My Darkness To Bear 3...

Chapter 28.75 - My Darkness To Bear 3...

"Oi!" yelled Sanji's voice and they jerked up to see memory Sanji running back to them, they stood back as he ran through their group to the others, telling Luffy to quit eating because Robin disappeared.

"So it was right after I met up with the Baron did this all happen," she said softly.

"What happened to you?" Brook asked worriedly and she shook her head. "Sorry," she muttered, "I can't help you with that."

Luffy looked up in surprise. "Robin?" he asked him.

Past Zoro had gotten up from his chair and walked towards them, still shooting Sanji a nasty look. He then said, "I think she said she was gonna look for some flower."

"A flower?" past Nami cried out as she went running up to them, and they saw how pale she had become. She looked like she wanted to tell them something, but they were all starting to argue worse than ever.

"Damn it all to hell! What's that Baron doing?" current Zoro demanded.

"Hey!" Usopp added, noticing something else, "Where am I?"

"Don't tell me you're gone too!" Franky said hurriedly. Luffy noticed this as well and asked them if they knew where Usopp was. They all looked at each other in surprise and glance around as if hoping that he was just hiding somewhere.

"I don't know," memory Nami stated, and current Usopp was relieved to hear that she sounded concerned for him instead of angry. "He should be around here."

"Usopp's gone now too?!" memory Sanji yelled, and they couldn't believe that he had shouted at Nami like that.

"I'd never speak to a lady like that!" the current Sanji said hurriedly. Whatever was happening to them, it seemed to be effecting him worse than the others. He was just lashing out at everyone here. Sure he was angry, but why was he this angry?

"It's like Water 7 all over again," Chopper gulped, "Only with the whole crew turning against each other instead of just Usopp."

"Did you have to remind me?" Usopp groaned out miserably.

Brook didn't have a clue to what he meant, but he kept his mouth shut, he could ask later. Memory Zoro then noticed something else. "Where's Chopper?" he asked at once, "He's not back yet either!"

"Shit!" memory Sanji called, puffing hard on his cigarette and the current one was now reaching into his pocket for his own box. He just couldn't help it… this was too much. He took one out and put it into his mouth before he reached for his lighter.

"This is bad," memory Nami summed up all their thoughts for them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place," past Zoro said, now on guard as he started around, as if expecting to see some assailants jump out and attack.

"Oh, don't give us that half-assed shit!" memory Sanji yelled at him.

"What's with you now?" the current Zoro asked in frustration.

"I don't know!" he yelled back, "I don't usually act like this!"

"What the hell were you doing?!" memory Sanji demanded.

"What?" past Zoro snapped back angrily. Which was strange because normally it was Zoro who lost his temper and Sanji was the one who remained calm. But here he was now yelling at Zoro that he had told him to keep an eye on them.

"They aren't kids! I can't keep tabs on them all day!" he yelled back at him, refusing to be blamed for what was going on.

"So, three of our crew disappeared and no one noticed?!" past Sanji yelled out furiously, looking ready to actually kill Zoro there.

"Don't you blame me for this!" the current Zoro yelled out as memory Nami tried to calm Sanji down. But what really got them was when Sanji turned to glare at Luffy and demanded what he was going to do about this. When Luffy looked at him, startled at that, Sanji then said in a voice so full of cold hatred, they could all feel it. "You're the one who got us into this mess," he started, and not even Nami could get him to stop as he went on, "You're the one who wanted to come to this island so badly!"

"Sanji! Stop it! Now isn't the time!" memory Nami yelled at him but he went on relentlessly, "That's what caused this whole thing!" He kept glaring directly at Luffy, who didn't react at all as Sanji went on his rant. "Luffy!" he said, "This… is all your fault!"

No one moved as they stared ahead at the scene. All of them stared at the scene, as if it has frozen and they were looking a picture…

Luffy just stood there frozen. "Me?" he repeated softly as Sanji glared at him.

"You… you blamed all this on Luffy?" Chopper whispered as Sanji stared at himself, unable to really believe it.

"I don't… I don't know what to say…" he said. But he knew that this couldn't be fake. This had to have happen and he knew that this was true; the memories were coming back clearer than ever before. Though still a bit fuzzy, the blank pieces were coming back to him… and he remembered those awful words he said. He remembered how he felt when he lost it and yelled at him. He was worried sick over their missing crewmates, but he was still full of anger and resentment over everything that had happened on this stupid island—that he just couldn't keep it held inside any longer and blew up at Luffy.

He wanted to yell out to Luffy, to tell him that he didn't mean it, but this Luffy was just a memory… he couldn't hear him. He put the lighter to his cigarette and lit it, despite it taking a few tries thanks to his shanking hand. He could practically taste those hateful words in his mouth and he was now filled with feelings of shame and self-hatred as he continued to watch.

"But it wasn't his fault!" Brook said quickly. "Everyone decided to come here! Sure, Luffy-san wanted to play the game, but it was the Baron who kept coming after you guys and forcing you to stay!"

"And we all wanted to come here before Luffy even gave the order!" Chopper added.

"Damn it!" Zoro yelled out, furious at all this. He grabbed Sanji by the collar and glared at him. "Don't keep blaming all of us for everything that's going on! Just because you were too busy showing off doesn't mean that we have to all be babysitting! I don't see you looking out for everyone! Why don't you stop trying to blame everyone else!"

Sanji just stared ahead, unsure as to what to say.

"Enough!" Robin called, stepping between them and forcing them apart. "Blaming each other now isn't going to change anything! Everyone said things on that island that they didn't really mean! This was what the Baron wanted! To turn everyone against each other!"

"And it worked," Nami whispered, staring at themselves. This was like a nightmare…

Zoro didn't say anything else as he let go of Sanji and stared ahead with a dark look in his eyes, and no one could guess what was going on inside his head. Why would they even think of blaming Luffy for all this? Sure Luffy led them into dangerous situations all the time, but they all chose to go after him willingly. Blaming the captain for something like this, when it was their own faults was just… low. Not to mention that it wasn't fair at all… Luffy wasn't to be blamed for what happened in that race, nor was he to blame for their crewmates disappearing.

His hands curled into tight fists and when the Baron showed his face once again, Zoro wanted to cut that bastard into tiny pieces for everything he was doing. "The dinner party is now over!" he called, but instead of sounding cheerful and hospitable, he sounded upset and irritated. "The Ordeal of Hell will now resume!"

"He's kidding right?!" Franky called angrily. "After all that's happened did he think that you were all going to play more games while you ignore the fact that half the crew is gone?"

"I don't think he's giving you a choice!" Brook said as the Baron called for a boy named DJ to come forward. A rather short, shaggy, green-haired kid with a turtle shell on his back with a turtle-like face, and webbed hands.

"Ok, now I know he's not normal!" Usopp said, having a bad feeling about this guy.

"Usopp?" Chopper said, noticing the dark hat on his head, "Isn't that the hat you were wearing?"

"Huh?" Usopp asked, looking clower at him. "Hey! You're right! How'd the hell did he get it?"

"Good evening to you, pu!" DJ said happily, "Name's DJ Gappa! Glad to meet you, pu!"

"What a strange way to talk," Franky said shaking his head and Usopp sucked his breath in.

That's right… he left the contest when Nami made it clear that she didn't want to see him. He went into the forest for some alone time and when he saw the turtle shell, he thought it was just a rock and he kicked it in anger. DJ came out from under it and demanded him for his hat. When he refused and asked him why he kept say 'pu' to the end of his sentences, DJ glared and the last thing he remembered were his green eyes turning red.

He started to fight the panic attack. The girls were right, these guys weren't human. But before he could voice this, memory Sanji and Zoro were demanding to know where the others were, walking right passed DJ as if he wasn't there, which was ticking DJ off as he asked if they were just going to ignore him. The two were too angry to listen and yelled at him to shut up before Sanji noticed the hat as well and snatched it off DJ's head.

"Hey!" DJ yelled as he tried to get it back, "Give it back, pu!"

"You bastard!" Zoro snarled, his hand going to his swords, "What the hell did you do to Usopp!?"

"What did he do to you?" Brook asked.

"I don't know!" Usopp repeated for what felt like the millionth time. "I just don't know!"

Now afraid of Zoro's intimidating look, DJ turned and ran away, hiding behind the Baron and calling rather arrogantly, "Don't worry! See, your friends are still on the island, pu. If you want to see them again then try to find them, pu."

As they argued, present-day Zoro's eyes widen as he realized that he had seen that boy before…

DJ walked right up to him… he practical strangles him, throws him, and used his Oni Giri technique on him. But though he had clearly struck him, DJ just stood there with that smiling face. He had cut him but didn't die… there wasn't even any blood on the kid… he tried a second time to take him out, thinking that he just used a trick to shield himself. The last thing that he remembered was starting to see the kid's body starting to shrivel up…

"What are they?" Zoro asked as the Baron told them to calm down. That they would find out what happened to their friends after this ordeal. His face no longer held that happy attitude, and was now looking sinister as he smiled darkly at them all.

Memory Sanji was losing his temper once again, demanding that they give their friends back at once, thought the Baron didn't seem concerned with him. "The ordeal comes first," he said crossly.

"What sort of crap is that?!" Franky demanded indignantly.

"He just doesn't want to answer to you what he did," Robin answered as past Zoro spat, "Don't screw with us! Our crew comes first!"

"THE ORDEAL ALWAYS COMES FIRST!" the Baron screamed, looking more dangerous than ever.

