which will simply knock me out worse once it wears off. So again, my old habit of trying to be careful and save energy is the best bet.”
“Until you get reckless,” Luffy said.
“Hello pot, I’m kettle,” Law said flatly.
“…What?” Luffy asked.
“He’s saying you’re a hypocrite because you’re even more reckless,” Chopper said.
“Exactly,” Law said. “Like, I don’t know, going out into the ocean to fight when you are a Fruit User?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t end up passed out, just a bit handicapped,” Luffy said. “I still kicked tons of ass.”
“So did I! Did you not notice the multiple dismembered members of the Big Mom Pirates?” Law asked.
“Hmph. Still mad at you,” Luffy huffed.
“I’m sorry I worried you. You’re going to probably give me a heart attack by the end of the week, though, so we’ll be even by then anyway,” Law said. “No point in staying mad.”
“…Yeah,” Luffy admitted. “Yeah, okay.”
“So…it’s over then?” Law asked, leaning on Luffy.
“It’s…actually not,” Luffy grumbled. “We handled Hody and his guys fine but Marco and Ace and Jozu and the main Big Mom Pirates’ fight was getting too big.”
“…How much of the city did Ace set on fire?” Law asked.
“Not that much, Marco did worse when he got knocked into a building in full-phoenix mode,” Luffy said. “But we’re settling it with a Davy Back fight so we don’t destroy the thing we’re fighting for, except it’s for the island instead of new crew members.”
“…Which the Big Mom Pirates have an advantage in since while we have three captains, theirs isn’t even here to capture,” Chopper sighed. “But we needed you to wake up to participate, Law.”
“We’re gonna cheat!” Luffy declared. “Well…not cheat, but let the rules work for us.”
“…Explain,” Law decided.
“Your Shambles thing. You and I are going to play the ball game, they can’t catch me as our ball and you can teleport theirs into their ring!” Luffy said. “We’ll be done really fast!”
Law nodded, “I could just pick a stone or something in the ring to switch them with, good plan…shit, you had a plan.”
“I know!” Luffy said, beaming.
“…That is incredibly attractive,” Law admitted.
“Of course it would be scheming that got you heart-eyed,” Chopper muttered. “Bepo owes me sixty belli…”
“What did Bepo think it would be?” Luffy snickered as Law blushed and tugged his hat down over his eyes.
“You punching Doflamingo in the face,” Chopper said.
“That’s not heart eyes, that’s several hours of cuddling worth,” Luffy decided. “Got that, Traffy?”
“Duly noted,” Law muttered, going redder.
.o.o.o.
“Why is this taking so long?” Haruta complained.
“We’re letting both sides recover a bit…hopefully Law will be up by now,” Ace said.
He, Haruta, and Jozu were all mildly banged up. Izo was a bit worse, though the bruises were quickly being covered by makeup. Marco, of course, looked infuriatingly fine. Stupid sexy healing blue phoenix fire…
“Yeah, that switcharoo power of his will be good for the ball game…” Haruta said. “So…we can’t do the boat race since this place is already underwater…”
“We’re playing the hit and dead ball game first,” Jozu said.
“Oh shit, I hated that one,” Ace muttered.
“When were you in a Davy Back fight?” Izo asked, fixing his mascara.
“Against the Foxy Pirates, once. It went into overtime, twice, because Luffy was an idiot,” Ace said.
“But why would you hate a dodging game? You’re a Logia, you’re pretty hard to hit as is,” Haruta said.
“Oh, no, I did fine,” Ace said. “It was just frustrating watching other people get hit when they should have dodged…”
“Temper, Ace,” Marco scolded.
“Sorry, memories,” Ace said. It had been a little stressful, losing crew members, getting them back, getting the wrong person back, restarting… “It was stressful.”
