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Steve's Point of View
We had been back on the Merry for a while now. It was strange being on a ship that we'd be getting rid of soon, and to add to my troubles, Robin still hadn't returned. If she doesn't get back soon, my worry is going to turn into sheer panic.
"Hey everybody, Usopp's awake!" Chopper yelled. We all headed into the dining room where Usopp was resting.
"I'm sorry! I lost the money!" he cried.
"Usopp, you need to rest. Please, calm down," I told him.
We explained what happened at the Franky House. "So we still don't have it," Usopp said, still upset.
"Who knows? We'll have to wait for Franky to come back," Wyper told him.
"Yeah, and even if he doesn't have it, we'll still have 100 million Beli left over," Sanji added.
"What the hell were you thinking, Usopp? You're lucky to be alive. Going in alone like that... I thought you were smarter than that," Ikki said, her voice laced with concern. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"I'm sorry. I know we only have 100 million left, but can we still fix the Merry? We came all this way."
It was time for the hard truth. I gave Luffy a look, and he told Usopp the truth. "No, Usopp. We've decided to get a new ship. The Going Merry has helped us a lot, but her sailing days are ending here."
There were a few moments of silence before Luffy pulled out the ship catalog and started looking through it.
"Wait, don't joke around like that. Do we not have enough money? Is this because I lost the 200 million Beli? Since we went to a high-class shipyard, they charge high-class prices."
"That's not it, Usopp," Luffy tried to explain.
"Then tell me, don't hold back! What's the problem?!" Usopp yelled.
"This has nothing to do with the money!" Luffy shouted back.
"Then don't say crap about changing ships!"
"Hey, calm down!" I told them, trying to interject.
"How can I be calm when he's spouting crap about changing to a new ship?!" Usopp yelled at me.
"That was the decision. There is no other choice," Luffy explained. The room was getting heated. Luffy and Usopp were at each other's throats. Chopper was trying to calm Usopp down because he needed rest, and it was taking most of my strength to keep Luffy calm.
"THE MERRY IS GOING TO DIE!" Luffy finally screamed.
That statement got Usopp's attention, and he calmed down. "They can't fix her. I wouldn't have made this decision otherwise," Luffy told him.
"But this ship took us all the way here!" Usopp said, defending his point.
"Yeah, but it's only so long until it sinks," Luffy told him.
"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked.
"The shipwrights said so. They said no matter what, we won't make it to the next island on this ship," I explained.
"Do you always listen to everything strangers say? I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Just because a few carpenters say she can't be fixed, you believe them?! This ship is our friend! She came all this way with us! And you just want to leave her to die!"
We stared each other down for a few seconds. Luffy and I weren't budging from our stance, and neither was Usopp.
"IS THIS SHIP JUST A TOOL TO YOU?!" Usopp yelled, then coughed up blood.
"Usopp, please, you need rest," Chopper begged.
"What do you know?" Luffy said to Chopper, his anger flaring up.
"Hey, watch it," I said, giving him a look.
"There's no carpenter on this ship, that's why we needed them to look at it."
"We don't need them. I'll fix it like always!" Usopp said, trying to stand.
"Usopp, just stop," Sanji told him.
"First, I have to get some wood and screws, too."
"USOPP!" Luffy yelled. "You're not a shipwright!"
"So what?! This isn't their ship either. They're just giving you a sales pitch, and you believed them! We can fix our own ship! The Straw Hats I know wouldn't fall for some cheap advertisement. They'd believe in the strength of the Going Merry! Don't go around saying, 'I've decided,' like you're some kind of real captain!"
Watch what you say, I thought to myself.
"I misjudged you," Usopp said.
"Please, stop," Nami pleaded.
"Shut up, Nami!" Luffy yelled. "I made my decision! You won't change my mind! We're saying goodbye to the Merry and getting a new ship!"
"I won't let you!" Usopp challenged.
"Both of you knock it off!" I told them, trying to keep my own temper in check.
"Unlike you two, I'm not ruthless! I can't leave my friends behind!" Usopp yelled.
"Ships and people are two different things!" Luffy retorted.
"They're the same! Merry is alive! You probably wanted a new ship from the beginning!" Usopp said. "You're just so stupid and carefree you'd leave the Merry behind!"
"Watch your mouth, Usopp," I said, giving him a glare.
Luffy tackled Usopp to the ground. "What the hell do you know?! You're not the only one who cares about the Merry!"
"If you cared, you wouldn't change ships!"
"If you don't like my decision, then just leave!" Luffy yelled.
I grabbed his collar and threw Luffy across the room. "Watch your mouth! Think before you speak, you idiot!"
