Ghost Rider Through The Multiverse - Chapter 17

(Sorry about the wait, I have irl stuff going on. But anyways here is a chapter.)

After an annoying wait, while Usopp fixed the mast and Luffy painted the screws jolly roger on Laboons head, Sanji had cooked that big fish he got back at Logue town, with Crocus teaching Nami about log poses and how the Grand Line works, they were finally on their way after Crocus gave them a new log pose after Sanji and Luffy broke the one that Luffy found previously.

Vivi and Mr.9 had also joined after begging to be taken along and Nami messing with them.

Leo was even slightly disappointed. When he tried to look in Crocus’ mind, he failed…

There was too much resistance, he couldn’t get anything more than surface thoughts, and he ȧssumed that it was thanks to Crocus’ Will and likely capability with Haki. He was part of Rogers crew after all.

Anyways, after leaving the Twin Capes and making their way to Whiskey Peak, it had at some point become winter.

Luffy and Usopp were messing around in the snow, Sanji was shoveling the snow, Nami and Leo were sitting comfortably in the cabin with the two guests, and Zoro was sleeping.

Leo was currently acting as a heater and warming the room.

Things were going ok until the moment that Vivi and Mr.9 pointed out that no one had been at the rudder, causing Nami to look at the log pose and realized that they had done a 180, causing her to run outside shouting for everyone to get to work in turning the ship around.

Then all sorts of shit started to happen! Lightning strikes started to come out of nowhere, strong winds that nearly ripped the sails off, and rough waves that carried chunks of ice smashed into the ship and made leaks in the lower deck.

…

After almost 2 hour, the ship came out of the chaos looking like it had been in a battle and the crew, minus Leo and the sleeping Zoro, were exhausted on the deck.

Though that was also when Zoro woke up and started to berated them for being lazy, he also questioned why Vivi and Mr.9 were there, but Nami started beating him up for not helping.

Fortunately, the chaos was worth it! They were now able to see their destination, an island with giant cacti on it.

Given that they had arrived and were fairly close to the island, Vivi and Mr.9 gave and an eccentric goodbye and jumped into the sea. So now that they were alone, the crew started to discuss where to go, as there was a river leading inland.

After talking about it a bit, with Usopp making up some excuse to not go, it was decided that they would go to the river.

Coming out of a fog that covered the entrance, they were greeted by a crowd of cheering people, which Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were loving.

Nami and Zoro on the other hand were sceptical and cautious. And as for Leo… He couldn’t help having a disgusted look on his face.

Leo – “Their facade is disgusting, it makes me sick…”

Nami and Zoro looked at him from the corner of their eye and wondered why he was so displeased by it, but they ȧssumed it must be personal.

Needless to say, it was rather very personal. Thanks to that bitch, and how she used and tricked him, he had grown to have a strong hostility to those who want to trick him.

He had found that he changed a fair bit since arriving in this world. He, someone who had never even been in an actual fight on earth, had become merciless to his enemies, and even enjoyed killing them. He found that he was having difficulty naturally expressing his feelings and was rather apathetic.

When it comes to killing, that could possibly be attributed to being a Ghost Rider, if only slightly… But, his mental state was all him, and he had no idea how to go about fixing it…

Whatever, he will deal with it some other time.

After listening to some bullshit welcome from a guy with curls in his long hair, who was the guard of Vivi, Igaram, they were lead to some pub, and so began the play.

Though, Leo did it to play along and as a minor payback by drinking all their alcohol, which had no effect on him.

After it went into the late hours of the night, the crew had all passed out.

The townspeople all vacated the building, while no longer keeping up the act of being pirate lovers.

When they left, Zoro stopped pretending to be asleep and left the building to watch what was going on from the rooftops.

Just as he left, Nami and Leo also stopped pretending.

Leo – “So… What you wanna do?”

Looking at him with a cat-like grin on her face.

Nami – “How about we take their stuff?”