“Only thing we have to worry about is losing someone temporarily in the first round, right?” Haruta asked. “I mean, we’ll get them back in the second with Law’s ability, so…”
“Unless they pick Law,” Izo mused. “Unlikely, taking a rookie over one of us, but…”
“We talked about it,” Law said coming over. “Technically they just can ask my profession, which is captain and surgeon. Nothing about that indicates my other abilities.”
“They’d better not pick Traffy,” Luffy said stubbornly.
“Aw, little brother hates sharing as much as big brother,” Marco said, wrapping an arm around Ace’s shoulders and kissing his cheek.
“I’m not possessive!” Ace said.
“Just needy,” Haruta whispered to Luffy, who snickered.
“Hey!” Ace said.
“Haruta, don’t upset the captain’s boyfriend, it’s bad for family morale,” Izo said.
“I am not needy!” Ace said.
“You’re the good kind of needy, I like being needed,” Marco said, pulling him into a hug.
“You’re lucky I love you,” Ace muttered, letting his fire flare up a bit in irritation anyway, knowing it wouldn’t really hurt Marco.
“So, are we ready for this?” Law asked.
“Depends, you all right? You blacked out on us,” Izo said, folding his arms.
“I’m fine,” Law said tersely.
“He just gets overconfident with the ‘oh, I can control objects and shit’ thing,” Ace said.
“Fire Fist, please remember that I know where you sleep,” Law said.
“Please remember I’ll cook you if you try anything,” Ace replied.
“Ace, no cooking my boyfriend!” Luffy complained.
“He started it!” Ace said.
“You insulted me first,” Law said.
“I’m going with Law is ready,” Izo said.
“Seems like it,” Haruta agreed as Marco and Luffy both rolled their eyes and held their boyfriends apart to stop them from fighting.
“I think we should call them Sanji and Zoro two-point-oh: this time without sexual tension,” Sabo said.
“Why would I like Scrawny over there?” Ace demanded, only to suddenly duck a punch from Luffy. “Hey!”
“I like how he looks!” Luffy snapped. Law bushed, looking surprised.
“Okay, okay, nobody fight…” Marco sighed, separating the brothers. “Come on, we’ll be starting soon.”
Over with the Big Mom Pirates, Pekoms said to no one in particular, “These people scare me…”
.o.o.o.
“Luffy-ya, stop laughing so hard. They’re already upset at losing,” Law said.
“No way! I mean, first, there’s the looks on their faces!” Luffy howled as the Big Mom Pirates continued to look stunned at Law’s instant win via ball-teleportation. “And second, you don’t even mean it anyway!”
“True,” Law admitted. “Still, we should clear the field for the third round.”
“That was cheap!” one of their opponents yelled. Law flipped him off, already walking away and not even turning around as he made the gesture over his shoulder.
“You’re just jealous! Nyeh!” Luffy said, making a face before tackle-hugging Law from behind.
“Thanks for that!” Law hissed angrily, just barely managing to avoid a face-plant by grabbing Jinbe’s arm.
“Shishishi, my bad!” Luffy said. “Thanks for being there, Jinbe!”
“You’re welcome,” Jinbe said, helping Law remove the younger captain from his back. “Please be careful with your ally, though. You’re going to break his back, one day.”
“I keep telling him that. Never sticks,” Law sighed.
“Oh, but it’s cute!” Izo teased.
“Yeah, tell that to my spine!” Law complained, only to immediately soften a fraction when Luffy gave him a normal hug. “…You both saw nothing.”
“Of course,” Jinbe chuckled. “Luffy, do you know where Sabo is? The other Sun Pirates are looking for him.”
“Oh, is it time for you guys to threaten him?” Luffy asked.
“You know?” Jinbe asked, laughing.
“Lots of us made bets. I think Usopp just won,” Law said. “We’ll handle it after the games.”
“Well, Marco, you’re up,” Ace said as the head member of the present Big Mom Pirates stepped into the ring.
“Just remember,” Vista said. “You don’t just have to beat him—you have to crush him.”
