Shi: Love-struck, Lost and Livid

“Oh, you two look great in those costumes!” Darla squealed as Luffy and Usopp stepped out from behind the dressing curtain. The two teenaged boys were now dressed in full-length leotards, covering their skin from the wrists and ankles all the way up to their necks. Luffy’s costume was a bright red while Usopp’s was a golden color, though both shimmered with sparkle that was woven into the fabric. The show was only two hours away and being the third act, they had to be prepared ahead of time.

“Too... good... look... you...” Luffy replied softly. He stood partially behind Usopp, his face turning red underneath his straw hat.

“You look good too Darla,” Usopp translated. Luffy had been right; the costume Darla was currently wearing was much prettier than the one from the day before. It was sky blue to match her hair and looked more like a sequined one-piece swimming suit than something to wear while on a trapeze.

“Elsa-san told me that the crowd is supposed to be growing for our opening show!” Darla said excitedly. “Everyone on the island has heard that we’ve got replacements for Sai-kun and Kai-kun and they’re all excited! This is the first time in a long time that we’ve allowed outsiders to participate.”

“Really?” Usopp asked, fidgeting with the tight suit. “How long has it been since the last time?”

“Sixteen years,” Darla said, cracking a small smile. “It was my mom. She was one of the best gymnasts this place has ever seen.”

“Your mom’s here Darla?” Luffy asked slowly. Darla shook her head, but failed to frown.

“Nope. She died years ago after I was born, and my dad left even before that even happened. My grandpa pretty much raised me for as long as I can remember. It’s alright, I guess. I’ve never missed them and I don’t think I even met my dad until I was eight. Everyone here’s like family, so even if someone’s missing their parents, they’ll never really feel alone.”

“Sounds better than what I had,” Usopp replied. He thought about his village, Kaya and his own parents.

“This talk is bad luck,” Darla nodded. “Let’s get to practicing!” She then walked away towards a tent that had been set aside for pre-show practice.

“Usopp,” Luffy said softly. The sniper looked over his shoulder to see that his captain was still standing behind him. “I don’t wanna go…”

“You have to go!” Usopp sighed, turning to face the unusually meek Luffy. “What’s the matter with you?!”

“This thing isn’t comfy…”

“Oh, you are a wimp! Besides, we need to stay around Darla for as long as we can!” Usopp rubbed his temples in annoyance. “Listen, I don’t like this stupid suit either, but we made an agreement and we’re going to keep it. Do you think the world can have a Pirate King who does not keep his promises?”

“…but this is different!”

Usopp’s face grew expressionless as he looked at Luffy. “How is this different? Tell me.”

“Darla…” the straw-hatted teen said, blush rising on his cheeks. Usopp threw up his arms and groaned.

“Now of all times!” he exclaimed. Usopp scowled at Luffy, who gave an apologetic smile in return.

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“Don’t you remember where in the hell we’re supposed to be going?” Zoro asked sourly. He and Sanji were standing at the end of a curtained hall, pale light from the sun filtering though the tarp of the tent surrounding them. Sanji lit another cigarette and glanced around skittishly.

“Nope,” he said. “Everything looks the same. Plus, every time we seem to get closer to the crowd, it turns out to be a dead end. We’re trapped.”

“Damn,” the swordsman grunted, scratching his head. “Breaking out by force could possibly hurt people too. This really sucks.”

“I’m just worried about the others,” Sanji replied. “Those fangirls could very possibly rip them apart.”

“Our ukes and bestiality…” Zoro trailed off. He then scoffed and shook his head. “If we do get captured though, I call Luffy.”

“You’re sick.” The chef grimaced out of the mere thought of being at the mercy of the warped beauties. He was unsure of how much self-control he could muster if he was captured, even if the acts involved being lewd and, erm, Usopp. The mental image was scarring enough; being able to live through such an experience would definitely be more than challenging.

Shaking his head in disgust at his own thoughts, Sanji calmly began to walk in the direction he and Zoro had just come from. They rejoined the main hallway and began walking in a random direction, not caring too much anymore where they went. It was all irrelevant. His Nami-san was nowhere inside the back-halls of the circus. He was doomed to be captured, never see Nami-san or Vivi-chan ever again and be forced into a life of constantly being the marimo-brain’s uke. He was not anyone’s bitch, damn it all… nor did he want male bitches. That was a creepy enough thought all on its own, especially if those bitches happened to be his crewmate and captain.

