[ user’s Karma : 357 642 858 ]

 

‘So, taking care of Ener wasn’t really rewarding. For the difficult battle it was, that’s a shame but I guess considering the number of people who fought him it’s not really a surprise. At least the Goro Goro no mi is available, meaning Ener is dead for good. The amount of points from saving the Skypiea was not great either. Well, golden bell now, system later.’

 

Rick had woken up early in the morning. After getting back to his little adventure yesterday’s night he went straight to rest, not participating in the party. He was lucky the lightning bolt he took didn’t do any intensive internal damage. He was hurt but nothing like the fight with Shiki or the one at Alabasta. This time he didn’t overuse his power, it was just his body’s stamina that was depleted. Sure his organs took a hit, especially his heart but the imperfect body’s regeneration was doing his job perfectly well. He was not ready to fight or do a marathon but walking around for a while was no problem. His nerves had mostly recovered and the numbness was gone. The only indication he fought Ener and survived was the Lichtenberg figure, coursing from his right hand to his right pectoral. 

‘That’s some pretty scar, too bad getting it hurts so much.’

 

He discreetly left the tent making sure to not wake up his tent mates. Wyper, had invited Gan Fall under advice of the shandia’s elder to stay and spend the night in it to show everyone that war was really over and that it was time to move forward together peacefully. It was decided that Gan Fall will retake his title of god, guiding both skypiea and shandia towards a better future in harmony. The old knight was reluctant but agreed on the condition that Wyper become the new god’s guard captain and the elder his advisor. He didn’t know much about shandia’s culture and the elder could help a lot.

 

Rick floated a couple inches above the floor to avoid making any sound. More than waking up and getting caught, he didn’t want someone up with a huge hangover. His direction was the golden bell, he wanted to see it with his own eyes; the poneglyph and Roger’s message also.

The faint memories of the bell didn’t do any justice to how magnificent it was. It was not plain gold, some kind of hieroglyphs were carved upon it. It didn’t take all the space on the bell though, so he wondered if it was actually the shandia’s history recorded.

 

“Shouldn’t you be laying down resting?”

 

The Vice-captain didn’t have to turn around to face the person this voice belonged to. It couldn’t have not recognized it, he knew it so well.

 

“Good morning Robin. A bit early for work don’t you think?”

 

She frowned, “ I could say the same, at least I wasn’t the one who died yesterday.”

“Well I’m alive and kicking, must be another guy.”

 

‘Ooooh, I finally have a conversation with Robin that will get me a good number of points. I must not fuck it up. Please goddess, don't let Acting fail me!’

 

“Stop joking around! Your heart stopped!” she berated him. She was clearly not happy with his dismissive attitude about the ordeal. 

 

“My heart stopped.” That was said with a neutral note like it was not an important matter.

 

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

 

Rick just shrugged his shoulders to emphasize his point.Robin was more than unhappy now. His answer rubbed her the wrong way. For the always stoic archaeologist that outburst was uncommon. She had gotten attached to Rick. His quirkiness, his love for history, the alternance between being serious and childish, the way he could plan ahead of time and so many other things made her quite fond of her Vice-captain. She didn’t even realize it but not having him around didn’t sit well with her.

 

“It wasn’t the first time I almost died and it won’t be the last. That’s not a big deal.”

“You didn’t almost die, you did die! Chopper barely started your heart again!”

 

The ex-marine let out a long sigh then sat on the ground.

‘Well shit, it didn’t go as I expected at all.’

 

“Aren’t you here for work? Here’s a hint; I think Shandora’s complete history is carved onto the bell, well at least until 400 years ago. And the stele on the altar has some poneglyphs written on it.” 

 

She didn’t say anything and just looked at his back. Slowly she walked towards the altar and started reading the lost language. Neither say a word. When she was done with the stele she walked towards the altar’s stairs leading to the bell.

 

“Did you read the ones on the side of the stele?”

 

She took another look and saw the little inscription. The message left more than two decades ago by the pirate king himself. More than a surprise it was a shock. That Roger could read and write the poneglyphs was amazing.

‘Did he learn it at O’hara? Not more likely someone in his crew was from there, but who ?’

 

Those questions were quickly forgotten by the information it contained.

‘ “We came here, found the text and followed its guidance”. Follow the guidance of the text?’

 

She thought for a moment about the meaning of those words, especially the guidance part. 

‘Does that mean that by following the direction, the guidance, told by the poneglyphs I’ll find the true history?’

 

She thought a bit more about it. What could be the final destination where the true history is hidden? Then it hit her.

