A half hour later, Yoko found herself skulk—infiltrating! She was infiltrating the less visible parts of the Little East Blue's only and spread-out population center, maintaining her stealth so as to better observe the interlopers in her home.
Yoko was quite pleased with herself, if she was being honest. She'd already gathered copious amounts of evidence against almost all of the pirates, evidence that was sure to show everyone just how dangerous these pirates were, and how they needed to get them off their island and sunk to the bottom of the sea yesterday.
Still, as good as what Yoko had right now was, she still felt she could do better. If she wanted to do this and do it right, she'd need to peg the whole crew, every last one, to a T. She was already well underway, thankfully enough; after all, she'd even managed to start with the cap—!
Every curse her father and his men had ever let slip near her shot through Yoko's mind as she spun around and confirmed her worst suspicions: the windmill's blades were devoid and the Straw Hat's captain was nowhere to be seen. He'd disappeared when she wasn't looking!
"Damn it damn it damn it!" Yoko spat, all notions of subtlety lost as she broke out into a dead run. She had-had-had to find that pirate, and fast! He was the leader of the bunch, so if he decided to start anything on her watch, then it was on her conscience!
Her panic only intensified as she failed to find any sign of the pirate, despite running all over the village. The possibility of him going back to his ship was brought up and promptly discarded; no way was the captain going back with all his crew still scattered throughout the village. So, the question was, just where was—?
"No! Please! Have mercy upon this poor soul! Please, no more, no more!"
Yoko's head snapped towards the Little Baratie's pond as a terrorized scream shot through the air. "Mitsuboshi!" she cursed, panic filling her veins as she ran towards the floating restaurant. Her feet thumped across the bridge to the restaurant, and she nearly burst through the front doors, but at the last moment the girl's self-honed sense of stealth and self-preservation kicked in and diverted her to the nearest window. She took a moment to brace herself for a gruesome scene, and then stood to look through the glass, braced for a scene of carnage such that she hadn't seen since her father's death.
If she hadn't braced herself so much, she would have face-faulted rather than stared in flat disbelief, one eye twitching furiously.
Before Yoko's eyes, in Chef Mitsuboshi's beloved restaurant, said chef was looking rather panicked. The source of that was clear: the captain had apparently gotten tired of the windmill after a short while, and was currently sitting in the middle of the restaurant, clinking together a knife and fork and grinning widely, a large stack of dirty plates already right next to him. The sharp-dressed pirate chef was also there, a hand on Mitsuboshi's shoulder that was as much comforting as it was dragging him along to the kitchen.
"'Eating all of our food'," she growled, carving the words into her notepad. She glanced back up into the restaurant, and flinched.
Easily the most disturbing member of the Straw Hat Pirates, and the only one that everyone else in the village was as ignorant about as she, was also in the restaurant. The angle she was at and the fact that his back was turned hid his skinless face from the girl, thank goodness. All she could see of his deathly form were the bony fingers that held a violin, upon which he was fiddling away a tune that she couldn't quite keep herself from tapping her fingers in rhythm to.
Yet, she was having trouble determining exactly what the point of the song was; it was too upbeat to just be accompaniment for eating…
And then Mitsuboshi and the pirate chef walked back in and put new plates of food before the gorging captain, setting the dishes down to the music's tempo, and things became far too clear to Yoko.
"Employing… mind control… through music…" she bit out as she barely refrained from putting her pencil through her pad. She no sooner finished writing the words down than she sprinted away, with no intention of subjecting herself to that mind control.
She shortly found herself near one of the older settlements on the island, a place known as the Dragon Shrine. The old man who lived there was apparently the brother or cousin or something of the elder from his home, Warship Island, and he offered free history lessons about the place's history and the Millennial Dragons. Yoko had stopped by the shrine a few times in the past, but the only thing she ever remembered was waking up on the floor after sleeping all day.
But seeing a familiar being in front of her, she trudged grimly up to the shrine, wondering what the fake Boss's lackeys were up to. Coming closer, she eyed the four dugongs standing before the old man as he gave his lecture, and settled in to watch whatever nefarious deeds they were committing.
Unfortunately, this also meant she had to listen to the dragon priest, but she was sure she could manage. After all, how bad could he be?
"—and so it was that in the fifth era, Miriola XII replaced his father, Miriola XI, as the high priest of the island. Five years later, his son, Miriola the XIII, was born. Three years later, a fire burned down the east dormitory, which you will recall was built by Jisro VII. Several were killed in the fire, but the most notable lives lost were those of Inzi LII, Kisa XXII, and die filthy pirates, die die die—!"
"SNRK!"
Yoko snapped her head up, ripping herself out of the dream she'd been drifting into. 'For the love of—!' the girl cursed silently as she wiped away what little drool she'd let slip. 'How can a man known as a dragon priest from a place known as Warship Island be so damn boring!?'
Still, in spite of the shame she felt at herself for letting her concentration slip, Yoko felt sufficiently absolved of any wrongdoing by how the dugongs hadn't moved an inch while she snoozed, and they didn't look like they were going to move at all anytime soon.
"I see, I see. So that would mean—! Fascinating!" the one in the purple bandanna muttered to himself, his pencil moving so fast that smoke was wafting up from the notepad he was, by all appearances, gleefully taking notes in.
The blue-bandanna wearer, however, seemed to disagree, if the way he was scowling and swinging a pair of wooden boken through a series of elaborate katas was anything to go by. "It… should be… a crime… for something… to be… this boring!" he grit out.
And as for the final pair…
"Zzzzz…"
The other two dugongs were leaning against one another, skullplates knocking together as they blatantly and openly snored. Though… 'blatantly' was a bit of an understatement. In truth, their mouths were hanging open and literally overflowing with drool.
And if the birds that were bathing in said basins of saliva were anything to go by, they'd been that way for awhile.
Yoko stared at the scene for a few seconds longer, but that short time was enough for the Sandman to start ensnaring her mind again. Now that she was paying attention she could feel it coming, and so she slapped her cheeks a couple of times before turning on her heel and bolting away until the shrine was no longer in earshot. She looked down at the page of notes she had scribbled—
"'The cat in the hat smells like a rat that's way too—' Oh for the love of—!"
—and expressed her exasperation at the nonsensical content by tearing it to pieces. She shook her head in dismissal; the worst that those blubber-butts could do with whatever they were getting out of that history lesson was lull innocent civilians to sleep, and she doubted that any pirates would have any reason to be that patient or subtle, and that went double for pirates as destructive as these.
One more skim of her notes brought a smile to her face as she saw how close her endeavor was to fruition; despite the two hiccups, she had enough evidence that she was sure they would run the pirates out of their town. Her mind filling with increasingly vindictive fantasies, Yoko resumed her run back towards town, intent on finding the… final… pirate…
Yoko suddenly halted in her tracks, a horrified realization sinking into the pit of her stomach. She'd run through the entire crew, she'd seen each and every last one of them, gotten dirt on them all… except for one.
