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This Bites! (One Piece SI)

Reader mode
First off -- props to you guys writing this. I first found this fic in January on FF.net, and I've looked forward to seeing a chapter each week according to your self-imposed schedule (makes for good reading on Monday mornings).

After reading the latest chapter, two items stood out to me.
1) While reading the latest chapter and watching as things degenerated around Soundbite, I kept wondering if he was going to mess up the censoring on Robin's name. According to the formatting on FF.net, it looks like he did a few times... so I wonder if anyone listening in on the broadcast picked up on the name/voice... Of course, by then, things were going so nuts... so maybe the listeners missed it... or did they? Dragon can't be the only one who told people to create transcripts of everything mentioned on the SBS.

2) A while ago, Vivi called Chopper "Chopper", instead of her usual "Tony-kun". For some reason, this always stood out to me -- I know Cross is insistent on her changing how she addresses him, but I always thought Chopper enjoyed it. Of course, it's been a long time since I read/watched Vivi in action, so maybe I'm remembering a lot.

In any case, keep up the good work -- I'm loving the fic, and look forward to seeing some future highlights... soonest amongst them... if after Water 7, we're going to see Garp, Sabo, and Ace all meet up with Luffy again at the same time.
 
Deidryt said:
1) While reading the latest chapter and watching as things degenerated around Soundbite, I kept wondering if he was going to mess up the censoring on Robin's name. According to the formatting on FF.net, it looks like he did a few times... so I wonder if anyone listening in on the broadcast picked up on the name/voice... Of course, by then, things were going so nuts... so maybe the listeners missed it... or did they? Dragon can't be the only one who told people to create transcripts of everything mentioned on the SBS
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Aokiji explicitly noticed at least once, but is both the lazy admiral, and was ashamed of being detached enough from what was happening to notice, so didn't tell anyone. If anyone else noticed, so that they'd act on it... well, I'm fairly certain they'd have to do so in the moment, because One Piece doesn't seem to have mechanical note takers, and I highly doubt any living transcribers would have kept writing by that point.
 
The Patient One said:
He murdered an island's worth of civilians, including children, because of the remote risk that a perceived criminal could have snuck onboard.
He murdered a Marine for running from the battle against the Whitebeard Pirates due to not wanting to die and leave his family alone.
He tried to murder Coby for speaking up about saving the Marines that were dying for a fight they'd already won.

His character in canon is a Marine who follows his own warped and unforgiving sense of justice, and murders anyone who's not superior to him who objects. It was a massive shock that he had enough sympathy to spare Aokiji after their duel.
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Eh, I took it as Akainu being only marginally less beat up than Aokiji at the end of their duel, and thus in no condition to kill him.

beowolf said:
Aokiji explicitly noticed at least once, but is both the lazy admiral, and was ashamed of being detached enough from what was happening to notice, so didn't tell anyone. If anyone else noticed, so that they'd act on it... well, I'm fairly certain they'd have to do so in the moment, because One Piece doesn't seem to have mechanical note takers, and I highly doubt any living transcribers would have kept writing by that point.
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Here's the thing: how many people have "Robin" in their names? Probably a lot. With only one half of her name broadcasted, I feel most aren't going to make the connection from this "Robin" on the Straw Hats and Nico Robin, internationally famous wanted criminal.
 
CV12Hornet said:
Here's the thing: how many people have "Robin" in their names? Probably a lot. With only one half of her name broadcasted, I feel most aren't going to make the connection from this "Robin" on the Straw Hats and Nico Robin, internationally famous wanted criminal.
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Yeah, but Strawhats!

I mean, what's the most unlikely thing possible, in the given circumstances?
It's probably the right one.
 
So, I've read this entire thing up until the current chapter in two or so days of reading. And holy crap was this good.

Also holy crap the latest chapter was insane. I'd heard it was considered pretty much the best One Piece SI story ever written, and I must say I agree with that assessment. I think I might like this story more than the actual manga and anime of One Piece.

Hell, it's one of the best SI stories I've ever read period.
 