"He's insane," Usopp whispered, sweat falling once again. These memories were different than from the others. He had seen them all in danger before, but here it was in a different kind of way. He didn't like it at all. Memory Sanji seemed to snap and declared that he'd go find them himself and went running off.

"Sanji!" memory Nami yelled after him fearfully, but he was already gone.

"Wait!" the current Sanji gasped. "Did… did I just leave you behind? Nami my dear…" he fell to his knees, puffing hard on the cigarette to calm himself. But he wasn't the only one, past Zoro seemed to have had enough and they saw a trace of the pirate hunter back on his face as he turned and went running off in another direction.

"We all went running off?" current Zoro said startled. "That was sure to get us all in trouble! What were we thinking?!"

"You were all so angry that you didn't care anymore," Brook said softly. He never would've believed this if he hadn't seen it himself. This was just evil… what was the Baron was doing.

"No one was thinking straight," Robin frowned.

"None of us were," Nami added as she watched the Baron start to explain the rules of this game. A large flashing sign appeared behind him; SHOOT! And they all had a bad feeling about this. What surprised them all was that the Baron told them that there would be no further rules and Chopper screamed in horror to see that there were at least a hundred men, each with a rifle in his hand right behind the Baron. And apparently all of them would be attempting to hunt the Straw Hats down. They were free to search for their crewmates and escape here… but only if they were able to escape the firing squad.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sanji yelled out furiously. "This isn't a game! It's a hunt!"

"That's the whole point," Robin answered knowingly. "Now that everyone is separated from each other, all the Baron has to do is hunt everyone down one at a time. We wouldn't stand a chance…"

Zoro was just feeling disgusted with himself for running out like that. Though it wasn't official, he was like the first mate… the second in command on the Straw Hats. And yet he had abandoned his captain just like that. His arms were folded across his chest and his nails were digging so hard into his skin he was starting to draw blood. But he barely noticed it as he looked up to Luffy once again, who hadn't move from where he was standing—as if he was still trying to register what Sanji had said to him.

Memory Nami was the only one left with Luffy, asking him what they should do. But Luffy seemed to be catatonic or something. His head was bowed and his eyes were shadowed by the rim of his hat; he didn't say a word as she stared fear at the men who were aiming their rifles at them. The current Nami knew what was going to happen now, but she was silently wishing that she was wrong. But it was all in vain for her past self turned and ran off as they followed after her on roller skates. Not even bothering to attack Luffy—leaving the two captains alone.

"How dare they go after a woman?" Sanji muttered furiously.

"This is terrible," Chopper whispered, too stunned to go on. But the Baron didn't move. He just kept his eyes on Luffy, seemingly surprised that he wasn't moving. He then asked him, "Well? Will you go? Or are you a captain who is abandoning his crew? Is that all they are to you?"

"Shut up!" Franky yelled, shaking with anger.

Luffy stared at the straw hat in his hands before he placed it firmly on his head once more. He was shaking in rage now… looking up he screamed out, "GIVE ME BACK MY FRIENDS!" and he charged, thought the Baron merely laughed and backed up.

"How admirable of you!" he taunted as he pulled a bow up and suddenly an arrow materialized out of thin air.

"Where'd that…?" Chopper began, but the Baron had already fired. Though Luffy was able to dodge it, it did something unexpected and Nami screamed. The arrow had stopped dead in the air and when Luffy turned to look at it, they saw it turn and pointed directly at him once more and it launched itself at him.

"There's no way!" Usopp yelled, freaking out as Franky and Brook's jaw dropped. Sanji's mouth probably would've fallen open as well, but he kept a hold of his cigarette, not going to waste it no matter what happened. "He has to have a Devil Fruit! It's the only explanation!"

"The only fruit I know that has that kind of power is the Mark Mark Fruit, and Decken was the one who ate that," Robin answered as Luffy was forced to move out of harm's way once more. But the arrow hadn't stopped; it was like Luffy had become a magnet and it couldn't help but be attracted to him. The arrow kept coming and Luffy was then forced to start jumping around like a monkey to avoid it. In the end, Luffy had no choice but to try to outrun it.

"Luffy! You gotta get away!" Usopp cried worriedly as they ran after him, the Baron laughing the whole time behind them. "You have nowhere to run!" he cried out in amusement. Sanji and Zoro both turned to glare at the Baron, having to fight the impulse to shut him up in their own way. But Luffy was cornered on a wooden stair, jumping out of the way of the arrow's attack just narrowly. He started to run down the stairs but the arrow came back one last time and ended up destroying the platform and they watched in horror as Luffy fell from the stairs and to the ground before the memory went dark and they were still surrounded by rocks and moss.

"I gotta tell ya," Franky muttered, feeling sick to himself as he sat down on a rock. "This is just sick… whatever the Baron's doing is just…" he couldn't even finish talking as he thought it all over.

"I guess even the closest of friends fight sometimes," Brook added softly.

"I just…" Nami began before she shook her head. "I can't believe how awful we were to each other. I mean… we fight all the time, but never like that."

"The Baron used your bond for each other against you," Brook said softly, feeling a surge of hatred for the Baron. "But what I don't understand is why? What's the point?"

"Murderous habits?" Sanji muttered, hiding his face with a hand. He would have to apologize to Luffy when they finally found him. He just felt sick with himself for saying such shitty things he said to him. Why didn't Luffy hate him? Why didn't he tell them what happened? But before anyone could talk more about it, the memory came back quickly.

They were now in a circular room with thick stone walls all around them. It was roomy and filled with all sorts of knick-knacks… such a books, drying herbs, jars of food, maps and pictures. There were also doors on all sides, each one different from the others and separated perfectly apart with a round wooden table in the center of the room.

"Where are we?" Chopper asked curiously, though no one was able to answer as they noticed that Luffy was lying on the floor with a towel over his eyes and Brief was sitting at the table peeling some fruit and with a large goat watching them. "It's Brief?"

"This little adventure just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Franky muttered.

"W… where is everyone?" Luffy suddenly croaked from the floor. "I… why can't I see anything? Why is it pitch black?"

"Why don't you try taking the towel off?" Usopp muttered to himself with a sigh and they all felt a twinge of laughter inside them. But after everything they've seen, they didn't feel much like laughing. Brief noticed that he was talking to himself and said politely, "You're awake."

Luffy heard the voice and sat bolt upright, the cloth falling from his face and staring around wildly.

"Luffy!" Chopper scolded, hoping that any injuries he got from that arrow weren't made worse by pushing himself so suddenly and so soon. Luffy glanced around and spotted Brief at the table. "You?!" he cried, pointing a finger at him in surprise.

"We meet again," answered Brief with a knowing smile.

"How'd we get here?" Zoro asked, glancing at the walls.

"Looks like we're underground," Franky stated, "But…?"

"You're the guy with the snot!" Luffy called and Brief hit the table with his fist, yelling at him that it was a toothbrush mustache. But Luffy wasn't listening as he asked him what they were doing in a hole. Brief rolled his eyes and snapped at him to excuse him for living in a hole.

"Wait? He lives down here?" Nami asked slowly.

"Well, it's either this or with the Baron?" Robin pointed out and she nodded in understanding, knowing that she probably would live in a hole than stuck with a nutjob like the Baron. Brief informed him that he dug trap doors and tunnels all over the island so that he could escape whenever he needed to. Apparently when Luffy fell from the stairs, he fell into one of the holes.

"You mean he did all this on his own? That's impressive," Franky whistled impressed as he stared at the walls. "I would've taken him a lot longer than a few weeks or even months to do all this!"

"But why? Why doesn't he just build a boat or something and try to leave?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"Just be glad that Luffy-san is safe from the Baron," Brook whispered.

"For now," Zoro muttered, knowing that this wasn't going to last long. And he was afraid to know what was going on with the rest of them being hunted like a bunch of dogs up top. Brief continued to peel the fruit, telling him that he was lucky to still have his life after facing the Baron.

"Yeah, just how was he able to make that arrow? How was it able to come after him?" Robin asked curiously. "It's like… it's not like any weapon I've ever seen before. It's like a dark spell or something."

"Robin don't say something so creepy?" Usopp begged and Chopper nodded fearfully as Luffy got up, remembering that he had to go find his crew. Brief tried to stop him, but Luffy merely gave him a goodbye as he opened one of the doors and left. They made to follow him, but just as they were about to leave, another door opened up and he was back.

"What the…?" Franky asked, but Luffy looked just as stunned and shut the door quickly. However another door opened up and there he was again.

"Trick doors," Sanji muttered, shaking his head. "This is crazy."

Luffy tried several times to find the way out, but Brief went back to the fruit, letting him know that all the tunnels were connected to each other in a maze-like network and only he knew the way out as Luffy continued to come in and out of the doors. Losing his temper, Luffy yelled for him to tell him the way out, but Brief acted as if an old friend had come in from a long trip for a visit, jumping up and asking if he wanted some goat's milk.

"What is with this guy?" Chopper asked baffled as Luffy seemed to be growing frustrated, telling him that all he wanted was to get out.

"I have a bad feeling that maybe he's been alone too long," Brook said, understanding the feeling all too well.

"Wait? You think that he's been alone and that's why he's acting like this?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"Yes," Brook said with a sad nod. "I'm afraid that he's been stuck living in a hole with people like the Baron and the others above him? That couldn't have done him any favors."