The one she hated the most for insulting her father's service, the one who was the entire reason that the entire village and even Boss had been brainwashed into thinking that any pirates could be considered good people: The Voice of Anarchy, Jeremiah Cross himself.
And if she'd already run through the whole crew, then that could only leave the blonde guy she'd completely dismissed as a harmless musclehead. It was with that thought that she remembered that said man was also famous for always having a talking snail on his shoulder!
"STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!" Yoko raged, slamming her notebook against her face repeatedly. She then spun on her heel, ready to go looking for him, only to fall flat on her face from dizziness. Dizziness, perhaps, that came from too many blows to the head?
"Stupid…" she groaned.
The young girl spent the next minute or so getting her head re-centred. That done, she slowly climbed to her feet and began to look, picking up speed as fast as she went, and straining her eyes and ears while trying to narrow down the search a bit. She'd checked the library, the dojo, the windmill, the Mini-Baratie, so where else—?
"HONK-HONK!"
Ah, right. A talking, very loud snail.
Yoko immediately made tracks towards the source of the noise, bracing herself for whatever horrors she might behold…
And was forced to fight down a blisteringly strong urge to cuss out a blue storm when all she 'beheld' was the sight of the blond pirate, the loud mouth who was shattering the world, Jeremiah Cross… sitting at the table of a local café, with his snail on the tabletop across from him, a dog devouring a steak at his feet, and an elephant of all things sitting to the side and digging its trunk through a bowl of fruit.
Now, it should be clarified what the reason for Yoko's outrage is. It wasn't entirely because of the pirate's apparently peaceful demeanour; it played a part, sure, but the lion's share of her fury came from the pirate's location for relaxation itself. The café he was patronizing was known as the 153's Pride. It was named after the 153rd Marine Branch of Shell Island, and it was run by a Marine who'd left active duty and come to live out his glory years in the Little East Blue.
So, basically, the pirate was sitting at a café whose flag-adorned wall blatantly announced the establishment's affiliation, and the owner, who was one of Yoko's best friends on the island besides Boss, was standing next to said pirate's table, clearly ready to take his order, though he was looking at the snail with clear confusion.
"I think," Jeremiah Cross informed the owner, an eyebrow cocked at his snail. "That translates to him wanting a hard-boiled egg, which we will not be having as I will not be paying for anything more than lettuce for this joker."
"FINE BY ME," the snail grumbled, rolling his eyes. "FOR SOME REASON, that gag wasn't as fresh as it could have been."
"Heheh, of course," the elderly Marine chuckled kindly. "So, to confirm… lettuce for the snail, French toast, sausages and hot chocolate for you?"
"And another rib-eye for me!" the dog barked eagerly, lapping up the last of the juices on his plate.
"And an even bigger hole in my pocket for me…" the pirate lamented. "Least I'm not in debt anymore…"
"Don't worry, son, you won't be with me either," the old Marine reassured the pirate. "And before you protest, one of the first things your captain did after going to sea was doing good by the 153rd. As far as I'm concerned, any Straw Hat who eats here has had their tab paid ten times over…" He then grimaced reluctantly. "So long as that Straw Hat isn't Luffy himself, I mean. I'm generous, but I don't want to be bankrupted, either."
"Yeah, that's more than fair," Cross replied, waving the owner off. "In that case, thanks, the order you gave me will be just fine."
"Alright, I'll get right on that. You boys hang tight!" And with that, the old Marine went back into his establishment.
Once the old man was gone, the elephant chuckled and glanced over at the happily panting hound. "Eesh, you want to slow down there, Lassoo? You're starting to match Luffy steak for steak in terms of appetite!"
"HAHA! He's right, you know!" Soundbite cackled. "We might be loaded, but the saying is 'FAT CAT', NOT 'FAT DOG'!"
"Sticks and stones might break my bones, but I'll eat them and your words any day!" Lassoo shot back at his fellow animals. "This diet isn't anything new, it's normal for me! And just so we're clear here, I'm not fat, I'm hefty!"
"Hmm…" Cross hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "I don't think you're wrong… but I also think Funkfreed and Soundbite have a point, too."
"I'M NOT FAT, I'M HEFTY!" the dog barked.
"What happened to 'eating our words', huh?" the elephant asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Alright, alright, I was agreeing with you!" Cross backpedalled with an untroubled smile, warding off the angry mutt with his hands. "I was…" He leaned back in his seat and looked at his dog, an apparently thoughtful look on his face as he gave the canine a once-over. "Just looking at it from another angle is all."
The dog, Lassoo, raised an eyebrow at Cross before lying down with a dismissive wuff.
As she watched the scene, Yoko, for the life of her, couldn't divine the nefarious purpose behind Cross's actions. He had to be up to something; he was wearing armour on his arms and legs, for crying out loud! And besides that, he was punching his right palm with his left fist, repeatedly. That screamed 'itching for a fight', but he wasn't doing anything active.
But this was Jeremiah Cross, Voice of Anarchy. He was the Plan Guy. She could concede that some of the pirates were not immediately engaged in nefarious activities, but not him! Even that talk of 'another angle' was no help. What other angle?
When the answer did come to her, her spine suddenly felt like it'd been replaced by a chunk of ice. "He's operating at such a higher level…" she breathed, despair colouring her voice. "That I can't figure out his plan!" That despair was promptly chased away by renewed determination. "Well, fine! Sooner or later, he's going to enact his plan! I just need to follow him, and react when I need to!"
As it turned out, however, that point in time would arrive sooner than Yoko expected. Or rather, it would arrive immediately.
Without warning, the snail, Soundbite, snapped its eyestalks to attention, an alert look suddenly on its face. Barely a second later, Cross glanced at him with his own serious expression and slipped his earphones over his head. After a few seconds of listening, the pirate's expression darkened, and he turned his gaze to his suddenly attentive pets. "Gear up," he ordered sharply.
To Yoko's shock, the dog and elephant transformed before her very eyes; the dog morphed into a titanic cannon that was only slightly larger than its original mass, while the elephant shrank into a somewhat ornate sabre. And then, to her terror, Cross picked them both up, slinging the dog-cannon into a strap on his back and slotting the blade into a sheath that was on his back as well, angled opposite the cannon, and then placed his snail on his shoulder.
And finally, to her horror, the pirate started walking towards the door of the café. Before she even knew what she was doing, Yoko found herself running full tilt at the pirate. She couldn't let him harm anyone, she couldn't lose anyone again, she couldn't—!
Cross leaned his head into the storefront. "Hey, old man!"
The slide onto her ass, a result of trying to stop fast and hide in wet grass, would probably result in grass stains. Yoko didn't care. She just strained her ears to listen.
