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More from The_Lost_One
Hey everybody! ^,^ Time to start arc two of Voyage! I call this one the "Empty Town Arc" =3 Enjoy!
Still suffering damages from their run in with Chain Gang the Cuddlebutts crew is forced to dock at a mysterious place named "Empty Town". What secret will they find there and what strangers will they meet? Will they get their ship fixed? And who is this mysterious girl bothering them? Read to find out!
Anyway hope you enjoy, please comment & fav, and have a great day! =D
Characters belong to their original owners
Pokemon & One piece NOT owned by me
“Darn that stupid timburr and his cannons!”
“Chouji! How long till we reach the next town?”
“A few hours captain, we should be okay but if we hit a storm this ships going to sink and sink fast!”
“Dang it all!”
Not two days after Chain Gang’s attack the Cuddlebutts Crew was just realizing the extent of the damages they’d suffered from their brush with the kidnapping group. The barrages of cannonfire had done a number on the Sea Cradle. Aside from the missing railing and hole in the deck Chouji reported cracks along the sides and bottom that were making the ship wallow dangerously in the water. Considering it was just a luxury escape boat Petie’s power had warped to suit their needs it wasn’t surprising… but it was THEIR boat and the only thing keeping them from watery death so getting it fixed was their first priority.
Unfortunately they were out in the open sea/ Chouji had plotted a course for the nearest and largest town… which was still about a week worth of sailing away. They had been forced to change course for the nearest town and pray it had the supplies needed to fix their ship… or at least put enough of a patch job on it they could make it to another town. “We need to head east and just hold this course!” Chouji called as he looked over the map in front of him, Petie spun the wheel in compliance.
“What’s the name of the town anyway?” Petie called down to the fishmon as he locked the wheel into place. “Well… there’s a reason I didn’t tell you actually…” Chouji said rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed look on his face “… how does Empty Town grab you?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. Petie just gave him a very, very blank stare. “To be fair it’s the only place that won’t take a week to get to…” Chouji said, fiddling the map in his hands. Petie just groaned and opened the cabin door “I’ll be downstairs helping Jules peddle if you need me…”
“Okay then… maybe I’ll see if there’s anything in the fridge…”
“NO!”
“Awwww, come on!”
“You already cut our food supply in half! And when that’s Jules and mu cooking your scarfing down you’ve got problems!”
“I’m a sumo! We need to put on weight to help us be more effective!”
“Then the diapers help you get into character don’t they?”
“SUMOS DON’T WEAR DIAPERS!!!”
****************
“… anybody get that “There’s probably some psychotic killer stalking around” feeling about this place?”
“Not the time to be bringing that kinda stuff up Jules.”
“Sorry… well at least they have a shipyard… a really, really creepy shipyard…”
“Jules…”
“I’ll stop.”
“I-it is c-creepy t-though…”
“Don’t you start too Anne.”
“Is this one of those “Haunted Towns” I’ve read stories about?”
“Look! I get it! It’s creepy! Yes! You’ve made your point! We STILL have to stop here to get the ship fixed!”
“Empty Town” was located on a small island with thick woods making up about half of it. The other half looked to be fields of what might be sugarcane or some other kind of crop. Currently their attention was on the badly battered pier forming the middle of what was probably the town harbor. On one side of it were a few sparse, empty looking houses and a large mill that looked well cared for but otherwise empty. On the other side was a house with a dry dock next to it as well as several busted and ruined ships moored nearby on the sand. A worn sign with faded paint that said “Elroy Shipyard” hung in front of the house.
Just to complete the image the pier had an equally faded and partially ruined sign that said “Welcome to Empty Town” with a few hungry looking murkrow perched on it for good measure. The birds watched the small mon on the equally small boat sail past slowly as he looked for a stable place to drop anchor. “We just need to stay here long enough to get the ship fixed then we can go and never come back, okay?” Petie said, trying to reassure his crew as much as himself as he dropped anchor and climbed down. The worn pier creaked as if it’d give way even under his light weight “And watch your step Chouji.” He added as he tied the mooring ropes.
“I’m not THAT fat”
CRACK!!
SPLASH!!!
“… well better him than one of us, he can swim. Jules help me tie this okay?”
“Okay.”
After tying the ship in place, getting Chouji out of the water, and grabbing a few things they started carefully down the pier less it break under them again. Soon enough they were on the slightly more stable walkway to the shipyard, “Did anybody hear that?” Jules piped up suddenly making everybody look at him in confusion. “Hear WHAT?” Petie asked incredulously, getting tired about them going on about how spooky the place was… till the soft sound of a girls giggle, light and ethereal like distant wind-chimes, drifted past them. They were silent for a moment as they tried to ignore the chills running up their spines before they suddenly huddled together as close as possible and continued towards the shipyard building almost at a sprinting pace.
The house was old and big… sure it was two stories tall but it was big in the way Petie recognized from his own home meaning that really large mon lived there. He reached up as high as he could and timidly knocked on the door with his little paw barely producing any noise. There was no response from inside the building. Before Petie could reach up to try again Jules rapped his rattles head against the door hard producing a bizarre banging and rattling sound. That seemed to get the attention of whoever was in there.
“I’ll get it!”
“Not like that you’re not!”
“Come on!”
“I’m getting it, go wake Brandon up.”
“Okay.”
A few moments later the door creaked open to reveal a HUGE mamoswine. The figure was muscular and imposing, more so due to the long hooded rain slicker that obscured his face except for two pearly white tusks sticking out. Underneath he wore a pair of work jeans with a belt of shipwright tools around his waist… including a few nasty looking saws and chisels. “Yes?” He asked looking around for a moment before his eyes slowly drifted down to look at the tiny mon in confusion. Before Jules could scream and make a serial killer comment Petie pulled a pacifier from his coat pocket and shoved it in the riolu’s mouth effectively silencing him.
