The Pirate Flag
The Going Merry sailed gently across the calm waters of East Blue. The sun was shining, seagulls were crying out, and for the first time in a long while, the crew seemed… happy.
Usopp climbed onto the deck with a large white cloth and several pots of black paint.
"LOOK, EVERYONE!" he shouted proudly. "I MADE OUR PIRATE FLAG!"
He unfurled the cloth.
A skull wearing a straw hat. Simple. Iconic. Perfect.
Luffy clapped like a child. "THAT'S SO COOL! WE HAVE A REAL FLAG NOW!"
"We're officially pirates!" Usopp added with a nervous smile.
Zoro grunted his approval. "Not bad."
Nami sighed. "Great. Now the Marines will hunt us down."
"THAT'S ADVENTURE!" Luffy yelled.
Usopp hoisted the flag to the top of the mast. The Straw Hat Jolly Roger fluttered proudly in the wind.
"Well," Usopp said as he climbed down, "now I've got to show you my cannon skills! Watch this!"
He pointed toward a small rocky islet in the distance—a simple rock sticking out of the water.
"I'll destroy it in one shot!"
"Go for it!" Luffy encouraged.
Usopp loaded the cannon, aimed carefully, and fired.
BOOM!
The cannonball flew through the air and—
CRASH!
The islet exploded into a thousand pieces.
"YEAH!" Usopp raised his arms. "I'M THE BEST SHARPSHOOTER IN THE WORLD!"
Luffy laughed. "You're amazing, Usopp!"
But something was wrong.
Cries reached us from the destroyed islet.
"WHO DID THAT?!"
"OUR BOAT!"
Two silhouettes appeared, swimming furiously toward us. Men. Muscular. Wearing ridiculous sunglasses and shark tattoos.
They climbed onto the Going Merry, soaked and furious.
"YOU DESTROYED OUR ISLET!" one of them shouted.
"WE WERE RESTING!" yelled the other.
Zoro blinked. "Johnny? Yosaku?"
The two men froze. Then they looked at Zoro.
"BIG BROTHER ZORO?!"
"IT'S REALLY YOU?!"
They threw themselves at him, crushing him in a suffocating hug.
"We've been looking for you everywhere!"
"You became a pirate?!"
Zoro shoved them away. "Get off me."
But one of them—Johnny—suddenly collapsed, pale and shaking.
"Big brother… I… I don't feel well…"
Yosaku caught him, panicking. "JOHNNY! HANG ON!"
Nami stepped closer, observing him carefully. "He has scurvy."
"Scurvy?" Luffy asked.
"Scurvy. Vitamin C deficiency. It's fatal if untreated."
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO GO TO AN ISLAND!" Yosaku cried. "HE'S GOING TO DIE!"
Nami quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out… a lemon.
"Here. Eat this."
Johnny, half-conscious, bit into it.
A few seconds later, color returned to his cheeks. His eyes cleared. He sat up like nothing had happened.
"I… I'M FINE?!"
"A MIRACLE!" Yosaku screamed.
Luffy tilted his head. "A lemon cured a deadly disease?"
"It's One Piece," I muttered. "Nothing makes sense here."
Containment Breach
We were all on deck, discussing our next destination, when it happened.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
[ALERT: CONTAINMENT BREACH][ENTITY: SCP-524 – WALTER][STATUS: ESCAPED FROM CELL][LOCATION: UNKNOWN]
I froze. "What?! How?!"
[ANALYSIS: CELL DOOR WAS OPENED][NO SIGNS OF PHYSICAL FORCED ENTRY][HYPOTHESIS: WALTER FOUND A WAY OUT]
"Damn it!"
Everyone looked at me.
"A problem?" Zoro asked.
"Walter escaped."
"THE RABBIT?!" Nami exclaimed. "HOW?!"
"I don't know! He was supposed to be contained!"
I summoned the Foundation door and rushed inside. My footsteps echoed through the empty corridors as I ran toward the containment wing.
Walter's cell was open. Empty.
[SEARCH IN PROGRESS…][WALTER DETECTED: RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS]
I sprinted toward the Class-D dorms. And there he was.
Walter sat in the middle of a dormitory, ears drooping, looking… sad.
"Walter?"
He lifted his black eyes toward me and squeaked softly.
[BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS: LONELINESS][WALTER FEELS ISOLATED][EMOTIONAL NEEDS HAVE EVOLVED WITH INCREASED INTELLIGENCE]
I knelt in front of him. "You feel lonely?"
He nodded.
My heart tightened. The original SCP-524 was just an animal. But this one… had become more human. More aware. And with that awareness came needs I hadn't anticipated.
"Okay," I said softly. "I get it. You want to stay with us? On the ship?"
His ears shot up. He nodded vigorously.
