Journey to Raftel Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Journey to Raftel! As the Going Merry sails from Drum Island to Alabasta, Carina continues her treatment with Chopper. Everyone on the crew is doing what they can to help Vivi figure out her new Devil Fruit as well. The snow powers seem to point to a Logia Fruit, but Devil Fruits can be weird. On the way to Alabasta, the Straw Hats run into an unexpected surprise.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 24 – Sailing, Vivi’s Fruit, Mr. 2

“You’re doing much better, Carina.” Chopper declared with a smile to the violet-haired woman as he finished checking her over. It was the second day since they’d set out from Drum Island for Sandy Island and five days in total since Carina had started taking her antibiotic for the Kestia bite.

“I’m just glad I don’t feel like shit anymore.” Carina grinned at their reindeer Doctor. “Am I finally able to join in on the training again, Doctor Chopper?”

“You haven’t had a fever since we left Drum, your condition has definitely improved,” Chopper nodded before standing up on his stool to get right in Carina’s face. “But you’re not finished with your treatment! No full training!” It would seem the years Chopper had spent living and learning under Kureha had left their mark. When it came to treatment and care, Chopper was unrelenting on the regiments he prescribed. “You can do some light training, practice your Devil Fruit with Luffy and stuff. Don’t even attempt to do the full regiment that Luffy has all of us do!”

“Yes, Doctor Chopper.” Carina giggled at the reindeer. Chopper sat down on his stool again with a happy smile at her acceptance.

Carina left the new ‘Medical Bay’ on the Going Merry with a grin while stretching her arms above her head. The bay had initially been the drying room for the women’s underthings after being washed in the laundry. But Nami, Reiju, Carina, and Vivi had all agreed it was better to have a room dedicated to treatment on the ship. They’d furnished it with all of the things Chopper had brought with him. There was a desk, stool, two small cots, a bookshelf, and a neat little wooden chest with a multitude of different small drawers that were each labelled with the name of what they contained. The chest was mostly filled with medicinal herbs, but some of them had finished medicines in them that Chopper had made into pills, powders, topical creams, or syrups. The Straw Hats were looking much, much better on medical treatment than they had been before Drum Island; even if the medical bay was a little cramped with all the stuff in it.

‘Though I guess we didn’t technically give up the drying room.’ Carina smiled to herself as she recalled that Reiju, Nami, and Vivi had converted one of the storage rooms into a new drying room. It was smaller than the room that had become the medical bay, but it still fit the drying laundry and had a porthole to let in sunlight.

“Carina, did Chopper say you’re better?” One of Luffy’s copies asked as he saw his newest lover emerge from below deck into the warm sunlight.

Carina smiled at the copy. “Yep! At least well enough to do some light training.” Listening for a second, she grinned as the sounds of other training already going on came from the rear deck. “I hear Vivi’s Devil Fruit training already. Ushishi~”

The Luffy copy laughed too. “Yeah, it’s funny!”

Carina walked up the stairs to the rear deck and couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at seeing Sanji buried in a large pile of snow. Luffy was buried up to his waist and laughing brightly as Vivi apologized.

“I’m so sorry!” Vivi half-bowed to Luffy and Sanji after burying them both in snow.

Sanji’s head popped out of the large pile of snow. “No problem at all, Vivi-chwan!”

“Shishishishi! It’s cool!” Luffy easily stepped out of the pile and began molding the snow into a snowman.

Reiju giggled at Vivi’s misfire with her new Devil Fruit. “Sanji needs to cool off anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Reiju?” Sanji questioned his sister as he pulled himself from the large pile of snow. He brushed the snow off his black clothes before noodling over to Vivi with hearts in his eyes. “I’m ready to keep helping with practice, Vivi-chwan!”

“Calm down, Sanji.” Nami waved the lovesick cook off as she stood next to Vivi. “That was pretty good, Vivi. You can produce snow well, now we need to focus on the amount and some accuracy.” She smiled encouragingly at Vivi as the princess was still getting the hang of having her powers.