"Sorry... I didn't mean..."
"No, I get it. If that's how you two really feel," Usopp said.
"What was that?" I asked him, pushing my hair out of my eyes.
"Leaving crew members behind so you can keep moving forward," Usopp responded. "If you want to leave the ship behind, leave me with it."
"Usopp, you can't be serious," Ikki said.
"No, I've been thinking about this for a while. I can't keep up with all of you. Today proved I'm nothing more than a bag boy who can't hold some cash. You don't need me; Wyper can do everything I do and more."
"Hey! I didn't come here to be your replacement," Wyper told him. "There are a ton of things you can do that I can't."
"In the future, I'll just be in the way. You two want to be Kings of the Pirates, but I don't want to go that far. Think back to when I joined. The fate that brought us together that day was only so strong. We don't have the same goal, so we should go our separate ways," Usopp said, getting up and walking out.
"Usopp, where are you going?!" Nami yelled as we followed him out onto the deck.
"Wherever I want... I quit."
Stop, you moron!
"Usopp, stop!" "Please, wait!" "You don't have to do this!"
"I can't go with you anymore. I won't hold you two back," Usopp said. "But a ship belongs to its captain, so fight me. If I win, I get the Going Merry. So, Monkey D. Luffy and Steve! I challenge you to a duel! I'll be back at ten o'clock. We duel for the right to keep the Going Merry. After that, everything between us will be over." And with that, Usopp walked off.
Ten o'clock is just a few hours away.
Luffy and I headed inside to the men's bunk to get some rest before Usopp came back in a few hours. If this is what you want, this is what you'll get, you ungrateful punk. First, Robin disappeared, and now Usopp quit.
What the hell happened to us? Robin is a big girl; she can take care of herself. I need to deal with the problem here first. Besides, she's been avoiding me like the plague; maybe it's for the best if we have some time apart. I hope she's okay, though. I can't shake this sick feeling.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" Nami said, barging into our room. "Nothing good can possibly come from this. You guys are friends! You all need to calm down. Usopp only said those things because he was upset!"
I saw Luffy look over at the navigator. "What's done is done."
I could tell from his voice he didn't want to talk right now; he wasn't happy.
"Just go apologize and talk this out. You're supposed to be the levelheaded one!" Nami yelled at me. "Why didn't you stop them!"
"Be quiet, Nami. We're grown men, capable of making our own decisions. Stop complaining, we can't go back now. Usopp isn't an idiot. He made his choice. If there had been another way, I wouldn't have let it end like this. If you understand, go away," I told her.
"But Steve..."
"I told you to leave, Nami."
Wyper's Point of View
"Will you two shut up?! This isn't anyone's fault," Ikki pleaded.
"If this idiot had finished them off this morning, none of this would have happened!" Sanji said, blaming Zoro.
"Look at you!" Zoro countered. "You and Wyper went shopping and left us here to watch the ship!"
"I was doing my job!"
"Well, you didn't need him with you!" Zoro said.
"Will you all be quiet?" I mumbled. "The attack earlier had nothing to do with Usopp's decision. He chose a material object over us, and that's it. The attack by the Franky Family made no difference."
"You really think this is all about the Merry?" Ikki asked.
"A man who'd choose an object over his friends is no real man if you ask me," I told her.
"What do you know? You just met him," Zoro told me.
"I'm not happy about this either," I told him. "How the hell do you think it feels to be called a replacement? I never meant to make him feel that way. I thought he and I really got along. I didn't know I made him feel threatened. It sucks, you know? I've only been here a few days, and I feel like I'm the reason you all got torn apart."
"Shut it, you three! We don't need any more arguments," Nami said, entering the room. "Sanji, this is not Zoro and Ikki's fault, and Wyper, you're not a replacement. Everybody, just calm down."
The reindeer came in not long after. "Chopper, didn't you go after Usopp?" Zoro asked.
"I wanted to finish treating him... He pushed me away and went to the city... He said, 'We're finished; go back to the ship,' and left."
The poor guy was pretty upset. Ikki gave him a hug, but that doesn't do wonders to heal a pain like that.
"What happened? This morning we were all so happy," Nami observed. "Now Robin's missing... It feels like we're falling apart."
Steve's Point of View
"It's five to ten, Luffy. Usopp will be here soon. Let's go."
Luffy and I made our way out onto the rocky shore without a word to the others. "It's ten o'clock," Luffy said.
"None of you are to come down here, understand?!" I yelled back at the ship. "NO MATTER WHAT!"
I looked back and saw Usopp walking up to us. "You look determined," Luffy said. "I hope you don't regret your decision."
