[Incomplete Mysteries of the Seas] Goro Goro Luffy Extended

In canon, Monet was 17 when Doflamingo found her and Sugar and saved them from their hard lives. He also gave both of them their Devil Fruits.

HERE, things happened a bit differently. Monet found her Devil Fruit on her own, and used her powers to help improve her and her sister’s livelihood. Unfortunately, this attracted the wrong kind of attention. Without giving away too much here and now, she and Sugar were separated and she was eventually picked up by Luffy and the Red-Haired Pirates.

-]|[-

It was a bright, sunny day for the people aboard the opulent cruise vessel with a dolphin acting as a figurehead. The trip so far had been phenomenal. The skies were clear practically every day, and the seas were calm. They hadn’t had so much as a spilled cup of Sake in over a weak. As per usual aboard the vessel, the guests were well-dressed in fancy clothing. The live band was playing a more-lively quartet, so the guests were dancing along to it on the floor. The Captain – a shorter man in all white Captain’s clothes wearing sunglasses just over his bushy, black mustache – was looking on proudly with his arms behind his back. His perfect little cruise ship had a flawless record, and guests always gave rave reviews to anyone who would listen.

So of course, something had to go wrong.

“PIRATES!” Came the terrified call from the deck. The rich guests and the Captain all froze, simply looking at one another in confusion, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just heard. And then the panic set in. The Captain’s calls to remain calm and seated went unheard, as rich, snobby folk went from calm and assured to running around like chicken with their heads cut off. They all rushed out of the Ballroom, unknowingly straight into danger. Their thought process was, ‘get to the deck and show we surrender. Maybe they won’t harm us.’

Which would unfortunately just put them directly into the path of any cannonballs passing the ship and any debris. It also would just make them easier to round up, if that was the plan. A young, orange-haired woman on the ship was quite irritated. She had been dancing and had gotten caught up in the clamoring. She would have preferred to stay hidden.

It was therefore quite fortunate for them that the pirates were, in fact, not firing at all. Soon enough, the bewildered guests could even make out details on the ship without even needing a spyglass. The Captain, the sailors, and the orange-haired girl especially were extremely confused. The ship was definitely heading in their direction so…why weren’t they firing? Or even looking hostile? They couldn’t really even see a lot of men on the deck.

The ship itself was quite large – larger than their cruise vessel at any rate. It was a three-masted Frigate made of a darker wood. The hull was painted a rich crimson, as were all of the sails. White highlights ran all along the rails and the trimmings. A giant bird of prey of some sort was carved as a figurehead. Its body seemed to be growing out of the ship; made of the white wood. Crimson wings and plumage seemingly wrapped the hull. But its most stunning feature was the fact that it seemed to be depicted as creating lightning bolts, which speared away from the wings. On the tallest mast above the crow’s nest was a black flag – a well-known symbol of piracy. The Jolly Roger on it was a stylized skull with a straw hat. A somewhat strange design sure, but not too far out of the ordinary. What made it stranger was that it was an electric blue and seemed to be…fizzing out with small flecks of lightning springing from it.

The worried people stood in silence as the ship drew ever closer. Finally, it pulled up next to them, board to board. Around a dozen hook ropes flew downward and secured the two vessels together. Two people leapt from the higher deck onto the deck of the cruise ship. Practically every jaw on that ship dropped momentarily as they took in the two young woman who had invaded their ship. They were utterly gorgeous.

The taller woman had pale skin and black hair. She had a bit of a longer nose - though thin and well defined – and crystal blue eyes with large pupils. She was wearing a skin-tight purple halter-neck with a thin strand securing it to her body. The slit in the front exposing some cleavage made it absolutely clear that she was ‘gifted’ in that area. She had an hourglass figure, and was wearing a purple, low hanging skirt that barely made it to half-thigh, though cut white strips hanging from the hem did artificially lengthen it. She had an amused smile on her face.

The other woman was just as gorgeous and equally curvy, if half a head shorter than her counterpart. She had long, wavy, brilliant green hair and amber eyes. She was also quite pale, and was clad in green. Her tank top – with the word ‘HAPPY’ written on it – dipped quite low, showing that she was just as ‘gifted’ as the other, taller woman. Unlike the dark-haired one, she wore yellow, skintight leggings. She was also smiling, thought there was something a bit more…dangerous to it. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, making sure to expose a small bit more cleavage. Her smirk widened as the ‘classy gentlemen’ had to hunch over to hide their nosebleeds, “Why hello there.” She purred sweetly, “I don’t suppose your Captain is around?”

The man in question shook himself and hurried forward, before coughing into his fist. He clasped his own hands behind his back, “Hello ladies. I must thank you for not attacking us.” He said nervously.

“Ufufufu.” The dark-haired woman giggled lightly, “You need not worry, Captain-san. We have no need to attack a simple cruise ship.” A collective wave of relief spread through the passengers, some of whom even shook their heads at being worried in the first place.

The orange-haired woman could only blink dumbly. ‘What the hell?’ She could only think, ‘Pirates not attacking? What’s going on? What are they up to?’ The words only put her further on edge, fully believing them to be lying.

The Captain could only smile broadly in relief, “Thank you very much. May I ask what you wish from us?”