“… I tell them this isn’t an orphanage…” the mamoswine muttered softly while shaking his head before looking back at somebody. Before things could get more awkward Petie spoke up “A-actually sir w-we were hoping you could fix o-our boat please.” He said trying to keep a nervous stutter out of his voice. The mamoswine looked back at them for a moment “…. I don’t work for free.” he said dryly as if still trying to figure out what to think about this. Having seen this coming Petie pulled out the cloth pouch he’d filled with some of their treasure they’d taken from pirates. The gold coins sparkled in the light as he held it out.
“Would this be enough?”
“… you want the thing fixed or you want us to build you a whole new boat kid?”
“Just fixed please.”
“Allright well let me take a look at it before I figure out what I have to do…”
The large mon stepped out onto the dock making it creak noticeably. He took a few steps forward before he caught sight of the Sea Cradle anchored at the pier. Getting that confused look on his face again as he looked over the small blue boat he just shook his head and walked over to it. “What were kids your age doing out at sea anyway?” somebody asked making the Cuddlebutts crew turn to find themselves staring up at a tall, muscular looking miltank girl who appeared to be around twenty. She was wearing work overalls with a belt of tools attached like the mamoswine as well as some wraps on her chest to try and keep her huge bosom restrained… it wasn’t working too well to be honest.
“You went and woke me up for this?”
“Come on Babyface, we need all the extra work we can get.”
“Don’t call me that…”
Another mon stepped into view from the door, arguing with the miltank in a “Big sister, little brother” kind of way. It was a linoone who looked a few years younger and a great deal shorter. He was adorably plump with a rounded form covered in what could only be called babyfat and had a chubby, freckled face with a single thick lock of hair that curled up from his forehead that brought to mind an infant. He was wearing a set of bib front overalls with a tool belt of his own. The crew looked at him for a moment before looking at Petie all at once as the teddiursa threw up his hands defensively.
“Hey I didn’t do anything this time!!”
The two didn’t seem to hear them as they continued to argue back and forth. The miltank chuckled and repeatedly chided the linoone by calling him Babyface, teasing his little head tuft for good measure, while he pouted and stomped him foot demanding not to be called that. It was a cute but kinda confusing scene till the mamoswine came up from behind “These are my kids and assistants.” He said, obviously used to this kind of behavior “That’s my daughter Breda and somebody left Brandon on our doorstep years ago so we adopted him.” He said pointing to them in turn. Breda smirked and pulled Brandon into a teasing headlock, tickling his ear in a playful way.
“Call him Babyface, it suits him a lot better!”
“No it doesn’t! Now leggo!!!”
“Come on you two, we’ve got work to do in case you forgot.”
That got their attention as they looked up at their father, Breda still refusing to let go of Babyface’s head even as he whined and struggled. He led them down to the pier, Petie and the others wondering how the hell they just didn’t go right through the wooden floorboards, as they took a look at the Sea Cradle. The Cuddlebutts crew could only watch as the older mon seemed to take in the whole of the damages with just a few glances “Well… I’ve seen worse to be honest.” He said scratching his chin “But how you get around in a boat this size is beyond me. You said you wanted it fixed right?” before they could answer Breda cut in.
“What the hell would fixing that boat accomplish?”
She was looking at the powder blue boat, obviously unimpressed “Building a new one or making heavy improvements on it would be infinitely smarter...And they seem to have the money for it, too" she added, pointing to the pouch in Petie’s hands “Babyface, get down there and see if the bottoms damaged any.” She added, playfully nudging him to the edge of the pier. “Don’t call me that.” He grumbled before willingly diving into the water. A few minutes later he surfaced again. “There’s some ugly looking cracks down there.” He said as he was pulled out of the drink “But most of the materials are good… it’d probably be a shame just to trash the whole thing."
The mamoswine nodded and turned to Petie as Breda pulled out a towel and started to dry Babyface off… despite his protests. “Now then, with that out of the way we can get to business.” The older mon said, keeping a professional tone “I have to recommend my daughters suggestion on making some very heavy improvements since as Brandon pointed out there’s still plenty of salvageable materials we can use.” He was talking slowly to make sure they could understand him “First off I’d have to say you’d need to make the entire ship bigger and definitely broader. Like this it’s just a capsize waiting to happen.”
Running his hand along the side of the ship again “You’ll also need to heavily reinforce the internal structures.” He tapped against one of the cracks “Too much pressure or stress and it’ll collapse in as you can see. That’s just the basic recommendations to get it even sea-worthy by my standards, you can talk with my kids to flesh out more details.” He added, motioning to the two who were once again playfully wrestling with Babyface losing badly as Breda easily hoisted him off his feet and tickled his nose teasingly. The mamoswine just sighed softly, obviously used to this. Suddenly a clear, chime like voice cut through the moment.
“I think there’s something they’re not telling us about their ship Mr. Elroy.”
“Hmmm? What makes you say that Beret?”
Petie and his crew whipped their head in the direction of the voice since they recognized it as the same giggle from earlier. Sitting on a nearby barrel was a smeargle girl smiling broadly and idly kicking her feet. She looked like she was somewhere between 14 and 16, though a bit underdeveloped with only the slightest hints of hips or a chest. She was wearing a baby blue and yellow play dress that looked more suited for a four year old and barely covered her chest or reached down past her hips. Her “hat” which was normal for her species seemed bigger than normal and her floppy ears reach down a little past her neck. Pink bows that matched her paint color were tied to the base of her ears and at the end of her tail. Her face was cheerful and innocent, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks gave her a childish look.
“Simple!” she hopped off the barrel “I was watching when they came in and I heard HIM!” she pointed a finger at Petie dramatically though her innocent smile and giggle ruined any seriousness of the moment “Say that they couldn’t’ swim… so I’m willing to bet they’re devil fruit users!” she finished in a sing song voice before giggling and swaying her hips a little excitably “Maybe even pirates! Did you steal that gold off somebody? Did ya? Oooo! I bet you even have bounty posters too! Maybe they even killed somebody?” she continued to chirp in a teasing tone, giggling exuberantly.
