You were excited that Luffy was finally done with his battle. He then began shouting from the ground.
"We're gonna go back together Robin! Roooobiiiiinnnn!"
The enemies still outnumbered you guys vastly but Lucci's defeat seemed to help in breaking their spirit even, if it was just a little.
"He had me worried," Zoro said sighing out of relief.
"Same here." You added.
"So you finally did it Mugiwara," Franky stated.
"Luffy! Everyone! Get on the escape ship right away! We're gonna set sail!" Nami shouted heading to the ship, you looked at Luffy and he hadn't moved a muscle since being declared the winner.
There were voices coming from the speaker but this time it wasn't any of the marines.
"You did it Mugiwara-san . You morons! They can hear us. That's okay!
We'll let him know Anike!
Stop it! If we had just taken off we would be considered dead."
The voices sounded like Paulie and the Franky family.
You were right they hadn't died, they were alive and well.
"We're all okay," Kiwi added, "Sodom and Gomorrah are okay too." It sounded like Paulie saved them all from imminent death.
Franky had been bawling his eyes out the past few seconds wiping away the snot that was running down his face in relief that his family was safe.
"You idiots I'm so glad you are alive, I wasn't worried about you."
"Yes sir! But pirate mugiwara no Luffy also appears to be severely wounded! He isn't moving at all." Just as you suspected.
This was awful, if Luffy couldn't come here somebody had to go get him from there.
"Oi Luffy! What're you doing!? Hurry up and get your butt over here! We have to run or we won't survive! What's the matter we're almost there! Use your gum-gum to shoot yourself over. Once you're here, I'll carry you!" Usopp was pleading with him screaming at the top of his lungs.
You could hear his heavy breathing from where you were along with the struggling sounds of him trying to lift himself off the ground.
"We're surrounded by the sea and a bunch of battleships ! If we stay here, we're gonna be killed! Luffy! Luffy! Can you hear me? Luffy!?" Usopp's yelling was making your ears bleed. If Luffy was able to move he would have done it already, we had to just go get him ourselves.
"Usopp! Let's take the ship to the column where Luffy is. Everyone! Hurry up and get on the ship!" Nami was already on the ship with some others who were waiting for the rest.
"Fire!"
The government wasn't going to let us escape so easily, the escape ship was bombed and caught fire. We were now stranded with no way to actually leave this place. What's worse is that there were people on that ship when it was shot down.
Out of the ashes came Sanji running out with everyone including a chibi version of Kuro. Thank goodness they were all safe.
The marines now with the upper hand wanted to corner and capture us, they wouldn't take lightly to disrespect. They fired at the bridge pushing us to the edge into a single spot readying to swoop in.
You just needed to strike the attacking ship and hijack it but that wasn't looking in the least bit possible. The marines on the ground were still attacking. You hid Adira in fear of the rust-rust man.
"Dammit! They've finally taken out the entire bridge ! We're cornered on this column!" Sanji said after placing the people he was carrying down.
"We're out of options!" Zoro stated.
"We have no choice but to fight them all from here!" Nami said pulling out her clima tact.
"Don't be stupid! There's gonna be wave after wave of stronger guys!" Franky stated. He wasn't wrong but there wasn't any other choice it was ineluctable.
"Well we'll have to manage, somehow plus there's also Luffy," you say pointing in his direction.
"Prepare all cannons to fire on the first column!" The speaker spoke up. All the cannons began to pirouette toward Luffy.
"Eliminate Strawhat Luffy immediately." There was no time to waste. We began considering the possibility of Robin using her fruit to bring him over.
"It won't work because of the distance, even if I try pull him, I'll drop him into the sea." Robin stated.
You could make an ice bridge and go over to him but the marines would definitely shoot you down before you reached.
"Maybe you should just drop him into the ocean." You said.
"WHAT!!" Usopo shrieked.
"Luffy stand up please!" Nami said.
"Isn't there something you can do Luffy?!"
"Luffy."
"Mugiwara."
"Kero! kero!"
"Mugiwara-san you can do it!"