They looked at him, when he put it like that, they all felt really bad for Brief and a little ashamed for thinking of him as weird. But it was hard not to think that as he continued to ask Luffy to become his crewmate as he went to a small stove and began to heat up the milk; he informed him that he was currently looking for new friends to recruit for his crew. Luffy was looking more frustrated with every moment and they were beginning to wonder if he would start breaking things to get out. But then something on a small table caught Luffy's eye and they all looked over at it. It was like looking a small shrine… there was some large shells and even a pocket watch sitting there as well as several pictures on the wall of Brief with a different variety of people. But the largest one was sitting on the table and it looked like at least thirty people. Brief was right up front holding a pirate flag of a skull with a toothbrush mustache on it… and all the others seemed to be wearing the same uniform and identical mustaches. It was kinda eerie how much they looked alike.

"Are they your friends?" Luffy asked, glancing at it. Brief looked up to see what he was looking at and saw the picture.

"Mmm… yes, that's right," he answered as he poured some milk into some cups.

"These guys all look alike," Luffy pointed out and Brief nodded, telling them that it was because they were friends.

"Looking like a friend is one thing… but they all look identical, that's creepy," Usopp muttered.

"Yeah, I think that it's good if everyone looks different," Franky nodded at that, remembering how confusing it was with that Igaram guy and his wife. There really should only so much that you should look like someone else before it gets uncomfortable with everyone else.

"Come to think of it," Luffy said, still looking at the picture as Brief brought the cups back to the table, "Where are they? You're the only one I met. Are they in another base somewhere?"

Brief looked greatly sadden at the question as he said in a voice that sounded a bit forced, "No. I'm alone for now. I am now the only remaining member of the Toothbrush Mustache Pirates."

"The only member?" Sanji asked before his eyes widen. "Don't tell me…?"

"What?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"If the Baron tried to kill all of us," Zoro said hurriedly, "You don't think that he also…?"

"Wait! You're saying that he killed Brief's crew?" Franky gasped at that.

"As you can see," Brief went on as he passed Luffy a cup and sat back down, staring sadly at the picture. "I'm by myself. I'm the only one left of my old crew. It feels like it happened just recently. The day when the Baron took all my dear friends away from me… and fed them to that giant monster."

"Monster?!" Chopper cried out in terror.

"So he was the one who did it," Robin said seriously.

"Monster?" Luffy asked in bafflement. "You mean that giant goldfish?"

"No," Brief said, shaking his head. "Something much more sinister than that. Though what exactly it is, I do not know. All I know for sure is that thing is evil and the source of this island's secrets."

"Secrets?" Nami repeated softly.

"This place is a trap," Brief went on, "The Baron lures pirates to this place and once they get here, he turns them against each other. He makes them hate and betray each other so that they fight."

"But why?!" Luffy demanded angrily. "What did we do to that guy? What's he got against pirates?"

"It's not just pirates," Brief answered dully sticking a piece of fruit in his mouth before taking a sip. "He seems to hold a grudge towards anyone who isn't part of his crew. However, he doesn't seem to trust even them completely. I'm sure you must've seen the unusual power he has by now."

"You mean with those freaky arrows?" Luffy asked at once. "Did he eat a Devil Fruit or something? Because that thing kept coming after me."

"Yeah, looks like we're finally getting some answers here," Sanji said coming closer and looking interested in anything that Brief had to say.

"No, it's not a Devil Fruit," Brief confessed and they were all surprised. "But it's not natural, his powers. He seemed to have gotten them from that monster."

"A monster gave him those powers?" Luffy repeated in confusion.

"How does that work?" Franky frowned, still not getting it.

"I don't know the whole story," Brief went on, looking up at him. "But that is the kind of man he truly is. He is a disturbed man who only wants to bring suffering and hatred that he once felt onto everyone else. He hates seeing people happy and he wants revenge for something. He had killed each one of my precious friends of my crew, and I am certain that's what he wants now. He wants to do the same thing to you and your crew."

Luffy was looking horrified as they all felt cold at that. "Kill…?" he croaked out and they all felt shame inside them at the concern and fear inside him at those words.

"Yes," Brief nodded dully. "He turns the rest of the crew against the captain. And once they're all separated and angry. He takes them out on his own. That is what happened with my crew, and I fear is about to happen to yours." Brief sighed. "The Baron told me something," he told him, "He said, 'when I see a crew of friends like yours, anger fills my chest. I want to separate you. I want them to experience the same pain I have'."

"Wait…? So the Baron lures pirates here to kill them because he's got issues?" Sanji spat. "He's jealous of people who are close to each other and wants to make them pay?! What a shitty old man!"

"There has to be more to the story than this though," Robin said with a frown.

"The same pain?" Luffy asked as he drank his tea, trying to calm himself down.

"I don't know what his true intentions are," Brief informed him, "But the Baron indeed loathes the sight of pirates with strong bonds. There's no way you can fight him alone. Otherwise you'll fall into his trap."

"Which is what?" Chopper asked as Luffy asked what it was he needed to do. But as Brief started to say something Luffy suddenly froze and began breathing hard.

"Luffy?" Nami asked in concern, not sure to why he would be so tense all of a sudden.

"Something's wrong," Brook answered as Brief asked him worriedly what was wrong. Luffy just stood up and looked around as if he had heard something and was trying to find the source of the noise.

"This is wrong," he said softly, "I shouldn't be sitting here." And he began feeling around the walls and doors as if trying to sense the way out. To their surprise, he stopped at a tall bookcase and shoved it aside to see a long tunnel.

"How'd he know that was there?" Chopper asked in amazement.

"Lucky guess?" Franky offered though that had been more than just luck there. But they didn't have time to think about it for Brief was yelling at Luffy to wait up and not go alone. Luffy just glanced back and thanked him for helping him before he began running down the tunnel. They ignored Brief as they went running after him, those feelings that something bad was about to happen were back and worse than ever before. They couldn't explain it, but they were sure that something terrible was about to happen here. Then ended up reaching to a large metal hatch in at the end of the corridor and it didn't take any guess work for Luffy to know what to do. He reached up and took hold of the door and forced it open. It was dark out when Luffy climbed out and they were standing on a large hill that was devoid of all signs of greenery or the resort.

There was an odd chill in the air as Luffy glanced around and seemed to be heading somewhere.

"This the same island?" Usopp asked nervously.

"I'm sure it is," Nami stated as they followed Luffy up the hill. "But what's going on now?"

"Oh? Who's that?!" Brook called, pointing ahead and they went forward a little quicker, hoping it had been one of the memory Straw Hats, but instead they stopped when they saw the Baron and Muchigoro. The Baron laughed a little at his first mate's antics and told him to get back to the others; Muchi sprang into a salute and went running off into the darkness before the Baron slowly glanced over to Luffy, the smile falling from his face.

The two were facing each other and the Baron no longer had any trace of the host they met earlier. There was now a freaky, evil vibe in the air as they stared each other down. Out of the corner of their eyes, they spotted a family of four hiding behind the rocks… an older man who was wearing a red coat and green shorts with polka dots on it. The three with him consisted of a tall teenage girl with short blond hair, a young boy with long brown hair and black glasses, and finally the youngest as a little girl with dark hair in a peach-colored dress.

"That's Daisy and the others!" Chopper called, pointing to them. "And that's their papa! And that's Rosa and Rick!"

"So that's the girl with the strong Haki?" Robin asked, recognizing the family as well.

"Forget that!" Franky yelled, pointing up ahead, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

They all looked up and they spotted a giant tube-like structure at the very top of the hill, made of some kind of thick substance that none of them could figure what it was…

"A… flower…" Robin answered softly, her breathing coming out in pants as she remembered clearly seeing this and the Baron telling her what it was.

"That's a flower!" Usopp yelled at her. "There's no way that thing's a flower!"

"I guess I should say… its root," Robin answered softly.

"So," the Baron said in a soft voice and the looked back at him in time as he finished speaking, "You've come, Straw Hat. How foolish of you to face me alone."

"Please! You're too chicken to face someone without having someone here to fight for you!" Sanji yelled furiously, fire licking his feet as he fantasized killing him. Luffy just stared at him without a sign of fear as he asked sharply where Chopper was. They were all surprised at how Luffy got straight to the point—as if he just knew that the Baron did something to their doctor.

"Are you speaking of that horned river otter?" the Baron asked as if bored.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Chopper yelled out furiously.

"At least he didn't call you a raccoon dog?" Zoro offered.

"Like this is any better?!" Chopper demanded, "I'M A REINDEER! I'VE GOT HOOVES AND ANTLERS! HOW HARD IS IT FOR PEOPLE TO SEE THAT?!"

"Hey," Luffy said, in that same calm voice that stopped Chopper's rant and looked back. Luffy didn't betray any emotion in his voice as he still stood against the Baron. "I've got two things to tell you," he went on… he didn't even sound angry, but they knew him well enough that he was planning on kicking the Baron's ass very soon. As soon as he got his answer. "First, Chopper isn't a river otter, he's a reindeer."

"Thanks Luffy," Chopper said, glad that someone said it to the Baron for him.

"Second," Luffy went on, his eyes still hidden by his bangs, "I'll never let you hurt my crew."

"You tell him, Luffy!" Usopp agreed firmly, hoping that Luffy took this guy out quickly so that they could get out soon.