“Hey! We’re not pirates and we’ve never hurt nobody!” Jules said stepping forward defensively “You take that back!” Beret looked unimpressed considering Jules was a foot or more shorter than she “Ooooh? And what are you going to do if I don’t little girl?” she asked, still using the innocent teasing tone. “Knock it off Painty. Don’t cause any trouble.” Breda called from where she was currently noogying Babyface but Jules wasn’t about to let that comment go. He hated it when people mixed his gender up “I’m a BOY!” he shouted, pulling his rattle from the loose holster he wore on his back. Giggling the smeargle jumped back to the barrel and picked up an odd tool they hadn’t noticed before. It was a large wooden mallet tied to a long stick to make a club. Twirling it a little she smiled.
“Look like a girl to me! Really cute to, like a little doll!”
“I’m. A. BOY!”
Jules charged forward at her… or he tried at least. Due to his waddle from the thick diaper and the sheer instability and weakness of the pier his rush was reduced to an awkward toddle. That didn’t stop him though as he swung his rattle at her in a wide arch… and giggling Beret just jumped up out of the way and onto the barrel. Before Jules could recover from his swing she leapt off the barrel and over him grabbing his bandanna clean off his head and letting his long silky hair fly free “See? Little boys aren’t supposed to have hair that pretty!” she commented with a giggle as Jules struggled to keep his balance.
Beret grabbed him and twirled around with him for a moment as if dancing, gently bopping him in the face with her tail as she did so, before letting him go. Jules tumbled back on his bottom as the wood sagged underneath him, his head spinning. Still giggling the smeargle pulled a small hand mirror from her bag of stuff next to the barrel and showed Jules the little pink circles she’d painted on his cheeks like blush on a doll. Blushing for real and growling Jules jumped back to his feet and staggered forward swinging his rattle down at her… but she merely sidestepped it, not even making the pier creak as she moved, and brought her now red tipped tail across Jules’s face as she gracefully hopped out of the way.
There was a crack as the rattle hit the wood, splintering it and sticking fast. As Jules tried to tug it free Beret held the mirror up again letting him see she’d painted lipstick on him making him whimper and his eyes water. Seeing the tears in the corner of Jules’s eyes her smile faltered for the first time and she looked a little apologetic… giving Breda the chance to pull her hammer out of her hands. “Heeeeeeeeey!” she whined as the miltank held it out of reach “Come on! I didn’t’ even hit him with it!” Breda raised an eyebrow at that “So? No beating up on our customers Painty, you know that.” She said in an annoyed tone as Beret folded her arms and sulked.
Meanwhile Jules was biting back tears as he tried to tug his rattle free. As his friends moved to help him there was a horrible creaking sound followed by shattering as the wood around the stuck rattle and under Jules’s feet gave way. He let out a cry of surprise as he went tumbling into the water… only to have two tan paws wrap around his middle and stop him mid fall as Beret strained to lift Jules back up, her legs shaking. “What, do you carry bricks in your diaper and rattle or something?” she groaned through gritted teeth as she pulled him up.
“… m-my rattles k-kinda… heavy…”
“Figured that part out already… ooph!!”
With a tug she pulled him back up and sat down hard, the wood under her straining as Jules ended up in her lap blushing and sniffling. “You okay cutie?” she asked gently, waiting for Jules to nod in response before using his bandanna to tie the riolu’s hair back in a bow “Good!” she comment as Jules puffed his cheeks out and fumed “… why the heck has nobody fixed this pier yet? Or torn it down and made a new one?” Chouji commented as the Cuddlebutts crew carefully made their way to where the two sat. The mamoswine simply shrugged “Most of the locals don’t seem to have any trouble with it… anyway this is my other apprentice Brigette but she goes by Beret.” The smeargle grinned broadly and waved as the larger mon motioned to his three assistance and then back to the house.
“Would you mind taking them inside please while I get this ship into the dry dock for further inspection? You can talk to them about payment and what they want us to do when we overhaul the ship… as well as whether we’ll have to make allowances for that devil fruit I suspect they have.”
“You go it dad, come on Babyface!”
“…….”
“What are you staring at?”
“… plushies… on the deck… staring back at me.”
“… huh, weird… should we bring them inside too?”
“P-please do…”
“Kay, but I want some explaining on what kind of freaky powers you kids have.”
“Deal.”
Slowly they made their way off the pier, watching the mamoswine move the boat towards the dry dock as a few of the murkrows from the sign flew over and landed on his shoulders. The cuddlebutts crew didn’t say anything but they made a unanimous mental vote to avoid being alone with that guy at ALL times.
****************
“And so that’s what my power does and why our ship looks that way…”
“Hahaahahahahahahahaahaahaha!”
“…….”
“Haaaahahahahahahaa!”
“… please stop laughing.”
“Hahaaha… I’m… I’m good… hahahahaa!!”
“……”
“Hahahaa… I’m sorry… it… it’s just… I always thought Devil Fruit powers were big, destructive, and nightmarish… then you come here with your little blue boat and…”
“Wanna see my powers first hand then to see what they can do?”
“No, no I’m good.”
They all sat around what was probably the living room of the house at the moment and Petie had just finished explaining his Devil Fruit powers to Breda like he’d promised… he was still pouting over her reaction when she smiled to him “Well if that’s the case then maybe you best stick with us while we work on your ship? If your powers going to warp the stuff anyway we might as well get it before we start putting the thing together.” She said as Babyface spoke up from where he sat next to her “But won’t that make it take a lot longer than normal? I mean with a boat that size and the materials we have we could probably get it done in two days… but if he’s got to warp every piece as we put it in…”
Breda just shrugged “So? They’ve got the money and I’m sure they’ve got the time. It’ll probably just be a week of work tops anyway.” Petie scratched his head a little at that “Um… well that is kinda a problem actually. We’ve got the money… but if it’s going to take a week than we don’t have a place to say… not to mention the supplies to last that long” he said casting a slight glance at Chouji who seemed oblivious to it. “That sucks.” Beret spoke up from where she was being made to clean the paint off Jules’s face, the riolu still glaring at her for putting it there in the first place “Cause there’s no hotels or inns here and the only place to eat at is the bar…” her tone of voice showed that she wasn’t too fond of the town in question.
