Lizz didn't really talk much about herself or her past, so Luffy didn't really learn much about her but he found her to be quite interesting. She had this weird quirk where she would sometimes use 'We' or 'us' instead of 'I' or 'me', which intrigued him and made him wonder if she was royalty.
Apart from that, she had taken quite a bit of a liking to Nami as she kept trying to talk to her and her face would light up with joy whenever Nami laughed. 'Probably starved for her sister's smile' he concluded.
He was curious to learn more about her and he couldn't wait for wherever they were going. Balloon couldn't really tell how far someone was, so they had no idea how long it would take but thankfully, the first clue to the whereabouts of Silk and Ann, along with the rest of the villagers, came just a few hours later in the form of shouts of 'Help! help!' and they saw it was coming from a small boy who was drowning in the sea a bit further away near a rock cropping.
"A kid is drowning!" Lizz yelled as she immediately started rowing her dinghy towards the kid while Luffy did the same too but he was confused as he sensed another presence hiding behind a rock just near the drowning kid, and the kid also wasn't giving any feelings of despair either. It hit him too late that it was a trap.
"Lizz, wait!" he yelled but Lizz was ahead of them and already very close to the kid. When she got close enough, a net suddenly ascended from under her dinghy entrapping her as it got pulled up by a pulley, and Lizz, Balloon and her dinghy hung in the air as Lizz scowled irritably. Soon, a boat showed up from behind a rock and a lone man was standing on it looking at the trapped Lizz with a smirk. The kid who was drowning also stopped pretending like he was drowning and climbed up the side of the boat beaming with pride.
"Good work, Akisu!" the man praised. He was wearing cargo pants and a brown jacket and looked like a treasure hunter.
"Easy victory! It was a piece of cake! Idiots like these are easy to trick," the kid called Akisu grinned throwing up a peace sign. He was also wearing similar clothes and looked like a treasure hunter.
"The kid was pretending?" Nami huffed.
"You all! We are the Thief brothers! I'm Borodo!" the man said with a flourish while pointing a gun at Luffy.
"And I'm Akisu!" the kid introduced himself with a smug smile. "Don't make a move and hand over all your treasure, otherwise your friend u-"
Their threat stopped short when Lizz's boat fell back down into the sea and a scowling Lizz pointed a dagger at Borodo. She had just cut the ropes easily and the man and the child got scared looking at her angry expression.
"D-don't try anything!" the kid yelled at Lizz getting into a defensive stance. "This is Borodo! The man who will steal the Diamond clock and become the greatest thief in the world!" he said with a huge flourish pointing at the man.
"Did you just say Diamond Clock?!" Nami suddenly gasped with excitement.
"What's that?" Makino asked.
"It's the finest jewel and the greatest artifact ever created!" Nami explained excitedly, "The most valuable clock in the world!"
While that was happening, Luffy was racking his brain as to why this seemed familiar to him and when the kid said 'Diamond Clock', it finally hit him. 'Clockwork Island!'
It was a movie that was set in East Blue which Leo had seen once a long time ago and he didn't even remember the plot. As far as he recalled, there was an island called Clockwork Island which is taken over by a pirate. Luffy and the others go to said island, beat the pirate and save the island. He didn't even remember who the antagonists were.
Luffy was brought out of his thoughts when Akisu started screaming as Lizz jumped onto their boat while Borodo stood bravely in front of her but from his eyes, one could tell that he was really scared.
Lizz also seemed to notice that, and with a sigh, put her daggers back and jumped back on her own dinghy while saying "You guys are too pathetic…"
Borodo sighed softly in relief while Akisu screamed at her while hiding behind Borodo, telling her to take her words back and calling her chicken.
"Let's go, Luffy" Lizz said not even bothering to look at the two brothers.
"No wait!" Nami hastily yelled and then got the attention of the two brothers, "You guys know where the Diamond Clock is?!"
Before the two could answer, Lizz sighed in irritation. She could see the desire for the supposed valuable clock in Nami'seyes and concluded that Luffy and the others would also want it. "I don't have time for this," she said before looking gratefully at Luffy, "Thanks for rescuing Balloon, Luffy. You guys can go after that clock… We'll go our separate ways here, I need to find Ann as fast as possible"
"Lizz wait!" Luffy stopped her before quickly looking at the man. "If we go in this direction, will we go to Clockwork Island?" he asked pointing in the direction Balloon was pointing.
"Y-Yes!" Borodo stuttered.
"Did a ship come by here around four days ago carrying lots of people?"
"Oi! Who are you to ask questions huh?!" Akisu raged while Borodo tried to hold him back and answered.
"A huge ship did come by, but I'm not sure about the people"
"You think Ann was taken to this Clock island?" Lizz asked more interested now that she knew Ann could be there.
"Looks like it yeah"
"And what's Clockwork Island?" Makino asked.
"I've only heard rumours," Nami answered, "They say it's a floating island, so any story about it is a total myth. It supposedly has the Diamond Clock, but again, it's just stories"
"A floating island?" Zoro said skeptically. "It's probably just a story then"
"It's not just stories!" Borodo interjected, "Clockwork Island and the surrounding areas have been taken over by the Trump Siblings. They are a group of nefarious pirates who terrorize everyone and force people on the island to build weapons for them. Anyone entering this part of the sea is killed or kidnapped by them, so it only exists as stories"
"Do they kidnap people from other villages too?" Makino asked.
"I-I'm not sure…here," he said and handed all the bounty posters of the pirate crew. There was Boo Jack, Honey Queen, Skunk One, Pin Joker and Bear King.
"They have a card theme going on…" Zoro muttered and Balloon started to suddenly squawk.
"What is it, Balloon?" Lizz asked and Balloon seemed to be saying something. He covered his mouth with his wings and breathed heavily through it.
"Gas mask?" Lizz guessed and Balloon nodded before pointing at his forehead and making a heart symbol. That had Lizzstumped and Luffy wondered just what he was saying.
He remembered Balloon telling them about how the third group who had gassed the people in the town had distinct marks and made the connection. "Are you trying to tell us what the distinct mark was on the group who gassed the people back in the town?"
Balloon happily nodded and drew a heart mark again, followed by a diamond shape.
"Card symbols," Zoro said realizing and they all looked at the posters again. Each pirate had a card symbol - Heart, Diamond, Spade and Clubs.
"Okay, that just confirms the fact that it was in fact these pirates that kidnapped the entire town," Lizz concluded before turning to the two brothers. "How far is that island from here?"
"Just a couple of hours," Borodo answered. "We can take you there if you want. We also have business there so we could even team up!"
"No need. We have Balloon," Lizz said and dismissed them.
"No! You won't get there by yourself!" Borodo argued, "There are multiple sea currents that push any boat away from the island. If you don't know the correct path, then it'll take days before you even see the island. I can take you there in less than four hours!"
"And why would I trust a lying thief?" Lizz scoffed dismissing him but Luffy intervened.
"It's okay. Leah the way, guys"
Lizz muttered a string of curses under her breath (which amused Luffy a lot) but sighed and didn't say anything as the thief brothers started leading the way.
"Okay, good! Get us there as fast as possible!" Nami piped up excitedly.
"Yes!"
"Hey! Don't order us around!" Akisu yelled in protest but went ignored.
"I can't believe we found the whereabouts of Clockwork Island!" Nami muttered to herself excitedly, "I can get the Diamond Clock!" 'That would be worth more than 100 million by itself! I can finally be free!'
Zoro rolled his eyes at the almost obsessive gleam in her eyes and went to sit next to Luffy and Makino who were talking with Lizz.
"At least it's good news," Luffy said trying to appease Lizz.
"Good news? Why?" Zoro asked confused.
"It's just some pirates who have kidnapped them…" Lizz answered, "And it just looks like they use them as labour"
"Not slave traders or some World Government organization," Makino continued giving a sad look which didn't go unnoticed by Zoro and Lizz.
They made small conversations as they sailed, Nami being very excited and Lizz staring at her happy excited face from time to time. Luffy observed it all as he analyzed her, something about her making him very interested in her.
Just a couple of hours later, they suddenly saw four huge pirate ships show up on the horizon.
"It's the Trump Siblings!" Borodo yelled terrified after noticing the Jolly Roger on the sails. It was the face of a teddy bear with the four card symbols around it.
"What's wrong with pirates in this region? This guy's got a card and Bear theme. Buggy has a clown theme," Lizz sighed exasperatedly causing the others to splutter out a laugh.
"We met pirates with a bulldog theme recently" Makino added amused.
"Oh, the strangest I met were themed after skunks," Zoro added with an amused smile, "They used bad smells as a weapon."