"You'll never let me hurt them?" the Baron asked calmly before he began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Franky asked sourly as the Baron asked if Luffy's had six friends in his crew. He knew the answer, he was just confirming it to make sure that Luffy remembered it as well. Luffy looked surprised at that as the Baron glanced up to the root thing and added in a voice that dripped with evil pleasure, "Just before you arrived… that number… went down to five."

They stared in disbelief at what he said.

"That's not possible," Zoro said softly as Luffy's eyes widen in horror. "He's lying…"

"What did you say?" Luffy asked as the Baron only laughed. He grinned sadistically and added that the others would soon disappear into Lily as well.

"Lily?" Brook repeated, glancing up to the flower on the Baron's shoulder, and realized that the little flower seemed to be chewing on something happily. That wasn't even a lily!

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Luffy screamed at him, his eyes full of rage, staring up at the root.

"Don't believe him, Luffy!" Sanji yelled.

"Yet," the Baron went on with a cruel smile curling on his lips, his tone mocking like he was talking to a baby, "You say you won't let me harm them? You'll never let me hurt them?" He then began to laugh that sent chills up their spines and echoed across the landscape.

"We're not dead though!" Usopp yelled, hoping that somehow Luffy could hear him, "He's just trying to get in your head Luffy!"

"Damn it," Sanji snarled, shaking all over, that laugh was too much, he wanted to hurt this guy so badly that he'd wish he were dead. "Unforgivable," Luffy suddenly whispered before he snapped, cold rage all over his face. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" and he threw his arm back to attack, however the Baron had foreseen this and shot an arrow right through his right hand and pinned him to a boulder just behind him.

"OWWWWW!" Usopp cried out, hugging his hand to his chest at watching that. "Oh, god that looked like it hurt!"

"He probably didn't even feel it… he punched through a spiked cape once, right?" Sanji said, but he was rubbing his own hands as most of the others cringed. "One arrow," the Baron said, continuing to mock him. "What happened to that determined spirit?"

Luffy pulled and tried to free his hand from the arrow, struggling to keep himself from being knocked back to the rock. He wasn't even listening to the Baron taunt him as he stared up at the root… and this time, when the Straw Hats followed his gaze, they saw it. In the one opening on the root they could make out their forms… Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Robin, and Zoro… all unconscious and sinking inside the thing.

"WHAT THE SHITTY HELL IS GOING ON?!" Sanji screamed out, "HOW'D WE GET STUCK UP THERE?!"

But no one could answer him as the Baron taunted, "While you're struggling, another of your friends will be gone."

"What's that bastard doing to us?!" Nami screamed as they kept staring up and saw that he was right… Robin was sinking faster than the others. She was being drawn right into the very plant like it was quicksand.

"It's like…" Usopp whispered, remembering how hard he worked with his Pop Greens, "Feeding it…?"

"Feeding…?" Zoro began but Luffy was screaming for him to stop it. He staring up in terror as Robin continued to disappear inside it. Luffy was desperately reaching out as if to reach her, but Robin finally sank all the way in and disappeared. And Luffy couldn't do anything with his arm pinned in place…

"ROBBBBBIIIIIIINNNNNNNN!" he screamed out in panic.

"But you're not dead right?!" Chopper cried out as he grabbed hold of Robin's leg, as if to make sure she was still there.

"Of course," she said as she bent down and held onto him in a tight hug, even she was looking shaken at what had just happened.

"Now?" the Baron asked, clearly enjoying himself. "Who's is next? Maybe… the cook…"

Sanji's eyes widen Luffy tried to attack with his other fist, but just like before, the Baron sent an arrow and pierced his hand to the rock as well.

"COWARD!" Usopp screamed at the Baron, who was still smiling that sickly smile.

"Damn! I can't take this!" Zoro yelled and he and Sanji both ran forward to try to attack.

"There's no point!" Robin yelled after him when their attacks went right through him like smoke. "We've been over this a million times! This already happened! We're just watching shadows of the past!"

"So what! We just stand here and do nothing?!" Zoro yelled, Luffy still fighting to get free. But Sanji had just sank into Lily as well, with Luffy screaming out his name before he did so. Blinded by rage, Luffy attempted to use his left leg to attack, but then the Baron sent the third arrow, and this time Luffy's foot was pinned so that he ended up losing his balance and fell to the ground.

"Come on, Luffy!" Usopp tried to scream out, though he felt sick at what he was seeing.

"Luffy's hands and feet…" Chopper whispered, eyes wide as he realized where some of Luffy's injuries came from.

"This is torture!" Brook cried out, running out to try and pull the arrows from his captains hands but unable to even touch it. "He's forced to watch and unable to help!"

"Since you can't see what's happening, I'll tell you," the Baron said silkily, "The man with the long nose is now gone." They stared up and saw just the traces of Usopp's nose disappearing. Luffy screamed out Usopp's name this time, now trying to get back up as the Baron mocked him, asking how he intended to fight with just one leg left. Not that it stopped him, Luffy tried a fourth time but failed once more—and with all his limbs pinned, one arrow symbolizing the death of a crewmate, they watched, feeling sick at the sight of Nami disappearing in front of Luffy's eyes…

Luffy was now fighting to keep himself from being dragged back to the rock, but he was fighting a losing battle. With Nami now gone, the Baron looked down at him, whispering, "You know you can no longer move now. And just when the last of your friends is starting to fade as well…"

"Zoro…" Franky muttered, and Zoro's form was now sinking into it. With the last of his friends at stake, and with nothing left to lose, Luffy did something completely crazy and stretched his neck out in one last ditch effort to save him.

"LUFFY! NO!" the current Zoro yelled, knowing what he was risking. He was just showing the Baron one of his biggest weak points! Just one arrow and it'd be more than enough to kill him! Though startled at seeing him perform something so desperate, because his extended neck was an easy target for him, the Baron unleashed several more arrows which cut parts of Luffy's throat and some of the Straw Hats cried out in pain just watching it.

"LUFFY! STOP IT!" Nami screamed out pleadingly. But Luffy kept going, actually managing to catch one of the arrows in his teeth, almost reaching Zoro… but he had reached his limit. Upon impact with his head, his body got pushed back to where the rest of his body laid pinned and the last form of Zoro disappeared as the arrow Luffy broke with his jaw fell.

They all watched, unable to truly believe what had just happened, their mouths all open in silent fear as Luffy screamed Zoro's name out in despair and his head crashed into the rock… and there he lay there… like a broken rag doll that a child had thrown away. None of them could think of anything to say as they stared at Luffy, blood seeping from the holes in his hands and feet… but he didn't seem to react to anything around him.

"L-Luffy!" Usopp cried out and went running over to him, trying to touch him—to slap some sense into him, but he had as much luck as Zoro, Sanji, and Brook had done.

"Come on, bro!" Franky yelled out, "Don't give up like this! Everyone's alright!"

"But Luffy didn't know that," Robin answered as she stood back up with Chopper clinging tightly to her, his mouth open in a silent scream as he gapped at everything. "He truly thought that we were all…?"

But they heard the slight footsteps and they all glared at the Baron as he slowly walked towards Luffy, standing right in front of him. "Straw Hat…" he said bluntly, "Your swordsman… is dead."

"To Hell with that!" Zoro yelled furiously.

Luffy was glaring at the Baron as he went on to tell him, "You no longer have any friends here. You are completely alone on the Grand Line."

"Shut up!" Nami cried out, "Just shut up! Stop lying to him!"

"This soulless bastard doesn't deserve to live!" Sanji spat out, "If I ever get my hands on him I'm going to kill him!"

"Alone…?" Luffy's weak voice came from behind them. Luffy was laying against the rock, his eyes wide… as if trying to register what he just said.

"No! Luffy you aren't!" Chopper cried out, trying to scream loud enough for Luffy to be able to hear him. "Please wake up!"

"How dare you do this?!" Brook yelled at the Baron as he came ever closer to Luffy. "Stay back!"

It seemed to take all of Luffy's remaining strength to fight through the pain and lift his head up, but to their fury, the Baron shoved Luffy's head back down with his foot. "My… my friends…" Luffy croaked out in a stutter, "Give… give them…"

But the Baron just pushed his head down further, asking him how it felt to be without his crew. He was all alone and no matter how much he wanted to change it, it was what will always be. What was he going to do now? Luffy was still struggling to get back up, but the Baron was merciless as he taunted, "If you decide to go on, a life of suffering, despair, and loneliness is all that awaits you. Or, will you decide to follow your friends?"

"Cut the crap! Luffy! Don't listen!" Usopp pleaded, wishing that there was something he could do.

"Yeah! He thinks he's a big shot by attacking people like this!" Nami yelled out, "He's a coward! That's all he is! And get off him already!" she screamed the last part at the Baron.

The Baron removed his boot from Luffy's head, and he fell to the ground, unable to move. But as Luffy seemed to struggle to try and raise his head, the Baron grabbed him by his hair and raised him up so that he could see his face. "Let me paint you a picture," he told him darkly, "Almost every captain has chosen death over living a life in solitude. That is the wiser choice isn't it? After all… a single man cannot be a pirate crew alone and any captain who can't protect just a single friend is worthless! Now… I'm going to ask you one last time. What will you choose? To live… or die? If you rather be dead than alone… then die."

That one sentence was enough to bring them all out of their stunned thoughts, staring wide-eyed at Luffy… silently hoping for a different answer than they knew what he was thinking.

"That son of a bitch!" Franky yelled, his massive arms now aching for the chance to shoot a beam at this bastard. However they hardly heard him for they had stopped breathing. None of them could even imagine Luffy wanting to die… but their fear and sadness was replaced almost at once with anger—rage that Luffy wanted to choose that.

