The silence was deafening. Awkwardness hang in the air, you could try and cut the tension with a knife and still fail. Even Mihawk would have some trouble with this one. Anyone that dared try to speak in was a fool at this moment.
"What!?" Usopp finally spoke.
"I'm sorry that I made the decision without consulting you. But I've already made my decision. The Going Merry took good care of us, but our journey with her ends here." Luffy's explanation was really good in your opinion.
That awkward silence came back and nobody was willing to interfere again. It would be best the two of them handle it as best as they could between captain and crewmate.
"And... I took a look at the catalogue that Ice-osan gave us. While checking the ships in it I noticed that they're quite a few kinds. If we get a used one 100 million will allow us to buy a bigger ship than Merry."
"Wait..wait....a sec. You're taking the joke too far. That's ridiculous. Right?" Usopp said looking around waiting for the rest of the crew to back him up on this.
"See? Chopper took it seriously. Seriously, what'll we do with our captain? Say something to him Nami." Nami just looked away and kept quiet. Usopp should have figured out by now that this was no joke everyone was dead serious.
"Well... does that mean that we don't have enough money for the repair? Because I got the money stolen?" Usopp had lost sight of what the point was here and would probably start blaming himself all over again for the theft of the money. Luffy was quick to reassure him, what would be difficult was the whole acceptance.
"No....that's not it!"
"Then why?! Spit it out ! Are you trying to be considerate to me?!"
"I'm not! It has nothing with the money being stolen."
"Then why are you saying stupid stuff like getting a new ship?!" This was escalating now.
"Hey, stop it, both of you! What good will fighting do?" Zoro said and you decided to give your two cents as well.
"Yeah just calm down and talk!" You said looking at both. You honestly preferred to table the discussion for now and pick it up later but the tension was too high for that.
"How can I calm down when he starts saying stupid stuff." You weren't too pleased with Usopp's tone.
"Hey! He's captain!" You said trying your best not to shout.
"Hey! This is an important matter don't get so worked up." Nami said facing to Usopp.
"She's right Usopp you need to rest or you won't get better." Chopper said walking towards him and pleading as well. Everyone in the room knew he wasn't going to listen.
"Who cares about my body?! How can I be quiet when our captain casually says we'll get a new ship?!"
"It's not casual! I made the decision after agonizing over it." They were now in each others faces.
"What and how did you agonize over to make this kind of decision?!" Usopp snatched the catalogue from Luffy and threw it on the ground stepping on it.
"Don't say such a thing while waving this stupid thing around." He was referring to the catalogue.
"What'd you do that for?!" Luffy was nearing his break point.
"Guys, let's stop this." You said but all words fell on deaf ears for the intended..
"It's an eyesore. Luffy if it wasn't because we got our money stolen, then why?! Luffy ,why don't you say it?! Oi why are you keeping so quiet. Give me a good reason."
"The Merry can no longer be repaired." Luffy said looking down all sad. If Usopp's judgement wasn't so clouded right now he would see that everyone in the room was sad over the decision.
"What did you say?"
"The ship will sink soon."
"Luffy how could you give up on our friend so easily. Merry has been with us for a long time..." You didn't want to be in the room so you just walked out but stayed near the door to listen but you were leaning on the railing looking out to the ocean and back to the ship that was going to no longer carry you guys.
"..is that how little this ship means to you, Luffy?!" Usopp was shouting so loud you didn't even have to lean near the door to listen, but even with Eneru's fruit it was no trouble.
"You shouldn't shout like that. Usopp." Chopper said.
"Sorry but step aside." Usopp said probably to Chopper. "I'm not done talking to him."
"Usopp...."
"Then can you make an accurate assessment? We don't have a shipwright on this ship . That's why we asked them to check her!" Luffy said.
"Fine we don't have to ask those guys to fix her! I'll repair her, as I always have! That's how we've continued to travel in the first place. Okay, let's start now. Hey, help me, guys!"
"Hey, wait Usopp." Sanji spoke to try and stop Usopp.
"Oh, yeah, we don't have enough lumber.."
You weren't actively listening anymore just bits and pieces here and there. Then Luffy almost said something he would regret but Sanji kicked him before he could finish that statement. He quickly apologized after everything, you had to remind yourself to thank Sanji later for knocking some sense into Luffy.
You turned to the door that was abruptly opened and saw Usopp at the door still talking to people inside.
"Where I'm going is my own business. It has nothing to do with you guys anymore . I'm leaving the gang." He then shut the door and started walking away. You let out a chuckle as he disappeared. Usopp was literally family he would be back soon or you would have to kidnap him when the time for leaving the island came.