 

‘Laugh Tale! Of course it’s there! No one but Roger and its crew reached the last island of the Grand Line. Now I know why! You need the guidance of the poneglyphs to get there!’

 

Rick saw Robin’s agitation. He already knew what the poneglyphs said. The ones on the stele talked about the ancient weapon “poseidon” without getting too much into details.

 

“Robin? Did you find what you were looking for?”

 

She was still mad at him for his earlier attitude and ignored him and made her way to the bell. She discovered that he was right, the bell contained Shandora’s history but also the shandias’. In absolute silence she started recording it, her back turned to Rick.

 

“Robin?”

“...”

“Thanks for caring.”

“...”

“And you know… it’s probably not the right time to say this but...”

“...”

 

Despite her behavior she was listening attentively to him. Robin was surprised when he thanked her. She only ever cared for herself since she survived O’hara’s destruction. Caring for someone else was new. She was worried about Rick's effect on her but now? Now she was scared. Caring never ended well for people in her situation. His last words didn’t help a bit. Her whole body tensed trying to ready itself for the revelation he was about to say.

 

“You still owe me a princess’ carry.”

“...”

“...”

 

Nothing could be heard, but the wind and the sound of leaves moving thanks to it. Then an arm bloomed on his shoulder and smacked his head.

 

*smack*

“Owww! Why did you hit me? It's true!”

*smack*

“You want to play that game? Fine, it’s not one but two princess’ carry now!”

*smack**smack*

“Aren’t you ashamed?! Hitting someone who died yesterday?”

*smack**smack**smack*...

 

She was hitting non-stop now. Playing the “I died” card after not caring about it made her upset again.

‘That will teach him.’

*smack**smack**smack*

“Okay, Okay! I give up! Geez…”

 

The onslaught stopped to his delight.

*smack*

“Come on! What was this one for?”

 

His question went unanswered and since she was showing him her back he didn’t see the heartful and playful smile Robin had on her lips.

~~~~~

 

[Goro Goro no mi] 500K Karma points

 

‘That’s on par with Whitebeard’s Gura Gura no mi. Well… that’s not really a surprise, electricity is damn powerful. Thank the goddess, Ener was an idiot and didn’t use his power either correctly or at full capabilities.’

 

Rick pondered on the price a bit more. He remembered the price of his Me Me no mi and how hard it was to gather the karma points needed to buy it. At the time a fruit like the Goro Goro no mi was an impossible goal. Now? If it was possible he could buy more than 700. The Toki Toki no mi was still out of reach though. 1 billion Karma points was not a small amount, nor was it easy to get.

 

‘What should I do? Should I block the fruit or not?’

 

He pondered for a while and finally decided not to. By training immensely he could deal with any lightning bolt coming his way. Electrons have a mass after all. Insignificant maybe but still a mass. It would take a lot to reach the level of his gravity having any effect on lightning but not impossible. Another reason he decided to not get the fruit was the Tenki Tenki no mi. The weather fruit.

 

[Tenki Tenki no mi] 500M Karma points

 

‘With it Nami would be unstoppable and we wouldn’t have any weather problems at sea.”

 

This particular devil fruit’s power was tremendous. It allowed the users to manipulate the particles in the air. Meaning, someone could move clouds or make wind. Create lightning or rain and snow. Agitate or slow the particles to make it cold or hot.

 

“That's basically a cheat! Why didn’t I think to look at the store before choosing the Zushi Zushi no mi?! What a dumbass I am! If Nami trained her abilities she would be at the peak of the food chain.’

 

Lamenting and cursing over his own stupidity, which he’s been doing a lot recently, Rick took a look at Vegapunk's latest research. It hasn’t been that long since he checked them on Jaya, but Vegapunk was a genius so who knew what he could have thought of between then and now?

 

With a sigh he opened the weapon tab of the shop as no new development for his condition happened. There he saw numerous blades, some famous, some forgotten. In the end he didn’t buy anything, still feeling wrong about the idea of using another sword than Ryusei.

 

While he was browsing the system, a group of shandia led by the elder arrived on site. He saluted Rick who was now laying down looking at the sky (in truth the system) and when he didn’t get an answer, saw that the pirate was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t insist. Next he greeted Robin and when he saw her taking notes he asked if she could read the marking on the bell. Her nod led to a lot of questions that she was happy to answer. He almost passed out when she told her of the poneglyphs meaning on the stele. It was the same text she found with Rick and Raki in the forest. She made a copy of her notes and added her own about the shandia’s writing as it has been lost to their own people because of the war. The shandias were more thankful than ever, everything was going their way since the strawhats had arrived on Skypiea. They didn’t hesitate to give Rick and Robin the broken pillar of the bell made of gold.

 

The pillar was tall but not that thick and most of all heavy. There was no way the Merry could have taken care of all of it. That was fine Rick had an idea to not waste all the gold. Rick removed his jacket, ready to give a hand to the warriors but was caught by the wrist by Robin.

 

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

“Helping them, why?”

“Injured as you are ?” she was showing him his own arm with the lightning burns.

“Yes?”

 

She inhaled slowly but deeply then exhaled the same way. Then start hitting him again. But this time with her own real hands  and with another major difference.

 

‘When did she learn the fist of love from Nami?!’ 

 

‘The women of the blue sea are scary! A wolf in sheep’s clothing’ was the shared thought for every shandias warriors present.

When Robin, Rick, who was dragged by Robin holding his collar, and the shandias got back to Shandora, the rest of the crew was fleeing.

 

‘Those idiots.’

“ Hey Robin! Rick! Hurry up! We’re stealing their gold!” Yelled Luffy

“ Damnit! Why did you blurt it out, don't you see the shandias behind them ?” said Sanji.

“Rick! Why are you up?!” exclaimed Chopper.

 

Each member had something to say while running away. Confusion was on tribe members’ faces. Robin and Rick looked at each other and the latter let out a sigh. He made his crew mates float and attracted them towards him.

 

“Rick, what are you doing?!” yelled Luffy.

“The shandias are offering us the gold you idiots!”

“Wait, what?” asked Usopp.

“They gave up one of the broken pillars of the golden bell for defeating Ener, saving everyone and helping them with their history.” explained Robin.

“It’s the least we can do.” intervened the elder.

“No need to run away guys. Besides Luffy, do you want us to leave when we didn’t catch a single fish and didn’t get to eat every delicacy of the island?” announced Rick.

“Heck no!” answered the captain.