"Yeah? What's up, kid?" she heard the owner call out.
"I, ah," Cross glanced over his shoulder before continuing. "I'm gonna need you to put my order on hold for a bit. Just 'til I get back is all."
"Eh? You goin' somewhere?"
"Just for a bit," Cross assured him. "I've got some business I've got to take care of real quick, is all. It's…" Cross glanced to the side, his finger tapping on his thigh. Yoko wasn't an expert at reading people, but even she could tell when someone was lying through their ass. "It's nothing serious, should just take a second or two. Just hold off on the cooking until I get back, alright?"
"If you say so."
"Thanks!" And with that, the Straw Hat drew back from the establishment, and Yoko hid herself even further behind her vantage point, prepared to bolt or scream as was appropriate, as he started walking away from the town and towards the shore!?
"What the…?" Yoko breathed to herself. The Marine girl glanced around uncertainly, weighing her options. After all, for all that she was something of a fanatic, Yoko was not stupid enough to be ignorant of the risks of a young girl like her running after a pirate—especially one as dangerous as Jeremiah Cross—all on her own.
But… But if the alternative was to just stand by and do nothing, to watch as a pirate ran rampant on her island, again…
Yoko sent a silent prayer for forgiveness to her father before sneaking after the pirate.
Thankfully, the local topography worked in the girl's favour. The short cliffs that were arrayed between the town and the shore allowed the girl to stagger out her observation without any risk of being spotted or losing sight of her quarry. And once the pursuer and pursued hit the tree line, it only got easier.
However, to Yoko's surprise, her quarry defied her expectations: rather than heading straight for the shore, the pirate suddenly stopped in the middle of the woods for no apparent reason. Cross glanced at his snail, the pair speaking too softly for Yoko to hear. Once they finished, the pirate leaned himself against a tree, his head bowed, cap tilted down to shadow his eyes, and arms crossed over his chest. He didn't move from that position, and Yoko didn't move from where she was watching him, trying to figure out what he was doing. Waiting for something, obviously… but what?
It was a minute more before she got her answer. Cross looked up from his position and raised an arm in a wave. "¡Eh! ¡Buenos días! ¿Qué pasa?" Despite the call being in Cross's voice, Yoko didn't see his lips move until after the call went out. Straining her ears, she caught the exchange that followed:
"I hope you didn't provoke them right away."
"Give me a little credit! All I did was GREET THEM."
Before Yoko could start to puzzle anything out, she got her answer: Footfalls, and lots of them, approaching their position.
Yoko tensed as a large group of sombrero-clad men in western outfits filtered through the trunks, led by a comparatively short luchador wearing a sombrero as wide as he was and a decorated poncho. All of them looked mean and were packing heat, and it didn't take long for Yoko to come to the correct conclusion. For all that, however, Cross neither flinched nor spoke. The luchador did, however.
"You… You're Jeremiah Cross, right?" the luchador questioned, giving the blond pirate a once-over. "Third mate of the Straw Hat Pirates?"
"Pfheheh, yup!" Cross grinned brightly as he thumbed up the brim of his cap. "And seeing as you already know me, it's only fair you return the favour, no?"
The other pirate chewed his lip briefly before nodding. "Corto." He nodded his head at the mariachi-outfitted men with him. "Vice Captain of the Amigo Pirates." The newly named Corto glanced around hesitantly for a second before looking back at the armoured pirate. "The ship we saw on the coast when we landed, it was yours, sí? Meaning… the rest of your crew is on this island as well?"
"Yep," Cross casually answered. "Just stopped by for a bit of shore leave on our way to Sabaody before we hopped the Line. It's a nice place, nice people. Pretty sizeable too, I'm sure they could handle catering two crews at once."
Yoko bristled viciously at whatever the hell the Straw Hat was getting at, but when the larger pirate shook his head with a dismissive grunt, she shoved it down. "Nah, we're here on business, not pleasure. We've got a job to do, and it's here on this island."
One of Cross's eyebrows shifted up. "Oh? 'Zat so? Anything we could help you with? Y'know…" He tilted his head to the side slightly. "Help you get on your way without any problems?"
Corto paused, visibly weighing his options before slowly nodding. "Well… if you're offering… You seen a giant beetle anywhere 'round here?"
Yoko's whole world froze, but even through her nascent panic, she still saw Cross's jaw twitch slightly, and she also heard Corto continue.
"We're not gonna hurt it or nothin', no se preocupe," the luchador assured the Straw Hat with a smile that almost looked sincere. "It's just that it's, ah… It's lost, all. Its owners lost track of it a while back, and we're just lookin' to get it back to where it rightly belongs. So, can you help us out?"
Cross didn't answer immediately, his arms crossed and head bowed. After a moment, he looked up and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, beetle, beetle… you mean a big ol' bug, about…" He held his hands apart in demonstration. "Ten tons heavy, armoured to the nines, with a massive-ass horn in the middle of its face?"
"Yeah, that's the one! Have you seen it?"
Yoko did her utmost best to burn a hole through Cross's skull, and she was certain she would have succeeded—
"Nope!" Cross chirped, a pleasant smile on his face. "Sorry, can't help you!"
If it weren't for Cross saying that, throwing both the foreigner and the local way off their game.
The luchador sagged with disappointment. "So… you haven't seen it?"
"Oh no, I did see it," Cross clarified, his smile unflinching and his tone of voice as pleasant as ever as he raised his arms in a helpless shrug. "But I forget the details of it, and am thus incapable of helping you. So~rry~"
Apparently, Corto was smarter than he looked, because from his visible fury, he clearly smelled the rat that was all over Cross. "Listen, you—!"
"No, you listen."
The tension that Yoko had been feeling since entering the forest abruptly intensified as Cross's expression suddenly sobered up and he stood from the tree he'd been leaning against, his face taking on the visage of the bloodthirsty pirate she knew he really was.
"If you know what's good for you," Cross warned the Amigo's First Mate. "I'd suggest you and your pack of banditos forget about that beetle. Monster-hunting is a dangerous sport, you see. Very…" He rolled his fingers in the air. "Very treacherous. It's just, you never know just what beastie might get in your way and decide to tear a strip out of your hide…" Cross cocked his head to the side with a tight smile and slid an inch of his sword's blade out of its hilt so that it could glint in the light. "If you catch my drift."
Corto tensed at the move, eyeing the other pirate before him in disbelief and, to Yoko's surprise, more than a little trepidation. "You… You really think that we're scared of you?" he grit out. "That an overhyped, big-mouthed wannabe like you can beat us?"
The Straw Hat gave the Amigo Pirates a once-over before snapping his head down with a derisive snort. "No, no, noooo, that's not right. See, what I think is that you're a little more than a fat bully who's never once in his life had the guts to pick a fight with someone who could actually defend themselves."
