Chapter 4 | "I think I like you better this way."

Just as Luffy landed onto the mast of the navy ship, she watched as the criminals and okamas alike shouted her name dramatically, which somewhat amused her. Though she wanted to see what they'ddo next, Luffy didn't wait all that long before finally announcing her presence, as Bon Clay had passed out again.

"What're you all crying about? Shishishi."

She didn't quite pay attention to their cries of relief and opted to make a bee-line for Ivankov. "Iva-chan, Bon-chan fainted again." Luffy said with slight worry as she gently laid the okama down, "Is he okay? Can you take a look at him?"

Noting the urgent undertone in her voice, Ivankov quickly got up from where he was kneeling and set off to work, Inazuma following him not far behind. It didn't take the two of them long to see what was wrong with the okama. Thankfully, it was nothing serious.

"Vyou don't have anything to worry about, Mugi-girl. Vhe's just sleeping due to the fatigue vhe accumulated." Ivankov assured.

Luffy hadn't realized the moment her body had started to tense, but hearing Ivankov's prognosis made it all go away as her shoulders began to sag in relief.

"Oh, that's good to know." She breathed, "Thank you, Iva-chan."

Knowing that Bon Clay would be safe in their hands, Luffy retreated back onto the deck.

"Jinbe."

The fishman turned at the call of his name.

"How long do we have before Marineford?" Luffy asked, eyes locked onto the blue horizon, as though she could already see their destination from where they were.

Jinbe looked up to the sky and hummed in thought, "There should be about an hour before we reach the next gate."

"Then we better rest up before joining the war." The woman stated and slowly sat down on the wooden floor.

"Huh?"

Buggy, who was on the lower deck, managed to catch their conversation and started questioning them. He got more and more hysteric as he did, "What are you talking about? What war? You're taking us to a fucking war?!"

Luffy merely hummed and deigned to give the clown an explanation as she had other things to take care of — one of which was the cape that she used to carry Teach and his crew's decapitated heads. She had tied the cape to her neck so as not to hinder her movements; however it didn't stop the metallic smell of blood from flooding her senses. So Luffy was relieved when she finally got it off her back.

Carefully unfurling the make-shift sack, she looked over the contents to confirm that the features were still enough to confirm their identites.

"A–Are those heads?!" Someone shouted - probably came from one of the higher levels, judging from his obvious fear.

Another whistled at the gore, "Hell yeah they are! You go, girl!!"

"Holy shit, is that fucking Kurohige?!"

"Wait, wait, wait!! Don't try to avert the subject!" Buggy exclaimed, pointing at Luffy, "I know that there's an upcoming war between Shirohige and the Navy!! Are you bringing us there?!"

The higher-level prisoners looked a bit dumbfounded at the news.

"A war?"

"Navy Headquarters?"

Crocodile scoffed from atop of a cannon, where he'd sat for the whole occurrence. "It's your fault for being so clueless. We passed through the Gate Justice, which means our destination would be either Enies Lobby or the Navy Headquarters, since the tub current that we're on is exclusive to the government."

"What?!" Buggy's eyes looked like they were just about to bulge right out of his skull.

"We're only breaking out because we have a role in the war." Crocodile continued, as though he hadn't heard the man squawk.

Luffy nodded even as she kept her gaze towards the heads, trying to figure out the most efficient way to wrap them with a mere cape. "Yeah, the real fight is on its way." She said, unknowingly repeating her own words ten years ago.

"'The real fight is on its way'?!"

"W-We didn't know about this!"

"Stop the ship right now, you bastard!!"

The Newkamas looked at the other prisoners weirdly. "Us from Kama Land knew it." One of the Newkamas said.

"Why didn't you tell us then?!"

Despite the ruckuss, Jinbe didn't relent. He didn't let go of the helm even when Buggy and Galdino tried to pry his hands off of it.

"It's useless. We can't stop because we are on the current!" The fishman explained.

"The Navy Headquarters and the Shichibukais versus the Whitebeard Pirates?!"

"That's more horrifying than hell!!"

"I'd rather go back to the prison rather than entering this hell!"

Purupurupurupuru Purupurupurupuru Purupurupurupuru Purupurupurupuru.

In the midst of their shouts of terror and despair, Luffy heard the telltale ringing of a Den Den Mushi. She quietly left her spot for a moment to answer the call. The amount of time she took to reach the snail was enough for the others to finally notice the sound.

"Hello?" Luffy said as soon as she picked up the transmitter.