The green-haired one smiled, “Oh, nothing much. We only wish for some food.” Her grin turned a bit sheepish, “It has been a while since we’ve been able to stock up, and we ran out of fresh ingredients about three days ago.” Though that wasn’t actually the wholestory.

The dark-haired woman chimed in cheerfully, “We have plenty of money and we’re willing to pay.” A large smirk rose onto the orange-haired woman’s face after the initial moment of increased befuddlement.

The Captain smiled and stood proudly, “We can certainly aid you with that. Please, this way.” He held an arm out and directed them inside.

Soon, everyone was back inside and the party was back in full swing. The two women had happy smiles on their faces, even as the people around gawked at the massive stacks of emptied plates on their table. The women all felt quite jealous at the sight. Why couldn’t they eat that much and still have such amazing figures? The Captain stopped by, “I hope you are enjoying the food, ladies.”

“We are. Compliments to the chef, Captain-san.” The dark-haired woman said pleasantly.

“Might I have your names?” He asked them.

“You may call me Robin.” She inclined her head to him.

“Hmmm…I suppose…” The green-haired woman drawled. She was swirling a glass of red wine languidly, “I am Monet.”

“A pleasure.” The Captain said, “Will you ladies be staying long?”

“We will not.” Robin pushed away her final plate, “Though we will need provisions before we go. If we could buy those off you along with a direction to the closest island, we’ll be on our way.”

“That will be no issue at all.” The Captain seemed like a huge load had lifted off his back, “I must say, I’ve never seen pirates so…well…well-mannered before.” He was a little hesitant on saying so in case it set them off, but they seemed like perfectly reasonable people.

Monet giggled behind her hand, “Oh, it would have been quite easy to conquer this ship and simply take what we wished.” As she eyed him and a shiver went down his spine, he finally put a word to the feeling the young woman gave off behind her easy-going smile. Predator. “But…” She sang, “There was no point in doing so. It would have gained us nothing a little goodwill couldn’t get.” She shrugged, “Guess my little crew has rubbed off on me.”

He swallowed heavily, starting to realize just how much of a bullet they had dodged. “Ah, speaking of which, where is the rest of your crew?”

Monet giggled again, “Oh, it’s just the two of us for now. I guess you could say we’re in our…recruitment phase.”

Robin smiled, “Our final crew member is a little…lost.” She swirled a glass of wine, “Quite a shame. He would have enjoyed eating all of your food.”

He licked his lips, “A-all our food?”

Monet laughed outright, “Oh yes. He’s quite…voracious.” Under her gaze, he felt like a scared bunny being eyed by a hawk.

Suddenly, Robin stiffed, “Arara…” She looked quite amused, “Looks like we get to have some fun.”

-]|[-

The orange-haired woman – a young girl of eighteen named Nami – had waited until everything had settled down once more. Once she managed to get away from the stuffy guests, she had hidden near the upper deck. She had stripped off her dress and tucked it away safely before donning a much different set of clothes; a tight blue shirt, loose black pants with a red sash, and a black bandana covering parts of her orange hair. She waited at the door until she saw that the sailors weren’t looking, and then raced out and – revealing some very good athletics – managed to jump high enough to grab the bottom rails of the larger ship. She hauled herself up and onto the deck in a hurry, before taking the stairs down into the holds. She never noticed the eyes on the masts that had zeroed onto her the second her head had popped into view.

She slammed a few doors open in her hurry. She had no idea how long those women would take to eat and didn’t fancy being caught. Finally, she found the treasure holds and felt her knees immediately give out under her. Her gaping jaw hung low and she was twitching in shock.

Gold.

There was gold everywhere. She couldn’t even count the numbers of gold coins strewn about, nor the number of stacks of bills. There were golden treasures everywhere. It was like she had walked into a King’s Vault. Unbidden, a single tear streamed down her face.

This was enough. It was enough. It was more than enough. She could definitely free her village with this! Hell, she could probably free the entire Conomi Islands with all of this! Then, she descended into despair. She was extremely skilled – possibly the world’s best – but she couldn’t possibly sail a vessel this large completely by herself. She also couldn’t possibly steal all of this in a timely manner! She growled bitterly. So close yet so far. She grabbed a burlap sack and started making her way to the treasure. She may not be able to take all of it, but she certainly would take as much as she could carry.

“Arara…” Nami let out a little scream and sprang forward, whipping her staff out in her panic as she whirled around to stare at the voice, “Now what do we have here?” Robin was standing there with a little smile on her lips.

Nami giggled nervously, “Well, I can explain.”

“Oho?” Robin looked even more amused, “Please do so, Thief-san.”

“Well, you see-” Nami cut herself off and swung her staff as hard as she could at the woman’s head.

Only that wasn’t the result she got. The dark-haired beauty lifted a finger. A single finger. Nami’s staff shattered against that finger. “Oh my, that was quite a story.” If anything, her amused grin was even bigger, “You sure are a little wildcat, aren’t you Thief-san? I’m afraid your staff wasn’t too sturdy though.”

Nami slowly lowered her hand and her head, clenching her fists, “I surrender…” She whispered.