Then, before Corto could react, Cross stepped forward and shoved the tips of his fingers in the larger man's chest, forcing him to take a step back.
"What I know," Cross bit out venomously. "Is that I can kick your tub of lard ass right back to the shoreline and clean off this island. And something tells me that somewhere in that fat skull you're hiding behind that mask which you are disgracing by wearing, you have just enough brain cells to know that if you try and do anything to me, one way or the other, you'll be spending your next few siestas sipping your horchata through a wired jaw."
"SO!" Cross barked, taking a step back from the Amigos. "I'm going to tell you this once, and only once, before I get madder than I already am: do the smart thing. Forget you ever heard about that beetle…"
Out of the blue, Cross lashed his left arm out, slamming his fist into a nearby tree—
SMASH!
And causing everyone nearby to jump when the bark splintered readily, creating a wide crater that was almost deep enough to compromise the tree's stability.
"And get the hell off this island," Cross finished coldly. "Before I throw your ass off it."
The Amigo Pirates all glowered ferociously. Corto especially looked to be supremely ticked off, and so close to taking a swing at Cross. But in a show of restraint atypical for people of his build, the large pirate's only response was a derisive snort before he spun on his heel and marched off. His underlings glanced between him and Cross for a moment before electing it better to follow their First Mate's lead than take their chances with the Straw Hat.
A minute after the last of them had disappeared into the tree line, Cross spoke again. "Soundbite, warn the rest of the crew. The first mate looked to have half a brain, but if a captain who's so cocky he doesn't lead from the front doesn't come back to try a better assault, I'll eat a biscuit."
"YUCK," Soundbite gagged.
"Oh, yeah, and you should probably warn the village, too."
"…was that last part to me?"
Yoko stiffened.
"Nah…" Cross nonchalantly replied, to the point of digging a finger into his ear. "That last part was to the person who failed to consider that listening to the SBS would give knowledge about our fighting abilities." He then glanced straight towards Yoko and her hiding spot. "Like, say, the fact that Soundbite can hear everything that goes on within a one-mile radius, even if it's no louder than a heartbeat?"
Yoko abruptly remembered that all of those animals had been talking throughout her vigil, which she knew was the snail's doing…
"Or the fact that I could smell her a few meters away?" the dog-cannon added.
A dog-cannon. A dog… and of course it would have the nose of a freaking bloodhound!
"You're really not good at the whole clandestine thing, are you?" the sword finished flatly.
Her face red as a brick, Yoko finally hit her limit for how much bullshit she could handle, turning on her heel and bolting for the town, heedless of any attempt at stealth.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Cross grimaced at his primary partner. "I'm gonna guess that that all could have sounded better?"
"Liiiiiittle bit, yeah," Soundbite snarked. He then glanced aside. "BUT, MOVING ON FROM THAT…" The snail flicked his eyestalks at the mutilated tree. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Cross dismissed Yoko as well in favour of ghosting his fingers over the crater he'd made in the tree. "Me acting out a hunch that I'm actually surprised paid off…"
"OKAY, LEMME TRY AGAIN: since WHEN could you do that?"
"If my hunch is right?" Cross grinned eagerly as he turned and started to walk back towards Little East Blue. "Probably for a while now."
-o-
The mood inside the Xibalba was at once impatient and reluctant.
On the one hand, Captain Largo was still enjoying his siesta, and everyone had had the consequences of interrupting said siesta thoroughly impressed upon them long ago, which left them waiting for him to wake up on his own. On the other hand, they weren't exactly delivering good news, either, and every instant that they lingered on the island's shores after being told, explicitly at that, to get the hell out by one of the last crews anyone on the Grand Line wanted to piss off was an instant closer to them all getting their asses kicked seven ways from Sunday.
So great was their trepidation that Corto was actually entertaining the idea of suffering his brother's wrath if it meant they got off the island sooner, but the decision was taken out of his hands when Largo's snoring suddenly snapped off in a harsh snort.
For a full minute, the inside of the Xibalba was frozen, nobody breathing, nobody even twitching.
And then every one of the Amigo Pirates save for one flinched, as that 'one' lifted his head just enough for a single eye to glare out from under his sombrero at the person who acted as his First Mate.
"I believe," Largo intoned. "I told you… to go out and get me that beetle. And that, unless you had a love for pain, you had better not even consider the idea of returning without it. This leaves two options. Either that beetle is both invisible and utterly silent, in which case mis disculpas… or you are just itching for me to introduce you to a whole new world of agony. So. Tell me."
Shivers wracked the pirates as Largo slowly rose from his resting position, looming over his brother and towering over the rest, and gave him a lazy yet no less lethal glare.
"Which is it," he inquired frigidly.
It was a credit to Corto that he managed to refrain from dying on the spot from heart failure, or even show terror to his older and seriously dangerous brother. Instead, he swallowed minutely (both saliva and his nerves) and met his brother's gaze. "We have a problem. Recovering the beetle has been rendered impossible."
"This had better be the best explanation of your life," Largo sneered.
The heavyset luchador swallowed uncomfortably, still looking his brother in the eye even as his mask became increasingly muggy. "We are landed," he whispered in a hoarse tone. "Directly beside the Mil Soleado."
Those words actually got Largo to pause, and it was to the Amigos' immense relief that their captain slowly sank into a sitting position on his bed. "The Straw Hat Pirates," he confirmed. "You're sure."
Corto nodded with almost frantic desperation. "Completamente! I spoke with Jeremiah Cross himself, and he made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that we weren't welcome on this island! The beetle is here, sí, but the Straw Hats are protecting it! And before you say it, sí, I could have absolutamente punched the little weasel's head off his shoulders, but then I'd have gotten the whole crew down on our heads! I might be afraid of failing our employers, and I might be terrified of failing you, hermano… but one thing I absolutely am not is estupido enough to anger the pirates who invaded Enies Lobby and lived to tell of it!"
By the end of his diatribe, Corto was panting and staring at his brother in outright terror, silently begging him, begging him, to do the right thing, and for once, let them just walk away.
And for a few glorious seconds, as Largo was thoughtfully silent, Corto felt hope that that would happen.
Finally, Largo spoke. "You are right about one thing, hermano… To tangle with the Straw Hats is to court disaster."
Corto let the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding slowly leak out of his nostrils, relief flooding his being.
"But."
And just like that, all that hope and relief turned to dread and bile.
Largo slowly rose from his bed and cast his gaze out over his crew. "We will go through with our mission nevertheless."
