Kid took a slow calming deep breath, his actions catching the eyes of his crewmembers. They had a great day out and it wasn't like Professor Inator did anything wrong. Internally grumbling, he scoffed at the small woman, "You done with your other shit?"
Her eyes narrowed. What crawled up his ass and died? Still pissy about last night maybe? "Yes. You done with the lab?" I hope this is worth it.
He motioned for her to follow, and jumped up to the ship. She grabbed her bags and was about to pick up her dehydrator when a pale blue hand stopped her. "I will get this. Follow after Master Kid, he moves fast," Heat muttered. She smiled, thanking him.
Large pounding footsteps descending into the bowels of the ship. Tiny soft steps scampered after. Finally the pair reached their destination, deep in the bowels of the Victoria Punk. Kid pushed open a large door and led his newest addition inside.
"Told you my design was better, woman," he grinned, his usual cocky demeanor making its presence known. She's quiet, absolutely astonished by my skills, he thought arrogantly.
Jam took it all in. She had an examination/torture table off to the side, a ceiling-reaching bookshelf covering the entire left wall, a large preparation area on the right wall with a sink, a vent hood, drawers galore, and a storage closet full of shelves.
It's beautiful. She jumped over and hugged the bewildered man, causing him to freeze up. "Pirates don't hug, you wack-ass weirdo!"
"Don't be such a baby. Its only a hug. And I thought pirates do whatever the hell the please," she mocked.
Kid grumbled, a large red blush covering his face. "Don't do it again."
Jam clicked her teeth, but was too excited to really care. "It's a lovely lab and yes your design was superior," she relented with a long-suffering sigh. I guess you do deserve some praise.
Kid smirked, pleased with himself. "I've got shit to do. You get situated today and then tomorrow talk with Quincy and Pomp, my medical team, to see what they need. Those two liked the healing balm you gave me and wanted to know what else you could make."
"I have plenty of medical based knowledge. I'll chat with them soon."
"We'll discuss builds and shit when I'm good and ready. Later," the tall redhead huffed, heading out.
When the large Captain had left, Jam waited a few minutes before shrieking happily. The next several hours were spent unpacking her things and setting up her lab. He even had cabinets for holding all my chemicals! She checked for listening devices or a camera, happy she found none. The aerosolized salt mixture was one of her favorite inventions.
By the end of it, she flopped down on her new bed and rolled about. I suppose I should reciprocate. I'm going to need to properly thank that giant loudmouth. He's going to be smug about it...or blush again like the delicate tulip he is. He's so fun to mess with.
Dashing up, she climbed up the stairs, making her way to the deck. The ships layout was straightforward, making it easy to navigate. True she only knew how to get to her room/lab and the deck but for now that was good enough.
There were tons of people milling about. It's so weird to have others around after so long. Well others that I'm not planning on killing. Blonde, bubbly pigtails invaded her vision as a woman shorter than herself halted her progress. "Hi, I'm Dive," an upbeat voice said.
Jam's eyes narrowed in remembrance. She's part Fishman, probably like an 1/8th or 1/16th most likely piranha by those chompers she has. "The biter?"
Black lips pouted cutely. "You burnt my mouth." That shit was painful. Wonder if I bite her now would it burn...
"You're not the first person who tried to eat my amorphous blob form. It's a defense mechanism," the slightly taller woman answered.
The blonde haired woman shrugged. "You looked liked jelly. It was worth a shot."
Jam laughed at her simplemindedness.
"Your jerky maker was the shit," Dive continued never one for long silences.
The Professor rolled her eyes. "It's a dehydrator."
"Details, details. Anyway, it's dinner time, you need to come to the gallery and eat before those pigs destroy the kitchen," Dive said, wrinkling her nose.
"I grew up with seven idiot baby brothers. I'm sure its fine. And I watched Killer eat yesterday. You gonna tell me someone is worse than him?" Jam snorted.
Dive giggled, "You're kinda funny. You should see him eat cake with frosting."
Cackling escaped the scientist, picturing the scene.
"Speaking of Killer, he told me you are good at slipping into bases and gathering information. I'm the ship's scout meaning the two of us will be working together a lot. Figured I should get to know you before we get assigned to a task."