Lizz, Makino and Luffy burst out laughing at that when Nami, Borodo and Akisu yelled at the three.
"Hey! Dumbasses! We need to get away from here!" Nami yelled.
"Yes! Do you not see the four ships?!" Akisu snapped.
"They have at least 50 pirates on each ship!" Borodo added, "We need to hide now!"
Lizz and Luffy exchanged a look as if asking what the other one wanted to do and grinned in unison when they didn't even see a trace of fear in the other's eyes.
"It's okay. Calm down" Luffy answered causing Zoro to smirk with an approving nod, Makino to just smile, and the other three to panic more.
"What are you guys called?" Lizz asked continuing the topic from before.
"Do we even have a name yet?" Zoro asked only theme realizing that they had no name or even a Jolly Roger.
Luffy grinned wide as he pointed at his hat and declared, "We're the Strawhat Pirates!"
"Wait what?" Zoro said confused.
Nami also heard that and her panic got replaced by confusion. "You're naming the crew after a hat?"
"Yep! This is my most prized treasure," Luffy explained while also realizing that he hadn't told them about his hat yet.
"Wait, that hat?" Nami asked quizzically wondering if there was a treasure map hidden in it but what Luffy said next made her realize that it was a sentimental treasure.
"I made a promise to the man who gave me this hat that I'll become the greatest pirate, the Pirate King, and then return it to him…"
"Your dream is to become the Pirate King?" Lizz asked surprised and also a hint of something Luffy couldn't understand yet.
"Yep!"
"I see…" She nodded while her face remained stoic and she looked like she was trying to hold something back. Physically hold something back, which didn't make sense to him. Yet.
"Hey! We should be rowing away as fast as we can!" Borodo yelled getting frustrated at their lack of fear as the ships came closer, "We'll hide and proceed when they leave. We can't take on four pirate ships!"
Nami also realized the danger they were in and sighed in exasperation as Luffy had again somehow made her forget the danger and made her let her guard down.
"It's fine," Makino placated the two brothers, "Don't worry"
Meanwhile, Luffy kept liking Lizz more and more. "Hey Lizz, what's your dream?" he asked suddenly causing Lizz to look at him questioningly.
"Why the sudden question?"
"Just curious"
Lizz stayed silent for a couple of seconds before answering, "I just want to save my sister"
Luffy pouted slightly at not getting a straight answer but Lizz eyed him with some strange gaze Luffy couldn't quite place. "I knew an idiot once who had the same dream as yours," she said wistfully and turned her gaze to the approaching ships, "And the World crushed their spirit and broke their dream…"
Before he could ask further, the four ships had come close enough that they could see each other. Luffy tore his gaze away from Lizz's sad look, intending to follow it up later, and turned his attention to the biggest of the four ships. The crow's nest stood out like a sore thumb as it looked like it had been converted into a pool. A blonde woman was bathing, completely naked, in the open crownest-turned-outdoor pool looking completely relaxed like she didn't have a care in the world. He recognized the blonde woman from her poster - Honey Queen.
Another man jumped up on the railing, who he recognized as Boo Jack. He was a rotund man with a pig-like face and the clothes along with the furry cap he wore were also pig themed.
"Oh? Who might you be?" Honey Queen asked lazily looking over from her pool.
"Where are all the villagers you kidnapped from Flint four days ago?" Luffy yelled getting straight to the point.
"Hahaha! So, you guys are here to rescue them, are you?" Boo Jack asked with a smug look.
"Where are they?!" Lizz growled angrily. Honey Queen and Boo Jack looked at her carefully, exchanged a look and burst out laughing.
"Oh my god, you actually came!" Honey drawled with amusement.
"Huh? You know me?"
"Your little sister- Ann right? You look kinda similar"
Lizz's eyes widened with shock. "Wh-what have you done to her?"
"Don't worry. Bear King has taken quite a liking to her and wants to marry her," Honey drawled and the atmosphere suddenly got very heavy as Lizz grew furious. Still, she kept a composed attitude as she stared at them to get more information first. "If you have done anything to her, I will personally make sure to make your lives a living hell!"
"Hahaha! As funny as it would be to see you try, you should be grateful that Bear King hasn't done anything to her…Yet" Jack answered cackling.
"Bear King wants to first marry her and another girl before he starts doing this and that to them," Honey drawled seductively, "But Ann said that her sister will come and rescue her soon, so Bear King gave her a five-day ultimatum. If her sister doesn't show up by then, then he'll force her to marry him regardless of her wishes. And tonight is the wedding"
"Hahah! And now you're here… we can't have you scurrying around now, ca-" he suddenly paused when his eyes fell on Nami. "Oh my, what's this now? There's another girl here who fits Bear King's taste!"
"Really?" Honey said before peeking over and observing Nami too, "You're right. Let's take this one too"
"The fuck you will!" Nami snapped bringing her shock staff out.
"HAHAHA! You will also be Bear King's bride!" Jack laughed, "MEN! ATTACK!"
The pirates on the four pirate ships cheered and started brandishing swords as they prepared for a fight. Unbothered by the number of attacking pirates, Lizz let out a soft sigh of relief knowing that her sister was relatively safe.
"Hey, now it's getting fun," Zoro smirked taking out his swords as he saw the multitude of pirates coming at them.
"You suicidal bastards…" Nami sighed.
"You can say that again!" Borodo and Akisu yelled extremely terrified.
"Shishishi looks like you can blow off some steam"
"Yep!" Lizz said as she jumped to the side of one of the ships while carrying Balloon and smirked looking back at Luffy and Zoro. "See you up there!"
"There are almost 200 people!" Borodo yelled shocked, "How can you call th-"
"Oh shut up will you" Zoro sighed as he scaled the side of the ship while Luffy grabbed Makino and followed him with a grin and with an exasperated sigh, so did Nami. The thief brothers exchanged glances and not wanting to be alone on the boat, followed after them too.
The pirates started attacking even before they made it to the deck and Lizz, Luffy and Zoro took everyone out causally while Nami hung back a bit but still took out anyone that got close to her. The thief brothers struggled against them but they were more awed by the strength shown by the others. The pirates from the other ships were swinging over to their ship to attack them too, and even then, they were no match.
"You two want to see me fight huh?" Lizz smirked when she noticed that Luffy and Zoro were more curiously watching her rather than fighting themselves.
"Yes!" Luffy excitedly answered while Zoro nodded.
"Well, in that case," she grinned as she swung to an adjacent ship. Luffy, with Makino on his back, stood in place while taking out anyone that came close to him and observed her fight.
Lizz first started punching people left and right as she landed taking each one out quite easily. She didn't use her daggers though and kept brawling with everyone. When a lot of pirates surrounded her from all sides, she smirked before another Lizz suddenly phased out from inside her!
Luffy's eyes widened in amazement as there were now two Lizzs fighting. The second Lizz was identical to the first one in appearance with the only difference being that the second Lizz was wearing shorts rather than full-length pants. But the battling technique was different as Lizz Two seemed more proficient in using leg fighting as she only used her legs to fight.
A third Lizz suddenly popped out from the original Lizz and the new one was wearing the same clothes as the original one but she was carrying an extra bag. Lizz Three started pulling out bombs from the bag she had and started tossing them everywhere and blowing the ship up while laughing maniacally. She bombarded the ship with bombs as she kept pulling more out of her bag, not even caring that the other two Lizzs were getting caught up in the explosions too. The original Lizz and Lizz Two punch smacked the Bomb Lizz while reprimanding her for carelessly blowing stuff up but Bomb Lizz just continued laughing like she was having the time of her life.
"What the hell am I looking at?" Zoro muttered completely bewildered at the events unfolding on the other ship.
"Good, so I'm not the only one seeing this then…" Nami breathed equally dumbstruck.
"That," Makino commented with a smile, "is your proof of a devil fruit."
Both their eyes widened with realization. "So they're real…" / "My god…"
Meanwhile, Luffy had stars shining in his eyes as he watched her fight. "She's so cool!"
"KAHAHAHAHA!" Bomb Lizz's loud maniacal laughter made the pirates on that ship terrified out of their minds. The ones not caught up in an explosion or beaten up by the first two Lizz's jumped ship, just as it blew up in a blazing fury as Bomb Lizz had just dropped a bigger bomb on it.
The three Lizzs jumped back on the ship Luffy was on, while he looked with shining eyes at the three Lizzs.
"That! Was! So! Cool!" Luffy yelled running up to each one and studying them carefully.
"More like messy!" Lizz Two snapped glaring at Bomb Lizz.