“You’re just pissed because I’d show you up,” Zoro said casually. Sanji glared at him through the corner of his eyes.

“Just drop it, alright?” Sanji sneered. “Let’s just concentrate on finding the way to Nami-san and Vivi-chan.”

“Whatever,” Zoro grunted.

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Vivi knew what Nami’s personality was like, so none of this was really new. It is just that the intensity in which this particular public display was taking place happened to be more superfluous than necessary, and that scared the wits out of her.

It had all started when Sanji never came home to the Merry the night before. Nami really could have cared less about the rest of the crew not showing up after a while, but Sanji was the one who cooked dinner and served them like a lovesick puppy, so he was important to keep on a short leash. This resulted in a more-than-irked navigator and a burnt batch of pork chops. Vowing revenge upon Sanji and the pork chops, Nami set out very early in the morning, dragging the princess along with her. After failing to find Henk the bartender at his post in the tavern, Nami decided to go straight to the source and scour the circus for the missing crew. She started asking around angrily, but that scared more people than anything else. It was not until they saw a brightly-garbed man with a painted face sniffling at the entrance of a tent did they finally get an answer.

“A kid with a straw hat, a kid with a stupid nose and pretty hair, a reindeer, a green-haired man and an ero-cook? Sure I saw them! I tried to get to the swordsman, but he ran away from me…”

It was with those words Nami began beating relentlessly on the clown named Moogles. This had resulted in quite the crowd gathering. None of the carnival folk assisted their fallen comrade, for most of them thought it would simply “build character”.

“Right then,” Nami growled, grabbing Moogles by the collar and boring holes into him with her eyes. “Tell me, where was the last place you saw those two men. I want an answer, now.”

“I-I-I do not remember! I’ve been looking for the one with green-hair myself and I saw the cook walk off into a hall with one of the dancers and the other three walk off with one of the sideshow fortune-tellers! That was yesterday, but even if I saw them ten minutes ago, it would be no use! We have three large tents that are all connected by many passageways. You’d have to of either been in this circus almost your entire life or have an inner compass to find your way in there!”

“Alright,” Nami growled, dropping the cowering man. Her head snapped over towards Vivi and she scowled. “Let’s go.”

“Coming Nami-san,” Vivi smiled nervously, thankful that Caroo had been left sleeping on the Merry. She followed Nami into the tent and the two women glanced around.

Moogles was right. Everything did look pretty much the same.

Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced the air. It was followed by a chorus of giggles and squealing, coming from the north-bound corridor. Nami frowned and began walking.

“Step one: Chopper,” she grumbled. “He’ll be able to sniff the other four knuckle-heads out.”

“Please don’t be hasty Nami-san!” Vivi called out as she followed the fuming woman. This was probably the worst-tempered Vivi had ever seen the redhead and it was really, truly frightening.

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The tent was dark and full of whispers. The large throng of customers had long since been seated and the lights had just dimmed, leaving a singular strand of light to pour upon the very center of the arena. An older man walked into the circle, smartly dressed in a suit and slickbacked blue-grey hair, grinning profusely.

“Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen!” he boomed with a voice trained to reach over those of others. “My name is Pram and I am proud to present, the Event of the Year! Please give a large round of applause for your favorite troupe and mine, the Gringling Circus!”

A dull roar came from the crowd as the lights quickly dimmed back on. Clowns came from every entrance, performing humorous acts and fooling around in an improvisation act for the start of the circus. From one of the entrances, three figures stood, staring out into the commotion, unwilling to move.

“Luffy, I don’t think I can do this,” Usopp gulped. He gazed at the large number of people that were in the tent, as well as the height of the trapeze. Those things combined caused the sniper to quake at the knees.

“Don’t make me go out there Usopp!” Luffy wailed, hugging his nakama around the middle.

“Oh, don’t chicken out on me now!” Darla whined. “Usopp-san, Luffy-kun, please don’t leave. Please, go out there for me?”

“Darla, I don’t know if we can,” Usopp said with a nervous look on his face. “It’s kind of rare for Luffy to be afraid of something and if he’s scared, I’m scared.”

“Luffy-kun!” Darla pleaded. She pulled the straw-hatted teen from his friend and held his hands firmly. “Don’t wuss out now! I really want to go out there with you and Usopp-san! Hasn’t practice been fun?”