This without a doubt is the best SI I have ever read...I love how everything has fit together too the point that I can see this actuallly happening in the manga. Wish there was more art to show the new crew members
 
Chapter 36​

It had been a couple of days since we set off from the last island, and thoughts of our defeat at Aokiji's hands were still on everyone's minds. Let it not be said, however, that the Strawhats were a crew known to mope or brood. Rather than letting things stew, everyone had gotten over it out of necessity to be strong for Robin in face of the trauma Aokiji had unearthed, and then pressed on by submerging themselves in training with my advice. With the extra knowledge and clear goals in mind for how to reach the next level of strength, it wasn't hard for everyone to move past the past and focus on both the present and future.

'Of course,' I thought murderously, curling my torso as I hung from the Merry's mast by my boots, with a well-sized weight hanging from my armored wrists and absolutely murdering my shoulders. 'The issue here is that the greater the gain you desire, the more and more pain that is required.'

Unfortunately (for me at any rate), due to the flesh of my limbs still being in the process of re-solidifying into a form I wasn't guaranteed to ruin just by flexing my biceps, Zoro's focus on my training had been diverted to my core muscles. And by his reasoning, if I couldn't strain all of my muscles, I'd have to compensate with the ones that I could strain, hence my current predicament. Only the fact that it was this hell that had kept me conscious against Eneru and Aokiji kept me from hurling every invective I could think up at the swordsman. And even then, it was a close thing.

So, instead, I turned my thoughts to more pressing matters. Namely, the fact that every second we sailed was a second closer to Water 7, and with the approach of the sinking island also approached a lot of trouble. Sure, I was almost completely positive that I had braced Usopp for the possibility of losing the Merry, but Robin…

I suppressed a grimace as I surreptitiously glanced at where she was relaxing in her folding chair and reading one of her books. I wanted to trust Robin, I really did, but unfortunately, we'd rounded a creek and travelled into a whole new territory of mistrust. Rather than having to worry about her betraying the crew, now I had to worry about her betraying herself for our sake! And somehow? Somehow, watching out for Robin making a self-destructive move was even more nerve-wracking than watching for her trying to betray us wholesale.

And the worst part was that if my mistrust turned out to be well-founded, Robin's skills all but guaranteed that we wouldn't find out until it was too late and she'd already attempted to martyr herself, at which point the only way out would be the hard way. I grimaced as images of a pit in the ocean and a fleet of stupidly massive ships flashed behind my eyes.

The very, very, very hard way.

In the end, there really wasn't much I could do except make sure Chopper and Sanji stuck to her like glue and warn everyone of two things: first, to not fight the Franky Family in case of the remote (hopefully very remote, at that) chance that they hadn't become fans of the SBS, and second, to steer clear of the four undercover agents, though that'd be kept amongst my confidants on account of how they were the only ones who I knew were capable of reliably maintaining poker faces.

Of course, right now, I had little choice but to postpone those particular conversations until after we met Kokoro. After all, aside from Robin's quiet reading and Luffy's casual relaxation on the Merry's figurehead, everyone onboard was training.

Usopp had finally managed to finish Nami's Perfect Clima-Tact, but she had only done a cursory confirmation of the staff's capabilities before she went to Donny to get used to the new shape. There didn't seem to be much change from what I had seen coming, on account of how the Eisen Dial and its mechanisms fit into an extra interchangeable bulb on the butt of the weapon. In any case, if the way she was going against Donny was any indication, it seemed like the new form was even better for bojutsu than a traditional staff.

Conis was taking full advantage of the extra storage space that the clothes she borrowed from my wardrobe provided. Bazookas were obviously her weapons of choice, but she had spared no effort fitting as much other firepower as she could handle on her body. Pistols, Dials, shotguns, burn blades, even a full-sized rifle slung across her back. And Mikey was right alongside her, quickly becoming proficient with a pair of pistols. The way he was spinning them around, quite expertly I might add, I was just waiting for him to ask Robin to borrow one of her cowboy hats to complete the look. And beside both of them was Lassoo, who was test-firing the new Blaze mechanism Conis had installed in his gut. It was still a bit testy and his pillar wasn't as big as what Conis was sporting, but the superheated blasts he was belting out were still quite impressive.