Marco smirked and rolled his shoulders, “Finally, yoi. I’ve been waiting for this for way too long.”
.o.o.o.
Five minutes later
“Jeez, Ace, reign it in,” Sabo muttered.
“What?” Ace asked. “I’m just watching the fight.”
“You could not look more hot and bothered if you tried,” Haruta said.
“So? I find that…very…very attractive,” Ace said, eyes intently following Marco as he swept his opponent back with a flaming wing.
“And he’s gone,” Nami sighed as Sabo rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of Ace’s face, causing his brother to jerk back and also try to punch him before Luffy intervened.
“Don’t do that!” Ace complained as Luffy wrestled his arm down.
“You were hypnotized by your boyfriend’s plumage. I was snapping you out of it,” Sabo said, utterly deadpan. Namur started snickering.
“The fuck are you saying that out loud for?” Ace demanded, tossing Luffy back to his seat with Chopper, Law, Bepo, and Shirahoshi.
“Because it’s true?” Nami asked.
“Your brother is…very focused,” Shirahoshi said.
“Ace is a weirdo,” Law said idly as Bepo, who had caught Luffy, put him back on their ledge.
“I heard that!” Ace yelled.
“I still don’t care!” Law replied, looping an arm around Luffy’s shoulders.
“Traffy, be nice.”
“I’m never nice, Luffy-ya,” Law said.
“You’re cuddling with your boyfriend, a fluffy polar bear, and a tiny deer,” Luffy said. “While on a ledge so we can chill with a mermaid princess. Your ‘rawr I’m scary and creepy’ cred died a long time ago, Traffy.”
Law glared at him, making Chopper, Bepo, and Shirahoshi flinch.
“I think he’s still very scary,” Shirahoshi offered.
“Thank you,” Law said sincerely.
“Weirdo!” Ace yelled. Law flipped him off.
“That one gets a lot of mileage out of his middle fingers, huh?” Izo asked.
“It’s a signature,” Nami said, shrugging. “Like Sabo tipping his hat or Franky yelling Super or Sanji professing his love to any woman he meets.”
“Your chef’s an odd one,” Izo said, before sharply frowning. “That was a low blow you fucking bastard! Marco, rip that cheat in half already!”
“Somebody’s bloodthirsty,” Robin said.
“Izo gets caught up in the heat of the moment kind of easily,” Jozu agreed.
“Well he’s just toying with him now anyway!” Izo complained.
“There, there, I’m sure Marco is just making a point,” Bentham said.
“That he can utterly stomp this asshole into the dirt?” Koala asked.
“And only isn’t because he doesn’t feel like it,” Ace said, beaming.
“…I’m going to go ask Jinbe if there’s…you know, somewhere fireproof for you two to get it on after this,” Koala said slowly.
“Good luck on that,” Sabo said.
“We are not that bad!” Ace said. Every other pirate gave him an unimpressed look. “Okay…so…are we?”
“Yes,” Penguin said.
“Unbearably so,” Sanji added. “As the crew of the Scalpel keeps telling you: heat transfers.”
“Chopper and I did some fighting in a pretty wet, rocky area, so maybe that would work…” Shachi offered. “Was kinda like a pit…”
“I hate you all,” Ace declared.
“Stay put, Marco’s room is perfectly fireproof,” Izo said, taking Koala’s arm. “Zoans like to sleep in animal form sometimes and well…”
“Doesn’t want to set his ‘nest’ ablaze?” Koala asked dryly, sitting back down.
“Wait, then why have you two never fucked there?” Sabo asked accusingly.
“Because all our dates before I was in East Blue were chaperoned and it was easier to screw in a closet or the beach?” Ace asked.
“…Wait…was that why there were all those glass shards on the Red Trident?” Sabo asked, cringing.
“Maybe,” Ace said, turning bright red as Marco knocked his opponent out of the ring almost as an afterthought. “YES! Finally!”