Out of all of them, Zoro was the one who was the most furious. He wanted to grab Luffy by his shirt and shake some sense into that thick, rubbery head of his. How could he? HOW COULD HE EVEN THINK THAT FOR A MOMENT?! There is no reason for him to ever feel like that… even if they all died, none of them wanted him to follow them in death like this! His whole body was shaking and he was looking at Luffy's dazed, glassy eyes and wanted to punch his lights out. He was furious that Luffy had ever thought about wanting to die… and maybe he was also a little… ashamed? Ashamed that he couldn't have stopped something like this from happening. How could they forget this? Though if they were really sucked into that thing, would it really be a surprise that they didn't know?

The whole time, Luffy didn't say a word. The Baron however seemed to guess what his answer was as he dropped him and left him there, walking back a few paces. "Just as I thought," he answered, "Being alone is much too painful for you to bear."

He raised his bow and created another arrow out of nowhere. "Time to die," he said softly as he fitted the arrow into the string and they could hear it being pulled back. They all knew that there was nothing that they could do, but they couldn't stop themselves from standing between Luffy and the arrow, ready to fight no matter what it took. But as the Baron readied the arrow, pointing right above Luffy's heart, with Luffy not doing anything to resist, they heard the ground crumble and jerked back to see that the ground beneath Luffy seemed to have given way and Luffy was pulled down the hole and the memory faded for a moment there.

"I don't know what to say to any of this," Zoro said, turning away and pacing the area, aching to find something to break. But no one else bothered to speak… except for Chopper who asked, "But how did Luffy fall through the ground?"

Puffing deeply on the cigarette, Sanji answered, "I think that we might be able to thank Brief for that."

"You think?" Franky asked in surprise.

"The guy lives in a hole," Sanji pointed out, "Who else could it have been?"

"But we weren't dead!" Usopp repeated once again. He got up and faced them all, "I mean… we're all right here aren't we? So we survived! Luffy had to have saved us! If we were swallowed by that stupid plant then we were still alive inside that thing right?"

"Yes," Robin agreed softly, "We were probably being digested… so if Luffy hurried, he could've saved us."

"Digested?!" Brook gasped in shock.

"Only thing I can think of," she answered and the memory was back. They were back in Brief's hideout with the Tearoom Pirates all there and wrapping up his hands and feet. Rosa took charge and was dabbing at Luffy's wounds with medicine and a patch was placed over Luffy's right eye as she told her brother and sister to wrap up his hands and feet.

Luffy seemed to be left in shock, filthy and covered in blood. They all felt their insides ache at seeing this just as the door opened and Brief came running in, asking how he was.

"He's hurt pretty bad," papa said just as Brief grabbed him by his vest and began to shake him violently. Chopper let out a cry of anger, telling him to let go; the Tearoom Pirates were also telling him to stop but Brief was yelling for Luffy to wake up and snap out of it.

But Luffy seemed completely out of it as he whispered, "My friends… it's my fault…"

"No it's not Luffy!" Chopper called tearfully as Sanji turned around, unable to bring himself to face anyone else, feeling as if someone had punched him in the gut.

"If there's anyone to blame," Zoro said softly, "It's all of us for letting ourselves be fooled by that bastard Baron. It was everyone's fault… not just Luffy's."

"And even then, he's probably the one least at fault here," Nami added, tears falling from her eyes.

"Straw Hat! Listen!" Brief said urgently, "Your friends are probably still alive!"

At his words, Luffy slowly raised his head to stare at him as Brief went on hurriedly that there was someone who could hear their voices and that was Daisy. Zoro nodded firmly, knowing that if Daisy was good as he thought, then she was sure to be able to pick up their voices. Daisy came forward and informed Luffy that she could still hear 'Mr. Reindeer' calling for him.

"Chopper?" they all asked as Chopper blinked in surprise.

"Chopper is?!" Luffy cried out, getting back up and staring around, even stretching his ears out to try and hear something, but unable to hear anything, he began to yell at her that he wasn't here. Daisy however just shook her head firmly, knowing what she was hearing. "No," she said firmly, her hands up to her ears and said, "I can hear him! And there are a few other voices too! Four… five! 'Luffy! Luffy!' See? Even now."

They all were silent as Luffy asked softly, "Really?"

"I'm impressed," Sanji said, finally looking back at them and still breathing hard on the cigarette. "Such an ability for a little kid. That really is a gift."

"Especially if we're all inside that thing and being… digested," Usopp whimpered a little.

"I regret to say that I can't hear them either," Brief answered him, "But that child was repeated your name even though she's never met you. That I know."

"Daisy?" papa asked, his hand on her shoulder as she looked to him, "Has your hearing always been this good?"

"Most likely since the day she was born," Robin stated softly. Daisy looked like she was about to answer, but then she cringed and covered her ears as if she had heard a loud sound, and a moment later they heard the sounds of some kind of explosion going on outside.

"Sounds like the Baron's looking for them again," Zoro said nervously.

"Doesn't want some fodder for his precious plant to get away probably," Sanji hissed.

"You cannot be careless against the Baron's arrows!" Brief said suddenly as he pushed Luffy to the door. "Make use of my dug-up holes. I'll cover for you. You follow my lead and then head towards that flower!"

"You heard him!" Usopp called at once. Luffy seemed surprised by everything that Brief was doing for him. And Brief picked up his Straw Hat and jammed it back onto Luffy's head and told him, "Don't let the Baron's lies trick you anymore! Listen, you're not alone right?"

"Thank you Brief-san," Brook said gratefully. He knew better than anyone what it was like to lose your crewmates before your eyes and to be unable to do anything to stop it or help them in some way. It must've been very hard for him to not have been able to do anything to help his crew. But to make up for it, he wants to do what he can to prevent Luffy suffering the same way, and possibly to make the Baron pay for what he had been doing.

Luffy stared at him as Brief smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that," he told him, "You still have a chance to save your crew! And… and I'm here to help you!" He then put a finger under his nose once again and they all let out a shout of laughter at that. When he did his mustache stance however, the pirate family looked confusion and began asking him what it was about and they all began bickered. Though they were no longer looking at them, just relieved to see the smile back on Luffy's face before he turned away and went running out—his will to live back in full swing.

They all felt the tides were changing and couldn't wait to see the Baron get what he deserved. Luffy was back in the open air and they could see traces of blasts and arrows scattered around—the Baron was probably shooting around randomly, trying to find Luffy's location or force them out. Through the dust, Luffy appeared… and as soon as he saw him, the Baron started to laugh at the sight of him before he began to shoot. But as if he could see them coming, he was easily able to sway back and forth, dodging left and right, avoiding the arrows.

They all smiled as they watched him beginning to leap around and dodge them. The Baron was starting to grow angry as he continued to jump and hide behind rocks as the Baron went on his shooting spree. For one horrible moment, they had thought that maybe he had hit him, but it turned out that Brief had made a dummy out of straw and was shouting at Luffy to dive into the hole nearest him. He made it just in time as he avoided another arrow and popped out of another hole.

"Yeah! He's gonna do it!" Nami cheered, "All he has to do is destroy that thing and we're free!"

But Robin frowned, knowing that it couldn't be as simple as they thought. The Baron was now growing more and more frustrated, yelling out that he was only good at running away, but was finally distracted by Brief, turning his attention back to trying to kill him.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Chopper yelled out at once as Brief, who had been able to avoid several attacks, was hit… and now lying on the ground, too weak to try and hide himself in another hole. Luffy heard it and stopped to stare down at them.

"Now just stay in those holes!" the Baron laughed scornfully at him.

"No! He's really hurt!" Chopper yelled, jumping from Robin's arms and went running over to try and see it. "What are those arrows?"

"Not anything good," Usopp hissed, glaring at the Baron. But Brief wasn't done yet. He dragged his wounded body across the ground, trying to head to another latch and muttered that he wasn't going to let him take anymore friends from anyone if he could help it. They all felt their respect for Brief rise… even though he was weak and scared, he was determined to do whatever it took to take this guy down.

"You're amazing bro!" Franky sobbed out, his hands over his heart, "I love ya man! You won't let anyone keep you down!"

The Baron however looked far from impressed. Brief then proclaimed loudly, so that none of them could hope to miss it, "As of now… I'M ONE OF HIS FRIENDS!" and they were all with Luffy as he slowly turned back to stare down at him.

The Baron on the other hand just started to laugh horribly, as if he couldn't find anything funnier than that. "Friend?" he repeated in great amusement, "How delightful!" he then turned his head so that he could address Luffy, telling him that this new 'friend' of his was once the captain of a crew that he had killed. A man who had pleaded for his own life, who was alone, scared, and pitiful. Who would consider this man to be a friend?

"He's a better man than you'll ever be!" Brook declared furiously.

"Yeah! You want alone, scared, and pitiful then try looking in a mirror!" Sanji yelled out. The Baron then transformed a single arrow into at least two dozen of them and fired them at Brief. They cried out in panic, but they didn't need to worry. Luffy had turned back—and Brief, who was defenseless, knew there was no way he could avoid getting hit. But Luffy had grabbed a giant rock and was holding it up with one hand too shield them both, a single arrow in the other. The rock crumbled away as Luffy snapped the arrow in half.

"Luffy is so cool!" Chopper cried, his eyes shining. He hoped that he could be that amazing someday.