Jam hummed thoughtfully. "Ok. Lead the way."
The Gallery and kitchen were on the same level as the deck. It was noisy until the two short ladies walked in. Most of the crew was assembled, already in the midst of chowing down. Dive, being the social butterfly she was, pushed the other woman forward.
It took all of Jam's willpower not to giggle at Killer, wearing a frilly white apron from his spot at the stove. Kid cleared his throat, drawing all eyes to himself. "You need to meet everyone properly. Roll call shitheads." One by one the crew stood and announced their names, some striking a pose even.
Jam nearly fainted from the sheer ridiculousness. These are battle hardened bloodthirsty pirates? They are so fucking goofy. Don't laugh. Oh god this is hard. Thank Davy Jones they can't see my face. I'm the science nerd but these people are dorks!
Dive pulled her along to sit next to herself and Reck. Soon a plate was pushed in front of her and chatter resumed. It was jarring. Dinner consisted of a heavy stew with nice big pieces of fresh bread on the side. As before, she removed her gloves and undid the collar of her coat. Had she been paying attention, she would have noticed the sly looks her crew sent her way. She took a bite, "It's wonderful."
Dive nodded in agreement, spooning some soup in her mouth. "Killer really knows his shit. His food is the absolute best." Dive went on to explain who was on the cooking crew and what they typically made. "Skillet made the bread. His desserts are phenomenal."
Jam hummed, thinking of all the yummy treats she could request from this Skillet. Need to make his acquaintance properly. Eating slowly and listening to Dive prattle on was nice. The pigtailed woman told her she would need to give the professor a tour of the ship afterwards so she knew where everything was. As soon as she finished eating, the smaller woman tugged the arm of her new namaka along, giving her a brief but animated overview of the ships layout.
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Sleep never came easy to Jam who usually worked till she passed out. She had tried lying down but it just wasn't happening. This was just too new; working with people and not lying in wait to kill them. Sighing she got up, deciding to make progress on a detonator for that base. Pulling her tools out of the new cabinet she got to work diligently making the innards of the device. Turning her radio on low she bobbed her head while she worked.
What she wasn't aware of was the presence of a Den-Den Mushi in the vents right above her. The Kid Pirates had never watched a new namaka before, but it was hard to completely trust someone with the kind of abilities they knew she possessed. Killer could usually get a read on others easily. Professor Jam Inator was an unnerving mystery and her intelligence made him uneasy.
Personally, Bubblegum thought Killer was mad he could no longer claim being the smartest person on the ship anymore. Not that he'd ever say that aloud. Value my head where it is, thank-you very much.
The transponder snail was carefully placed to only watch the lab but not her bedroom; they weren't creeps. Killer figured Jam would check for bugs at first, but believed afterwards they were good to go. Wire placed it down right after dinner while Dive gave her the tour.
"So we serveil her for what two weeks?" Wire asked.
A long blonde mane nodded. "That's about how long it will take us to leave here and reach the next island. We will make our final decision then." Everything seems fine but we need to be cautious.
"Wonder what she's making?" Dive asked.
"It's hard to tell, but damn she's quick. I bet it's easy to work on machines that contain several moving components with such teeny hands," said Mosh with a grin.
For the next several hours the majority of the crew watched her work in astonishment. She set up her dehydrator and got to work properly making some new basic compounds. While the machine went, she pulled out the ones she already had and got to work mixing things, puffs of colored smoke and bubbling liquids fascinating her onlookers. She would ping-pong back to working on some type of machine seemingly at random but always was in time to set up the next step in an ongoing chemical reaction. Clearly Professor Inator knew what was she was doing. I'm kinda low on paralysis gas and my main pharmaceuticals.
Soon Jam had a decent stock of base chemicals and what not. Every motion she made was carefully controlled, like an overly precise dance. Her work felt more art than science. There was something hypnotic about the fluid way she moved. It was beautiful until the cackling began. As she neared the completion of the device, she began mumbling to herself. The crew caught words and phrases like die, fucking peons, rat-bastard, and suffering to the ninth degree. Then it evolved into almost a full blown muttered conversation with herself. "Don't put in the power supply yet, some idiot might fuck with it. Never making that mistake again."