Robin finally frowned, ‘She sounds as bitter as I used to.’ She observed the girl closely for the first time. She was clearly an athletic girl, and quite beautiful too. Unlike what she would have expected from a rich girl, she was both stealing and armed. That staff would probably have knocked a normal person clean out. She definitely had potential. She smiled, ‘Luffy would probably like her.’ Her decision made, she smiled again, “It was a nice attempt, Thief-san.” She sat on a table and crossed her legs, “So, what made an attractive, skilled, and intelligent girl like you think it was a good idea to rob pirates?”

Nami growled, “I don’t see why you would care. You’re just going to kill me for this.” She glared at her with nothing but hate and defiance in her gaze.

Robin was taken aback but the utter wrath in those eyes, “Oh, but I would say you’re jumping the gun a little, Thief-san.” She grinned as Nami now looked taken aback, “You’ll find we’re reasonable people.” She paused, before giggling ruefully, “Well, I’m a reasonable person. I can’t always say the same for my friend.” She settled once more and leaned forward, “So I’ll ask again. What exactly made you think this was a good idea?”

“What game are you playing?” She hissed, before taking a deep breath, “I’m a pirate thief. I’m trying to raise a hundred million Beli.”

Robin whistled, “Arara…that’s quite the goal.” She smiled, “And what reason do you have for needing that much money?” She asked curiously.

“None of your business.” Nami spat.

“Oh, that’s quite a shame. Quite a shame indeed.” Robin said airily, “But, allow me to make a few assumptions.” Nami suddenly stiffened as Robin’s playful look vanished, “Your immediate hatred of me for no real reason and insistence in being a pirate thief only makes me believe pirates have taken something near and dear to you.” Nami’s breath caught in her throat, “Additionally, you’ve taken to trying to raise a hundred million Beli. That makes me believe that someone is either blackmailing you or holds you under ransom. How am I doing so far, Thief-san?”

Nami said nothing, looking at her stone-faced. Robin leaned back and smiled again, “I’ll take your silence as confirmation. So now I’ll ask something a little different.” Her grin widened, “Do you have any special skills?”

Nami’s eyes widened. She eyed the pirate in front of her warily, “Well, I’m a damn good thief. I’m actually unsure as to how you caught me. I made sure you were good and distracted before coming here.”

“Ufufufu, you’ll find I’m a thief’s worst nightmare.” Robin giggled pleasantly.

Nami stored that in her mind, “I’m also the best damn navigator in the sea.” She said proudly. Even if she was a pirate, Nami couldn’t help but boast over that fact.

Robin’s amused look was replaced was delight, “Oh, how wonderful. And does Navigator-san have a name?”

Nami looked at her cautiously, “My name is Nojiko.”

Robin giggled, “Your realname, Navigator-san.”

Nami’s jaw dropped for a moment, before she clenched her fists, “Nami. My name is Nami.”

“An appropriate name for a navigator.” Robin smiled, “My name, Navigator-san, is Nico Robin. My friend is Monet. A pleasure.”

Nami could only stare. What the hell was this? Finally, she growled in anger, “What game is this? What do you want with me, Pirate?” She spat.

“Game?” Robin made a wishy-washy motion, “No game. I was simply contemplating what to do with you.”

“…Let me go?” She asked hopefully.

“Oh heavens no.” Robin giggled much to Nami’s dismay, “I’m going to recruit you.”

Nami’s jaw dropped. She worked it up and down, “…What?” She finally got out.

Robin smiled, “We’re a small crew at the moment. Neither of us can navigate well and we’ve been lost here in East Blue for about two weeks.”

“No.” Nami said flatly, “Hell no.”

“Oh, such a shame. And here we were, prepared to offer our help in raising your one hundred million.” Robin tsked in disappointment.

Nami froze, before trembling, “Who the hell are you people? Stop toying with me!” Her eyes welled slightly.

“I wouldn’t toy about something like this.” Robin admonished, “Not all pirates are like the ones you hate. You’ll find that our crew is a family.” She said with a smile, “And if helping you free your loved ones will make you happy, we will help you with that.”

Nami trembled, “I…”

Robin stood, “Let’s go back to the cruise ship.” She put her arm around the shocked Nami’s shoulder and led her away, “Go on.”

Nami looked back robotically, seeing Robin shooing her back into the cruise ship from aboard the bigger vessel. She went in and made her way to the table lifelessly. She…she wasn’t sure what to think. These pirates seemed very strange. They claimed they would pay for their food. They hadn’t harmed anyone. Robin hadn’t even seemed angry that Nami had tried to rob them. If anything, it had just amused her. And her strength… Robin had taken a full-force swing of her staff with a single finger and broken her staff. Nami was well aware that she should be lying brokenly in their brig.

Instead, they try to recruit her and offer to help her. Nami was in uncharted waters and she wasn’t sure she liked the feeling. She reached their table – eyed bugging out when she saw Robin sitting there. What the hell?

Monet stared at her and licked her lips, “So, that’s her?” Nami shivered at her tone. Why did she feel like a gazelle being stalked?

“I’m Nami.” She said hesitantly.

Monet’s grin widened, “So Nami-” The way she purred her name forced another shiver down her spine, “-Will you be joining our journey?”

“I…” Nami hesitated. She really didn’t trust them, but she could always betray them soon right?

“You’ll find that to be quite difficult, Nami.” Monet licked her lips at her terrified look, “And no, we can’t read your mind.”

