Chapter 129: One emperor down, two to go

 

The crew said their goodbye to the royal family and friends which to Rick’s surprise didn’t include Vivi who was hugging Shirahoshi to death. The mermaid princess had matured a lot during the past year, and was not much of a cray baby anymore. From what he heard from Jimbei, her near capture at the hands of a Celestial Dragon had scared her so much that she admitted to herself she couldn’t go on like that. She wasn’t learning how to fight, she didn’t have an ounce of violence in her after all but she had learned how to make a stand tall and proud. Of course after a year spent with the Alabasta princess, she was bound to toughen up. Rick had notice, with the way she interacted with him. She wasn’t just behaving like a wet puppy anymore though still had traces of dependance and deference to him. Nami had called it ‘a maiden in love without knowing it.’ with a grin on her face.

“I thought she wouldn’t come with us?” inquired the vice captain of the strawhat to his captain with a well contained surprise.
“She changed my mind.” was a reality altering answer he got. Very, very rarely Luffy changed his mind. And that was for small stuff only. People usually got dragged into his shenanigans.
“You changed your mind?” Rick asked bewildered.
“Yep.”
“...You really did grow up as a captain.”
“I did. Between Rayleigh and Ace’s pops, I learned a bit. More than just haki.”
“I’m glad to see that and I’m happy for everyone involved.”
“Thanks!” replied Luffy with a pleased grin.
“So…? What did she say that you accepted her back in the crew?”
“Oh, she’s not part of the crew, she’s a prisoner.”
“...”
“...”
“A what now?” inquired Rick, not comprehending one bit.
“If she joins the crew, she’s going to get in trouble and worse her people in trouble. Being a prisoner would make her guilt free in the eyes of the World Government.”
“... I’d pay ten Berry and say it’s her words and not yours.” made Luffy laugh.
“She likes it here but she feels cooped up. She wants to get back to the surface but she can’t ask the king to help nor can she ask any pirates to get off the island.”
“So we’re her only ticket out of here.”
“Yup.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know, she said she’d find a way to leave on her own after.”
“... Yeah, still a bit more growing to do.” simply said Rick with a good natured chuckle, and went back inside the Sunny to his captain fake outrage.

Sitting behind his desk he pondered for a while what to do with his time. Training Eri was out of question, not after the hit on the head he gave her the previous day during training. He couldn’t either just watch how cute she was with her band aid all day. He wanted to, but that was creepy as hell and would not do him any favors with her, quite the contrary with how ‘new’ their relationship was. He was pleased by it, bit by bit they got closer and were getting closer still. There was a long way to go between them before having a proper father - daughter dynamic.

Back to his thought at hand, he couldn’t study the plants he was taking care of. Partly because most of them were not fully bloomed yet, partly because the ones that already were, he had documented the heck out of them. Spending time with Robin, Nami or Reiju was out, he already spent the whole night with his wives and the latter was busy doing the infirmary inventory because of what they bought during their stay on Fishman Island. Thankfully Chopper was doing it with her and by the Goddess did Rick pray for their souls. He hated doing stock during his time in the navy. So debilitating and boring while needing to focus. He would swap duties for cleaning the deck with any other marines on board. At least with this chore on the the deck, his mind could wander to other things as his body moved on its own.
He could always go with the other members of the crew but he quite liked his hermity right now. No, he wanted peace and quiet but also something to do. Thankfully a straight thought slithered into his mind. After calling out to Diana who ignored him; she was probably busy watching or reading something from his soul’s memory, he opened the system’s shop.

[User Karma Points : 255 742 801]

Kaidou’s Uo Uo no mi had not been expensive, a measly 50K. The simple thought that 50k was now measly when he shed tears, blood and sweat when he began his adventure in this world made him bitter, while Big Mom’s was a whooping 300M. That made sense.  While not the most powerful fruit out there, the versatility of what this fruit could help do was tremendous. Key in point, Zeus. It had been a very powerful little helper for Nami. She had been utterly mad with him when it disappeared by his fault. When Rick killed Big Mom, every single part of her soul she had infused into objects ‘died’ with her. Only the promise of a lot of gold and a shopping trip kept his devilish kitten at bay.