"KAHAHAHAHA I LOVE BLOWING STUFF UP!" Bomb Lizz exclaimed with a crazed expression on her face as she stared at the sinking blown-up ship proudly.
"Okay idiots, get back inside," Lizz One said and the two phased back inside her, while Luffy and the rest gawked.
"What fruit is that?! That's so cool!"
"Kahahaha I'll explain later," Lizz laughed just as Boo Jack came barreling into them hoping to get them by a surprise attack but the two jumped back to dodge. He actually curled himself into a ball and rolled around while his cape had spikes on it, so he was basically a spiked ball that rolled around and attacked everyone.
"How dare you destroy our ship?!" he snarled angrily again rolling and coming at them. Lizz side-stepped him and just as he passed by her, a hand phased out of her torso and lodged a bomb right inside the balled-up man. A second later, the bomb exploded and a smoking Boo Jack got launched into the sky and fell into the sea.
Luffy and the rest looked at the hand sticking out of her torso that was giving the middle finger to Jack in amazement, shock and wonder just as it phased back inside her and Lizz smirked seeing their reactions.
"That's crazy…" Nami muttered dumbstruck.
"That's insane!" Akisu yelled, him and his brother being speechless.
Before anything more could be said, they were interrupted again, this time by Honey Queen. "YOU ASSHOLES! HOW DARE YOU HURT JACK?! MEN, ATTACK!" she yelled at the other pirates on the still standing two ships.
"Why is she naked?" Makino asked the question that was on everyone's minds.
"Follows a nudist lifestyle maybe?" a mouth that phased out of Lizz's arm said before laughing maniacally.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Zoro commented staring at the mouth phasing back inside.
"Me neither," Nami agreed.
"Are you guys just gonna keep gawking and letting me outdo you?" Lizz smirked and Luffy grinned rising up to the challenge.
"Let me show you what I can do!" Luffy said and immediately went to the main mast of the ship. He quite easily grabbed and broke it off, causing the makeshift pool at the crow's nest to break and Honey Queen fell down screaming. He expected her to just fall to the deck, but what happened made him freeze as Honey Queen quite literally splattered on the deck like a piece of jello getting squashed.
Nami let out a scream thinking that the blonde woman got squished somehow but it wasn't blood that was spilling out of her body but a pink sludge. Honey Queen seemed to be made out of a pink sludge and only then did everyone realize that she was a devil fruit user too.
"I think that explains why she's naked," Luffy said as he watched her body reform from a pink sludge into a human again.
"You!" Honey snarled hatefully at Luffy but Lizz just threw another bomb at her. She screamed as it blew up in her face and at the same time, the pirates from the other two ships also started swinging over, so Luffy went on to do what he originally planned to do with the mast. He used it like a sword and literally cleaved one of the ships in two before doing the same thing to the other ship, taking out almost all of the pirates. Any remaining pirates who were still conscious gave up after witnessing that.
While he took out the two ships, Zoro took care of the pirates on their ship by just slashing and throwing them off the ship. He was focused on Luffy though and his doubts about his captain being much more stronger than himself got confirmed. He gripped his swords tighter as he fought the remaining pirates on the ship while thinking about how he could grow stronger himself.
And soon, three of the four ships were destroyed and sinking while the last remaining one was devoid of any of the enemy pirates.
"You guys are monsters…" Borodo said in awe while Akisu and Nami nodded unable to believe the amount of destruction they had caused in such a short while.
"You're good," Lizz smirked nodding approvingly as Luffy threw the mast away and came to her side. She was stepping on Honey, who seemed to have lost consciousness.
"Now that that's taken care of," Lizz growled dangerously as she kicked Honey in the face to wake her up. "Get up, bitch!"
When she didn't wake up, she sighed and looked away for just a moment when Honey transformed into the pink sludge and started to flow away while screaming terrified, "Yaaah!"
"She was pretending!" she cursed before running to capture her.
The sludge went towards Zoro and he tried to slash her but all that happened was his swords passing through her and he felt like he was slashing water. "What the hell kind of ability is this?!"
"Don't let her get away!" Lizz growled as she tried to catch her and even when she managed to grab her, it was like trying to grab water and Honey slipped away.
Luffy stepped in when it looked like she was going to get away and caught up to her before pressing his wrists on her. The sludge lost its fluidity as it became human again and the naked form Honey Queen reformed and slumped down groaning in protest.
"There's way too much going on right now for me to understand what the hell is happening," Nami sighed while Lizz and Zoro came up to Luffy curiously wondering how he stopped her.
"Sea stone?!" Lizz yelped in surprise looking at his cuffs as her eyes trembled, "Did someone put them on you?!"
"Don't worry. They're bracelets"
"…You ate a devil fruit too and the ability is a hindrance?" she asked trying to think of a reason why anyone would choose to wear sea stone.
"No no. Wearing it to get stronger while in my weakened state"
Lizz's eyes widened realizing that he was indeed a fruit user but yet looked completely okay. "How are you still standing?!"
"Wore it for a couple of years continuously. Got used to it along the way…"
"…But even then, I don't think one will gain immunity right?"
"Yeah, and my energy is being sapped right now. But I trained with the cuffs on for a good few months. At first, I couldn't move, but as time went on, I learned to fight in my weakened state and now, I can still fight pretty well even with the sea stone on."
Lizz stared wide-eyed at him completely taken aback by the explanation. "Wh-" she began asking but Boo Jack suddenly showed up again, having climbed back up.
"Leave Honey alone!" he yelled crouching into a ball and started rolling towards them.
Lizz sighed and grabbed the weakened Honey Queen before putting her in front of her like a shield while Luffy still kept his wrists pressed against her. Jack, who saw that he was about to crash into Honey, panicked and veered to the left crashing into a wall. Bomb Lizz phased out again and before Jack could get up, shoved a bomb inside his mouth.
"KAHAHAHAHA Please! Do something stupid, so that I can blow up the bomb in your mouth!"
Seeing the maniacally laughing and crazy-looking Lizz, Jack got terrified out of his mind and lost consciousness while the others were terrified by her threat too.
Luffy just blinked at Bomb Lizz. "Let me guess, some kind of split personality fruit… and that's your crazy side?"
Bomb Lizz snapped her neck at him making the others flinch. "Did you just call me CRAZY?!"
Luffy, the only one unfazed by her actions, nodded with a grin. "Yeah, you are a bit crazy but I didn't mean it in a bad way. You're really cool!"
Bomb Lizz froze staring incredulously at him for a few seconds before she slowly lost the crazed look in her eyes and her face reddened to an unhealthy degree. "Y-You think I'm cool?" she asked meekly while playing with her hair.
Zoro, Nami, Makino and the two brothers alternated their gazes between Bomb Lizz, who was blushing profusely, and Luffy, who sweat-dropped at her reaction wondering what the hell was happening.
Luffy slowly inched closer to the original Lizz, who also looked baffled, and whispered. "Lizz, what's happening?"
"Uhh…I'm not sure either…" Lizz said coming out of her daze and addressed Bomb Lizz, "Hey Bomby, go back inside!"
"Bu-But I want to stay and learn more about…" Bomby came up right beside Luffy and locked arms with him as she stared into his eyes before sultrily breathing "…you"
Lizz just bonked her on the head and Bomby phased back inside her while Luffy just scratched his head, not knowing what to say.
"I think that's the fastest I've ever seen somebody develop a crush on someone," Zoro said amused at Luffy's reaction.
"Okay, ignoring the last part," Nami said and pointed at Lizz, "Can someone please explain what the hell she is?"
Lizz also quickly moved on, "Well, Luffy got it right. My Trait-Trait fruit allows me to split any of my traits into clones. So there's kick fighter Lizz- Kicky, who likes to exclusively use legs, crazy blowing up stuff Lizz- Bomby, who has my love for bombs, and I have many more. Basically any single or a combination of multiple traits of mine can be made into a clone"
"Wow…that's one of the craziest and most amazing powers I've heard of!" Luffy said with shining eyes.
"Yeah, that is crazy" Makino added feeling just as shocked as the rest.
"Also, Bomby and Kicky? Very… unique naming sense you got there"
"Okay, we can talk more later and I also have questions for you. But first," she looked down at Honey who was groaning pitifully as one of Luffy's sea stone cuffs was pressed tightly into her, "You're gonna take us to Clockwork Island!"
Honey nodded pitifully extremely terrified of Lizz. She was still naked, so Lizz grabbed a cloak lying around and threw it over her. Jack was still unconscious, so Kicky phased out and tied his arms and legs… and she actually just used her legs and toes to tie him up. 'Guess she really only uses her legs huh' Luffy thought as he jumped down back into their boat along with Zoro, Nami and Makino.