"Shit, I need more materials already."
"You put the wire in the coconut and blow it all up," she sang.
Kid was floored. Jam was clearly crazy as all hell, but fuck was she interesting to watch. She dances while she works. Stupid coat getting in the way of watching the midget shake her ass.
He wasn't the only one observing her movements closely. Snare rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think she's some fat potato gremlin. She's curvy and she hides her feminine physique under that bulky ugly ass labcoat," the tall man concluded.
Hip and Joplin glared at the man, but Snare was never one to be deterred. "I sew so I'm damn good at eyeballing someone's size. I know my body types. 'Sides she fights like a champ. Of course she's fit."
"Yeah but why hide her body if she's nice and curvy?" asked Emma.
"Science is a male dominated field. It she wants to focus on her work she probably doesn't want any extra attention. Fuck maybe she's shy or something," Bubblegum answered.
"Could be deformed in some manner. A lab accident perhaps," Forte muttered.
"Or just ugly," Hip giggled.
Papas snorted. "No she's hot. The crazy ones always are and little Miss Talks to Myself is barmy as they come."
Hip sneakily stomped on his foot. "Shut-up," she hissed.
"Hey don't get mad at me. I don't make the rules of the universe," the hoodie-wearing mad exclaimed. You're just upset the captain is watching her booty bounce.
"Quiet. What she looks like has no bearing on anything. She's a fucking scientist, a dangerous one at that. Now pay attention to what she's making and quit playing hot or not you idiots," Killer snapped, reprimanding everyone, looks being a sensitive topic to the masked man.
With that the idle chatter ended and they want back to trying to see what their newest member was constructing.
As three o' clock drew nearer, Professor Inator giggled and lovingly cradled her completed device. "We will have so much fun tomorrow won't we?" she cooed in a baby voice. "Nothing like a new Inator to test."
The small woman stretched, looking over at the clock. The scientist sighed and went to her room to grab some toiletries and a change of clothes. She traveled up two floors to the bathrooms, running into Boogie who had been instructed to see what she was up to. Noticing the items in her arms he asked, "Taking a shower?" Got me and Clash running after her at three in the morning for nothing. Ooh a bath, how suspicious.
"Yeah, why?" she asked, genuinely confused as to why he cared.
"Kinda late?" he replied, tapping his foot.
"I'm a night owl," the short woman shrugged, walking into the bathroom. The restroom had a large pool sized bath for those that wanted to soak and hang out with other people and several single shower stalls for the more private individuals on the crew. Jam chose a single stall and quickly undressed, letting the hot spray soothe her. She took a quick rinse off, wanting to sleep after an eventful day. And I still need to setup my precautions just incase. Eugh.
She toweled off in the stall and redressed quickly, throwing a tank top and pair of panties on before sliding into her lab coat. She wrapped her hair in the towel and put her hood up.
When she exited, Clash was there, directly outside of the door. Jam was startled. "Sorry, just heard noise and no one really bathes this late. Just checking," the tall woman chuckled nervously. Already back into your coat, huh? I don't like this monitoring. I know she's deadly and a scientist can be unpredictable but this is weird. If she was going to try anything, why wait?
"I always shower super late. It's not a problem is it?"
"No. No. Was curious is all," the woman said, waving off the other's concerns.
The professor shrugged. "Ok. Night." Jam side stepped the tall woman, heading back to her room. Everyone here is so bizarre. After a quick booby-trap setup she removed her lab coat and got under the covers. The giant fuzzy blue and purple blanket she bought was heavenly. Soon she was passed out, a soft smile on her face.
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The next day saw everyone lazily waking up. Breakfast was quiet as too many people stayed up far later than they were used to, spying on their new crewmember. Those that had night watch were filled in and left to sleep till noon. Lucky bastards.
Kid sent Killer and those on kitchen duty to gather up all the food left at the base. Kid himself went with Heat and Wire to tear out all the useful metal afterwards. The structure was pretty much done for, a carcass of brick, stone, and wood left behind. He hadn't seen Jam since they spied on her last night. He felt a little weird about it. She definitely fit the archetype of a mad scientist.