Vivi returned the smile as she stood up to her full height again and took a steadying breath. “I’ll keep doing my best.” She turned her hands into snow and aimed one at Luffy and one at Sanji. “Focus…” Vivi whispered to herself as she imagined what she wanted to do with her power.

Woosh

Twin streams of snow blasted both Luffy and Sanji straight in the chest at high power, huge clouds of snow covering the rear deck.

“Ah! That was too much!” Vivi cried out in surprise.

“Shishishishi!” Luffy laughed, having evaded at the last second. “This Haki stuff works sometimes!” His Observation was still a bit hit or miss, but he was improving rather quickly.

“I’m still fine…Vivi…” Sanji mumbled before spitting out some half-melted snow from his mouth and shaking his head. From the neck down, the cook was encased in snow, forming a perfect ‘snowman’ of the chef. “My burning passion to help you will keep me warm through any chill!”

Vivi sweat dropped at Sanji’s ‘enthusiasm’ as she looked at the results of her latest attempt to use her Devil Fruit.

“Maybe she needs to focus on an image?” Carina offered as she walked over to the others.

“Carina!” Sanji exploded out of the snow to be at Carina’s side in only a second. “I’m overflowing with joy to see you doing so much better!”

Carina snickered at Sanji’s over the top reaction. “Ushishi! I’m doing fine, you spazz!”

Reiju looked at Carina curiously. “What was that about an image for Vivi’s training?”

A chain appeared from Carina’s right palm and stood straight up under her control. “I figured out how to make different kinds of chains by picturing them.” From her left palm a much thinner chain appeared and the final link formed into a sharp point. “Average sized, small links, thin, long, iron, steel, pretty much everything about the Jara Jara no Mi is controlled by what I imagine.” The two chains began to move and twist through the air, forming intricate patterns under Carina’s control. “So, maybe it's the same for Vivi?”

Vivi watched Carina control her Devil Fruit and the intricate way the two chains moved about. “It sort of reminds me of my Peacock Slashers…” Her weapons of choice were something that she’d had for years and completely understood their structure and motions.  Her right arm turned into snow and then tightly packed snow formed into the familiar string of blades (like the feathers of a peacock) much to Vivi’s surprise. “I… I did it?”

“Great job, Vivi!” Luffy cheered at seeing Vivi gain some control over her Devil Fruit.

“Pretty good advice, Carina.” Nami said with a little grin. “I guess you can have some good ideas every now and then.”

Carina stuck out her tongue at Nami. “Nyeh! I have great ideas all the time! Meanie!”

“I guess so…” Nami teased before leaning in to place a kiss on Carina’s cheek.

Reiju smirked at Nami. “You could’ve just kissed her cheek without the teasing, you know?”

“Hot…” Sanji mumbled under his breath as he saw the affection between Nami and Carina.

“Are you going to try using that weapon you’ve created, Vivi?” Reiju turned her attention to the princess with an encouraging smile.

Carina transformed the chain in her right hand, lengthening it before making it spiral into thick coils until she had what amounted to a tower shield between her and Vivi. “Try hitting this, Vivi!”

Vivi nodded and threw her arm forward. Her icy peacock slasher lashed outwards and struck the edge of Carina’s chain shield with a loud cracking sound. “That was off from where I was aiming…” Vivi said as the broken chain of compressed snow burst into a cloud of powdery white as she lost her focus. “My peacock slasher broke too.”

“Isn’t that normal?” Zoro asked from where he was lying against the edge of the ship. “Metal is stronger than snow or ice.” The way he yawned afterwards made it clear the swordsman was probably about to take a nap again.

“He’s not wrong.” Luffy nodded with his arms crossed. “But it was still cool!” His eyes sparkled ad he looked at Vivi and Carina.

Carina grinned at Luffy. “I’m getting pretty good, huh?”

Vivi gave Luffy a smile. “Thank you, Luffy.”

“That was amazing, Vivi-chwan!” Sanji praised the princess with heart-eyes.

Nami pulled Vivi into a one-armed hug. “Keep this up, Vivi, and you’ll have a solid grasp on your Devil Fruit by the time we get to Alabasta!”

