The Logia Brothers Chapter 66 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of The Logia Brothers! The Going Merry can’ be repaired! What can the Straw Hats do to save their beloved ship? Are sea burial or dismantling really the only options? A certain someone in Water Seven isn’t happy that his ‘family’ were harmed by the Straw Hats. A fight might be incoming…but perhaps things will work out in the end. Those moving in the shadows continue to plot against their targets as well.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 66 – Franky of the Franky Family

The Straw Hats had all returned to the Going Merry, but there was a somber mood in the air. After Nami had explained what the shipwrights of the Galley-La Company had told them about the Going Merry’s condition, it was understandable, especially for those that had been sailing on the ship since the East Blue.

“Is there really nothing that can be done?” Vivi asked after a long moment of silence.

“It’s unlikely, since a ship’s keel is its backbone, and with it damaged…” Sanji trailed off and exhaled a puff of smoke from his cigarette while looking off to the side.

Mikita put her hand on the railing of the Going Merry. “But the Going Merry was doing fine…if it can’t go on, what do we do?”

Usopp had his hands clenched together and his head low, his eyes focused solely on the deck of the ship. Luffy wasn’t much better, looking at the Going Merry, and especially his special seat on the figurehead.

“But I love the Going Merry!” Chopper exclaimed as he hugged the mast of the ship. “What’re we going to do if we can’t get her fixed?!”

Zoro, leaning against the railing, looked at Chopper. “That’s up to Luffy to decide, since he’s the Captain.”

Luffy looked at his nakama with a blank expression, so different from his usual smiles or excited looks. “The Going Merry is our ship, she’s stubborn and strong… I don’t want to give up on her.”

“How can we just part ways with the Going Merry?” Usopp spoke up, raising his head to look at everyone. “What those shipwrights said is so drastic! The ship looks the same as always. She made it here all the way from the East Blue, just like the rest of us!”

“Humans become stronger and more resilient each time they cross the sea.” Zoro said, looking straight at Usopp. “But ships are different…they accumulate stress and damage. Despite what we all would like; we can’t change reality.”

That harsh fact brought the mood a bit lower on the ship, even if it hadn’t been Zoro’s intention.

Robin eventually spoke up after what she felt was enough time for the others to process the swordsman’s words. “There’s another matter that I feel is important to bring up.” Seeing everyone turn to look her way, Robin began to explain. “While Chopper and I were out in the city, a large man in a festival costume walked past me and…”

“Did he touch you?!” Sanji jumped to his first conclusion. “I’ll go hunt him down and teach him some manners!”

“Nothing like that, Mr. Cook.” Robin shook her head once, a slight smile on her lips at Sanji’s reaction. “No, this person wasn’t in costume because of any party or festival, they claimed to be a member of CP9, the government’s rumored Cipher Pol branch that doesn’t officially exist.”

Everyone saw how Robin’s expression changed, the normally clam and collected woman’s eyes were looking at something far from the here and now, something painful if the way she trembled unconsciously was anything to go by. Nami and Vivi were at her sides quickly, both women comforting Robin as best as they were able. Mikita quickly went to the kitchen to brew some coffee for Robin, knowing how the archaeologist preferred it made and hopeful that it would help her calm down a little.

Sanji tossed his spent cigarette overboard. “So, this guy might be with the government and trying to threaten you?” He was right back on his idea of hunting down the bastard and beating him senseless.

“If they try to cause us problems, we’ll deal with them then, Dartbrow.” Zoro said with a scoff at Sanji for putting aside the current situation for his chivalry.

“Weren’t you listening, Marimo? They’ve already picked a fight by threatening Robin!” Sanji stalked over and leaned down a bit to glare at the sitting Zoro.

“Shut up! This isn’t the time to be looking for trouble!” Nami barked at the two of them before they could start fighting.

Mikita returned and handed Robin a saucer with a cup of freshly brewed coffee on it. “Here, Robin.” She smiled softly at the other woman.

Robin took the coffee gratefully. “Thank you.” She sipped the warm drink as she settled herself.