“… so you live here I take it?” Chouji asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Yeah… but it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” The smeargle said having finished cleaning off Jules’s face and currently cuddling the pouting puppy like a plush toy “Thing is this place only has two things… the shipyard and the bar. That’s the only reason anyone comes here. This is the best shipyard around and the bar serves the towns special Rum which is supposed to be really, really good.” She had a bored, half annoyed tone in her voice “Problem is that a few years back the shipping lanes moved cause of storms and pirates so most of the business dried up… meaning that everybody up and left pretty much.”
“… so… why’s your family here then?” Jules spoke up as he tried to squirm free only for her to cuddle him tighter and sigh “They run the stupid mill and bar… sorta. My family runs the bar and another runs the mill but we’ve been doing it together for so long we might as well be one family.” Curling up a little and cuddling Jules more her tone turned spiteful “Course growing up was juuuuust wonderful… “This is your future, you’ll help run the family business like everyone before you.” or “This bar is the lifeblood of the town and your duty is to help keep it strong!” or even “Growing up in this family means taking your responsibility to our business!” ever since I can remember.” She finished pouting and resting her head against Jules’s.
“So… what are you doing here?” Petie asked “This isn’t your family’s bar so…” his voice trailed off as she shot him a glare that would make Mean Look users envious. Pouting and resting her head on Jules again she snorted softly “That’s exactly WHY I’m here… my family doesn’t like the shipyard any so they refuse to come here. Ever since I was little I came here to get away from them.” She said off-handedly before Breda cut in “Yeah, she made herself enough of a nuisance that dad made her an apprentice to try and make her behave.” The miltank said, making Beret stick her tongue out at her. Babyface spoke up in her defense though.
“Don’t be too hard on her Breda, you know dad only made her an apprentice cause she learned most of the tricks just by watching us work. She’s very good at it.”
“Awwww, thanks Babyface!”
“Even if she is obnoxiously annoying, and don’t call me that.”
“Least I’m not a thumb sucker.”
“Hey!”
That one got Babyface off his chair as he took a step towards the little smeargle making faces at him… accidentally bumping into Petie hard in the process. Petie squeaked and nearly fell out of his seat as a cloud of while powder kicked up engulfing the linoone. There was silence for a moment as Petie squirmed to climb back into the chair and the powdered cleared… revealing an absolutely adorable little zizgoon baby with familiar hair, chubby belly, and freckles. The now infant Brandon blinked for a moment and looked down at his new baby form clad only in a thick diaper… and started bawling at the top of his lungs. Petie sighed and braced himself for the inevitable yelling as he tried to explain “Like I told you, I can’t really control my powers so”
“That’s so cooooooooool!!!”
“… wha?”
Petie blinked as Beret was down on her hands and knees cuddling the much smaller Babyface and gently nuzzling his tummy. Cuddling and tickling the whining and struggling baby she grinned up to Petie “I didn’t really think you were being serious about that whole “Turn people into babies” thing but this is cool!” she said, sounding eager and energetic as Petie just looked at her with an expression of complete confusion. Getting back up she giggled and swayed from side to side a little “Simple silly! Growing up SUCKS!” she said, as if explaining a basic fact of the universe “When your little you don’t have any responsibilities or to do anything like work in a stupid, dingy, smell bar cause your families a bunch of… er… ANYWAY! You just get to do what you want! Like build stuff or paint!” she finished bouncing eagerly as the Cuddlebutts crew just stared at her blankly.
Meanwhile Breda had literally fallen out of her chair she was laughing so hard at her brother’s transformation. Her chest heaved as she tried to regain her composure… only to see Babyface’s adorable little expression of anger and collapsing again in laughter. “Um… h-he’ll turn back in a few hours…” Petie said, struggling to be heard above the roar of the cows laugher “A-anyway… that’s why I don’t think staying here would be a good idea… I can’t control my powers so…” he paused as Breda waved her hand to quiet him and sat up, still giggling lightly “Ha… haha… it’s okay… I doubt this’ll be a problem that’d affect our work… short of having to change his diapers.” She snickered again as Babyface shot her a dirty look “Anyway you’re welcome to stay till your ships done.”
“Well… okay… thank you very much.” Petie said, more than certain Breda was going to regret that offer as he watched Beret play with the fussing zigzagoon. “Anyway Beret can show you around town later.” The miltank said, getting back into her chair and smirking a little at the glare the smeargle shot her “What? It may be a small town but it’ll keep you out of our hair till we finish prepping the ship.” Breda said with a shrug though Petie was pretty sure it was more to irritate the little smeargle. Suddenly a shadow fell over them and all of the Cuddlebutts crew squeaked to see the mamoswine standing looking over them… with the plushies sitting on his shoulders.
He looked at them in silence for a moment before settling to look at Babyface in Beret’s arms. He reached forward and gently rubbed the blushing zigzagoons head with a finger, a slightly teasing smile on his face “… good you’re getting along with the guests.” He then turned to the crew “Your ships in the dry dock now and we’ll begin fully inspecting it shortly… but the little lady said she had some urgent business concerning all of you.” He said as Nanny slid off his shoulder and landed on the ground in front of them. In a moment she’d grown to full adult height and clapped her paws together “Okay then everyone, it’s time for your change and nap!” she said smiling broadly to them “Mr. Elroy has offered to let us use the guest room so come along now.”
There were groans and protests as the purugly plush rounded up little ones but most of it was drowned out by Breda on the floor laughing herself silly again. Beret watched them for a moment before tugging on Nanny’s apron “Can I come to?” she asked innocently, giving her best winning smile. Nanny just smiled back “Of course dear, and judging by your little friends expression he could use a nap as well…” she scooped Babyface out of beret’s arms “That or a change.” She added checking the little zigzagoon’s diaper and sending him into another crying tantrum again as she cuddled him.
By then Breda was laughing hard enough Anne was honestly concerned for her health.
To Be Continued…
Still suffering damages from their run in with Chain Gang the Cuddlebutts crew is forced to dock at a mysterious place named "Empty Town". What secret will they find there and what strangers will they meet? Will they get their ship fixed? And who is this mysterious girl bothering them? Read to find out!
