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"Chopper and the others were still on it!" Usopp screeched.
"SABLEEEE!" Ana tried to run onto the ship on fire but Zoro held her back from doing so.
"We have no ship" Usopp wailed "What are we going to do? We're completely helpless now!"
"I'M DONE WITH YA FUCKERS!" Ana shouted shocking the others.
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Her two arms raised with the fingers of her hands splayed out as Fang feel on the ground unceremoniously. The marines tensed as the waves of water seemed to freeze in time, becoming so still that the only sound was the collective, hushed breath of those who witnessed the extraordinary spectacle.
Ana snapped her head up with a dark look in her eyes that made even her own crewmates shiver. Her eyes, once filled with a fierce determination, now held a dark, unsettling intensity that sent shivers down the spines of even her own crewmates. The atmosphere crackled with anticipation as everyone wondered what she would do next.
And then, in a heartbeat, the world erupted into chaos. The water beneath the marine ships surged upward, a mighty torrent obeying Ana's unspoken command. It transformed into a cascade of black icy spikes, each as sharp as a blade, as they shot through the heart of the marine fleet.
The once-proud vessels, symbols of the World Government's might, were reduced to splintered debris and shattered hulls. Marines aboard the ships had no time to react; they were left stunned and helpless as their vessels were punctured and skewered by the deadly onslaught of the now-frozen water.
Ana's display of power was nothing short of awe-inspiring, a testament to the terrifying might that the StrawHats could harness. Her crewmates watched in awe as their faith in their escape was now reaffirmed, as she had turned the tide of battle with a single, devastating stroke.
As the marines scrambled to regroup amidst the wreckage, Ana's dark eyes remained fixed on them, a silent warning that her wrath could be unleashed once more if they dared to challenge her and her crew. The waters around them now held the ominous chill of her power, a stark reminder that in the world of pirates, Ana was a force to be reckoned with.
"Ana, stop!" Zoro shouted as he tried lowering her raised her hands again with no success when he hung from them, her being able to hold his whole weight due to the adrenaline coursing through her.
"AHHHHHHHHH! We're going to die!" Usopp cried out as he cowered against the ground when the marines tried to retaliate.
"ANA-CWAN! I'm coming!"
Usopp lifted his head up from the ground and gasped when he saw Sanji standing in front of them, smoking a cigarette. Without even missing a beat, he had dropped Granny Kokoro, and Gonbe by Usopp and Nami and kicked away the cannonballs while Sable slithered off alongside him with Chopper still weakly holding onto her. He took a deep drag and narrowed his eyes at Ana who remained with her arms at the ready for another wave of attacks, her eyes blank from anything.
"SANJI!" Usopp cried with relief.
"Nami-san, are you okay?" he asked without looking away from the fracturing metal sphere.
"En, thank you, Sanji" Nami answered.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Zoro barked.
The cook ignored him and walked over to Ana who remained frozen when she had seen them all okay. Sanji raised his own arms and held them out to her.
"You can rest now Ana" he said softly. The woman stared at him a bit more before her eyes fluttered shut and she fell from her exhaustion, feeling a kiss on her forehead before she completely went dark "I'll keep you safe"
Ж
On a warship in the distance, Vice Admiral Momonga narrowed his eyes as he lowered the binoculars from his face.
"Get me a snail" he ordered without taking his focus away from the bridge "Get me Vegapunk"
"B-B-B-But we're not allowed to disturb him unless there's an emergency" the marine beside him started to sweat with anxiety.
"Idiot! Can't you see that this is an emergency? That girl is not a Devil Fruit user and yet she just took down our first wave of attack in a single blow! She only spared one ship! Get Vegapunk on the phone now!" Momonga glared at the marine.
"How do you know she's not a Devil Fruit power holder, sir?" the marine asked while pulling out a transponder snail.
