Nick thought that his first experience traveling on the Going Merry would be… different. However, as it turns out, trying to pilot a ship with four people who have no goddamn idea how to do so was less than ideal.

  They nearly steered it right into the island after taking it out of port. Now that would have been embarrassing. Thankfully, Nick took the whipstaff from Luffy and managed to redirect it right in the nick of time.

  After that, the rubber troublemaker found his seat almost immediately, sitting happily on the figurehead as the rest of them attempted to work. Or at least, Nick and Usopp did, because that lazy asshole Zoro decided to take a cat nap.

  Twice!

  But Nick was basically held together by duct tape at this point, so he wasn't much use. About the only thing he could do was steer the ship. Usopp was forced to do the rest of the things needed to make the thing move, and though he was a decent shipwright, that didn't necessarily translate to knowing how to make the ship go. He had the theoretical knowledge, but no practical experience.

  The only one who did have an idea was Biff, and they sure as hell weren't going to give him free reign of anything. The last thing they needed was for him to sabotage their journey. Just because Nick put the fear of God into him, didn't mean he wouldn't do something incredibly stupid.

  As it was, he was nice and tied up, sitting against the wall watching the chaos unfold. According to him, their destination was two days away, and those pricks had several hours on them already. Hopefully nothing would happen to their friends before they could reach them.

  The first day of the journey wasn't so bad. Even if they didn't know what the hell they were doing, the weather was nice, with a few fluffy white clouds passing them by across the otherwise blue sky.

  But then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

  "Who the hell are these guys!?" Usopp shouted in fear as a cannonball exploded near them. Nick cursed as he snapped the whipstaff to the left, barely avoiding a direct hit.

  "They must be more of the Bear King's crew! Guess he doesn't want us to crash the party!" Nick yelled, doing his best to prevent them from meeting Davy Jones. It was hard to tell from the room he was in, and he cursed whoever decided that the mechanism to steer the boat was put inside a freaking room where you couldn't see shit!

  Seriously, why!? What benefit could that possibly have? It should be out on the deck where he could actually see what was going on. But no, that would make too much sense!

  Nick could barely make out Luffy as he kicked away a cannonball from his perch. Nice to know at least one of them was doing their job, unlike the coward and the narcoleptic.

  "Wah, we're all gonna die!" the coward yelled, as the ship was rocked by another violent explosion. Somehow, the narcoleptic slept through the whole damn thing. Nick didn't know how that was possible, but the proof was right in front of him. Zoro was sleeping as snug as a bug in a rug, his body sliding back and forth across the room as Nick desperately steered them as best he could.

  "Damn it Usopp, now is not the time to let your inner bitch out!" Nick yelled, grunting in pain as he moved the whipstaff to the right. A day was not nearly enough rest time for his poor broken ribs to recover, especially when he and Usopp were the only ones that could be trusted to steer Merry.

  "What did you say!?" Usopp yelled in anger, glaring at Nick before another explosion nearly sent him sprawling on his ass.

  "This is bad. What are we going to do?" Usopp cried, holding onto the dining table for dear life, forgetting his anger at Nick.

  "Stop your damn crying and wake up sleeping beauty!" Nick shouted, watching with irritation as Zoro slid by him again.

  "How am I supposed to do that?" Usopp asked.

  "Slap him in the face, kick him in the balls; I don't know just figure something out!"

  Frowning, Usopp considered his options. He really wasn't sure how he was supposed to wake up someone who could sleep through the literal apocalypse. But he knew Nick was right, they needed him in order to survive their current predicament. Luffy could only do so much.

  So that only leaves the how. Zoro, in the very short time he has known him, has shown to be a highly aggressive and violent person, and personally, Usopp did not want to find out how violent he could be when awoken from his beauty sleep.

  It's just too bad he didn't have a choice. But even if that was the case, he sure as hell wasn't going to get near him while doing it. He was a sniper! Getting all up in someone's face was the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do.

  Looking through his satchel, he tried to find something that he could use to wake him up without doing any damage that would prevent him from fighting. That would defeat the whole purpose of getting his lazy ass up.

