Chapter Text
Koby had been awake for 37 hours straight.
It was dark in the dormitories, silent and still for all but one stressed out marine. He could hear Helmeppo snoring away in his bunk nearby. What he would give to live in such easy going ignorance.
Seas, he wanted to sleep. His back ached badly, tight and stiff no matter how he sat in his desk chair. The thought of laying down on his mattress was all too tempting, his entire body longed for it in fact.
But he couldn’t. He had a job to do. Several, in fact.
He hadn’t realized what trading friend codes with Luffy would do to his psyche. Granted, he hadn’t really been thinking all that much when he’d met up with his friend again. One look at those sparkly brown eyes and sun kissed skin and Koby was nothing more than a pair of lungs that forced out stuttered words.
It had been Luffy that suggested they trade codes. Nami had caved and gotten him his own switch, something Luffy talked about as if it were an impossible feat to accomplish. Koby didn’t know the redhead all that well, but if the way she played the game was anything like how she was in real life, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
The thing was, Koby loved Animal Crossing. He’d been playing the game since before Alvida and it had served as his main escape from life when things got too hard to withstand. For a couple of hours each night, Koby got to live in his own organized and perfect little world, tending to his kind villagers and painstakingly building a town with which they could thrive in.
Compared to the outside world, Animal Crossing was a paradise. It was supposed to be a paradise, where nothing went wrong and where everyone was happy.
Imagine his horror upon seeing Luffy’s island for the first time.
Bugs.
So many bugs.
Just… just spread out, everywhere.
Luffy had been playing the game for over a month at that point and it showed in the plethora of bugs he’d accumulated. That was the only indication his friend had been playing the game in any regard.
Nothing else was developed - he hadn’t even donated anything to the museum. Koby doubted he’d even bought or sold a single thing, only picking up sticks on the ground to craft as many flimsy nets as possible so that he could keep catching bugs.
Catching and displaying and doing that over and over again. For over a month.
It made Koby want to crawl out of his skin.
In contrast, Koby’s town was a goddamn paradise. It was a modern themed island complete with several public amenities. Gyms, diners, laundry rooms - Koby had it all. The island’s residents deserved it.
He hadn’t ever had a villager move away, so the majority had been living on his island for years now. With all that they’d been through together, it was hard not to view them as actual real people. Yeah, that was probably sad, but he couldn’t help it! Koby was just the type of person to care far too much and it was all too easy to do so in this particular game.
And Luffy?
Well, Luffy hadn’t even talked to a single villager. Koby had watched his first introductions happen in real time when they first played together in Water 7. It was doubtful he’d ever planned on doing so if it weren’t for Koby’s insistence.
The majority of their homes had been barricaded by stacked bugs, so Luffy had needed to clear a path to even access them. Koby’s heart ached watching it all happen, imagining the horror of being a resident on Luffy’s island with far too much sympathy.
He couldn’t bear to let this go on any longer.
So here he was, now 38 hours into his play-through, trying to salvage the hellscape Luffy had created. Luffy had his gate open at all times, his switch somehow always turned on even when he was asleep or away, so Koby had plenty of time to do what was needed.
Many people, mostly the straw hat crew, had stopped by while he’d been pulling weeds and organizing the obnoxious bug collection Luffy refused to sell.
Nami had been over simply to clear out the meager furniture Luffy had inside his house - or tent since it hadn’t been upgraded yet. She hadn’t said a word in the chat the entire time and Koby suspected this was routine. She was obviously planning to sell it and he was honestly too intimidated to stop her.
Mentally, he added ‘furnishing Luffy’s house’ to his growing list of objectives.
When Luffy was online, Usopp was the usual visitor. He’d usually be fishing while they both talked through the chat, Usopp with long winded stories broken up in 6 word segments while Luffy responded with the occasional misspelled single word response.
They were definitely in the same room on the Sunny while playing. Why they decided to talk to each other this way was anyone’s guess. He really doubted Luffy even read through the sentences, both too focused on bugs and too bored of words to spare it a passing glance.
Sanji had been over as well, five times in fact. It had always been around mealtimes that his character flew in. He only stayed long enough to drop off some food in front of the airport before swiftly leaving.
It was all extravagant meals, things Koby knew were difficult to gather the ingredients for. Sanji had even brought over food for him after realizing he was stuck on Luffy’s island for the foreseeable future. He seemed grateful for his efforts on cleaning up the place, sticking around a bit longer after Koby had moved the bug collection away from the airport.