Leo – “Figured you would say that…”

Leo – “Well then… Shall we?”

With a very small blush, she grabbed his hand and got up as well.

…

With a goal set, the two went on a stealing spree while Zoro had his fun fighting. Leo still took a few out himself when he came across them.

With Leo there, they were able to take everything. Treasure, food and drink, medicine, they could have even taken the furniture if they wanted…

Needless to say, Nami was happy.

Nami – “You have some really convenient abilities! Though I’m surprised that you’re not out there fighting like Zoro?”

They could hear the fight happening from where they were.

Leo – “Nah, let him have his fun for now. I’m not much interested in them, they won’t give me much anyways.”

Nami – “What do you mean?”

Leo – “They won’t make me stronger.”

Nami looked at him for a moment, but just shrugged and continued taking whatever she could find. She was rather enjoying herself, previously she was all alone when she did this kind of stuff, but with Leo there with her, she thought it was pleasantly different.

They continued their little bonding experience, and when they were just about done, they went outside and got to a corner just in time to watch a show.

Mr.5 and Ms.Valentine talking to Vivi and Igaram, exposing their identities and telling them about how they were to be terminated, and then saw how Zoro walked between them while dragging an unconscious fat Luffy.

Leo – “Why do people talk so much during times like this? Might as well just get it over with.”

Nami – “Don’t ask me…”

They then saw Mr.5 start flicking boogers that explode and start taking them out. Igaram then started to beg Zoro to save Vivi.

Nami saw this as an opportunity and so walked over with Leo following.

Igaram – “I swear you will be greatly rewarded…! I beg of you, sir! Please protect the princess!”

Nami – “‘Greatly rewarded’, you say?”

Igaram – “What?”

Nami – “Alright then! How about a billion Beli then?” (a/n: Is the currency beli or berry? I found different things)

Igaram started to freak out about the price and started doing that vocal adjustment thing he likes.

Leo – “Sup, Zoro.”

Zoro – “Weren’t you two out cold from all the booze?”

Nami – “Oh please… How could I just drink and let my guard down, in a town that welcome pirates. Talk about suspicious. I was only pretending to be drunk. I could have drank a lot more.”

Leo – “Alcohol doesn’t work on me.”

Zoro – “Yeah, yeah.”

Nami then continued her sales pitch to Igaram, a billion Beli and the princess is safe.

Nami – “So… How about it? You guarantee us a reward of 1 billion Beli, Mr. Head Royal Guards? Need I remind you that without our help… your precious princess might die, you know?”

Igaram – “!!? I… I’m afraid that I can’t promise such an astronomical sum since I’m merely a single soldier…!”

Nami – “Oh? Are you saying that your princess is worth less than a billion then? Pay up.”

She had a huge grin on her face as she knelt down infront of him.

Zoro – “Talk about an extortion.”

Leo – “Would say that it’s a fair trade, we would be the ones feeding her, transporting her, protecting her, and putting ourselves in danger for her. Well not so much in my case.”

Zoro – “Hm, well aren’t you two just a pair…”

Back with Nami.

Igaram – “Cough… In that case, I’m sure that as long as you return the princess safely back to out land, you directly negotiate with her yourself, and receive that much money…!”

Nami – “So basically, you’re telling us to save her first…”

Igaram – “There is no time for negotiation! Even now, as we speak, the princess’ life is in danger!”

Nami – “Fine, fine. We’ll save your little princess first.”

She frustratedly sighed as she stood up, then gain a serious expression.

Nami – “Alright then! Go, Zoro!”

Zoro – “WHY SHOULD I GO!?”

They both started to bicker over the matter. Nami tried to rile Zoro up and provoke him into doing what she wanted, but that failed so she brought up that he still owed her for the money she lent him at a 300% interest, which he tried to get out of because he gave it back right away.

Nami – “Are you saying, that you can’t keep a single promise?”

Zoro looked conflicted and pissed off that his word was being questioned, but he didn’t want to be used either.