“I hope so…” Vivi looked at her hands before clenching them into fists. ‘I need to get stronger. I finally have power to help save my kingdom… But if I can’t use it, then it’s all for nothing.’

Luffy smiled at Vivi brightly, snapping the princess from her melancholic thoughts. “We’ll help you with your Devil Fruit all the way to your kingdom, Vivi! You’ll be an expert in no time!”

Vivi couldn’t help but laugh at Luffy’s bright enthusiasm. “Thank you, Luffy. I really appreciate it.” She felt her heart thump in her chest a little. ‘Luffy’s always so bright and warm. He really makes you believe that everything will be okay.’ She felt a little heat on her cheeks and knew she was starting to blush.

“Oh?” Reiju smiled as she stepped up to Vivi’s other side. “Are you blushing, princess?”

“N-No!” Vivi denied and her entire body lost its color, turning pure white, before she collapsed into a pile of snow. A second later the snow moved, carrying with it a cool breeze, before swirling upwards and reforming into Vivi. “H-Huh?” She blinked at what had just happened, both hands covering her previously blushing cheeks.

Carina blinked at what Vivi had just done. “Well, I think we can be sure that Vivi’s a Logia Devil Fruit user now, right?”

“Hmm… Yeah, I think so.” Luffy nodded, his hand holding his chin in a thinking position.

“She’s a snow princess!” Sanji declared as he kneeled before Vivi dramatically and took her hand in his.

Zoro rolled his eyes at Sanji’s antics. “Dumbass.”

Sanji shot at Zoro with a skipping sidekick. “What was that, Moss Head?!”

The fight between the two was quickly ended as Nami punched Zoro in the back of the head and Reiju did the same to Sanji. Both men where gingerly holding their heads while kneeling on the deck, large, steaming lumps growing from their abused skulls.

“That’s enough out of you!” Reiju and Nami said in unison, their fists still clenched as they glared at Sanji and Zoro.

“Shishishishi!” Luffy and all of his copies laughed at the back and forth between his nakama.

-Night-

In the Captain’s Quarters, Luffy’s bed was graced by Reiju as she giggled sexily, her hands trailing over her lover’s bare chest.

“You’re so eager, Luffy~” Reiju cooed as she felt up his strong and defined muscles.

“Yeah.” Luffy smiled widely as his hands groped and played with Reiju’s amazing ass. He eagerly leaned in when Reiju closed the distance between their lips.

“Mmm~” Reiju moaned softly as she and Luffy kissed. “Ahh… Luffy.” She moaned for a brief second as their lips separated before Luffy deepened their kiss. As their tongues played, Reiju eagerly pressed her body flush against Luffy’s, the pink, sheer nightgown she wore barely hiding anything or separating them with how thin it was.

Luffy let out a rumbling groan as Reiju’s hand trailed down his chest and then cupped his rapidly hardening length over his shorts. His fingers sank into her soft bottom even more as he pulled her closer. With deft fingers, Reiju undid the button of Luffy’s shorts and then pulled them down along with his boxers.

“Always so amazing…” Reiju breathed out as her soft hand slowly stroked Luffy’s impressive length, his girth making it impossible for the tips of her fingers to touch each other as she continued to stroke him.

“Reiju…feels good.” Luffy grunted out as Reiju played with his cock.

Reiju smiled sultrily, her breathing heavy and hot as she sped up her stroking and kissed Luffy’s lips, his cheek, and then his neck. “I can make it better, Luffy~”

With a sexy smirk, Reiju teasingly trailed her fingertips along Luffy’s length as she pulled away from him. With her eyes locked onto his length, she watched it throb and pulse, eager for her touch again. She reached down and took hold of the hem of the short, sheer nightgown and pulled it up slowly. Her thighs were fully shown off, then her bare sex that was soaked with her desire, the thin cloth went up higher to reveal Reiju’s trim tummy, then up and up until it caught the swell of her tits. Luffy’s gaze was practically a physical touch as Reiju continued to pull off the sexy nightie and it turned her on more than anything. Once the cloth passed high enough, Reiju’s tits fell in a classic ‘boob drop’, bouncing before Luffy’s eyes.