"Not bad," Zoro said, though he was smiling. And he smiled even wider as Luffy finally made a fist and, with full force, he sent it towards the Baron, punching him so hard in the face that he was sent flying back and crashing into the rock.

"God, you have no idea how good that felt to see that bastard get his due!" Sanji moaned out with enormous satisfaction of seeing the Baron now get knocked on his ass.

"I warned you!" Luffy yelled, "I will never let you hurt my friends!"

"That's Luffy for you," Nami smiled as Brief was staring up at him. Luffy then turned quickly back to Brief and finally made the Mustache stance for him and they all started to laugh at that. Glad for at least a brief moment of comic relief despite the seriousness of the situation. Brief was now crying in joy as he also held up his hand for the greeting… and was only funnier as the Tearoom Pirates popped out of another hole and the kids were doing it as well.

"Looks like he's charmed a few new friends already," Robin smiled, feeling glad for Brief as he beamed back at them. Still, their moment was over and Daisy yelled at Luffy to hurry up and save the others now.

"She's right," Franky yelled, trying his own tears as he said loudly, "Go and get them back captain! Once you do that, they can take them underground while you deal with that jackass Baron!"

"Hurry up, Luffy!" Sanji cheered on as Luffy went running on ahead. It was quick to say the least… with just one powerful kick down, then another hit upwards, and then in the air, he put all his strength into just one last punch.

"YEAH!" Usopp cheered out, his heart soaring. Sure it was hard, but Luffy was able to finally destroy it! And he thought for sure that his instincts were right when the tip of the flower waved in the air with swirling clouds above them and the sky shone a blinding white light. But even as they watched the root being destroyed, they sensed that something was wrong right away.

"Where are we?! Why weren't we in there?!" Nami cried out as Luffy landed back on the ground, but they couldn't see anyone else around them.

"Now what…?" Franky started but their voices died in their throats to what they all saw. Even Luffy turned and was dumbstruck by what he saw the Lily becoming. The Lily was completely broken up in the middle, but in front of the giant red moon in the pitch black sky, the Lily had broken up to become arrows. Thousands upon thousands of arrows, which seemed to have assimilated together to form the full shape of the root… and the memory Straw Hats weren't there.

They had all seen terrifying things in their lives, but this had to be one of the scariest things yet.

"What is this thing?" Zoro asked, his eye wide as he stared at the forms of the arrows just hovering in the air—fighting against gravity—as if waiting to be fired. Out of all of them, Luffy was the first one to find his voice as he shook their shaking. "W-where are they? Where are Zoro and the others?! WHERE?!"

But the dark shadow behind him was slowly rising to his feet again and they realized that the Baron was up. They all turned to see that the cute flower on his shoulder began to give a dark giggle as black spots begin to form on its innocent-looking face. The Baron's face… almost inhuman… reminding them all of Saga when he was possessed by the sword, as he said two words. "Right here…"

That voice sent waves of dread throughout each of their bodies as the Baron threw his bow away, hitting Brief before the flower began to change. The tiny flower evolved into a hideous monster… the petals all fell off its head as it's body burst out to take the form of a gruesome tentacle-like creature with mouth full of sharp teeth, spouting from an off-side tentacle, while the rest of it of the body began to grow out parts that looked like they were the organs of some kind of creature… but what scared them all the most were that the memory Straw Hats were all joined together by this creature. The forms of their bodies were all merged together with the thing—trapped and unable to move.

Their mouths were all open in disbelief as they stared ahead—Nami fell to her knees in shock as Usopp whispered, "No way…"

"This can't be real…" Sanji said, his own eye about to pop out of his head as he stared on ahead, shaking like a leaf. Luffy looked like how they all felt. His eyes were staring ahead at what he was seeing and his mouth was left wide open as if he wanted to scream but couldn't remember how—just petrified by horror at seeing what his friends had become a part of.

The Baron only laughed the entire time of seeing the look on Luffy's face before he stopped and went to the cold glare in his empty eyes. "Die…" he said, his voice dripping with menace.

"LUFFY! RUN!" Nami screamed out, but it was too late. The Baron commanded the thousands of arrows, the parts left over from the Lily Carnation to kill Luffy. The arrows all turned in midair towards him and they flew at him as Luffy only turned slowly around to see the scene but didn't do anything to escape. They were all yelling, screaming at him to hurry up and run, but it was like Luffy had become a statue, he just didn't move, too stunned to do anything else but stand there. Thousands, if not millions of arrows began to rain down on the field. Luffy had enough sense to turn back and lower his head, but still the arrows rained down on Luffy's back, arms, and legs.

Chopper was in the worse shape of them all as he gapped at what he was seeing. The wounds on Luffy's back… all of them… he now understood… the Baron gave Luffy those injuries. He was the one who hurt his captain with all those arrows. Tears were falling from his face as he was now shaking with rage at all this. He wanted to run out there and stop this from happening, to dash out and help Luffy… but…

"LUFFY!" the rest of the crew yelled out, all of them feeling the same way, hating themselves for letting things get this far out of hand.

But the Baron was speaking again as the arrows continued to fall around them. "You see… every one of those arrows symbolize the days I spent alone after that storm," the Baron went on, "All the regrets that I suffer from losing all my dear friends."

"Now I get it," Robin said softly. That was what made the Lily Carnation so special… that's what Brief meant when he said that the plant was evil and why the Baron never seemed to be able to trust his entire crew.

"Well, I don't get it!" Usopp gasped out, hugging his body to keep himself from falling apart. "His crew was alright! We just saw them…?"

"No," Robin said, shaking her head. "Those weren't them. Not the real them. I understand now. The Lily was somehow able to recreate his crew."

"Recreate his crew?" Brook gasped out.

"He's been living in a dream world all this time," Robin answered quickly, "This was what Brief meant when he talked about the 'monster' that gave the Baron his powers. This also explains what happened to Muchigoro when you were talking to him Nami, as well as why they hadn't aged and why time seemed to have stood still for them. They were never truly real to begin with."

"Not real?!" Franky yelled, never taking his eyes off Luffy's form as the arrows finished firing.

"The Baron was captain of the Red Arrow Pirates and they were dated back to the time around the previous Pirate King," Robin went on with a frown, "But before Roger was executed, they got caught up in a storm and the Baron was the only survivor when he washed up ashore here. He was stranded and left alone. And then at some point, he must've found the Lily and with its help he found that he could use her powers to create replicas of his dead crewmates from his memories as well as a massive army of servants… in exchange for feeding the plant."

"So that's why he hates crews?" Nami croaked out.

"Yes… because they remind him that this perfect fantasy of his is just what it truly is… a dream," she answered softly.

"But why would he do that?" Brook asked softly, hating himself for feeling pain for the Baron. He knew how painful it was to be alone, to feel guilt and grief over the fact that they had died… especially when they were still the captain of the crew. He probably felt that if he had did things differently, he could've prevented all this from ever happening. But Brook knew better. He knew that his old crew never would've wanted him to be driven to such a point, to want to kill others for a chance to pretend that they were still with him.

He had to keep going because he was all that was left of their will… they would never forgive him if he gave in and became something like the Baron… they would've been ashamed to call him their acting captain if he had become a murderer like this.

"You mean he's been killing crews and feeding them to that… that thing for this?!" yelled Usopp in fury.

"What a hypocrite!" Zoro yelled in outrage, "Isn't he the one who said it's wiser to die and follow your crew? That a captain who can't protect his friends is worthless?! Why doesn't he just kill himself then?! And what is what happened to his friends have anything to do with us?! Why was he blaming Luffy and us for what happened?!"

"It's like with Brief," Robin answered, walking forward suddenly, "He had a choice to either try to make new friends, or let this loss take over his life. Rather than accept what happened and try to learn from it, he chose to take his anger and hate on everyone so that he won't have to face what happened."

"Well that is just bullshit!" Zoro said angrily as he breathed hard at the scene in front of him.

"That's not the issue here!" Nami yelled as she went running after Robin and they finally remembered what happened. They went after the girls, who were in front of Luffy… how he was still standing, they had no idea.

Luffy stood there motionless as arrows stuck through every part of his body… swaying there slightly like a zombie, a strange gurgling noise came from his mouth and they knew that he must be choking on blood by now. He stumbled and Nami ran out in front to try and support him, but her hands went right through and her eyes had gone blank at what she was seeing.

Chopper had also run forward, trying to force him to lay down so that he could give him emergency surgery. He let out a cry of agony himself when he just had to accept there wasn't anything he could do. This was even worse than what he had thought it would be… to see the aftereffect of the injuries was one thing, to see what happened first hand was even worse. He just shut his eyes and prayed that this memory would hurry up and end with Luffy saving them.

Luffy was wheezing for air, trying to breathe as blood spilled from his mouth, and his eyes were rolled so far back they could only see the white of his eyes.

The Baron just asked, "Have you glimpsed what I had been forced to endure?"

"No one made you do this!" Usopp yelled back, tears in his own eyes as Luffy swayed, a faint gargling sound was coming from him and it sounded like his lungs were filling with blood.

"Luffy! Don't try to move!" Chopper screamed, wishing that he could touch him just once, to help him as everyone gathered around him, as if hoping that they could shield him from the Baron's next attack. But Daisy hadn't given up, she was screaming at him not to lose. Telling him that they were all still alive and were cheering for him, cheering his name, telling him that they knew he could do it.