Balloon was just perching at the bow the whole time, not having much of a reaction to everything playing out. The other pirates who were still conscious kept their distance terrified of everyone there.
"You guys are monsters," Akisu breathed in awe while Borodo nodded gulping as the two also made it down watching all the surrounding pirates.
"Luffy! Catch!" Lizz called out from the deck and Jack was thrown down. Luffy caught him and laid him down in the boat before looking up to catch Honey, but Lizz jumped down next landing in his arms. He was about to ask what happened to Honey but noticed that she was holding a jar in her hand with a pink sludge inside it with two moving eyeballs and a mouth showing a terrified look.
"Is that Honey?!" Luffy asked incredulously as he put her down.
"Yep!" Lizz said happily as she handed him his sea stone cuffs back, which she held through a cloth. "Your sea stone cuffs aren't exactly cuffs, so had to get creative"
"Yeah, got them made into bracelets"
"You're weird," she sighed before turning to Honey. "Point towards the island with your eyeballs"
The eyeballs pointed fearfully in a certain direction, which she confirmed was the same as Balloon's and nodded satisfied.
"You two thieves," Lizz said in a commanding tone while addressing the two thief brothers, which had them stiffening up, "You also know how to get there right?"
Receiving nods, she smirked looking at Honey, "If we're going in the wrong direction, tell me. Someone's gonna get flushed down a toilet if that happens"
"Yes ma'am!" Borodo and Akisu said in unison respectfully, realizing that Lizz was much crazier and stronger than what they could handle, while Honey trembled inside her bottle.
"And I also have Balloon pointing the way. So if all three of you lie, then…." Bomby's face phased out of her and she maniacally whispered "Boom!" before going back in, which had the two brothers gulping in fear and Honey trembling more.
"You sure like to threaten huh?" Luffy chuckled.
"When my sister's involved, there is nothing I wouldn't do to protect her. She's everything to me"
"I see," Luffy and Makino said nodding sagely.
Meanwhile, Zoro and Nami were stupefied and both were fixated on the pink sludge in the jar with the moving eyeballs and lips.
"Devil fruits huh?" Zoro finally said coming to terms with their existence and just how weird they got.
"It's so weird…" Nami said still not able to look away from the pink sludge.
"Shishishi you guys certainly did see two very strange fruit powers as your first ones"
"So they're usually not so weird?" Nami asked hopefully.
"Oh no no," Luffy chuckled, "It gets weirder. I know one which gives the user the power of snot."
Everyone including Balloon blanched at that.
"Are you being serious?!" Makino asked, her face turning green from nausea just imagining it.
"Yep! Well, mucus technically. Guy uses mucus to stick to walls, encase enemies in it so they suffocat-"
"Stop talking!" Nami snapped covering his mouth, "I don't want to hear such disgusting things!"
"Shishishishi"
Lizz on the other hand was looking at Luffy strangely, "You're talking about Trebol, aren't you?"
Luffy's eyes widened with surprise. "…Yeah. You know him?"
"I know of him…"
"I see…"
Luffy sized her up, wondering if she was from the New World and also wondered if she had some connection to Doflamingo, while Lizz wondered the same staring at Luffy.
"…What's happening?" Zoro asked when he sensed the sudden tense atmosphere.
"Nothing" both said in unison deciding to talk later about it.
"Anyway," Lizz moved on, "Now that we have time, care to tell me why the hell you would put yourself through the hell of wearing sea stone cuffs willingly?"
"Okay. I've been listening to you talk about this, but what exactly are you talking about?" Zoro asked curiously looking at Luffy's cuffs, which led to Luffy giving a brief explanation about sea stone and its effects on devil fruit users.
"So I'm assuming that it normally affects Users how it affected Honey?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah," Lizz answered, "Even I'll feel weak." She touched Luffy's cuffs and slumped down immediately before breaking contact. "See?"
"And so, you're the strange one again," Nami sighed. "Are you sure you're a devil fruit user?"
"I don't see why he would lie about that…" Lizz said thinking that Luffy had some weird power he wanted to suppress.
"Oh, he sure is. He ate his fruit when he was really young," Makino said with a reminiscent smile, "It was so chaotic for a few weeks after that… everyone kept marvelling and freaking out seeing your ability"
"Shishi yeah!"
"Okay, now back to the question of why you would wear sea stone then?"
"To get stronger," Luffy answered simply, "I trained with the cuffs on, and found that when I removed it later, I was exponentially stronger. So, I trained with them on for a long time"
"I don't think one will gain an immunity to sea stone the longer one wears it right?"
"Yeah no. I'm still in my weakened state. At first, I couldn't even move properly for a few months, but as time went on, I started being able to walk, then run… and so on. And then I trained while wearing the cuffs always"
"That's still hell," Lizz said sighing. "What kind of thing was pushing you to put yourself through that much pain?"
"I'm going to become the Pirate King, so of course I gotta get strong. Not just for myself, but also to protect my future crew and friends. I have a lot of things I want to do, and I have to be strong if I wanna do it"
Lizz nodded satisfied with the answer and she was going to say something but suddenly, the upper body of Bomby phased out of her. "Oh Luffy! I love yo-"
Bomby didn't get to say anymore as Lizz just pushed her back inside her. Luffy scratched his head awkwardly not knowing how to respond, while the others gawked at the scene in bewilderment. Balloon, on the other hand, started squawking clearly laughing at her.
Lizz sported a light blush as Luffy looked at her. "Umm…"
"It's not what you're thinking!" she snapped.
"Explain then"
"As I said, I can give specific traits to my clones. The one that came out just now is Bomby. She has my love for explosives and also my crazy intrusive thoughts…"
"Intrusive thoughts?" Nami questioned.
"Yeah, like how when you're on a cliff and you get a thought that you should jump? Or you get a thought of how crazy and funny it would be if you laughed when you're at someone's funeral?"
"Oh yeah definitely had those thoughts," Akisu said nodding sagely.
"Exactly what Bomby is. She has all my intrusive thoughts… Like how you see a hot guy or girl and you can't help but get a thought that it would be nice to fuck them… Or if you admire someone, you wonder if they loved you or if they're the One? Those kinds of thoughts are also in her…"
"Ah, that explains the earlier behaviour," Luffy sighed in relief thankful that a girl hadn't just fallen in love with him out of nowhere.
"Yes exactly! I don't love you or anything. I respect you and thought how you pushed yourself for your dream was admirable. Then just an intrusive thought that you're cute passed my mind and Bomby got it too. And she acts on her intrusive thoughts no matter how crazy it is. She usually just says 'I want to fuck you' or something like that, but since you complimented her, she's taken a liking to you and thinks she's in love with you…"
"I AM IN LOV-!" Bomby yelled phasing out but was pulled back inside.
"…"
"…Devil fruits are weird" Nami sighed.
"That's kinda dangerous isn't it?" Makino asked thinking about the implications of acting on intrusive thoughts.
"Oh, you have no idea," Lizz sighed tiredly, "I've had her randomly pop out and call people fat or ugly right to their face. I think someone looks cute and she's in front of them the next moment asking to fuck… Randomly sets things on fire or bites people for no reason… She's popped out and jumped off a cliff a few times… Even jumped into the sea…"
Balloon nodded vigorously while also laughing seemingly remembering those moments.
"Wow…what happens if the clone gets hurt or dies?"
"They just get sent back into me and I won't be able to summon them for a while depending on how badly they got hurt. If they die, it takes at least two months before they came come out again"
"Seems like a very tricky power. Could be strong or troublesome depending on the user"
"Yeah thought it was a curse at first…but I've come to love my fruit over the years"
"Shishishi good!"
"And it's only Bomby who's a bit problematic. The others are cool"
"Others? How many personalities do you have inside you?"
"That's a secret," Lizz smiled putting a finger on her lips.
"Are devil fruits always this crazy?" Akisu asked.
"Sometimes yeah. But look at Honey. She just turns into a fluid, I guess. Sounds like a logia…"
"Yeah, I think so too. She's mentally weak though… A Logia fruit is wasted on someone like her," Lizz said shaking the jar and Honey whimpered pitifully.
"I feel bad for her," Makino said looking at the sad floating eyes.
"Yeah well, once I confirm my sister is safe, only then will I let you go," she said staring at Honey inside the jar and she nodded her little head vigorously.
——o——
It was just another hour of travel before they finally reached Clockwork Island and when they laid eyes on the island, their jaws dropped. The base of the island was very small and had a few coves and hills, nothing special, but what gobsmacked them was the central rock tower that went up and up and up into the sky. It looked like circular plates of rock were stacked on top of each other and it formed a spiralling tower that stretched up into the sky. And at the very top, they could see the bottom of an island which was seemingly being supported on the relatively thin rock tower. There was a large gear that ran around the island's circumference at the top, and everything about it screamed 'Impossible.'