“There were those government guys at the shipyard too.” Usopp recalled how fast they’d been urged away when the government men had come calling for Iceberg. “Do you think the guy in the costume was working with them?” He was concerned for Robin, of course, but this was also a distraction from the situation with the Going Merry.

“Those shipwrights did say something about the government bothering Ice guy all the time about stuff.” Luffy said with a nod, though he only barely remembered it as it had been right after they’d received the news about the Going Merry’s keel.

Chopper looked between Usopp, Luffy, and Robin in rapid succession. “Eh?! Does that mean the government is going to come after us?!”

Mikita couldn’t help but laugh at Chopper’s outburst. “Kyahahaha! They were already, that’s what bounties are for!”

Vivi giggled slightly behind her hand. “She’s right, Chopper. A bounty is put on a person’s head by the government, so anyone that has a bounty is being targeted by the government.”

“So… What do you want to do about this guy, Robin?” Luffy asked her seriously. If Robin asked, then Luffy would search the entire island with his Observation until he found the people targeting her. What happened to them after that would more than likely be the same thing that had happened to Arlong, Crocodile, and Enel…death. Luffy was protective of his nakama to a fault, and his lovers even more so.

Robin felt warmth fill her, spreading from her heart to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Love had been a foreign concept for Robin ever since the day Ohara was destroyed by the World Government, but Luffy made her feel it, and the love, care, and affection he showed to her never failed to make her heart beat faster and a smile to cross her lips. “Well, as we don’t know exactly what they’re after by trying to contact me, I’ve thought of an overall plan based on a few possible outcomes.” The little smirk on her face made Luffy smile at her, he thought it was cute.

The Straw Hats all leaned in a bit from where they were standing or sitting, wanting to hear Robin’s plan for the Cipher Pol group.

Unfortunately, the planning session came to an abrupt end before it could really get going as Luffy ‘heard’ a multitude of people approaching the Going Merry.

-Earlier-

The Franky House was a large building on the outskirts of Water Seven, along the northeast coast. It was a large green building made mostly of wood, and metal, with two large doors in the front and two normal-sized doors on both the left and right of the front of the building. It had a blue-tiled roof with wavy curves that made it almost appear like a hat on the building, at the base of the roof were eight windows and each faced in a different direction. There were two large mechanical arms with large pincer-like grips on the ends, big enough to secure smaller ships and lift them out of the water. One right side of the large building was a metal windmill that looked like it might be providing some power to the Franky House. Beyond that and a bit further to the right was a massive steel wheel connected to two different chains that were likely connected to the aforementioned mechanical crane-like arms on the opposite side of the building. The strangest part of the large ‘house’ was the large, yellow ‘crescent moon’ attached to the roof for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

“So, you failed to take down Santōryū…and he beat you all up in one move?” A man sitting on a raised dais asked the members of the Franky Family that had tried their luck at bounty hunting the Straw Hat Pirates.

“Y-Yes, Big Bro…” Zombai, the leader of the group said. He was just as bandaged up from injuries as the other men that had to swim their way back to shore after Zoro had tossed them all off the Going Merry.

The large door at the front was pushed open, getting the rest of the Franky Family’s attention. Through the doorway stumbled the eight men that had tried to rob Usopp, Luffy, and Nami just outside of Dock One. All of them were bruised and bleeding from the injuries they’d taken from Usopp’s Lead Stars and the force of Luffy’s punch that had temporarily emptied part of the large canal.

“B-Big Bro!” One of the men, currently helping another guy walk, cried out as they entered.

“What happened to you guys?” Franky asked from his seat.

“We heard about a big score!”

“These pirates got 800,000,000 Beri from the big exchange office near Dock One!”

“We tried to take one of the big briefcases they had with them!”

“It would’ve been at least 200,000,000 Beri!”

“But then the guy we snatched it from shot us with a slingshot!”

“Those lead balls hurt!”

“Th-Then the pirate in the straw hat…he PUNCHED the water in the canal and…and…it was like an explosion!”

“Calm down!” Franky yelled at the rambling men. “You said a pirate with a Straw Hat…and the Straw Hat Pirates are in town right now…so it must’ve been Straw Hat Luffy that did this to you.” Franky stood up from his chair with a harsh glare on his face. “That damn pirate… How dare he hurt my precious subordinates?! It’s unforgivable!”