Anyway hope you enjoy, please comment & fav, and have a great day! =D
Characters belong to their original owners
Pokemon & One piece NOT owned by me
Voyage:
Shipwright Family? Stop at Empty Town! “Darn that stupid timburr and his cannons!”
“Chouji! How long till we reach the next town?”
“A few hours captain, we should be okay but if we hit a storm this ships going to sink and sink fast!”
“Dang it all!”
Not two days after Chain Gang’s attack the Cuddlebutts Crew was just realizing the extent of the damages they’d suffered from their brush with the kidnapping group. The barrages of cannonfire had done a number on the Sea Cradle. Aside from the missing railing and hole in the deck Chouji reported cracks along the sides and bottom that were making the ship wallow dangerously in the water. Considering it was just a luxury escape boat Petie’s power had warped to suit their needs it wasn’t surprising… but it was THEIR boat and the only thing keeping them from watery death so getting it fixed was their first priority.
Unfortunately they were out in the open sea/ Chouji had plotted a course for the nearest and largest town… which was still about a week worth of sailing away. They had been forced to change course for the nearest town and pray it had the supplies needed to fix their ship… or at least put enough of a patch job on it they could make it to another town. “We need to head east and just hold this course!” Chouji called as he looked over the map in front of him, Petie spun the wheel in compliance.
“What’s the name of the town anyway?” Petie called down to the fishmon as he locked the wheel into place. “Well… there’s a reason I didn’t tell you actually…” Chouji said rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed look on his face “… how does Empty Town grab you?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. Petie just gave him a very, very blank stare. “To be fair it’s the only place that won’t take a week to get to…” Chouji said, fiddling the map in his hands. Petie just groaned and opened the cabin door “I’ll be downstairs helping Jules peddle if you need me…”
“Okay then… maybe I’ll see if there’s anything in the fridge…”
“NO!”
“Awwww, come on!”
“You already cut our food supply in half! And when that’s Jules and mu cooking your scarfing down you’ve got problems!”
“I’m a sumo! We need to put on weight to help us be more effective!”
“Then the diapers help you get into character don’t they?”
“SUMOS DON’T WEAR DIAPERS!!!”
****************
“… anybody get that “There’s probably some psychotic killer stalking around” feeling about this place?”
“Not the time to be bringing that kinda stuff up Jules.”
“Sorry… well at least they have a shipyard… a really, really creepy shipyard…”
“Jules…”
“I’ll stop.”
“I-it is c-creepy t-though…”
“Don’t you start too Anne.”
“Is this one of those “Haunted Towns” I’ve read stories about?”
“Look! I get it! It’s creepy! Yes! You’ve made your point! We STILL have to stop here to get the ship fixed!”
“Empty Town” was located on a small island with thick woods making up about half of it. The other half looked to be fields of what might be sugarcane or some other kind of crop. Currently their attention was on the badly battered pier forming the middle of what was probably the town harbor. On one side of it were a few sparse, empty looking houses and a large mill that looked well cared for but otherwise empty. On the other side was a house with a dry dock next to it as well as several busted and ruined ships moored nearby on the sand. A worn sign with faded paint that said “Elroy Shipyard” hung in front of the house.
Just to complete the image the pier had an equally faded and partially ruined sign that said “Welcome to Empty Town” with a few hungry looking murkrow perched on it for good measure. The birds watched the small mon on the equally small boat sail past slowly as he looked for a stable place to drop anchor. “We just need to stay here long enough to get the ship fixed then we can go and never come back, okay?” Petie said, trying to reassure his crew as much as himself as he dropped anchor and climbed down. The worn pier creaked as if it’d give way even under his light weight “And watch your step Chouji.” He added as he tied the mooring ropes.
“I’m not THAT fat”
CRACK!!
SPLASH!!!
“… well better him than one of us, he can swim. Jules help me tie this okay?”
“Okay.”
After tying the ship in place, getting Chouji out of the water, and grabbing a few things they started carefully down the pier less it break under them again. Soon enough they were on the slightly more stable walkway to the shipyard, “Did anybody hear that?” Jules piped up suddenly making everybody look at him in confusion. “Hear WHAT?” Petie asked incredulously, getting tired about them going on about how spooky the place was… till the soft sound of a girls giggle, light and ethereal like distant wind-chimes, drifted past them. They were silent for a moment as they tried to ignore the chills running up their spines before they suddenly huddled together as close as possible and continued towards the shipyard building almost at a sprinting pace.
The house was old and big… sure it was two stories tall but it was big in the way Petie recognized from his own home meaning that really large mon lived there. He reached up as high as he could and timidly knocked on the door with his little paw barely producing any noise. There was no response from inside the building. Before Petie could reach up to try again Jules rapped his rattles head against the door hard producing a bizarre banging and rattling sound. That seemed to get the attention of whoever was in there.
“I’ll get it!”
“Not like that you’re not!”
“Come on!”
“I’m getting it, go wake Brandon up.”
“Okay.”
A few moments later the door creaked open to reveal a HUGE mamoswine. The figure was muscular and imposing, more so due to the long hooded rain slicker that obscured his face except for two pearly white tusks sticking out. Underneath he wore a pair of work jeans with a belt of shipwright tools around his waist… including a few nasty looking saws and chisels. “Yes?” He asked looking around for a moment before his eyes slowly drifted down to look at the tiny mon in confusion. Before Jules could scream and make a serial killer comment Petie pulled a pacifier from his coat pocket and shoved it in the riolu’s mouth effectively silencing him.
“… I tell them this isn’t an orphanage…” the mamoswine muttered softly while shaking his head before looking back at somebody. Before things could get more awkward Petie spoke up “A-actually sir w-we were hoping you could fix o-our boat please.” He said trying to keep a nervous stutter out of his voice. The mamoswine looked back at them for a moment “…. I don’t work for free.” he said dryly as if still trying to figure out what to think about this. Having seen this coming Petie pulled out the cloth pouch he’d filled with some of their treasure they’d taken from pirates. The gold coins sparkled in the light as he held it out.
“Would this be enough?”
“… you want the thing fixed or you want us to build you a whole new boat kid?”
