~Third~

The crew was back on their ship, the sun was setting in the background, Chopper ran out of the cabin "Hey Usopp's finally awake you guys!"he announced "Alright good to hear"Luffy said, Nami sighed in relief "That's one less thing to worry about"she said, the rest of the crew went inside the cabin to check on their nakama.

"You know i oughta punch you for scaring us like that"Nami said "Yeah no kidding, though it looks like you've already taken enough punches if you ask me, what were you thinking taking those guys on alone?"Sanji asked "You can't just run off and fight whoever you want"Zoro said "Oh that's a good one coming from you"Sanji said and Luffy laughed as Nicole snickered a bit.

"This wouldn't happen if i was strong like you guys, i'm sorry, it's all my fault i'm so ashamed of myself"Usopp cried clinging onto Zoro "Hey hey stop! I get it, i know you're sorry but you don't have to get all touchy feely on me okay"Zoro said uncomfortable with anyone else except Nicole even just touching him.

"All our saving all the trouble we went through what about the Merry?"Usopp cried "Take it easy, you shouldn't be out of bed yet"Chopper told him "Calm down stop your whining and listen to the doctor"Nami told him "So is there a chance we might get our money back after all?"Usopp asked after calming down.

"We'll maybe we won't know for sure until that Franky guy shows up"Luffy said grinning "I see, i'm sorry"Usopp whispered "Hey even if we can't get the rest back we still have a hundred million berries left over, don't worry"Luffy laughed "Yeah but he lost twice that much!"Nami yelled "Oh come on did you have to rub salt in the wounds Nami?"Nicole asked giving her a look.

"Uh sorry Usopp"Nami said "No it's fine, more importantly is Merry gonna be okay? I mean can we get her repaired with the money that we have left? We're lucky we have all these awesome shipwrights to work on her but i know things are gonna get rough out there so i want her to be stronger then ever before, we gotta do a lot more then just a little touch up, so do you think those guys will still do a good job if we only have one hundred million to pay with? You talked to them about it right?"Usopp asked.

"Uh yeah but we aren't having them repair it, we decided to get a new ship instead, i know that we probably should have asked you first but we didn't have much choice, either way i've made up my mind, the Going Merry has taken good care of us but it looks like our journey with her has to end here"Luffy said.

There was a beat of silence "Anyway Ice pops gave us this awesome ship catalogue to flip through, there's all kinds of different ships we could pick from in here and if we decided to shop for a used model we could go bigger then the Merry and still keep our budget under a hundred million"Luffy said.

"Wait, just stop, i get it Luffy but the jokes go on long enough okay? See? Chopper doesn't know you're kidding, look how upset this is making him, geez captain you should know better then to treat your crew like that, come on Nami back me up here"Usopp said but Luffy was completely serious.

"Hold up does that mean we don't have enough for the repairs it's cause i lost the two hundred million isn't it? And now we can't afford to work on the Merry is that what this is about? After all a first class ship yard is gonna cost a lot right?!"Usopp asked "Would you stop and listen to me" Luffy said "What is it? Tell me! Don't try to sugar coat it!"Usopp yelled.

"I'm not okay? I don't even care you lost all the money that's over now!"Luffy yelled back "If that's how you feel the what's all this crap about buying a new ship?!"Usopp asked "Both of you stop it! Fighting isn't gonna help, just calm down for a sec"Zoro said "I don't see what i'm doing wrong he's the one saying all this dumb stuff"Usopp said.

"I know how you feel but you shouldn't get so worked up right now"Nami said "Listen to Nami Usopp if you don't get any rest you're not gonna get any better"Chopper said "Who cares about me? How can you sit here while he's making jokes about getting a new ship?"Usopp asked "I'm not joking about anything this was a hard decision for me too!"Luffy yelled.

"Oh yeah i feel really sorry for you already window shopping for a new toy!"Usopp yelled taking the catalogue out of Luffy's hand and throwing it on the ground "You trying to pick a fight with me?!"Luffy asked "I don't want your damn pity got it?! If you tell me it doesn't matter that i lost the money then why are you talking about buying a new ship?!"Usopp asked.

