Queen of the Pirates

Journey on Rocket Man

"Whoa! There it is!" Luffy grabs my other hand as he dances us around. "It's cool!"

I giggle, "It looks like a war ship but as a train!"

"First off, it's not a proper one!" Kokoro shouts as the rest of the group filters into the room. "The name's Rocket Man. It can't carry any passengers on it cause it's a runaway sea train."

"Runaway sea train!?" Luffy and Chopper's eyes are sparkling.

"The shark's head was just a joke, though."

"It looks fast and strong!" I exclaim.

"Wow!" Chimney jumps around with Gonbe.

Rocket Man is mostly unpainted other than the shark face on the front, and the first section is cone-shaped with the 'sharks' nose pointing the train forward. There's a grill to protect the front, and the whole thing seems to mostly be made of metal. Overall, if it can run, I think it will be perfect to get us to where we need to be.

Then the door to the engine car opens, revealing the reason for the door being open. Then the man walks out, revealing to us all the Iceburg thought the same as Kokoro.

"Hey!" I pull one hand out of Luffy's hold to wave at the man. "How are you feeling, Mr. Iceburg!?"

"It's Ice-ossan!" Luffy adds.

"Straw Hat, so you were safe, just like the pirate girlies said," Iceburg steps onto the platform with a briefcase in his hand. He's also wearing a white bandana. "Kokoro-san, you brought them here?"

"I see you're still alive, Iceburg," Kokoro says. "What're you doing here?"

"If I'm here, I must've had the same idea you had," he grins. "We can't just leave idiots be."

Kokoro laughs at his statement.

Iceburg takes a seat on some boxes, clearly tired from whatever work he was doing inside Rocket Man. "Use it. I've prepared if for you. It has water and coal, so it's gathering steam now."

"Ossan prepared it for us!" Luffy cheers.

"Celebrate after you survive," Iceburg pulls his bandana off. "The Rocket Man is a failed prototype that was built before the Puffing Tom. No matter how you adjust the steam rate, you just can't slow it down, so you'll easily lose control. I can't guarantee your safety."

"It wouldn't be an adventure if there wasn't a little threat of danger," I chuckle.

"Thanks, Ice-ossan!" Luffy smiles. "Yeah, let's go guys! Get on!" He pulls me with him as he heads for the seatrain's door. "Let's go as soon as Nami gets here!"

We make it up the steps, but right at the top, Luffy collapses to a knee as his whole body is uncontrollably shaking. I crouch down with him, forcing him to lean onto me.

"I've got you Luff, so you don't have to push yourself," I whisper.

"Luffy, are you okay!?" Chopper blurts out. "You've been wobbly for a while now."

"He's lost too much blood," Zoro says.

"And the wave sapped him of energy that should have gone to healing," I add.

"Yeah, I can't maintain my strength right now," Luffy groans. "If only I had some meat."

"Don't worry, I think that is going to be fixed soon," I help Luffy to his feet.