Several minutes of me racking my brains for everything that I could instruct the crew on at this point later—which involved no small amount of grumbling (read: violent cursing) at Ace for the 'instructions' on Haki he gave—found me stepping out onto the deck. Everyone's attention turned to me immediately.
"Alright, guys, let's get started." I clapped my hands together and rubbed them eagerly. "To start things off, let me give you all a fair warning: while I've seen and heard of a lot of techniques, which I will be sharing with you, I don't know how to do most of them. But if you guys could figure it out on your own, then I know that you can figure it out via description, even if it'll no doubt take longer without the firsthand experience."
I looked at Usopp first, noticing him standing beside something covered with a tablecloth. "Usopp, full status report on upgrades."
The sniper nodded. "I've almost finished Nami's Perfect Clima-Tact, but I'm still having trouble making the Eisen Dial work down here. You're sure that there's a way to make it happen?"
"Positive. But if you're still having trouble—Nami, you're the expert on clouds. Think you can figure out what he has to do?"
Nami nodded, and Usopp continued. "Well, alright, then. In other news, I've almost finished upgrading my slingshot and arsenal. Boss—" He looked at the Dugongs. "I've finished the Thermal Dart, but I haven't worked out a way for you to have a safe place to grab it yet. I'm either going to need some design time to fix that, duration to be determined, or I'll need to make heat-retardant gauntlets for you."
Boss snorted and waved his flipper dismissively."Please. A little bit of heat doesn't scare me. I can take it on the chin like a man."
"Uh, Boss?" Conis hesitantly raised a finger. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Heat Dials can reach temperatures of up to and over 700 degrees Celsius. You could seriously injure your flippers if you used that weapon unprotected!"
Boss cocked an eyebrow at Conis before plucking his cigar from his mouth and grinding it down in his free flipper, not reacting in the slightest. "I have spent over three-quarters of my life smashing my flippers into the bedrock of the Sandora River and the skulls of every living creature in it. It is a miracle if I ever feel anything with them." He grinned confidently. "Trust me, if anyone can take the heat, it's me."
"…Fair enough, I guess. Just make sure that you keep it deactivated whenever you're not using it, or you're going to wind up with a lot more scar tissue," Usopp concluded before nodding at me. "And Cross?" He took hold of the tablecloth. "Your upgrades are complete." With a triumphant grin, he yanked back the cloth.
I grinned as I took in the sight. He had completely revamped my armour. The colour was the same, but ridges covered the backs of them from elbow to finger and knee to toe, and the elbows and knees were thicker than the rest, guarding the joints perfectly. The armour was also thicker in general, each piece easily twice the size of my limb. I could see sleeves of what looked like fabric on the insides of the armour, with the metal part expanded outward. And in the palms of the gauntlets were two distinctly round shapes, the palms displaying seven-piece honeycomb grilles.
"Specially designed from the Usopp Workshop, your new armour comes complete with heat and cold insulation, along with an extra layer of protection and durability composed of sea king leather and the special fibres I use in my ropes," Usopp rattled off, sounding like an infomercial salesman. "The left one is the Flash Gauntlet, which I've hooked up with that strobe mechanism you said you liked, and the right one is the Impact Gauntlet, which channels all impacts to the Dial no matter where you catch them, even if they're not on the palm itself. And don't worry, I've worked out all of the bugs this time with Luffy and the dugongs acting as test dummies. Just make sure to discharge it outside of the feedback mechanism after every twenty or so blasts, or there's a good chance the buildup of energy will blow your bones out. Also!" He pointed at Conis. "I'm working on a way to build a similar device for the Reject Dial. For now, though, the only one who can use it without breaking their arm—and probably a whole bunch of other important stuff—is Luffy."
"And he hits about as hard as that thing anyway, so really, it's a moot point," I chuckled before pointing at Zoro. "Alright, moving on. You, mister First Mate: I have absolutely no idea how you pulled it off, but you worked out a technique you called Nine Swords Style: Asura. Basically—"
"No, no, I got it," Zoro interrupted with a casual wave of his hand. "I know what you're talking about. I've been meditating on it in my spare time, but now that I know that it's actually possible…" He trailed off into a feral grin that caused my blood to freeze over.
Soundbite shuddered in terror, withdrawing into his shell. "Unclean… Unclean…"
I swallowed audibly before continuing. "A-A-Anyway, while you're working on that, another technique to think on is one of a set known as the Six Powers." I turned slightly so that I was addressing the whole crew. "The Six Powers is a highly advanced martial arts style, used almost exclusively by the Marines' top brass, the purpose of which is to turn the human body into a weapon. Thankfully, however, I think that the techniques are simple enough that you can figure them out yourselves.
"The one I'm thinking of at the moment is known as Iron Body. The basics of it, as I understand them, is to clench your body's muscles hard, and I mean really hard, so that your very flesh—" I rapped my knuckles on my abdomen. "Becomes as solid as iron itself, so that not even blades or bullets can hurt you. Well…" I nodded my head to the side. "Unless it's a bullshit-strong attack, but you get my point." I looked back at Zoro. "I figured that you have the most experience out of all of us at blocking near-lethal attacks with your torso, so I figure that you'd have the most luck puzzling it out."