"Because" Momonga grunted "There's already someone with a power like that in the World Government and I believe she must be the woman Sengoku told us about"
He took the transponder snail from the marine's hands and he turned his attention back to the bridge.
Ф
Ж
Franky leaned against the railing of the Going Merry after the ship had gone to save them all despite its beat up shape and watched as Granny Kokoro placed Luffy on the mast head, shaped like a sheep.
"There you go" the old hag said "Be careful not to fall"
"Ah. Thanks, monster granny" Luffy replied with his arms and legs splayed out. Then he turned to stare down into the sheep's painted eyes "And thank you, Merry. Thanks to you, we were able to escape. I never thought that you'd come, but when I think about it, you've always protected us. I'm so glad that you're our nakama. Thanks, Merry!"
They had escaped Enies Lobby by the skin of their teeth. The tattooed pirate's attack had gotten rid of nearly all marine's battleships and the marines were about to retaliate when this little caravel came out of nowhere. It was nothing short of a miracle and Franky was fully aware of it.
"At any rate" Franky sighed as he ran his hand through his tall hair "You guys sure did pull one outrageous stunt back there. To start with, to think that you shot through the World Government's flag..."
Luffy flopped onto his back and stared up at the sky.
"Well, it's no big deal...All we did was take back a friend, who was taken away from us" Luffy said. He lifted his head and grinned at Franky "Thanks for helping us save Robin"
Franky rubbed the back of his head.
"Oi! To me, it's no big deal as well" he scoffed.
They all turned to Luffy, waiting for his response or for him to aske the cyborg to join his crew, and then everyone's jaws dropped to the floor when their eyes fell on the snoring rubber man.
"HE'S ASLEEP?!"
"What's going on?" Chopper came out of the girl's room at that moment and he looked around the deck.
"How's Ana-chwan?" Sanji asked immediately.
"She's fine. She just needs to rest. She'll probably be right up in a few hours, maybe a day or two even" Chopper looked solemnly at the crew while trying to calm the cook down.
Ж
Anamaria groaned, clutching her temple as she hissed form the headache she was getting.
"Oh Ana, your awake" Chopper smiled at her from the side of the bed while Sable now struggled to get through the door due to her growth the last few days "Sable calm down. Sorry Ana-chan, she's been trying to see you for the last day"
"I've been out fer a whole day?" she stopped herself when her stomach let out a loud grumble.
"Ana-chwan!" someone jumped over the snake's huge head gracefully and ran up to the bedside of the woman.
"'Ello darlin'" Ana smiled down at the man that kneeled at her side.
"Does anything hurt?! Are you okay?! Do you need something?!" he exclaimed while grabbing her hands in his own bigger ones.
"Im fine darlin' but I could use some food" she told him.
Before she could even continue the man was gone leaving behind only a silhouette of smoke when he ran to the kitchen to make her something.
"Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Usopp! Where are you, Usopp?!"
Ana's eyes snapped outside as the rubber man's cries got louder and chuckled at the shouts she was hearing from inside the room.
"OYYYY! USOPP!" Luffy shouted again.
Chopper helped her stand up from the bed and she wobbled outside. Sable's head backed up so they could come out as the snake instantly stuck to Ana's side, moving more slowly since her weight had grown from having eaten so many marines the day before. A gentle sea breeze blew in Ana's face as Chopper carried her across the deck. The Straw Hats, Franky, Granny Kokoro, and even Chimney shouted and grinned at her when she walked past.
"Glad you're okay Snake" Zoro smirked at her as she waved his hand off of her head
"Look! A ship is coming!" Luffy interrupted.
Franky turned to see that he was pointing out towards the sea, where a ship was heading their way. Soon they were close enough for everyone to see the passengers on each shipto see each shipwrights of Galley-La were all cheering and waving back at them except Iceberg, who surveyed the deck solemnly.
"Ahoy! Ice pops!" Luffy shouted.
"Bakaberg," Franky grunted.