“Just fixed please.”
“Allright well let me take a look at it before I figure out what I have to do…”
The large mon stepped out onto the dock making it creak noticeably. He took a few steps forward before he caught sight of the Sea Cradle anchored at the pier. Getting that confused look on his face again as he looked over the small blue boat he just shook his head and walked over to it. “What were kids your age doing out at sea anyway?” somebody asked making the Cuddlebutts crew turn to find themselves staring up at a tall, muscular looking miltank girl who appeared to be around twenty. She was wearing work overalls with a belt of tools attached like the mamoswine as well as some wraps on her chest to try and keep her huge bosom restrained… it wasn’t working too well to be honest.
“You went and woke me up for this?”
“Come on Babyface, we need all the extra work we can get.”
“Don’t call me that…”
Another mon stepped into view from the door, arguing with the miltank in a “Big sister, little brother” kind of way. It was a linoone who looked a few years younger and a great deal shorter. He was adorably plump with a rounded form covered in what could only be called babyfat and had a chubby, freckled face with a single thick lock of hair that curled up from his forehead that brought to mind an infant. He was wearing a set of bib front overalls with a tool belt of his own. The crew looked at him for a moment before looking at Petie all at once as the teddiursa threw up his hands defensively.
“Hey I didn’t do anything this time!!”
The two didn’t seem to hear them as they continued to argue back and forth. The miltank chuckled and repeatedly chided the linoone by calling him Babyface, teasing his little head tuft for good measure, while he pouted and stomped him foot demanding not to be called that. It was a cute but kinda confusing scene till the mamoswine came up from behind “These are my kids and assistants.” He said, obviously used to this kind of behavior “That’s my daughter Breda and somebody left Brandon on our doorstep years ago so we adopted him.” He said pointing to them in turn. Breda smirked and pulled Brandon into a teasing headlock, tickling his ear in a playful way.
“Call him Babyface, it suits him a lot better!”
“No it doesn’t! Now leggo!!!”
“Come on you two, we’ve got work to do in case you forgot.”
That got their attention as they looked up at their father, Breda still refusing to let go of Babyface’s head even as he whined and struggled. He led them down to the pier, Petie and the others wondering how the hell they just didn’t go right through the wooden floorboards, as they took a look at the Sea Cradle. The Cuddlebutts crew could only watch as the older mon seemed to take in the whole of the damages with just a few glances “Well… I’ve seen worse to be honest.” He said scratching his chin “But how you get around in a boat this size is beyond me. You said you wanted it fixed right?” before they could answer Breda cut in.
“What the hell would fixing that boat accomplish?”
She was looking at the powder blue boat, obviously unimpressed “Building a new one or making heavy improvements on it would be infinitely smarter...And they seem to have the money for it, too" she added, pointing to the pouch in Petie’s hands “Babyface, get down there and see if the bottoms damaged any.” She added, playfully nudging him to the edge of the pier. “Don’t call me that.” He grumbled before willingly diving into the water. A few minutes later he surfaced again. “There’s some ugly looking cracks down there.” He said as he was pulled out of the drink “But most of the materials are good… it’d probably be a shame just to trash the whole thing."
The mamoswine nodded and turned to Petie as Breda pulled out a towel and started to dry Babyface off… despite his protests. “Now then, with that out of the way we can get to business.” The older mon said, keeping a professional tone “I have to recommend my daughters suggestion on making some very heavy improvements since as Brandon pointed out there’s still plenty of salvageable materials we can use.” He was talking slowly to make sure they could understand him “First off I’d have to say you’d need to make the entire ship bigger and definitely broader. Like this it’s just a capsize waiting to happen.”
Running his hand along the side of the ship again “You’ll also need to heavily reinforce the internal structures.” He tapped against one of the cracks “Too much pressure or stress and it’ll collapse in as you can see. That’s just the basic recommendations to get it even sea-worthy by my standards, you can talk with my kids to flesh out more details.” He added, motioning to the two who were once again playfully wrestling with Babyface losing badly as Breda easily hoisted him off his feet and tickled his nose teasingly. The mamoswine just sighed softly, obviously used to this. Suddenly a clear, chime like voice cut through the moment.
“I think there’s something they’re not telling us about their ship Mr. Elroy.”
“Hmmm? What makes you say that Beret?”
Petie and his crew whipped their head in the direction of the voice since they recognized it as the same giggle from earlier. Sitting on a nearby barrel was a smeargle girl smiling broadly and idly kicking her feet. She looked like she was somewhere between 14 and 16, though a bit underdeveloped with only the slightest hints of hips or a chest. She was wearing a baby blue and yellow play dress that looked more suited for a four year old and barely covered her chest or reached down past her hips. Her “hat” which was normal for her species seemed bigger than normal and her floppy ears reach down a little past her neck. Pink bows that matched her paint color were tied to the base of her ears and at the end of her tail. Her face was cheerful and innocent, a slight pink tinge to her cheeks gave her a childish look.
“Simple!” she hopped off the barrel “I was watching when they came in and I heard HIM!” she pointed a finger at Petie dramatically though her innocent smile and giggle ruined any seriousness of the moment “Say that they couldn’t’ swim… so I’m willing to bet they’re devil fruit users!” she finished in a sing song voice before giggling and swaying her hips a little excitably “Maybe even pirates! Did you steal that gold off somebody? Did ya? Oooo! I bet you even have bounty posters too! Maybe they even killed somebody?” she continued to chirp in a teasing tone, giggling exuberantly.
“Hey! We’re not pirates and we’ve never hurt nobody!” Jules said stepping forward defensively “You take that back!” Beret looked unimpressed considering Jules was a foot or more shorter than she “Ooooh? And what are you going to do if I don’t little girl?” she asked, still using the innocent teasing tone. “Knock it off Painty. Don’t cause any trouble.” Breda called from where she was currently noogying Babyface but Jules wasn’t about to let that comment go. He hated it when people mixed his gender up “I’m a BOY!” he shouted, pulling his rattle from the loose holster he wore on his back. Giggling the smeargle jumped back to the barrel and picked up an odd tool they hadn’t noticed before. It was a large wooden mallet tied to a long stick to make a club. Twirling it a little she smiled.