Today he was going to check out the weapons store and see if they had anything cool in there. Killer, Heat, Boogie, Hop, and Clash would be accompanying him. Everyone on his crew loved sharp and pointy things but these guys really loved weapons. The shopkeep nearly shat himself when they entered. Chicken-shit old fart...
The day itself had been fine. Bubblegum redid their budget, the numbers looking great. He planned to visit the brothel again later to let off some steam. Everything was good...so why did he feel out of sorts?
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Jam was ecstatic that none of her alarms were triggered during the night. They didn't try anything. That's a first. Disabling them all, she got dressed properly and headed down to breakfast. It was nearing ten but there were only a handful of people in the kitchen. Guess they're all late risers. I only need five to six hours of sleep to function. She saw Moai and Skillet at the stove, heaps of eggs, toast, oatmeal, and bacon already prepared. Helping herself to a plate, she ate quickly, noticing how tired everyone looked.
Whitney snorted in her head. The Professor is fine. Up and dandy like she didn't go to bed at half past three. I need my beauty rest. As soon as the others leave I'm taking a nap.
Heat eyes were more sunken in than usual, his cup of coffee doing little to stifle his yawns. UK was grumpy and seeing the little woman practically flounce in the kitchen just irked him. "You sure are chipper, ain't you?" he groused.
Jam stopped eating her oatmeal and glanced at the large man. "I'm not usually a morning person but it was nice to sleep in my own bed for once. Just in a good mood I suppose."
"So where do you usually sleep?" Compo quietly asked.
"It depends. When I stowaway I hide in random spots so wherever I fit really. Airvents, behind crates, on top of shelves, in cabinets, in between things. Sometimes in beds at the bases but those cheap things are uncomfortable as hell. In a tent with a sleeping bag when I hit a deserted island or an inn when I find one inhabited," the Professor explained.
"That can't be comfortable," Reck added. I'd die without my bed. Screw that.
Jam shrugged, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "I've been a one woman army for almost six years. I've never had anyone to watch my back so sleep was a luxury at times. And when I did try and join a crew, I'd usually wake up to chains or a cage. Which is funny because out of all the people I've encountered, ol' gear head left me alone and he controls metal. Would have been easy as pie to restrain me in my sleep if he wanted," the woman said carelessly to the crew's horror. Not that I can't easily get away but still the fact that he let me be was a nice surprise.
In chains or a cage? Attacked while asleep? No wonder she's a bit off, thought House, feeling bad for the other woman.
Heat quickly replied, "The Captain's not like that. He doesn't attack namaka."
Clash nodded. "And he fights upfront; he would never just attack a sleeping person. He might kick 'em awake first and then fight, but no sneak attacks."
"Good to know," Jam replied, going back to her breakfast. He's supposedly one of the most ruthless pirates round and he has more morals than most of the scum I've met. What a strange man you are Eustass Kid.
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Jam had finished her device around midday, sometime before lunch. Setting it aside for later, she went exploring on the ship. Dive had pointed out the main attractions, but there were still so many places to check out. Leaving her room, she opened the door and peaked her head outside. Her lab was at the bottom of the ship so it stood to reason the engine was somewhere close by. Directly across from her was a large door with the words KEEP OUT: WORKSHOP written across it in bold red lettering.
She snickered, how juvenile. He feels the need to put up a sign like some upset teenager. His crew should know to keep out. Walking down further she saw a four other small doors. The first was a storage room and the second housed the ship's engine.
Her brown eyes glowed with anticipation as she gingerly patted the machine. Oh what fun I'm going to have, examining you. Giggling to herself, she got to work. An hour later, she was enthralled. This is a beautiful piece of engineering. And bolts for brains even numbered you. Means he keeps track of his devices and designs. The man is much smarter than his appearance suggests. I've hit the jackpot.
"I'm going to need to design a power adaptor for my bio-fuel crystals but this is going to be awesome!" she hummed happily, heading back to her lab to work on a blueprint.
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It was late, nearing eleven when he saw the little shitstain emerge from her lab and hightail it off the ship. "Che doesn't she know she can't just up and leave?" he grumbled aloud.
"Where are you going?" he shouted at her retreating figure.
He probably loves explosions. "To finish off the base and test out my new annihilator. You should come see," she offered, a large satchel on her back.