“I’ll say,” Haruta said.
Shirahoshi helped Luffy, Chopper, Bepo, and Law off the ledge as everyone else ran over to congratulate Marco.
“Nice job,” Law said as Marco was mobbed by his brothers.
“Thanks,” Marco said.
“That. Was. Awesome,” Luffy added as Ace finally got his turn and nearly tackled Marco with an over-enthusiastic hug.
“Gives us a good bar to reach for,” Law added.
“Party now, plot later,” Luffy said, rapping Law’s head.
“If you insist—okay, get a room!” Law demanded as Ace and Marco started making out.
“Come on,” Jozu said, taking the younger captains by the shoulders. “Let’s go chat with Pekoms, get this finished.”
“Anything to not look at that,” Luffy muttered grumpily.
The lion-turtle Mink looked nervous as his cohort—badly beaten—was dragged back to their ship, “Mama’s not going to like this…”
“Not our problem,” Law said.
“You know she’s going to aim for you as soon as you’re away from the Phoenix, right?” Pekoms pointed out.
“We’ll handle it,” Luffy said confidently.
Jozu nodded, “And remember, you go after our allies for no good reason and we will find out. As will Red Haired Shanks.”
“Mama’s not concerned with that kind of thing,” Pekoms said, waving a paw. “There has to be something profitable in it. Messing with you lunatics just to get you back is not that.”
Luffy, Law, and Jozu shared a look. Luffy shrugged, “We’ll take it.”
“Good. Um…pleasure doing business with you. Captain Law…can I speak to your crewmate?”
“What?” Law asked.
“My fellow Mink. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one,” Pekoms said.
“I suppose if Bepo’s all right with it,” Law said, shrugging as he waved Bepo over. “Upset him and we’ll have problems.”
“No, no, just want to chat about Zou with someone who knows!” Pekoms said.
“Oh yeah, the island of awesome animal people like Bepo,” Luffy said. “…We need to visit, Traffy.”
“I’ll look into it,” Law said, shaking his head.
“Zou’s a nice place,” Jozu said. “Went once when I was a kid.”
“It really is,” Pekoms said as Bepo finally reached them. “Hey fellow Mink, how you doing?”
“…Okay?” Bepo offered, giving Law a look that clearly communicated he did not know what he was here for.
“Great!” Pekoms said. “How long since you’ve been home?”
“Oh, a long time. Ten years,” Bepo said.
“Darn, hoped you might have news…” Pekoms sighed. Luffy, Law, and Jozu left them to it, rejoining some of their crewmates.
“Lovebirds run off?” Jozu asked.
“Yeah, they headed back to the ship with Izo,” Haruta said. “He wanted to change clothes for the party.”
“Well let’s hope Ace and Marco don’t miss the party!” Luffy said.
“Is that an option?” Law asked.
Luffy and Usopp gave him looks to let him know he wasn’t funny.
“And don’t worry, Sanji went with the other chefs, he’ll tell them how much you eat,” Usopp said, elbowing Luffy teasingly.
“Great! I hate being hungry! Or having to share!” Luffy said.
“You can say that again,” Law said.
They hung out for a few minutes, only to be interrupted as a flustered Izo, now clad in a much more ornate kimono, came back over.
“What happened?” Jozu asked.
“Nothing much. I merely forgot…when things heat up, those two…heat up,” Izo said.
“Oh god. How sappy did it get this time?” Usopp asked, clutching his heart.
“It was literally painful,” Izo said, fanning himself. “The puns. The temperature puns!”
“Ugh, I hate it when they do that,” Luffy sighed.
“It’s like they get so horny their brains melt until they screw,” Jozu said.
“Is that a thing?” Luffy asked Law.
“Yes; it’s called cooties,” Law said sarcastically. Luffy punched him in the arm. “You asked.”
“And you were a jerk,” Luffy replied. “…Still better than that time Ace was tipsy and called Marco ‘pretty bird’. Remember that, Haruta?”