“Look like a girl to me! Really cute to, like a little doll!”
“I’m. A. BOY!”
Jules charged forward at her… or he tried at least. Due to his waddle from the thick diaper and the sheer instability and weakness of the pier his rush was reduced to an awkward toddle. That didn’t stop him though as he swung his rattle at her in a wide arch… and giggling Beret just jumped up out of the way and onto the barrel. Before Jules could recover from his swing she leapt off the barrel and over him grabbing his bandanna clean off his head and letting his long silky hair fly free “See? Little boys aren’t supposed to have hair that pretty!” she commented with a giggle as Jules struggled to keep his balance.
Beret grabbed him and twirled around with him for a moment as if dancing, gently bopping him in the face with her tail as she did so, before letting him go. Jules tumbled back on his bottom as the wood sagged underneath him, his head spinning. Still giggling the smeargle pulled a small hand mirror from her bag of stuff next to the barrel and showed Jules the little pink circles she’d painted on his cheeks like blush on a doll. Blushing for real and growling Jules jumped back to his feet and staggered forward swinging his rattle down at her… but she merely sidestepped it, not even making the pier creak as she moved, and brought her now red tipped tail across Jules’s face as she gracefully hopped out of the way.
There was a crack as the rattle hit the wood, splintering it and sticking fast. As Jules tried to tug it free Beret held the mirror up again letting him see she’d painted lipstick on him making him whimper and his eyes water. Seeing the tears in the corner of Jules’s eyes her smile faltered for the first time and she looked a little apologetic… giving Breda the chance to pull her hammer out of her hands. “Heeeeeeeeey!” she whined as the miltank held it out of reach “Come on! I didn’t’ even hit him with it!” Breda raised an eyebrow at that “So? No beating up on our customers Painty, you know that.” She said in an annoyed tone as Beret folded her arms and sulked.
Meanwhile Jules was biting back tears as he tried to tug his rattle free. As his friends moved to help him there was a horrible creaking sound followed by shattering as the wood around the stuck rattle and under Jules’s feet gave way. He let out a cry of surprise as he went tumbling into the water… only to have two tan paws wrap around his middle and stop him mid fall as Beret strained to lift Jules back up, her legs shaking. “What, do you carry bricks in your diaper and rattle or something?” she groaned through gritted teeth as she pulled him up.
“… m-my rattles k-kinda… heavy…”
“Figured that part out already… ooph!!”
With a tug she pulled him back up and sat down hard, the wood under her straining as Jules ended up in her lap blushing and sniffling. “You okay cutie?” she asked gently, waiting for Jules to nod in response before using his bandanna to tie the riolu’s hair back in a bow “Good!” she comment as Jules puffed his cheeks out and fumed “… why the heck has nobody fixed this pier yet? Or torn it down and made a new one?” Chouji commented as the Cuddlebutts crew carefully made their way to where the two sat. The mamoswine simply shrugged “Most of the locals don’t seem to have any trouble with it… anyway this is my other apprentice Brigette but she goes by Beret.” The smeargle grinned broadly and waved as the larger mon motioned to his three assistance and then back to the house.
“Would you mind taking them inside please while I get this ship into the dry dock for further inspection? You can talk to them about payment and what they want us to do when we overhaul the ship… as well as whether we’ll have to make allowances for that devil fruit I suspect they have.”
“You go it dad, come on Babyface!”
“…….”
“What are you staring at?”
“… plushies… on the deck… staring back at me.”
“… huh, weird… should we bring them inside too?”
“P-please do…”
“Kay, but I want some explaining on what kind of freaky powers you kids have.”
“Deal.”
Slowly they made their way off the pier, watching the mamoswine move the boat towards the dry dock as a few of the murkrows from the sign flew over and landed on his shoulders. The cuddlebutts crew didn’t say anything but they made a unanimous mental vote to avoid being alone with that guy at ALL times.
****************
“And so that’s what my power does and why our ship looks that way…”
“Hahaahahahahahahahaahaahaha!”
“…….”
“Haaaahahahahahahaa!”
“… please stop laughing.”
“Hahaaha… I’m… I’m good… hahahahaa!!”
“……”
“Hahahaa… I’m sorry… it… it’s just… I always thought Devil Fruit powers were big, destructive, and nightmarish… then you come here with your little blue boat and…”
“Wanna see my powers first hand then to see what they can do?”
“No, no I’m good.”
They all sat around what was probably the living room of the house at the moment and Petie had just finished explaining his Devil Fruit powers to Breda like he’d promised… he was still pouting over her reaction when she smiled to him “Well if that’s the case then maybe you best stick with us while we work on your ship? If your powers going to warp the stuff anyway we might as well get it before we start putting the thing together.” She said as Babyface spoke up from where he sat next to her “But won’t that make it take a lot longer than normal? I mean with a boat that size and the materials we have we could probably get it done in two days… but if he’s got to warp every piece as we put it in…”
Breda just shrugged “So? They’ve got the money and I’m sure they’ve got the time. It’ll probably just be a week of work tops anyway.” Petie scratched his head a little at that “Um… well that is kinda a problem actually. We’ve got the money… but if it’s going to take a week than we don’t have a place to say… not to mention the supplies to last that long” he said casting a slight glance at Chouji who seemed oblivious to it. “That sucks.” Beret spoke up from where she was being made to clean the paint off Jules’s face, the riolu still glaring at her for putting it there in the first place “Cause there’s no hotels or inns here and the only place to eat at is the bar…” her tone of voice showed that she wasn’t too fond of the town in question.
“… so you live here I take it?” Chouji asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Yeah… but it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” The smeargle said having finished cleaning off Jules’s face and currently cuddling the pouting puppy like a plush toy “Thing is this place only has two things… the shipyard and the bar. That’s the only reason anyone comes here. This is the best shipyard around and the bar serves the towns special Rum which is supposed to be really, really good.” She had a bored, half annoyed tone in her voice “Problem is that a few years back the shipping lanes moved cause of storms and pirates so most of the business dried up… meaning that everybody up and left pretty much.”