“Then how are you doing that?” She hissed back.

“Ufufufu, that information isn’t for East Blue.” Robin chuckled, “You’ll learn eventually. If you join us of course.”

“…You’ll really help me?” She hated how weak her voice sounded.

“Of course.” Monet sidled up next to her and gave her a hug. Goosebumps rose on Nami’s skin as her warm breath hit her ear, “Robin told you didn’t she? If you take our mark you’re ours.” And then she was back in her seat.

‘…I’m going to regret this.’ Nami thought to herself wryly.

But before she could say anything else, a cry came down from the upper decks for the second time that day, “PIRATES!” A pause, “AND THEY FIRED!”

“Friends of yours?” Nami jumped at the unimpressed look they shot her, “Just kidding.”

For the second time that day, pandemonium erupted in the vessel as people practically jumped over themselves to get to safety. Or at least they would have, if Robin hadn’t said a single word, “Silence.” Everyone froze as the formerly easy-going woman instantly took command of the situation. Outside, bodiless arms appeared in random areas and slapped the incoming cannonballs away. They all stared at Robin warily even as the ship shook, “You were kind enough to feed us, so we shall return the favor. Shall we, Monet?”

Monet pouted but stood up anyway, “This is going to be boring.” She pouted childishly. She stretched, showing off her amazing body once more, “But…they did feed us. I’ll lend a hand.” She smirked at the orange-haired girl, “Come along Nami-chan. We’ll be leaving soon anyway.”

Nami watched in partial disbelief as they took a leisurely stroll back up to the deck, no worry at all in their posture. It was as if the idea of a pirate attack wasn’t much more than an annoyance to deal with. When they finally got upstairs to the deck, the ship had already been boarded by the enemy pirates. The deck was crawling with the deadbeats. She grimaced as she saw their ship. It was a smaller ship than even the cruise vessel, painted a lurid pink with bright red hearts all over it. “Oh my.” Monet looked a little disturbed, “What an ugly ship.”

“WHOSE UGLY?” A voice roared from the deck of the vessel. Nami balked as she drank in the sight of the female pirate in front of them. The woman was very, very obese. She took up enough space for five men, and she carried a massive, hulking slab of iron she called a mace. She was a wearing a pink plaid shirt that was stretched disgustingly taut over her frame, an equally tight pair of greying pants and a blue Captain's coat. She had a white, red-plumed cowgirl hat and was covered in gaudy looking jewelry. She had a flintlock tied to her by a purple sash to finish off the look.

“Oh my. I didn’t know whales had learned to walk.” Robin said in surprise. Nami had to stifle a giggle.

The fat whale must not have heard her, because she raised a vicious looking iron bludgeon and roared, “Men! Who’s the most beautiful woman on the seas!”

“It’s you of course, Alvida-sama!”

“We should be careful.” Monet said, forcing a chill down Nami’s spine. She was afraid of them? The next words completely blew that theory out of the water, “She must have some powerful hypnosis if she got them to say that.” Robin giggled in response behind her hand.

“WHAT WAS THAT!” Alvida roared in fury, having heard the green-haired woman, “GET HER!”

The men on the boat roared their approval and charged. One of them reached Monet, roaring, “I’m going to enjoy you, you little bitch!” Nami’s skin crawled at their lecherous gazes and tones, and she backed away from the charging men in fear.

“Please keep your dirty hands off me.” Monet said pleasantly as she appeared behind the man. Eyes widened. They hadn’t even seen her move.

Nami stared in horror as the man erupted like a grotesque fountain of blood, which poured from dozens of cuts on his body even as what seemed like frost started engulfing the wounds, “What’s happening to me!” He yelled in terror as the ice started covering him. He weakened, unable to move as he froze completely.

“Wha-what happened?” Nami’s teeth chattered as she suddenly realized she was freezing. She looked at Monet and suddenly realized that the woman’s arms had been replaced with what looked like wings.

Monet held one of the new appendages up to her lips, seemingly hiding a blush and moaning somewhat…erotically, “Only one man is allowed to touch me.” Nami had been getting the same strange feeling from her that the Captain had gotten, and she inched away slightly now. This girl seemed to be at least a little sadistic.

One of the other pirates trembled, “Wha…what the hell are you?”

Monet lowered her wing and licked her lips, a bloodthirsty smile on her face, “Oh, I ate the Yuki Yuki no Mi. I’m a snow woman.”

“You…you mean Devil Fruits exist?” Nami stammered in shock. The crowd of snobby rich folk who were peaking their heads out were equally dumbfounded.

“Oh yes.” Robin said with a small smile, “They’re certainly very real.” She threw her arms out with her fingers pointed, before sweeping upwards and crossing her forearms in front of her bountiful chest. She sounded as amused as usual as she exclaimed, “Ochenta Fleur!” Immediately, literal arms started spawning around the pirates and wrapped every single one of them in painful looking strangleholds, “Twist!”

Nami cringed away as horrendous sounds of hundreds of broken bones rang through the air as the pirates first howled and then wheezed in utter agony. The arms evaporated in streams of pink flower petals and freed the men. Their mangled, broken bodies fell where they were and could only twitch, ‘I tried to ROB them? AM I CRAZY?!’