"WOW" Luffy breathed feeling like he was seeing a Grand Line Island.
"What the hell…?" Nami breathed in awe as she observed the tower.
"How the hell?" Makino said, "is the correct question here I think"
"Is that a gear that's surrounding the island?" Zoro asked disbelief evident in his voice.
"Yeah…and it looks like it's actually spinning… I thought wacky islands like this only existed in the Grand Line," Lizz breathed in awe.
"Do you guys know anything about this?" Luffy asked Borodo and Akisu as the two seemed to be used to the sight already.
"Yeah, the people here built it this way so that they would be safe from pirate attacks from the sea," Borodo answered. "But that very fact made pirates want to take over the island and attracted the attention of someone strong like Bear King…"
"The Diamond Clock is also in the city at the top!" Akisu added.
"I see… Still, it's amazing how they made this…" Luffy couldn't wait to explore the island. They soon docked and found that the fortress had a staircase running all the way up to the top.
"We have to climb all the way?" Makino whined dreading the staircase.
"No no!" Borodo hastily stopped them, "Those stairs are for keeping enemies away. It's filled with traps that will kill or drive away anyone who tries to climb it!"
"Ooh it's filled with booby traps?! Great then!"
"Not great, idiot!" Nami smacked some sense into him.
"It'll take too long if we go that way," Lizz sighed before turning to Borodo, "So how do we get up?"
"There's an elevator running up all the way to the city in the central shaft of the tower. When the Trump Siblings come down to terrorize the surroundings, the secret path opens up… but I don't know where it is"
"That's simple then," Lizz said as she stared at Honey in the jar. "I'm gonna let you out now and you will take us to the top. You try to escape even once and I will catch you, stuff a bomb in your mouth and all over your fluid body and evaporate you." Bomby made a brief appearance phasing out of her face scaring the life out of Honey, who nodded vigorously.
"She's scary," Zoro said seeing that Lizz was being completely serious.
"Poor girl," Makino commented and Luffy nodded feeling extremely bad for Honey, but she was one of the people who had kidnapped a village full of people and apparently terrorized others, so didn't see any reason to step in.
"Who cares?!" Nami piped up more excited at the prospect of stealing the Diamond Clock, "Let's go quickly!"
Lizz opened the jar and released Honey from her confines who slowly poured out and formed into a human. Makino handed her a blanket to cover herself and she warily started leading the way towards a small cave. They thought about hauling the tied-up Boo Jack for a moment but since they already had one prisoner, they left him.
"Th-this is wh-where the path is…." Honey stuttered as she walked while Lizz followed closely behind while keeping a hand at the back of her neck. They all entered a cave and after walking a couple of minutes, Honey stopped and revealed a hidden compartment in the wall. It was a keypad in which she quickly punched in a code and a door opened up revealing an elevator.
"Wow! So this is where it was!" Akisu excitedly jumped into it followed by the others.
"This is so simple," Borodo said happy at having found a way up to the top so easily. "Hey, you guys want to save someone and we want to steal the Diamond Clock. Either way, we'll both have to take down Trump Siblings to do that, so let's work together. What do you say?"
"I'm the one who'll get the Diamond Clock!" Nami snapped.
"Didn't you say you only stole from pirates?" Zoro asked which made Nami freeze.
"B-but it's the Diamond Clock…" Nami cried and then hopefully turned to Luffy, "You want to steal it, right? It's worth maybe hundreds of millions!"
"Not really interested. I'm excited to see the place though! I bet it's awesome!" Luffy replied causing Nami to slump her shoulders down while mumbling under her breath "The one pirate I like and he's not fucking interested in treasure…"
Meanwhile, Lizz smiled staring at Luffy, "The kind of pirate that's in it for the adventure huh?"
"Uh-huh"
"I respect pirates like you…"
"What do you mean pirates like him?" Nami said confused, "He's the only one like that…"
"No, there are many like him," Lizz said with a wistful smile on her face, "Roger is the prime example of course! He was so amazing! My dad was inspired by him t-" She abruptly stopped and the wistful smile she had disappeared from her face and got replaced by a neutral look. "Eh forget it"
Luffy frowned internally watching the sudden change. He wanted to ask more but the elevator reached the top at that time and when the doors opened, all thoughts left his mind as he gawked at the magnificent island.
Green pastures blanketed the entire island which rose upwards in a step-like formation and windmills could be found all over the city at regular intervals. The buildings, windmills and everything else were clock-themed as they had gears as doors or windows, and some buildings were even shaped in the form of a clock.
"This island is spectacular!" Luffy breathed in awe barely holding himself back from running everywhere.
"I'm speechless," Nami said marvelling at all the different infrastructure.
"Never thought I would see a city like this…"
"This is Clockwork Town where all the inhabitants live," Borodo informed with a grin, "And that right there," he said pointing at a white castle at the centre of the island atop a hill which looked like a stack of crowns placed on top of one another, "is the Trump castle!"
"Great! First off," Lizz turned to Balloon "Is she in range?"
Balloon shook his head.
"Range for what?"
"It's Balloon's ability. You'll see it soon. Now you," she turned on Honey, "Take us close to the castle without raising suspicion"
Honey meekly nodded her head and the group started making their way towards the castle. Luffy was marvelling at the city itself noticing all the amazing craftwork shops, and the technological creations and felt like he was on an island in the Grand Line. He wanted to explore the city badly but thought he should get Ann and Silk to safety first and then he would have all the time to explore the city.
When the group got closer to the castle, Balloon suddenly started squawking happily. Lizz also smiled and nodded "Go ahead, swap"
Balloon then closed his eyes and disappeared suddenly. An instant later, a blue short-haired girl with vibrant blue eyes in a wedding dress suddenly appeared where Balloon had been standing. Lizz lunged at her and brought her into a hug with tears in her eyes. "Ann!"
"Lizz! You came!" Ann also yelled happily hugging her sister tightly.
"So a fruit that allows you to swap places with people in a certain range?" Makino theorized.
"Yeah looks like it…but how does the tracking thing work?" Luffy wondered but was more focused on Ann. He studied Ann carefully and then looked at Nami, who was also studying her curiously. She looked different enough that they wouldn't be considered twins but still, if one took Nami's face and made only a few adjustments like making the eyes thinner, chin shorter, and similar minute changes, they would get Ann's face.
"Hmm yeah, they kinda do look alike," Zoro commented alternating his gaze between the two.
"Yeah they sure do" Makino, Borodo and Akisu also agreed.
"Are you okay? Are you safe?" Lizz asked as she checked for any injuries on Ann, "They didn't do anything to you did they?"
Ann gave a giggle patting her sister's head and placating her. "Yeah yeah I'm fine. I can take care of myself you know"
"You little idiot! I told you not to go off on your own!" Lizz, after the initial euphoria after getting her sister safely back wore off, snapped at her.
"But they took Balloon! I had to!" Ann snapped back and suddenly seemed to have realized Balloon was now where she had been, "Oh no! We have to get Balloon back now! I was in a cage just now!"
"Yeah don't worry, I'll go get him back. You, on the other hand," Lizz said sternly, "are going to hide somewhere around"
Ann got pissed and swatted her sister's hand that was on her head, "You always do this! That's why I went alone! I'm going to fight too!"
"No, you are not." Lizz said with finality and Ann's face became red with anger. Before she could blow a fuse, Makino thankfully stepped in.
"Excuse me, Ann" Makino said sweetly causing Ann to only then look at the others and got startled.
"Whoa! Who are you all?"
"They helped me get here" Lizz replied. "It's your secret friend too…"
"Wait! You worked with other people?!" Ann said wide-eyed in bewilderment and apparently Lizz was a lone wolf kind of girl. "And what secret friend?"
"Hm? Isn't he your friend?" Lizz asked pointing at Luffy who waved at Ann.
"Yo"
"I don't kno- Oh my god!" she finally saw Nami too and got right up in her face forgetting about Luffy. "You kinda look like me!"
"Yeah," Nami said a bit fascinated too as the two slowly brought their hands up to touch.
"Wait!" Luffy hastily interjected stopping them, "I read somewhere that a singularity will occur if someone touches their doppelgänger!"
"Shut up, idiot. That's just a myth"
"Oh? Like devil fruits were a myth?" Luffy questioned and Nami opened her mouth to retort but soon shut it as she couldn't.