“… so… why’s your family here then?” Jules spoke up as he tried to squirm free only for her to cuddle him tighter and sigh “They run the stupid mill and bar… sorta. My family runs the bar and another runs the mill but we’ve been doing it together for so long we might as well be one family.” Curling up a little and cuddling Jules more her tone turned spiteful “Course growing up was juuuuust wonderful… “This is your future, you’ll help run the family business like everyone before you.” or “This bar is the lifeblood of the town and your duty is to help keep it strong!” or even “Growing up in this family means taking your responsibility to our business!” ever since I can remember.” She finished pouting and resting her head against Jules’s.
“So… what are you doing here?” Petie asked “This isn’t your family’s bar so…” his voice trailed off as she shot him a glare that would make Mean Look users envious. Pouting and resting her head on Jules again she snorted softly “That’s exactly WHY I’m here… my family doesn’t like the shipyard any so they refuse to come here. Ever since I was little I came here to get away from them.” She said off-handedly before Breda cut in “Yeah, she made herself enough of a nuisance that dad made her an apprentice to try and make her behave.” The miltank said, making Beret stick her tongue out at her. Babyface spoke up in her defense though.
“Don’t be too hard on her Breda, you know dad only made her an apprentice cause she learned most of the tricks just by watching us work. She’s very good at it.”
“Awwww, thanks Babyface!”
“Even if she is obnoxiously annoying, and don’t call me that.”
“Least I’m not a thumb sucker.”
“Hey!”
That one got Babyface off his chair as he took a step towards the little smeargle making faces at him… accidentally bumping into Petie hard in the process. Petie squeaked and nearly fell out of his seat as a cloud of while powder kicked up engulfing the linoone. There was silence for a moment as Petie squirmed to climb back into the chair and the powdered cleared… revealing an absolutely adorable little zizgoon baby with familiar hair, chubby belly, and freckles. The now infant Brandon blinked for a moment and looked down at his new baby form clad only in a thick diaper… and started bawling at the top of his lungs. Petie sighed and braced himself for the inevitable yelling as he tried to explain “Like I told you, I can’t really control my powers so”
“That’s so cooooooooool!!!”
“… wha?”
Petie blinked as Beret was down on her hands and knees cuddling the much smaller Babyface and gently nuzzling his tummy. Cuddling and tickling the whining and struggling baby she grinned up to Petie “I didn’t really think you were being serious about that whole “Turn people into babies” thing but this is cool!” she said, sounding eager and energetic as Petie just looked at her with an expression of complete confusion. Getting back up she giggled and swayed from side to side a little “Simple silly! Growing up SUCKS!” she said, as if explaining a basic fact of the universe “When your little you don’t have any responsibilities or to do anything like work in a stupid, dingy, smell bar cause your families a bunch of… er… ANYWAY! You just get to do what you want! Like build stuff or paint!” she finished bouncing eagerly as the Cuddlebutts crew just stared at her blankly.
Meanwhile Breda had literally fallen out of her chair she was laughing so hard at her brother’s transformation. Her chest heaved as she tried to regain her composure… only to see Babyface’s adorable little expression of anger and collapsing again in laughter. “Um… h-he’ll turn back in a few hours…” Petie said, struggling to be heard above the roar of the cows laugher “A-anyway… that’s why I don’t think staying here would be a good idea… I can’t control my powers so…” he paused as Breda waved her hand to quiet him and sat up, still giggling lightly “Ha… haha… it’s okay… I doubt this’ll be a problem that’d affect our work… short of having to change his diapers.” She snickered again as Babyface shot her a dirty look “Anyway you’re welcome to stay till your ships done.”
“Well… okay… thank you very much.” Petie said, more than certain Breda was going to regret that offer as he watched Beret play with the fussing zigzagoon. “Anyway Beret can show you around town later.” The miltank said, getting back into her chair and smirking a little at the glare the smeargle shot her “What? It may be a small town but it’ll keep you out of our hair till we finish prepping the ship.” Breda said with a shrug though Petie was pretty sure it was more to irritate the little smeargle. Suddenly a shadow fell over them and all of the Cuddlebutts crew squeaked to see the mamoswine standing looking over them… with the plushies sitting on his shoulders.
He looked at them in silence for a moment before settling to look at Babyface in Beret’s arms. He reached forward and gently rubbed the blushing zigzagoons head with a finger, a slightly teasing smile on his face “… good you’re getting along with the guests.” He then turned to the crew “Your ships in the dry dock now and we’ll begin fully inspecting it shortly… but the little lady said she had some urgent business concerning all of you.” He said as Nanny slid off his shoulder and landed on the ground in front of them. In a moment she’d grown to full adult height and clapped her paws together “Okay then everyone, it’s time for your change and nap!” she said smiling broadly to them “Mr. Elroy has offered to let us use the guest room so come along now.”
There were groans and protests as the purugly plush rounded up little ones but most of it was drowned out by Breda on the floor laughing herself silly again. Beret watched them for a moment before tugging on Nanny’s apron “Can I come to?” she asked innocently, giving her best winning smile. Nanny just smiled back “Of course dear, and judging by your little friends expression he could use a nap as well…” she scooped Babyface out of beret’s arms “That or a change.” She added checking the little zigzagoon’s diaper and sending him into another crying tantrum again as she cuddled him.
By then Breda was laughing hard enough Anne was honestly concerned for her health.
To Be Continued…
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Pokemon
Size 300 x 210px
File Size 10 kB
:3 Well I think Beret is going to be one of my favorite characters in you voyage series. Playful but dangerous *points at the hammer and tail* but playful wins out of it. She makes ne think of a ballerina dancing around till she strikes *A shiny mew is mear inches from Beret's tail staring at it as if he was studying it* =^w^= mew?
Well they say if you laugh 100 times it equals to something of a mile or 5 miles for your heart rate *random fact for the day :3 I love that part with Chouji falling in the water and when they see Brandon. *a strong gust buffers the shiny mew into the tail. He comes out with a pink nose and mouth* "patoohie" =^w^= mew?
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