One Piece: Grand Harem Adventures

Ben and Alvida headed back to Miss Love Duck. They had arrived back on the deck and saw everyone standing. They all looked mad and crossed. 

"Hi Girls," Ben said. 

Vivi looked angry. She looked like a volcano about to explode. "Where did you two go?" Vivi asked. 

Ben thought he was going to die. Vivi was different. "Well," Ben tried to say.

"We fought Phantasm Shanks and beat him," Alvida responded.

The girl's eyes looked red. There was a scary presence. Ben looked at Alvida who was smiling. 

"Why don't we talk in the Dining Room," Ben said. They all nodded and walked silently to the Dining Room.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a sword. Ben stood at the center. The women surrounding them radiated fury. Arms crossed, brows furrowed, and eyes burning with anger. Alvida seemed to be away from it.

Kaya, the first to break the silence. "Do you two have any idea what you just put us through?" she asked. 

Vivi shook her head. "Reckless doesn't even begin to cover it. Charging in like that without telling anyone," Vivi said. She looked mad. Her eyes were flashing red for a second. 

"We had a plan…" Ben started, but his voice trailed off when all eyes bore into him. He cleared his throat. "Okay, but," he added. 

"But nothing!" Marianne snapped. "You almost got yourself killed," Marianne said with tears in her eyes. 

"Marianne, no, I did it," Ben tried to defend himself. "I did it for us," he added. 

"Us?" Maya asked. She did not look happy. The usual calm priestess was flaring. 

Conis folded her arms. "You acted like we wouldn't care, like we wouldn't worry. You're not alone in this fight, Ben," Conis stated. 

Raki nodded in agreement, her hands clenched into fists. "We're supposed to fight together," Raki said. 

"I know we are and we will but I don't want you to overdo it," Ben responded. "And I know you are all strong as well but as your Captain, I have to protect you all," he added.

"We are not dolls," Noijiko stated. She glared at Ben. 

Honey sighed, rubbing her temples. "We had no idea if you were even alive. Do you know how hard it was to just wait and hope?" she said. 

"I was worried," Marianne said.

"Even Tashigi was worried," Mikita said as she smiled at Tashigi. 

Tashigi blushed. "I was not. I did not care," Tashigi said. "I wanted him alive to be arrested," Tashigi said, crossing her arms. 

"And what if you died?" Saphir asked, her tone softer but still firm. "What then? What would we have done?" she asked. 

Ben clenched his fists, guilt washing over him as he looked at their worried faces. He took a deep breath before bowing deeply. "I'm sorry for worrying you all," he said. "I love you all with my heart. I know you are strong. All powerful. But," Ben said. "This time, I wanted to fight him. I wanted to save you one fight. It was selfish but in my eyes right. I wanted to save you all from one fight," Ben stated.

The women exchanged glances. Their anger hadn't faded completely, but his sincerity was evident.

Robin giggled. She spawned a hand on his thigh. The hand touched his ball. "Since we are mad, I can crush this," Robin teased.

"No," they all shouted in unison. 

Robin smiled and let go. "We are mad but not that mad," Robin said. Ben felt a sweat drop from his forehead. 

Mikita sighed and smiled. "I am more mad you did not take me," Mikita remarked. 

Zala smirked slightly, arms still crossed. "But Mikita you are weak, he should have taken me," Zala teased. 

"I am not," Mikita put her tongue out towards her. 

Kalifa adjusted her glasses. She felt her heartbeat pound. "As you have beaten him and you are fine, it is okay," Kalifa said. There was a ice look to her.

Hina nodded. "For now, Hina accepts your apology. But tread carefully, Ben," Hina warned. Her eyes were piercing his soul. 

Tashigi nodded. "Same here," she added. 

"You were worried a lot," Zala teased.

"I was not," Tashigi responded, looking all flustered. 

Emeraude and Rubis shared a look before speaking in unison. "Just… don't make us go through that again," Emeraude said. 

"Don't make my sister worry," Rubis added. 

Ben nodded. "I love you all. I want to protect you all and help you achieve your dreams," Ben said.

"The dreams include you, my love," Alvida said. They all nodded. Ben thought they did. His dream did as well. It included all of them. 

As the air in the room settled, Ben cleared his throat. "There's something else I need to tell you. Once we beat him, we got new gauntlets," Ben said. 

Kalifa raised an eyebrow. "Gauntlets?" she asked. She wondered why they would be special. 

Ben held up the metallic gauntlets gleaming under the light. "They contain Sea Prism Stones, like in Seraphina," Ben responded. 

The room fell into stunned silence.

Tashigi's eyes widened. "Sea Prism Stone? That's… an extremely rare material," she remarked. 

"We got it from beating Phantasm Shanks," Ben said. 

"Sea Prism weakens Devil Fruit users on contact," Robin said. 

Zala nodded. "They'll attract attention. The Marines and the underworld would pay a fortune for something like that," she remarked.

"Even for Seraphina," Mikita added. 

"But we will beat anyone who tries to take it away from us," Marianne said.

The women exchanged looks before finally relaxing. The anger had dulled, but the warning in their eyes was still clear. They all giggled at the joke. 

Alvida crossed her arms. "Alright, my love. You got your scolding. Now, let's focus on moving forward," she said. 

"You got none of it," Ben remarked. 

"I am their sister, my love," Alvida responded. 

The other girls nodded. Ben thought he got the brunt of it. 

"Now my love. It is your turn to do the Captain duty, head to your room and she will come," Alvida added.