[WARNING: KEEPING AN SCP OUTSIDE CONTAINMENT VIOLATES PROTOCOL]
"I know. But look at him. If I leave him alone, he'll just escape again and again."
[OBSERVATION CONFIRMED][TEMPORARY SOLUTION: CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE][NOTE: AT 5 CONTAINED SCPs, BASIC GUARD TEAM UNLOCKED][THEY CAN MONITOR AND CARE FOR ENTITIES]
"Five SCPs… I have three. Two more to go."
I picked Walter up. "Alright. You're coming with me. BUT you have to promise to behave. No eating people. Okay?"
Walter nodded enthusiastically.
"And you stay with me at all times."
He climbed onto my shoulder and settled in comfortably—like a parrot on a pirate's shoulder.
[CONFIGURATION: PIRATE RABBIT ACTIVATED]
I sighed. "Great. I'm officially the pirate with a rabbit on his shoulder."
The New Member
I exited the Foundation with Walter perched on my shoulder. He looked around curiously, his little paws gripping my shirt.
Everyone turned toward me.
Luffy reacted first.
"WAAAAH! THE RABBIT IS BACK!"
He rushed over, eyes sparkling. "HE'S SO CUTE! CAN I PET HIM?!"
"Easy—"
Luffy petted Walter with surprising gentleness. The rabbit purred.
"HE'S PURRING! THAT'S AWESOME!" Luffy looked at me hopefully. "CAN WE KEEP HIM? PLEASE?!"
"Luffy, he's not a pet—"
"COME ON! I PROMISE I'LL TAKE CARE OF HIM!"
Walter looked at me with pleading eyes.
I sighed. "Alright. But he stays under my responsibility."
"YEAH!" Luffy jumped around. "WE HAVE A RABBIT IN THE CREW!"
Nami stared at us, horrified. "ARE YOU INSANE?! Rabbits are FORBIDDEN on ships! They eat everything! Ropes, wood, sails—"
"Walter is special," I explained. "He listens."
"HE ATE A HAND!"
"Only when he's attacked."
"THAT'S NOT REASSURING!"
Luffy petted Walter again. "Don't worry, Nami! Marc and I will watch him! Promise!"
"Yeah," I added. "We'll watch him."
Nami looked at both of us, then at Walter staring innocently back.
She sighed deeply. "If that rabbit eats EVEN ONE ROPE, I'm throwing BOTH OF YOU overboard."
"Noted."
Usopp approached cautiously. "Is he really harmless now?"
"As long as he's treated well."
"And what does he eat?"
"Everything. But he prefers good food."
Johnny and Yosaku exchanged nervous looks. "A rabbit that eats everything… that's terrifying."
Walter looked at them and gave a little paw salute.
They recoiled. "HE SALUTED US?!"
"I told you. He's intelligent."
The Food Problem
The rest of the day passed relatively calmly. Walter stayed on my shoulder, observing everything with interest. He caused no trouble—except for eating three full plates at dinner.
Which led to an obvious problem.
"We have a serious food issue," Nami announced while checking our supplies. "Luffy eats for ten people. Walter eats almost as much. At this rate, we'll starve before reaching the next island."
"WE NEED A COOK!" Luffy declared.
"A REAL cook," Usopp added. "Not just someone who grills meat."
Johnny raised his hand. "Hey! I know a place! A restaurant on the sea! The Baratie!"
"The Baratie?" Nami repeated.
"Yeah! It's run by a former pirate. The food is amazing! And the cooks are super strong!"
Luffy's eyes lit up. "A RESTAURANT?! LET'S GO!"
"And maybe we'll find a cook there," Zoro suggested.
I stroked Walter thoughtfully. A cook. Sanji. The Baratie arc.
"Sounds like a good idea."
[DESTINATION UPDATED: BARATIE][OBJECTIVE: RECRUIT A COOK][SUB-OBJECTIVE: AVOID STARVATION]
Luffy jumped to his feet. "THEN IT'S DECIDED! FULL SPEED TO THE BARATIE!"
Walter squeaked happily on my shoulder, as if he understood we were heading toward good food.
"Hang on tight, little guy," I murmured. "It's going to be a long road."
The Going Merry changed course, sailing toward our next destination.
Somewhere ahead of us, the Baratie awaited.
And with it, a cook with flaming legs, a crew of fish pirates, and probably… more anomalies.
[ANOMALIES CAPTURED: 3/???][PROGRESS TOWARD GUARD TEAM: 3/5][NEW (UNOFFICIAL) MEMBER: WALTER]
[END OF CHAPTER 12][CREW: LUFFY, ZORO, NAMI, USOPP, MARC, WALTER (RABBIT)][SHIP: GOING MERRY][DESTINATION: BARATIE][WALTER STATUS: PIRATE RABBIT ON SHOULDER][URGENT PROBLEM: IMMINENT FAMINE][SCP-006 SYMBIOSIS: 74%]