"Makes sense," Zoro nodded in agreement.
"Hey, I've taken twice as many blows as the Marimo!" Sanji protested.
I gave the cook a flat look. "Sanji, you've taken a lot of bad hits, I'll admit, but you sure as hell didn't take Mihawk's ship-cutting slash or Mr. 1's shredding drill head-on."
Grumbling, Sanji silently conceded the point by looking away.
"And besides, you'll be focusing on the second, third, and fourth of the Six Powers, and I'll honestly be surprised if you don't figure one of them out by the end of the day And Zoro will never let you hear the end of it, since he's already mastered one of them as far as his fighting style is concerned."
Both Zoro and Sanji looked at me, the former with wicked eagerness and the latter looking about ready to burst into flames of pure determination. I smiled innocently, somehow managing to move all of my cold sweat to the back of my head. I would not show weakness. I would not show weakness!
"Talk fast," Sanji growled.
I most certainly did not swallow heavily. "Well, see, Zoro's able to produce flying slashes with his Phoenix attacks, and the technique known as the Tempest Kick lets you produce them with your legs. All you have to do is kick with enough force and somehow concentrate all the resultant gust from the attack into an amalgamation of pure wind, strong and sharp enough to match any blade."
Sanji's determination faded into a contemplative frown. "Hrm. That actually sounds familiar. I think the old geezer did that with his peg leg back when that huge shield-wearing psycho tried to ignite the Baratie."
I blinked. "Huh, I forgot about that. Figures that old coot would have figured that technique out. God only knows how far into the Line he got before turning back. But yeah, it's like that, just concentrate all of that wind into a singular blade of air, and you should acquire a nice ranged attack in your arsenal."
Sanji smirked at Zoro, but when I snapped my fingers for attention, he grudgingly looked back at me. "Alright, as much as I'd love to start on that one right away, you said there were two more?"
"Yeah. The third technique, you've actually done already, back when Ohm scarred Conis. With the Moonwalk technique, you kick so hard that you can jump on the air itself. Besides using Devil Fruit powers, it's the closest thing you can ever get to actual flight. I don't expect you to get the hang of that one anytime soon, but if you can do it while you're berserk?" I shrugged. "If you have to, try channelling that anger so you can figure out how to do it.
"Now, the fourth one, Shave," I said, looking around at the whole crew again. "Seems to be the easiest of all the Six Powers, with how common it is. A certain faux-butler even developed a half-bastardized, half-improved version of it. This is the only one that I know the instructions for: by kicking the ground ten times in a second, you can generate enough force to move fast enough that you seem to practically teleport. How the hell you manage it, I don't know, but as I said, it seems to be the easiest of them. Heck," I chuckled, looking over our sniper and navigator. "With how good you are at running, I wouldn't be surprised if you could manage it, Usopp. Or you, Nami."
The two of them looked thoughtful, and I turned my attention back to Luffy. "The fifth technique is called Finger Pistol. Essentially, with enough strength and by applying Iron Body to one's finger, just doing this—" I stuck my arm out, index finger pointing outwards. "—oughta be enough to put a hole in a person as well as any gunshot. A bit more visceral than what you're used to, I know, but I just thought it might be a good idea for your pipe. Good way of piercing through solid defences and all."
Luffy hummed thoughtfully as he tilted his head to the side.
"Now, the last one is another one that you've pulled off, Luffy, during your fight against Enel. Though…" I waved my hand side to side. "The official technique is way more effective than that 'airhead' thing you pulled off. Letting your body go limp and letting your reflexes do all the work dodging is the basis of the Paper Art technique, but the real deal lets you keep your head in the game so you can attack or move appropriately."
"Oooh, now that sounds like fun!" Luffy grinned eagerly.
"Alright, now, let's see…" I slowly started ticking down on my fingers as I went over their other techniques. "Zoro needs Haki, Nami and Usopp are fine on their own, Sanji—" I glanced at the cook, who was shadow-boxing but with kicks. "Hey, Sanji, does the phrase 'if God made food, then the Devil made spice' mean anything to you?"
Sanji froze mid-swing, shooting a shocked look at me. "That move actually works!? I came up with it back up on the Baratie while I was drunk off my ass!"
I shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, well, it actually does work. And to great effect, I might add. Something about your heart burning even hotter than the kick or something?"
Sanji's eyes widened slightly, and he turned away, muttering rapid-fire.
I shrugged and left him to it. "Alright, then. Next up, Chopper!" I pointed at the doctor. "Seeing as we're currently in the middle of a verdant wasteland, is there any chance that you'd be willing to try training to gain control of 'that'?"
The reindeer was briefly confused before paling, visible even beneath his fur. "I, ah, don't think that that might be such a good idea, Cross."
"What? Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, I suppose the whole hyper-exhaustion thing is a danger, but we've got enough muscle here to match you, and all we have to do to break the form is knock you into the ocean."