The last visitor was one that had likely been on the island before Koby had even arrived. They’d been unknowingly playing together for over five hours when Koby suddenly ran into a disheveled green haired character aimlessly wandering through Luffy’s small forest.
The only thing in their hands was an ax which they used to cut down whatever tree they came across. They weren’t wearing a shirt, only the basic pants you started with and nothing else as they wrecked havoc on what little the island had left.
He wasn’t completely sure, but he assumed it was Zoro. Their name was simply an emoticon which resembled a sword, dashes and arrows and not much else.
Koby watched as Zoro began to type in chat, waiting for almost five minutes before he finally spoke.
“aorport”
Uh, airport?
Was - was he lost? In a game where you literally had a map which documented your live location? Just how long had he been wandering through here?
Koby took pity on him, dropping off a pair of shoes he’d intended to give Luffy so that his poor character wasn’t walking around barefoot.
They both walked back towards the lower part of the island, literally right next to the ‘forest’ Zoro had been desecrating. Before leaving, Zoro dropped off 25 stacks of various woods he’d gathered right in front of a very concerned Koby.
He made another mental note to visit Zoro’s island sometime. It was very likely his poor villagers were living in squalor just as Luffy’s had been.
After almost 40 hours of work, Koby had made a lot of progress.
There were now paved roads connecting each house as well as a new plot set up for someone else to move in. It almost felt cruel to subject another innocent animal character to Luffy’s chaotic world, but Koby intended to get a perfect island rating someday. No matter how long it took, Luffy’s villagers would be thriving by the time he was done here.
On the top of the list was gathering up bells. Koby had cleared through his entire savings account at this point, all of it going towards developing Luffy’s island and adding to his wardrobe.
He had begun leaving a lot of it outside for Luffy to pick up and later use. It was clear he didn’t intend to make any sort of profit himself, so it was up to Koby to make sure he at least had enough money on hand to buy whatever villagers needed to sell. It was always gone by the time Koby returned to check, so he could only hope Luffy had found it and picked it up while hunting down bugs.
Something told him Nami’s regular visits left her with something more than just Luffy’s furniture, but if he thought too much about that then he’d surely go gray before his 20s.
With his time split between designing the layout, talking to villagers, upgrading Luffy’s house, and grinding out profits, Koby hadn’t realized just how long he’d been playing. Helmeppo’s morning alarm quickly threw him back into reality, making him notice the sun beginning to rise for the second time that play-through.
He watched as Helmeppo rubbed at his eyes, sitting up in his bunk with a groan. All the while, his focus was trained on listening to the fish he was trying to catch.
They locked eyes for only a second, Koby flinching and looking back down on the screen once he heard the fish bite. He’d completely missed Helmeppo’s slightly concerned expression.
“Uh… having fun there?”
Koby nodded after a considerable pause. It was clear he hadn’t processed the question at first.
He barely noticed as Helmeppo stood up and walked closer, stopping a comfortable distance away as if approaching a skittish animal of prey.
“How long have you been playing, exactly? Did you… did you sleep?”
Well, Koby’s character had. He always made sure to rest in his in-game bed for at least an hour while he organized his list of duties for the day. After all, his game character was also someone he liked to take care of. He made sure to change their outfits daily and had them make regular bathroom breaks.
So, Koby nodded at the question. At this point, what even was the difference between him and his game version?
Helmeppo didn’t buy it. He slowly reached for his switch and Koby had to keep himself from letting out a hiss.
“You sure about that? You, uh, you kind of look horrible right now. No offense, but…” The switch was now out of his hands, the screen black. Koby caught a glimpse of his reflection in the dark glass and he wasn’t too keen on what he saw.
His bandana was worn as if he were prepping for battle, covering up his eyebrows and causing his hair to stick straight up. From behind his lenses were tired, bloodshot eyes, framed in carved out dark circles that rivaled those he’d had while working under Alvida.
He looked tired and worn and miserable in every sense of the word. He felt that way too, all too aware of that fact now that his switch was pried away.
It wasn’t as though this was his first all-nighter. Koby was in fact infamous for them, his overly determined personality often pushing aside sleep for another chance at improvement.
He usually wore exhaustion well. Looking as he did right now, bad enough that Helmeppo was giving him grief, wasn’t normal for him.
But, well, this had been a very stressful experience. Even now, looking at his switch with a mixture of dread and anxiety, Koby’s mind raced with all the things he wasn’t doing. All the ways those poor villagers were still suffering in Luffy Hell all while he wasted time talking with Helmeppo about something as unimportant as sleep.