"No one goes off on their own woman. It's a safety thing. If you're going to leave, tell someone where you're going. Better yet, take someone with you," he ordered.
"Ok, ok. No need to get your tits in a twist."
Kid frowned, biting at his lip in aggravation. "They're pecs, not tits, dumbass."
The woman rolled her eyes behind her goggles and stifled a giggle. Not sensitive my ass.
It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the base's remains. Jam hopped down and set up three small blue remote activated bombs around the perimeter of the structure. Running back to the cliff, she pulled out the device was working on last night.
Kid glanced over at the little potato gremlin. Up close the machine in her hand looked like a detonator with a single large gleaming red button. "Hm, you just had to make it a big red button," he snorted. Why do scientists always make the button red?
"Red's just a dangerous color, don't you agree?" she teased, looking up at his hair. "So is it really The Big Button if it's not a Big Red Button?" she grinned mischievously, her canines peaking out of her purple lips "You wanna push it Captain?"
It was the first time she addressed him as such. It made his skin tingle and flush as crimson as her device. The way she spoke, enunciating the word felt strangely naughty but Kid couldn't pinpoint to the exact reason why. Whatever the case, he knew she was teasing him and felt his words still in his throat, managing to grab the device to show his assent instead.
Her grin grew wider, her glee infectious. "Put those goggles of yours on, the blast will be intense," she instructed, turning her radio on. Wordlessly, he complied with her request, strands of vermillion hair falling down, framing his face.
Pressing the button, the building lit up brighter than the sun it seemed, an intense icy white beam shooting up as far as the eye could see. There was nothing left. As if the structure never existed in the first place. His jaw dropped in disbelief, his eyes popping out of his head. She's a monster. Beside him the tiny woman was laughing, her hands in the air, as she began to pivot on one foot, lunacy evident in every move she made. Up close he could see the dance had a clear rhythm, the sway of her hips matching the toe-tapping song playing.
No shit the government didn't want to admit someone was doing this to their outposts and bases. Bitch is psycho deadly. I prefer to beat an enemy up close and personal. Jam will be my secret weapon then. She can fight normally but this kind of firepower is for last resort type situations. Feh, crazy woman just has to shake her shit. He raised his arm and air-palmed in the direction of the dancing loon, sticking his tongue out as he did. That ass of hers would fit nicely in my hands.
Shaking his head to rid himself of that line of thought, he stared at the scorched earth left behind, the only proof anything happened. I wonder how the marines would feel knowing she kills their soldiers, destroys their shit, and then celebratory dances? Probably piss them the fuck off, he snorted internally.
The song she played ended, the woman giving one last high pitched joyful yell. "I forgot about the tremors...think we woke up the whole island," she sang out with a giggle.
His hairless brow rose. "We?" Kid asked astounding by her audacity.
"Hey you pushed the button," she taunted, hands on her hips. He liked that. His mouth damn near touched the ground. Wonderful. Our destructive abilities often scare people away.
Loud stomping and a huffed shout interrupted the two. "Kid, are you alright?" Killer wheezed, several crewmembers behind him.
The redhead frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?" he growled.
It took all of Killer's patience not to scream. "That explosion. It shook the entire island. Was blinding as fuck and I have my mask."
"We destroyed the base," Jam giggled evilly. Ah the party-pooper patrol.
The crew was in astonishment. This was what she was working on last night.
"That base was as good as gone. What you did was wasteful," the blonde man grit out, angry he had gotten worried over his best friends safety. Leaving with her all alone. Fuck Kid think.
The Professor snorted and blew the second-in-command off. "It only took me a few hours to make that device and it was cool as hell. Explosions are sick. And you clearly don't know how to cover up a crime, you twit. When you go somewhere you inadvertently leave behind an evidence trail. That trail can sometimes be used to figure out what you were up to. I don't want them to know anything about my plans, hence my need to DESTROY IT ALL. I ALWAYS DESTROY IT ALL!!!" she cackled maniacally, making the crew cringe.
Oblivious to their discomfort, she further drove her point home. "Besides it's practical. The fewer bases in existence, the fewer resources the Government has. The less resources they have, the further thinly they're stretched and thus less likely to screw with us. It's only sensible to cripple them as much as possible. I don't even leave the framework behind for them to rebuild with. You see the idiots scratch their heads, 'Uh didn't we have a base here? Are we on the right island? What's going on.' It's a riot."
