Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 21: The Treasure of Dreams

Chapter 21: The Treasure of Dreams

"How the hell are we even supposed to open this without the key?", Carina asked, examining the cage filled with gold.

Nami and Sanji stood next to her as the three tried to figure out what to do.

Zoro was still on Mad Treasure's ship, unconscious. The wound in his side had been rather serious and it'd taken longer than Carina would have liked to stitch him up. She'd stitched up the other two, as well, and wrapped Nami in so much gauze she looked like a mummy. Overkill? Maybe, but she wasn't taking any chances. The orangette probably shouldn't have been walking on her injured foot but, regardless of what she said, the girl just wouldn't stay put... She couldn't do anything for Sanji's bloody clothes but he didn't have anything else to wear, so, he wore his dyed-red undershirt open and showing his muscular wrapped chest underneath. He still had on his shredded black slacks as well.

A groan came from the boy lying in the cage, "I don't know! I can't even break the stupid bars! And I'm really strong!".

Carina scoffed turning her head to the orangette at her side, looking for confirmation of the claim, and found the space empty.

"I don't care how! Someone get this damn cage open!", desperately yelled Nami, berri symbols in her eyes as she scrambled to reach through the stone bars and get her paws on all the gold sitting behind them.

"No treasure until I'm out!", Luffy yelled softly slapping at the orange-haired girl's reaching arms. He would do literally ANYTHING to get out of the cage. Even keep treasure away from his pretty friend.

"LUFFY! SHOVEL IT THROUGH THE BARS! NOW!", the orangette frantically begged. There was so much. It had to be more than enough...

The straw-hatted boy stood his ground, crossing his arms and turning away from her, "No! I want out!".

"LUFFY! STOP BEING AN IDIOT!", Nami screamed, "GIMME THAT DAMN TREASURE!".

"NO!", the boy screamed back.

Sanji looked over at Carina while they listened to the two scream at each other. "Should we do something?", he asked. He'd never seen Nami like this before...

The violette shrugged. Unless they found the key somewhere, they weren't getting inside the cage and if that was the case, it looked like they weren't getting the treasure either. It didn't help that she had no idea where it could be. She assumed Mad Treasure had it but... With his body 'exploded', as Luffy so elegantly put it, she had no idea what may have happened to it.

"SHUT! THE HELL! UP!", an angry voice echoed through the large space.

The yelling stopped as all heads turned to the gem-encrusted boat at the end of the dock.

Zoro huffed angrily, slowly hobbling his way out of the doctor's quarters and shoving his katanas into his belly warmer. He held his new sword in his hands, deciding what to do with it before shrugging and sliding it into his haramaki beside the other two like he had. He'd look for the blade's sheath after they got Luffy out of the cage but he wasn't too worried. If he couldn't find it, he'd just carry the sword without one. It would mean he'd need to care for it more often than the others but he didn't mind. He enjoyed caring for his katanas.

With his predicament sorted out, the swordsman made his way to the ramp leading to the dock. The swordsman had been having wonderful dreams of blades and booze when two VERY loud voices intruded on the peaceful reality. He abruptly woke to a very sore body and the voices hadn't made him feel any better about it.

"What the hell are you two yelling about?", Zoro asked, stumbling his way down the ramp. His feet found the dock and he started in the direction of the group standing in front of the cage, examining himself along the way. He pretty much had wrappings covering everything which didn't surprise him. That had been quite the fight... Zoro smirked to himself, bringing his hand into his vision. He'd grown again... He'd actually used it... The power that Luffy had told him about back then. And… He looked down at the white-hilted katana resting in his belly warmer, curiosity in his eyes.