Terror overrode his survival instinct—or more accurately, half his survival instinct drop-kicked the other half—and Corto did the unthinkable and grasped his brother's shoulders to shake him furiously. "¿Estás completamente loco? I repeat! Straw Hats! Enies Lobby! We have one Devil Fruit, yours, and not only do they have almost half a dozen of their own, but their unpowered members have managed to take out almost a dozen total ability users on their own! They will chew us up and spit us out before you can even ask, '¿Quieres leche con tu horchata?'! Hermano, I respect you, and I fear you, and I will die for you… But not like this, man! Not like—"
"Corto."
The larger pirate froze under his older brother's half-lidded stare. It was a stare that he'd seen many times as they'd grown up together and had thankfully seen less and less as the years had gone by. It was a stare that screamed—
"Are you done?"
Yeah, that, only a lot less politely.
"I… think so?" Corto hesitantly squeaked, then reasoned that yes, he was indeed done. "Yeah, I'm done."
"Thank you," Largo deadpanned. "Now, you all listen to me, and you all listen good."
Every last sombrero-clad man nodded, facing their captain with complete and terrified attention. Largo graced them with a flat gaze before he spoke again.
"The Straw Hats are strong. Stronger than most crews, and undoubtedly stronger than us. I acknowledge this, sí. They are also insane, insanely lucky, and all around some of the most dangerous pendejos to sail the Grand Line. This too, I acknowledge…" Largo nodded slowly before giving them all a chilling glare. "But you all must acknowledge this: that if there is one man whom the Straw Hats are not stronger than, it is the man whose patronage we seek. Whose favour we have garnered."
The tall bandito started to pace back and forth. "That man is not merely a New World veteran. He was a contemporary and rival of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. He was feared by Marines and Pirates alike, the world over, and he clawed his way out of the blackest pits of Impel Down itself, a feat never accomplished before or after. That man…" Largo let loose a grim chuckle. "He is, without a doubt in my mind, the single strongest human being in all of Paraíso. And we are working with him. Do you truly believe that rookies like the Straw Hats, no matter how strong, can stand up to him?"
"Yeah, sure, they'd fall before him, of course, hermano!" Corto agreed before grimacing as he tugged at the collar of his poncho. "But we aren't him! We're just… us!"
"Sí, sí, we're us…" Largo grinned venomously as he jabbed a thumb to his side, indicating a crate stored in the corner of the room. "And in case your memory fails you, we have in our possession the trump card our benefactor left us. A means through which our victory shall be confirmed. In light of this detail… do you still think we have any chances of defeat?"
Corto looked aside, thinking furiously. A good amount of the crew's fear melted away in favour of confusion and amplified respect for their captain. There were, however, some who were still nervous.
"Ah, but of course…" Largo spoke up again, apparently noticing the hesitation. "I am not without mercy. Should anyone still harbour any doubts as to the chances of our victory, feel free to speak up, and I shall hear you out as I would any other."
A moment of silence, and then…
"Ah, w-well—!"
BANG!
A mariachi-themed pirate in the back of the room crumpled with a cry of pain as a ball of lead tore through his knee. Nobody saw this on account of the fact that all eyes in the room were glued to the pistol that Largo had drawn and fired near-instantly.
"Anyone else?" he queried, his voice cool enough to give a polar bear frostbite.
Dead silence.
The man spun his gun back into its holster.
"Didn't think so."
-o-
Yoko's breath came in ragged gasps as she sprinted back into town. She had to warn them all… not just about the Straw Hats and their nefarious plans, but also the far more imminent threat of these new poncho guys.
It was disappointingly easy for her to locate the mayor, considering that he was in the village helping set up a party to celebrate the presence of the Straw Hats. Well, she'd see to it that that didn't last. She quickly came up to the portly man and spent a few moments catching her breath.
"Yoko?" Fabre asked in confusion. "What's wrong?"
What the girl tried to say was something along the lines of, "I've got proof the Straw Hats are actually hostile, and there's another pirate crew that's trying to kidnap Boss!" What actually came out on account of her lack of breath was "Proof-Straw-host-pirate-kidnap-Boss!"
The town's mayor blinked in surprise before slowly heaving out a sigh as he brought a hand up to massage the bridge of his nose. "Yoko, I know you don't like them, but I thought the Straw Hats made it very clear that they have no intentions of kidnapping—!"
"Not the Straw Hats, someone else!" Yoko snapped, oxygen finally refuelling her lungs. "The Straw Hats are evil pirates, but there are other pirates that just came to the island looking for Boss!"
Fabre's relaxed demeanour vanished in an instant. For a brief moment, he looked panicked, before covering it up by attacking his pipe. "Blast it all… they just had to show up when he began moulting."
Any thoughts Yoko might've had of a continued rant fled once she processed that statement. "Wh-What? But that wasn't supposed to be for—!"
"Dooon't worry about it."
'I… am getting very tired of all this mood whiplash,' was the incongruous thought Yoko had as that voice brought her anger back to life at full cylinders. Spinning around, she glared bloody murder at Jeremiah Cross as he approached, weapons crossed on his back and a casual grin on his face.
"There's a pirate crew coming up, sure, and they look to be utter bastards, sure," the pirate continued, waving his hand dismissively. "But we'll handle them. Although…" He then gave Yoko a flat look. "I'm guessing none of that is going to make you hate us any less, am I right?"
Yoko initially confirmed the accusation nonverbally, flushing furiously and sputtering. It took a moment for the actual words to come out. "You… You bastard! Idiot! Murdering, bloodthirsty… shiitake!" Admittedly, her true feelings were a bit garbled due to her not having even hit puberty yet, but at least she was trying.
Cross blinked before slowly tilting his head in confusion. "I'm… a homicidal mushroom that's delicious with noodles?" he asked in honest, bemused confusion.
"Never call someone a word you don't understand, KID. That's Insults 201," Soundbite helpfully informed the Marine child.
"What, it's not 101?"
"NUH-UH!" Soundbite shook his head with a shit-eating grin. "101 DEALS WITH sentence structure, run-on sentences and the like. I COULD GET YOU A COURSE CATALOG IF YOU—?"
"WILL YOU TWO BE FUCKING SERIOUS FOR ONE SECOND!?" Yoko practically screamed, several veins bulging in cross patterns on her brow.
"Language, young lady," the pair deadpanned at her, before breaking down into uncontrolled snickers. "Nah, we're just fucking with you," Cross chuckled.
Fuming impotently, Yoko whirled around to glare up at Fabre. Her mood did not improve when she saw that he, too, was muffling chuckles. "Mayor Fabre," she grit out. "I have evidence of the fact that the Straw Hats are no less scum than every other pirate alive! They are not good people because good pirates don't exist!"
Fabre's good cheer evaporated at the announcement. "Yoko…"
"And she decides to tell him this in front of the very pirates she's denouncing?" Soundbite stage whispered to his partner.
Cross could only shrug in response. "It's probably desperation. She's not thinking straight and all that, you know?"
"Fair point. YOU'VE DONE SOME STUPID THINGS YOURSELF."