Looking through the devil fruits sections, he saw the availability of a few interesting and worrying fruits. The Mori Mori no Mi had not yet found a user and its price was reasonable. Only 300K. Not as ‘expensive’ as Ener’s or rather Fujitora’s Goro Goro no Mi but close. Another logia was available, the one of snow. The Yuki Yuki no Mi was worth 100K which, for a logia, wasn’t much. When he saw the Hobi Hobi no Mi still available he quickly bought it. He didn’t know what kind of person asked Diana to make a fruit about turning people into toys and enslaving them but he was sure that it was a deranged and lonely kid. Now with the fruit in his possession, no one would start again the shit that happened on Dressrosa.

In the end he bought the three of them for a total price of 600K. It didn’t make a big dent into his points and that was a good thing. Not like the Tenki Tenki no Mi had been. It was still by far the most expensive fruit and purchase in all. Opening the drawer on the side of his desk he pulled out a book. Checking its content, he put it back and took another. This time all pages were blank. Picking up the pencil on his desk he wrote in big letters ‘New Devil Fruit Encyclopedia’. Leaving the second and third page alone he began on the fourth. He began with the Yuki Yuki no mi, filling everything that he knew from the shop’s information. He had some details that he had to find out for himself. Mainly the fruit’s height and weight. To do that he had to pull it from his inventory, measure it with a ruler and weighted it on the small scale he used for his own research on plants. Once done, the only thing left was to draw how the fruit looked. That was a big challenge, Rick not being very good when it came to drawing. After many mistakes he finally ended up with something close to the original. Once done, he put the fruit to the side, turned the fifth page and pulled out the Mori Mori no Mi.

He was so engrossed in his new hobby that he didn’t notice Robin coming in until he felt her arms around his neck from behind.

“Hey!” he said softly with a smile as he looked up behind him to see her.
“Having fun?”
“I am.”
“That’s so like you to use something like the system for this and not like it was intended to be used.” she replied, chuckling.
“It’s not like I can use it for much else with how expensive most of the truly good stuff is. At least, I wouldn’t use it to get rare books.”

He chided her because that was exactly how she used it. She had studied the system from every angle but with a lack of Karma Points she couldn’t do much. Furthermore, since she wasn’t much of a fighter and a pirate she wouldn’t be getting a lot of them any time soon. So in the end, with the restrictions on her, she simply used the shop to buy books she wanted to read. 

“Did you miss me or…”
“We actually reached the surface.”
“Already?!”
“You’ve been here for four hours.”
“... Time sure does fly.”
“When we’re having fun, it does.”
“Are we still going straight for Buggy or did Luffy change his mind?”
“We’re still on course to deal with the clown.”
“...The cross guild will not be an easy opponent. It’s only our crew against hundreds.”
“You can make clones. Eri and Vivi will be safe.”
“I’d rather not make them. My focus slips a lot if they have to fight too. Unless they’re close to me.”
“Everything will be fine.” she said with confidence and finality.

He hoped so because Vivi was outclassed and Eri, while progressing at a furious rate with the use of her haki, wouldn't be able to take out a pirate whose bounty would be more than fifty millions.

Vivi had spent the last five hours exploring Sunny. She couldn’t help herself and was amazed by it. Grass on the desk, a slope, an aquarium. Anything a child could think of having on a trip on the sea was there. She didn’t tour all the ship in one go and decided instead to take her time. That’s why it took two days for her to discover the garden. If she had been amazed until now, she was completely awed when she entered into Rick’s domain. The place was big. There were bushes at the foot of every wall and just like on the deck the ground was made of grass and not wood. The first half of the room was just pure lawn with a circular table in the middle with chairs. Further down the room were multiple flower beds with many different types. A few she recognized but most she didn’t. She noticed the ceiling being opened letting the sun go through and bathing in his light and warmth the plants. The end wall was actually a big window, leading to a small balcony. In front of it was a desk with a shelf for books on the side and a chest right next to it.