“Man, I didn’t know if Marco was going to peck his eyes out or what for a few seconds there…” Haruta laughed. “And then they necked for like ten minutes. Weirdos.”
“All the best pirates are weirdos. Look at the two good Emperors: Shanks is a party animal and
our old man had over a thousand kids,” Jozu said.
“So our brothers being way too into each other is a sign they are destined for greatness?” Izo asked.
“Why not?” Luffy asked.
“Eh, I’ll buy it,” Usopp said. “Bad puns for the sake of innuendo isn’t so awful a quirk to have. Who cares if the puns are criminal, we’re pirates.”
“Exactly!” Luffy said. “…Still uncomfortable, though.”
“Oh, definitely,” Law agreed.
.o.o.o.
“You okay?” Koala asked.
“You know, after the ninth Sun Pirate gives you the fifth degree, you start getting numb to it,” Sabo joked.
“Damn it, we’ll have to do better,” Aladdin said.
“Oh, please don’t,” Koala groaned.
“I’m fine!” Sabo laughed. “Most of this is the same stuff I told Law over Luffy, anyway.”
“Even the drowning thing?” Hatchan asked.
“Law’s a Fruit User, drowning threats were the first ones Shanks and I covered,” Sabo said. “Though we didn’t have anything involving anemones, those were cool.”
“I know my ocean life,” Sham, the killer whale fishman, bragged.
“Electric eels would have been better!” Aladdin argued.
“No they would not!” Koala said.
“How much of a charge do those even have?” Sabo asked.
“Stop participating!” Koala told him.
“Oh come on, it’s fun!” Sabo said, hissing as Koala grabbed him by the ear.
“…I think she’s got this,” one Sun Pirate said.
“And Jinbe’s going to be with them anyway, so…” Hatchan admitted.
“Koala, your boyfriend passes, let him out of the headlock,” Aladdin said.
“Oh. Good,” Koala said, letting Sabo go and dropping into his lap. “So, Jinbe, you’re coming with us, right?”
“With Big Mom pushed out, looks like it,” Jinbe agreed.
“Would you rather sleep on a ship or a submarine?” Sabo asked.
“Is there any reasoning to who goes where?” Jinbe asked.
“Not really,” Koala admitted. “Everyone just kind of goes where they want.
“Hmm. I’ll have to look into both, then,” Jinbe said. “Make an educated decision.”
.o.o.o.
“That was good,” Ace panted.
“Yeah,” Marco said, propping himself up on one arm and letting his eyes rake over Ace’s body. “You have no idea how much I want to keep you here.”
“Like I don’t want to keep you?” Ace asked. “I’m a D, we can be pretty selfish.”
“Well, I love you Fire Fist, but I’m not crazy enough to work for your madman of a little brother,” Marco said.
“Nah, that’s fine. Sometimes I don’t feel crazy enough to work for him,” Ace said.
“Oh?” Marco asked, grinning. “Well, then there’s always an opening-”
“I said sometimes, birdbrain,” Ace said, rolling his eyes.
“Hey, some birds are incredibly intelligent,” Marco protested, winding his fingers through Ace’s hair, watching as the strands turned to red wisps of flame as he summoned blue fire to his own hand.
“Phoenixes one of them? I mean, you heal instantly, do phoenixes even need to develop basic survival instinct?” Ace asked.
Marco tugged on his hair a bit, “Phoenixes are plenty smart, leave it there.”
“I’ll think about it. But I’m not joining your crew,” Ace said.
“Pity,” Marco said. “But I’ll live with it.”
“I want to see it,” Ace confessed. “Raftel. One Piece. I want to know what he had that he hid so well.”
“I’m curious too,” Marco admitted. “It’ll be an interesting treasure, that’s for sure.”
“Why’d Whitebeard never try for it?” Ace asked.
“Didn’t want it. He had what he wanted,” Marco said, smiling softly. “His family.”