"We were?" Nami whispered, glancing back in terror to see her twisted form still bound to the plant. How could she be saying anything when they were held like that?

"So… please don't lose!" Daily finished screaming. Luffy heard her however as he began to walk forward, hearing the sounds of the arrows hitting each other… they all wanted him to stop, not to make his wounds worse. But he kept walking… the arrows covered the ground so thickly that he was cutting himself even worse as he forced himself to watch, blood squirting from the arrows on his back, all of them sticking to him like a pincushion.

But then Brook told him to be quiet for just a moment and when they closed their mouths they could hear them… their own voices…

'Luffy, Luffy… Luffy… Luffy… Captain… Luffy?'

It was like they were whispering to Luffy from across a great, echoing valley… they could hear the traces of their voices speaking to him.

"He can… hear us now?" Chopper asked, eyes wide, able to pick up each one of their voices whispering.

"Like we said before," Sanji whispered, understanding what was going on. "Under a great deal of stress, Haki can awaken."

"And now his Observation Haki has woken up through all the stress of everything's that's happening here," Zoro said, "Now he can also hear us." Which means that Luffy knew for sure that they were still alive and that was why he was going to keep going until he saved them. Despite how worried he was about Luffy's wounds, he couldn't help but want to cheer him on and see him beat the Baron once and for all.

"And I don't think that you can get more stressed out than this!" Usopp yelled, wiping the tears away as Luffy kept forcing his battered body to stumble through the field of arrows. The Baron was finally looked terrified at seeing Luffy coming towards him as he muttered, "Give… them back…"

"Luffy…" Chopper said tearfully as he watched his captain force himself to keep going.

"My friends…" he said despite the blood that continued to spill from his mouth as he coughed, "My friends… give… them my friends… give them back!" he finally hissed, raising a shaking arm that was riddled with arrows.

'Luffy?' they heard their voices ask, and they knew that they could hear his voice. Even though they were all cold at seeing this, it made a small part of their hearts warm a little at that. After all the confusion and anger that had festered between them all thanks to the Baron, they were all reaching out for Luffy as a crew once more. Here, they hadn't lost to the Baron… they were more of a crew than the Baron could ever have been with his.

And this was proven from the look of terror on the Baron's face as he gapped at him like a fish out of water, unable to believe how Luffy could still be alive, how he could still be fighting for them.

"Yes! Just like that!" they could hear Daisy cheering in the background for him as he held his hand out, as if hoping to grab the Baron and rip his crew away from him.

"How can he fight with all those things stuck in him?!" Usopp demanded.

"And he's also internally bleeding!" Chopper cried out fearfully, "At this rate he'll go into shock and bleed to death."

But there was another person who was willing to try to fight. Papa, came running up from the group, picked up the bow and one of the arrows before he stood there, looking ready to fire at the Baron. The Baron, who was still distracted by Luffy, didn't notice, however the Lily Carnation did. It turns its mouth towards him and startles him so much that he was shaking so badly that he could hardly hold the arrow straight.

"Yeah! That's right! You can do it!" Franky cheered on, hoping that something good would happen for once. No one messes with his crewmates and gets away with it! The Lily's neck was extending and coming closer, green drool dripping from its mouth as it made that disturbing gargling laugh.

"Come on! You have to either shoot or run!" Sanji yelled at once. Daisy was cheering for her father on, telling him that she knew that he was strong! That she believed that he could do it—with Rosa and Rick also yelling out words of encouragement.

"You heard them!" Nami screamed, "If you don't shoot, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

As if he heard the threat, papa closed his eyes as he pulled the string back as hard as he could before he let it fly. The arrow took flight and they all seemed to hold their breath as they watched it fly… it struck the Lily through its mouth and blew right through its head. Guts, juice, and innards were scattered all over the ground.

"Oh, gross!" Nami yelled, her hands over her mouth as she watched. The Baron's face was stricken as he watched the Lily explode and the combined structure of the memory Straw Hats fell from his shoulders and the field of arrows had all vanished like a puff of smoke and Luffy almost fell to the ground with the sudden absent of the arrows and his wounds opening at once.

At the sight of the gore all over the ground, Brook and Usopp ran a few yards away and began to throw up, despite the fact that Brook didn't have a stomach. It was a sickening sight…

Suddenly the Baron ran to what was left of Lily and began picking up the guts and innards of the creature, tears falling from his eyes as he embraced the parts to his chest, sobbing out. And it wasn't until this moment that they could see it… the scared, sad little man that had everything taken away from him. He knelt in the juices of the Lily as he cried, sobbing out, "Now… no… Muchigoro… my crew… my friends…"

Nami felt more tears in her eyes. Despite all that this monster had done, she can't help but feel bad for him. Hold on… what was she thinking? She remembered all the things that the Baron had done… if it wasn't for him, none of this ever would've happened! Think of all the suffering he must've caused to pirates over the years, like with Brief and who knows how many others? If it wasn't for him, then they never would've been fed to a monster flower! She shouldn't feel bad for him, she should be angry! But seeing him here… crying over the thought of being alone… she just didn't know anymore.

The Baron seemed to have been pushed over the edge as his gaze of rage slowly turned to glare at Brief and the others. They glared back defiantly, showing that they weren't going to be bullied around by him anymore. The Baron, still holding onto pieces of Lily's insides, began to shout, "Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!"

Now looking demonic, the Baron looked ready to kill them for this. But before he could take just one step, Luffy came out of nowhere, stepping into the puddle of Lily's innards, and with an echoing battle cry, Luffy punched the Baron so hard that he broke the Baron's face… the memory was shaking around them as they heard the sickening crunching sound… and everything faded around them… given the impact of how powerful that attack had been… they could all tell just what must have happened.

"He… Luffy… did he…?" Chopper whispered in shock.

"He killed a shadow," Robin answered as they all tried to recover from their shock. "It may have looked like him, but that was nothing but an empty shell. The real Baron died long ago and is finally at peace."

"Still…" Sanji whispered, unsure of how to feel about that.

"At least this way," Brook stated, coming back and still feeling sick. "The Baron will never be able to tear a crew apart… will never hurt another person… and he will now be reunited with his crew."

Though he couldn't say that he was thrilled with what his captain had done, he knew that this was the best thing he could have done. Though he didn't know the Baron's real crew, if they had loved him as much as he had loved them… then they would want to see this as well. Rather than continue to fool himself with all the fake replicas of his crew, and the corrupted being he had become, they would rather see him rest peacefully before he took anymore lives.

The memory reappeared slowly this time. Luffy was laying on his back, the others around him and he was just starting to come too. He was smiling at them all as they all had tears of relief in their eyes to see that he was alright. Luffy seemed to be content as he turned to look at Brief and told him seriously, "Brief? I couldn't have done it without you."

"He's right," Usopp said softly, "he really snapped Luffy out of it when we needed him too. We owe him big time for that."

Brief was crying in happiness. "What are you saying?" he laughed, "That's supposed to be my line!"

But Luffy just smirked at papa and added, "And you too, pops."

"Yeah!" Chopper cheered, "Now I get what Daisy said when she said her papa was strong! She was right all along!"

"I was kinda worried about him," Sanji smiled, however he frowned as he looked around, asking, "But the rest of us…?"

Papa turned red as his children all smiled at him and he laughed awkwardly, modestly telling them that he didn't do much. Luffy suddenly blinked and began asking where the others were as he tried to get up…

"No!" Chopper yelled, dropping down by Luffy's side, "Luffy! You can't move! Wait until I get here to take care of you!"

Just then, Daisy was up on her feet, waving over in one direction. "MR. REINDEER!" she cried joyfully as she and Rick went running off. They all looked to see where they were heading and they smiled in relief to see that she was right. The five memory Straw Hats were all there and perfectly healthy and fine. They were all yawning as if they had merely been asleep and glancing around in confusion, as if trying to figure out where they were, enjoying the sunrise.

The present-day Straw Hats were all looking sadly down at Luffy, who was smiling in relief and closed his eyes as their past selves spotted him and began to head towards him. The current Robin suddenly remembered something and glanced up in time to see the three lone yellow flowers swaying in the wind… with the Baron's goggles lying innocently beside them.

She stared long and hard at it as she heard memory Nami telling Luffy off for sleeping out here and the memory faded when Luffy finally laughed at that.

"I honestly don't know how to react," Brook said in a stunned voice as he sat down next to Nami, who was looking ahead with a lost look in her eyes.

"Damn it," Sanji said, starting to get angry. "What the hell was that idiot thinking?!" he demanded, shaking from anger, "Why didn't he tell us? Why…?"

But Zoro just held up his hand. "Let it go," he said, understanding completely why Luffy choose not to mention it.

"What for?" he snarled back.

"Yeah," Franky snapped, "Why didn't Luffy come out and tell us?"

"Because…" Zoro said softly, listening to the gentle sway of the wind and the rustle of the tall grass blowing. "He wants it this way. I don't think he wanted us to know."

"Well, that's bullshit! What's the point of keeping something like this secret from the rest of the crew?" Sanji demanded hotly.

Zoro looked away, "We all have secrets we don't want everyone else to know don't we?"

Sanji blinked before he understood what Zoro was saying. He was thinking of Thriller Bark wasn't he? And how he knew how Luffy would react if he ever learned the truth to what happened. Was Luffy doing this because he wanted to protect them from the truth like how they wanted to protect him?

"But that's…" Nami began furiously but he shook his head, shutting his eye.