“So that’s what you get up to? Being a gardener?” she asked Rick who just came back from the balcony.
“Not quite but yes. I also grow our own vegetable and medicinal herbs. I’m not just making sure this place is pretty. I’m checking on Usopp’s plants too. Once I’ve done my rounds I research what kind of plants go better with what kind of soil, these kinds of things.”
“That… must keep you quite busy.” she replied impressed.
“It does. As much as Sanji is. Really we’re the only ones working in this circus.” he joked. “To be fair, that would drive me mad if I didn’t have anything to do. The others have a child’s heart and can play any game anytime. I don’t have that luxury anymore.”
“Honestly. I thought you’d just spend the day having sex with Robin and Nami.” she blurted out in a bout of jealousy.
“No. Sometimes we play during the day, sure but only sometimes. Any kind of sex is reserved for night time. One because our room is soundproof and two, the others are sleeping. I’m not sure I want to check if Luffy had the talk nor do I want to be a sex addict and the body needs rest.” he replied a bit taken aback by the bit of bite in her words. “... Was that… a subtle invitation? Because I have the time.”
“It was not!” The frown on her face made the point home.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” he shrugged.
“I can when he’s already married! Twice at that!”
“Thrice in fac..”
“That’s not the point!”
“The point is you’re mad I’m not entirely devoted to you. That you’re not my one and only.” was a cut and dry answer full of truth.
“...”
“Surprise! I’m not that dense!” he fake jested, his tone being playful but his face was more fed up than anything. “Look… We… I already talked about this back then. I have nothing to add. Regardless of your decision, you’ll still be very important to me.”

And with that, the conversation was over for him. To make a point he pulled out the encyclopedia he was working on and reviewed his notes. Still frowning, Vivi left the garden silently. As she passed in front of the map room she was grabbed by Nami and dragged inside.

Back to the garden, Reiju who had been unseen on the balcony went back inside.

“Trouble in paradise?” she inquired as she sat in his lap sideways.
“There was never any paradise to begin with. Not like I don’t want it but she’s making it difficult. I can’t blame her. Most people want to be the focus of the person they love the most. It takes a lot of character to trust in the love, respect and trust you share with your partner to agree to them seeing other people, even if you’re also free to do so. To be fair if it wasn’t for Robin being Robin… my life would be vastly different.”
“Boring and uninteresting?” the princess joked.
“Among other things, yes but those are not quite the words I would use.”
“Hmm… Perhaps I should have a talk with her. Princess to princess.” she mused.
“I don’t see how that could help. The two of you don’t have the same childhood and life to connect properly. Go ahead though. If that talk can at least bring back the Vivi I grew to care and love, that'd be enough and I’d be more than grateful.”

Reiju nodded, stole a kiss and left for the Map room.

~~~~~

Vivi’s attitude warmed a bit afterward but not by much. More than anything she ignored Rick. That hurt him a bit but he was way too busy with his project and training Eri. Zoro had agreed with him that she needed to train her body more rather than her skills with a sword and so Rick brought back his gravity area and put her under it. Chopper and Reiju closely monitored the session so she wouldn’t get injured. With Sanji providing her with hearty and very nutritional meals, the little redhead grew stronger and stronger. And taller too. She was almost as tall as Nami. After nearly two months at sea, they were close to Buggy’s island and Rick thought it was time to have a talk with his daughter.

“I’m sure you have heard by now but in a few days we’re going to fight. By we, I mean the crew minus you and Vivi.”
“Okay.”
“You’re too young to…Okay?” he repeated to be sure he didn’t mishear her.
“Okay. I know that I’m good for my age, dad. Taking an Emperor and his crew is way too much for me though.”
“That… Yes, actually. I’m surprised you’re mature enough to understand that and accept it. Where has the young girl that tried to arrest me on the spot when she met me for the first time, gone?”
“She grew up those past months. I saw first hand the difference in strength.” she felt proud at having noticed that, making Rick proud in turn.
“You’re getting stronger. Fast. faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
“I know.” Her amusement in her voice, clear.
“...”
“...”
“Seriously, why are you being so agreeable and mature!? You’re a teenager! You should be shouting at me, at the injustice and unfairness of the world or something! How much I don’t understand you and am a crappy father or… or… Not being too… adult before your time.”
“Or perhaps, me being so adult is in fact a big prank I’m getting you with.”
“...You know… That’s something that I'd do. Since you’re my daughter, I’m not sure if it’s a joke or not but definitely possible. Shit, am I becoming Garp?”

Eri just giggled, gave him a hug and left the dining room for the deck. Shaking his head in both amusement and annoyance, he went up the crow nest for training. His haki needed polishing. He did that for the next few days until they reached their destination.

A big fleet was gathered around the island, making their approach difficult. Thankfully, Sunny was the best ship on the seas so it wouldn’t be a problem. That is if Rick wasn’t ready to sink all their ships with his gravity. There was no need however as apparently, the cross guild was celebrating something.

“Flashy entrance?” inquired Zoro to his captain.
“Hmm.”
“So, Zoro gets Mihawk, I think everyone knows that but what about the others? Crocodile? Buggy?” Rick asked.
“I’ll take Crocodile. This time I want to defeat him by my own strength, not because of a fluke.” Luffy stated, remembering that he had used his blood to attain victory back in Alabasta two years ago. “As for Buggy, it’s a free for all.”

“A game then.” said Jimbei.
“Who gets to Buggy first?”
“Yohohoho, yes! But also who beat the most subordinates.”
“Hey! That’s cheating, Rick can all flattened them in one go!”

Usopp’s protest made sense and everyone began to argue what Rick could and couldn’t do. In the end he was forbidden to use his gravity in a wide area effect and not with his sprouts which in his eyes seemed fair. Of the girls, only Baby-5 and Reiju would participate, Nami and Robin, choosing to stay behind to guard Vivia and Eri, just in case.

At Luffy’s signal which was launching himself with his arms right into the middle of the settlement, the rest of the crew moved as fast as they could once Rick landed everyone on land.