"Weeeell…" Chopper sheepishly clicked his hooves together. With the same look on his face as when he was explaining how he'd developed his little Hyde-issue, aw fuck me.
"This is gonna suck, isn't it?" I blandly stated.
"Well, see, the thing is, Cross," he said, rubbing the back of his skull. "'That' was a berserker when I stumbled onto it because it was primarily controlled by my unconscious mind. Back then, my unconscious was totally empty, so it was essentially my baser animal instincts given form, albeit more savage than I'd expected. But now…" He tapped his hoof against his temple. "That part of my brain isn't quite so unconscious anymore, remember?"
I froze as the implications sank in. And said implications were that if things proceeded anywhere close to canon, there was an alarmingly good chance of the Tower of Justice becoming a butcher's shop, or some other unimaginable abomination of SCIENCE!
…On the other hand, maybe Spandam deserved that—NO, no, it wasn't worth it. It so very, very nearly was, but! I had collateral to think of, so much collateral.
"Let's put a pin in that for now, alright?" I squeaked.
Chopper nodded eagerly. "Probably for the best, yes."
"Moving right along!" I hastily swung around to my next target, then paused as an idea came to me, prompting me to swing back to Chopper. "Actually, there's still something that you can do. You know about Luffy's Gears, right?"
"Uh…" Chopper blinked in surprise. "You mean that technique that he used to turn huge and punch out the seawall, right? And the one he used to save Conis from Enel? What about them?"
"The latter is Gear 1.5 and the prior is 2.5, prototype versions of Gears Second and Third," I explained. "Both extremely powerful tools, but, well…" I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, you remember how the recoil from 2.5 snapped Luffy into a midget?"
Chopper grimaced. "I'm guessing that 1.5 has some kind of side-effect as well?" He rubbed his chin, humming thoughtfully. "Well, I don't know if I can help with anything like the shrinkage, but—"
"Yeeeaaah, see…" My sheepishness redoubled. "That's the thing. Gear Second's side effects are a lot more, shall we say, visceral than Gear Third. How to best put this—ah, Luffy!" I pointed at our captain. "How do you start 1.5, and how do you usually feel after using it?"
Luffy grinned eagerly as he held his leg up and pointed to it. "Oh, it's easy! I just pump my legs to get my blood flowing faster, and then that makes me go faster, too!" He then looked up, hand on his chin, totally missing the horrified look spreading over Chopper's face. "The bad news is that so far, I've only been able to keep it going for a few seconds. And after it runs out, I usually feel kinda tired, and my muscles ache all over." And then his eager grin was right back in place. "But I've been getting better at using it in my spare time! Some more practice and I'll be able to keep it running for as long as I want! Here." He placed his fist on the deck. "Check it out—!"
THWACK!
"GRK!" Luffy choked, slapping a hand to the side of his neck. The syringe that had just stabbed him finished emptying its contents into his bloodstream before he could do anything else, causing him to keel over and start snoring.
We stared at Luffy's prone form before turning our gazes to Chopper, whose hoof was still extended in a throwing follow-through and whose face was a rictus of pure rage.
"Unbelievable, inconsiderate, suicidal…!" The human-reindeer's words trailed off into unintelligible grumbling as he marched up to Luffy and grabbed the back of his collar. He then shot a dour glare around the deck. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to retire to the kitchen for a bit to guarantee that this ignoramus—" He emphasized the word with a thoroughly ineffective smack to Luffy's temple. "—doesn't keel over at age 50 due to having the heart of a 90-YEAR-OLD!"
Nobody dared halt the doctor as he marched up the stairs, flung Luffy into the kitchen, and slammed the door shut behind him.
Soundbite blinked once more before giving me a hesitant glance. "Should we SAVE HIM?"
"No, no, best we leave them be," I sighed. "Luffy might suffer right now, but Chopper is essentially working to save him from, well, himself." I clapped my hands as I decided that it'd be better for my sanity not to dwell on whatever unholy procedures Chopper was performing. "Right then, next up is…" I frowned as I realized who I had turned to. "Vivi. I meant to ask you after we were through with Enel, but things got kinda hectic. So before I forget again: that necklace you're wearing, what—?"
"OH, MY, LOOK AT THE TIME!" Vivi yelped before I could get another word out, sweat cascading down her face as she plastered on a rictus grin and vaulted onto Carue's back, his reins clutched in a white-knuckled grip. "In all the excitement, I almost forgot that I'd been meaning to run some laps with Carue, for practice! Well, no time like the present! Come on, Carue, let's go, once around the island, chop chop!"
"Hey, now, wait a—!"
WHOOSH!
"Minute…" I trailed off slowly as the dust cloud that was Carue approached the horizon. "Wow."
"DAT DUCK CAN MOVE!" Soundbite whistled.
"Tell me about it," I grumbled before giving Soundbite a searching look. "By the way, is there any chance that she—?"
"Sorry, nada." Soundbite shook his head. "Most I've GOTTEN IS THE word 'SIROCCO.' ALTHOUGH…"
"What?"