“Lucky guy, getting his dream like that. Keeping it,” Ace said.
“And what will you do after your crew finds Raftel and One Piece? When Luffy’s King of the Pirates?” Marco asked.
“You really think it’s a when?” Ace asked.
“I don’t think there’s anything that would stop you lot, just slow you down now and then,” Marco said. “But you didn’t answer me.”
“Hard to say, some stuff makes it soud like the world’s getting turned on its ear more and more every day. But after we find it, maybe…maybe then I might come back to stay,” Ace said. “With you.”
“Got to help your family first. I understand,” Marco said.
“It’s not just that,” Ace said. “You…you’re Phoenix Marco. You’re one of the strongest pirates alive and I need to prove to myself that I can stand beside you, for real.”
“You already could,” Marco said. “You’re stronger than you realize, and besdes, strength has nothing to do with it. I want you there. That’s what matters.”
Ace blushed deeply and Marco shook his head.
“I know you don’t see yourself like that,” Marco added. “But I do. I’ll be waiting til you do find One Piece…and I get to have you stay.”
He kissed Ace gently before pulling back, “Now. We have a party to get to, yoi.”
.o.o.o.
Luffy frowned. They’d headed back to their ships to get ready for the party, but Law was taking forever. What if other people ate the best meat?
“Traffy!” he called, wandering the Scalpel after performing a full search of the Sunny. “Come on! We’ve got to get to the party!”
A loud “shh!” came from the communications room. Luffy bounded inside. “Hi, Traffy!”
Law pointed to the snail with an annoyed look, covering the speaker. Oh, he was talking with someone.
“What’s up?” Luffy asked quietly.
Law looked worried, “It’s Cora-san.”
“Your dad?” Luffy asked.
Law nodded, looking like he was going to hang up at any second.
Luffy wanted to shake his head. Law could be so silly sometimes. He snatched the receiver, “This is Monkey D. Luffy! I’m going to be King of the Pirates!”
“Luffy-ya!” Law hissed.
“…This is Donquixote Rocinante and I could have sworn I was speaking with my son.”
“Yeah, Traffy’s here,” Luffy said. “What do you want?”
“Give me that!” Law said reaching for the speaker.
Luffy stepped back, “No.”
“Luffy-ya, this is not the time!” Law said.
“Sure it is! Hi Law’s dad!”
“Luffy-ya!”
“Stop fighting!” Law’s dad snapped.
Huh, Law’s dad really did sound like a dad. It reminded Luffy of Benn.
“…Our bad,” Luffy offered. He ignored the grip Law had on the front of his shirt.
“Sorry, Cora-san,” Law said, shooting Luffy a glare. “Luffy-ya…”
Luffy shrugged apologetically. Law rolled his eyes and let go of his shirt. Luffy dropped into the chair next to him so they could share the receiver.
“Where were we?” Law asked.
“Kuzan and I were hoping to meet with you. I had a mutually beneficial idea to take out Doffy and increase your crews’ reputation…reputations? Are you two crews or one?”
“Uh…” Luffy said.
“Yes,” Law said.
The snail’s eyes narrowed speculatively, “That’s not an answer.”
“Yes it is, Cora-san,” Law said. “I answered yes.”
“We maybe need to look into it,” Luffy admitted.
“Yeah, later,” Law said. “Where did you want to meet?”
“I was thinking…wait, which side of the Grand Line are you on?”
Law blanched, “Give me a sec. We’ll call back.”
Luffy frowned as Law hung up. “…What was that?”
“Do we tell him?”
“That we’re in the New World, sure,” Luffy said. “Grand Line’s a big place, not like that’s going to let anyone catch us…oh.”
Law nodded, “What if it’s a trap?”
Luffy stood up and hugged Law, who leaned his head against Luffy’s chest. “Okay, Traffy, explain.”