The Franky Family roared out their agreement. “Yeah! Big Bro! We gotta make ‘em pay for this!”

Franky stepped off the dais and out of the shadows his seat was in. “You know I will!”

Franky was a powerfully built man with a height of roughly 225cm, making him tower over any average-sized person. His forearms were enormous while his biceps were much more normal-looking. His chest was well-toned with large abs and pectoral muscles. He had bright blue hair and dark blue star tattoos on his forearms. Franky’s chin was oddly very angular and tapered off into three pointed clefts. He had an angular prosthetic nose made of iron with several rivets and jagged edges, giving him a very memorable appearance over all. Franky’s only clothing was a pair of swimming briefs and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt with a gold necklace.

“Mozu, Kiwi, get everyone armed up! We’re going to go show these pirates what happens when you mess with the Franky Family!”

“Yes, Big Bro!” A pair of sisters said in reply.

Though Mozu and Kiwi weren’t twins, they could fool most people at a glance. They both kept their hair styled into the shape of a square, though Kiwi’s hair was curlier than Mozu’s, which had led to their nickname ‘The Square Sisters’ around Water Seven. The only difference between the sisters, aside from their clothing, was that Mozu had green eyes and Kiwi had brown eyes.

The Franky Family was going to war!

-Present Time ~ Going Merry-

“STRAW HAT LUFFY!!!” Franky bellowed loudly as soon as the Franky Family reached the rocky cove where the Going Merry was docked.

The entire Straw Hat crew made their way to the edge of the ship to see who was yelling. What they saw was one man with blue hair in front of a large group of people all wearing some variation of the same black clothing with a dark blue star somewhere on it. Every single person there was armed with weapons of all kinds, swords, knives, hammers, pistols, rifles, and three large cannons were being carried by the three largest men, each of whom was large enough to punt an average-sized man, but not as large nor physiologically built the same way as actual Giants.

“Aren’t those the guys that tried to steal from us earlier?!” Nami noticed the similarities and immediately glared at the group.

Zoro blinked, recognizing Zombai right behind Franky. “Hey, that was one of the guys from earlier…this must be their bounty hunting group.”

Luffy, already agitated by the bad news about the Going Merry and that some government people were targeting Robin, glared harshly at Franky. “HEY SPEEDO GUY!!!”

“Huh?!” Franky glared at the descriptor, even if it was accurate.

Luffy was suddenly right in Franky’s face, no one had even seen him move at all, and his glare bore into Franky’s eyes intensely. “I’m Luffy.” The anger bubbling just below the surface was clear on Luffy’s face.

Franky jerked back a step before catching himself and renewing his glare at Luffy. He ignored the cries of shock and surprise (and fear) from his subordinates at Luffy’s sudden appearance. “So you’re the one known as Straw Hat Luffy! You caused my Frank Family some trouble, didn’t you, bro? You beat up my boys pretty good too…” He got into Luffy’s face. “I’m not gonna take that sitting down! This anger won’t subside! No matter what anyone says, I’ll wring you out like a rag!”

“I’m gonna kick your ass.” Luffy said simply, purely as a statement of fact, rather than a threat.

Franky leaned backwards while inhaling deeply, much to Luffy’s confusion. When Franky threw his head forward again flames spewed from his mouth and engulfed Luffy.

“What the hell?!” Mikita cried out in shock.

“A Devil Fruit?” Nami guessed immediately as it would explain a person breathing fire.

“What kind of Devil Fruit though?” Vivi questioned, looking like she was only a second away from jumping down to the ground to join the fight now that the first attack had been thrown.

Luffy’s fist smashed into Franky’s chest with a dull thud. Franky’s flames sputtered out as he hacked out a breath and his eyes widened in shock. Then the dismantler and parttime bounty hunter’s feet left the ground and he went flying over the heads of his subordinates and into the ocean with a large splash.

“BOSS?!” The entire Franky Family cried out in shock at what had just happened.