“Whoa…” Luffy marveled as Reiju pulled the nightie off entirely and tossed it aside without a care.

“Like what you see, Luffy?” Reiju ran her hands up her thighs, her stomach, and then teased her hard nipples, lightly tweaking and pinching them.

Luffy swept Reiju off her feet and laid her on the bed swiftly. “Yep!” He chuckled before leaning down and took her right tit into his mouth, licking and sucking eagerly on Reiju’s sensitive nipple.

Reiju moaned lowly, threading her fingers through Luffy’s black hair to encourage his eager mouth. “Mm, Luffy…more!” She breathed out as his free hand groped her other breast. “Hah…hah…mmm~ I can feel you.” Reiju panted as she felt Luffy’s length pressing up against her eager sex. “You certainly know what you want tonight~”

Not that she wasn’t just as eager.

Ever since Carina had fallen ill, neither Nami nor Reiju had been in any mood for sex. Luffy hadn’t been either, of course, his worry having overridden pretty much everything else the entire time.

But now, with Carina well on her way to recovery, the passion between the lovers had fiercely reignited!

“Reiju!” Luffy let out a near growl as Reiju’s left hand took hold of his cock and dragged the head up and down her eager pussy.

“Inside, Luffy! I need it!” Reiju breathed out as she guided him inside of her.

The lovers both let out hot moans at being joined again. Reiju’s head thrashed side to side as Luffy’s beast of a cock stretched her in the best way again, sending intense shocks of pleasure racing up her spine and slamming into her brain. Luffy eased his cock deeper and deeper into Reiju until he reached her deepest spot and Reiju let out sharp gasp. Without a single thought, Reiju wrapped her legs around Luffy’s hips to keep him buried inside of her.

Luffy rumbled deep in his chest as his tail thrashed behind him. “So tight…” Reiju’s pussy was perfect as it massaged his cock and Luffy captured her lips in another deep and intense kiss.

“Luffy… Luffy…” Reiju panted out once their lips separated for her to catch her breath. “Faster! Harder!” Luffy instantly responded to her desires as the intensity of their lovemaking picked up and the bed started to rock beneath them.

“So hot…” Luffy growled into Reiju’s neck as he kissed her pulse point. With a surge of primal desire, Luffy pinned Reiju’s hands to the bed, their fingers entwining, as he fucked her more powerfully and hit her deepest spot over and over again.

Reiju grabbed Luffy’s head and brought his lips to hers again in a heavy kiss, nearly beating his tongue into submission as she explored Luffy’s mouth. She tightened her legs around her lover’s waist, her eyes fluttering as the heat and pleasure nearly made her black out. Her entire body spasmed as she crashed over the edge, hitting the most powerful climax of her life, so far.

Luffy fucked Reiju into the mattress even more powerfully, the headboard of his large bed smacking into the wall rapidly as he approached his own peak. “Reiju!” He nearly roared as he hit his climax and buried himself to the hilt inside of Reiju’s fluttering pussy. He couldn’t pull out with Reiju’s legs locked around his hips, not that he planned to in the first place. Luffy could only flood Reiju’s womb with his thick seed as he kissed her deeply again.

Reiju tightened her legs around Luffy even more as she felt his cock throb and pulse powerfully inside her before a glorious molten heat filled her tummy. She panted as Luffy freed her lips, she was hot and sweaty from their incredible fucking, her pink hair nearly matted to her forehead as she and Luffy looked into each other’s hazy eyes.

After a long moment to catch their breaths, Reiju’s legs unwrapped from Luffy’s hips as her entire body relaxed so much that she felt like her muscles had become pleasurable jelly. Luffy slowly pulled his length from Reiju’s pussy, making her tremble in aftershocks of bliss. Reiju looked down, as Luffy’s hands found her tits again and began to play with them, gently fondling her girls and teasing her hard nipples.