~~~~~

Buggy the clown was having a bad day. More and more people were bringing him proof of the death of marines officers. Usually this would be a good thing, however it was too much all at once. His funds were limited and while Crocodile was an excellent businessman making lots of money the amount they got was lower than the amount they paid people. It wouldn’t have happened had Buggy not opened his loud mouth and promised bonuses when he was coaxed by his subordinates’ admiration.
The day of one of the emperors suddenly got worse when Alvida ran into the cross guild’s leader’s room in panic.

“We’re under attack!”

On the spot Crocodile was on his feet while Mihawk drained the entirety of his glass of wine in one go and put it down loudly on the table he was sitting at.

“What?! Who is it? Did the marines already…”
“It’s Straw hat!”
“...What the hell is he doing here?!” exclaimed the clown after a moment of shock.
“That’s good. I have a matter to settle with that shit.” Crocodile left the room leisurely.
“If he’s here then my student must be too. It’s an earlier reunion than I thought but one I will relish.” commented Mihawk, picking up Yoru and putting it on his back. He left the room with hidden excitement.
“What do we do?!”
“We have the others fight them of course! Meanwhile we prepare to get away!”

~~~~~

On the straw hats sides, they were having the times of their lives. Rick had decided to simply go with a hand to hand fighting style. Punching and kicking any pirates in his way or coming his way away. It was difficult to navigate through the mass of pirates around, especially with the big area effect of the others hits. Usopp and his plants, Franky and Baby-5 weapons. Though to be fair the latter destroyed more buildings than anything. The fastest were, without surprise, Sanji and Reiju. The Vinsmoke sibling were quick and efficient moving around and taking down any one they could pout their hands or in Sanji’s case, legs, on. Lastly, Jimbei, Brook and Chopper had formed a team and went their own way wreaking havoc.

As the small fries began to fall in numbers, the more competent pirates began to appear. Rick, deciding to be the one to kick Buggy’s ass, had been merciless and didn’t stop his charge, leaving behind plenty of conscious cross guild members.  As he ran forward he suddenly dove on the ground, barely dodging a slash coming from the side. Many poor sods were not as lucky and got done in by the powerful hit. Turning his head to the right and using observation he felt Zoro going toe to toe with his teacher in a merciless frenzy. He also felt Luffy going at it with Crocodile. To his surprise and gladness the two went out of the area to fight more easily and without any one bothering them. That meant that Buggy was all alone.

Rising himself up from the ground he resumed his treck and reached the main building.

“Where's Big nose?” he asked the pirates present and got attacked as an answer.

He had to admit the ones he was facing were good. At least in the multiple Millions Berry. He had to use haki and take them seriously or he would have gotten hurt. It wasn’t much of a problem but time consuming. When he was done, he reached the highest part of the building to catch Buggy freeze as he was exiting by an open window with a very big bag on his back.

“Now, where do you think you’re going?” the straw hat vice captain said, using his gravity on the man and flattening him on the ground. “You can’t leave without…” He stopped himself and moved his body to the side, catching a hand holding a knife in his hand. “Trying to backstab? Nice try, but observation haki, you know?” he commented, crushing the hand so hard that he heard the bones break. Buggy’s screams confirmed that it happened.

“What do you want?! I never bother any of you!”
“From what I heard, that’s not entirely true.” Rick replied walking towards the down man.
“That was three years ago! It’s water under the bridge! They weren’t even full-fledged pirates yet!”
“Well, I don’t care. It’s not why we’re here anyway.”
“Then why are you?!”
“One, because you’re an emperor. Luffy’s dream of becoming the pirate king means that you’re in his way.”
“I don’t care about that! That’s my subordinate's fault! I just wanted to be rich and do whatever I wanted!”
“Which brings us to reason number two: You’re one of the only leads we have for the last rio poneglyph. The other one being Shanks but we don't know where he is.”
“I don’t know anything about that!”