"EH…" He nodded his head side to side. "I think that I heard a voice coming from IT? DON'T THINK IT WAS alive though."
I mulled that over before shaking my head. "Well, if she doesn't want to share, I suppose that's her prerogative. I'll drop it for now." I moved on to Conis. "Alright, now for you, our resident angel of firepower. Given how you've been toting that Burn Bazooka around all day without breaking a sweat, I'm guessing that you don't find its weight to be daunting?"
"Yes, that sounds about right," Conis answered. "Thanks to all the strength from the extra oxygen, it barely feels like I'm carrying anything."
"Then I say it's high time we change that," I said, smacking my fist into my palm. "Seeing as you can carry that behemoth around no problem, you can easily carry around a bunch of its cousins, too. Your goal is to find out just how much firepower you can comfortably strap to yourself at once. Trust me, if you think talking softly and carrying a big gun equals being a badass, that's easily trumped by being a walking arsenal."
"Can do!" the angel saluted eagerly.
"Su, make sure she doesn't somehow overload and become ineffective."
"I will try, but I make no promises!" Su swiped her tail up to her forehead in a salute.
"Hey!"
"Remember the macaroni incident?"
"YOU SWORE TO NEVER MENTION THAT AGAIN! Though I suppose I see your point. So much cheese…"
I shuddered slightly as I watched the usually serene woman devolve into a fit of horrified twitching. Moving on! "And Boss!" I confidently pointed at the martial artist, holding that pose for a moment before slowly lowering my finger. "I'm afraid that I have nothing for you or your students…"
"Eh," Boss shrugged indifferently. "You've given us more than enough to work on already." He pumped his flipper, grinning. "We'll just have to do the rest ourselves! Right, boys?"
"AYE, BOSS!" his students concurred.
"Well, then, in that case…" I clapped my hands and nodded. "That's it! Everyone, go right ahead and get to it!"
"Hang on a second, Cross," Nami interjected. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"Eh?" I blinked at her in confusion. "No, I was just leaving that up to you. I don't have anything to suggest until Usopp's got the Clima-Tact ready, so—"
Nami rapped her knuckles on my forehead with a flat look. "I meant you, dumb-dumb. You've told everyone else what they should do to get stronger, but what will you do in the meantime?"
I felt a cold sweat begin to drip down my forehead as I suddenly realized I hadn't thought of something for me to do, and that meant someone was going to 'volunteer' me to work with them. And that was likely to end with me in a motherload of pain.
"I-I, uh…" I stammered, trying to buy time.
"Mikey, Donny," Boss thankfully interrupted. "Go help Cross out. Sobek knows he needs it."
"BOSS, YES, BOSS!" both dugongs barked, saluting.
I swallowed nervously at their enthusiasm and promptly shot a pleading look at Usopp. "Please tell me that you managed to finish whatever upgrades you planned to make to my baton."
"Ah…" Usopp hesitated for a moment before nodding nervously. "Maybe yes? Fair warning, I'm not entirely confident about its build, so—!"
"I'm about to fight two Kung Fu Dugongs, see how much I care!" I snarled.
Usopp glanced at the two amphibians, who were tapping their weapons in their flippers, and shuddered in terror. "Point taken." The sniper-tinkerer drew a metal cylinder out of his bag and tossed it to me. "Just be careful, it's still kind of—!"
I caught the cylinder in mid-air—
ZAP!
And promptly found myself flat on my back, coughing up a hefty cloud of smoke. "Ow…"
"NOT fun!" Soundbite whined.
"…sensitive," Usopp said as he stood over me, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, those Thunder Dials are really tricky. Guess there are still a few bugs to work out, huh?"
"The appropriate phrase here," I wheezed out as I shakily raised my arm, my baton delicately between my fingertips. "Would be 'no doi'."
Usopp took the collapsed weapon back with a pair of insulated pliers he'd pulled from his bag. "I'll just, ah, try and work them out then, huh?"
"Yeah," I wheezed as I coughed up another lungful of smoke. "You do that."
"Nice dance, Cross," Su snickered. "Real fancy footwork!"
"Go get your tail charred off, puff-ball," I snarled as I slowly crawled to my feet, shaking my head to dislodge the stars swirling in it. "So, uh, how are we doing this exactly?"
Donny jabbed a flipper over his shoulder, pointing toward the shore. "This way."
I gave him a shaky thumbs-up. "You got it. Just gimme a bit to get my armor on. I'm going to need all the protection I can get."
"Yeah, sure thing, we'll be waiting," Donny said, he and Mikey leaping over the edge with a careless wave of their flippers.
I waited for a moment before shooting a glare at Nami. "You realize that they are going to absolutely tenderize me, right?"
Nami hummed to herself, tapping a finger on her lips. "I suppose I could tell you that this is for your own good. That I care about you, and that I want to see you get stronger so that I don't have to worry about you so much. I could also tell you that I think you can teach those dugongs as much as they teach you, or even that this is a matter of solidarity, with all of us getting steadily stronger, and that I don't want you left behind."
I could see this punchline coming a mile away. "And in reality?"