“M’fine - just, uh, just busy is all…” He reached towards his switch, twitchy as Helmeppo pulled it farther away.
“What have you even been doing on this? I saw you playing that game yesterday - is that seriously all you’ve been working on?”
“Uh yes - I mean no, but, well um - just, just give it back!” He sat up from his desk, momentarily lightheaded as the result of skipping multiple real life mealtimes caught up to him. Helmeppo took his dizziness as an opportunity to push him onto his bed.
“Dude, you have a problem.” Koby’s switch was kept well out of reach as Helmeppo kept him on the bed. “I thought you were weird for the couple hours you usually play but this?” He gestured at Koby’s entire body, which no doubt looked pathetic if the way he had to force himself to stay awake and present was any indication. “This isn’t normal, or okay. You’re lucky Garp’s busy today or else you’d be showing up training already half dead.”
And, well, he hated to admit it but his friend had a point. The combination of lost sleep, intense concentration, and compounded stress had really put him out of commission. At the very least, he felt terrible about not being able to put 100% of his effort into playing and that wasn’t possible with how tired he was at that moment. Perhaps a quick break was needed in order to give Luffy and his villagers the attention they deserved.
Koby sighed, prying his glasses off. There was a sore spot on his nose from where they’d rubbed up against every time he had furrowed his brow. “Alright, Meppo - you win. I’ll take a break.”
His friend looked entirely too pleased at that, just as he always was whenever he had his way.
Helmeppo walked back to his side of the room, safely slipping Koby’s switch beneath his pillow as if the obstacle would really prevent him from playing.
Well, it would, but only because Koby didn’t want to feel his disappointment. On top of being a blow to his own self esteem, Helmeppo was extremely annoying whenever Koby went against logic, and continuing to play a video game after 40 nonstop hours was anything but logical.
Koby didn’t bother to change out of his clothes. He planned to nap on the top of his covers until his body was recovered enough to play again. It’s not like they had much to do in any case. The real work would begin once they made it back to headquarters, their next few days on sea being unofficial personal days to do with what they wished.
He was on the verge of sleep by the time Helmeppo was dressed and ready for the day. Koby stopped him right before he left the room.
“Could you… could you take it with you? To check if anything happens?”
Helmeppo looked entirely unimpressed, a judgemental eyebrow raised as if he was still living as the spoiled son of Ax-Hand Morgan.
“You want me to carry your switch around, the thing that lets you play games meant for kids, so I can check on your game, which, again, is meant for kids? What would I even need to check on? Make believe storytime updates?”
Had he been less tired, Koby would be embarrassed. As it stood, sleep was entirely too close and he was far too invested at this point to feel any amount of shame.
“No, no - just… If Luffy says anything, wake me up? He might need food or money or something… And, and if the villagers look sad, could you-“ Dammit, he was a lot more tired than he thought. It was hard to piece together words now. “Just give them fruit. That’s a good gift - maybe clothes if you can…”
He could hardly see Helmeppo’s expression through his bleary eyes, but his resigned sigh was enough of a comfort. Any amount of embarrassment could wait until he was able to actually feel it. All that mattered to him right now is that Luffy was taken care of and he got to rest his eyes, if only for a moment.
—-
The noise of what suspiciously sounded like bells getting dropped onto the ground was what finally woke Koby up.
He felt like a brand new person. His eyes still felt a little dry and he definitely needed to eat something as soon as possible, but the crushing fatigue from before had vanished.
It did little to curb his anxiety however. If anything, he was able to feel it to the highest extent now. And the sound of Animal Crossing bells made it all the more tangible.
Outside, the sun was beginning to set. He’d been sleeping for nearly the entire day which is not what he’d been planning to do.
What had he missed while asleep?!? Were the shops closed? Had any of the villagers needed anything?
What had Luffy done while unsupervised?!?
Koby shot out of bed, stumbling only slightly as he looked around the room. Faint light from the other side of the room caught his eye.
Helmeppo was in his bed, leaned up against his headboard with a box of rice crackers resting on his leg. In his hands were two switches, Koby’s and his own, which he took turns controlling.
Any comfort gained from the thought of his friend actually checking on the town like Koby had asked was swiftly forgotten in lieu of the sound of bells continually getting dropped.
Koby reached his friend in two large strides, tearing his switch away and glancing down at the screen. His own ABD was pulled up, all of his savings drained dry and his wallet just as empty. He’d spent 40 hours building that number up and it was gone in an instant.