“Really? I doubt it. You were on Roger’s crew after all. Tell you what, you tell me what we want truthfully and you live. Don’t and…”
“Alright, alright!”
“The last rio poneglyph. We found the one in Wano, the one in Zhou and the one Big Mom’s used to own before I sent her to meet her maker. The last one, we suspect, was on fishman island taken by Roger and his crew.”
“It was. We got back to the surface with it. The shit took a lot of space! We were all cramped. But I don't know where it is! I swear! The captain disbanded the crew and I left before he or someone else took it to whatever it is now?!”

Rick observed the down clown carefully and detected no lies in his words.

“Then you’re useless.”

“Wait! Wait! Wait! You said…!” the clown urged and pleaded at Rick’s finality in his tone.”
“I know what I said and I’m a man of my word. You’ll live.” he said and kicked the emperor of the sea hard. Hard enough that he was sent flying.

Turning around, Rick began to search for anything valuable that he could steal for Nami. He still had a debt to settle after all. It didn’t take long until team Jimbei, Brook and Chopper joined him in the building, for Buggy’s head. Too bad for them that was already taken care of and so began to help Rick in stealing things, while keeping their observation haki in use to feel how the big fights were going. Luffy had the upper hand with Crocodile while Zoro was almost fighting on par with Mihawk. ‘Almost’ was the worrying part. They had faith in their teammate though so they observed silently. 

As the sounds of battle began to subside, more and more members of the crew arrived in the building. Sanji and Reiju then Usopp then lastly Franky and Baby-5. Sanji began cooking something for everyone when Luffy came in with a few bruises and cuts but victorious. They all sat down on the roof to actually see the battle between perhaps the two best swordsmen in the world. 

“Shit, they’re monsters.” whispered Usopp.

No one could contradict him, the very battlefield they were witnessing was a complete mess, with clean cut huge morsels of ground being sent everywhere. Finally, both men went for a last attack. Full of armament haki, three swords met one. As the Mihawk was winning, Zoro began to use his conqueror haki and turned the table over. Mihawk’s surprise for a slip of a second was more than enough for Zoro to seize victory and cut down his teacher, leaving a nasty scar on his torso. It was the same Mihawk had given him when they first met but in a vertical symmetry.  When Zoro fell down out of exhaustion after his victory, Rick used sprouted hands to make both fighters float and bring them to their location.

“Congratulations!” Chopper shouted to his friend to have a look at him while Reiju went for an unconscious Mihawk.
“So, how does it feel to be the best swordsman in the world?” asked a happy and curious Usopp but got no answer, which was not unusual for Zoro.
“Don’t get used to it, Eri is going to take that title from you in a few years.” joked Rick, prompting Zoro to smile evilly at the prospect.

Once the wounded were treated properly Rick made everyone and their loot float to Sunny where they noticed Eri having her foot on an unconscious Buggy. It seemed like the emperor of the sea had landed here, or near and thought he could steal the ship and get away. His daughter had dissuaded him quickly.

That was a great victory for the crew even if they didn’t get what they were looking for. Or so thought everyone that fought at first.

~~~~~

“That was ballsy of the captain to do that.”
“He saw an opportunity and took it, that’s all.”

Two pirates were talking as they swiped a broom on the deck of the ship they were sailing on.

Further down, near the bow, a red haired, one armed man crouched down to wake up his captive. It was a pure stroke of luck for him that just when he went to see his old pal Buggy to get information on the straw hats, he and his crew found them there. Not only that but his target was also unprotected. So of course he acted and here they were. Putting as much distance as they could with the straw hats. Not like he didn’t want to see Luffy but going after him now after the whole crew fought didn’t sit well with him. No, their reunion would be when everyone was at their best. Besides, he didn’t want to fight that man if he could. And he indeed could, so got away with it, though he knew it wouldn’t be for long. As he woke his prisoner gently he spoke a few soft words once they were fully awake.

“Besides your hair, you could be your mother’s twin. Welcome on board the Red Force, Nico Robin.”