Don't really know where I'm going with this one, but I thought this would fit nicely. ---
Hope was pelting hard over the dancing citizens of Alabasta. After a long, long spell of drought and internecine strife, the charlatan shichibukai was exposed and a ragtag pirate crew had brought his daughter safely home from her desperate quest.
To say Nefertari Cobra was grateful would be a gross understatement. He owed his entire nation's future to the unlikeliest of saviors, a little rubber boy who'd encountered and befriended Vivi by chance.
The palace was alive with song and celebration, and the bustling of a not a few handmaids fretting over their prodigal princess. Cobra was never given to this sort of exuberance; he just wanted to wrap himself in the rain and cry. But his duty to his daughter and his kingdom superseded this selfish whim. So all he told her, after she glided from her dressing room in her royal regalia, was "It's been so long since I've heard the rain..."
And he gave her a faint smile.
Vivi could tell from her father's eyes that mixed in with his obvious happiness was a lingering ennui, and that all these miracles hadn't relieved him of his deep disillusionment. Cobra felt somewhat lost at sea, exhausted by the constant bucking of the waves. He picked himself back up and tried to fight on but subconsciously the ocean would never stop pitching him back.
"It reminds me of the sounds of sailing," she reminisced. "The boatside spray would sometimes get so bad it might as well have been raining. But it felt so soothing to know I had nakama to watch over me, come hell or high water. So even when Merry was rocking like a toy horse in the wee hours, I felt secure just nodding off. Even though they often bickered and wrestled with each other, theirs was the most powerful sense of trust I've ever known."
Cobra whistled playfully. "Pretty profound for a crew of clueless pirates," he laughed.
Vivi placed her hand in her father's and grinned.
"I think Alabasta should formally become a pirate nation," she joked.
"Oho! The world's most daring princess indeed."
"Just remember, dad," she said, "that as long as you provide for your people and keep the rain from getting stolen, all of Alabasta will be with you."
And these words would give him succor for decades to come, and whenever it rained, he would think: My how my daughter has grown!
--- Prompt: A scenario whereby Tactics 15 works wondrously and wins the day--but only after Robin joins in
Tactics Part IhosekisamaSeptember 16 2010, 22:53:51 UTC
HOW DID I MAKE THIS ANGST HOW.
--
It was unthinkable, incomprehensible, inconceivable-but the Strawhats were well and truly losing this fight.
The enemy pirates had struck suddenly, coming seemingly from nowhere and swarming the deck. Franky had been downed by a long, wicked knife to the back; someone had broken Robin's arms and left her in her silent agony; even Zoro and Sanji had finally collapsed-their opponents were too numerous, too skilled.
Their captain had taken on Luffy personally, moving at incomprehensible speeds and beating him black and blue with his bare yet haki-enhanced fists.
Usopp groaned from under a heap of rubble that used to be some part of Thousand Sunny. One of them had thrown a handful of something in his face, and now tears flowed unceasingly from his unseeing eyes. "Franky..." he mumbled, not even knowing if the cyborg had fallen nearby.
"Yeah, Longnose-bro?" replied Franky weakly, pausing to cough up some blood; the knife had pierced his lung.
"Are, are we gonna die here? Franky..."
Franky almost laughed. "Hard to say, bro."
Chopper crawled through the wreckage toward them in Brain Point. "Guys," he whispered. He was maybe the best off; the attackers had merely endured his several minutes of Rumble attacks and beaten him down when he was unable to assume Defense Point. "Guys, they're leaving."
"Good," breathed Usopp, almost relaxing at the news. "Isn't- isn't that good, Chopper? Chopper? I can't see you, do you look happier than you sound?"
"They have Luffy," explained Chopper. "I heard them say one of their new members without a bounty was gonna turn him into the Marines. Usopp, Franky, they're gonna kill Luffy..."
Usopp flailed helplessly, unable to stand on his legs, which had turned to jelly. "No..." he wailed. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die and there's nothing we can do...!"
"That's not-" Franky paused to cough again. "That's not true. There's one thing we can do. Tactics Fifteen."
"What?!" objected Usopp and Chopper in unison.
"That, that was just a joke, Franky," said Usopp. "It's not real."