She patted my shoulder, a winning smile on her face. "Try and grow a spine and some thicker skin, you weak-ass piece of putty."
"Alright, I'll accept most of that, but thicker skin? Don't you think I'd jump on it if there was a way to do that?" I asked dryly, holding an arm up at eye level.
The blood drained from Nami's face at the sight of my limb. "Okay, I suppose I could have worded… that…" She trailed off, her expression falling flat again. "Considering how you always tell Lassoo that dog insults were fine before he joined the crew, I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say you're screwing with me?"
"Atta girl," I chuckled, slapping her back as I walked past her to where my armour was laid out.
I thought about how different it felt as I pulled on the pieces. The sleeves fit well, like a glove, and the metal on the outside moved just as the sleeves did. It was a bit more comfortable than the last set, but I could feel that it was a lot tougher this time, too. The sheer extra weight of the things attested to that. In addition, the Kevlar-grade material on the inside, coupled with Usopp's whatever-the-hell metal on the outside, made sure that I wouldn't have to worry about any pain getting through the bandages. To cap it all off, the armour was sealed on just as tightly as my previous iteration, with the elbow and knee guards doing an expert job of hiding the unlatching mechanisms.
I rolled my arms and took a few practice steps to re-acclimate myself to the weight of the armour. But it quickly became clear that that wasn't happening anytime soon. The massive jump in size and weight made it clear that this was no upgrade, but a completely new set of armour that I'd have to get used to all over again. And it wouldn't be as easy as I'd hoped, either.
I threw out a few practice punches and swung my leg up to lash out a Spartan kick.
I grinned in satisfaction.
"Perfect," I announced before glancing over at Usopp, one of my gauntlets held up so that the palm was facing him. "So, how do I—?"
"Hey, don't point it at me, that's the Flash one!" the sniper said, hastily covering his eyes. "But just flexing your palm should be enough. Whole hand, to prevent misfires."
I eyed my left hand—my Flash Gauntlet— for a moment before flipping it palm down and firmly flexing the bottoms of my knuckles. I was delighted to see light strobing on the ground. "Ooooh, yeah, this is gonna be useful…" I glanced down as Lassoo padded over, sniffing at the spot. "Well, I'm almost completely loaded down anyway. Whaddaya say, Lassoo, wanna help me give them our best?"
The dog-gun yawned jaw-crackingly wide before giving me an apologetic borf. "Sorry, Cross, no can do." He jerked his head over at Conis. "I've got an appointment with our resident angel here for an upgrade." He leered eagerly, tongues of flame licking out from between his fangs. "I want me a piece of that firepower she was tossing around earlier!"
In spite of the fact that I was going to be left without my heaviest artillery at my back, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, go on, then."
Tail wagging excitedly, he bounded over to Conis, and I exchanged a wry look with an eager-looking Soundbite before jogging over to the railing and jumping down to the shore. I was very pleased when the action didn't hurt in the least.
A few feet before me, Donny and Mikey stood on opposite ends of the impromptu practice field, bound by the Merry's hull, the former twirling his staff with quiet but ill-disguised eagerness and the latter practically bursting with belligerent excitement.
"Alright, then," I said as I walked up, stretching my arms back and forth as I went. "So, are there any rules here? Any limitations, any holds barred, is there a starting sig—" I cut myself off mid-sentence, leaping forwards and swinging my leg at Mikey.
Said leg was caught by the chains of the nunchuck, the dugong snapped taut, held at bay without even a hint of strain.
Mikey stared blandly at the sole of my greave before cocking an eyebrow at me. "Did you honestly expect that to work?"
I shrugged. "Not really, but I had to try."
"Well, I guess the first lesson is situational awareness," the dugong replied.
I frowned. "Situational awareness? What—"
"BEHIND!" Soundbite suddenly yelped.
I didn't need to look to know that I needed to duck. But seeing as I wasn't one for conventional solutions, I instead chose to leap forward, using the chain of Mikey's weapon as a platform to vault over him. I'd have gone for a boot to the head in the process, but he cashed in the momentum I gave him and rolled under me before I got the chance, leaving me to land in a roll and pivot on my way up to face my opponents.
"Hmm, not bad," Donny hummed, twirling his bo staff as he landed, Mikey popping up beside him. "You and Soundbite really do form a good team. Okay, we'll do this the normal way."
Both dugongs snapped their weapons into ready stances, a palpable aura of menace rising around them.
"Defend yourself."
"GASTRO-FLASH!" I immediately shouted, pointing the Flash Gauntlet in front of me, Soundbite chiming in with an ear-piercing shriek. Mikey stumbled and fell to the ground with a cry of pain while Donny kept going. It seemed he'd had the foresight to plug his shell with wax.
I threw up an arm to block the bo staff as it descended, then hastily moved my other arm up when the dugong seamlessly moved into another strike. And then another strike came and was blocked. And another. I backpedalled furiously, barely blocking the strikes from the bo staff, but I was actually blocking them. And every other block built up a little more energy…
I caught another overhead strike on my forearm, and instead of blocking the follow-up, I tried to meet it with my palm. The Impact Dial rang out, rattling the air in front of me, and Donny only barely managed to pull back his staff before it shattered. We each paused, me panting slightly and Donny not winded at all. And just to make matters even more fun, Mikey jumped to Donny's side, eyes narrowed and bloodshot but still full of raw energy.