Vivi and Carue were taking turns sparring with Raphey, the Dugong's size and skill proving an even match against Vivi's reach and Carue's speed; the two were improving fast, though like a lot of the crew, being confined to the Merry was limiting how much they could get done. Still, they were leaps and bounds ahead of what they'd been when we left Alabasta. At a guess, I'd say that they were of a level of strength appropriate for the Mr. 3 or Mr. 4 team.

Sanji, spurred on by his rivalry with Zoro, had managed to work out the Tempest Kick technique, though he was having trouble preserving the 'blade's' stability for more than a foot or so, after which the air harmlessly dissolved. He wasn't even content enough to name it. Hence, he was on the edge of the Merry, teeth gritted in concentration as he fired shot after shot. It was slow going, but I could see that every second he worked on it, the fissures in the surface of the ocean grew deeper and longer.

Zoro, meanwhile, said that he had worked on his Asura technique enough to be confident using it in combat, and had diverted his energy to other pursuits instead. Namely, the Iron Body technique. Leo was drafted to help him practice, which seemed to consist of the amphibian slamming his fists into Zoro's torso over and over again. Naturally, Zoro was barely flinching at the impacts, and if the fact that Leo was starting to flex his aching flippers was any indication, he was fast figuring out the secrets of the technique. He'd probably have figured it out sooner if Leo were using the flats of his swords, but the dugong had begged off on account of how he was afraid that the endeavor would damage his blades. Still, as Boss put it, it wasn't as though the endeavor wasn't training Leo's strength as well. Or at least, that was his experience, considering how he had strengthened his own flippers over the years.

Speaking of Boss, he was the only one not suffering at all from reduced space, having decided to try out his new Thermal Dart (which honestly didn't look that different, apart from the hook of his weapon looking a bit sleeker) against the local marine life. Luffy in particular had been happy with Boss tossing skewered fish after scorched fish onto the deck, along with allowing the occasional pummeled and insensate adolescent Sea King to float to the surface. In all honesty, Boss was tough enough already, but if the Heat Dial improved him that much… well, the Monster Quartet may be a thing after all.

Chopper, thankfully enough, had buried himself in the storage room and was working on expanding his chemical arsenal, at the same time studying how he could potentially tune down his Monster Point into something less likely to make Thriller Bark look more inviting than wherever he was turned loose. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, he wasn't having much luck on that front, which meant we would have to hope that his new arsenal was enough that we wouldn't be dealing with a 36-foot-tall stupidly tough and powerful mad scientist if worst came to worst.

And last but most surprisingly, Usopp was practicing the Shave technique as he moved back and forth across the ship, dodging everyone's training sessions as he did so. However, the training was clearly just a side benefit. The sniper was more concerned with attempting to locate the source of some kind of sound that he swore hadn't been present before. He had tried asking Soundbite, but the snail had blown him off in favor of remaining ensconced in his shell, so as to focus more than ever on thinking about Awakened Devil Fruits. After weighing several pros and cons, Usopp had left him alone. Sadly, while his speed was exhibiting a marked improvement, his feverish movements and muttering, which were only getting worse as his leg pain apparently intensified, were quickly eroding the patience of some of the combatants.

"Where is it, where is it, where is it…" he muttered as Carue and Raphey hastily changed direction to avoid skewering him. "Dammit! It keeps coming and going!"

I cocked an eyebrow as I watched the show for a second longer before deciding to speak up, for his sake if nothing else. "Hey, Usopp! Just a suggestion, but I recommend that you work on your situational awareness next."

"Huh?" The sniper came to a dead stop as he looked up at me. "How come?"

I let my expression fall flat. "Because you're currently standing on Mikey's head."

"Eh?" Usopp glanced down in surprise. "Huh. So I am."

Several people paused in their training long enough to facepalm.

"Dude…" Mikey growled as he started to finger the new flintlocks at his side. "I respect you, but if you don't get off me soon, I'm gonna throw you off! And I mean the Merry!"