Robin looked nonplussed by the sudden flight of Franky. “Well, if he had a Devil Fruit, he’s going to drown now.” The calm and collected way she said such a morbid thing made Usopp and Chopper look at her fearfully.

“Whatever, let’s just take care of these guys for trying to attack us and steal from us.” Zoro drew Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri before jumping off the Going Merry and onto the ground.

A loud splash got everyone’s attention and the Straw Hats all looked on in confusion as Franky pulled himself out of the seawater and back onto the rocky beach.

“How? Shouldn’t he sink as a Devil Fruit user?” Usopp goggled at Franky getting out of the ocean under his own power.

Franky started running straight at Luffy with his right arm cocked back for a punch. “I didn’t eat any Devil Fruit!” He threw his fist forward even though he wasn’t anywhere near close enough to hit Luffy. “Strong Right!” Franky’s fist shot forward, separating from the rest of his arm, and rocketed at Luffy’s face.

Luffy snatched it out of the air as if it was only a ball that had been tossed to him. “What the heck are you?” Luffy asked curiously, seeing the long chain attaching Franky fist back to his arm.

“I’m a cyborg.” Franky grit his teeth at Luffy easily stopping his attack.

“That’s kinda cool!” Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all said at the same time.

Nami facepalmed at the triple outburst.

“Let’s help Big Bro!” Zombai called out and the rest of the Franky Family roared out their agreement.

“YEAAAHHH!!!”

“Get him, Kairiki Destroyers!”

The three largest members of the Franky Family charged forward, aiming their cannons at Luffy.

Before the cannons could be fired, all three of the huge men were hit.

Luffy’s fist warped the face of the one in the middle.

Sanji’s dress shoe kicked the face of the one on the left.

Zoro’s swords cut straight through the solid iron armor of the one on the right.

The Kairiki Destroyers went flying away from where they’d been standing. The one that Luffy had punched slammed down hard on his back behind the gathered Franky Family. The one Sanji had kicked went flying off to the side, only to bounce ounce off the grounds and then lay prone on the ground. The armored one crashed to the ground sideways, his armor falling to pieces around him, covering the rocky beach with large scraps of iron.

“EH?!” The Franky Family cried out in shock at what had just happened. The Kairiki Destroyers had NEVER lost so quickly before!

“Ten Ton Axe!” Mikita called out as she flipped high into the air while weighing only a single kilogram, then shifted her weight to ten-thousand kilograms at the apex of the jump, right above the Franky Family and came down with a powerful axe kick.

BOOM

Mikita hit the ground like an artillery shell. Rock was shattered and the force of the shockwave scattered the Franky Family in every direction.

“AAAUUUHHH!!!” The Franky Family cried out in pain and panic from the unexpected attack.

“Exploding Star!” Usopp, eager to vent some frustration, unloaded multiple of his specialized ammo from his slingshot into the scattered Franky Family from the deck of the Going Merry.

Explosion after explosion hit the scrambling Franky Family, knocking men onto their asses, some down and out of the fight instantly.

“Oh, what the hell.” Nami said before leaping over the edge of the Going Merry while assembling her Climatact. She had a specific Dial attached to her hip as well as she charged towards the Franky Family members closest to her. Just before she got to the group of men, she pressed the Dial against her hip and it stuck there. “Hup!” The first swing of her staff clocked one man across the face and sent him sprawling.

“Hey!”

“Why you!”

Two of the men swung their swords at Nami, but she nimbly avoided both of them, her Observation making it easy. Both men got hit in the back by her staff which released red and blue spheres of heated and chilled air with every movement. Three more guys tried to attack, one firing a pistol, though the aim was off even before Nami moved. The pistol was knocked out of the man’s hand by one end of Nami’s staff and then the opposite end came around and clocked him in the face. The second man tried to hit Nami with his hammer, but was jabbed in the gut by the Climatact. Nami grinned before the man lit up with strong electricity from the staff touching him. The last of the three men threw his sword at Nami in a panic. Nami weaved around it and grinned when the man tried to run away.

“Huh?!” The Franky Family member cried out as he realized that something was tying him down. He couldn’t run away from the orange-haired woman anymore! “What did you do to me?!” He cried out as he struggled against his unseen bonds.