“This could be a huge mistake,” Law said. “Cora-san…my father is a spy. This, them leaving the Marines…it could be a trap. He faked being a pirate for years once.”
“Traffy, think. You’re smart so think,” Luffy said, ruffling his hair. “And tell me: would your dad lie to you like this?”
He could see Law working through it, but Luffy already knew the answer.
“No,” Law said. “Not like this.”
“Then let’s go see what they want!” Luffy said brightly. “No problem!”
“Luffy-ya, I can’t just drag everyone into my personal matters,” Law said.
“Sure you can. A bunch of us dragged ourselves after Ace for Marinford, didn’t we?” Luffy asked. “Heck, I dragged you into it, you need to get even!”
“‘Get even’ is not the right phrase…” Law chuckled. “Take my turn, maybe?”
“Sure, that!” Luffy said. “Besides, they have ideas about taking on Mingo!”
“Right,” Law said, redialing. “We’re in the New World.”
“Close to the Red Line or not? Well, actually, just name somewhere you can get to, Kuzan can bike pretty much anywhere,” Law’s dad said.
“…Is one of our navigators on board?” Luffy asked.
“Nami’s in the bar,” Law said.
Luffy leaned into the hall, “NAMI, WE NEED YOU IN HERE!”
“Thanks, my ears needed that,” Law said.
“You’ll forgive me,” Luffy said. Law frowned at him as Nami showed up. “Hey, Nami, where’s somewhere we can get to soon? We have a meeting to make!”
.o.o.o.
“Good sendoff,” Marco said as the party started to wind down.
“Luffy got food, Nami got money, Sanji got to gush over hot women...yeah, everyone’s happy,” Ace agreed, leaning into his side.
“I’ll say. Knew you brats would be fine.”
Ace groaned, “When did you get back?”
Rayleigh grinned, “Just now. Showed up in time for the free food, thank goodness.”
“Wondered where you were,” Marco said.
“Had to let the brats handle their own business eventually. Got to push chicks out of the nest, to use a metaphor you might understand better,” Rayleigh mused.
Marco raised his eyebrows and looked at Ace, “I can see why you always wanted to get away from him.”
“Well, the jerkassery and the whole ‘threw me into a Sea King’s mouth’ thing,” Ace muttered. “How’d you get here, you old bastard?”
“Swam,” Rayleigh said. “You know, one of these days I’ll get you young hotheads to remember that!”
“We remember,” Ae sighed. “So, what coe to say goodbye?”
“Hell no!” Rayleigh laughed. “Came to see if I can get to work on restoring that Noah ship! She’s a beauty!”
“…You came to say goodbye,” Ace said, smirking. He ducked a punch from Rayleigh. “Hey!”
“I am the feared Dark King, brat, not some sentimental old biddy!” Rayleigh scolded. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some of the more sensible of my pupils to give me a in with Neptune so I can take a crack at that ship! Later brat, bird!”
“…I hate him so much,” Ace laughed.
“Was that Silvers Rayleigh?” Jinbe asked, coming up to them.
“Yep. He wants to work on the Noah to get out of teaching our crew anything else. Thank goodness,” Ace said.
“You want to pass up more of his tutelage?” Jinbe asked.
“He got a Sea King to eat Ace,” Marco said.
“…Well, all right then,” Jinbe said. “That sounds…like something to avoid.”
“We’re going to have fun watching you get used to us,” Ace said, laughing.
“I expect updates,” Marco snickered.
Jinbe looked a bit worried. Ace slowly realized he had no clue what he was in for and started laughing outright. Jinbe gave him an odd look and left.
“Better go get your new crewmate back, explain,” Marco said.
“Yeah, I’d better. Jinbe, wait up!” Ace called. “Hey, in case we don’t see each other before we leave.”
He gave Marco a quick kiss. “Bye, Captain Marco.”
Marco stared after Ace as he rushed after Jinbe. “Shit. They can’t find One Piece fast enough…”