The Knock-Up Stream:
-x-
"Where the heck are they?" Nami demanded as the Straw Hats as well as a heavily bandaged Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou stood on the shore beside Cricket's damaged house waiting for their Captain and First Mate to return. "I expected this sort of thing from Luffy but I thought Y/N would've gotten him back here on time. They were supposed to be here five minutes ago! We're going to miss the current!"
"Well, Y/N's usually on time," Usopp reasoned, "but now he's got Luffy and the gold weighing him down so I'd compensate and add about twenty minutes."
"Uggh..." Nami groaned in annoyance, "Why does that rubber idiot always insist on making everything ten-times harder?"
"The only schedule Luffy's concerned with is his own," Sanji said.
"You don't think someone in town beat them up do you?" Chopper questioned.
"Those two, no way," Zoro stated.
"What about that guy Bellamy?" Usopp asked. "He sounded pretty nasty."
Nami growled, "Well if Bellamy didn't beat them up then you better believe I will!"
"Oh is that right?" Zoro challenged her, "Tough girl. The only reason you or Bellamy could beat those two is because they wouldn't bother fighting back."
Cricket, Shoujou and Masira sat silently as the Straw Hats complained about their Captain.
"HEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" a loud familiar voice called out to them.
The Straw Hats turned in time to see Luffy and Y/N come rushing out of the Southern Forest on the back of a huge spider. Luffy was smiling and waving while Y/N held reigns made out of spider's own webbing.
"LOOK THERE!" Masira exclaimed. "They're back! I knew they'd make it!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Y/N apologized as they rode up on their giant spider. "The gold was weighing us down so we decided to take a shortcut through the forest. Without the South Birds sending swarms of giant bugs after us it wasn't so bad. We ran into this thing on the way and since we were a little worn out from sprinting all the way to Mock Town and halfway back we decided to convince it to give us a ride." No one failed to notice the large lump on the spider's head.
"You're still late!" Nami complained.
"By what? Five minutes?" Y/N questioned, "That falls under 'fashionably late' in my book." Luffy and Y/N jumped off of the spider's back. Y/N tossed the sack of gold to Cricket then turned to the spider, "Go." And the spider raced off back to the forest.
"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed, "AND LOOK AT WHAT I CAUGHT!" Luffy held up a bug. "It's a Hercules!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Usopp yelled.
"YOU STOPPED TO CATCH A BUG!" Nami screamed.
"No we didn't, I swear," Y/N assured her, "You have to have more faith in me than that. Luffy just reached off the side of the spider and grabbed it."
"WHOA!" Luffy gasped when he spotted the Going Merry. The upgrades added by the Saruyama Alliance included a pair of metal wings coming out of the starboard and port sides, a metal tail coming off the stern, a metal collar had been fastened around the base of the badly repaired figurehead at the bow along with a headband around the Going Merry's sheep head which added the red comb and waddle of a chicken. "THAT'S AWESOME!"
"Introducing the Going Merry: Flying Edition!" Usopp proudly announced.
"IT CAN FLYYY?" Luffy repeated with stars in his eyes.