  That's when he saw it, a stink bomb. These little babies were pretty potent, and was what he used to subdue the bees he used for the traps. If it was good enough to make bees, the most evil insect in the world, play nice, then it was good enough to wake up Zoro.

  Or kill him, but Usopp was ready and willing for that coin toss.

  Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad. And if he was, he could always say it was Nick's idea. Not technically a lie, as he did tell him to wake the other man up, he would just omit the part where he made the executive decision to use a stink bomb.

  Grabbing the wake up pellet and sliding it into the slingshot pouch, he took careful aim, not wanting to hit Zoro in any delicate spots. His brother already did that once.

  "Alright Zoro, time to wake up! Special Attack: Funky Sta-ah!"

  Just as Usopp was about to unleash his attack, the ship gave another shuddering jerk as Nick tried to avoid another cannonball. The explosion rocked the ship once more, sending the sniper's attack wide. Not only that, the long nosed man went flying forward, his head colliding with Zoro's.

  "Gah!" Zoro yelled out in surprise, holding his forehead in pain. "What the hell Usopp!?" he growled, grabbing the barely conscious man by his shirt, glaring at him.

  "Look at the pretty stars…" Usopp said in mild delirium, Zoro's extra hard head having knocked the sense right out of him.

  "Tsk," Zoro said, flinging him to the ground. This process, while only mildly painful, did have the good fortune of bringing Usopp back to his senses.

  "Huh, what happened, where am I?" he said, looking around in confusion. The last thing he remembered was trying to wake up Zoro, the ship shook and then… blank. Looking up, he saw the grumpy face of Zoro, glaring down at him, and he figured that whatever happened, he succeeded in his mission to wake up the swordsman.

  "Well look at that, Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. And it didn't even require a kiss," Nick said, smirking as Zoro turned his glare on him.

  "What was that?"

  "Bitch at me later Mr. Sourpuss, right now I need you to go out there and help Luffy. In case you didn't know, we're kind of under attack right now," Nick ordered. Zoro looked out the open door, watching as Luffy inflated himself to try and send a cannonball back at the attackers.

  "What a pain," Zoro groused, but did as he was told, sliding his swords into his haramaki and walking casually out the door, unbothered by the manic movement of the boat. But Nick didn't have time to admire the badassness of the scene, turning to look at Usopp who was still on the ground.

  "Good job Usopp, now for your next assignment. I need you to man the cannons below deck and take out as many of these assholes as you can. Got it?" Nick said, grunting as he once more maneuvered the whipstaff.

  "What, why me!?" Usopp cried, fear in his eyes. As much as he wanted to be a brave pirate, his first real taste of naval warfare had him shook. But more than that, he was afraid of screwing up. What if he missed, and that caused them to sink? The pressure was just too much!

  "You're the sniper, aren't you? So snipe them! The more of them you take out, the safer we'll be. So put on your big boy panties, and take them out! Or do you not want to save Kaya and your brother?" Nick asked, gritting his teeth from the sheer agony in his ribs. He had to force each and every breath of air, the simple act more painful than getting his ribs broken in the first place.

  Usopp stared at him for a moment, seeing the torture in the other man's eyes as he did everything withing his power to keep them alive. No, it was more than that. It wasn't just about survival, it was about saving the others.

  Saving Nami.

  He was going through unimaginable pain in order to save the woman he clearly had his eyes on. How could Usopp, who claimed to care for Kaya, do any different? The short answer is, he couldn't.

  Wiping the tears of fear from his eyes, he gave Nick a determined nod. "Alright, I'll do it. Just try to line me up, and I'll take them down."

  The brown haired man smirked at the sudden bravery. "I'll do my best. Now get down there."

  Nick watched as Usopp ran out of the room, heading for the lower deck. Now that everyone was doing their part, they just might make it out of this alive.

  And that's when a sudden, putrid smell entered his nose. "Ugh, what the hell is that?" he asked, looking around for whatever was making the smell. It was like every fart ever made was let out at once while two skunks hate fucked each other.

  That's when he spotted good old Biff, completely knocked out and foaming at the mouth. He could practically see the stink lines coming off of him. He was confused for a moment, until he remembered the pellet that Usopp was trying to wake Zoro up with.