“String Dial.” Nami answered without answering. She knocked the guy out with a swing of her staff.

Robin hadn’t even left the Going Merry, standing beside Usopp with her arms crossed. “Treinta Fleur!”

“AH!”

“Arms?!”

“What the hell?!”

Many of the Franky Family cried out in shock and panic as arms bloomed from their bodies suddenly.

“Twist!” Robin moved her arms and all of her copies mimicked her.

Crack

All of the painful sounds happening at once sounded like one large ‘crack’ that made Usopp wince from beside Robin.

“GYAAAAHHH!!!” The Franky Family members that were still conscious cried out in agony at their twisted bodies.

Vivi walked towards a group of Franky Family members that were trying to rush the Going Merry. She was perfectly calm as they charged her and she took a second to focus as hard as she could.

“Huh?” The Franky Family members flinched for a second, a wave of ‘something’ coming over them before it vanished just as fast as it had appeared.

“Darn it…” Vivi muttered under her breath as she failed to even stagger a single person with her Conqueror’s Haki. She’d only been able to get a grasp of it recently thanks to practicing with Luffy, but there was still A LOT of progress that needed to be made.

Bang Bang Bang

“Hyah!”

“Take this!”

Vivi now had three bullets holes in her body, a sword cut through her shoulder and down into her chest, and a spear impaled into her gut.

“Wh-What?” The Franky Family member with the spear gaped as the bullet holes closed, the sword wound vanished, and his spear was yanked out of his hands and through Vivi’s body before landing on the ground behind her.

“Logia.” Vivi answered simply and saw the terror in the eyes of the three men. “Dafn Al Sahra’…” Sand rushed from Vivi’s body and engulfed the three men completely, only their noses left uncovered so that they could breath. With a muffled ‘crack’ the sand cocoons compressed a bit and silenced the three men that had been trying to struggle.

Mikita was having an interesting challenge against the Square Sisters. The two women moved in perfect sync, like mirror images of each other, as they attacked her with their swords. Her Observation made keeping up easier and she spotted the instant Mozu and Kiwi shifted their stances.

“Hull Dismantling Cut!” Kiwi and Mozu both rushed straight at Mikita with their swords swinging in twin wide arcs.

Mikita limbo-ed beneath the blades easily enough and popped back up quickly. She turned and shifted her stance before using her Devil Fruit. “Five-Hundred Kilo Crushing Palm!” She threw her twin palm strikes and nailed Kiwi and Mozu in the stomach just as the sisters turned around to attack her again.

“Ack!” Kiwi hacked out as all the air was driven out of her.

“Guh!” Mozu was no better, the wind knocked out of her from the heavy palm strike slamming into her.

Both sisters were sent backwards and knocked on their asses. Mikita stepped forward and placed her a foot onto each of their blades before altering her weight to three metric tons, pinning the weapons in place. “You’re done.”

“Mozu! Kiwi!” Six Franky Family members rushed to the Squares Sisters’ aide, weapons at the ready.

“Horn Point!” Was the last thing the men hard before they were bowled over by Chopper, gored by his massive antlers, as he charged through them and carried them away from Mikita.

Luffy and Franky were still fighting even as the Franky Family was decimated by the Straw Hats.

Franky threw a quick series of jabs, feints, and straights. “Franky Boxing!”

Luffy avoided every punch and jab easily, barely moving as he looked straight at Franky. Then he slammed his fist into Franky’s face before the cyborg could get his guard up. “Hmm… You’re harder than a normal person.” Luffy noticed as he looked at his fist.

“Of course I am!” Franky was already back on his feet. “Weapons Left!” His hand swung from his wrist on a concealed hinge to reveal what looked like a cannon. A sight opened up in Franky’s palm allowing him to aim accurately. The short cannon was fired and Luffy let it pass through him without a care. “What the hell?!” Franky cried out at seeing the sparks of electricity from Luffy’s body after his cannonball had passed through the pirate. “You’re a Logia!”

“Yep.” Luffy said just as his fist crackled with lightning and slammed into Franky’s jaw.