There was some tumult you heard in the distance, it sounded like someone urging you to jump.
It seems like the rest of the crew collectively heard the same thing . Luckily the marines were slow and had to wait a while before doing anything, the detriment of protocols.
"In five seconds fire at strawhat Luffy!" The commander gave the order and the count down began.
"Jump into the sea!" Usopp said.
"Four seconds."
Usopp decided to go with your idea and told Robin to drop Luffy into the ocean.
"Three
Two
One"
"Into the sea!"
"Follow Luffy!"
"Here we go!"
"Into the sea!"
You all ran and jumped off the edge of the remaining bridge. She had finally come for us after all this time.
"Let's go back everyone! Back to the sea of adventure." The marines fired at the platform as everyone jumped.
"Get on the Merry!"
You were the first one, landing on one of the sails and sliding down onto the upper deck. You watched as the rope ladder was let down, by itself? Sanji then came climbing up.
"I don't know who you are but thanks, Y/n-chan?"
"Nope not me. I just got here."
Nami then climbed up followed by Chimney and Zoro. Sanji was looking around trying to figure it out.
"Is something wrong, Sanji-kun?" Nami asked after getting on.
"Hmm... well Nami-san. The rope ladder was definitely dropped but there's no one here. Y/n says she didn't drop it. Unless, Y/n -chwann is being humble and doesn't want to get credit. You do love me!!" He was swirling around you with heart eyes you stopped him by holding his shoulders in place so you could talk to Nami.
"Trust me, it wasn't me."
"What?!" Nami was just as confused.
Power holders were being thrown on by Kokoro. Luffy landed roughly on the deck. Franky caught Robin and you got a hold of Chopper.
"This is the Merry! It's the Merry! I really love the Merry." Chopper said while moving around in your arms.
"Chopper you can move?" You inquired. But he didn't seem to hear or maybe you were just ignored.
"I can't believe it! This ship was dropped into the sea!" Franky stated as he walked on looking in disbelief.
"Who sailed this ship here?" Nami asked but there were too many unanswered questions throughout this whole thing and now wasn't the time to search for answers.
"We'll talk about it later! Give us your instructions!" Zoro reminded us.
"That's right." Nami started moving looking at the sky estimating the wind direction and trying to predict the water movements. Nami then gave some basic instructions.
"Let's get out of here!" Zoro said.
"Robin you saved me. Thank y-" before Luffy could even give his gratitude Robin covered his mouth.
"Luffy..... and everyone.... Thank you!" Aww Robin was much happier now she's let go of a large load that was weighing her down.
"Don't worry about it," Luffy reassured.
"Say stupid stuff like that once we're out of here." Zoro stated.
"Such a wet blanket," you said. He had a unique gift of ruining special moments.
"What do you mean 'stupid stuff',' you damn moss head?!" Sanji was furious.
"Shut up! If we die here it'll all come to nothing!" Zoro wasn't wrong it, just came off as jarring.
"Apologise to Robin-chan you bastard." Sanji then started to attack Zoro with kicks.
"He's right! Apologise to Robin!" Chopper said also joining in the fight biting Zoro's leg.
"That's enough. . . . Huh?. . . Oi Chopper. . . . . You can move now?" The fight stopped and realisation hit Chopper.
"Yeah he's been able to for a while now." You affirmed.
"Your right I can move." Chopper then shifted to his monster point and bent Zoro in directions that were anomalous especially for a medical practitioner.
"Alright guys we're gonna leave now." Nami said and we got ready to leave.
The marines tried firing and were failing miserably. You looked overboard and noticed that the water looked all spirally.
"Whoa this is more than I expected!" Sanji said looking in the water as well.
"Sanji what did you do?" You asked he just smiled at this.
"Don't tell me you did something earlier?" Usopp said.
"These guys aren't the kind of enemy we could escape from with just guts, right?" He then proceeded to tell us how he was able to get into the control room and open the gates of justice that in result created the odd water currents.
"So cool Sanji." You praised.
"Are you a genius?" Luffy wondered.