Usopp hastily complied, scrambling off of Mikey and zipping to the other end of the ship.

"But seriously, Usopp, what are you muttering about?" Sanji asked in irritation, turning away from the ocean and looking at him.

"Wha—? Oh, right, I only told Cross." Usopp promptly slapped a hand to his forehead. "See, I can hear some kind of a weird sound coming from somewhere on the ship. I don't know what it is, but it's distracting me from finishing my upgrades!"

"And Soundbite isn't helping you with that because?" Nami asked.

"Because he's focusing on training even more than Zoro is," I grit out as I focused on curling myself upwards. It made my gut hurt like hell, but it sure beat letting the blood flow to my head!

"Why not just put in earplugs or something?" Conis asked curiously.

"I tried that, but it's not going away! Just listen!"

Several sighs rang out around the deck, but ultimately, everyone paused their training and listened. For a second there was nothing. Then the sound came, clear as a bell: wood scraping against wood, like two planks rubbing together. It was… very irritating.

"Alright, now that you draw attention to it…" I trailed off with a grimace.

"Great, now it's going to be stuck in my head all day!" Nami griped as she dug a finger through her ear.

"See? So, maybe I could get some help finding—" Usopp began.

"Hey, guys, look! A frog doing the front crawl!"

All attention was promptly diverted from Usopp to Luffy and then to where Luffy was staring and pointing. And sure enough, there was a tan and white frog, heavily scarred with black hair in a sumo hairstyle, performing the front crawl in the water not far from us. There was no mistaking it: we'd just caught sight of Yokozuna.

And there was no chance in hell that I was going to pass up this glorious of an opportunity.

"Huh, that is a frog doing the front crawl," I noted casually.

"I'm actually impressed that a frog can do the front crawl," Donny commented with a slight tilt to his head.

"Anyone else curious about where the frog doing the front crawl is going?" Vivi asked.

"I'm actually more curious about why the frog is doing the front crawl," Lassoo shrugged.

"Maybe the frog is—!"

"Okay, this gag's lived long enough," Su deadpanned.

"What gag, COTTONTAIL?" Soundbite said as he finally decided to rejoin the living.

"The one where everyone's repeating 'the frog do—' OH, NO, YOU DON'T!" she snapped.

"SO CLOSE!"

I chuckled. "Good try, Soundbite," I commented, before raising my voice. "Alright, everyone, joking aside, that frog is the sign that our training time has expired! We've got one short stop coming up, and then we'll be landing at the next island later today! Start getting your shopping lists together, preparing the gold for landing… oh, yeah, and someone cut me down from here!"

"On it!" Leo volunteered as he drew a sword and started to tense his tail—!

"NonononoWAIT!" I yelped, waving my hands in protest, but too late. He leapt above me, swung his sword…

CLUNK! "OW!"

And I promptly found myself nursing what I was certain was a concussion.

"…I should know better than this by now," I grumbled matter-of-factly as I lay on my back. "I've tempted you-know-who enough times with how I word things that I should know better than to give it an opening like that. So, why, why do I keep doing it?"

"Because you're an idiot?" Zoro asked blandly as he looked down at me.

I was silent as I mulled that statement over before shrugging indifferently. "Eh, can't argue with that. Now, then!" I promptly ignored my screaming muscles as I sprang to my feet and snapped a finger forward. "Sorry, Nami, but I need to temporarily shanghai one of your duties, because right now we need to follow that frog!"

"YEAH!" Luffy cheered emphatically.

"Sorry, Captain, he's got a tragic backstory, no grilling tonight."

"Awww…"

"Besides, frogs are terrible eating. Too many little bones," Zoro commented as he walked towards our armory/oar room, most likely to fish out the Dugongs' harnesses so they could tow the Merry.

"You're not supposed to eat them whole, moss-for-brains!" Sanji called after him.

While the Squad got themselves strapped up and prepared to dive into the waves, Usopp took the time to tap me on the shoulder. "Hey, Cross, while I'm sure from what you said that asking too much about that frog would fall under the 'spoilers' category—!"

"Indubitably," I nodded solemnly.