Franky flew backwards, bounced off the ground twice, and then rolled for a short distance. “Ow…” He got up almost immediately from a blow that would’ve left most men unconscious for a day or more. Luffy was suddenly in front of him again, and Franky’s left forearm widened quickly as he brought it upwards. “Star Shield!” The star tattoo on his arm expanded along with his skin and blocked Luffy’s punch, though Franky still went skidding backwards.

“You’re kinda funny.” Luffy had a small grin on his face as his anger was slowly dissipating.

“Why you…” Franky’s forearm went back to normal and he twisted his arm once with a mechanical click. “Beans Left!” The top part of his wrist rose up to reveal four small holes.

Ratatatatatatata

The holes were revealed to be a machinegun but Luffy still let the pellets pass through him, all of them exploding the instant they left his body, revealing that they were minor explosive rounds.

Luffy was instantly in Franky’s guard, his sandal-clad foot smashing into the cyborg’s stomach and knocking him backwards again. “That’s not going to work.”

Franky knew that Luffy was right, he didn’t have many weapons that could hurt a Logia Fruit user. ‘Guess it’s all of nothing!’ He made sure that his own subordinates weren’t in the line of fire as he pulled his Hawaiian shirt wide open, uncovering his shoulders to reveal two small holes with the letters ‘BF’ under the hole on the right shoulder and the number ‘36’ under the hole on the left shoulder. “You bastards!” He roared upon seeing that the entire Franky Family had already been beaten down in the time that he’d been fighting Luffy. “I’ll take you all out!” His shoulders rose up strangely and Franky looked briefly uncomfortable from the maneuver. “Franky Destroy Cannon!”

Luffy had a warning from his Observation that something dangerous was coming. Not for him, perhaps, but for his nakama, and that was even worse in his opinion. He disappeared in a spark so quickly that no one registered it as Franky unleashed his attack.

“FIRE!!!” Franky bellowed and the two ‘cannons’ in his shoulder unleashed…nothing?

“Huh?” Sanji blinked at nothing happening.

“A misfire?” Zoro wondered, having only heard a weird noise, but seen nothing.

BOOM

A massive explosion happened over the ocean off to the side of the cove. The shockwave was intense, shaking the Going Merry in suddenly choppy waters. Usopp and Robin steadied themselves, while Luffy held Mikita and Nami with his arms around their waists. Vivi was still blinking in confusion, her arms around Luffy’s neck as she hung from his back.

“When did I get on the ship?” Chopper asked in confusion.

Zoro blinked as he looked side to side. “When did I get back on the ship?”

Sanji looked at Luffy with a question on his lips, then glared in envy when he saw the women all over Luffy, before exhaling long and slow and asking his question. “Luffy, what did you do?”

“Moved everyone.” Luffy answered simply. “That cannon thing was dangerous.”

“No kidding…” Usopp pointed, his sharp eyes seeing two perfectly circular holes straight through a massive rock on the edge of the cove. The huge stone could be called a small cliff and whatever Franky had fired ended up passing through it so fast as to make the edges of the holes perfectly smooth.

Mikita quickly connected the dots. “Wait…that big explosion was from the speedo guy?!”

Nami gaped at the blast that Franky had unleashed. “What the hell did he fire?!”

Franky’s hair was drooping in front of his face now as he turned and looked at the Straw Hats, all of them safely on the Going Merry. “Damn it… I thought I’d get someone…” He grimaced as his shoulders lowered back into their normal position. “I have to dislocate my shoulders to do that.”

“THEN DON’T DO IT!!!” Chopper yelled at Franky, having turned to his Heavy Point out of sheer medical anger at the cyborg’s stupidity. “Do you even know what happens when you dislocate a joint?! Once is bad enough! Multiple times just compounds the issues and damage to the joint!”

Luffy set Mikita, Nami, and Vivi on their feet before vanishing in another spark. “Hey, you, speedo guy!” He was right in Franky’s face again, making Franky jerk backwards. Luffy palmed his face and slammed Franky into the rocky ground, the force that Luffy exerted was insane, easily holding down the cyborg with one hand, even as Franky flailed and tried to force Luffy off of him. “That was a crazy cannon! What was it?!”