The standoff continued for a few moments. Then the dugongs moved.
Mikey shot toward me while Donny veered off to the left. He was going to go behind me again, I just knew it, but with Mikey up in my face, I couldn't do much about it. Where Donny was almost like a dancer, flowing from attack to attack with almost water-like fluidity, Mikey was straightforward, brutal smashing. Or, to put it another way, Donny actually had grace and skill, while Mikey had adapted hack-and-slash to his nunchucks.
Once again, I found myself on the defensive, and I kept a count in my head as the blows rained on my right arm. Not to let off the Impact Dial again. I doubted they'd let me do that. No, it was for something else…
"BEHIND!"
I was ducking even before Soundbite barked out a warning. Unfortunately, Donny had gone low with his attack this time. Fortunately, as I was squatting down, I was only lightly knocked onto my side rather than sent tumbling. I grinned as an idea came to me, and I planted my right palm on the ground.
"Impact."
With a loud bang, the Impact Dial discharged, spraying dirt and grass everywhere.
"Ackpft!"
Including my face. Not my brightest idea, but it did get the dugongs to back off and snap their guards up, and that was precisely what I'd been going for. I quickly sprang to my feet and charged at the first dugong I saw, who turned out to be Mikey. After all, I couldn't stay on the defensive forever, and the best way to flip the script would be to take out their primary enforcer first.
I did not count on Mikey wrapping up my punch in the chains of his nunchucks and flipping me off my feet.
I don't know if it was designed or by accident—probably a bit of both—but as I sailed through the air, I positioned my foot just right so that it clocked Mikey upside the head. He had that big turtle shell protecting him, but a nice and heavy armored boot connecting with his skull still dazed him a bit. Of course, I also got the wind knocked out of me upon hitting the ground, so I think we came off even in that exchange.
As I caught my breath, I felt Soundbite desperately chomp on my shoulder. I glanced up and hastily threw up my armoured palm to catch Donny's staff, something I felt even through the layers of protection. My foot came up to try and meet his soft underbelly, but he put his muscular tail in the way—and in doing so, forgot about my second trick of the fight.
"GASTRO-FLASH!"
Wax or not, non-sight combat senses or not, getting a spotlight to the face hurts. More than that, the instinct to cover your eyes is both universal and very difficult to overcome, as demonstrated by Dragon Ball Z. With the pressure on my arms gone, I raised my other foot and managed to nail Donny clean in his face, throwing him off of me and leaving him reeling. I breathed a sigh of relief and began to stand up—
"INCOMING!"
This time, the warning wasn't in time. Mikey's nunchucks hit me right between the shoulder blades. I let the blow knock me forward onto my hands, and shot my foot back in a mule-kick. It didn't hit anything, but it did force him to dodge back a bit before leaping at me again, giving me long enough to spin around—
"IMPACT!"
And slam my right gauntlet into his gut as I activated its mechanism.
"GAGH!" he cried out, flailing slightly as he tumbled on the ground. I immediately took the opportunity, diving onto the downed dugong. It wasn't any kind of formal move, closer to just kneeling on him, but I was over double his weight and size, so it worked. I punched the ground to get as much charge as I could into the Impact Dial and moved the gauntlet into position—
Aaaaand promptly froze when I felt a weight land on my back and wood knock against the back of my skull.
All four of us stayed frozen for a few seconds until I slowly raised my Flash gauntlet up where Donny could see it, pointedly keeping the palm facing away from him. "Truce?"
Donny was silent for a moment before removing his staff from my neck and hopping off. "I can live with that."
"Ooooowww," Mikey whined as he wiggled on the ground, clutching his belly. "Damn it, dude, that huuuurt…"
"Oh, you have no right to talk, Chuck-boy!" I snapped as I twisted my torso back and forth, causing the spot where he'd managed to slam me to flare up painfully. "Freaking hell, those things hurt like heck!"
"You kicked me in the head and hit me with the pure force of Donny's staff!" the dugong retorted. "That does not compare to one nunchuk-blow!"
"Guys, guys," Donny cut in, coming between us with his flippers raised. "You're both babies, can we move on now?"
"HEY! I'm a baby, TOO!"
We all spared Soundbite a flat look, which he responded to with a wide grin.
"Fine, moving on," I ultimately conceded. "So, any advice you two can give me?"
"Well, for starters, you're an instinctive fighter, Cross," Donny explained.
"Basically, that means you can lash out like a freaking maniac without thinking and not automatically get your ass handed to you," Mikey provided.
Donny glared at his fellow student and opened his mouth, then cocked his head to the side. "Alright, so he's not entirely wrong. Zoro described your style as "brawling with some sense to it" to Boss, which Boss passed on, and that's a pretty good description of what you're trying to do. Since you've got a foundation, your best training options are, well…" He shrugged helplessly. "Unless you want to actually learn something formal, there's only one. The best way to train for what you do is to just let you go ahead and fight. Trial and error lets you work out the flaws in your form the hard way."