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  "Damn it Usopp! You killed Biff!" Nick yelled. How the hell was something so vile supposed to wake up the green haired swordsman? And even if it did, what was stopping it from knocking him right back out? Then it would have been Zoro foaming at the mouth with his soul leaving his body.

  Thankfully, that didn't happen, and Zoro was outside deflecting giant lead explodey balls away from Merry. He couldn't exactly return fire like Luffy could, but it was enough that he was on defense.

  Nick swerved Merry so that he was facing one of the ships head on, knowing they had a cannon in the front. There was also one on each side and one in the back as well. Hopefully, Usopp was in position and he wouldn't chicken out at the last second.

  To his relief, he didn't. Nick heard the loud explosion of the cannon go off, and he could see the lead ball racing towards the much larger ships. Too bad for them, they didn't have a Luffy or a Zoro, and the ball connected dead on.

  Say what you want about Usopp's cowardice, the boy could aim.

  "Woo, bullseye!" Usopp shouted, his face twisted in glee. His hands were as sweaty as they'd ever been, but he couldn't remember the last time he felt so accomplished.

  The ship immediately began taking on water. He couldn't see the crew from here, but he imagined they were screaming in panic. The thought filled him with joy.

  "Heh, not bad," Zoro said with a smirk. Luffy laughed happily, watching as their opponent was taken out. "Woo, Usopp! Way to go!" he shouted. He was already thinking of adding the long nosed man to his crew, and that just cemented it. Neither he nor Zoro were snipers of any kind, and he could really use one. He saw how good Usopp's dad was with a gun, and that's the kind of skill he wanted for a member of his crew.

  Their celebration was cut short by another explosion shaking the ship, nearly sending Luffy to the floor. He looked out at the numerous pirate ships that were even more eager for blood than before.

  "Maa, so many…" he complained.

  "Oi, you two! Get back to work!" Nick shouted from inside.

  "I don't take orders from you!" Zoro shouted back.

  "Luffy, tell Zoro to get back to work!"

  "Zoro, get back to work."

  "Grr…"

  The four of them worked in tandem to protect the Merry while making their way towards wherever it was they were going. But there never seemed to be an end to them. Nick could have sworn it was some Don guy who had the most ships in the East Blue, so who the hell was this guy?

  Panting in exhaustion, Nick did his best to keep going, staring out from the open door into the sea in front of them. Usopp fired off another shot, managing to hit another ship. It didn't do enough damage to take it out, but it would slow them down.

  It wasn't looking good, there were just too many of them for one crew of four to handle. But what choice did they have? If they couldn't break through this blockade, they had no hope of saving their friends.

  That's when he heard an ominous rumbling sound. If he didn't know any better, he'd say it was thunder. As if to confirm his notion, a loud boom echoed across the sea.

  "Well, that's less than ideal…" he thought.

  Luffy kicked away another cannonball, landing on the deck of the ship breathing somewhat heavily. As much stamina as he had, jumping up and down while constantly using his Devil Fruit powers really took it out of him.

  A sharp breeze nearly took his hat off, making him slam his right hand onto it. The ship also shook from a violent wave as the sky roared above them. Looking to the right, Luffy could see pitch black clouds gathering in the distance, racing towards them with a wrathful glee.

  "Damn it, just what we need. Oi, no-ribs! Get us out of here!" Zoro shouted to Nick, having seen and heard the storm. Nick couldn't agree more. Going through a storm is the last thing he wanted to do.

  But just as he was about to swivel in the opposite direction and hope they could sail around it somehow, Luffy stopped him.

  "No wait!" he said, staring out at the dark horizon. His eyes were unfocused, like he was listening to something only he could hear. "Keep going. Right through the center of the storm."

  "Are you out of your mind!?" Zoro yelled as the waves grew even more violent. The storm may have been some ways away, but they could clearly feel the effects of its power from here.

  "Trust me. Merry can handle it," he said, giving Zoro a hard stare. This continued for a moment before Zoro huffed and turned away.

  "Fine, but if we die, you're dead," he said, making Luffy confused as all hell.

  "That's what dying means Zoro!" Nick shouted from the peanut gallery, having been able to somehow hear everything. He chalked it up to another one of those anime things.

  "Nobody asked you!" Zoro yelled back, his cheeks red from embarrassment.