The sniper rolled his eyes at my dramatic tone before continuing. "—can you at least say how the—?"

"Watch it."

Usopp shivered as a vicious growl wafted over from Conis' general direction. "How he can do the front crawl?"

I mulled over my response for a moment before coming to my conclusion and shrugging. "In layman's terms, a long while back, someone showed him the technique and he practiced until he could do it."

"HA! You just defined how everyone's learned everything ever!" Boss barked jubilantly before turning his attention to his squad. "Now, then, enough lollygaggin'! C'mon, boys! Let's get to towin'!" And with that he dove over the edge and into the water.

"BOSS, YES, BOSS!" the four other Dugongs chorused before following their teacher.

A moment later, the Merry jolted forward and started following Yokozuna at a respectable clip, though there was a distinct cost, in the form of an unmistakable groaning sound coming from the deck below our feet. I nervously glanced down before hastily jogging up to Merry's figurehead and rubbing her neck.

"Just a little further, Merry, just a little more…" I muttered reassuringly. "As soon as we reach the next island, you'll be in the hands of the world's best shipwrights, I promise that it won't be long now." I leaned my forehead against the whitewashed wood, eyes closed and a grim smile on my face. "I swear… I'm going to do everything that I can to keep my word."

"…!"

"Wha—?" I jerked my head back in shock. For some reason, rather than the calm that a placated Merry would have produced, I felt a rush of sheer emotion shoot through me like Eneru's lightning. The feelings were many, but not a single one of them was good: fear, sadness, depression, misery, anger… Guilt. Regret.

"W-What the hell—!?" I breathed incredulously.

"Hey, Cross!"

I was snapped out of my confusion by the Merry jerking to a halt—with yet another pained groan at that—and Boss leaping onto the railing near me.

I spared Merry a final glance before focusing on the dugong. "Ah… y-yeah? What is it, Boss?"

The martial-artist jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the water. "There's a line of buoys floating in the water and something really weird floating beyond that, something the frog's getting on! Should we follow it?"

Before I could answer, Soundbite paled in terror on my shoulder as he craned his eyestalks to stare into the water before us. Specifically, at the silhouette floating below the surface. "You have GOT to be kidding ME…" he breathed numbly.

I processed the development for a moment before allowing myself a smug smirk. "Well, seeing how you've apparently figured out what's going on, shall we harmonize our response?"

The snail hastily recovered with a smirk of his own. "LET'S!"

I slid into a flawless jazzhands as Soundbite and I grinned eagerly. "Nooooo~!" we sang, holding it out for a few seconds before I brought my fingers together in a cut-off sign.

Boss was unamused. "Very nice, you two. Now, why don't you—"

"WHOA!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?"

"Eh?" Boss and I started to look towards what the rest of the crew was talking about—

WOOOT WOOOOOOOT!

—And then it was just there.

The Puffing Tom was… it was… wow, it was seriously something. I mean, I'd ridden my fair share of trains in my life, I was thoroughly familiar with the subways of New York and Paris and the TGVs of France, but this… this was a whole different beast.

And by God, there was no other word to describe the Puffing Tom than 'beast'. The size, the speed, the sheer aura of power that the mechanical marvel exuded… it was like looking at the primal epitome of industry and technology!

This… This was no mere train. This was a man-made Wonder of the World!

It also didn't hurt my opinion that I was a particularly avid fan of steampunk.

The moment of awe lasted for just that, a moment, and then time started up again as the engine roared past us and down the tracks, swiftly approaching the giga-toad who was positioned on the rails, palm extended and teeth grit in preparation.

I sent an inquiring glance at Soundbite. "So, I'm guessing Kermit or—?"

"STOP, PUFFING TOM!"

My questions were cut off in a sharp gasp as the frog roared a very familiar line in a relatively familiar voice. Before I could do anything else, however…

THWACK!

"GAH! DAMN IT!"

We were treated to the suddenly very un-funny sight of the large toad getting swatted aside by the unstoppable machine as though he were nothing, followed by the Puffing Tom swiftly chugging off into the distance, becoming nothing more than a pillar of steam in seconds.

