Steel Heart

Ch 99 - How to Hope for the Best

"Please! Look around! Make yourself at home! This is the Barto Club's pirate ship that's filled with love for the Straw Hat Pirates!" Bartolomeo shouted as he twirled around the main deck of his ship, "Welcome to the Going Luffy-Senpai Go!"

"Ooooh!" Luffy cheered while everyone else tried to find the right words to say to describe where they were.

After they had managed to escape the Navy with the help of the Tontattas, the Colosseum fighters, and even the citizens of Dressrosa, Luffy had somehow found himself the begrudging leader of the Straw Hat Fleet. As much as the rubber boy protested, Ideo, Cavendish, Hajrudin, Orlumbus, Sai, Bartolomeo, and Leo the Tontatta all drank a cup of sake to signify their pledge of loyalty to the Straw Hats. With 5,600 men now at the Straw Hat's beck and call, they helped get them away from Dressrosa and onto the Going Luffy-Senpai Go, which was anchored in the middle of the sea.

Nana didn't know what to comment on first - the Luffy shaped figurehead with swooping arms across the bow to signify Luffy's devil fruit abilities, the domed white room that had the Going Merry's face painted at the front, or the couches that laid out in the middle of the deck that were upholstered in a shaggy fabric that was the same color print as Pygmy's fur.

All the former Galley-La employee knew was that she commended whoever crafted this ship. She could only imagine what the request form looked like when he received the order.

"Is this right, guys?!" Usopp demanded as he pointed at the figurehead, "This ship looks more of the possibility of having Luffy on board than our own ship!"

"Thank you! You really think so?" Bartolomeo asked brightly.

"That wasn't a compliment!" Usopp snapped.

"That...room..." Zoro murmured as he pointed up at the domed room.

"I'm so glad you noticed!" Bartolomeo cheered, "That is a homage to the Straw Hats' first pirate ship and a dear friend, the Going Merry!"

Zoro frowned and his eye shape matched the narrowed painted ones on the room. "It has evil eyes."

Robin laughed and she pointed towards the stern where a structure of a pink tophat and familiar horns was placed. "And that is...?"

"Yes! Robin-senpai. You have great eyes!" Bartolomeo yelled as he raced over the railing to gaze adoringly at the structure, "That is an homage Chopper-senpai!"

"And those orange trees?" Nana asked and waved a hand over the forest of trees that grew out from a top deck.

"Yep! Those are an homage to the orange trees that Nami-senpai took from Bellemere-san's grove in Coco Village!"

Zoro scowled. "Oranges are just oranges! Not everything has to be an homage."

"I-I-I'm so moved," Franky blubbered as tears streamed down his face, "Look how nerdy these details are! Everywhere you look you feel a sense of fun! It's filled with super love."

"Th-Thank you very much, Franky-senpai!" The rest of the Barto Club came flooding to their captain's side and they threw up their arms.

"And more than anything, what we're thrilled about more than anything is..." Bartolomeo shouted as he skipped over to the newest addition to his deck. It was a wooden circular end table with a dome glass top covering it. Trapped inside the dome was a fluttering piece of paper that was fluttering at the edge as if trying to escape, "In the direction that this Vivre Card is pointing to is...."

He swept a long arm towards Luffy and almost bursted into tears just by facing the rubber boy once more. "We have the real Luffy-senpai!"

Luffy blinked at the attention he was getting. "Eh? What about me?"