"Just spit it out already if we can't afford the repairs because i screwed up then tell me! Don't show me some stupid catalogue and change the subject i wanna know the truth!"Usopp said "The Merry can't be fixed!"Luffy yelled "Wha-what did you just say?"Usopp asked "Don't make me repeat myself, i told you the Merry can't be repaired anymore, no matter what we do, we can't fix her"Luffy said.

"You mean this ship? This ship we're riding on right now is broken?!"Usopp asked "That's right it's only a matter of time before she sinks"Luffy said "What are you talking about Luffy? That's nuts"Usopp said "No i'm serious the shipwrights took a look at the Merry themselves, they said she wouldn't even hold out until the next island"Luffy said.

"It's settled? So that's it? A bunch of strangers tell you to scrap your ship and you don't even ask any questions?"Usopp asked "That's enough"Luffy said "I understand these guys know what their talking about but this is just wrong, don't give up on the Merry! What about all the adventures we've gone on together?! What about all the battles we've fought?! She's our friend! She's one of us! Are you gonna abonden her for another ship without a second thought?! After all we've been through is that how little the Merry means to you Luffy?"Usopp asked.

"I know you're upset Usopp but you need to calm down"Chopper said "Sorry no, i'm not backing down until we settle this"Usopp said "Usopp please"Nami said "What so you know better then the shipwrights? If we had someone on the crew who knew about this stuff we wouldn't have asked them in the first place"Luffy said.

"Then forget them we don't need those guys telling us what to do, i'll repair the Merry myself just like before we made it this far so there's no reason we can't go on that way, here i'll get started right now come on guys help me out"Usopp said crawling away "That's not gonna work"Sanji said "That's right we don't have enough lumber do we? I better go buy some at the shipyard we got a lot of work to do"Usopp said.

"You're not a shipwright Usopp you hear me?!"Luffy yelled at him "Stop it Luffy!"Nami yelled at him "Yeah you're right i know! But so what i don't see why you're so hung up on what some stupid shipwrights say, if they knew what she's gone through they wouldn't give up on the Merry so easy they just want your money!"Usopp yelled.

"The Merry's our ship so it's our job to take care of her without someone else budding in! I'm not giving up, i won't let them take the Merry away from me! This is stupid fooled by a bunch of salesmen trying to pawn off a used boat, the Luffy i know wouldn't cave in to some sales pitch from a total stranger, he'd believe in the strength of the Merry and the strength of his crew but here you are acting like you know everything acting like you know everything, i can't believe that's the kind of captain you turned out to be! I thought you were better then that!"Usopp yelled at Luffy grabbing him by his shirt.

"You're not being fair Usopp, Luffy felt"Nami was cut off "You stay out of this!"Luffy told her "It was my call, i stand by it! There's nothing you can do we're getting a new ship whether you like it or not, this is the end of the rode for Merry"Luffy said.

"I'm not leaving her here i don't care what you say! I know you're always trying to think about the future but not everyone on this crew is like that! I see the Merry as one of our friends got it?! And i won't abonden her when she's hurt!"Usopp yelled.

"Don't be stupid even if she is a friend that doesn't mean she's a person!"Luffy yelled back "She is to me and she still has the strength to live but you wouldn't appreciate that cause all you care about is getting a new ship! Stop being so selfish and think about your crew!"Usopp yelled back "Would you listen to yourself?!"Luffy said taking Usopp down "Don't act like you're the only one torn up about this we all feel the same way!"Luffy yelled.

"If that was true you wouldn't be looking for a new ship!"Usopp yelled back "Alright fine if you don't like the way your captain does things then why don't you go ahead and get!"Luffy was cut off as Sanji kicked him back "This is going way too far what the hell is wrong with you?! If you don't watch it you're gonna say something you can't take back so calm down!"the cook yelled at Luffy.

