Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

19

It took seconds for the entirety of the crew to rush up to the deck, Nami continuing to climb with everyone hot on her heels until they could all see what exactly was going on. "Marines! We're under attack!" Nami called out as the first one to see the enemy ship drawing closer and closer with each passing moment.

Cannonballs continued to fly towards their brand-new ship, for now still sinking into the water, but each new shot sunk closer and closer. It was only a matter of time before they were struck. Grabbing onto the monocular which Usopp handed him, Luffy brought it up to his eye for a chance to get a better look at their opponents.

What no one was expecting was the question which spilled out of his mouth once he did. "Grandpa?"

"Grandpa?!" The entirety of the crew echoed the word in shock, unsure of what exactly happened in the moment Luffy saw the Marine so eagerly chasing after them.

"Did you just call that guy grandpa?" Zoro questioned the second time for good measure, all eyes now focused on Luffy as they expected his answer. One which, for the time being at least, never came as yet another cannonball was sent soaring towards their ship.

Grabbing onto the railing as it drew closer than any of the ones before, Akira breathed a sigh of relief as it yet again struck water instead of the wood of their ship. But it wasn't long before the next one came, and Usopp's warning call to hit the deck alerted them all in time, the crew dropping down to the floor as the cannonball struck against the railing of the ship, sending dust and debris flying around them.

"Everybody okay?" Luffy questioned worriedly as they all began raising once more.

"I think so." Nami called back while Akira simply nodded, still a little too stunned to find proper words with all that was going on.

Usopp on the other hand had no such issues. "No. Not okay. Not even close to okay." He kept repeating. As sounds of more soaring projectiles echoed around them, the wind whipping against their sails managing to pull them further away before the next one could land another blow.

"Usopp, fire back at them!" Luffy commanded in a determined voice.

"Or how about we sail away as fast as we can?" The question had Akira's head spinning in his direction in shock.

"Our sharpshooter, ladies and gentlemen." She exclaimed in a highly unimpressed voice, starting to doubt Luffy's decision of giving Usopp the position. But now was not the time to throw him overboard.

"Run from the Marines?" Luffy questioned, seeming equally as stunned by the suggestion as the rest of them. "No. Never!" He wasn't willing to take it into consideration either. "Nami, trim the... the sail thing. Let's sink their ship." He continued to bark... somewhat unclear instructions while getting to work at the cannon, Usopp finally joining his side and helping it along.

"We don't have time! They're stealing our wind." Nami acted as the voice of reason in the moment, pointing out what the rest of them didn't understand. "If they pull up alongside us, we're finished."

"You're the navigator. Do something." Luffy said simply, delegating the job to her as she'd know what their next step should be best. For now, he and Usopp were focused on defending at the very least.

"Zoro! Sheet in and hard to port!" Taking up the job, Nami moved and grabbed hold of the tiller, beginning to stir the ship away from danger while Zoro moved to do as she'd instructed him only to pause a few moments later.

"Which way is port?"

Akira wasn't sure which was worse, pirates not knowing which side of the ship was port, or a sharpshooter not knowing how to load a cannon because 'it was a different model than the thousands of others he'd loaded before'. "We're fucked." She grumbled out to herself before pushing past Zoro and to the ropes controlling the sails, beginning to work on them as he joined her side and began to help while Nami taught Usopp how to fire.