"This is the Navy Headquarters." A man's voice stated from the other side of the line, even when it was unnecessary — who else could've had a direct line to a Marine ship. "We know that the ship has been taken by the escapees. We received a report from the Fleet Escort Force at Impel Down—"

"Please go straight to the point, we don't have time for this." Luffy sighed, cutting him off.

Had she been any other pirate, it probably would've gone unnoticed. But Luffy had been the one to say it, and those who had known Luffy for even just a minute were surprised at the genuine exasperation she displayed.

The marine, on the other hand, was unperturbed and bulldozed through her comment - though the snail's eyes may had just narrowed slightly. "—Judging from the information we received before we lost contact with Impel Down, we've determined that there are two men responsible for this break-out."

"The pirate, Straw Hat Luffy, and his fellow pirate, Buggy the Clown."

Buggy, who stood beside Luffy, made a choking noise that's almost inaudible. He pointed at himself in shock, as though not understanding how he made it into the top two of the Marine's list.

Even his own crowd was shocked at the statement.

"W–What?"

"Seriously?!"

"They think Captain Buggy is more important than the Shichibukai?!"

"We'd underestimated you, thinking you were just some no-name pirate." The marine continued, "Buggy the Clown, we never would have thought that you were a former crewmate of the Pirate King, Gold Roger." And if that wasn't shocking enough, the marine added, "We've also received word that you are like brother to Red Hair Shanks of the Yonku."

After dropping those bombshells, the man went about them not being able to escape the Current and would definitely die of starvation out in the sea.

However, despite that, the prisoners were more hung up on the Buggy's relations to the Oro Jackson crew.

"Our saviour is truly one amazing pirate!"

"Captain Buggy, you truly are a frightening man!"

"You're amazing! You were a member of that legendary pirate crew!!"

"BUGGY-SAMA! BUGGY-SAMA! BUGGY-SAMA! BUGGY-SAMA!"

Buggy was actually pretty reluctant to take their compliments at first. But as they went on and chanted his name, the man looked like he had an epiphany before letting out an evil grin — most likely scheming something.

"Buggy-sama! We will follow you wherever you go!!" One suddenly shouted.

"Just give the orders! We'll take the ship away from those who want to go to the Navy Headquarters!" Another followed.

"Yeah!!"

"Buggy-sama! Buggy-sama! Buggy-sama!"

Luffy kept calm even as the criminals started closing in on her, unamused by their ignorant behaviour.

Though Nami and Usopp had told her of how dull-witted she'd been at the beginnings of their adventure, Luffy didn't think that she'd changed that much in those ten years.

However, this had her rethink her life choices.

Had she really been that dense to have not realized what was going on the first time around?

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Buggy had been relishing the moment when a chilling voice broke him out of reverie.

"Buggy."

The clown felt a sliver of dread running down his spine.

In all their personal — that means, excluding the involvement of any other Straw Hats — disputes, Luffy had never directed that tone of voice at him. Maybe annoyed; sure, or usually naively; oh definitely, but that kind of... anger was an entirely new thing that Buggy had never experienced for himself.

Nevertheless, Buggy couldn't just succumb to fear in front of these idiotic barbarians. He'd just turned them into his underlings, for fuck's sake. So scrapping all of the courage he had left, Buggy stood his ground, albeit more shakily than he would've liked.

"Wh–What, Mugiwara?!"

"I won't hesitate if you get in my way." Luffy threatened, which only spur the clown further into panic.

Won't hesitate? Won't hesitate?! TO WHAT??? SHE WON'T HESITATE TO DO WHAT?!?!?!

Sweat ran down his back and temples as images of the Blackbeard Pirates' lifeless heads laying helplessly on the ground started to flash within his mind. Never mind that Croc, she's the real danger here! C'mon think, Buggy, think!! Before she actually detach my head from my body.

"I–I—uh..." The man stammered, desperate trying to think of anything logical enough to stop the bloodthirsty criminals from putting his life to an end. "SHIROHIGE!!"

The name of the most infamous pirate on the sea successfully took his minions' attention.

"Listen, you flashy fools!" Buggy quickly shouted, successfully quieting their chants. "You're letting your emotions get away with you!! The ship won't stop, we're heading to the centre of the war and you're already on board. Think about it! Soon, the man at the top will be in our midst — this is a once in a life time chance, don't you think?"

Buggy paused for a moment to build some suspense, then met all of their gazes with a determined look in his eyes.