Robin smiled pleasantly, “I would appreciate you not thinking of hurting my crewmates.” Nami revised her opinion as she came to a realization. Despite Monet being more outwards sadistic, Robin was much more terrifying behind that pleasant smile. Her second realization was that she was very, very lucky.

Alvida backed away, sweat streaming from her brow, “What…what are you?” She looked utterly terrified.

Robin stepped forward with that friendly smile still on her face, “Why, I ate the Hana Hana no Mi, of course.” She closed her eyes and waved, “But, I think it’s time for you to leave, Whale-san.”

And fury immediately overrode survival, “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?!?!” She roared as she jumped impossibly high for a thing of her size. Her massive iron club was wound up for her most powerful strike.

It was laughable really. “Mil Fleur!” Robin chanted, “Gigantesco Mano!” She almost sounded like she was singing the last words. Hundreds of arms and hands erupted from the floorboards of the ship, forcing Nami to hop away in shock. They all started to meld together, as if they were just dough joining back together. They formed into one titanic hand floating lazily above the gaping Alvida. Her eyes were popping out of her skull and her gaping maw was wide open in her shock. None of the people on the ship bar Monet were any different. Robin giggled at her face, “Spank!”

And spank she did. The hand came down far faster than an appendage of that size had any right to. It hit the fat woman with all the strength of a charging herd of elephants. Alvida stood no chance. Her tremendous mass hit the surface of the water and skipped, almost as if Robin had simply been skipping a really large stone with her giant hand. She kept skipping until she disappeared into the horizon.

“And that’s that.” Monet said cheerfully, clapping her hands up and down to get imaginary dust off.

“Not quite.” Robin smiled, “Un Fleur.” A scream came from the deck of the ugly ship. Suddenly, a screaming mass was thrown from it and caught gently by another arm, “And who might you be? You don’t seem like a pirate yourself.”

The mass in question was a chubby looking boy. He had round, nerdy glasses and pink hair in a bowl cut. He was trembling from head to toe, “C-c-c-c-Coby…Pirate-sama.”

Robin giggled. How adorable. “Relax. We won’t hurt you. So, how did you find your way onto Whale-san’s ship?”

Coby took on a depressed hue, “I…well…in my town, you could just jump in a dinghy and go fishing with practically all of the adults. One day…I got onto a boat and fell asleep. When I woke up I was o-on Alvida-sama’s ship.” His head dipped, “They kept me alive since I could navigate, and treated me like a slave. It’s been two years.”

Monet laughed gaily, “What a crappy way to find yourself in a pirate crew.” Even Nami was snickering slightly. “Why not escape.”

“I-I couldn’t! Alvida-sama terrified me.” He shook, “And you handled her like she was nothing.” He stared at Robin in awe.

“She was nothing.” Monet claimed flippantly, “We’re here in East Blue for recruitment only. Unless a certain someone decides to show up, I doubt we’ll have a challenge at all.” She giggled as she thought of her Captain’s grandfather showing up.

Nami scowled at that. Sure, she was strong. But Arlong would kill them easily. Nothing could stand up to him, she thought bitterly.

“How did you get so strong?” Coby asked, still in awe of Robin.

“How cute.” She laughed, making him blush brightly.

Monet smirked, “For our dream, we must be strong. That’s all there is to it.” She flipped her hair back with a swipe of her hand.

“Fo…for your dream?” Coby blinked owlishly.

“That’s right.” Robin smiled, “So how about you? What do you wish to do?”

“I…” Coby wallowed nervously, “I’ve always wanted to be a Marine, so I could catch scum like Alvida-sam- no! Alvida!.”

That set Monet off again, “Huh, guess you’re not as spineless as you look, if you told that to pirates.” She giggled as the boy recoiled, “Quite a dream you have there.”

“Do…do you think I could do it?” He asked shyly Even Nami was forced into thinking him adorable. It was like a scared little kitty wanting to be a big bad tiger.

“Anything is possible if you dedicate yourself to it.” Robin said. Nami was really forced to reevaluate her knowledge of pirates. These women were nothing like what she thought of as a pirate. Of course, her next statement made her think twice about that, “Of course, you could just end up gutted somewhere. Ufufufu.” Coby turned purple at the woman’s morbid joke.

Monet stretched, “Well, I’d say it’s about time to get out of here.” She eyed Alvida’s ship, “Though we should probably sink this eyesore. It’s an insult to ships.”

Robin chuckled. Monet always had been more interested in stuff like that than she had. Nami spoke up, “At least let me steal their treasure first.”

Robin waved her away, “Already did. It’s safely in the holds now.” Or rather, another Robin waved her away.

Nami’s eyes bulged out as she saw a perfect clone of Robin on the deck of the other ship. The woman waved before fading into pink petals. “You can even clone yourself!?”

“That’s right!” Monet said cheerfully, “Makes bedroom time really fun.” Every male and some females in the vicinity could take it no longer. Blood spurted from every nostril in varying amounts. Nami could only gape with red cheeks. “Well, let’s get out of here shall we?” She tossed a money pouch onto the downed Captain’s chest, “That should be enough for our purchases. Ta ta!” She waved before hopping up onto the deck of their ship.