I worked my jaw for a second as I processed what I'd just seen and heard before slowly glancing back at Soundbite. "…Schwarzenegger?"

"I may be a cheeky BASTARD, BUT I CAN'T SPEND THIS MUCH TIME WITH THIS CREW and mock conviction LIKE WHAT I JUST heard," Soundbite replied, shaking his head solemnly. He then allowed himself a tentative grin. "'Sides… Going by those SCARS? He'll be back."

That got a slight grin from me as I remembered the few flashbacks we'd gotten to this particular stretch of the sea. "Not if we have anything to say about it, he won't."

Boss finally got his jaw working again, gnawing on his cigar, and he gave me a searching look. "So… tragic backstory, huh? Care to share?"

"As soon as it becomes relevant, don't worry," I said dismissively, waving him off.

"Ah, 'scuse me, question?" Lassoo spoke up, raising a paw. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING!?"

I chuckled at the reaction. "Oh, ye of little experience. What you just saw was a steam-powered locomotive, more commonly referred to as a train, or in this case, a sea-train. It's the magnum opus and symbol of the island we're heading to next, Water 7, the greatest hub of shipwrights in the Grand Line. That train, the Puffing Tom, was the brainchild of the greatest of them all, a shipwright known as Tom. Frame of reference for how good he was: he built the Oro Jackson."

Robin, Nami, Vivi and Sanji promptly gaped at me in shock, while everyone else onboard stared blankly at me.

"Roger's ship," I clarified with a sigh.

There were the dropped jaws.

"SO COOL!" the Kiddy Trio and the TDWS exclaimed together, looking after the train—actually, no, not quite. Usopp wasn't staring in awe; he had collapsed to his knees, sighing in sheer relief.

"Thank goodness," he said. "Now I see what you meant by this being the best chance we had for Merry, Cross, if we're heading to a place with shipwrights like that."

Aaaand just like that the atmosphere whiplashed right back around to solemn. And it brought the feeling I had before back to the forefront of my mind. Shaking my head, I looked down at the figurehead again. "There, Merry, you hear that? Is that enough to convince you that I'll be able to—?"

"…!"

"GAH!" I yelped, enough emotional force slamming into me that I actually jumped back—

THUNK!

"WhoawhoawhoawhoaSHIT!"

THWACK!

—bumped into the railing of the forecastle and unfortunately overbalanced, promptly falling ass over teakettle and onto the far far far too solid deck below.

I lay groaning upside down for a moment with my ass hanging over my head before glancing up(?) at my crewmates with a slightly confused look. "I'm… not the only one who felt that, right?"

"No, Cross, you're not," Zoro said quietly, and the distinctly bothered expressions on my crewmates' faces and the fact that Lassoo, Su, Carue, and the TDWS were curled up on themselves were enough to show that that blast of sheer emotion had affected everyone.

"I'm certain that I don't want to know the answer to this…" Robin started in an uncharacteristically shaky voice. "But what in the world was that?"

"That was unpleasant, was what it was!" called an older woman's voice from nearby. All attention turned towards the nearby building rising above the water that we'd somehow missed.

Its owner was a tubby woman with long, frizzy light green hair, a large purple cap, a pink jacket, and a purple suit with khakis. A bottle of something alcoholic was in one hand, and contrary to my expectations, she was not smiling; the grim look on her face gave every implication that 'unpleasant' was an understatement.

Which was made particularly clear by the green-haired girl and blue rabbit lying beside her, white-eyed and foaming from the mouth.

"You felt that too, Granny?" I asked quizzically, to which I received a slap upside the head from Vivi.

"Seriously, Cross, I'd expect that kind of bluntness from Luffy, not you!" she said in astonishment.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Kokoro shrugged and waved her hand with a chuckle. "Lots of people call me Granny, I don't mind. I like it, even! Makes me feel respected."

"Whereas you continue to be far too impulsive without considering all the facts of the matter," I replied to the princess.

"I—but—you—that—!" Vivi started to sputter before settling on thwapping me with another dopeslap and marching back to Carue.

"So, how many times does that make, Soundbite?" Zoro asked.