"If you guys are real men, Why don't you live out a dream with me?! Today..." Buggy raised a fist into the sky, "I'll beat Shirohige, which means I'll conquer the world! Who's with me?!"

"YEAH!!"

"I'LL GO WHEREVER YOU GO, BUGGY-SAMA!!"

"BUGGY! BUGGY! BUGGY! BUGGY!"

Suffice to say, Buggy's quick thinking was able to turn the tide, and they all get to live yet another day.

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By this point, Luffy couldn't be bothered by the absurdity of it all and opted to just rest up before the big event. Letting out a long breath, she sat on the bowsprit of the vessel, away from all the ruckus on the main mast.

It was peaceful up in the front.

Luffy closed her eyes and inhaled the salty air of the sea, perceived the sea with all of her other senses — the wind wafting through her locks, the sun bearing its warmth on her skin, and the rhythmic sound of waves hitting the hull.

"I've heard a lot about you from Ace." came a rough voice from behind. It was a voice she knew well. "He told me that you two always used to run through the fields together."

Turning around to face the fishman, Luffy smiled at her (future?) helmsman, "Yeah, we were always together." Luffy reminisced the years she spent with her brothers. "But you're wrong. There's actually three of us."

Jinbe blinked in surprise when she corrected him.

"Ace probably didn't mention it since we thought he was dead, but luckily for him, he has a sister from the future who knows otherwise! Shishishi." Luffy laughed, already giddy at the fact that the the of them could finally reunite after all these years.

She'll make sure that Ace wouldn't die without knowing the truth of Sabo's survival, and she'll make sure that Ace's death wouldn't be the one that regained Sabo's memories.

She'll make sure of it.

Unable to resist the joy radiating off of her, Jinbe grinned along with her. "I guess coming back to the past isn't all that bad, huh?" He remarked as he could practically see the joy radiating off of the woman.

"Well, you could say that." Luffy smiled, albeit a tad subdued than before. "At the least, I could finally beat Ace with this body." She added with a wink, the little bit of solemnness suddenly nowhere to be found.

Jinbe chuckled at that, "That is plausible, isn't it? You managed to kill the Blackbeard Pirates in a flash, didn't you?"

"She did, didn't she..." A voice rumbled to her left, surprising them both. "Makes you wonder who else she'd defeated in her time."

Luffy turned to Crocodile, who was looking at her with pure, unadulterated fascination, which was just so... weird since she's only ever seen him with either a bored or angry expression — not... whatever this is.

"A lot." Luffy answered vaguely.

There's no need to show her cards right now. Not when she's surrounded by people she didn't trust.

Crocodile seemed amused by her cryptic response. "You grew up to be quite the competent pirate, Mugiwara." The man regarded, "I think I like you better this way."

Deciding not to process his last statement, Luffy raised a sarcastic eyebrow at him and drawled, "Callous and more prone to kill?"

There was a twitch on the corner of his lips, followed by an amused chuckle that almost made her short-circuit — yeah, Luffy decided, friendly Crocodile is so weird.

"Less loud and less naive." The man corrected.

Luffy couldn't help the humorous huff escaping her lips.

"Well, can't say I disagree with that." was her amiable response.

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Luffy: *Being slightly rude*
People who know Luffy: *Shooked* "LE GASP!!"

Luffy: *Watching as Buggy somehow stop the prisoners from making a mess on the ship*
Luffy: *Furrowing her eyebrows with a look of disbelief on her face*
Luffy: "Was Nami actually right? Was I really an... airhead??"

Crocodile: *Testing out the waters and starting conversations with Luffy*
Luffy: *Suspicious as hell* "Ah... hahaha, hahaha, yeah..."
Crocodile: 'That's a good sign.'
Crocodile: *Proceed to show more sides of himself*
Luffy: "Who are you and what have you done with Croc?!"

-Crocodile and Luffy bantering-
Jinbe: *Keeping his gaze to the front*
Jinbe: "I should stay quiet."
Daz: *Nodding* "Hn, you're right."
Jinbe: *Jumped in surprise* "Wha- When were you here?!"
Daz: *Eyes narrowing slightly* "...For a while."

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Luffy's first bonding moment with Crocodile!! ;^; isokyut help im cryin—

Also, somehow I could just picture Daz just standing there in silence, watching the whole time. I regard him as someone who would be annoyed/peeved if someone didn't notice his presence but doesn't show it lol.

NEXT UP IS MARINEFORD!! LET'S GOOOO!!

Next Chapter: "IT'S ME, ACE!"

J Out!