"I choose to take that as a compliment."
"EVIDENCE!" Yoko furiously repeated in an effort to retrieve the attention she'd lost, jabbing her notepad at Fabre, who eyed the paper with no small amount of dread. "Evidence, right here, that every last one of these pirates is up to absolutely no good!" She flipped the pad open to the first page. "My first piece of evidence, pertaining to their Captain, is that he was—!"
"Surveying the local geography for more efficient pillaging."
"Surveying the—Wha?!" Yoko boggled at Cross in shock when he answered before she could.
"Don't worry, you're not that predictable," the pirate assured her with an impish grin.
"But you ARE kinda careless!" his snail snickered.
"Soundbite was listening in on you talking out loud while you were writing," Lassoo informed her. "Don't take offence, he does it to all of us."
"Th-This just proves my point!" Yoko jabbed a finger at the uniquely packed quartet. "They're not denying my point, they—!"
"Actually, I am denying your point, based on a supremely relevant fact that renders your suppositions null and void," Cross smirked as he folded his arms behind his head. "It's simple enough: Luffy doesn't know how to pronounce even half the words you had written down on that page, much less their meanings."
The girl swore she pulled something with how hard her eyelid twitched. "You're telling me," she grit out. "That your excuse is that your captain is too stupid to be evil!?"
"It's a good excuse!" Cross protested with almost honest affronted indignation.
"Er… one that I can confirm," Fabre cut in, weathering the betrayed look she gave him. "Straw Hat Luffy has a good heart and a healthy appetite, but I wouldn't exactly call him… ah, well…"
"To reiterate: the excuse that Luffy's too stupid to do something is a valid excuse," Cross said.
The eye-twitching intensified. "They. Are. Pirates. You can't believe anything they say!" Yoko snapped.
"We're not here to cause trouble," Cross droned.
"YES, YOU ARE!"
"We've never killed ANYONE," Soundbite added.
"LIKE I BELIEVE THAT!"
"Your name is Yoko," Funkfreed piped up.
"NO, IT'S NOT!" Yoko roared before grimacing and slapping a hand to her face. "Dang it."
"Yoko, you really need to try listening a little more," Fabre pleaded.
"No, you need to listen to me!" Yoko protested, rapping her finger on her pad. "He might have an excuse for that instance of his captain's actions, but I have dozens of pieces of evidence! He can't explain them all!"
"Oh, you would be surprised," Cross hummed pleasantly, his mouth never shifting from the smirk that had been there the whole conversation.
Sighing, Fabre gave his town's guest a long-suffering look. "I am so sorry," he apologized.
"Don't be, I'm having the time of my life!" Cross laughed, waving his hand in a gesture that was both dismissive and good-natured. "Trust me, I've heard worse, and once this is all over, it'll be good for a laugh."
"You won't be laughing once I'm done with you!" Yoko swore, flipping to the next page in her pad. "Second instance of nefarious wrongdoings!"
And so it went: Yoko ran down her list of dastardly deeds and nascent plans of varying levels of notoriety…
"The smelly blubber-butt faker that calls itself Boss has been denuding the island!"
"You're planning on poaching the Unusual Animals!"
"Your captain's eating all our food and that… that skeleton is using his music to control people's minds!"
And every time, Cross and his compatriots had answer after answer to reply with, all delivered with varying but invariably elevated levels of teasing snark.
"It's called a training exercise. Maybe you've heard of them? If this boggles you, know that normal people split mere bricks for training. It's just that Boss—Boss Dugong, I mean—has higher standards than most when it comes to his strength."
"Yeah, because we haven't seen way more unusual animals during our journey. Oh wait. Hwee hwee hwee!"
"TRUST ME, that's nothing new. Luffy tries to eat everything he can get his teeth on. BUT, AH, WE ARE GOOD FOR IT, just to clarify. AND AS FOR BROOK… huh, interesting trivia. He says he was helping that cook, Mitsuboshi, keep pace with Sanji. Apparently it's an old trick used by SHIP'S MUSICIANS THE WORLD OVER!"
Suffice to say that by the time Yoko had reached the bottom of her list, she had truly bypassed 'infuriated'… and was more than a little desperate, to boot.
"Mrgrggh…" Yoko grumbled furiously as she flipped to another page in her book. "T-T-Then what aboooout… Ah, the sniper, the cyborg and the girl!?" The glare this time was challenging. "They're building—well, they built a mansion for Miss Luigia! They're obviously trying to wheedle their way into her will so that they can steal her fortune! What do you have to say to that!?"
That actually got a change of expression out of Cross. He boggled at the girl for a moment before slowly exchanging wide-eyed looks with his snail. "I… am honestly stumped," he admitted in a blank tone. "Congratulations on accomplishing that. Seriously, I… am kind of at a loss for how to respond."
"That's where we differ…" Fabre groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yoko, up until today, Luigia lived in a shack that had a mock-up of a mansion nailed to it. You acknowledge that, yes?"
"Uh… yeah, why?" Yoko nodded in confusion, pointedly ignoring Cross's outburst of "Wait, we've met two loonies with the same delusion!?"
"Great. So tell me this!" Fabre swept his hands out in frustration. "What fortune!?"
Yoko sucked in a breath to respond as she raised a finger… then bent her finger and let out a choked gurgle as that one week the old woman had eaten nothing but miso soup forced its way into her conscious mind. "Gugh…"
"Yoko," Fabre said kindly, kneeling before the girl and grasping her shoulders in his large hands. "I understand your pain; I knew your father well, and I miss him, too. And I will admit without reservation that most pirates are the same kind of monsters that took him from us. Even the Straw Hats admit it!"
"True that; we're an exception, not the norm, and we know it," Cross piped up, and his voice was no longer playful.
"But even so!" Fabre forged on. "You cannot continue denying the truth! The truth that we have all accepted, that the world itself has accepted!" The mayor pointed at the pirate. "The Straw Hats are not just good pirates, they're good people. Yoko, please, I am begging you… Enough is enough. Just in this one instance, for this one crew… please, see reason and acknowledge that these are the last people in the world we need to protect from! For your own sake, if nothing else!"
A tense silence fell over the small gathering, everyone's breath held in tense anticipation of the girl's answer.
Finally, with tears welling in her eyes, Yoko gave a dry sniffle and began to shake. "Dad… Dad would never forgive me if I collaborated with criminals," she whispered as tears slowly dripped down her cheeks. "It… It goes against everything the Marines stand for."
For a long moment, Cross just looked at her, apparently considering something, before glancing up at Fabre, expression questioning. Once the older man nodded hesitantly, he spoke.