"This…" Zoro said softly, though he understood what she was saying, "He felt was his darkness to bear."

*Luffy and Ace*

The two brothers had been jumping around High Town, destroying everything in sight. Neither one was bothering to be careful as they ended up either smashing the buildings to pieces, or burnt them to the ground. After everything the Nobles had done over the years, they felt that this was a little bit of payback for all the harm they had done.

Luffy and Ace had continued their fight, once they ran out of room in High Town, they continued their fight back through the forest and started smashing through trees. Luffy was doing most of the damage around them, so full of anger that he couldn't help but want to see things to break.

"You're not smiling anymore," Ace observed after a while, the two now panting for breath from a couple of large tree branches. "What? Did you stop having fun? This is just a fight after all."

"I know that!" Luffy yelled back, and Ace frowned a little at the suppressed anger in his little brother's voice.

"What's wrong?" he asked, though he already knew the answer to that.

"Nothing!" Luffy yelled, holding up his fists, "Just fight me already."

Ace just stood there for a moment before he jumped and landed back on the hard ground, with Luffy still glaring at him. "No," he answered and Luffy stared at him before he seemed to grow angry again and jumped down to join him.

"What do you mean?!" he demanded hotly, "Didn't you want to fight me?!"

"Yes," Ace answered softly, "But not like this."

"What are you talking about?!" Luffy yelled, "I'm fighting you one on one like you said!"

"You're not thinking straight Luffy," he informed him. "You're upset and you're letting that get in the way of our fight."

"No, I'm not!" he yelled and in anger he ran forward to throw a punch. But this time, Ace didn't move… he just stood there and let Luffy slug him in the face. Luffy's eyes were wide for only a moment before anger was replaced quickly. "What's the big deal?!" he demanded as Ace looked back at him with an empty expression, "You just let me hit you?!"

"I won't stop until you tell me what the problem is," Ace said firmly. Luffy only yelled in anger again as he slugged him once more. Again and again, he hit Ace, but his big brother never raised an arm to protect himself.

Luffy let out a cry of anger, demanding to know why his brother wouldn't fight him anymore.

"I will," Ace said, his face now dirty and bruised, "But only if you tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing!" Luffy insisted but Ace game him a firm look.

"Come on…" he said, "I know you. You're upset about something but you don't want to tell me." He thought for a moment before he sighed, "You're angry with me aren't you? For dying?"

Luffy blinked again before he said loudly, "No! That's not it!"

"This isn't like you Luffy," Ace reminded him, "That's the problem isn't it? You're angry with me… but it's yourself that you really want to be hurting right now, right?"

Luffy glared at him, and Ace could see his hands were shaking a little before Luffy seemed to lose whatever anger in him and lowered his arms in defeat. "What were you thinking?" he asked him quietly and Ace didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

"I wasn't," Ace confessed. "I wish… that it didn't end the way that it did, but I told you that it's not your fault."

"You died for me!" Luffy yelled at him, "You just… just threw your life away for me! After everything that happened, after everything everyone did to save you… WHY DID YOU SAVE ME?!"

Luffy was panting hard as Ace looked at him with a kind look, letting him rant on. "Because it was right," he answered him softly. "It was my fault that you were there in the first place. If I wasn't so stupid as to let that bastard Teach beat me, then that whole war would never have happened."

Luffy glared back at him. "But Blackbeard wasn't after you! He was after me!" he told him, telling him of what he said to him back at Impel Down. "He said that the reason you were there was because you were trying to protect me! It was me that was supposed to die that day! Not you! And… and…"

Ace's expression softened when he saw the tears burning in Luffy's eyes. So that was the whole problem. Luffy believed that he had died because it was all his fault. But Ace just shook his head. He had used the last of his strength to protect the one thing in the world that was more important to him than anything else. His little brother…

"I never blamed you… not once… you did everything you could for me. That was more than enough," Ace told him.

"You should've just let me die!" Luffy yelled at him.

"You think I could've lived with myself for that?" Ace demanded, now sounding angry as well. "I let that idiot admiral get to me and turned back instead of running with the rest of you! It was my fault that you were in danger don't you get it?!"

"I couldn't move!" Luffy yelled, tears now falling down his face despite his best efforts to keep them locked up. "I just sat there…"

"Of course you couldn't move!" Ace yelled, "Even monsters have limits! You risked yourself for me countless times in those few days! More times than I had for you! Don't you see? We're even! We don't owe each other anything! The only thing you owe me is to keep living! And to forgive me for what I did!"

Luffy stared at him as Ace was now the one breathing hard. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "For wasting everything you went through for me!"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Luffy screamed at him, shaking his head at the memory of holding Ace's body in his arms as blood soaked through his clothes and onto the ground. And suddenly he couldn't hold it back anymore and he started to cry.

Ace walked up to him and wrapped his strong arms around him and held him to his chest gently as he let Luffy bawl his eyes out. "I hate you… I can't forgive you for this…" Luffy cried out but Ace merely smiled.

"You could live without me," he told him softly. 'But I couldn't live without you…' he added in thought. For the first ten years of his life, he didn't have anything to protect but himself. He had to put up with being hated and despised… and over time, his heart began to freeze over. Maybe that's why he felt that Luffy could understand him in a way that no one else could understand. After all… though Luffy didn't know about it at the time, as far as the world was concerned, the two of them were never supposed to exist.

He couldn't help but smile as he pulled Luffy tight against him. It broke his heart for Luffy to be the one to hold him as he died. But at the same time, he was glad… glad because he was still alive. He could feel his heart beating through his chest as he held onto him even as his own had slowed down to a stop.

That alone was enough for him to die in peace.

He remembered seeing that same boy as a pain in the ass and had tried to get him to just stop following him many times before. But then one day he stuck his neck out for him and Sabo… he couldn't help but demand Luffy tell him why he did it. Why would he do that for a couple kids who had hurt him so much… it was because he was just a lonely kid like the both of them. For the first time in his life, he had been given something to protect. To give him something to look out for and a reason to live… to protect his little brother. And he held onto that reason for the rest of his life.

Though he didn't know about it, Luffy was the son of a criminal… Dragon. Garp had made sure that Luffy never found out about it, but he knew… he kept that a secret from everyone else—even his own family on Whitebeard's ship—even from Luffy. Because Luffy gave him the courage to try not to care about Roger when it bothered him deep down. Luffy just laughed and didn't care what anyone else thought of him, and so Ace did what he could to do the same.

He only had one regret… dying before he could see Luffy take the title that he deserved. Even though he had originally wanted to make Whitebeard the king, he knew that Luffy was the only one who could truly claim that title… he knew it in his heart. This was his little brother after all!

Why would he feel so guilty over his death? Didn't he see how fair a trade it was? Luffy gave him a reason to keep living and the courage to keep going. He changed into the person he was because of Luffy… and because of who he was, he was able to form the Spade Pirates and sail to the Grand Line… became part of Pop's crew… made countless friends and allies… it was all because Luffy had melted his frozen heart.

That was why he always knew that Luffy was the stronger one between the two of them. Luffy could still keep going with the rest of his life if he had died, but Ace never would've been able to live with himself if he let Luffy die just to save his own pathetic life. Never once did he believe that anyone would cry over his death, but Luffy did care about him before anyone else did.

And besides, he always knew that a pirate's life was fun and adventurous… but usually short. Only strong pirates like Pops were lucky enough to live so long. And though his own life was short, he lived to the fullest. He had wanted to find a reason for his living and he lived searching for that one answer. He was a monster as a kid and he knew it. Even Garp was worried about him, and Ace just couldn't help but ask him that one question. He asked him if he thought that it was alright if he was born.

Garp… his only answer was that he would learn that if he continued to live. That as long as he was alive, he'd discover that answer one day. Ironic that it wasn't until he was being held by Luffy with that hole in his chest did he truly find his answer. That he was able to say before he died—to just say it once—I'm glad that I was born!

For all the suffering that he put Luffy through for the last two years—for him grieving over his death—he was truly sorry. For not being able to honor all the suffering his brother went through for him and leave that battlefield alive like how he had wanted. He only hugged Luffy even tighter as his vision was starting to become watery. And he was also sorry for yelling at him to just leave the battlefield, that it was embarrassing to have him there to save him. Though he just wanted to get him away from all the fighting… he didn't want him to suffer for his mistakes.

He knew the pain that would come the moment he became the human shield, but the thought of letting his little brother die was so much more painful. And he honestly didn't regret what he did. If he had to go back and do it all over again, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

"But I mean it…" Ace whispered to him firmly. "I meant every word. I have no regrets… I'm… I was just so happy to be alive. Thank you."

"Stop talking!" Luffy cried, finally returning the hug that Ace was giving him, "I hate you! How could you do that?! I never asked you to save me! I hate you! I can't forgive you for this!" But Ace just held him there tightly as he continued to sob into his chest. And for the first time, in a long time, Luffy truly felt safe again with his brother's arms there, protecting him as if they were still kids and Ace was keeping the nightmares at bay.

Ace just smiled as Luffy continued to scream out that he hated him, because he knew that he didn't really mean a word of what he was saying. Finally, Luffy just shut his swollen, blood-shot eyes and pressed his face against his shoulder as he told him, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

"No," Ace whispered gently with his face buried in Luffy's messy hair as he shut his own eyes when the tears began to fall and mixed with his brother's hair. "It's not your fault. It was never your fault… and even if it was, I don't blame you. And I never will."