Chapter XVIII: Mission Accomplished

Luffy frowned in agitation as Vivi asked Dorry if it really took the Log Pose a year to set. The memory in the back of his mind was struggling to break through the surface of his subconscious, but not quite managing. It was starting to give him a headache. For the past hour he had felt the four hostile auras making their way around the island, and he had patiently been waiting for them to make a move so he could kick their asses and be done with it, but now his patience was wearing thin. They hadn't gone anywhere near his crewmates, or even Dorry or Brogy for that matter, and that had led him to the task of trying to remember what their game had been last time. This was no easy feat for Luffy. For the most part, he only remembered things that had made a lasting impact the first time around, and the specifications of Mr. 3's plans did not fall into that category. The fact that it had been over two years ago didn't exactly help.

All he knew for sure was that 3 had sabotaged his crewmates in the jungle and waited for Dorry and Brogy's fight to end before making his move. And yet, he couldn't shake this nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He knew there had been some prelude to all that, but he just couldn't place it.

"By the way, little humans," Dorry's voice rose, snapping Luffy out of his thoughts, "am I right to assume that Brogy's guests are your crewmates?" Luffy scanned the island one more time and came to the same conclusion. Nami and Usopp were still with Brogy, and the Baroque Works agents were still in some isolated part of the jungle.

"Yeah," Luffy confirmed. "A long-nosed dude and an orange-haired girl right? That's Usopp and Nami."

"Ah, I see!" Dorry said gleefully. "Then I suppose I should thank you for this sake they gave me!" As Dorry raised a barrel high into the air and started to crack it open, Luffy's eyes widened, memories flooding his brain now that the dam holding them back had been shattered.

"Don't drink that, Dorry!" he shouted quite suddenly. Dorry looked at him in confusion and Luffy sighed, cursing his lack of attention to details. He hadn't given their movements a second thought. He should have realized that their auras were coming from the direction of his own ship at one point. How could he have missed that? It was probably because he had been focused on making sure they didn't get too close to any of the other auras on the island. Maybe he should have just followed them out and kicked their asses from the start, but he had been chatting happily with Dorry the entire time…

"Dorry, can I see that barrel for a minute? I have a bad feeling," he said. Dorry obliged, setting the open barrel of sake down next to him. Luffy carried it several meters away from that as they watched in confusion, wondering what he was doing. He then set it down, walked back to them, turned around, and spat across that distance into the barrel. The effect was instantaneous. The liquid exploded on contact with his saliva, blowing the barrel apart and shocking all wildlife in the area. Birds flocked out of the trees as Vivi and Dorry's expressions turned shocked.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Dorry shouted. Luffy turned back to him.

"The drink was rigged. We're not alone on this island," he said. Vivi's eyes narrowed.

"Is it them?" she asked. Luffy nodded.

"Who are them?" Dorry asked, now ashamed at having briefly suspected their guests of the treacherous act. He turned to Luffy. "You can use the power of Observation?"

Luffy nodded. "Can you sense them too?" he asked.

"It's not our specialty," the giant admitted.

"They're a criminal organization after our heads," Vivi explained. "I'm sorry, but it seems we may have gotten you involved."

"No, don't worry about it," Dorry said, waving his hand dismissively. Then he paused. "Actually, that may not be the case. You see, 100 years ago, Brogy and I both had bounties of 100 million Belly on our heads. I'm not sure if those are still active, but that could explain why they aimed for me first. Still, it doesn't make much sense. An explosion like that wouldn't be enough to take me down." Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait! Is Brogy—"

"No," Luffy interjected. "They won't make a move yet. I'm guessing that their plan was to let Brogy take you down during your next duel and then capture you both," he said, gritting his teeth as he said it.

"You mean they were trying to interfere with our sacred duel!?" Dorry shouted in outrage as he rose to his feet. "I'll kill them!"

"Wait," Luffy said, raising his hand to halt Dorry. "This is our problem. They followed us here, so it's our responsibility to deal with them." He grinned at Dorry. "We'll take it upon ourselves to defend the integrity of your duel." Suddenly, they heard the familiar sound of a volcanic eruption. "Besides, it sounds like you have somewhere to be," he said.

Dorry grinned in appreciation. "I'll leave it to you then, my friend. Now if you'll excuse me, I must uphold my honor for the 73,467th time. I'm feeling good about this one!" he roared, before trudging off through the jungle to meet Brogy again.

"Stay here, Vivi," Luffy said. Vivi looked like she wanted to protest, but complied. Luffy shot off towards the direction of the four enemy auras. It wasn't long before he came to a secluded region of the jungle and found a small building that seemed to be made out of 3's wax. He landed on the ground, walked up to the building, and knocked on the door. "3!" he shouted. "Come out of there! I'm here to kick your ass!" He waited patiently for a response, but to his annoyance, the four presences didn't even move. A tic developed over his eye and he shouted again. "Stop ignoring me, you assholes! I know you're in there!"