"Yoko, you need to understand that when you heard my broadcast, you heard it out of context," Cross gently stated. "I wasn't talking about how the Marines are corrupt; I was talking about how there is corruption in the Marines. Being a Marine doesn't automatically make someone good, even if it should… just like being a pirate doesn't automatically make someone bad, even if it should. Underneath the black and white, we're still human." When he saw how Yoko was considering a response, but also that she looked thoughtful instead of hostile, he pre-empted the words. "Consider: Would your father want you to carry on with this vendetta, or would he want you to reconsider in the face of evidence?"
Okay, now the attention was hostile. "You never knew my father," she spat with surprising venom. "So don't you dare say you—!"
"No, I didn't know your father," Cross cut in. "But I do know Marines like him, Marines who would sacrifice everything for the sake of the ones they swore to protect, for the sake of the spirit of their oaths, not just the word. And I know that all of them would tell you to think, not blindly follow. That's all I want you to do: listen to what your eyes and ears are telling you, and draw your own conclusions."
Yoko's body shuddered as her gaze fell to the ground, indecision and hesitation literally wracking her body. Finally, she looked up at Cross, and he was gratified to see a glint of reason in her eyes, but he could only wince at the far more prominent haze of deep-seated pain that clouded her gaze. "Even if what you say about the Marines is true," she whispered harshly, tears gleaming in her eyes. "I will never trust a pirate."
A swift chomp on his cheek silenced an aggravated grumble, and instead, Cross settled for a conciliatory waving of his hands. "Mah mah, that's fine," he chuckled tightly, barely masking the disappointment in his voice. "I'm pretty sure you'll be singing a different tune when we cast off to leave. Everyone does. But for now, you're entitled to whatever you want to think."
Yoko… didn't respond to that. Couldn't, really, and as a result, an uncomfortable silence settled onto the small group.
Thankfully, Fabre was unburdened with any serious thoughts and thus quickly clapped his hands to break the silence. "I!" he announced in an almost grandiose tone. "Have just realized that I am famished, and I'm almost completely certain that neither of you two has had much to eat all day, either. And if there is one thing that I've learned in my meagre career as a politician, it's that talking about important matters on an empty stomach is an idea that's destined for disaster. What say we all go to the Mini-Baratie and treat ourselves to what little Luffy hasn't gorged himself upon, hm?"
Yoko twitched slightly at that, but wiped her eyes clear with a petulant grumble. "Food's always your answer to everything… 'ts why you're so… big."
Fabre let out a jolly chuckle as he patted the girl on the back and slowly led her towards the island's premier restaurant. "Yes, I suppose that's true, isn't it? But if anything, I'd like to think that my girth is a testament to my success rate! And as such, I take pride in it!"
"Eh, makes sense to me," Cross commented, his arms folded behind his head as he walked alongside the two. "I mean, I've been on over a dozen islands, and I've certainly seen and heard people take pride in weirder things."
"Heheh, if that ain't the damn truth!" Soundbite chortled in agreement with his partner in prime. "SERIOUSLY, THIS ONE TIME—!"
Yoko and Fabre both looked at the snail in confusion when it suddenly belted out a sharp violin-sting, which in turn drew a scowl from Cross. "Are you fucking—!?"
"USOPP, EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE! INTERCEPT NOW!"
"Say wha—?" Yoko started to question.
"FIRE MAIN CANNON!"
KABOOM!
"—GYAH!"
Before she could, she let out a shriek of shock as the air suddenly ripped itself apart in a blast of air pressure and fire a few meters away.
Yoko's hearing cleared before her vision un-blurred, just in time to hear the current bane of her existence roaring in the air.
"Hey! You just stole my shtick, you metal asshat!" Cross roared towards the newly built mansion overlooking the village, which currently had a plume of smoke rising from it.
"What the heck are you talking about, Cross?" the pirate's shipwright's voice asked in honest bewilderment.
"What am I talking about? You just stole number three on my list of things I want to say!" Cross fumed as he tapped his foot in irritation. "I had it all lined up for when we pulled out that trick! It was going to be all badass and awesome, and you just stole it!"
"Are you really comparing that to a standard turret!?" Franky asked, his tone now offended.
"Of course not, but what I'm pissed about is you stealing the line! It's the principle of the matter, man, the principle! And you—"
"What's going on, Cross?"
"…We're not done with this," Cross growled at nothing before rolling with his captain's sudden presence. "A group of fakers are here to kidnap Boss the beetle. I gave their crew and first mate a chance to run, but apparently their captain is determined to carry out their mission or die trying."
Luffy frowned, tossing the bone he'd been picking his teeth with into the air and swallowing it in a single chomp. "Need any help?" he asked seriously.
Cross blinked at his captain in surprise before frowning in thought. After a moment, he nodded, slowly and hesitantly at first, but picking up speed. "I… think I can take them."
"Then they're all yours."
The tactician shot his captain a thumbs-up and walked forward to put himself between the smoke cloud rising over the lower reaches of the island and the village. "Keep everyone back," Cross called over his shoulder to Fabre. "These idiots might fire full blast, and the last thing anyone wants or needs is to get caught in the crossfire."
"Hey, wait, what do you think you're—!?" Yoko started to belt out—in indignation? Confusion? Not concerned… right?—before she was cut off by a hand landing on her head.
"Just shut up!"
Yoko looked up in confusion and could do nothing but blink dumbly as she stared right into Straw Hat Luffy's dumb but somehow still proud smile.
"Shut up and watch!" Luffy chuckled before turning his beaming expression towards his third mate. "This is gonna be so cool!"
Yoko blinked, trying and failing to reconcile what she was seeing with what she knew, knew to be fact about pirates. All she could do was default to following Luffy's gaze, which fell on Cross glaring bloody murder at the swiftly clearing cloud.
When the cloud finally cleared, the girl swore she felt her blood freeze in her veins.
Over fifty pirates, all arrayed before the village, all dressed like mariachi, all packing sizable firearms that they had at the ready and were visibly ready to use. And then there were the two at the front of the horde; she recognized the heavyweight luchador, Corto, who had now unveiled a pair of large-bore Gatling guns of all things, he was dual-wielding without any apparent strain, and then there was him.
She could only assume that the tallest pirate around was the Captain of these 'Amigo Pirates', but that man… that man. The look in the tall man's lazy eyes, his coldness… for whatever reason, the man's lack of a weapon made him all the more menacing.
And now, this man, this… this monster had come to Yoko's island, set his sights on her village, set his sights on Boss—!
Yoko's breath hitched as the thought tore through her like a bolt of lightning. 'Boss! Oh, no, he's still in his chrysalis, he's still evolving! They could find him, they could take him away! T-They'll take everything… I'll lose e-everything ag—!"
"I thought I made myself damn clear to your first mate!"
Once again, Yoko was wrenched out of her spiralling thoughts by the voice of a pirate, and she returned to reality to the sight of Cross unwaveringly glaring down the horde.