~~~~~

 

In the end they stayed a few more days relaxing. Chopper berated Rick for getting out of bed and charged a crew member to watch him at all times so he would stay in it. They did all participate except Luffy for obvious reasons.

The shandias and Usopp were working on cutting the pillar by using dials. The idea came from Rick; by using the same beam produced by Whyper’s bazooka they easily could take a third of the pillar off. It would take a few days though.

 

Currently, he is guarded by Nami.

“ So, Rick…” she started.

“Yes?”

“I heard you spent an awful lot of time with Robin since we separated yesterday.”

“Nope.”

“Oh really? That’s not what Raki said.”

“Nope, nope and nope. I’m not discussing this topic with you.”

“Ohhh that’s too bad. I guess I’ll go ask Robin then.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“What is it then?”

“You’re really a mean one you know? I always bring you treasures to cheer you up and this is what I get?” he complained.

“Oh pleeeeeaaaase, as if it were true.”

“Who were the idiots, who were going to leave without the 20 tons of gold from the pillar? I’m almost your sugar daddy at this point.”

“Okay fine, but you’re not my sugar daddy.” she admitted.

“Yeah, a sugar daddy got fucked the good way.”

“Oh my… I thought you weren’t interested in me?

“You. Are. Impossible.”

“Well tell me what I want and I’ll stop.”

“She kept hitting me this morning. Happy now?”

“Well that’s great!”

“Hitting ME! Not ON me.”

“ She must have had a reason.What did you do?”

“I thanked her, and reminded her she still owes me something that is inconsequential.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

 

She was not believing a single word he was spouting but didn’t pursue her interrogation any further. When the time for her shift to change came up Robin and Chopper came into the tent. The latter was there to check on Rick, the former to take Nami’s place. The navigator grabbed Robin and dragged her outside.

 

“Why don’t we have a talk Robin. Chopper, take Robin’s shift please. See you later Rick!”

“Naaaaaaaaaaaaamiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!” yelled Rick.

“Be quiet and rest!” said Chopper.

 

Rick could only cry anime tears, stuck in his duffle bag under Chopper’s watchful eye.