I nodded thoughtfully. "Works for me…" I hummed thoughtfully, looking at the snail on my shoulder. "Ah, by the way, Soundbite? You need to be a bit—"
"Say faster. I DARE YOU."
"No, no, your speed was fine!" I assured him. "I was going to say 'specific.' Just saying 'behind' doesn't help much when an attack can come from high or low as well."
Soundbite frowned but nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Well, if we're done here, I'm going to get back to trying out more of our new arsenal," Mikey said, heading back toward the Merry.
"And if Nami's done with Usopp, I should probably see how her bojutsu has progressed," Donny added, following his fellow student.
I was about to go find Lassoo when I remembered that I had something to deal with on the ship as well. Sighing, I began trudging back toward it.
"What's wrong? WE DIDN'T DO THAT badly," Soundbite asked.
"It's not that, Soundbite. It's about something far more serious," I said grimly as I climbed back aboard the Merry. "Do me a favour, will you? Any snide remarks you feel like sharing during the coming conversation? Try to keep them to yourself unless they're constructive. This is going to be delicate."
Soundbite seemed to shrink in on himself in apprehension. He'd probably seen me this kind of serious enough now that he was worried about what was coming next. Just like I was.
I climbed to the top of the Merry, where Usopp had established his makeshift factory. I saw him tinkering with the Eisen Dial's control apparatus alongside a blue rod that was splayed open and starting to take on a very familiar form. He glanced up as he heard my approach and rolled his eyes, "Look, Cross, I'm sorry about the baton, but with your armour finished, Nami won't be happy if I don't make her upgrade priority one, so—"
"This isn't about that, Usopp," I interrupted. "I couldn't give a damn about getting shocked. I'm here about the stability of the crew."
Usopp coughed in shock and turned to fully face me.
I glanced at Soundbite and spun my finger in the air, waiting for the telltale buzz before continuing. "Usopp, this is very serious: how are you feeling after that meeting with Aokiji?"
The sniper's expression instantly darkened, and it took a few seconds for him to work up his nerve to reply. "I… I remember what you said after Drum Island, Cross," he muttered. "That I'd always be the weakest on the crew. At first, I was alright with that because of how you said that I was the weakest out of the world's strongest crew. And it really worked too." He clenched his jaw, teeth audibly grinding. "Until now, anyway. It's just, if the Monster Trio and Boss were beaten in one shot like that, what good am I going to do against opponents like—"
"Usopp," I interrupted, a little desperately. "All of us on the crew are meant to do what we can. Nothing more, and nothing less. I'm the crew's tactician, so my training in brawling is so that I can handle mooks, not full-blown officers or captains. You're a sniper, not a front-line fighter. If anything, you're supposed to be as far from the fight as possible, so you have a better chance of attacking opponents nobody else can."
Usopp's expression didn't shift, and he sighed. "Cross, I know I'm stronger than I would have been at this point without you. And obviously, all the extra upgrades and weapon designs I've been doing have made it clear that I play a key role in helping the crew's weaker members. But still…" He scratched the back of his head. "If we're going to be up against monsters like Aokiji… I just want to make sure I live up to the crew, you know?"
I sighed in undisguised relief. I could work with this. "So, what you're saying is that you're just disappointed because you don't feel like you're living up to the name of the crew?"
Usopp started to nod his head before pausing and slowly shooting a suspicious glance my way. "Yeah. But why do you ask?"
Fuck. I froze, realizing I'd overplayed my hand. "I—it's nothing, Usopp, just getting some ducks in—"
"What is it, Cross?" he pressed, serious as the grave.
I grimaced, thinking furiously. "Usopp, do you trust me?" I finally said.
That finally broke his melancholy in favour of confusion. "Huh? What are you—?"
"Answer the question," I repeated.
"Yes, yes, I trust you, geeze! What's this got to do with—!"
"Usopp," I interrupted again. "I realize that I might have played this card to death and back when I joined the crew, but I am playing it now anyway: you are better off not knowing."
"What!?" Usopp squawked indignantly. "Cross, this obviously concerns me. I have a right—!"
"You have the right to know, but that does not mean it is in your best interests," I retorted. "If you trust me at all, then you will listen to my words and heed them: that possible path in life is dead and buried in the ground, where, if I have any say in the matter, it will remain until the end of time, forever unseen and unheard. You. Are better off. Not knowing it." I softened my expression, putting as much pleading desperation into it as I could manage. "So, please. Don't ask again?"
Usopp hesitated for a second before sighing and turning back to his work. "Alright, Cross. If you say so."
I let out a sigh of relief and clapped Usopp on the shoulder. "Great, thanks! Well, seeing as that's—everything…" I trailed off, slowly turning back to Usopp. "Actually, one more thing. You want some advice to help with your confidence?"
"Uh…" Usopp thought it over before nodding."Yeah, why not? Couldn't hurt, I guess."