Nami, Sanji and Chopper came out of the door going after Usopp.
"Usopp it shouldn't be like this. Hey! Turn around!" Nami was yelling at Usopp.
"Hey comeback!" Sanji yelled.
"Don't go Usopp! Come back!" Chopper was fighting for the words to come out through tears. Finally Zoro and Luffy came out and and both were silent they had nothing to say, neither did you. Usopp then turned around and he had something to say.
"Luffy! I can't go along with you anymore, sorry to cause you trouble until the end. It's true that the ship belongs to you, the captain.
So fight me Monkey D. Luffy! Fight a duel with me!"
"What? What ? Er, hey....what're you saying?!" Nami and probably the rest of the crew were against the idea. The sniper already had his ass handed to him by the Franky family and he still wanted to fight Luffy. You had to admit that when Usopp decided to be serious about something he really put his mind to it.
"At 10 o'clock tonight, I'll come back here. Then we'll fight a duel over the going Merry. I'll defeat you and take the Merry. That's the end between the between you guys and me." Those were his last words before walking off. The three were still leaning over the railing watching Usopp disappear.
"Why did you leave earlier?" Zoro's question was directed to you.
"Just maybe so that you could tell me what happened inside. I have a really bad feeling about this place. I'm going to have a drink, I'll be back before the duel starts."
"Y/n bring me a bottle, will ya? And stay out of trouble."
"Ha. Will do and no promises, the trouble may make it's way to us soon." With that last remark you then jumped off the ship and went to get the drinks.
The place was really lively. You weren't one to drink in the middle of the day but you were a pirate and who even cared? You walked for a bit until you reached a bar that seemed to have a lot of people.
"Welcome I'm Blueno of Blueno's bar what can I get you?"
Just three shots of anything strong and two bottles of sake. He placed your shots on the counter and you lifted your mask to take each one quickly and then leave. You took some time just looking around and there were some really good alcohol brands here, you would have to come back soon.
"Here are the two bottles."
"Okay thanks." When you went for the bottles you ended brushing hands with the bartender which was normal but what wasn't normal was that he had a devil fruit and he was a huge guy. You had become more sensitive to people who had devil fruit abilities around you now apart from getting the skill you could also tell whether they had the skill or not.
You had placed the other bottle in a brown bag and began taking a sip of your own. You swallowed in small bits and felt as the liquid sent a fiery trail down your throat and into the pits of your stomach. Walking had made the drink warm up and it was the perfect time to try out Aokiji's fruit.
You focused on wanting to freeze the outside and that's what happened, going to take a sip you realised you had frozen the entire thing. Next time you would try and go a little easier on the freezing. So now you were glaring at the bottle trying to slightly heat it up and then it was slightly melting which was wonderful, you could continue with your drink.
You had to practice on the whole temperature control thing and try and get it properly. You had soon returned to the ship and got up, it was pretty late, you were tipsy and spent the most time walking back and forth from streets and not seeing where you were going clearly, you had even been offered some different kinds of cigarettes which you would switch with Sanji's later.
By the time you had arrived it was 15 minutes to 10pm. "What took you so long?" Zoro asked.
"he he~. Got lost. Look look what I can do." You sat down at on the deck and removed the mask as well as the cloak, you were feeling kind of hot now. You took his sake from the bag and handed it to him.
"Thanks."
"Now give it back." You said with grabby hands and a stupid smile on your face. He hesitantly gave the bottle back. "Now look." You then lightly touched the bottle and then it started freezing up.
"-" He was speechless. You then handed the bottle to him and he put it away.
"But that stuffs pretty cheap might want to take it at room temp. All the expensive stuff is served cold."
You then heard footsteps coming towards the Merry and it was finally time for the duel. Luffy had already been waiting for him for a while now.
The battle was brief and conclusive from the beginning, you couldn't even see things clearly everything was swaying from left to right. Usopp had the upper hand in the first half of the fight by using his gadgets and everything but in the end I think we all knew that Luffy was going to win.
By the end of the fight you were slightly sobering up and hated to see crewmates fight.
"Usopp. You can have the Merry we'll get a new ship and sail to the seas ahead." Luffy then walked up back to the ship with his straw hat covering his face.
"We should vacate." After Luffy said that you could hear sniffling coming from him. "That was hard."
"That's what it means to be a captain if you waver then who can we trust?" Zoro was always so level headed in every situation.
Chopper got his medical bag and was about to jump off when Sanji held him back.
"Imagine how Usopp would feel after already loosing the duel and having to receive treatment from us?"
"Okay! But at least let me leave him with some medicine." With that Chopper jumped off the ship to place medicine next to a defeated Usopp.