Franky rolled from his side to his belly and weakly staggered to his feet, debris falling from the folds of his shirt. "Of course Tactics Fifteen is real," he said, reaching out his right hand to Usopp. "We did it together. That makes it real, doesn't it? Let's-go!"
Chopper staggered forward, and Franky helped guide him to the proper place on his head. Together they struggled forward and the cyborg gently lifted Usopp up, cradling the sniper in his right hand.
Tactics Part IIhosekisamaSeptember 16 2010, 22:54:32 UTC
"Pirates Docking Six," recited Chopper.
"G-giant Robot So-soldier," responded Usopp, wrapping his legs around Franky's forearms and shaping the O with his arms even as he stuttered and wept.
"Big-" Franky began, but he tripped and started to fall forward, and he knew this would be the end of the Strawhat Pirates, stupidly dead after a failed maneuver-
But two strong sets of hands caught the cyborg and lifted him onto two broad shoulders, which by rights should have been an unstable perch but felt as solid as a well-built deck.
"Where do you think-" a much-battered Zoro growled.
"You're going without us?" finished Sanji around his cigarette. The two men stood strong, though both were soaked in their own blood.
Franky's lips curved in a pale imitation of a smile even as is heart soared. "Big-" he started again, but Chopper cut him off.
"Franky, the left arm..."
Franky stared through the ruins of his shades to his left hand, bare of attachment. "Nico-" He coughed. "Nico Robin!" A moan from just ahead; Zoro and Sanji hastened forward and knelt beside her broken form.
"Dock on my left arm," Franky urged, proffering it. "It's our only chance."
Robin didn't smile, didn't even look at them. "No," she said, voice faint but still strong. "As a human being... it's embarrassing."
"Robin!" moaned Usopp and Chopper, but Franky felt a surge of strength in his heart.
"As a human being? Well, Nico Robin, I guess you have a choice." The others stared at him.
"Die here and now a human being... or live on a pirate!"
Tears formed in Robin's eyes. "I want to live," she gasped. "I want to live, I want to sail on with everyone..."
"Then dock," said Franky seriously, and he oh-so-carefully scooped her into his massive hand, letting her long legs curl around his arm and her broken arms form a shaky O.
And as the six of them came together as one body they felt the haze of pain clear; they saw clearly through their doubt; and their hearts beat as one.
---
Hope was pelting hard over the dancing citizens of Alabasta. After a long, long spell of drought and internecine strife, the charlatan shichibukai was exposed and a ragtag pirate crew had brought his daughter safely home from her desperate quest.
To say Nefertari Cobra was grateful would be a gross understatement. He owed his entire nation's future to the unlikeliest of saviors, a little rubber boy who'd encountered and befriended Vivi by chance.
The palace was alive with song and celebration, and the bustling of a not a few handmaids fretting over their prodigal princess. Cobra was never given to this sort of exuberance; he just wanted to wrap himself in the rain and cry. But his duty to his daughter and his kingdom superseded this selfish whim. So all he told her, after she glided from her dressing room in her royal regalia, was "It's been so long since I've heard the rain..."
And he gave her a faint smile.
Vivi could tell from her father's eyes that mixed in with his obvious happiness was a lingering ennui, and that all these miracles hadn't relieved him of his deep disillusionment. Cobra felt somewhat lost at sea, exhausted by the constant bucking of the waves. He picked himself back up and tried to fight on but subconsciously the ocean would never stop pitching him back.
"It reminds me of the sounds of sailing," she reminisced. "The boatside spray would sometimes get so bad it might as well have been raining. But it felt so soothing to know I had nakama to watch over me, come hell or high water. So even when Merry was rocking like a toy horse in the wee hours, I felt secure just nodding off. Even though they often bickered and wrestled with each other, theirs was the most powerful sense of trust I've ever known."
Cobra whistled playfully. "Pretty profound for a crew of clueless pirates," he laughed.
Vivi placed her hand in her father's and grinned.
"I think Alabasta should formally become a pirate nation," she joked.
"Oho! The world's most daring princess indeed."
"Just remember, dad," she said, "that as long as you provide for your people and keep the rain from getting stolen, all of Alabasta will be with you."
And these words would give him succor for decades to come, and whenever it rained, he would think: My how my daughter has grown!