"We can't go on rejoicing forever. The whirlpools are a problem for us too." Zoro said bringing things into retrospect.
"You just sound salty to me. There's no need to worry with Nami as tour navigator." You stated. Zoro was abashed and angry.
"I'm not salty!"
"Shut up guys. There was no sea that the Merry couldn't cross with us on board!" Nami then started figuring out the trajectory of the ship against the cannon balls as well as the currents. You weren't good with navigating so you didn't know what she was actually doing.
There was one of the warships that was a little too good at aiming and you weren't about to let Merry go down now.
"El thor!" Lightning extirpated the ship and to your dismay Spandman wasn't on it.
"I'm going to fight too!" Luffy shouted from the ground. You soon joined him taking a few breaths in and out. You were tired out.
Zoro and Sanji were blocking the attacks as well as using Luffy as a human slingshot to send the cannon balls back where they came from. We were getting out of the place rather quickly we just needed to shake off the marines in pursuit.
"It's about time Franky! Can you do that thing." You had no idea what Nami was referring to when she said thing.
"Everyone prepare for a shock it will be rough on the ship." Franky stated. From your sitting position you crawled towards the edge and held on to it tightly.
"Coup de Vent!"
"Smoke star!"
With the burst of something from his hand we were sent flying away from the marines with a boost further up, they wouldn't be able to see where we were going thanks to Usopp. We had finally shaken them off and were decently distanced from them.
"Is here good?" Kokoro asked from Merry's head.
"Yeah, that's my seat." Luffy answered.
"Okay." Kokoro got off and Luffy proceeded to seat in 'his place'.
"Thank you monster granny. Thanks, Merry. Thanks to you, we were able to escape. I never thought you would come merry. But when I think about it, you've always protected us. I'm so glad you're our nakama." Luffy said petting the head of the sheep.
"At any rate ... You guys sure did pull one outrageous stunt back there. To start with, to think that you shot through the world governments flag." Franky seemed impressed by our endeavours.
"Well. . . it's not a big deal. All we did was take back a friend who was taken away from us. Thanks for helping us save Robin." Luffy appreciated Franky but the cyborg was a little flustered by the praise and you noticed him blushing and scratching the back of his neck.
"Well , to me, it was no big deal." He said in response which you found cute.
"Anyway . . . this fight . . . is over. . . and we won!" Luffy cheered.
"Yeah!" Everyone responded.
That night we slept in peace and woke up the next morning almost arriving at water seven.
Luffy and Chopper were running around the deck causing disquietude looking for Usopp and that's what woke you up. You walked onto the deck to see them looking everywhere around.
Were they playing hide and seek or something?
"Usopp! Come out already if you don't I'm gonna beat the crap outta you." Luffy yelled.
"We're gonna beat the crap outta you.!" Chopper emphasized. This was all too funny for you. You went to stand with the rest since there wasn't much to do on an empty ship. From your hole you got something to snack on.
"Hey do you know where Usopp is, Sogeking? I can't find him anywhere!" Luffy asked Sogeking.
"D-don't worry. He went back ahead of us on a small boat earlier."
"Eeh?!" Both Chopper and Luffy said in unison.
"Why?" Chopper was saddened by this.
"But this ship actually belongs to him now." Luffy had given him the ship after the whole duel at the cape. Sanji then proceeded to kick Sogeking nice and hard.
You were next to Zoro watching the whole thing occur.
"Just what is it they need in order to recognise Usopp?" He asked.
"Probably since the idea isn't in their heads they can't picture it." You stated.
"Maybe." He responded. Nami was also looking around the ship you would think she was participating.
"Not here either. That's strange. I wonder who on earth sailed this ship to us..." Nami said.
"But we definitely heard that voice calling out to us." Zoro said.
"Is that so?" Kokoro asked.
"Yes, someone most certainly called to us." Robin added. I guess we all collectively agree that we were called to the ship by someone or something.
"Like I said all this time . . . . it was the Merry's voice!" Luffy said.
"What?! Really?!" Chopper was amazed he must have been unconscious at that time.