“Such a beast~” Reiju purred out as she felt Luffy’s cock hardened against her sensitive sex. She could feel the small river of thick seed escaping her pussy and it nearly made her moan. “Come up here, Luffy.” She took hold of her tits over his hands and brought them together. “Fuck my tits next… I know how much you love them~”

“Okay!” Luffy was always eager to feel Reiju’s large, soft tits wrapped around his cock. He easily moved to straddle her stomach, making sure not to put his weight on her, before burying his cock between her breasts, the natural lubrication of their first round making it slippery. “So soft…”

Reiju only gave Luffy a sexy smirk as she squeezed her tits around his large cock. “Go ahead, Luffy…fuck them!” She opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue showing him exactly where she wanted his next load.

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice as he began to thrust his hips, the tip of his cock emerging from between Reiju’s huge tits over and over again as she moved her girls in time with his thrusts. The heat and passion between them only grew more and more as Luffy fucked Reiju’s tits, eagerly seeking his next release like a horny monkey.

“Aaahh~” Reiju opened her mouth wide, sticking out her tongue as she felt Luffy start to throb between her tits. She got what she wanted a second later as Luffy leaned forward and his thrust became short and quick.

“Reiju!” Luffy panted out as his first shot covered Reiju’s tongue, lips, and face. The second shot covered her more, followed by the third, and the fourth landed on her tongue again, still as thick as the first one had been. “Amazing…” He panted for breath as he watched Reiju pulled her coated tongue back into her mouth and moan.

Reiju savored her ‘treat’ for a moment, marveling at Luffy’s taste and the thickness of his seed. She audibly swallowed it down, her smoldering gaze holding Luffy’s eyes as she opened her mouth and lolled out her tongue to show him that she’d swallowed everything he’d given her. “Such an overachiever~” She purred out as she ran her fingertip along the cum on her face and pushed it into her mouth. Reiju nearly smirked as she felt Luffy get hard between her tits again.

“More?” Luffy asked as he moved off of Reiju, freeing his cock from her warm tits.

“Of course~” Reiju said with a sinfully sexy smile. She rolled over and got on all fours, shaking her fat ass towards Luffy. “I know you like rutting like beasts, Luffy.” She teased her lover as she kept swaying her hips, making her ass bounce and jiggle.

Luffy took hold of Reiju’s hips eagerly, pressing his cockhead against her hot and eager pussy. “Do you want another one?” He asked simply as he began to ease his length into Reiju’s hot depths.

Even as Reiju shivered from the pleasure of her pussy being stuffed to the brim with Luffy’s cock, she considered the question. “Not yet…” Even though the idea of a second Luffy was VERY tempting. “Let’s see how many rounds I can last with just one first~” She playfully challenged Luffy as she threw her hips back and buried Luffy to the hilt inside of her.

“Yeah…” Luffy groaned as he enjoyed Reiju’s amazing ass pressed into his pelvis. “Let’s do it!” He rumbled out as he pulled his hips back and then slammed forward again.

“LUFFY!!!” Reiju cried out, some spit flying from her mouth as she cried out in bliss as Luffy buried himself to the hilt inside of her eager pussy.

The night was still young and Reiju would have to thank her superhuman body for letting her keep up with Luffy for so long as the night passed and the two finally stopped their intense fucking in the wee hours of the morning.

-Days Later-

“What’s that?” Luffy questioned as he pointed to a massive cloud ahead of the Going Merry. The cloud was rising off the surface of the ocean and Luffy had never seen anything like it before.

Zoro took a closer look at it with the telescope. “Huh, that is weird. It’s a cloud rising off the ocean.”

“I’ll go get Nami,” Vivi quickly headed into the cabin to fetch the Navigator.

“Is that steam?” Carina tilted her head as she watched the massive cloud.

“Yep,” Nami smiled at Carina as she and Vivi came out of the cabin that contained the kitchen and lounge. “This is a hot spot, a place where an undersea volcano releases lava. The water heats up from the molten rock and the whole area produces steam.”

Chopper blinked at what Nami had just said. “Undersea volcano?”

“There are actually more volcanoes under the sea than there are on land.” Nami informed the reindeer Doctor. “In a few thousand years a new island will be born here.”