  Nick chuckled before doing as Luffy suggested, turning the whipstaff directly towards the storm. He wasn't sure if this was a particularly good idea, but he'd put his faith in the power of the anime protagonist.

  "Alright, you guys need to bring up the sails! Chop-chop, on the double!" Nick shouted with a grin. Luffy sprang into action immediately while Zoro continued to bitch for a bit.

  "Don't take orders from you…" he grumbled under his breath. Still, he did as he was told, if for no other reason than he knew Nick was right. He might not know much about sailing, but he knew having the sails down in a storm was a bad idea.

  "Hey, what the hell is going on! Why are we heading right for the storm!?" Usopp shouted, having come up from below deck after seeing the direction we were turning.

  "Luffy's idea! But don't worry! If we die, then we're dead!"

  "What the hell does that mean!?"

  "Ask Zoro!"

  "Mommy, I don't want to be a pirate anymore!" thought Biff, who just woke up.

  It didn't take long for them to furl the sails, which was a good thing because it didn't take long to reach the storm either. The Going Merry tipped right and left in massive arcs as they sailed over giant waves. The sight of lightning striking around them was their only source of light beneath the darkened sky.

  Nick did his best to keep Merry from capsizing, with the help of Usopp, both of them using all their power to control the whipstaff. Luffy and Zoro were busy doing the same, using their superior strength to slam the boat in the opposite direction when the ship tilted too far right or left.

  Water poured in from the door, slamming into Nick and Usopp, nearly sending them to the ground. But they held firm, gripping the whipstaff and keeping them on course. Calling it difficult would be an understatement, but both men were determined to save the women they cared for.

  It was pure chaos, but somehow, they managed to pull through. After what felt like hours, they finally made it out of the other side of the storm. Bright, sunny light steamed down from the heavens, almost as if the storm had never happened. Merry sailed merrily across the now calm ocean waves.

  "We're alive!" Usopp shouted, collapsing on the floor, tears of relief pouring from his eyes. Nick similarly fell to the ground, though unlike Usopp, he wasn't bawling his eyes out. He was just so damn tired.

  "Zoro, Luffy! You dead!?" Nick called out, wondering how the two fared as they were the ones outside in the heat of the storm.

  "Fuck off!" replied an exhausted Zoro.

  "I'm hungry…"

  "Ok good, they're fine," he said, laying his head against the cold, wet floor. That had been an experience he hadn't been prepared for. A terrifying one to boot. Probably the closest he's come to death so far, and that's saying something.

  Nick heard some footsteps approaching and managed to raise his weary head to get a good look at a waterlogged Zoro dragging an equally waterlogged Luffy behind him. Zoro let Luffy go before flopping onto his ass and leaning back against the wall.

  "Are we still being followed? Please say no," Nick asked/begged. He was way too exhausted to be dealing with any more crap at the moment.

  "Not that I can see. Pretty sure they all sunk in the storm," Zoro responded before yawning.

  "Good. Can't believe that actually worked. Hope sailing into a storm doesn't become a habit…" Nick muttered. But Zoro didn't respond, too busy sleeping. Nick sweat dropped at this.

  "How? How can he fall asleep so easily?"

  But it seemed like he wasn't the only one, as Usopp and Luffy also seemed to be zonked out. Nick couldn't really blame them, everyone had been up for well over a day at this point. Well, except for Zoro that is. And as much as he wanted to pursue the captors, catching up to them would be pointless if they were too tired to fight.

  But he had no intention of sleeping on the ground, his back would never forgive him for it. So, with a painful grunt, he forced himself to his feet to stand on shaky legs. He looked over towards Biff, who was also out cold again and still tied up nice and tight. Good, it would do for them to get killed in their sleep by a second rate guy like him.

  Nick slowly made his way out of the room, taking special care not to step on anybody. He made his way to the front of the ship to release the anchor. He did not want to let the ship drift wherever the hell it pleased. Navigating was hard enough when you knew where you were going, doing so while lost and without a Nami to guide them was not something Nick was keen to experience.

  Grunting, he removed the anchor from the hook before tossing it into the ocean, watching as it quickly disappeared below the depths. Nodding in satisfaction, he then headed right for the Captain's quarters, or the ladies quarters, as they would be called later.