Nami – “Now if you do as I say, we’ll call it even, okay?”

He gave in and angrily stomped his way over.

Zoro – “Damn you! You’re not going to have a peaceful death, y’hear!”

Nami – “True. I’ll probably go to Hell when I die.”

Zoro – “Curse my usefulness!”

And off he went.

Meanwhile, Igaram was complaining about how weak he is and that ‘without the princess, it would be the end of the kingdom.’

After a little while of waiting around, Nami decided to ask just what Baroque Work was, to which Igaram explained that it was a criminal organisation where no one uses their real names, and that they will basically take on any kind of work. All in pursuit of an ‘ideal nation.’

He also explained that, the lower an agent’s number the stronger they are.

Leo then snorted in contempt and put forth his opinion.

Leo – “Even if what you said was real and the boss did actually want an ‘ideal nation’, it would be an impossible dream. There is no such thing, because there will always be those who are dissatisfied with something or other. So long as there is a difference in status, there would be atleast one person who was jealous and wanted that position for themselves. But, without a difference in status, there would be no leader or person to keep order. The boss is simply another greedy bastard manipulating the weak to accomplish his goals. In other words, anyone who believes in such a dream… is a fool.”

Igaram and Nami looked at him with their mouths open, as neither of them were expecting for Leo to come out with such a tirade. Igaram even wanted to refute him, but he couldn’t think of an argument.

Nami – “Wow…! That is a pretty pessimistic outlook isn’t it…?”

Leo – “Not really, it is simply reality. It doesn’t really matter where you are, the only thing that really matters, is how strong you are. Or how smart you are, ‘knowledge is power’ and all that. It could also be conveyed as usefulness.”

Nami wasn’t convinced however, she scrunched her eyebrows and continued.

Nami – “But what about the people you care about? What if they are weak? Are you saying that you will only love someone if they are useful to you?”

The last bit came out to be more personal to her than intended, making her slightly confused as to why she said it. And in all honesty, she probably shouldn’t have…

Leo’s brows furrowed, he grit his teeth and unconsciously released his killing intent, which was bolstered by a hidden rage. This frightened the other two.

Leo – “Hah! Love? Love is another idealistic dream for fools. It’s an emotion that others will use to manipulate you. I should know, it’s the very thing that got me killed!”

As if a small explosion went of in their heads, Nami and Igaram looked at him with shock, confusion and fear.

Nami then spoke with a quivering voice.

Nami – “W-what d-do you m-mean ‘g-got you k-k-*gulp*killed’…?”

Leo looked at her, making her flinch from his glowing red eyes and enraged expression.

Leo – “What else would it mean!? I died! I was killed! Because I was weak! Because I was a fool who loved a woman that wanted nothing more than to use me! And when I found her FUCKING some guy, my usefulness had expired and they killed me!”

They looked at him with pity, but also fear. He looked ready to rip them apart, and worse, he was taking slow steps towards them.

Leo – “For such a stupid reason, I died in agony on the ground in some random location. Hahaha! But thanks to a certain ‘person’ who pitied me, brought me back to life and gave me power, I got my revenge! I tortured them until I got bored and then killed them!!! Hehe!”

He had a near insane smile etched on his face.

Leo – “But I don’t feel better! I listened as they begged for mercy, then I killed them regardless and I thought I would be happy… I lost so much because of them… And now I’m by myself… So, YES! Power takes precedence over everything! Only with power are you safe, only when you’re strong enough can you protect anything… and that includes that so called ‘love’…”

By now, he was standing directly in front of her, with killing intent, glowing eyes and insane smile still present. But… a tear stream now falling.

Nami was shock… This was the man who effortlessly played with Arlong, and could bring back the dead… He was so strong and usually nonchalant about things… But, now she realized that he was actually so broken, he just never showed it.

Disregarding everything else, she couldn’t think of anything to do and simply did what felt right.

She hugged him.