“Too bad we won’t get to see it.” Luffy hummed as they sailed closer to the immense cloud of steam.

“If we were the first to discover it, then we could’ve named it.” Vivi said with a bit of wonder in her eyes. Many people dreamed of being the first to step onto a new island and name it.

“Meat Island!” Luffy threw his own fist into the air with his declaration.

Reiju laughed brightly at that. “Luffy, that’s a terrible name for an island.”

“Why?” Luffy questioned with a tilt of his head. Zoro face-palmed at Luffy’s response while the women all giggled at the simple-mindedness he displayed at times like this.

“Should we just sail through the steam?” Sanji questioned from inside where he was holding the rudder control.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Nami assured the crew. “It might smell like sulfur a bit, but once we’re passed it the smell will go away.”

“Aye, aye Nami~” Sanji was his usual happy self at receiving orders or instruction from the lovely navigator. The Going Merry sailed into the huge steam cloud much to the dislike of all of their noses.

“Eww!” Carina covered her nose at the unpleasant smell of the steam. “Why does it smell so bad?!”

Chopper dry-heaved as his sensitive nose was assaulted by the odor. “Ack! Gross!”

“It’s like rotten eggs!” Luffy and all of his copies said at the same time, their noses scrunched up.

Vivi agreed while covering her own nose with a handkerchief that she’d had in her pocket. “I think this is sulfur?”

As they passed through the steam, Luffy’s eyes darted over to the port side as multiple ‘voices’ passed very close to the Going Merry. His Observation training was starting to pay off as he could keep it going for extended periods if he focused. Whatever ship the Going Merry had passed would’ve collided with them if either of the two vessels had been much closer. He didn’t sense any harmful intent coming from the other vessel, so he let it pass without a care. As the Straw Hats emerged from the steam, Luffy perked up again when an unknown ‘voice’ remained with them instead of the other ship.

“Um…might I get a little help, please?” A relatively tall man asked as he was hanging from one of the fishing lines that had been set up to help supplement their food stores. The man was clearly some type of crossdresser as he wore flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme. He was wearing a pink overcoat and blue medieval-like garments with his shorts appearing almost like a large ball around the man’s hips and thighs. He wore heavy makeup, and his exposed legs were rather hairy. “I can’t swim, you see!”

“Where did he come from?” Chopper cried out at seeing the man hanging from one of their lines.

One of Luffy’s copies shrugged as he hauled the man onto the deck. “From the ship we passed in the steam, I think.”

“What ship?” Nami blinked, having not noticed another vessel in the dense steam.

Luffy looked over his shoulder at his crew with a wide smile and a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “None of you noticed?” All of the Straw Hats had learned to fear that gleam since joining the crew! “Maybe we should do more training?”

“NO!” Everyone on the ship, barring the stranger, cried out in unison. Even Zoro and Sanji weren’t thrilled by the idea of more Observation training with Luffy. With his copies, he could help all of the crew train at once, but the amount of lumps they all got was still more than any of them would like.

“Shishishishi…” Luffy chuckled at his crew before turning to address the stranger. “Who’re you? You said you can’t swim?”

“Of course not, for you see I’ve eaten of the Devil Fruit.” The man told them straight out.

Carina blinked at the new information. “You have? What kind?”

“Well, my ship will certainly come for me,” The man smiled widely as he stood up from his kneeling position. “But until then, I’m sure I could entertain you all a bit!” He raised his right hand and patted Luffy’s cheek. “Behold my power!” With a touch of his left hand to his face, there were suddenly two Luffy’s standing on the deck of the Going Merry. One of the Luffy’s in his normal clothes and one wearing the garments of the okama…and noticeably lacking the monkey tail that Luffy always had.

“What the heck?!” Chopper, Vivi, Nami, Reiju, and Zoro exclaimed at seeing the exact double of Luffy.

Luffy laughed brightly at seeing another of himself that he hadn’t made with his Devil Fruit. “That’s a neat trick!”

