Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 24: Time Flies, Part Two

Chapter 24: Time Flies, Part Two

"Hey, Luffy.", Usopp said as he sat on a bench beside the slightly younger teen.

Zoro had gone to find booze somewhere in town and the two were waiting for him to get back, which they both knew could take a while.

"Where's Levi gonna go when we head to the Grandline?", he curiously asked. The long-nosed boy didn't even really know how getting into the Grandline worked. He'd heard that you had to enter through a place called Reverse Mountain, but he had no idea what that entailed... Or where it was for that matter...

"What do you mean?! He's coming with us!", replied Luffy, incredulously, his hat covering his face. He wasn't just gonna leave his friend all by his lonesome there in the East Blue!

"That might be kind of hard. I'm pretty sure the current on Reverse Mountain would rip your friend Levi to pieces.".

"What the heck! No way! Levi's way strong! He can take some currents just fine.", the teen pouted through his hat.

"I'm sure he's very strong, however, the currents on Reverse Mountain are, very likely, stronger.".

"No!", huffed Luffy, childishly.

"Alright then, how about this? If you're expecting him to pull you between islands, he won't be able to. Sea creatures from the blues don't do well on the Grandline. They lack the necessary traits that would enable them to navigate its waters.".

The black-haired boy continued to pout, "Well, I don't care! Levi is coming with me! We're buddies! I can't just leave him!". Sun hit his eyes, unexpectedly, as his hat was lifted from his face. "What the heck, Usopp! Gimme back my hat!", he demanded, squinting to look at his friend. When his vision cleared, his eyes were met by the image of Usopp with two hands growing out of his shoulders and covering his mouth. Two more hands, growing out of his stomach, were holding his arms in place, and yet another set kept his feet firmly rooted to the ground.

Luffy's eyes turned to stars, "Woah! Usopp! I didn't know you had more than two hands! Where the heck have you been hiding those?!". A laugh from behind made him turn, his eyes meeting a beautiful black-haired woman.

The woman was tall and slender but curvy in, what most would say, all the right places. She had straight shoulder-length black hair that was cut into bangs at the front and tan skin covering her from head to toe. Her eyes were a deep blue, the thin iris wrapping around a large black pupil, and Luffy thought they were beautiful to look at.

On her head, she wore a white cowboy hat that matched a long but thin white fur coat hanging on her shoulders. Underneath, she wore a long-sleeved purple shirt with a modest collar and a matching short skirt. The long tan legs under the skirt led down to more purple in the form of a pair of heels. Jewelry-wise, the boy didn't see much, other than a golden band on her arm that had the black letters 'BW' stamped into it.

"Like what you see?", she asked with a teasing smile, uncrossing the hands in front of her chest and dropping them back down to her sides.

Usopp's screaming immediately burst into the air as the hands growing from his body dissolved into flower petals. He stood up and immediately began to run for his life. That had been one of the scariest experiences of his life. One second he'd been about to reply and the next, arms were growing out of his body where they weren't supposed to. He may be a big bounty hunter now, but that kind of stuff wasn't normal and it was SCARY.

The woman giggled at the reaction and waited for the black-haired boy to say something, spinning his straw hat on her finger.

"I'd appreciate it if you gave me my hat back.", insisted Luffy, seriously. He didn't know who this person was and he didn't like it when strangers touched his treasure. Even if she did have a really cool power.