Leo felt like he was suddenly jolted awake. He stopped releasing his killing intent, his eyes stopped glowing and he no longer had that smile.

What replaced his previous demeanour was a shocked, confused and slightly fearful one.

He realized what he had just said and he was afraid! He never intended to tell her any of that, but he had lost control when she mentioned loving someone… He thought that he was over it… atleast enough that he wouldn’t suddenly lose control.

Feeling that his face was wet, he raised a hand and touched the tears.

Leo – ‘I guess that I was just repressing my emotions…’

Nami’s head then shifted in his ċhėst and looked at him with a tearful and concerned look.

Nami – “Do you want to talk about it…?”

Leo gently separated them and then wiped the tears away.

Leo – “I’ve already said more than I ever intended to… You would be better off forgetting about it.”

Nami – “NO!!!”

He was startled by her sudden shout, so he looked over and saw her looking at him with a worried expression, which quickly turned into an embarrassed one.

Nami – “I- uhh… what I meant was… uh… Right! If you ever just need someone to talk to, you can… y’know… talk to me…”

Watching her stammer out a sentence like that was kind of funny, and her blushing embarrassment was sought of cute…

Shaking his head to get that ridiculous thought out, he responded to put her at ease.

Leo – “I’ll keep it in mind… thanks.”

An awkward silence pervaded the area after that. Until…

*BOOM*

It was disturbed by the sound of explosions.

Nami – “Haah… what is that idiot doing? We should go check on him.”

Opting not to say anything, Leo simply nodded his head and followed along.

…

When they got to the source of the commotion, they saw Luffy and Zoro about to fight, so Nami angrily stomped over and punched them both in the face.

Then she started complaining about how they almost cost her a billion Beli, which caused Vivi to ask what was going on. Nami then turn to her and had a big smile on her face.

Nami – “Ah, that’s right. You dont know anything yet… How would you like to make a contract with me?”

Vivi – “A contract?”

…

After that, they all sat down and explained what was going on.

Luffy stopped trying to fight Zoro when he was told about the situation, and Vivi was told about the deal with Igaram.

Vivi then had to explain the state of Alibasta to them and how it wouldn’t be possible to pay a billion Beli.

She told them about the revolutionaries that were causing chaos and how she found it was because of Baroque works, so she along with Igaram decided to infiltrate Baroque works and determine what they were after.

It was discovered that they wanted to take over Alabasta. When Nami heard the true motive, she couldn’t help but glance at Leo, as what he said was more or less right. Though she didn’t know that Leo already knew this, he was just expressing his thoughts on the matter previously.

Now that Nami knew the story, she understood why Vivi wouldn’t be able to pay them. Luffy then asked who the boss was? This caused Vivi to panic and ask him not to ask who that boss was for their safety, making Nami agree as she didn’t want to be involved. Vivi then off handedly said that was the smart choice, and that no matter how strong they were, they’d be no match for ‘Crocodile, a member of the seven warlords’…

A moment of silence came about before she realized what she had done and then she covered her mouth in shock.

Leo was even slightly impressed, because she genuinely messed up that badly.

They all then notice that they were being observed by an otter and a bird… The two stared at them, then at each other, then the otter jumped on the birds back and they flew off.

Nami then started to freak out and ask Vivi what that was about while shaking her back and forth.

Luffy and Zoro were actually pretty happy that they would get involved with a warlord so early into the journey, resulting in Nami shouting at them.

She then began to walk away.

Nami – “Well it’s been a real short time travelling with you but bye!”

Luffy – “Where’re ya going, Nami?”

Nami – “They don’t know my face yet so I’m running away!”

Then she saw the otter again, right in her path, drawing something and then turning it around for her to see… It was four drawings of Luffy, Zoro, Leo, and herself.

Nami – “*clap clap clap* Wow, you’re good!”

She then turned around and shouted in indignation.

Nami – “NOW I CAN’T EVEN RUN AWAY!”