“All it takes is a single touch, you see!” The ballet-garbed Luffy proclaimed as he gently touched Carina, Chopper, and even Nami’s faces. “Then I can become that person! This is the power of the Mane Mane no Mi!” He switched from Luffy’s appearance, then to Chopper’s, followed by Carina’s. “My body changes too!” He revealed as he pulled open his shirt, bearing Carina’s large breasts for a second before then taking Nami’s form to let them see the change.

“Stop that!” Nami and Carina roared as they both punched the okama’s head and nearly buried him into the deck. Carina’s knuckles were even wrapped in iron chains to increase the damage. A massive, steaming lump appeared on the man’s head from Nami’s fist while his nose and lip were bloodied by Carina’s as he lay on the deck, twitching in pain.

Luffy nudged the injured man with his foot. “Can you do more?” He asked like an excited child.

“I can’t show you too much of my power.” The okama shook his head as he got back to his feet.

“You’re awesome!” Chopper declared with his arms in the air.

Luffy joined in on the cheering. “Do some more!”

“Well if you insist!” The okama struck a ballet pose with a wide smile.

“He’s so easy to convince…” Zoro deadpanned from his place against the wall of the cabin. His eyes narrowed on the strange man the entire time.

Reiju was watching the man from the opposite side in the same way, her eyes narrowed and watching the okama’s every move.

“Once I touch a face,” He switched to another man’s appearance. “It’s mine forever!” His appearance changed again. “I never forget!” Again his appearance changed and the Straw Hats got to witness many more faces. Some were very silly looking, while others were more average-looking. Luffy, Carina, and Chopper were happily following along with the show. Though the way that Carina still had her fist wrapped in the chains up as a warning kept the okama from taking any female forms.

While the montage of faces was going on, Vivi suddenly went stock still when a certain face appeared and her hand covered her mouth.

“These idiots…” Zoro shook his head at the three that were actually enjoying the display.

“How did you like my special trick?” The okama posed in a ballet position again. “I never show that to anyone you know?” The applause he received brought a huge smile to his face.

Nami pointed out the approaching ship with a swan figurehead. “Hey, there’s a ship coming this way, is that yours?”

“Oh, is it time to depart already? Too bad.” The man was standing on the railing of the Going Merry facing the direction of the approaching ship. “But don’t be sad. Every voyage must come to an end! Just remember one thing,” He looked over his shoulder at the Straw Hats that were on deck. “Friendship is not determined by how much time you spent together!” He gave them a big smile and thumbs up, even as small tears beaded in the corners of his eyes.

“I hope we meet again!” Luffy grinned back at the funny man. Chopper was the only other person to bid the okama farewell as he leapt from their ship and onto his own.

“Let’s go, men!” The ballet-loving okama declared as he pointed in the opposite direction of the Going Merry’s course.

“Aye, aye, Mr. 2!” The men on the paddle ship chorused as the paddles engaged and powered the other ship away at speed. They were halfway to the horizon before the shock of the man’s code name wore off.

“That was Mr. 2?!” The crew of adventurers cried out in shock.

Luffy turned to look at Vivi curiously. “Vivi, didn’t you know what he looked like?”

“No…I’ve never met Mr. 2,” Vivi shook her head, sending her long, blue locks swaying. “All I knew about him was that he was supposedly an eccentric man that loved ballet.”

“I mean…that guy totally fits that description…” Zoro said with a flat expression while Vivi placed her right hand on her forehead.

“When he was doing those faces from memory, one of them was my father’s!” Vivi told everyone, even as she trembled at the mere thought of an Officer Agent being within arm’s reach of her father. “He mimicked my father’s face! What are they planning?”

Reiju’s eyes narrowed at the newly revealed information. “If he impersonated the king, then he could do a lot of damage.”

“We let an enemy get away.” Carina grimaced at their lack of knowledge of Baroque Works.

Chopper looked down at their new friend actually being an enemy. “Aww, he was an enemy? He was fun.”

“That guy’s powers could spell a lot of trouble for us,” Nami had a sharp look on her face. “If he imitates us then we wouldn’t be able to trust each other.”