"Great! First things first. Do you think you're a good liar?"
"Wha—? I know that I'm a good liar!"
"Then how about this: if all else fails, why not try lying to yourself? Now, now!" I held a hand up when Usopp opened his mouth to protest. "Hear me out! Look, when you get scared or feel like running, why not just try, I dunno, convincing yourself that you actually have the willpower you need to fight and win? Practice that enough, and eventually, you'll believe it so much that it's actually true! Genius, no?"
Usopp blinked several times, cupping his chin in thought. "You know, that's crazy enough that it just might—"
"LOOK out!" Soundbite suddenly hollered.
Moments later, we heard the sound of a door slamming open, followed shortly by Chopper, still clearly in the throes of the Madness Place.
"ALRIGHT, I'M DONE WITH THIS IDIOT! DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH HIM!"
We quickly rushed to the edge of the Merry's top, just in time to see Luffy arc off the Merry, wafting gracefully through the air before slamming to the ground in a shower of dirt and grass. Amazingly, he stayed asleep through the whole ordeal.
Well, at least, until a small syringe-dart shot off the ship and hit Luffy in the seat of his pants. Two seconds of stillness. Just two. And then—
"WOOHOO!"
Luffy shot up and started rocketing around the plain like a rubbery bat out of Impel Down, the syringe falling out immediately. And what followed was proof that giving Luffy too much caffeine or sugar was only to be done if we needed to use him as a weapon.
"I THINK he may have mastered SHAVING," Soundbite groaned dizzily, his eyestalks spinning uncontrollably. Frankly, I was having no better luck following the dust trails criss-crossing the plain and the air above it. And that damn chipmunk voice wasn't helping! It also almost made me ask Chopper to make more of whatever the hell that had been for combat use.
Almost.
After a few seconds, I turned my head to look at Usopp. "You want some practice hitting a moving target?" I deadpanned.
"I will admit that I am good at my field, Cross," Usopp deadpanned right back. "But I am nowhere near that good."
"Fair 'nuff."
Shouts arose from the island as Luffy tore through everyone's training sessions in his stimulant-induced rampage, none angrier than Zoro and Sanji. The second I heard those two irate voices, I hid behind the scant protection of the Merry's railing.
"Uh, Cross, what are you—?" Usopp began.
"LUFFY!"
"Nice place you got here," Usopp commented as he huddled beside me.
"Make yourself right at home," I replied.
After a few seconds of no explosion, we both poked our heads out from behind the railing. We almost immediately regretted it. I could see faces and arms flickering in and out on Zoro's sides, and Sanji's right foot was dragging along the ground, wafting up smoke. Luffy had stopped bounding around like a chipmunk on crack and seemed to be almost appraising the threat.
And then they moved. The clash threw up a massive cloud of dust, streaked with fire and practically spitting razor-sharp winds. The din echoing out was devoid of grunts of pain. Then, after a solid minute, we saw Luffy soar above it, biting down on his hand and his body already bulging.
"GUM-GUM!" Luffy shouted, audible even over the roar of the clash below. I gaped in awe, completely forgetting to take cover. This is what I had signed up for.
"GIANT PISTOL!"
Luffy's fist impacted the shore under the dust cloud with an almighty crash, and the hard-packed soil and the rock below simply disintegrated. And rather than add to the existing dust cloud, it blew it away entirely. I caught a glimpse of red on Sanji's foot and nine swords rather than three before the last of the dust cleared, and then a good look at the impact crater, distracting me from all else.
It was as if a giant had stomped on the spot—which was basically what happened. A fist-shaped chunk of coast was simply gone, as if it had never been there. And right next to it, shrunken to a foot tall, was Luffy. The contrast was so ridiculous that it triggered… something within me.
"Pff—"
"WILL YOU JUST HURRY UP AND LAUGH ALREADY!?" Nami screamed at me.
Well, who was I to deny a lady her wishes?
"PFFHAHAHAHAHAHA! I FUCKING LOVE THIS CREW SO MUCH! PFFHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Ahhh, it was good to be back.
-o-
A few hours later, we decided that we'd gotten as much as possible out of staying moored to Long Ring Long. We packed up what little of our supplies we'd unpacked, got everyone aboard, and weighed anchor, following the course the Log set for us to reach the next stop on our journey.
As we set off, Nami, Zoro, and I stood side-by-side on the railing, staring at the sunset.
"So," Zoro started. "We've suffered our first complete defeat as a crew, and it pushed us far enough that Luffy decided to revoke any limits on spoilers as long as it could make us stronger. And you said this is just the start of the hardest leg we're going through?"
"Aokiji was a hopeless fight, and we won't be finding another one of those anytime soon," I confirmed before allowing myself a slight grimace. "But the fights that we'll find are going to push us further than Alabasta. This extra training will help, I'm sure, but…" I hung my head with a sigh. "Well, buckle up."
Nami glanced between us before groaning in frustration and turning around to stride back towards the cabin, but as she walked, I didn't miss the last words she muttered beneath her breath.
"I need a vacation."