Vivi – “S-sorry…”

Zoro – “Where you even planning to run away to?”

Zoro then grinned.

Zoro – “In any case, with this, all 4 of us are on Baroque works’ hit list…”

Luffy – “This is so coool!”

Their uncaring behaviour was to much for Nami to handle, so she resorted to sulking in a corner. Vivi tried to cheer her up though.

Vivi – “I… I have 500,000 in my savings account that you can have though…”

It was then that they heard Igarams voice boom out.

Igaram – “FEAR NOT!”

They turned to him and saw him poorly disguised as Vivi, and holding 4 dolls.

Igaram – “It’ll be arri- ma ma maa- It’ll be alright! I have a plan!”

His appearance garnered different reactions.

Vivi – “Igaram, w-what’s with that outfit!?”

Luffy – “Whoa! You can definitely pull off that look!”

Nami’s mood became even worse.

Nami – “I’m surrounded by idiots…”

Fortunately, Leo was there to help, he wanted to cheer her up and so he patted her head.

Leo – “There, there. Atleast your not alone in this suffering.”

She looked at him with watery eyes, slightly blushing, before looking away again.

Anyways, Igaram started to explain his plan.

Igaram – “Enough about that and just listen to me. Once the Baroque works network learns of what happened, they’ll be sure to send pursuers right away. More so since you defeated Mr.5 and his partner… Just to let you know, although the boss has no bounty on him since he’s one of the warlords, back in his heydays as a pirate, Crocodile had an 80 million Beli bounty. By the way, have you decide on whether or not to safely escort the princess back to Alabasta yet?”

Luffy – “Huh? what’re you talking about?”

Zoro – “He means he wants us to take her back home.”

Luffy – “Oh. Sure, fine by me.”

Nami was yet again brought to annoyance by them.

Nami – “80 Million!? That’s four times Arlong’s bounty! Just refuse his request!”

She was basically crying at this point, but they ignored her, while Leo continued to give her head pats.

Igaram – “Now then princess. Please hand me the Eternal pose to Alabasta.”

Nami – “Eternal pose?”

Igaram – “Huh? You don’t know? Simply put, it’s a Log pose that can eternally record a magnetic field.”

He then quickly explained how Eternal poses work, saying that no matter where you are, it will always point toward the recorded magnetic field.

Igaram – “Now then princess Vivi. I shall take the Log pose and set forth for Alabasta, while dressing up as you and taking these 4 dummies to represent these 4 wanted pirates. And while agents of Baroque works chase after me, you are to travel the normal route to Alabasta on their ship. Take care, and may we meet again in our homeland.”

They had made their way over to a ship, docked behind one of the mountains while he was talking, and then gave their final goodbyes.

Igaram – “I hereby leave the princess in your care.”

Luffy – “I bet you’ll totally fool them!”

Zoro – “Fool who?”

While Luffy was having too much fun, Zoro was being sarcastic.

Igaram turned to Vivi.

Igaram – “The journey ahead of you may be dangerous so please be careful.”

Vivi – “You too, Igaram.”

Igaram then got on the ship and started to sail away. They watched for a little while, and when he got some distance away, they turned around and began making their way to the town.

But they were immediately stopped in their tracks.

*BOOOM!*

The ship exploded and flames lit up the night.

(Seriously sorry about the long wait.

At first I had a migraine for nearly a week straight. I woke up and went to sleep feeling like my damn head was about to pop. And now, a few days later, I’m sick!!! What demon has it out for me!?

Anyways, the scene with Leo’s outburst may seem dumb, but if you think about it, all he has really done is laze about or fight, he has neglected his mental health and so that resulted in him losing control.

It also is a decent way to nudge him and Nami closer together, as she will become someone he can later confide in, along with allowing emotions to bloom between them.

I also tried to make it seem like she is developing a bit of a crush on him.. Which is reasonable after he; one sidedly destroyed Arlong and freed her home; Went through the effort of returning her stolen money; and revived her mother.)