“You think so?” Luffy gave his nakama a curious look. All of them stared back at him for a moment. Luffy’s expression didn’t change at all. Then the proverbial lightbulb went off when Luffy’s eyes burned golden and he pointed at the side of his head.

Carina blurted out her first realization. “Your eyes! They can see through lies like his transformation!”

Reiju had the second realization. “Observation Haki?”

“I get it.” Zoro said as he placed his hand on the end of Wado Ichimonji. “His outsides change, but he’s still the same inside, right?”

“Shishishishi! Yep!” Luffy nodded with a laugh as his eyes stopped glowing golden.

“Look, I know you guys want lunch but yelling isn’t gonna make it cook faster!” Sanji opened the door to the kitchen with a shout. He was quick to realize the near-constant noise he’d been hearing wasn’t Luffy’s normal yells for food. “What’s going on?” He questioned while already reaching for his pack of cigarettes. “I’ve clearly missed something.”

Carina snickered behind her hand. “Ushishi! That’s an understatement!”

Chopper, Nami, and Reiju filled Sanji in on their encounter with Mr. 2 and the okama’s Devil Fruit powers.

“That bastard dared to expose Nami and Carina’s gorgeous bodies?! I’ll filet him!” Sanji roared with fire leaping from his eyes and his teeth looking like sharp fangs.

“We need to do more Observation Haki training.” Zoro stated firmly as he looked at the crew. “We got lucky to know the enemy’s ability before it could be used against us. We need to always know who’s who, and the only way for most of us to see through that okama’s powers is with Observation.”

Vivi had nearly equal intensity in her eyes as she agreed with Zoro. “I agree! We need to be prepared for whatever Baroque Works is plotting! I… We need to get better.” Her tone noticeably lost its force as she said the last part.

She didn’t expect to suddenly be wrapped in a warm hug by Luffy. Then Nami and Carina joined in, making it a group hug. Followed by Reiju to completely engulf the princess in warmth.

“You don’t have to do everything yourself, Vivi.” Nami assured Vivi with a smile.

Carina nodded to Vivi. “We’re all here to help you.”

Reiju gave Vivi a reassuring smile. “We’ve come all this way to help you stop Baroque Works. We won’t let you take on everything by yourself.”

“Yep! We’ll find this dumb croc and I’ll beat the hell out of him!” Luffy smiled at Vivi, his smile filling her with warmth and the surety that everything was going to be okay.

“Th-Thank you all…” Vivi sniffled as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

Sanji looked like he was debating on yelling at Luffy to stop hugging Vivi, or to let the group hug go one because Vivi clearly needed it. Seeing Vivi hugging Nami back, Sanji decided to let it go. “I’ll bring out the food.”

“We’ll set up the table and chairs!” Three of Luffy’s copies said as they dropped down from the rigging to land on the deck.

“Food?” Luffy perked up with a big smile.

The increased training would begin as soon as lunch was over. There were only a few days left before the Going Merry reached Alabasta and everyone knew they needed to improve their Observation as much as possible in that short time.

-End Chapter-

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Vivi has the Yuki Yuki no Mi! That’s weird! Someone else had that Devil Fruit in Canon! Another change has appeared!

Now that Carina is getting much better, the ‘mood’ between Luffy and Reiju has roared back to life like an inferno! The two indulge most of the night now that they all know that Carina is safe.

Carina helps Vivi figure out how to work her Devil Fruit a bit with a demonstration of her own improvements! Vivi is very familiar with her Peacock Slashers, so the form is surprisingly easy to make with her snow powers! Even with only a few days, Vivi knows that she has to improve!

The crew met Mr. 2! The okama is still the crazy ballet lover as always! But when he copied both Carina and Nami and showed off ‘the goods’, he got walloped TWICE as hard! Kek!

The lucky break of meeting Mr. 2 and seeing his power ahead of time makes it incredibly obvious to the crew that they all need to improve their Observation as much as possible in the short time that they have left before they reach Alabasta!

Can the Straw Hats stop Baroque Work’s plans before Alabasta falls?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!