Chapter Text
“ A Trap on Lovely Street! The Almighty Eneru! ”
‘I want to see him already, so Luffy-bro’s nickname would make sense.’
Franky was becoming more and more impatient for something to ACTUALLY happen. The lobster did happen, but it could have been more action-packed.
Luffy had started leaving before the others since he remembered that Nami had said that staying for too long would burden Conis and Pagaya. Sanji agreed but wasn’t sure if the rubberman knew where he was going. He did know that he was supposed to go toward the sacrificial altar.
“I know you are not actually stupid, but I wasn’t exactly sure if you had listened to Pagaya,” Sanji defended himself, even though no one had said anything.
“I did listen, and was going to find a way to get there… even though I probably wouldn’t have gotten far without Conis’ help…”
‘Reminder to myself that Luffy is an adult who is not completely brain-dead. Trust him with decisions every once in a while, as you do with your life and dreams.’
The rubberman claimed that they needed to swipe a boat and then take the Milky Road. Usopp reminded him that they were not on the Blue Sea and that the map that they had was not exactly helpful, so getting onto the Milky Road was a mystery. For their convenience, Conis showed up and agreed to help them on their quest.
“Now, if she hadn’t tried to trick us,” Usopp murmured loud enough that most others heard him.
“Don’t blame her, it’s not her fault that we were dicks. Accidental dicks, but dicks anyway,” Luffy added, and got Sanji’s support.
“Wait what?” Nami interrupted.
“You never heard? She was the one that called the lobster.”
“Oh…” the navigator mumbled.
“Well, you can’t exactly blame her. Her own life was on the line,” Robin pointed out, knowing from experience how far a person could go to save themselves.
“Right as always,” Nami decided to not hold any grudges against the girl. It worked out well, like most other times.
Whilst the other two were grateful for her help, Luffy seemed to notice that something was off.
“There is only one brain cell in that group, and it seems that Luffy managed to grab it for once,” Chopper whispered to Nami.
“That’s too accurate,” she giggled in response, making some others confused.
The group followed their newly assigned guide, whilst McKinley was still in the bushes.
“Goddamn that dude is determined”
“The crawling is still freaking me out…”
“Jinbei looked Big Mom in the face and pretty much insulted her, but a crawling dude is where he draws the line, huh?”
“Don’t bully me.”
Pagaya seemed to be regretting something. Luffy’s group was closing in on Lovely Street, and McKinley, accompanied by some other White Berets, was not far behind. The captain was sure that the pirates would turn around before they even made it to Upper Yard since every Blue Sea dweller had been the same before.
“But we are different,” Luffy hollered.
“We wouldn’t have gotten this far if we weren’t!”
“Also, the other people that the douchebag has seen, are like severe cowards.”
“Pathetic.”
Luffy was excited to go to Upper Yard, even when Conis told him that he could die there. “Yeah. Everyone dies sometime.”
“Oh to look death in the face, and not shit your pants,” Nami laughed anxiously.
“That seems to be a skill that only morons seem to possess, so that means you’re smart… And I’m smart,” Chopper said proudly.
“Yeah, we’re both smart,” the navigator agreed merrily.
“But if you don’t face death often, you will not realize important things,” Zoro established, barely keeping himself together.
“And it’s fun when you survive almost dying,” Luffy claimed much more seriously.
“I’ll keep that in mind…”
“Almost dying makes SUPER stories!”
“Not you too!”
“Everyone’s so lively today,” Robin chuckled.
“I think it’s because no one had a bad day yesterday,” Brook provided an answer. “There have been too many of those.”
The other two Straw Hats beat up the captain for not having any concern for his crewmates.
“Zoro was with them, so I had nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you for trusting me that much.”
The group made their way onto the Lovely Street, and it was clear that the citizens were trying to keep their distance from them. Their thoughts confirmed that.
“Hearing random people’s thoughts is even weirder.”
“Feels invasive, doesn’t it?”
Luffy was happy because he had the street to himself, while Sanji sulked because the girls ignored him. The rubberman briefly got distracted by weird fruit that was on sale but kept moving when he realized that he had nothing to pay with. Next, he pulled on a rope, that pulled him into the air, into a dial shop.
“Neat,” Franky already was making plans in his head to somehow incorporate that into Sunny’s mechanisms.
“By the end of this, you will have already built another ship out of the Sunny,” Robin sweatdropped.
“Please add the rope thing somewhere,” Luffy begged the shipwright. “Maybe onto the crowsnest, that would kind of make sense!”
“You got it, little bro!”
“Oh no…”
After activating one of the dials, the force of it sent him back down to the street. Sanji told him to stop fooling around and asked whether he was actually serious about saving the crew. He thought that counting on Zoro was a bad idea.
“That was mean,” the swordsman borderline whined.
“Geez, I need to apologize often. You aren’t unreliable, it was just my ego talking.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“You better.”
‘I think that sounded more friendly than he intended it to sound like,’ Usopp noted but decided not to bring attention to that.
Soon after, the group got distracted by a weird-looking statue, that Conis introduced as Vearth, and explained that it was something that the sky people admired, and then continued to guide them forward. The citizens that had been close by, relaxed a bit when they realized that the pirates were about to leave, and thus they would be saved.
“I’m quite sorry that we caused them stress like that,” Nami sighed.
“I feel like Captain McKinley was the one that caused it, technically speaking,” Robin logicized.
“Stop feeling sorry over things that no longer matter, and weren’t your fault, to begin with,” Jinbei reminded the navigator.