Robin only chuckled at Nami and Coby’s expressions, “So, Coby-san, will you be coming with us? We’ll drop you off at the nearest town.”

Coby rubbed his head ruefully, “If it wouldn’t be too much of a bother.” He suddenly blinked, “You’ll have to hide your flag though. There’s a Marine Base on the closest island.”

“That won’t be a problem.” She turned, and crossed her arms, “Mil Fleur! Gigantesco Mano!” Only this time, it wasn’t an arm that formed, but rather a long, slender leg. “Stomp!” The foot came crashing down and snapped the pink eyesore in half like a twig. In the same motion, she pushed it away from the cruise ship towards the nearby whirlpool. She turned to the gaping Nami and Coby as if she hadn’t just utterly destroyed a ship in one blow, “Well, shall we?”

Coby followed after her shyly, and screamed when she grabbed the back of his shirt and bodily threw him up to the deck and caught him with another arm. She looked backwards at Nami who was hesitating before she realized that all the treasure was up there. She growled and followed.

-]|[-

“So, this is Shells Town huh?” Monet had a light grin on her face, “Seems lively.”

“If you consider a funeral lively.” Nami couldn’t help but snark back at her. While there was plenty of movement and talking, everyone was subdued and quiet. Some even had their heads down, looking quite defeated.

Coby – who had warmed up to the two female pirates slightly – decided to speak up, “A big name here in East Blue was captured on this island recently. Maybe he…he went on a killing spree and everyone is just depressed over it?”

“A big name?” Robin’s smile widened slightly, “And what name would that be?”

Coby shuddered, “He was more of a monster than a human.” Both of the elder women couldn’t hold back their giggles, but Coby ignored them, “His name is Roronoa Zoro! The Pirate Hunter!” Upon speaking his name, every civilian in sight cringed and almost began climbing up the walls in their panic.

Monet started laughing outright while Robin giggled behind her hand, “Well, they certainly didn’t like hearing that name, did they?” She said.

Robin removed her hand revealing that easygoing smile, “Arara, I wonder if Monster-san is still alive?”

“I think he is.” Nami chimed in, “I definitely would have read about it if he had been executed. I get the newspaper daily.”

“How interesting.” Robin’s smile got a little wider.

Coby spoke up again, “If he’s alive, then he’s probably being held under lock and key in the Marine Base.” He said, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, “Anyway, I heard that this town’s Marine Base is helmed by a Captain Morgan-” Pandemonium erupted as soon as the name ‘Morgan’ left his lips. The entirety of the people in the square fled, turning over carts and climbing up the walls. In a few seconds flat, the four of them were the only ones standing there – two in befuddlement and the other two in sheer amusement. “How…how strange.” Coby said, “I mean, I could understand if they reacted like that to Zoro’s name, but why the Captain’s name too?”

“Arara, our gullible little Coby is showing his naivety.” Robin smiled, “Just because they are Marines does not mean they are righteous.” And then she did something that made Coby’s protest die in his throat. Moreover, she did something that made both Nami and Coby stiffen.

Her smile dropped from her face.

In the entirety of the three days they had been together, they had not seen Robin look serious once. Now, here she was, looking melancholic and even slightly angry. And that terrified the two more than they could have thought.

Monet gave her a small pat on the shoulder before walking forward, arms behind her head, “Welp, I’m interested. Let’s go say hello to this monster, shall we?” Coby and Nami froze and then started crying as Robin – all smiles again – grabbed the both of them and followed after her cohort.

Soon, they were in front of the Marine Base’s gate, “Well, here’s your chance Coby.” Monet giggled at the pale boy as he stood shaking in front of the gate.

“But…” Coby stammered, “I’m not ready yet! Plus that incident in the town – where are you going?” His eyes bugged out as Robin easily jumped up onto the barrier and started walking off with Monet following a beat later. Nami sighed and did so as well, though she didn’t get up as smoothly. It was a pretty tall wall. Coby followed them on the ground, before starting to climb up when they stopped and sat on the wall. He struggled his way up before falling back with a gasp of horror as soon as he saw the object of their attention, “That black bandana! That haramaki around his waist! That’s him! Why are they keeping him out here? It’s Roronoa Zoro!”

Monet’s face was blank. Unbidden, memories of times long since passed rose within her mind, and it wasn’t something she enjoyed. “He’s starving.” The monster in question was tied up to a cross-post. He had light-green hair which was mostly covered by a really dark-green bandana. He wore a white shirt and black pants with a fat green haramaki over his stomach. He had three identical piercings on his left ear. His arms were over the post's arms, and he was secured with rope. His feet were dangling.

“He looks pretty beat up.” Nami cringed. Indeed, blood was dried up on his face as well as his arms and shirt.

CLACK

Coby and Nami jumped as a ladder impacted the wall. A little girl shushed them as she climbed down and ran to Zoro. Coby panicked, “Stop her! He’ll kill her!”

“No he won’t.” Monet said as her Observation picked up little except resigned amusement from the man.

“Zoro-aniki! I made you some onigiri!” She said with a giant smile, “You must be hungry! I made them with all my heart!”

Both Monet and Robin felt first the desire, and then the exasperation from the man. It was replaced with determination, “You want to die? Go away! I’m not hungry!” He yelled harshly.