“Not telling…” Franky managed to get out as he struggled. “Get off of me, Straw Hat!”

“No.” Luffy denied instantly, still pinning Franky down by his face. “You guys attacked us first, tried to steal from pirates…you should’ve known what would happen.”

Franky punched Luffy in the chest, but his fist went straight through and even received a powerful shock from the attempt. “Damn it…” Franky coughed once as his body twitched and spasmed minutely. “If only they could’ve gotten that cash… I would’ve finally been able to afford the one thing I’ve always wanted…”

Luffy cocked his head to the side in confusion. “You wanted to steal from us to buy something?”

“You wouldn’t understand, Straw Hat… I thought I’d lost my passion…but I still ended up drawing blueprints…” Franky muttered out as he lay on the ground. “Just 200,000,000 Beri would’ve been enough.”

“What are you talking about?” Luffy let go of Franky’s face and stood up, looking down on the laid out cyborg.

Franky slowly sat up with a grunt, his blue hair hanging down over his face. “Don’t act like you care, pirate.” He looked at his injured and beaten subordinates. “If I give you my head… Will you at least let my guys go?” He looked dead into Luffy’s eyes as he made his request and Luffy could practically feel the resolve from them.

Luffy looked over to the defeated Franky Family and then towards his nakama who were heading towards them. With his crew safe and sound, the Franky Family taught a lesson via a beating, and the fight clearly over, Luffy wasn’t even mad anymore. “You can keep your head; I don’t want it. But tell me about those shoulder cannon things.” His eyes were nearly sparkling as he looked at Franky.

“You’re a weird pirate…” Franky had never seen one like Luffy before, that was for sure. “They’re just modifications that I made to my body after years of tinkering, based off some old plans that I looked over for a long time.”

“They’re cool!” Luffy praised with an almost child-like smile on his face. “You’re a cool cyborg! Do all cyborgs have crazy weapons like you?”

Franky wanted to facepalm at the stupid question. “How would I know? There aren’t a ton of cyborgs wandering around, Straw Hat.” Franky was the only one that he knew of, in fact. ‘And no one else has access to the plans that I modified the Destroy Cannons from.’ There was only one set of said plans in existence, after all.

“Are we done here?” Zoro asked as the Straw Hats finally made it to Luffy’s side as he stood over Franky. These so-called bounty hunters had been wiped out before he’d even had to do much of anything.

“Looks like we can wrap things up with this, unless you want to be a brainless moron.” Sanji said while looking at Franky. It was obvious who’d won this battle already, there was no point in the Franky Family trying anything else.

Luffy smiled at his nakama. “Yeah, I still want to know what he wanted to buy with our money, but he told me about his shoulder cannon things!”

“Wood.” Franky said as he got to his feet. “A wood so rare and unique that getting enough for even a single ship costs at least 200,000,000 Beri.” He started walking towards his subordinates, a few of them managing to get back on their feet now. “But now…that’s just a dream again.”

“Dream?” Luffy perked up.

“Luffy…no…” Nami put her hand on his shoulder.

Franky didn’t look back. “I was a shipwright a long time ago. It’s an old dream, but one that my inner craftsmen apparently can’t let go of.”

“He’s gonna do it…” Mikita stifled her giggles as best as she could.

Vivi sighed as she took hold of Luffy’s arm. “I know what he said, Luffy, but they just attacked us.”

“She’s right, don’t do anything crazy, Luffy.” Usopp said, standing between Luffy and the retreating Franky.

Chopper looked between Luffy and Franky. “What?” He hadn’t been around when Luffy had recruited Mikita in a similar situation.

“Were you a good shipwright?” Luffy asked, even as his nakama tried to pull him back to the Going Merry. “Our ship’s keel is damaged and the Galley-La guys said that she can’t be fixed.”