"Heh," Ann smirked, "Looks like you're gullible. You can be called Gullible Ann then."
"The hell I am!" Nami snapped, "I'm not gullible! It's just with this idiot…ugh! And why would I need to be called 'anything Ann'? We already have different names!"
"I heard that if two doppelgängers meet," Borodo jumped in on the teasing, "they'll try to assert dominance over each other so that they can establish who the real one is"
"Yeah! I've heard that one too!" Luffy nodded excitedly.
"Looks like Ann is winning then," Makino giggled.
"I guess I should call you Gullible Ann from now on," Zoro said barely able to keep a straight face as Nami was turning redder and redder in embarrassment.
When it got too much for her, she lunged at Luffy and started beating the shit out of him for starting the whole thing while everyone else laughed. "I'm always the smart one goddammit! It's all your fault!"
"Hehe okay okay, I'm sorry," Ann chuckled as she placated Nami while she panted heavily after giving Luffy several bumps.
"Okay pause," Luffy clapped his hands getting everyone's attention as he got up, "As much as I would milk this for hours, we need to save Silk and Balloon first." He then turned to Ann, "Do you know where Silk is?"
"Yes! We were just together up in that castle! The Bear wanted to marry us both"
"Okay good. And the rest of the people from Flint?"
"Ah yes, They were all brought here too. But they're all in the factories I think…I caught that stupid Bear's fancy, so he took me to the castle intent on marrying me"
"He didn't touch you, did he?" Lizz said in a calm cold voice.
"No no, I just told him that you'll come for me and kick his ass, and he said he'll prove his love to me by killing you. Ugh… he's so psychotic"
Lizz let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, can you tell me where Silk and now Balloon are trapped?" Luffy continued.
"Sure! I'll lead the way!" Ann nodded happily.
"I said you're going to hide," Lizz commanded causing Ann to glare at her again.
"Uhh, guys" Zoro interrupted looking around, "Where's Honey?"
They all looked around and she seemed to have slipped away when they were making fun of Nami.
"She's probably going right to Bear King to tell him about us!" Akisu yelped.
"We need to go now in that case!" Borodo yelled.
"Okay pause!" Luffy clapped his hands putting a stop to everything again, "Honey will tell the bear guy that Ann is rescued. So, he's probably going to go where Silk and Balloon are and keep them close"
"Uhh we were already close to him," Ann informed, "We were in his throne room itself and he was right in front of me before I swapped. He was sleeping though, so chances are- we have around a few minutes?"
"Where is the throne room?"
Ann pointed straight up, "Top floor"
"Okay, I'm gonna go there now," Luffy said removing his cuffs and handing them to Makino.
"Are you crazy?!" Akisu yelled, "There are tons of traps here too! There is no way you'll reach the top in minutes!"
"Damn, more traps I'm gonna miss?" Luffy whined, "I so want to go through all the traps… but since we're pressed for time, I'll take a shortcut"
Bomby phased out and grabbed Luffy's shoulders with manic glee "You're CRAZY! Just like me!"
"Shishishishi guess so," Luffy laughed which only intensified the crazed look in her eyes. She was pulled back by a huffing Lizz, "Geez, stop making her fall more in love with you"
"What the hell?! Bomby fell in love?!" Ann stared wide-eyed.
"Okay, I'm gonna go now," Luffy said as he was gonna airwalk to the top.
"We'll gather information around here about where the other kidnapped villagers are then," Makino said and he nodded before facing the castle. The others thought he was gonna climb it from the outside and thought he was crazy.
"Wait!" Ann stopped him, "You can't just go and fight him!"
"Why not?"
"He's holding this island hostage"
"How?"
"He has the key to this island which he can use to make it fall off the tower in a second. He threatened me and Silk saying that he'll destroy the island if we didn't wear this wedding dress too… So if you fight him, he'll threaten to destroy the island too"
"Hmm, what key?"
"I'm not sure, but that's the reason the people on the island even listen to his orders…"
"Yes," Borodo interjected,"7 years ago, Bear King got a hold of the key of this island and since then, the people of this island are at his complete mercy…But I don't know what this key exactly is either"
Luffy frowned "Well okay, I'll stealthily get the two out and then we can worry about the key thing"
"He will destroy the island the moment he realizes his prisoners are missing!" Akisu argued.
"Please, he's made this island his base for seven years," Nami scoffed, "As if he's gonna destroy it for such a simple matter"
"Yeah exactly," Luffy smiled and waved at them, "Okay, I'm gonna go"
He started jumping in the air and the rest's jaws hit the floor.
"You can fly?!" Ann, Nami, Akisu and Borodo yelled in shock, while Zoro stared in bewilderment for just a moment before he jumped and grabbed Luffy's leg, followed by Lizz doing the same. Luffy lost his balance for a second as his legs were grabbed but the two, realizing it, quickly climbed up his body, with Lizz getting into his arms in a princess carry while Zoro climbed up onto his back.
"Ann, stay with Makino!" Lizz yelled down at the others who were still in shock.
"Why are you guys coming along?"
"I'm not gonna miss the chance to fight," Zoro said while he studied Luffy's legs wondering if there was any technique he was using to jump in the air or if it was a devil fruit power.
"Same here," Lizz said, "Besides, the bear idiot's face needs to meet my fist"
"Shishi sure but you guys did hear this is gonna be a stealth mission right?"
"Yeah yeah, if we can do that, sure. But if things turn sour, Imma beat him up for even thinking about my sister"
"Sure"
"Is this your devil fruit power?" Zoro asked.
"No. This is Moonwalk, isn't it?" Lizz said with a glint in her eye.
"I call it airwalk," Luffy said as he kept jumping and addressed Zoro, "You figure out how I move so fast it seems instantaneous yet?"
"Yeah, I did. You kick off the ground multiple times in the blink of an eye"
"That's Soru!" Lizz exclaimed.
"Yep. And this is airwalk, but this doesn't have any secret. You just kick off the air hard"
"Wow, my dad once told me of these techniques. But I always thought it was made up or an exaggeration"
Seeing the questioning look on Zoro's face, Luffy explained, "High-level Marines use this set of six techniques called the Rokushiki. Soru and Moonwalk are in that set"
"…I see" Zoro sighed internally. 'These are standard techniques? Are they all strong or is it just Luffy?…'
"So, you were a Marine before?" Lizz continued.
"Why does everyone keep assuming I'm a Marine if I use this technique? Do they have a monopoly on these techniques or something?" Luffy sighed, "I just learned how to do it after seeing a few people using it"
"Yeah, I guess they don't. And you learned it by yourself?"
"Uh-huh"
"Just by watching others do it"
"Basically yeah"
"Wow" / "I love you so much!" Bomby phased out before Lizz quickly pulled her back.
"…This is gonna be a thing with you huh?" Luffy said with amusement watching the lightly blushing Lizz.
"It's your damn fault! Why would you even think that crazy part of mine is cool?!"
"Because she is cool. She looked so happy when doing what she loved- blowing stuff up…aaand I think I'll stop talking now cause my hands aren't free and you're so close to my face that Bomby can just phase out and kiss me"
"Good call. The others are having to hold her down right now"
"Ooh, so it's like a council of you's inside your head? You all sit around a table and discuss matters?"
"Wow yeah, pretty accurate. It's like a room with lounge chairs instead of a table, but yeah, we do discuss stuff as you said"
"For every single matter?" Zoro asked incredulously, "Doesn't it get tiring?"
"No, of course not. I'm the main one and I'm in complete control. They're all in like a neighbouring house which I can visit any time I want. If not, I can just stay in my house by myself"
"I see"
Bomby's face suddenly phased out again yelling, "Stop holding me down, bitches! I need to be wi-!" before she went back in.
Zoro and Luffy looked amused at her blushing face as she tried to apparently hold Bomby back.
"Can you not get rid of the clones?" Zoro asked.
"I can"
"Then why not get rid of Bomby? Rather, why create her in the first place?"
Lizz gave a deep sigh, "…Long story"
She didn't seem to want to talk about it, so Luffy changed the topic, "So, are the clones taking your traits or copying them? Like if you give your kick-fighting prowess to Kicky, will you, the main one, lose that ability?"
"No no, they're just copies. I still have all my traits. But the more time the copies stay, the more proficient they become in that trait. For example, Kicky is much much better at kick fighting than I am"
"Ah that's how it works… anyway, let's talk later," Luffy said as they finally reached the topmost floor. It had an open balcony, so it was easy to slip in and observe what was happening.
It was a huge Throne room with the throne in the centre and luxurious carpet covering the floor, and high chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The centre of the room was uncarpeted and was covered with glass instead of tiles and Luffy saw a huge wind-up key below them. And most importantly, there was a cage in one corner of the room and inside it were Balloon and a blonde-haired girl, also in a wedding dress.