 

~~~~~

 

They took two days to cut the pillar. Everyone worked on shifts to achieve it in that short amount of time. Thus the crew was ready to go. Well almost. They had a big problem; Rick was gone. During the first night, as Usop was “watching” him his eyes closed, to “ train observation haki” he said, the Vice-captain skittered away. The search was unfruitful the second day and the crew decided to go back to the ship and just wait for him.

As they reached the Merry, dragging their gold. They saw Rick on the deck sunbathing. Nami, Chopper were furious. Robin too but had her poker face on.

“Where were you?!” said Nami, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him. Chopper was not silent either.

“I told you to rest, do you know what that means?!”

“I was on the Merry, resting in a comfortable bed instead of the hard ground. And I’m fine Chopper, I heal fast and I know my body better than anyone!”

“And you couldn’t warn us ?” asked Nami

“I did warn Usop I was leaving while he was… training his observation haki.” said Rick with a smirk.

“See! I told you I was training!”

“He was sarcastic, you idiot!” yelled Nami.

 

She tried her punch of love on him, but seeing her hit coming he floated upward, out of reach.

“Not this time!” he said laughing at her.

 

He didn’t laugh long as a hand on his shoulder appeared and delivered its own version of Nami’s famous punch, breaking his focus and throwing him on the deck’s floor right at Robin’s feet. Nami and Chopper went to her side.

 

“... Mercy?”

“Fufufu… No.” said Robin with murder in her eyes.

~~~~~

 

The crew was sailing on the sea of clouds and soon would be reaching the island exit. Escorted by Conis and Pagaya, they bid their goodbyes and passed “Cloud End”, a giant gate like “Heaven’s Gate”.

 

“Everyone be careful! You’re going to start falling soon!” Yelled Conis to them.

“Wait. What?”

 

The Merry reaching the end of the sea of clouds found herself in the air. Every crew member panicked, except Rick who was tied to the mast knocked out. Thankfully, Conis summoned, with a whistle, an Octoballoon; a giant Octopus which grabbed the Merry and inflated his own body using it as a parachute. The fall took a few minutes and was smooth but with the added weight of the pillar, the Octoballoon deflated around 50 feet high up from the sea. Thankfully, Rick woke up from his induced mini-coma and made everyone float around ten feet above the sea.

Merry crashed against the water so violently that the mast broke once more and fell into it before the crew landed on the deck, abruptly but without suffering any injury.

“I really thought we were goners.” said Nami.

“Yeah! Thanks Rick!’ said the captain.

 

Not hearing any answer Luffy looked around searching for his Vice-Captain.

“Guys, where is Rick?” he asked.

“Did anyone let him loose from the mast?” said Robin.

““““““Not me.”””””” said everyone else in sync.

“““““““...”””””””

 

Zoro and Sanji were the first to react and dive into the sea, searching for the mast and Rick. They quickly found both and brought them up to the surface. They unrestrained their Vice-captain and brought him back on deck. Chopper quickly came to his side.

 

“Anyone interested in doing some CPR?!” he declared.

“Girls are out.” quickly said Nami.

“Not me”

“Not me”

“Not me”

“Not me”

“Not me”

“Usop you lost! Get to it!” ordered Luffy.

“Hell no!”

“Pretty sure Rick is almost gone for good, guys.” said Nami

“That’s a shame. At least we’ll get him a nice tombstone.” Robin added her two cents.

 

Usopp grumbled and complained but approached the ex-marine nonetheless, he drew his face closer to the drowned man. When his lips almost made contact with him, the former disappeared and the latter started to cough, expelling the water in his lungs.

 

“What the…” asked Zoro

“Where did Usopp go?” followed Sanji.

 

They heard a faint splash coming from the sea. Looking towards the sound location they saw the sniper of the crew floating. Chopper was eximing Rick, who was breathing heavily and with difficulty.

 

“Are you alright?” the doctor asked.

“ *cough* I am *cough* NOT.”

He stopped coughing and soon his breathing was not erratic anymore.

“Holy… I really thought I was done and over this time.”

 

Luffy had brought back Usopp on the Merry by extending his arm and grabbing him. The latter was knocked out cold.

 

“I don’t know why but I’ve got the feeling I escaped a fate worse than death.”

 

Nobody said anything, at least out loud. No one could hold Rick’s questioning gaze. Seeing his fainted crewmate he asked:

“What happened to Usopp?”

 

““““““...””””””

“He… was ejected overboard when the Merry hit the sea.” quickly said Nami.

“Really? I thought I made everyone float.”

“Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t matter.” she replied just as fast.

 

Rick didn’t pursue the conversation any further and just laid on the deck to rest after this near death experience.

 

Nami leaned towards Robin and whispered in her ear.

“Do you think Rick subconsciously pushed Usopp away?” asked the red head.

“I think so. That’s some impressive survival instinct he has.”

 

Since Rick and apparently Usopp didn’t have any recollection of what happened everyone else kept their mouths shut and started sailing again towards the next island the logue pose was leading them to.