"Crocodile, Octavio, RATCHET—!"

"HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT THAT BASTARD WAS OUT OF HIS MIND!?"

"Aaaaand RANDOLPH."

Vivi opened her mouth… and shut it with a click and a blush. "I… have no viable excuses…"

"SO this makes FIVE!"

"Well, at least this time didn't result in us all nearly getting killed," Nami muttered.

"Ahem?"

The cough brought our attention back to Kokoro, who lowered her fist from where it was in front of her mouth. "I suppose I should introduce myself better: my name is Kokoro." She nodded her head back at her insensate pet and relative. "And this is my granddaughter Chimney and our cat Gonbe. We're the caretakers of this switch station. The reason why they're both unconscious is that yes, we felt that. It wasn't enough to have that snail of yours bring up some bad memories by giving Yokozuna a voice—" I winced. "—but then… well, I've been in this business for a long time, young man," she said, staring at us with an expression of stone-cold sobriety. "I haven't felt a ship scream in agony for years."

And there went the humor again. Seriously, I knew that this arc was meant to be one of the more depressing ones, possibly the most besides everything between Sabaody and the timeskip, but did that have to start now?

"Before you potentially chastise us about pushing her past her limits, believe us, we know that she's hurting," I hastily replied as we docked Merry beside the station. "We're headed straight for Water 7 to patch her up, no detours and no other objectives."

'Not if I can help it, anyway…' I mentally added.

She stared at me curiously for a moment, and then… then her expression contorted in grim realization. "You don't know yet."

The far too gentle tone of voice all but froze the blood in my veins. Apparently, yes, it did have to start now.

"…What do you mean, we don't know yet?" Usopp asked quietly.

Kokoro sighed tiredly, and then—

Re-re-note to self: age equals badass. I should have been able to reason that considering her stalwart performance at Enies. But if that wasn't enough, the fact that she jumped from the station onto the deck of the Merry with no sign of fatigue or pain whatsoever was a fresh reminder. Unfortunately, she still had that uncharacteristically serious look on her face, which prevented my surprise from lasting more than a second.

"I'm sorry to tell you this," she said grimly. "But the only time a ship could be in that much agony is if the keel was damaged beyond repair."

There was no warning, no preamble, just… it just hit us like cannonfire. Half of the crew bowed their heads, while the rest had looks of devastation on their faces. And me, personally? I felt as if the ground fell out from under me. A thoroughly apt comparison going by how I collapsed to my knees.

Usopp was the first to get his wits back about him, shaking his head in denial. "N-No, no! T-That, that can't be right!" Usopp denied. "W-We talked to her! W-We talked to Merry herself! Her Klabautermann! S-She said that she was hurt, yeah, but that—"

"But that she'd be able to tough it through for all your sakes?" Kokoro asked,

We looked at her in shock, and she sighed. "I told you, I've been in this business for a long time. While I can't say I've ever seen a Klabautermann myself, I've heard enough tales and seen enough ships that had them; it's a foregone conclusion that any ship that could give off that much emotion would be able to manifest him- or herself."

"…This probably isn't the time, but I thought all ships were female," Donny pointed out.

Kokoro shrugged. "It depends on the builder, the crew and the ship itself, though honestly, unless the ship does come alive, it's just aesthetic." She shook her head firmly. "We're getting off topic here. Listen, I know that I might not look it, but I know what I'm talking about here; your ship must have loved you a lot to continue on this far, but every story I've heard went the same way: ships only fix themselves and show themselves when they're already doomed."

"But that's not possible! Look around! She's still in one piece, she's still sailing!" Chopper protested. Kokoro looked at him.

"You're the doctor, right? Let me make an analogy for you: the keel of the ship is its spine. Any other part of the boat can be repaired or replaced, but if the keel cracks, that's a death sentence; it's only a matter of time from there before the ship splits in two."

"B-But how can you know that her keel is injured!?" Conis pleaded. "S-She said that it was hurt, yes, but—!"