Franky stopped and looked over his shoulder at Luffy. “Tom’s Workers were the best damn shipwrights the world has ever seen! Galley-La might be good, but that’s only because old Ice-for-brains was a student of Tom’s, just like me!” There was a fire in Franky’s eyes as he spoke of his old mentor. “You say the keel is damaged? That might be the end for any other shipwright. But it’s not impossible…not if I could get my hands on that wood.” He’d gotten noticeably quieter near the end as he let out a sigh. “Never mind, forget I said anything.”

Franky didn’t make it five steps before Luffy’s hand was on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“You can repair the Going Merry?” Luffy looked into Franky’s eyes with such intensity that the former shipwright almost felt physical pressure from the gaze alone.

“It’s not repair, it’s more like a rebuild…or upcycling…but it can’t be done without the wood I mentioned.” Franky said after a second to collect his wits. “We of the Franky Family would carefully dismantle your damaged ship and then use it to make the new one, it would be reborn as your new ship carrying all the feelings and memories you have with your ship forward on your voyage.”

Luffy had a wide smile on his face now. “Chopper! Take care of these guys, okay?”

“What?” Chopper looed perplexed as to why Luffy suddenly wanted him to tend to the Franky Family.

“Luffy, please, stop…” Nami had to speak up, this was crazy!

Robin laughed softly with an amused smile. “Fufufu… I don’t see what’s so different about this compared to when you all recruited Mikita.”

“It is looking kind of familiar. Kyahahaha!” Mikita laughed at the similarities of her own recruitment into the Straw Hats.

Usopp got close to Franky, staring the dismantler/bounty hunter/shipwright in the eyes with powerful emotions swirling in his eyes. “C-Can you really… Do we not have to say goodbye to the Going Merry?”

Franky saw the genuine emotions that this pirate crew had for the caravel behind them. It was such a rarity to see such concern over a ship from any crew nowadays. Tom had spoken about it to him and Iceberg when they’d been his apprentices, but Franky had never seen it himself…Water Seven was usually a place people came to bury old ships and move on with new ones, never blinking an eye.

“If I have the Adam Wood, then I can make your ship into my ship of dreams.” Franky said with absolute confidence.

“Ship of dreams?!” Luffy REALLY liked the sound of that! “What’s that?”

Everyone nearly face faulted at their Captain.

“My dream of building a ship that can sail in any sea, across any ocean, and conquer the world, just like the Oro Jackson, the ship of the Pirate King, did all those years ago!” Franky had a grin on his face now as he spoke of the dream he’d had since he was a boy just starting to learn the craft.

Seeing where this conversation was going, Zoro turned and started heading back towards the Going Merry. “I need a drink.” He sighed heavily at Luffy’s…Luffyness.

“At this point I need a drink.” Sanji said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He pulled out a new cigarette while he was at it.

Vivi couldn’t help the small smile on her lips. “That’s Luffy for you.” She hugged his arm, pressing it between her impressive breasts.

Nami let out a sigh. “Yes, yes it is…” She couldn’t hide the small smile on her lips though.

As Chopper began to take care of the injured Franky Family, talks began with Franky about just what the repair…rebuild…rebirth, or whatever the shipwright wanted to call it, of the Going Merry would cost. Franky, even though he seemed a bit drained, spoke with vigor and enthusiasm with the Straw Hats as his craftsmen spirit once more began to burn brightly.

None of them could’ve known what was happening near the center of Water Seven at this very moment…in the mayor’s home…or how it would impact them all.

-End Chapter-

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BAM!!!

I once more throw Canon on its head!

Franky Family went after the Straw Hats (and got their asses handed to them, of course) but that leads to Luffy and Franky meeting on slightly better terms…sort of.

But after the fight Luffy’s natural curiosity makes him ask Franky a question about the powerful shoulder cannons that the cyborg has.

Could it be that after years of holding onto a certain set of blueprints, Franky’s taken the time to look at them and do a little tinkering? Have I BUFFED Franky already?

What about the Going Merry being reborn as long as Franky has the Adam Wood? Perhaps I’ve made the Adam Wood just as special as it was hinted to be when Franky first spoke of it! Cackles in plans

Plans are going forward in the shadows though and they WILL impact the Straw Hats soon enough.

But just how bad will the results of said plans be with THIS version of the Straw Hat Pirates?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!