"Yeah i'm sorry i don't know what i was thinking"Luffy said "You don't have to apologize cause that's how you really feel isn't it?"Usopp asked "That's not true!"Luffy said "Just get rid of your dead weight and move on before they can slow you down if you're gonna throw away the Merry, might as well throw me away too"Usopp said, Nicole could sense in a part of his soul Usopp meant it.

"I know you're pissed off but don't say stupid crap like that"Sanji said "No i'm serious i've been thinking about this for a while now, it isn't like it was before you guys are just too strong for me can't keep up anymore i mean look what happened today you can't even trust me with your money, no point in keeping me around if all i do is cause you trouble, you don't want weak people on your crew do you?"Usopp asked.

"Luffy i still believe you'll be King of the Pirates one day but as for me, i was just lucky to be able to make it this far, even back when we first met i was gonna set off alone you probably just invited me on your ship out of pity, that's the only reason i'm here there's no sense in travelling together if we don't even have the same goal"Usopp said leaving.

"Hey Usopp where are you going?!"Sanji asked as the sniper opened the door "Wherever i go it's my business, it has nothing to do with you anymore, sorry guys, i'm leaving the crew this is goodbye"Usopp said walking away as the door closed behind him.

"Usopp why?"Chopper wondered "Oh no, hey don't just sit there Luffy! Who knows what's he gonna do out there? Go say something to him! Stop him before it's too late! We've come too far together we can't part ways like this, Usopp's not just a crew member he's one of our friends too isn't he? Get up and stop him! Luffy what's wrong? Please, you're the captain aren't you?"Nami asked but Luffy wasn't budging an inch.

Nami, Sanji and Chopper went out trying to stop Usopp, "It was too late the minute he said those words"Nicole said "If you stop him now you'll lose more then a nakama"Zoro said, Luffy understood what Zoro meant and lowered his hat covering his eyes before walking out.

"Luffy i'm sorry i can't follow you anymore and i'm sorry i was a pain until the bitter end, i know you're the captain of this ship so the Merry belongs to you, that's why i want you to fight me Monkey D. Luffy"Usopp said turning around.

"I challenge you to a duel!"he yelled "At ten o clock tonight i'll be back so you better be ready for a fight captain, i can't stop you from destroying your own ship but if i win i'm taking the Merry and leaving! Either way when we're done the last bond between us will be broken"Usopp said.

~skip~

Nami was in the cabin trying to convince Luffy to turn back but he wasn't budging, above them in the dining room Sanji was confronting Zoro while Nicole was trying to relax with some tea, she's been trying to locate Robin with her Haki all day with no luck, she had to recharge for a while.

"You said the Franky family came here this afternoon right?"Sanji asked Zoro "Yeah so? What are you trying to say?"Zoro asked slapping the cooks had off his shoulder "If you hadn't let them off so easy they wouldn't have stolen the money from us in the first place! It's your fault those guys attacked Usopp, he's freaking out cause he feels guilty"Sanji said.

"Hey don't blame me for not kicking their asses hard enough! You're the one who went off to go shopping!"Zoro said "Enough!"Nicole yelled stopping them both "Neither of you are at fault for anything, Usopp's not at fault either, whatever happened is over now, it's in the past"she said "There's been enough fighting already"Nami said walking in.

"Oh hey you're back"Zoro said was Chopper walked in "You were going after Usopp weren't you?"he asked the reindeer "Even if he was mad i still wanted to treat his wounds but he turned me away he found a place to stay so at least he can get some rest but do you know what he said to me? He said we aren't friends now so i should leave him alone and go back to the ship" Chopper said tearing up.

"Just this morning we were all so happy and now what? We lost Usopp, Robin's still missing i feel like if we don't do something the whole crew is gonna fall apart"Nami said, the clock struck ten Luffy went out to wait for Usopp "Listen up i don't want any of you leaving the ship, you got that?"Luffy asked looking back at the crew.

Usopp approached from the distance, a fight for the ages was about to go down, "So you didn't lose your nerve after all no matter how this battle ends you can't regret it this is exactly what you asked for"Luffy said "That's perfect don't go easy on me, i won't be the underdog this time in fact i've already figured out a way to defeat you"Usopp said.