The blue haired man finally let loose a smile when he spotted Franky on the ship across from theirs. Then suddenly, the floor below the StrawHats sloped down and Franky almost fell into the water. Sanji grabbed Ana from Chopper before she fell and she propped herself close to him while taking a drag from the cigarette she had lit before Chopper helped her out of the room.
The front part of the Going Merry had broken off and the front mass was slumping dangerously close to the sea.
"What just happened?!" Zoro growled.
"Is everyone okay?" Sanji shouted as he ran out of his kitchen, which was on the other half of the broken ship "If I call your names, say 'Ay!" to let me know you're okay. Nami-swan!"
"Ay!"
"Robin-chwan?"
"Ay, Cook-san"
"Okay...whew...Ana-chwan is here with me so now then..."
"WHY AREN'T YOU CALLING ANYONE ELSE'S NAME?!" Usopp and Chopper seethed.
"Pops! This is bad! The Merry needs to be fixed! You guys...this is good timing! You guys are are all shipwrights, right?! I'm begging you! Please do something! She's our friend who has been traveling with us all this time...and just a bit ago, she saved us! So please, pops!" Luffy ran to the front of the ship.
"Then...let her rest now," Iceberg replied slowly, "I've already done everything I could...Now I'm witnessing a miracle" Iceberg continued "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"
Luffy lowered his head and he felt the masthead underneath his palms.
"...Okay..." he said softly.
Ф
Anamaria tried to keep herself from feeling too sad and crying once they were all on the deck of the Galley-La ship when they all watched solemnly as Luffy approached the Going Merry on a second lifeboat with a torch in hand. As the
flames started to spread up the ship, Ana couldn't help but let a few stray tears fall down the valleys of her cheeks, remaining still as the ship burned.
"Sorry. I wanted to carry you even further. I'm sorry...I wanted to continue going on adventures with you all forever forever" the StrawHats cried as the ship's voice continued "But I..."
"It's us who has to apologize, Merry!" Luffy cried at the ship, making Ana's eyes fill with tears "...I-I-I ran you into icebergs so many times...There was a time where I tore the sails too. Zoro and Sanji are stupid so they broke all sorts of things! Usopp...would try to fix everything" he gulped, "But he isn't good at it...so it's us, who have to...have to...apolo..."
"But I've been happy. Thank you very much...for taking good care of me all this time" the ship's sweet voice said softly "I really have been happy... because I had you"
"MERRY!" Luffy screamed.
They all remembered all the time they had spent on the ship; Ana couldn't possibly think how she would have felt if the same happened to the Black Pearl of the Sea Snake. With her left hand she rubbed Chopper's head and with her right one she squeezed Sanji's who was holding onto her.
Ф
Ж
A few days later everyone was taking care of rebuilding the important parts of the city with help from all the StrawHats. In Iceberg's home, Franky sat on the opposite couch in Iceberg's temporary office. They had spent the morning explaining to Iceberg everything that had happened. He was busy drawing away at his drafting desk but still listened attentively.
"So you burned the blueprints...That's for the best" Iceberg said solemnly as he dipped his quill into the ink bottle "I guess you have made enemies of the government now? Anything else I need to know?" Iceberg asked.
"No" Franky chugged down a bottle of cola and glanced lazily over at Iceberg "So...what are those plans you've been drawing up?"
"Seeing the scale of the Aqua Laguna this year must have made the citizens worry" Iceberg replied as he placed a ruler against the paper "This island might be swallowed by the sea some time soon"
"Well, if the Aqua Laguna continues on like this" Franky commented "This island might sink too...So what're you going to do?"
"I'll make the whole island float" Iceberg answered as he drew a straight line.
"What?!" Franky cried out.
"You're going to turn Water 7 into a ship?!" Franky asked and he lifted his sunglasses up to see if he was hallucinating.
"Did you forget, Franky?" Iceberg asked "We witnessed a great man who made the impossible possible for quite some time, didn't we? 'If you're a man, do it resolutely'. Isn't that what he used to say?"