---
Prompt: A scenario whereby Tactics 15 works wondrously and wins the day--but only after Robin joins in
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--
It was unthinkable, incomprehensible, inconceivable-but the Strawhats were well and truly losing this fight.
The enemy pirates had struck suddenly, coming seemingly from nowhere and swarming the deck. Franky had been downed by a long, wicked knife to the back; someone had broken Robin's arms and left her in her silent agony; even Zoro and Sanji had finally collapsed-their opponents were too numerous, too skilled.
Their captain had taken on Luffy personally, moving at incomprehensible speeds and beating him black and blue with his bare yet haki-enhanced fists.
Usopp groaned from under a heap of rubble that used to be some part of Thousand Sunny. One of them had thrown a handful of something in his face, and now tears flowed unceasingly from his unseeing eyes. "Franky..." he mumbled, not even knowing if the cyborg had fallen nearby.
"Yeah, Longnose-bro?" replied Franky weakly, pausing to cough up some blood; the knife had pierced his lung.
"Are, are we gonna die here? Franky..."
Franky almost laughed. "Hard to say, bro."
Chopper crawled through the wreckage toward them in Brain Point. "Guys," he whispered. He was maybe the best off; the attackers had merely endured his several minutes of Rumble attacks and beaten him down when he was unable to assume Defense Point. "Guys, they're leaving."
"Good," breathed Usopp, almost relaxing at the news. "Isn't- isn't that good, Chopper? Chopper? I can't see you, do you look happier than you sound?"
"They have Luffy," explained Chopper. "I heard them say one of their new members without a bounty was gonna turn him into the Marines. Usopp, Franky, they're gonna kill Luffy..."
Usopp flailed helplessly, unable to stand on his legs, which had turned to jelly. "No..." he wailed. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die and there's nothing we can do...!"
"That's not-" Franky paused to cough again. "That's not true. There's one thing we can do. Tactics Fifteen."
"What?!" objected Usopp and Chopper in unison.
"That, that was just a joke, Franky," said Usopp. "It's not real."
Franky rolled from his side to his belly and weakly staggered to his feet, debris falling from the folds of his shirt. "Of course Tactics Fifteen is real," he said, reaching out his right hand to Usopp. "We did it together. That makes it real, doesn't it? Let's-go!"
Chopper staggered forward, and Franky helped guide him to the proper place on his head. Together they struggled forward and the cyborg gently lifted Usopp up, cradling the sniper in his right hand.
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"G-giant Robot So-soldier," responded Usopp, wrapping his legs around Franky's forearms and shaping the O with his arms even as he stuttered and wept.
"Big-" Franky began, but he tripped and started to fall forward, and he knew this would be the end of the Strawhat Pirates, stupidly dead after a failed maneuver-
But two strong sets of hands caught the cyborg and lifted him onto two broad shoulders, which by rights should have been an unstable perch but felt as solid as a well-built deck.
"Where do you think-" a much-battered Zoro growled.
"You're going without us?" finished Sanji around his cigarette. The two men stood strong, though both were soaked in their own blood.
Franky's lips curved in a pale imitation of a smile even as is heart soared. "Big-" he started again, but Chopper cut him off.
"Franky, the left arm..."
Franky stared through the ruins of his shades to his left hand, bare of attachment. "Nico-" He coughed. "Nico Robin!" A moan from just ahead; Zoro and Sanji hastened forward and knelt beside her broken form.
"Dock on my left arm," Franky urged, proffering it. "It's our only chance."
Robin didn't smile, didn't even look at them. "No," she said, voice faint but still strong. "As a human being... it's embarrassing."
"Robin!" moaned Usopp and Chopper, but Franky felt a surge of strength in his heart.
"As a human being? Well, Nico Robin, I guess you have a choice." The others stared at him.
"Die here and now a human being... or live on a pirate!"
Tears formed in Robin's eyes. "I want to live," she gasped. "I want to live, I want to sail on with everyone..."
"Then dock," said Franky seriously, and he oh-so-carefully scooped her into his massive hand, letting her long legs curl around his arm and her broken arms form a shaky O.
And as the six of them came together as one body they felt the haze of pain clear; they saw clearly through their doubt; and their hearts beat as one.
"BIG EMPEROR!"
The enemy never saw it coming.
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together yet apart
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Oda needs to make it be accomplished someday.
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