  He was not sleeping in a hammock when there was a perfectly good bed available. No siree.

  The trip down the stairs into the lower deck wasn't what he would call pleasant. Each step was way too damn difficult. Gunshot wounds, cat wounds, Luffy wounds; all of them conspired to send him to the floor. But Nick was on to their conspiracy and managed to make it down safely.

  When he flopped down on the bed, he made a moaning sound that would not be out of place in a porno. Too bad he was way too tired to get anything up, and even if he could, he'd just be frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it, cause he sure as shit wasn't moving.

  He listened to the gentle waves outside as they gently rocked him to sleep. Tomorrow they should be able to reach the island, but for now, it was time for bed. It didn't take too long before he was dozing off.

  *Line Break*

  Honey Queen stared at the unresponsive Den Den Mushi with a frown. Their fleet had been chasing the Straw Hats when they ran afoul a storm. According to the last reports sent, the fools sailed right into it.

  Well, at least that was one problem taken care of. The ship they were on was supposedly tiny, no way it survived the storm when their large galleons didn't.

  Placing the receiver back on the snail, she strolled towards her chambers, eager to deliver the good news to their prisoners. They had been irritatingly uncooperative during their first day of their journey, and this should be just the thing that gets them to comply.

  "Knock, knock, is anybody home?" she asked, knocking on her own door before opening it. There she saw both Nami and Kaya, tied up and glaring at her. The orange haired girl's stare was mildly effective, but Kaya's just made her look like an angry little kitten. More adorable than intimidating.

  "What do you want now? Here to ask for more advice on which outfit to wear? Newsflash, they all make you look like a slut," Nami said, practically spitting the words out. Not for the first time did Honey Queen wish that hypnotist hadn't passed out due to his injuries. It would be so much better if these two little tramps were quiet.

  "Not this time, but don't worry, I have plenty more clothes to go through when we get to the island," she said, smirking as Nami groaned in irritation. "No, I'm here to inform you that your friends are sadly no longer part of this world. Seems they perished in a storm."

  "No…" Kaya said, tears welling up in her eyes. Usopp couldn't really be dead, could he? And the others; could they really be dead because of her?

  "Bullshit. Like I'd believe anything you have to say," Nami countered, but there was a noticeable wobble in her voice, causing Honey Queen to give her a cruel smirk.

  "You don't have to trust my words; you'll find out soon enough. I'm sure by your honeymoon you'll come to realize that no one is coming to save you."

  With that, Honey Queen left, leaving two distraught women behind. Nami turned to look at the despairing Kaya, trying to snap her out of her own head. But no matter what she said, Kaya just continued staring at the ground, tears falling from her eyes.

  The cat burglar, growing sick of this, decided to get her attention in a different way.

  "Ow!"

  She head butted her. It was something Nick would have done and she felt very stupid for thinking emulating him would be a good idea.

  "Nami, that hurt. Why would you do that?" Kaya asked, crying for a whole new reason now.

  "Because you wouldn't answer me. Ah, that stings," Nami complained. She would love to rub her now sore head, but with them being tied up, that wasn't exactly in the cards at the moment.

  "Listen, don't listen to a thing she said. No way something as simple as a storm would take those guys out, trust me," Nami said, giving her a smile, one that Kaya didn't return.

  "But what if she was telling the truth? What if they are really dead? It would be all my fault," Kaya said, sniffling.

  "Are we doing this again? Nothing that's happened is your fault. All the blame lies with them," Nami replied.

  "But-"

  "No buts! The boys are fine and we'll be out of this soon enough. So stop crying and believe in them, alright?"

  "I'll try," Kaya said, but it was hard for her to stop crying once she started. Her mind would keep going back to the thing that made her cry in the first place and play it on repeat, making her cry all over again. It was a vicious cycle.

  "Good. But just so you know, I'm not into the whole damsel in distress thing, so I don't intend to wait around forever. First chance we get, we bust out of here. What do you say?" Nami asked, giving the slightly younger woman a confident grin.

  Seeing this, Kaya was able to dry the last of her tears, giving Nami a hopefully confident look as well. "Right, let's do it!"