Nami scowled, “Why are we here? Just leave this jerk alone.” Coby nodded rapidly, before adding on that they should grab the little girl first.

“Not everything someone says is what they mean.” Robin smiled slightly, still feeling ‘protect’ wafting off the man.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nami whipped her head towards the two elder women.

She got no reply, as the gates slammed open, “Picking on little kids huh Zoro? I’ll have to report you to my father if you continue that.” It was a tall, skinny, lanky looking boy in a purple suit. He had this very strange, oval-shaped bowl cut with the bangs parted.

“Tch. If it isn't the Captain's bastard son?”

“Bastard?” The blonde looked unimpressed, “My dad's a Marine Captain. Don't get cocky.” He turned his attention to the child in the situation, “Hello little girl. Oooh, a rice ball! Don't mind if I do!” He grabbed one of the onigiri from the girl and bit into it, ignoring all of her protests. He choked, spitting out all the rice, “Blergh! What the hell is this? Sugar? You put salt into onigiri, you dumb brat! Salt!”

“B-but I thought it would taste better if it was sweet!” She stammered sadly.

“How could someone eat something like this?” He grabbed the other rice ball and threw it onto the floor before starting to stomp on it!

“No! Stop it! He won't be able to eat it anymore!” She got to her knees to reach for the balls, but was afraid of getting her fingers stomped on and pulled back with tears in her eyes.

Nami and Coby gasped at his treatment of the poor girl. “How cruel!”

She started crying, “That's so mean.” She sniffled, “I tried so hard.” She whispered brokenly.

The asshole gripped her face, “Don't cry. Pff, it's no wonder I hate brats.” He pointed to a sign, “It's all your fault you know.” He sneered, “Can't you read? ‘Anyone caught helping a prisoner shall be charged with the same crime.’ You know how scary my dad can be, don't you?” he leaned over and grabbed her chin in fake sympathy, “If you were older you'd have gotten the death penalty, you know?” He let her go and turned to one of the Marines with him, “Toss her over the fence.”

“Weren’t you the one complaining about being mean to kids?” A scowling Monet appeared in their midst.

The blonde brat jerked back, “Wah! Who the hell are you?”

“Someone you shouldn’t have pissed off.” She waved her hand, and the two Marine guards who had raised their firearms in surprise froze into solid statues of ice.

“Wha-what are you!” The terrified brat screamed in terror.

Her predatory smile was in full display, “Your worst nightmare.” She grabbed him by his lapels and immediately, his clothing started to freeze.

“No, stop! My father’s the Marine Captain here! He’ll have you executed for this! He’ll destroy the town for this!” He screamed in pain as snow started to cover him, watching her face as she licked her lips..

“Monet!” Robin said sharply.

Monet scowled, “What? You want to do worse and we both know it.”

“There is a child present.” Robin said shortly. Indeed, the cute little girl – Rika – was shivering in her arms.

“Hey…” Zoro’s gruff voice interrupted them, “Would you mind not killing the brat? I still have a bet to win.”

“Oh?” Monet was back to all smiles as she stared at the green-haired man, “And what bet would that be?”

Zoro stared at her, his eyes almost shadowed by his bandana, “That I could survive here for a month. I still have a couple days to go.”

Monet and Robin stared at him blankly, “Are you some kind of idiot?” Monet giggled at his indignant face, “You made a bet with this-” She waved Helmeppo around carelessly, ignoring his continued pleading, “Brat? And you expect him to keep his word?”

Zoro scowled as Robin poked Helmeppo’s chest, “So, what bet was this, Egghead-san? Why was it made?”

“H-h-he killed my pet wolf!” Helmeppo pointed a slightly blue finger at Zoro.

“Who you let roam wild. It’s hardly my fault it decided to attack a little girl.” Zoro said blandly, “And it also is your own fault that you tried to attack a swordsman in revenge.” He turned to Robin, “Little daddy’s boy here is tripping on his father’s power. He threatened to have his father execute her-” he jerked his head towards Rika, “Unless I gave myself up for a month.”

The two ladies stared at him, before Monet facepalmed, “You’re so abominably stupid. I’m amazed. You’d fit right in our little madhouse.”

“Heh.” Zoro snorted, “I don’t need to be called stupid by some unknowns. I will survive, and at the end of the month I’ll go free.”

“Of course, if Egghead-san here had any intention of freeing you.” Robin said lightly. She grabbed Helmeppo by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him off the ground, “Well Egghead-san? Did you intend to honor your little wager?”

“O-of course!” He stammered, but Zoro caught on to the hesitation and growled, his muscles seizing up and straining at the ropes.

“It’s not nice to lie, Egghead-san.” Robin admonished. She could see all of Helmeppo’s plans in her mind’s eye as the brat in her hand panicked, “I’m afraid he never had any intention of honoring your little deal.”

She said to Zoro, who was almost snarling like the wolf that got him in the situation in the first place, “You bastard…” His muscles bulged again, and he tore right through the flimsy ropes and grabbed Helmeppo by his lapels, “Where. Is. My. Sword.”

Robin and Monet smiled, “Hmm, is it in a white sheathe?” Robin asked.

Zoro turned to her in surprise, “Yes, along with two others. I use all three.”

Monet punched him lightly, “Look at you. You really were only staying because you wanted to. That’s some willpower you have there.”