She was sitting in the cage observing the surroundings and when she spotted Luffy and the others on the balcony, she nudged Balloon and pointed in their direction. Balloon also saw them and nodded happily, and Silk then smiled at them with a wave.
Luffy waved back and then observed the only other occupant in the room. He was a huge and very hairy man who was wearing a fur coat which matched the spade card theme. He also had an inverted spade mark on his forehead, and currently, he just seemed to be napping on his throne. The cages were behind him, so looked like he hadn't noticed the swap yet. The three exchanged a look knowing they would be doing this stealthily and started walking towards the cage while Silk and Balloon kept quiet realizing that they were doing this silently.
The three reached the cage pretty easily and Luffy studied Silk closely. He had seen her picture already, so wasn't surprised by her looking only a bit similar to Nami, but he noticed that she was almost as tall as him, and had a much stronger physique.
Silk smiled and first pointed at the keyhole in the cage and then pointed at the other end of the room. Luffy followed her finger and saw a few keys hanging on the wall and understood that the key to the cage was there. He could just break the cages, but it would make too much noise, so he nodded and used Soru to reach the other end of the room in an instant. Thankfully, there were just a couple of keys which he quickly brought back to the cage.
'He's much faster without the sea stone cuffs…' Zoro concluded and thought about how his sword skills would rise to a different level if he was that fast. Silk's eyes had also widened and she too wanted to know how he had run so fast and barely held herself back from asking.
Luffy just opened the cages quietly, the gate only making a small sound. He noticed Lizz was quietly standing in place without doing anything with a stressed look on her face and when he gestured to her what was wrong, she leaned forward to his ear and whispered "Bomby wants to shout"
Luffy clamped his mouth shut to stop himself from laughing out loud while Lizz shook her head pitifully. It was a pretty silent room and they had to be silent, so of course an intrusive thought of 'what if I screamed?' would have passed her mind and apparently Bomby had latched onto it. Luffy would have burst out laughing if it was any other situation and even now, was barely able to hold himself back.
Silk and Balloon walked out and they, along with Zoro, strangely looked at the pitiful Lizz and the about-to-laugh Luffy. Luffy waved it off saying he'll explain later and pushed Lizz back to the balcony, and the others followed. Bear King still slept while they made it out onto the balcony and Silk looked down and all around trying to see how they had climbed up or how they were going down.
"Hi. How are we getting down?" Silk whispered to Luffy.
"Don't worry, I'll carry you all down," he said before scooping her up. Zoro got on his back again and Lizz got on Zoro'sback, while Balloon stood on Luffy's head. Just before Luffy was about to jump down, a loud wailing voice came from inside the room, and when they turned around, they saw a pink sludge entering the room wailing loudly.
Bear King jerked awake and stared intently at his sister. "Honey? What happened?" he asked in his gruff voice.
And that was all Luffy waited to see before jumping off. Silk screamed wondering what the hell Luffy was doing but her eyes comically widened in shock when she saw them falling in a controlled manner. "You're flying?!"
"Shishishi more like jumping on air"
"Wow…"
"You okay?"
Silk nodded cheerfully, "Yep! Bastard didn't do anything to me too as Ann told him I'm her sister too. So until he killed the elder sister, that is you," she said looking at Lizz, "he didn't force me to marry him either"
"I see, that's good!"
Luffy then eyed Lizz. "Back with us, Lizz?"
She gave a tired sigh "Yeah, Bomby calmed down now"
"Shishishishi it would have been hilarious if she had shouted though"
"Ah, so that's what was happening," Zoro chuckled understanding the earlier situation.
Bomby's face phased out suddenly. "You think so too, right?! Stupid bitches didn't le-"
"Shut it!" Lizz snapped pulling her back. "And you, stop encouraging her!" she directed at Luffy, who just laughed.
"Wow, so that's your split personality clone thingy huh?" Silk said amazed, "Ann told me a bit, but seeing it something else entirely"
"Right? It's so cool!" Luffy agreed and Silk nodded enthusiastically.
"Anyway Hi, I'm Luffy"
"I'm Silk. Thanks for saving me"
"Shishishi don't mention it"
'Didn't he say he knew her too?' ran inside Zoro's and Lizz's minds, but they didn't voice it out.
"I heard you looked after Ann and gave her refuge back in Flint," Lizz said looking at her gratefully, "So thank you"
"Hehe don't mention it. Ann and Balloon are cool"
"GWAAAH!"
"So what happens now?" Silk asked.
"Need to find out what exactly the key is…As long as he has that, we can't beat him up as he'll just take the island down with him"
"Yeah, I tried prodding for information, but couldn't get anything other than it's something that supports the weight of this entire city"
"Hmm well, let's regroup first. Then we can talk," Luffy said and fell down in a controlled manner. When they reached the ground, Balloon pointed the way to Ann, so they started to follow his directions.
"Isn't Balloon's ability to swap? How is he able to point to Ann?"
"When he has to swap, he first has to look at an object or person and lock onto them. Only then can he swap. Even if he loses sight of the locked-on target after, he can still switch places with them. If the distance between him and the target is too great though, the swap doesn't work, but there's still a sort of pull he apparently feels towards the target"
"Ah, so he locked onto Ann before she got kidnapped huh?"
"Yeah"
"Devil fruits are crazy huh," Silk said nodding along, "I hadn't seen one before Balloon showed up. And now, I'm seeing so many all at once…" She trailed off when she saw Luffy looking at her stump, "Lost the arm years ago"
"Yeah, I saw the pictures at your restaurant. Your metallic arm is very cool!"
"Wait what?" Silk gaped confused, "You saw my arm?!"
"Shishishi I brought it along too!"
Silk's face brightened up. "Are you serious?! Oh, thank you so much!"
"Don't mention it. Did you build the arm yourself?"
Silk nodded with a proud smile, "Completely designed by me! It's multi-functional and I can fit axes, swords, harpoons, crossbows, and so many more in the groove! Did you bring the weapons too?"
"Yes! I got some which I wanted to see in action!"
"Hehe great! Now I can demolish those bastards!" Silk said with a vengeful smirk. "Do you know where the rest of the villagers who got kidnapped along with us are?"
"Not yet, but don't worry. Others are gathering info and we will rescue them too"
Silk nodded gratefully at him with a small smile. They soon reached a craftwork shop that sold all sorts of items ranging from antiquities to music boxes. Nami, Makino, Ann, Borodo, Akisu and two others were inside the shop. As they walked in, a very happy Ann glomped both Balloon and Silk instantly.
"Ah, you're both safe! I'm so happy!"
"Gwah! Gwahh!"
"Alright alright, no need to cry" Silk chuckled patting Ann's head.
"Looks like everything went well?" Makino asked coming up to Luffy who gave her a thumbs up with a grin. "Well on our end, we've managed to find where all the kidnapped people are and also found the chief engineers of this city, who should be able to tell us what the key is"
She pointed at a couple, who looked to be scientists judging by the long lab coats they wore. One was a woman with light purple hair, round glasses and dark circles under her eyes. Another was a man with shaggy black hair who also had dark circles under his eyes. Didn't look like either got much sleep.
"Hello," the woman greeted all the newcomers. "It's good that you were able to rescue your friends but please leave the island immediately"
"Why?" Luffy asked.
"You don't know the Trump Siblings…" the woman said with apprehension, "They're powerful and ever since they took over this island seven years ago, they have been ruling this island and the surrounding areas"
"This city used to be so beautiful," the man said with a wistful look as he stared out the window, "We were technologically advanced and had so much we wanted to do. But ever since the Trump Siblings took over, all we are allowed to do build are weapons for killing people…there has been so much bloodshed over the past seven years and no one has managed to take down Bear King…the pirates under him kill us with the very weapons we built…"
"It's a nightmare for us and we don't want to see anyone else suffering, so please leave." the woman begged.
"Nope. Tell me what the key is." Luffy said completely disregarding anything they just said, which had the couple baffled.
"Did you not hear u-"
"I heard you. And I'm still gonna punch the bear guy's face in"
"…Why?"
Luffy first pointed at Lizz "Because Lizz wants to punch his face in," he then pointed to Silk, "They kidnapped Silk's townspeople, so she's gonna fight to rescue them," he then pointed at Makino, "Makino won't let us leave when there are people suffering here," he then pointed at Ann and Balloon, "I'm sure Ann and Balloon also want to punch his face in," he then pointed at the couple, "You two obviously want to be free," he then pounded at Nami, "Nami wants the Diamond Clock," he then pointed at Zoro, "Zoro wants a good fight," and finally he pointed at himself, "And I'll help as long as there is a single person ready to fight. And there are so many here!"