"If you're a man...do it resolutely?" Franky repeated and then he smirked at the memory of Tom-san "I guess you're right"
PURUPURUPURUPURU
"Ow! Hello?" Franky picked up the receiver and answered.
"Oh, is this Big Bro?" Zambai shouted from the other end of the call.
"Oh, hey Zambai! What's up?" Franky asked.
"Please rejoice, Big Bro! It's finally here! It's just arrived by sea train. The item that you purchased for 200 million bellis" Zambai chuckled.
"So it's arrived...Thank you, Zambai! Bring it back to the house and I'll meet you there later tonight" Franky grinned.
CATCHA
"I'm going to go see the pirates" Franky said, standing from the sofa he was on "I have something I need to talk to them about"
"OW! Are you guys super?!" Franky shouted as he used his rear end to bump open the doors to the Straw Hats' home.
The Galley-La shipwrights had built them a temporary living quarters in Dock #1. Mostly to thank them for their help but also to keep them away from the public eye since they were still pirates.
Ф A bit before
Ж
"Thank you Ana-chwan" Sanji said with heart eyes as she took the dishes from the table after they had eaten.
"No problem darlin', but could I get some chocolate pie if ya got some?"
"Of course Ana-chwan, I'll get right to it" the man answered happily.
Mozu and Kiwi flanked Franky's sides and they had their hands on their hips, their knees bent, and their butts jutted out. They all lifted their chin high and stood proud in their signature pose.
"DO YOU FEEL SUPER?!" the man shouted at them "Everyone...! Well, not everyone but...no matter" he lifted his glasses from his eyes to stare at them "I have something important to tell you all..." they all turned to look at the cyborg, who sat down cross legged on the floor "On an island where wars happen one after another..." he began to say.
"Is this going anywhere?" Sanji asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets after having handed Anamaria her plate of chocolate "If it's not to ask for forgiveness don't talk, because we're not gonna listen to you"
"Just shut up and listen!" Franky retorted.
The people around him looked at each other in confusion before shrugging and letting the cyborg have his way. He took a deep breath.
"On this island...no matter if the islanders start a war where cannonballs fall incessantly, or if everyone dies and the town turns to ruins...this huge tree would continue to stand. No matter what happens, this tree will not fall. People would come back and build a town or a country around this tree. Only a few trees like this exist in the world. The name given to the strongest of all trees is...Adam, the treasure tree"
"A tree?" Sanji mumbled as he lifted the cigarette from his lips.
"What about the tree?" Chopper asked curiously.
Ana and the others simply stared, waiting for a response as the tattooed woman lifted her plate over her head when Luffy tried taking her sweets.
"There are still a few left in the world. It's wood that appears on the black market on rare occasions. I wanted it...but it cost almost 200 million bellis so it was impossible for me to buy it...And then one day, some pirates came with a lot of money...in other words, you guys..." Franky shook his head and he grinned.
"You jerk!" Sanji spat "You'd better not have bought something like that with our money!"
"JUST KEEP LISTENING!" Franky interrupted and he slammed his fists to the ground. He bowed his head and took a deep breath "A long time ago, I promised myself I would never build a ship again...But then I realized I wanted to catch up to the person, who was my goal after all...The next thing I knew, I was drawing blueprints for a ship..."
"Ooh" Ana said as she licked her spoon.
"My dream is...to use that treasure tree to build one last ship...A dream ship that crosses any sea!" Franky declared "I've already obtained the tree...and I've already got the blueprints too. I'm going to build this ship now. So when it's completed...will you set sail on the ship I've built?!"
"What?!" the Straw Hats gasped while Luffy simply snored.
"Then...a-are you going to give that ship to us?!" Sanji exclaimed.
"That's right. Nothing would make me happier than for people I like to travel on my ship. Well that and it's kinda like you guys gave me the money for it anyways..." Franky smirked "I swear" Franky shouted confidently "I'll build an incredible ship!"