"Stop pretending. I'm prepared, so come get me. I will beat the two of you. I'm not like your past opponents. I've been with you a while; I know you inside and out. Don't be surprised, but I have 8,000 followers waiting for my command to attack. Surrender now if you don't want to die!"
"I'm pretty sure you're lying, Usopp," Luffy said.
"What do you mean, pretty sure?! I'm confident he's lying," I growled.
"Eat this! Usopp Spell! There are 10,000 razor blades beneath your fingers!"
"Gum-Gum...!" Luffy ran at Usopp but stopped short when he spit up some blood.
"Don't fall for that, Luffy!"
"Flash Dial!" A bright light appeared and blinded Luffy, and Usopp hit Luffy with an egg right after.
"Will you get serious?!" Luffy yelled at him.
"This is the way I fight!"
"Then I'll end you, you piece of crap! Whip Lash!" Something pricked my foot. "OWWW!"
"You need to look where you go! You stepped into Caltrop Hell! I will get the Going Merry no matter what!"
"Bastard," I groaned, pulling the spike out of my foot.
"Shuriken Shower!" Luffy and I were forced to dodge a barrage of blades being thrown at us.
"Hey, those are mine!" Ikki yelled from the ship.
What's that smell? sniff "Luffy, do you smell that?"
"I can't smell anything over this nasty egg. It's all rotten."
"I've surrounded you with gas."
Oh, crap!
"Flame Star!"
There was a huge explosion that shook even the ocean and knocked waves onto the shore. Luffy and I both got knocked to the ground by the shockwave.
"Crap, that was close," I mumbled. "Can we wrap this up, please?"
Luffy stood up and charged through the smoke. "Gum-Gum Gatling!"
Luffy hit one of Usopp's bullets midair and sent a hail of thorns at the two of us.
"Be careful, dammit!" I slid around him.
Usopp shot another hail of bullets at us, but I swept them away. "Go, Luffy!"
Luffy punched Usopp in the face and then shifted into another attack. "Gum-Gum Bazooka!"
The attack collided with Usopp's chest, and I jumped up to finish him off with my whips.
"That was an Impact Dial. Thank you for the contribution, Luffy. I'm sure Steve will love to feel what it's like to have you hit him," Usopp said, holding the dial in his hand.
I was falling toward the ground when Usopp's palm was placed in front of me. This is going to hurt. "Impact!"
I got hit and felt like my body exploded from the inside. I coughed up some blood and fell to the ground. "STEVE!" Luffy yelled.
I struggled but managed to get up. "Relax, Luffy, I'm fine. You maggot, making Luffy hit me! I'LL END YOU!"
I saw Luffy throw his hand back, and I followed suit with my whip.
"Gum-Gum Bullet!" "Whip Storm Front!"
That ended it. Our attacks hit, and Usopp fell to the ground in a lump.
"Why...?" I whispered.
"YOU KNEW YOU COULDN'T BEAT US!"
Luffy and I got up off the ground. "Do whatever you want with the Merry. We will get a new ship and press on. It was fun while it lasted, Usopp."
We walked back to the ship to get our things. I tried... I tried so damn hard, but I couldn't stop it... No matter what I did, the tears wouldn't stop pouring out of my eyes.
"That's what it is to be a captain," Zoro told us. "If you two can't make tough calls, then who can we put our trust in? Gather your things. We can never return to this ship."
I can't focus... I... No, I can't. Not now. I can't give in and make things worse.
We got all our stuff and made our way to a hotel in the city. Along the way, Luffy managed to calm down for a while. The walk was taken in silence, no one really sure what to say. Nami got us some rooms, and we all moved our stuff in. I didn't waste any time getting to bed. I had barely sat down when there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Luffy there.
"Come on in, pal."
I sat down on the bed, and he sat with me. He spent most of the night on my bed, crying his eyes out. I wanted to cry too, but right now, I needed to be strong. Zoro was right; if I can't be strong, no one can trust me.
First thing in the morning, we're getting the new ship, and I'm going to look for Robin. I'm sick of being weak. I need to prove I'm strong so the others won't have to worry and feel weak like Usopp. I need to protect them. I'll show Robin I'm strong. I'll show her she doesn't have to fear men like Aokiji.
I looked over and saw that a few hours had passed while I was lost in thought. It was late, and Luffy had fallen asleep on my bed. I grabbed a blanket and threw it over him. "I need to get stronger to protect you, too. I promised to never let you feel like that again. I need to be ready for anything."
I climbed into bed and pulled the comforter over myself, leaving a layer between Luffy and me.
"Good night, Luffy."
I will get stronger. I won't let something like this happen again.