"I know because I can hear the same thing that you all have been hearing for awhile now…" Kokoro sighed grimly. "That creaking sound… it's not just any two planks, or some random issue. That's a constant cry of pain that proves that your ship, no matter how much you love her, is already dead in the water. That's the sound of two halves of a keel grinding together."

It felt like time froze for us as we stared at the station-master in stunned silence, the only noises present being the sound of waves lapping against the station and our beloved ship… and the tortured echo of wood rubbing ringing in our ears.

"You can't be serious! There's no way that her keel isn't still in one piece!" Raphey objected at last.

"Yeah! We've dived under this ship more times than we can count, and we've never seen any damage to her keel! Just solid wood and metal plating from repair work!" Mikey said assertively.

Kokoro sighed and glanced at the dugongs. "And… have you ever looked under the plating?"

The implications of that statement sunk in with all the speed and impact of Chopper's syringes: if that plating had covered up her cracks, then that meant that they happened back when…

"Merry… n-no, you-you're wrong! You have to be wrong! Merry—!" I shook my head desperately as I stared at Kokoro. "M-Merry, s-she said that she was fine, t-that she'd hold on! Y-You can't…" I fought to keep the tears out of my eyes. "No… damn it… No! Merry…"

I looked away from Kokoro, struggling to my feet and staring up at the figurehead. "Merry, please, tell her she's wrong, tell her, tell us you're as strong as ever! I-I know it's not fair to ask but… just for a second, just for a second. Tell us she's wrong. Please tell us she's wrong."

For a few moments, there was nothing but absolute silence, stillness…

And then she was just there, standing before us, a translucent spectre that radiated sadness.

Kokoro's bottle fell out of her hand and spilled onto the deck, and everyone else stiffened in shock.

Merry's head was bowed so that even her mouth was hidden from view.

And then… she spoke just two words.

"…I'm sorry."

Cross-Brain AN: Yep! We're just gonna leave it at that for now! Sorry that the chapter was so short, but hey, time constraints and all that, plus losing one's job over bullshit can be a bitch. Still, look at it this way: you just have that much more to look forward to in the next chapter!
 
Well, here's to Hope.

The efforts of Cross didn't prevent Merry from being injured.
But maybe they can result in Merry being saved.
The Strawhats have more money this time. And they should already have the support of the shipwrights of Water 7 thanks to the SBS. They can even hold a call-in on the SBS for ANY ideas on how to save the Merry. In other words, they have way more resources than they had in canon.
One Piece is a world full of miracles. There has to be something that can save Merry.
A Devil Fruit. A call-in from Doctor Vegapunk. A way to completely rebuild Merry without her losing her personality. The Op-Op fruit. Just converting Merry into an airship. Something. ANYTHING.

I would beg, but you obviously have your plans already. Please don't let them be too cruel.
 
The Patient One said:
It's the Paw-Paw Fruit. And we hadn't thought of that. We won't be doing that here, no...but it's worth remembering.
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hmm...using something to cause the two parts to merge or grow together? some sort of chemical thing to give it plant life, and merge it together?
they see Merry's soul depart, and one of them yanks her down and shoves her into a fresh keel using the power of haki and pure willpower?
BROB does it?
 
Tbf, the only real way to keep the Merry going would have been to basically rip the entire thing apart anyway. A caravel just cannot stand up to the Grand Line no matter which way you try and cut it. Or crack it I suppose.

That said, let's bring in some tears everyone!
 
MiskWisk said:
A caravel just cannot stand up to the Grand Line no matter which way you try and cut it. Or crack it I suppose.
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Wouldn't it depend on the materials it was made of? I mean, using ordinary wood vs whatever the Merry's replacement used in canon was one of the main differences in why the ship needed repairing, right?
 
So... I'm pretty certain that the Merry is screwed.

I mean, it just makes the most narrative sense. The strawhats are going to try everything - they're going to get call ins, they're going to spend money like water, they're going to do everything they can...

and it won't be enough. The Merry will die, presumably in some dramatic, heart wrenching scene in which it saves the crew, and we will all cry like babies.

Because a plot element like this, that already has such investment from the fans? There's no way a writer wouldn't use that.
 
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