"It can't be helped, can it? Since both you and Tom-san are craftsmen?" Granny Kokoro laughed.
"Now...I can understand the feeling of pride Tom-san had when he died" Franky grinned.
"All right!" the Straw Hats cheered.
Nami, Chopper, and Sanji dance around with joy.
BOOM
The explosion completely made the dancing members of the crew freeze.
"Who's there?" Chopper screamed.
A big, burly old man came out of the dust cloud with a hat shaped like a dog on his head and a long marine coat around his shoulders. The coat was decorated to indicate that this man was a Vice Admiral of the Navy.
"So you guys are the Straw Hats? I've got some guys, who I want Monkey D. Luffy to meet"
"The Navy" Franky, Sanji and Anamaria growled as they got into their fighting stance.
"Geez..he's as hopeless as ever" the marine spotted the snoring Luffy in the back and he grinned.
Like a strong wind, he disappeared in front of the Straw Hats' eyes and blew right past them towards the sleeping rubber man. Their eyes widened as they turned towards Luffy.
"What?!" Franky gasped.
"Impressive" Ana muttered in curiosity at how strong the man was.
"Dammit!" Sanji scowled.
"WAKE UP!" the man yelled as he punched Luffy hard on the head, breaking the chair and the floor below the rubber man.
"Luffy!" Chopper cried.
"AHHH! It hurts! Ow!" Luffy immediately sat up and he clutched his head.
"It hurts?!" Sanji exclaimed incredulously "What're you saying? That was a punch! There's no way that'd work on rubber"
"There's no means to ward off a fist of love! Looks like you've gone on quite the rampage, huh, Luffy?" the marine took off his hat to reveal his features to everyone in the room.
"Ack!" Luffy cried when he realized who had punched him. A huge lump formed on Luffy's head and it was throbbing immensely "G-G-G-G-...Grandpa!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" the entire room screamed.
"A-A-Navy Vice Admiral is..." Chopper started to shout.
"Luffy's...grandfather?!" Sanji finished.
"Luffy!" the Vice Admiral declared, "Isn't there something you need to apologize to me for?!"
"Vice Admiral Garp's got a grandson?" the marines behind the Vice Admiral gasped too.
"GARP?!" Nami gawked at the name.
"Luffy! Is he really your grandpa?!" Sanji asked incredulously.
"That's right. Don't mess with him" Luffy grunted as he rubbed his head, "When I was small, he almost killed me a bunch of times!"
"Oy!" his grandfather shouted "Don't go around giving me a bad name. I wasn't trying to kill you. Sure...I shoved you into a bottomless pit. I threw you into a jungle at night. I attached you to balloons and let them fly...but I did all those things in order to make you a strong man"
"I think I've just discovered where Luffy's endless vitality comes from..." Sanji said.
"I eventually entrusted you with my friend and had you train with Ace..." the Vice Admiral sighed "But I took my eyes off of you for one second and looks what happened? I trained you to be a strong marine!'
"I told you over and over again! I wanted to become a pirate!" Luffy leapt to his feet.
"You got corrupted by 'Red Hair'! How foolish!" the Vice Admiral shouted back.
"Sh-Shanks saved my life! Don't badmouth him!" Luffy cried with his fists ready.
"Who?" Ana asked anyone but got no response.
"What kind of childhood has Luffy had?" Nami said with wide eyes.
"Not a normal one...that's for sure" Sanji muttered as he kept his eyes on Anamaria who was staring at the tall marine in awe at how he was handling their rowdy captain.
"How dare you talk to your grandfather like that?!" Garp roared and he grabbed Luffy by the front of his shirt.
"Ahhh! I'm sorry!" Luffy thrashed against his hold.
"AHHHH! Luffy got caught by the Navy!" Chopper screamed.
They all tensed, waiting for the older man's next move when...
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