Memories [A One Piece Fanfiction]

Chapter 3 - Messages

" You ready? "

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"Let's see here..." Zack mumbled to himself as he leaned against one of the intact buildings of Enies Lobby, "Chopper is on a rampage, Zoro and Sogeking aka Ussop as well as Kaku and Jabra have stopped fighting, no winners there, Sanji's currently out of commission for the time being, Nami won the battle with Kalifa." The male lit a cigarette and took a long drag on it, "Fukuro, down. Kumadori, down. Blueno, down. Lucci and Luffy's fight has begun. Well, guess my best bet for message sending is gonna be Kalifa as she's immobile but conscious."
Quickly, Zack headed for Kalifa's location as his appearance changed into a woman with long black hair and a turquoise streak in her bangs. She wandered up to Kalifa, kneeling down as the blonde's eyes widened and her name parted her lips, "Zander..." "You're going to send a message for me. Stay away from the Straw Hats," Zander smirked as she stepped on Kalifa's wrist. Kalifa yelped in pain as she slowly nodded. Zander just huffed and walked away from Kalifa, changing back into Zack. Quickly, she headed for the Gates Of Justice, joining her crew as they boarded the Going Merry for the final time.
Sanji then looked towards Zack as they arrived back at Water 7, "Where were you the entire time on Enies Lobby?" "Lurking in the shadows," Zack smiled, giving Sanji a thumbs up. "And you didn't think to tell us that?! Everyone was helpful except for you!" Sanji yelled at Zack. "You mean like you Mr. Bubbles," Zack teased, pointing out how useless Sanji was against Kalifa. Sanji attempted to kick Zack off the ship but Zack simply jumped around while laughing.

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It had been at least two days since the fight at Enies Lobby and Zack sat in the window of the room the Straw Hats were staying in, watching Nami yell at Luffy for sleep eating. The boy smiled at Luffy's sleeping form before peering out the window to see Garp and some marines wandering up. Zack simply smiled at Garp, who had seen him in the window, putting his finger to his lips as Zack gives a thumbs up. Zack watched as a wall was busted down and the fighting between Luffy and Garp began.

"It's been awhile," Garp smiled at Luffy, "I think you owe me an apology, boy. You've been up to no good." The older man's eyes then fell upon Zack, "Especially with that one involved." That's when the mutters of astonishment could be heard from the group of marines outside, all surprised that Garp and Luffy were related. "Yo, old man," Zack smiled simply, raising a hand to wave. Garp simply grunted in response then turned back to the rest of the Straw Hats. "Garp?!" Nami interjected, "but, isn't that the name of the navy hero who fought against Rodger?" Que the astonished grunts from everyone. "Luffy. Is this Navy guy really your grandpa?" Sanji asked. "Sure is. But, don't try to fight him," Luffy confirmed as more tension filled the cool air, "He'll kill you just like he almost killed me over and over when I was little." 'Surprised he doesn't have brain damage from all of the times Garp hit him,' Zander thought to herself.

"Now, now, you're gonna give them the wrong idea," Garp began, "Although I do admit, I did throw you into that ravine that one time. And I left you in the jungle a few times, too. And, sure, there were those times when I sent you sailing on those balloons. But, I didn't do it to kill you, I did it to make you a man." "I see. So this is where all of Luffy's endurance comes from. This is why everything rolls off him," Sanji interjected. "When I left you and Ace with my friend when I went out for training, I thought everything would work out fine," Garp continued, ignoring Sanji's commentary while sighing in disappointment, "But I turn my back and you end up like this. I wanted to make you a Navy man, you stinkin' ingrate! How the heck did you become a criminal?!" "I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES I WANTED TO BE A PIRATE! IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Luffy yelled. "This is all that damn red head's fault! The fool!" "I- I wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for Shanks! Shut up!" Luffy retorted before Garp grabbed his grandson by the collar as his fist was raise to bring Luffy more pain, "'Shut up', huh?! Is that any way to speak to your grandpa?!" "Alright, fine!" "WE'RE ALL DONE FOR!" Chopper yelled, beginning to freak out, "OUR CAPTAIN'S BEEN CAPTURED BY THE MARINES!" "Luffy!" Nami gasped. Luffy began to struggle while in Garp's grasp, pleading for help from his grandfather. "This is bad... If we try and help Luffy, all those marines outside are gonna try and attack us," Sanji said before both Garp and Luffy fell asleep. "THEY'RE ASLEEP?!" everyone yelled incredulously. "Uh, so wait, what are we supposed to do here?" Franky asked, "I've never been in a situation like this before." "Just wait for it," Zack smiled to his crew, never moving from his spot. Garp soon woke up with a grunt, "Oh, no. Did I fall asleep again?" Garp then took notice of his sleeping grandson and proceeded to punch him out of anger, "Wake up and take your lecture like a man! Don't you dare doze off on me while I'm yelling at you!" Luffy's screams of pain ensued as the older Marine gave him a proper beating, "If you won't show your grandfather some respect, I'll have to beat it outta you!" Zack then took notice of Ussop at the window beside him but ignored him as he watched Luffy sit on the floor in pain, holding the lumps on his head. "Speaking of that red headed pirate friend of yours, do you have any idea what kind of dangerous business he's involved in!" Garp lectured. "No... I haven't heard anything about Shanks in a long time. Is he okay? What's he up to?" "Is he okay? Of course," Garp began, "There's as many pirates out there as there are stars in the sky, but that red head's one of the brightest; he's in the same class as Whitebeard even. There are only four pirates as powerful as that and they rule over the second half of the Grand Line. Like kings! They're the four emperors. The seven warlords and us folks at the navy have allied against them. The idea is to create a balance of power. If anyone of these forces grows stronger than the other, then the peace we worked so hard to protect would come crumbling down." "I... don't really get it... but I'm glad he's okay," Luffy smiled, taking his signature straw hat in his hand, "Man, brings back memories, huh?" "Luffy has connections to Red Haired Shanks?" Robin asked Nami. "That's where he got his straw hat from," Nami explained, "Shanks asked him to take care of it. I had no idea he was such an important guy though." That's when a commotion erupted from outside and Zoro seemed to be fighting the marines as Garp instructed two of his members to 'give him hell'. Zack simply watched in amusement as Luffy and Zoro stopped the Garp's men to which Garp let out a laugh. The pair introduced themselves as Coby and Helmepo to which Zoro and Luffy were shocked by, slightly. The rest of the crew simply watched the interaction. 'I'm running out of time before I have to reveal who I am. Damn, and this was getting all sorts of fun, too,' Zander thought to herself as Garp commanded his men to fix the wall he broke though they ended up convincing Garp to help them. It wasn't long before the brief peace turned into shock as everyone found out who Luffy's father was, even Zander was surprised by this news. Maybe she'd find out more soon...