Steel Heart

Ch 42 - Weapons Testing

Nana pulled her metal glove over her hand and flexed her fingers to loosen the newly upgraded joints. She fitted a screwdriver into the base of the palm and started to adjust the bolts connecting the dial to her wrist. She held out her palm and turned the dial to its lowest setting.

"Repel," she murmured as she aimed it at a metal waste basket she had placed at her feet.

The basket shot across the floor, knocking over her messenger bag and flying out the door with a loud clang when it landed a few feet away.

"Well," Nana grunted as she closed her fingers into a fist and turned the glove off. "At least I know I can save us from incoming trash cans..."

She pressed her fist against her forehead and she took a deep breath. After the events at Thriller Bark...after meeting Kuma...she knew that having a magnetic glove wasn't enough. His power could repel anything while hers was only useful against metal.

She gritted her teeth. Ever since Sanji's pep talk Nana had spent over a week upgrading her weapons like crazy. Her hammer had new features, her waterboard could now automatically switch to land mode with just a press of a button, and even her metal glove had some improvements but it still wasn't enough. Nana just knew something was missing. But what?

She opened her eyes and she glanced over at her messenger bag. Some of it's contents had spilled onto the floor. She walked toward it and started to put the things back in. She stopped when she noticed the two Sea Prism Stone handcuffs she had taken from Enies Lobby. She picked them up and dangled them in front of her face. What if...?

Her eyes widened and she ran out of her room. She barrelled through the ship and climbed up to the Observation Deck. She found Robin sitting quietly on a bench by the window, thumbing through a history book. Nana rushed past her nakama and started to quickly scan through the many books in the library. "Come on...come on...come on..." she muttered to herself.

"What are you looking for, Weaponsmith?" Robin asked politely, not glancing up from her book, "Maybe it's something I can help with. I've read most of the books in here already."

Nana looked over at the archaeologist. "There should be some of my books in here about mechanics. Do you know where they'll be?"

Robin closed her book and casually pointed at the shelf at the opposite end of the room. "I believe all instructional books are over there. Right now you're standing in front of all the fiction books. I think that shelf in particular is the romance one."

"Thanks, Robin," Nana said as she dashed to the correct shelf, "Okay...Let's see...Principles of Structural Steel...Fundamentals of Steam Mechanics...Mechanics of Materials! YES!" She slid a thick, leather bound book from the shelf and hugged it tightly to her chest.

Robin smiled at how much the book pleased the mechanic. "You found what you are looking for, Weaponsmith?"

"I hope so," Nana grinned excitedly, "I really hope so."

----------

It had been days since the Straw Hats had seen Nana outside of meals and when she had to take over the night watch. Even then, she would rush back into her room as soon as it was over. The good thing was that the weather had been clear the entire time and they hadn't run into any trouble so there was no need to disturb her. However, the captain was in desperate need for some disturbance.

"Gah, this is boring!" Luffy complained as he sat on the railing with a fishing pole. Chopper, Usopp, and Brook sat silently next to him with their own fishing gear, "Where's Nana? Let's use her fishing cannon! OYYYY! NANA!"