There was a new character Koby didn’t recognize right beside him picking up the obnoxious amount of bells left on the ground. It didn’t take much to connect the dots, not when the character had the same blond hair and visor as his friend in front of him.
”What have you done?!”
His voice was shrill and it made Helmeppo wince, though that didn’t stop him from carrying out his task. Koby hardly had a chance to react before Helmeppo gathered up all his spoils.
How? Why?! Helmeppo hadn’t even known what the game was and now he was already stealing?! From him?!
Helmeppo had the decency to at least look a little sheepish as he looked back up towards Koby. “So… I think I get why you’ve been playing this game.”
Koby scoffed, an offended sound. “Give those back! It’s for Luffy!”
“But! But I need them more!”
He could hardly believe the events unfolding. Helmeppo began to sprint towards the airport in game, taking all of Koby’s hard work with him.
There was a way to fix this, to reset what had happened and put Helmeppo in his place, but that would require force quitting the game and it just felt too close to cheating. Koby hadn’t ever time traveled or messed with the clock, all of his playtime was as rule-abiding as he strove to be as a marine. It went against his very being to take the low road.
So instead, he took to chasing Helmeppo down in the game, shouting at him the entire time he did so.
“Do you have any idea how long it took to get that?!? How many fish I had to catch?! I couldn’t sell a single bug and had to go diving for hours and you just- just-! Grah!!”
He just about threw his switch once Helmeppo entered the airport. His game character may be in the clear but his actual body certainly wasn’t. Koby wasn’t the same weakling he’d been when they had first met after all.
Seeming to sense the threat in the air, Helmeppo brought his hands up to stall whatever violence was brewing in Koby’s stare. “Hold on, hold on! I needed it, okay? It’s for something important!”
“You didn’t even have the game this morning! What could be so important to you now?!”
Helmeppo almost looked embarrassed now, eyes trained onto his switch as he answered. “It’s just, well, I didn’t have any clothes and there’s so many in this game and I don’t have any money so…”
Koby let out a long, drawn out sigh. He was still pissed off and upset, but he couldn’t stay mad at his friend for long. Besides, his lack of recent meals ebbed away at his usual energy.
He was secretly glad Helmeppo liked the game and it made sense that fashion had drawn him in. His life before while living under his dad had largely been centered around developing his own style and tastes. Up until a few months ago, all that likely really mattered to Helmeppo was putting together an outfit to wear while he terrorized the local population with his nepo-baby antics. He could understand how jarring a change their new life was here.
He was escaping into Animal Crossing just as Koby had been for years now. Koby couldn’t really fault him for that.
Still though, he had some things to say.
“How’s that kid’s game so far, huh? How long have you been playing to already be able to travel? Must really like it…” He smiled at the flush rising to Helmeppo’s cheeks.
“Okay, okay - I get it, asshole. It’s a good game. It’s still obnoxious that you played for over a day straight - I checked your play history, you absolute freak - but I guess it’s pretty fun…”
A win’s a win. It wasn’t often that Helmeppo conceded to defeat and Koby was going to take what he could get.
Another point was added to his mental list of responsibilities: ‘fund Helmeppo’s wardrobe.’ He wasn’t sure how long the list now was but he doubted it’d stop growing anytime soon, not after finally glancing down at his switch and seeing what had occurred while he’d been asleep.
Somehow, the number of bugs scattered around had doubled and Luffy seemed to have discovered the pitfall seed. The ground that was left uncovered by bugs was booby trapped to the highest extent.
If there was a CPS for Animal Crossing villagers, Koby didn’t doubt they’d all be taken away upon the first visit. That, or Luffy would be heavily fined for the dozens of OSHA violations he had definitely created.
He was beginning to internally combust. His mind was spiraling, mourning his hours of lost effort, when Luffy’s character ran up to him in-game. Koby watched as he sorted through his inventory for a second before displaying a pattern on the ground.
It was a crude drawing, more a scribble, really. Koby was probably Luffy’s biggest fan, but he could admit the guy lacked any sort of artistic talent.
After studying it for a moment, he began to pick out a few details. His iconic straw hat was there along with what looked like a misshapen pirate skull. It looked to be his jolly roger, the only apparent difference being an addition of pink lines below the hat.
Pink like Koby’s hair.
Any lingering thoughts of stress or irritation were gone in an instant. All he could focus on was the warmth on his cheeks and the excited tremble in his hands. He smiled as he watched Luffy run circles around him before taking off towards the forest, net in hand as always.
This was okay, great even. Koby would gladly take on all the stress of the game because it meant he got to play it. With Luffy.
Yeah, this was okay.