Still in a giggly mood, the woman went back to dancing, not a care in the world. Killer smacked his helmet, making Kid chuckle. "Kid that was dangerous," he hissed. The island shook. The entire island you dumbass. And are you seriously watching her dance right now? You fucking horny moron.
"No it was a perfectly contained destructive beam. It was badass," the redhead said.
The scientist nodded in agreement. "Oh and the detonator is reusable. I just need to manufacture more of my specialized remote bombs. So no, not wasteful," she defended.
A stout man pushed himself forward, enamored by the blast. "I make my own bombs. Could I maybe push the button next time?" Pomp asked, admiring the device.
Jam chuckled, "Yeah. Hell we can trade notes later."
Killer wanted to scream. The poor residents of the island did as well.
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The next few days passed quickly, with Jam making a few more trips into town to get as many belongings and materials as she could. Being on the move constantly prevented her from stockpiling personal items, clothes, and whatnot. Prior to her new arrangement, she only could carry her important discoveries and the base necessities. Like a treasure hoarding goblin, her room was soon filled with all manner of things to her absolute delight.
The Professor sighed happily. So far so good. And if it goes sour, it's not like I haven't started over before. Still I'd love for this to work. The food's good, no one has tried anything to trigger my booby-traps while I sleep, and having a proper sit-down lab with storage is the best.
The next morning the ship departed from the small island. Only time would tell if this was a good idea or not.
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I've read most of the Kid stories on this site. A lot of them make him suave but we all saw his behavior in Wano. The crass insults, the childish race/fight to do more work with Luffy, the over-eating, the smack talk with Big Mom, the banter with the other captains, all the crazy facial expressions...
He has a very colorful personality. Can he be charming? Yes. But first he has to decide to and then he has to work at it. He's no smooth criminal; he's Jaggy.
The Professor simply likes to discover new things and invent as much as possible. She is mad and a bit evil but mainly when it suits her, not just because. She can be helpful, kind even or just up and destroy it all. She's does love death and destruction.
Pomp's design reminds me of a soldier, which is why I made him a field medic and gave him bombs. Dive bites an opponent at Wano in the manga and the only way to have teeth like that would be a devil fruit or by being part fishman.
I plan on expanding my pairings; I already have several in mind within the crew and one with a Kid Pirate and another canon character. With that large a crew and the closeness they share, there are probably a few parings on board, especially since they started their journey at least two years before Luffy and have never split up. Any thoughts on who should get a romantic partner?
Spoilers:
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I am really upset with the loss of the ship as of chapter 1079. I had all these plans and now I have to decide whether to go through with them knowing it will be destroyed, or just scrap my ideas. Ugh, Oda I could strangle you.
1082 was cool. Buggy has always been a favorite. And it gave me new ammo for my Shanks is a shady bastard theory. Why wait twenty-four years to go after the One Piece? Poor Buggy, you can tell he looked up to his captain but it seems Shanks was the favorite. That's rough. I mean clearly Shanks was given the hat and taught Divine Departure and then to add insult to injury he refuses to go after the One Piece and follow Roger's legacy. Buggy probably felt betrayed. Some say Shanks has his reasons and yes he most likely does, but Buggy and he were practically raised as brothers; why not tell him those reasons? And if maybe he's guarding some dark unhappy truth Roger told him he could still have given his brother some type of rationale. But he does not and let's Buggy run off without going after him. Fuck except for Marine Ford they haven't interacted in over 22 years. That's insane and they were both in East Blue for the longest.
1083 was interesting and I am glad Sabo is confirmed alive even though I figured he was. He is much more careful than Ace ever was. I think his relationship with Koala is so sweet. I'm glad we finally get to hear more about Dragon and his operations. Killing off their food supply is a decisive military tactic. Jam would approve. Oh my god, people are calling him Fed Hair Shanks because of that holy knight silhouette. Hehehehe.
1084:
I am liking the lore aspect of the chapter and the small bit about Bonney trusting the Revolutionary Army with her dad. Finally, Imu...it's getting good.