"Right, Merry?! Say something!" Luffy was practically screaming at the floor boards.
"You idiot. There's, no way a ship would talk." Zoro said.
"It was definitely the spirit of the Going Merry. " You defended Luffy.
"You're just normally crazy." Zoro's words offended you greatly. You shot him a glare which he quickly shrugged off.
"Says the cursed dummy." You rebutted.
"I kinda felt that way too though . But there's no way something like that. . . could happen. Right?" Nami said.
"Guys things have spirits too. Some, more than others. She came to give her farewell." You said all wisdom like. You received a flick to the forehead from Zoro.
There was a large ship coming towards you guys if was the Galley-la company.
"Hm? I see a ship coming towards us!" Luffy said.
"W-what ! Who's that?"
"It's the strawhat's!"
"They're alive!"
"So you guys are okay!"
"The Galley-La company's ship.."
"Oi! Ice-san!" Luffy shouted.
"Baka-berg." Franky said.
You were happy to see that everyone had made it out alive and well. The ship suddenly split down the middle. It was expected and inevitable in the long-run.
"Osan! This is bad! Merry is in trouble! Please do something! You guys. . . This is good timing! You guys are all shipwrights, right?! I'm begging you! Please do something! She's our friend who has been travelling with us all this time! And just a bit ago she saved us. So please Osan
!" Luffy was pleading.
You leaned near Usopp's ear. "He never stopped caring."
"Then let her rest. I've already done everything I could. I'm watching a miracle right now. A miracle of a ship that has long passed its limits. . . . I've been a shipwright for many years but , I've never seen a pirate ship this incredible. It's lived a splendid life." Iceburg said.
They had already said that saving the Going Merry was impossible. She had been with us through all highs and lows both literally and figuratively.
"Okay." Luffy had reached the state of acceptance. The company guys brought some small boats for you guys to get on. You snuck a few pieces of wood from the going merry before leaving. If this was saying goodbye you wanted her to be there during the journey.
You placed the wood in a glass jar you made and threw it into the hole.
"Well, then . . . are you guys ready?" Luffy asked.
We all responded, "yeah..."
"Mmh..." Chopper said the last one to respond.
Luffy went on a boat ahead back to Merry.
"Merry. . . the sea bed is dark and lonesome so we'll watch you to the end." He had a lit stick and he proceeded to light the Going Merry on fire.
He then rowed back and stood to watch with us.
"Maybe it was good that Usopp wasn't here. There's no way that he could bare this. " Luffy stated.
Zoro then leaned down to Sogeking.
"What do you think?"
" I disagree. He too is prepared, everyone must someday say farewell. This is man's parting , not even a single tear must be shed." He was really saying all these tough things at the moment but you saw the tears pouring from under the mask.
"Thank you for carrying us Merry." There was a moment of silence to just appreciate how far Merry had brought the crew and all the special moments shared with the ship in the past.
Most people were crying but you were doing pretty good. It's not that you didn't feel bad about letting go of Merry, it was more that you were at peace with this kind of farewell, the time had come.
"I'm sorry. . . I wanted to carry you even further. I'm sorry. . . I wanted to continue going on adventures forever." It was Merry.
"Merry!"
"But I. . ."
"It's us who have to apologise, Merry! I'm not good at steering... so I ran you into icebergs at times. . . There was a time I tore the sails, too. Zoro and Sanji are stupid, so they broke all sorts of things! Usopp would fix them each time , but he isn't good at it! So it's us who have to a..." Before Luffy could continue Merry interjected.
"But I've been happy. Thank you very much for taking care of me all this time. I really have been happy. . . " Merry was just too sweet.
Franky started bawling his eyes out with Robin crying slightly. You looked to the side and this was what you had seen that day.
". . . because I had you."
"Merry!" With those last words the ship capsized. It was always each individual feeling as if they were doing less for the other but that was never the reality.
*Okay guys in honour of chapter 69 I actually read through it. Finished game of thrones didn't like the last season so won't do anything on it. Thanks for 40k reads 😭. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have an accounting class tomorrow and it's 1.30 💀