You kept all your stuff in the black hole and had nothing to move so you spent that time packing all of Robin's books and belongings, those books are the ones you had seen her read all over the ship on different days.
The next day
The next day you had woken up a little bit earlier in a pretty good mood it seems that the high hadn't come down yet. You had gone outside to get some fresh air and you spotted Sanji waving at him, you hadn't seen him the entirety of the last night. You were chewing on a croissant.
"Y/n-chan you're like the only one in a happy mood." You chewed and swallowed what was in your mouth then spoke.
"Its cause I know that Usopp will come back, he just needs to apologize. Any luck with Robin?"
"No, and I stayed stayed at the cape all night." You were also concerned about Robin and her whereabouts but there was something else here. The townspeople were making a lot of noise on this fine morning there was buzz more than usual.
"We'll find Robin but now I want to know what all the commotion is about, it looks like something happened."
"I haven't seen some of the others all night."
"Okay be careful Sanji I'll be right back."
"Of course Y/n-chwann, if you need me just yell your knight will come rushing."
"Okay..." You were out in normal clothing and no mask nobody would even guess that you were a pirate. You released Kuro and Shiro. Kuro go look for Robin if you find her stay close by and Shiro just check up on Usopp to make sure he's okay both of you don't get seen, with that they left on ahead.
There was a group of people listening and you tapped the shoulder of one old man who was nearby.
"Hey excuse me sir, but uh what's happening?"
"Haven't you heard young lady.?" You hadn't heard anything that's why you were asking, it was better than trying to eavesdrop on bits and pieces of conversation.
"Iceburg got shot last night and he's still unconscious."
"What?!" Who would do that to the town's golden boy? It was practically a declaration of war.
"And may I ask if you are married?"
"Nope. I'm not."
"Then you have to meet my grandson, he works at the shipyard as a shipwright. At least meet him?" The old man was pleading with you to go. You were very much against the idea but this seemed like the fastest way to get into the place, they were probably restricting entry into the place. Okay all you needed was to pull all your acting skills together.
You took the old man's hands in yours and mustered up a sweet smile, "I'd love to."
"Okay let's go now before he leaves for work." You walked with the old man to the man's residence which wasn't very far from the inn. Newspapers had already been printed about the incident and were being distributed all over town.
You knocked on the door and out came a man with blonde hair a cigar in his mouth and glasses. It was the one from yesterday with the gambling addiction.
"Paulie I've brought for you a nice lady to meet."
"Not now we need to find out who did this to Iceburg."
"I'm coming with." You said a little too enthusiastically. Paulie hadn't looked at you but when he did his cheeks and the tips of his ears turned crimson. You were wearing a fitting turtle neck with long sleeves that was black with a pair of blue bell bottoms and some sandal with your hair open and free.
"Okay whatever." When he jumped on the Yagara bull you got on the back and held on. In a few minutes you had reached the his place of work. Coming with Paulie was a good idea, all the reporters flocked to him flooding him with questions about the assassination.
You creeped in slowly through the back and materialised a camera, notebook, pen and a press pass. Posing as a reporter was the best thing to do. You walked closer to the wall and started listening to whatever the people up there were saying. Suddenly there were sirens all around with a voice on the speakers.
"Attention. This is the Water Seven Weather Forecasting Center. An aqua laguna warning has just been issued for the entire island. Its arrival time at water seven is estimated to be after midnight tonight." Aqua laguna? You had no idea what that was.
"Hey what's this aqua laguna?" You asked someone next to you.
"Reporter from outside?" They knew something was off so you had to cook a story fast.
"Yeah I was actually doing a feature on water seven when the assassination came up."
"Hmm, Aqua laguna is a large storm that raises the water level of the island so just get to high ground."
Yeah this island's position was pretty vulnerable especially to high tides and great waves. There were really a lot of people outside dock #1. Iceburg is really popular. There was the sound of drums outside and you went to look and it was Franky who was calling out to fight Luffy. Probably because of what you guys did to the Franky house yesterday. He was a huge guy with blue hair and looked kind of odd. Luffy would be able to handle him. Iceburg had regained consciousness.
He was now talking to his most trusted shipwrights as well as Kalifa, they all seemed slightly sketchy.
"The people who broke into my room last night, I remember them. There were two. One was a big man with a mask on. The other was a tall woman with long black hair, there's no mistake. Those black eyes belon to Nico Robin." This was bad this was really bad.
"Then we can assume that the masked one was the Grim reaper." They were already pinning this crime on you by the sheer fact that you wear a mask.
This was bad one of the crew members was accused of a capital crime it wouldn't be long before they came after the rest of the crew.