Luffy did not respond verbally. Instead, he gulped and gaped wide-eyed at the girl standing before him, his face tinting to roughly the same color of his costume. Usopp gave a slight snicker at the sight, but almost fell backwards when Darla leaned forward and landed a light peck of a kiss on Luffy’s cheek.

“Please Luffy-kun,” she reiterated. “Please go out there with me.” Once again, Luffy was struck speechless, except this time the faintest lopsided grin twitched on his lips.

“I think that means yes,” Usopp interrupted. Darla giggled merrily and threw her arms around both Luffy and Usopp.

“Thank you!” she smiled. “You two are some of the best men I’ve ever worked with on the trapeze! You could even replace Sai-kun and Kai-kun!”

“I thought that was what we were doing temporarily,” Usopp mentioned, gently prying Darla’s arm from him. “I thought they were sick.”

“They are, but they were not the first choice to have on the trapeze once we began the act,” the girl explained. “Sai-kun and Kai-kun were working in the game stands outside the tents before we recruited them for the trapeze. You two are so much better than they are, you could stay here with us forever! They even told me one day that they felt more at home with their old jobs! It would be perfect!”

“…but Darla, we’re pirates,” Usopp argued. “That won’t work. We’ve got to find One Piece and Luffy here’s gonna become the Pirate King! Don’t you get it? We can’t stay forever.”

“We can’t?” Luffy asked. Usopp snarled and grabbed Luffy by the crook of his neck, shaking him violently.

“You idiot! Don’t you dare do this to me! What about our dreams!? What about the others!? How could you!?”

“What about Darla?” Luffy asked, his words wobbly from being shaken. Usopp allowed his grip to slide up towards Luffy’s throat and continued shaking his captain.

“All for a girl!?! You are willing to throw away all the dreams and aspirations I thought you would never abandon for a girl!?! Stop having those goddamned Sanji Thoughts!”

Usopp was so concentrated on the act of punishing Luffy that he failed to realize that Pram was announcing their act. The clowns were done with and since Kimba was not feeling very well, the acrobats were moved forward in the line-up. The spotlight suddenly focused on the three teens, all of whom froze in place when they were exposed to the harsh light.

“Come on! Don’t be shy!” Pram shouted from the center of the arena. He waved them in and Usopp, Luffy and Darla all walked into the center of the tent, stopping right next to Pram.

“This is a truly special treat for you all today!” Pram announced. “Today, we have two newcomers to our troupe! Along with the veteran Darla, we have Luffy and Usopp, brave individuals of the utmost caliber! These three, although so young, are going to brave the ferocious height of our trapeze ropes, providing you with good, quality entertainment!”

“Usopp,” Luffy whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I think we’re gonna die.”

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A half-human Chopper shivered as he sat in Vivi’s arms, the reindeer shaking up a storm. He was covered from antler to hoof in glitter and clumps of his fur had been tied up into purple bows. The two fangirls that were chasing after him were on the ground unconscious, a triumphant Nami towering over them. She retrieved the doctor’s hat from the top of one of the fangirls’ head and returned it to its rightful owner.

“Th-th-thanks for sa-saving me...” Chopper said shakily. “It was so awful. They wouldn’t let me go anywhere. I couldn’t even get back to Luffy and Usopp...”

“Where’s Sanji?” Nami growled. Vivi cast her a look of disapproval when Chopper cringed at the harshness of the navigator’s voice.

“When was the last time you saw the others?” Vivi asked calmly. Chopper sniffled and took a long, hard thought.

“I was going to get food yesterday for Usopp, Luffy, Darla and me when I was attacked and that was the last time I saw anyone. There was this group of girls just standing there, all crowded around a closet. When they saw me, they screamed and began chasing after me. I hated all those little outfits they made me wear! I am not made for a size two dress!”

“Have you seen Sanji-san or Mr. Bushido?” Vivi asked. Chopper shook his head and sighed.

“Nope. The last time I saw them was when we first came here. Zoro disappeared quickly and Sanji went off to flirt. Luffy and Usopp are probably very busy right now though. They have to replace some guys who are sick.”

“Oh really...?” Nami hissed, her face hardening into a frightening scowl. Her upper lip curled into a sneer. “Chopper, I think we are going to need you nose more than ever.”