Zoro smirked back at her, “Of course.” He said, “Weak will could never help me accomplish my dream.”

The two ladies looked even more delighted, “Oh, and what is that dream?”

“To be the world’s greatest swordsman!” Zoro declared proudly, a gleam in his eye.

Dead silence. Nami and Coby had wandered over and watched the scene in awe, and now they stared at him in shock. Then Robin and Monet started to chuckle, and then laugh outright. Zoro scowled at their reactions, before Robin smiled brilliantly at him, “Oh, you would fit in perfectly in our little madhouse. You’re as crazy as we are.” Zoro smirked, “My name is Nico Robin. My friend here is Monet, and the orange-haired beauty over there is Nami. Join our crew, Roronoa Zoro!”

“Crew?” Zoro asked in surprise, “You’re pirates?”

“That’s right!” Monet smirked, “We are the crew of the next Pirate King!” She declared to the world, as something made Zoro’s jaw drop. Three swords were rapidly moving towards them, grasped in arms that were appearing and fading in showers of petals in their direction.

Finally, the three stopped next to Robin under Zoro’s gaping gaze. She grabbed the white one with a smile, “Quite a nice blade you’ve got here, Zoro.” She held it out to him, and he grabbed it with an ecstatic sigh of relief.

“These other two are a little shitty though. You’ll probably need new ones before you hit the Grand Line.” Monet commented as she idly looked over the other two.

Zoro’s gaze snapped to her, “You’re a swordswoman?” He asked in surprise, “I wouldn’t expect a normal person to be able to tell the quality without drawing it.” He had put aside their offer for now.

“Oh I’m not.” Monet giggled, “Its Voice is weak.”

The three with them – as well as Rika – stared at her blankly. “Voice?” Nami asked dubiously.

“That’s right.” Robin giggled, “It isn’t truly necessary to learn to make it through Paradise, but it certainly is once you hit the New World.”

“Paradise?” Coby looked befuddled, “New World?”

Monet chuckled darkly, “That’s right.” She licked her lips, “But I believe you lot have a different name for it. The first half of the Grand Line. What you call the Pirate’s Graveyard, we call Paradise.”

“What?!” Nami, Coby, and Zoro all gasped in shock.

Robin giggled, “The weather in the Grand Line is utterly unpredictable, especially closer to the Red Line. It is not only possible for a ship to be turned completely around a hundred and eighty degrees in Paradise, but in the first few Islands it’s downright common. Random tornados are a rite of passage and it can be summer one minute and winter the next. It’s one of the reasons so many pirates from the Blues meet their ends.” The three rapidly were paling more and more, “And once you hit the New World, you long for the days when all you had to deal with were a few wimpy tornados.”

Zoro was sweating lightly, and she turned to face him directly. She smiled at Zoro, “And if you truly wish to become the world’s greatest, then you need to head there. You won’t likely find Dracule Mihawk outside of the New World.”

Zoro’s shaking stopped and he turned resolute, “Is that so?” He grinned, “Your offer. I’ll take it!”

“Excellent!” Monet clapped, “Stick with us Zoro-chan, and we’ll show you things you’ve never even imagined!”

“There they are!” Helmeppo’s shrill voice cracked through the air. A contingent of marines led by a giant of a man with an axe fused onto his arm were all pointing weapons at them.

“Oh dear!” Robin looked surprised, “I had quite forgotten about Egghead-san.” She gave a terrified-looking Rika to Coby, who wasn’t really much better than the far younger girl.

“Traitors!” The growling tones of Captain Morgan rang through the base, “Traitors everywhere! With this hand, I proved myself the greatest! And with that greatness comes authority! You freed that man, so now you will all die! Ready! FIRE!”

“Ochenta Fleur!” Robin sounded quite lazy as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She had her eyes closed and an easy-going smile on her lips, “Twist!” Dozens of Marines cried out in agony as their bones were wrenched apart with horrendous cracking-sounds. “Watch closely, Zoro.” She smiled brightly as she grabbed one of his Katana, “None of us are swordsmen, but our old Captain beat at least some techniques into us for a rainy day. It’ll be something you’ll need to learn for your dream.”

“Hey! Don’t just grab one of my swords without ask-” His eyes shot open as his crappy unnamed blade changed before his very eyes. The sliver blade became black, as did the wrappings, and it started feeling a lot more dangerous than even his precious treasure blade.

Monet smiled brightly and waved at the shocked-looking Morgans, “Bye-bye!” Robin swung the blade, and handed it back to Zoro, who could only stare in wide-eyed, jaw-dropped awe. Morgan was on the ground, his arm and part of his leg altogether unattached. His eyes were white and the floor underneath him was staining red. And the Marine Base behind him?

It was completely cut in half.

-]|[-

Nami was still having trouble coming to terms with that fact hours later, as the crew had their first true dinner together. Zoro was practically inhaling food while grilling the two women on what in the world Robin had done. Both ladies were mum for now, and were enjoying a cup of tea. It made it so hard to reconcile the image with the image of the giant tower in the town that had been sliced in half. FROM HALF A COURT AWAY.

Not even Arlong had ever done something like that. Not even close. And Robin claimed she wasn’t even that great at it. What in the world had she signed up for?