“You’re right, you’re right.”
They made it to the harbor, and Conis showed them the boat that they were supposed to take. The boat was stylized to look like a crow, and Luffy wasn’t feeling it. McKinley, who was still following them, thought that he had gotten confirmation that the pirate was like any other Blue Sea dweller, but it turned out that the rubberman had an eye on another ship.
“Selfish prick,” Franky jokingly jabbed the young pirate in the side.
“You know it!”
“Why is the dick still following you?” Zoro grumbled. “It’s starting to freak me out as well.”
“The crawling is freaking you out, or the general stalking?”
“Both, I guess.”
Sanji beat up his captain again, for his selfishness. Conis showed them the exit they were supposed to take, and Luffy addressed the fact that she had been nervous since they started the trek toward the harbor. Sanji decided that Conis was afraid for their wellbeing, and Usopp brought up the fact that everyone in town was avoiding them, but she was being helpful.
“Honestly, I would also be nervous, if God could smite me down at any point in time,” Chopper shuddered nervously like always.
“Again with the teenagers having too much on their shoulders… I think she is a teenager.”
“Should be? I never got her age.”
Luffy noticed that she was pale as well, and she tried to start explaining herself, whilst everyone around her mentally begged her not to say anything. She confirmed that it was strange that she was helping them, and the nearby people started backing away.
“If that isn’t suspicious, I don’t know what is.”
Pagaya remembered telling Conis that she had to guide the Straw Hats to Upper Yard, even though they were already heading there. The man claimed that in the end, everyone values their lives more than adventure. The dad gave his daughter the job to make sure that the group actually went to Upper Yard.
“You clearly haven’t met this ball of insanity, then…”
Conis fell to her knees and tearfully apologized for what she was doing. Luffy had no expression on his face. The woman confessed that she had been the one to call the lobster and that she had lied about the special current. The lobster’s cue was the raising of the anchor.
“She was just doing what she needed to…”
“It’s sad that she had to do it though…”
She revealed that the citizens will be killed if they don’t lead criminals to the place of judgment. Luffy looked furious.
The sudden cut to Luffy’s expression made some of the crew jump. They genuinely hadn’t expected it.
“Shit like that,” the rubberman hissed, not even capable of finishing his sentence.
“Pisses you off, doesn’t it,” Zoro attempted to finish it, knowing that ‘pissed off’ was probably too soft of an expression.
“That is not the job of normal citizens,” Brook fussed angrily. “It truly is not. The so-called God is appalling.”
“I’m glad that everyone still has their morals intact,” Sanji tried to lighten the atmosphere, although he was also angry.
The nearby citizens were panicking about Conis’ and their own safety, now that the girl had committed blasphemy against God. Luffy told her not to be sorry since she had no other choice but to adhere to the rules. He made an even more pissed-off face.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you that pissed off since the Arlong fight,” Chopper squeaked.
“Honestly, Eneru kind of reminded me of Arlong, so I was just as much pissed off,” the captain confirmed.
“Now that you mention it,” Robin realized. “Both egotistical maniacs that think they are leagues above anyone else…”
“So… Arlong is a budget Eneru?”
“Seems so.”
The other two were just as pissed off as the captain. All three of them demanded to know why Conis was telling them that information, if it could get her killed. The citizens told the pirates to get away from her since the judgment was coming.
“She is fine, I promise. “She fucking better be,” Franky spluttered. “This is stressful.”
“If I wasn’t already going gray, I would definitely start going with all the fake deaths and difficult moments,” Jinbei breathed.
Just above them, particles of light started to form into a bright phenomenon, that lit up the entirety of Lovely Street. A giant beam of light started to close in on the group, and though Luffy tried to save Conis, the beam was too big. When it dissipated, it was revealed that Usopp, Sanji, and the citizens were alive, but Luffy and Conis didn’t answer.
“Genuinely thought I was going to die…”
“Me too…”
The two Straw Hats were slightly starting to panic before a voice told them that their friends were alright. Turned out that Gan Fall had saved both of them, on the house. He threw Luffy back onto the ground and decided to take Conis with him, so he could keep her safe from Eneru.
“Convenient old man to the rescue!”
“At least someone saved Conis-chan,” Sanji said happily. “I would say that about Luffy as well if he wasn’t immune to electricity.”
“Oh right, that was a thing about him. I keep forgetting that,” Chopper scratched his head.
“Don’t worry, so do I,” the rubberman giggled.
Gan Fall wished them luck and flew off. Conis woke up a few moments after that and claimed that she knew who he really was. “I am the Sky Knight.” “No, we all know. Please come back… God.”
“That’s a twist,” the fishman almost stuttered after the new development.
“So God is more of a job title, rather than something else. Interesting.”
“I think one of my favorite things about this experience, is to see the members who weren’t present, figuring out how the puzzle pieces fit together,” Usopp smiled.
“I definitely feel like I’m doing a puzzle,” Frankly laughed.
Luffy’s group got onto the crow boat that Conis had shown them earlier, and the rubberman steered them toward the second gate, while Usopp was having a breakdown. McKinley was still surprised that the pirates didn’t back down. To be continued.
“Didn’t expect Luffy to do good with steering, but you learn something new every day,” Nami snorted.
“I literally just steered it toward one direction,” the captain sweatdropped.
“I just hope that we don’t have to look at the Beret Bastard anymore,” Zoro sighed hopefully.
“I don’t see the reason why we would, so I’m going to guess that he isn’t going to terrorize you or Jinbei anymore.”
“That would be lovely.”