All of them stared at him in bewilderment before Makino, Zoro, Lizz and Silk burst out laughing, Nami sighed but had a fond smile, while the rest just stared.
"H-hey what about us?" Akisu spoke up offended at not being included.
"Oh right, Borodo and Akisu also want to steal the Diamond clock, so they're gonna fight with us too"
"Like hell, you will!" Nami snapped but Borodo held up his hands in defeat.
"It's fine. My real goal was never to steal the Diamond clock"
"Wha?! Borodo? What are you saying?" Akisu asked bewildered.
"I want to free this island from the Trump Siblings' tyranny," Borodo said with a serious face.
"Why?" Lizz asked but Borodo just said "I have my reasons," and they moved on.
The scientist couple still looked unconvinced, so Luffy spoke up again, "Listen, what would you rather do? Serve under him and hope he lets you and the others live while treating you like slaves for the rest of your lives? Or fight and gain your freedom now?"
"But…but they're too strong…" the woman said with tears in her eyes.
"You can't change anything if you aren't prepared to stake your life on it. I'm a fighter, so all I'm good for is punching people, but you're scientists and engineers who built this city. You understand what the hell the key is and how to use it to save the city. So I'll do what I can and take down the bastard, you do what you can and save the city"
The scientists stared at him for a few moments before the man opened his mouth "Wh-…why would you go that far for us?"
"Because we're friends"
The woman spluttered out a laugh. "We just met… and I don't even know your name"
Luffy smiled waving at them, "Hi! I'm Luffy"
They smiled back.
"I'm Lestrade"
"I'm Chrissy"
"Good. Now we're friends. Now, tell me what the key is"
Chrissy nodded wiping her tears before going to a shelf and pulling a large sheet of paper out. Lestrade cleared a table and Chrissy spread the paper on it.
"Okay, this is the blueprint of the city. This right here is the castle and the tower underneath," she said tracing lines over the blueprint with a pen. "And at this spot at the base of the castle is a set of gears that hold the whole city together. It's not too much of a stretch to say that this is the major component that holds the city up"
"Pretty big flaw isn't it? Why build it in the first place?" Ann asked.
"It's not a small room with small gears like you're probably imagining. It's a gigantic room with huge gears and mechanisms. They are what hold the balance and act as a counterweight for strong winds. It was necessary to build this"
"Hmm I see now," Silk said nodding sagely, "Even though you have multiple diagonal support beams all around the island, this acts like a balancer to keep everything in harmony"
"Yes exactly!"
It went right over Luffy's head and judging by the faces of everyone other than Silk, they didn't understand either. The engineers also saw this and moved on. "Anyway, this is important, so we keep it under strict security protocols. Multiple physical keys, passwords, everything. But Bear King got a hold of everything because of a traitor who betrayed us seven years ago. And on top of that, he disabled all the protocols and hardwired a sort of self-destruct button into the main part of the mechanism. If you've been to the throne room, you must have seen a sort of wind-up key just below the floor-"
"Yeah, saw that" Ann nodded.
"That's the one. He's sort of put a bomb on it and he holds the detonator. All he has to do is push that detonator and that will destroy that key, which will further cause a chain reaction that will lead to the city falling off…"
"So basically, he has a button which he shouldn't be allowed to push," Zoro summarized.
"Pretty much yeah. And he always keeps that button with himself…he isn't even scared he might accidentally push it"
"Hmm even if we do beat him, an instant is all it will take for him to bring the island down," Silk sighed, "And there's a good chance he will do it if he realizes he's losing"
"Okay, we just have to go with good old-fashioned pummeling then," Lizz said punching her fists together.
"Did you not hear a word they just said?!" Borodo exclaimed, "We can't fight him cause even if we do beat him, he will take down the island with him!"
"Just gotta hit him fast and hard, so he doesn't even have a chance to press anything," Luffy stated simply causing the others to face fault. "Shishishishi well, we'll also evacuate the island at the same time too in case things go wrong"
"Wha?! And let this island get destroyed?" Akisu shouted.
"Yep! It's just an island. As long as people are alive, they can rebuild again"
Chrissy and Lestrade nodded slowly running his words inside their heads. "…Yes, he's right…We can rebuild"
"Asgard is not a place, it's a people." Luffy quoted nodding sagely to himself.
"You know Norse myth?!" Silk suddenly piped up with a bit too much excitement.
"Uhh a bit, yeah"
"You're the first person I've met who knows what Asgard is!" Silk exclaimed coming right up to him with excitement.
"Really? Is it not famous?"
"No, it's n-"
"Silk," Makino interrupted patting her shoulders, "You can talk about that later"
"Oh right," Silk realized the situation they were in and blushed a bit in embarrassment before gesturing to Luffy that they would talk about it later.
"Okay, to finalize," Lizz continued, "Either we defeat them while also saving the island, or we defeat them and the island gets destroyed. That's a win-win"
"There's the possibility of us losing!" Akisu snapped.
"Please," Lizz scoffed, "I'm here, so there's no way we'll lose"
"Yeah, she's right. Those are the only two outcomes," Luffy agreed.
"Just as arrogant as Luffy I see," Nami sighed shaking her head. "How do you people not understand that anything can happen in a fight?"
"Doesn't matter," Zoro spoke up, "Let's just get on with it"
"Yeah! I'm in!" Chrissy said her eyes shining.
"We can also go to the castle and make sure his button doesn't work?" Lestrade suggested.
"Ooh, you can do that?"
"We'll need time but with enough time, we should be able to make his remote button useless and disable to bomb… but we need time"
"If time is all you need, then sure. I can bullshit with him long enough to buy you guys time" Lizz offered.
"Okay then," Luffy said, "That's all I guess. We can go now"
"What do you mean we can go now?" Nami asked incredulously, "We haven't even planned anything yet"
"Ehh you guys do that. I'm not a follow-a-plan kinda guy"
"Of course, you're not…" she sighed.
Makino giggled speaking up, "Well, you just have to plan around him. We'll divide into three teams. One to fight the Trump Siblings on top of the castle, one to escort and protect Chrissy and Lestrade into the Island key, and the last one to evacuate the island. Zoro and Lizz are on the first team. Anyone else wants to join them?"
"Me!" Ann piped up but was instantly shot down by Lizz.
"You're gonna be on the evacuation team. No arguments."
The two sisters faced off against each other, Ann's face turning crimson from anger before she turned on her heels without saying a word and walked out slamming the door hard on her way out. Balloon followed after her while Lizz kept a neutral look on her face.
"…Okay, we'll deal with that later…" Makino sweat dropped.
"I'll be on the escort team," Borodo volunteered and Akisu tagged along with him.
"Me too," Nami volunteered.
"And I'll be on the evacuation team," Silk said before turning to Luffy, "My arm and weapons?"
Luffy pointed at the corner of the room and she went "Yes!" before going to put on her arm with Luffy following after her.
"Okay, I'll also be on the evacuation team," Makino concluded and the teams were formed with Ann being undecided and Luffy being a wild card. Just as they finished though, there was a loud sound of all the loudspeakers across the entire island coming to life followed by 'Attention! Attention!'
The group looked at one another before walking out, and so did all the people on the island. Bear King himself was standing at the top of the Trump Castle with his other siblings- minus Boo Jack- next to him.
"People of Clockwork Island!" Bear King roared into a mic he held and his voice reverberated across the island, "I'll get straight to the point! There are intruders on this island who have stolen something from me! Ann and Silk, My two brides!"
Lizz flared up in anger, Silk glared at him while putting on her arm, Borodo looked determined, Akisu, Chrissy and Lestrade were looking terrified, while the rest had calm expressions.
"My brides, I'm giving you one hour! If you don't come back, I'll be destroying the island! And Lizz, I want you to come and beg for forgiveness for what you did to Honey. And all her partners who have intruded upon my island, give yourselves up and work for me. Or die! You have one hour!" And as an afterthought added, "Oh also, any citizen who helps us catch these intruders will no longer have to work at the factories and can live a lavish life in the castle with us. That's it"
Bear King and his siblings went back inside the castle laughing maniacally, while Luffy watched all the citizens suddenly look at them with hungry eyes.
"Chrissy! Lestrade!" one citizen yelled, "Let's capture and give them up!"
More shouts of turning them in followed and while the rest got unnerved, Luffy laughed, "See? Plans don't work. Things always go wrong, so no plan is always the best plan! Shishishishi"
"…"
"…Idiot"