"I told you all, explicitly, to pack up and hit the horizon," Cross stated, his voice packed with steel. "You mind telling me just why the hell you decided to do something so asinine as to attack the village we're blatantly protecting!?"
The tall man blinked slowly before staring down his nose at Cross. "Yes, I do mind, tu patético insecto."
Cross's whole being twitched, his jaw setting in a downright vicious smirk that was emphasized by a throbbing vein just below his right eye.
"Oh, this should be good," Fabre said with obvious relish, prompting Yoko to throw him a brief but incredulous glare.
Either ignorant or entirely dismissive of Cross's ire, the tall man turned his gaze just past the most wanted of the Straw Hats and almost gave Yoko a heart attack when he looked at her… no, above her.
"You," he spoke in a dry tone, staring at the pirate at Yoko's side. "You are the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, 'Straw Hat' Luffy, sí?"
Luffy raised his hand in response, his expression blank. "Yo."
"Hmph," the other captain sniffed disdainfully, raising his admittedly impressive nose. "Let me be as clear as possible, so that even one as imbecilic as you might understand: I am Largo, captain of the Amigo Pirates. My crew and I are here to retrieve the giant beetle we know to be on this island. If you hand it over without trouble, then we will only massacre some of the people on this island and leave your ship in a salvageable condition. Try to resist, however…"
Largo's smirk turned vicious as his stout brother raised his arms and spun his weapons' barrels menacingly. He himself hefted his guitar and strummed a few tunes, Yoko flinching at the discordant sound that the instrument produced.
"And we shall turn this place into an isla de los muertos." Then he frowned, eyeing the guitar, and began tuning and testing it, though on the same discordant chords.
There was a tense pause as that murderous sentence hung in the air, broken only by the menacing vibrations of Largo's guitar as he tuned it. Then the person best suited for the job broke the silence.
"When I met your brother, I expected his captain to be just as stupid, if not worse," Cross growled out through a rictus smile. "But I damn well didn't expect you to be suicidal."
That actually drew a reaction from Largo, though it was merely an annoyed snort and a roll of his eyes. "Cállate, mestizo. I'm talking to your captain. I won't lower myself to address a parásito like you."
The number of veins bulging on Cross outright tripled. "Arrogant piece of—!" he ground out through his increasingly tight scowl, but Largo ignored him in favour of Luffy.
"Oh, definitely good," Fabre stated, now outright grinning. "Kinda wish I had some popcorn."
This time, Yoko found herself nodding along. 'Yeah, if these two groups can break each other…'
The Straw Hat captain, meanwhile, silently returned the flat look before bowing his head. "This island is Boss's precious home, which he cares about more than anything. You're not going to take him from it."
The spike of terror she felt as Largo's gaze hardened squashed Yoko's conflicted flare of agreement. "So you have decided to fight us, then? A pointless sacrifice…" He then smirked slightly as he bowed his head and plucked a string on his guitar. "But then, you Straw Hats are reputed to be a band of noble fools."
"Nope." Luffy shook his head in denial.
Largo glanced up in honest surprise. "¿Perdón?"
The Straw Hat tilted his head slightly, looking at the tall mariachi in a matter-of-fact manner. "I'm not gonna fight you."
The reaction was instantaneous; everyone in the vicinity stared at Luffy in shock and confusion.
"What!?" Yoko and Fabre belted out.
"¿Qué?" Largo queried incredulously, his composure broken. "Completas idiota, did you or did you not just tell me you would not let us take the beetle? Do you think we'll just leave you alone because… what, you asked nicely?"
Luffy's response was a half-lidded deadpan. "Geez… everyone calls me an idiot, but you're the one who isn't listening to what I'm saying." The Rubber-Man pointed at himself. "I said that I'm not gonna fight you, 'cause I'm not." He then pointed forward. "Cross is."
There would have been dead silence, if not for the sour note Largo suddenly struck. "What," he spat.
"Well, duh," Luffy shrugged as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Cross told you, guys, to get lost or else, and you didn't listen to him. So now Cross is gonna kick your asses."
Largo glanced at Cross, giving him a once-over before returning his flat look to Luffy "…you realize that we are going to rip him into a millón pieces, sí?"
"Nope." That flat response actually caused an outbreak of raised veins on the other captain's forehead. "'Cause Cross is stronger than all of you and he's gonna kick your asses." Luffy turned a massive grin on his third mate. "Right, Cross?"
Cross's look of cold fury faded as he returned his captain's grin and slammed his fist into his palm. "They won't know what hit 'em, captain!" He then turned back towards the Amigos and cracked his neck, his smirk taking on a near-manic tone. "You heard the man!"
At this point, Fabre, no longer looking eager, leaned in close to Luffy. "Uh, are you sure Cross can take them?" he whispered nervously. "I mean, no offence to Cross, but isn't he…?"
The look Luffy shot him should not have made the mayor feel stupid. There ought to have been a law of the universe against it. "Of course?" he said, sounding confused that it was even a question. "He's my crewmate. No way he'll lose."
Yoko glanced between the two in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Fabre gave the girl an uncertain glance. "Well… you see, Yoko, while Cross might have the highest bounty of the Straw Hats, that's only for the verbal threat he presents. In terms of combat, he's admitted that he's one of their weakest. Him alone against that many pirates…?" The mayor gnawed on his thumb in worry. "I… actually don't know if he'll be alright."
"Man, you guys really are idiots…" Luffy sighed with a tinge of annoyance. "I just told you, didn't I? He'll be fine. They won't beat him." He grinned with honest eagerness. "Just shut up and watch! This is gonna be awesome!"
Upon hearing those words, Yoko could do naught but clamp her mouth shut and stare at the slowly brewing fight. Although she was outwardly quiet, her mind was in chaos as she tried to resolve the tripartite conflict raging in her head.
"Oh no!" wailed Yoko, dressed in a full Marine uniform that actually fit her small frame. "He's gonna get massacred! And then there's gonna be no one between these assholes and our town! No way we can count on the rest of the Straw Hats fighting them, not with their captain like this!"
"Yessssss…" another Marine-Yoko cackled, rubbing her hands gleefully as the bloodstains on her uniform gleamed radiant crimson. "He's gonna get massacred! And he's a Straw Hat! He's going to take so many of those filthy pirates down with him!"
The last Yoko just stood there, silently gaping at the conflict still paused outside of her head. This Yoko was essentially identical to the one standing in the real world, save that she had no coat, no burden. This Yoko wasn't a Marine… just a normal girl. "He's going to be killed," she whispered. "I… I don't want him to be killed…"
"Traitors!" Justice! Yoko howled right as Marine! Yoko fired off a "MORONS!" of her own. The two immediately locked gazes and then jumped at each other, biting, scratching, and pulling at each other's hair. The third Yoko merely continued to stare.
Out in the real world, Yoko whimpered, "I am… conflicted…"