It was then that he heard faint whispering coming from inside the makeshift hideout. He was about to simply destroy the building when he sensed a presence running to the door accompanied by a spike of killing intent. He jumped back to avoid the explosion that blew the door off its wax hinges. "About time," Luffy said, dusting off his pants. "What am I, a frickin' door-to-door salesman?"

"I find your humor to be dry and tasteless," came a quiet voice from inside. Slowly, three more people walked out of the door to accompany Mr. 5, who was now standing outside the door with an angry scowl on his face. Mr. 3 looked at Luffy and continued. "I'm not sure how you found this place, but you're a fool to have come here alone."

"Whatever," Luffy scoffed. "Just answer the door faster next time. I don't have all day."

Mr. 3 frowned. "I'm afraid there will not be a next time. You are correct. You don't have all day. In fact, you don't even have five minutes. Your life was forfeit from the second you knocked on our door so nonchalantly."

Luffy was having trouble keeping his half-lidded eyes open. They started to drift closed and his head started to sag before he heard another voice shout at him.

"Hey! Are you paying attention, you straw hat bastard!?" Miss Valentine yelled. Luffy's eyes snapped open and he looked around frantically, trying to discern where he was. He looked back at the four slowly.

"Oh, it's just you guys," he said.

Mr. 3 was starting to get annoyed. "It appears you're an even bigger idiot than the reports indicated," he said.

"It's not my fault," Luffy whined. "Your voice is so monotone that it was putting me to sleep! Do you even need that wax stuff? You could win just about any fight by talking!"

Mr. 3 struggled to keep his composure as Miss Goldenweek broke out into a fit of giggles. He reigned in his anger and exhaled. "Monkey D. Luffy, bounty of 45 million Belly," he began. "Did you know that some people weigh a pirate's worth by their bounty?" he asked in distaste. "Pirates and even bounty hunters cower away from those with high bounties, interpreting them as an indication of the threat they pose." He looked Luffy dead in the eye. "I call them all fools. Only a true idiot draws attention to himself and wreaks havoc for the sake of fame. A true criminal works from the shadows, achieving his goals discreetly and efficiently. A bounty means nothing. Only the end result matters." He smirked. "Take the two us for example. My bounty is 24 million, and is far exceeded by yours. And yet, I've already won this fight," he said smugly.

Luffy looked at him with a deadpan expression. "If you think you're actually going to beat me by talking, I didn't mean you could really win that way, just so you know."

"That's not what I meant, you dumbass!" Mr. 3 shrieked in a high-pitched voice before regaining his composure. "You see, you've already fallen into our trap while listening to my monotone voice. You might want to check your feet, Straw Hat," he said with a knowing smirk.

Luffy looked down and saw a circle painted on the ground at his feet. Confused, he looked back up to see the short girl who he assumed was 3's partner holding up a paintbrush. He stared in apathy, not quite getting it. "Colors Trap: Inactivity White," she said emotionlessly.

I thought that white was best for inactivity. I mean, I could say Inactivity Blank, but that does not roll off the tongue quite as well.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were both grinning widely now at the thought of revenge. Luffy still didn't have a clue what was going on. "You painted a circle on the ground. What's the big deal?" he asked. Miss Valentine burst out in laughter.

"You'll soon find out," she said with a wide smile. Mr. 5 started walking over to him.

"I owe you big time for what happened in Whiskey Peak," he said with a scowl. "Now, why don't you just stand there like a good idiot while I vent my frustration," he said. Luffy frowned.

Why the hell would I do that?

Miss Valentine watched in anticipation as Mr. 5 strode over to Luffy with his explosive fist raised high…

And got sent flying through a tree by Luffy's punch. The Baroque Works agents' jaws all dropped at the sight. They looked from Luffy, to Mr. 5's unconscious form, and back to Luffy.

"No, seriously," Luffy began. "Why would I just stand here and do nothing? If you're trying to use reverse psychology or whatever, you should have said something like there's no way you can stand there and take our attacks without dying!" He rubbed his chin in thought. "I may have actually taken that challenge, come to think of it…"

The agents continued to stare at him, dumbfounded. Miss Goldenweek's Colors Trap had failed? How? Why? Luffy just shrugged. "Now then…shall we?" Before anyone could react, Luffy outstretched fist collided with Mr. 3's face, and he was sent crashing through the wax hideout, unconscious. Miss Valentine finally reacted to the threat.

"Son of a bitch!" She reduced her mass to one kilogram and leapt at Luffy, her lightness increasing her speed. While in midair she changed her mass to 10,000 kilograms. "10,000 Kilogram Lunge!" Luffy casually grabbed her wrist, spinning on his heels, and bringing her in a circle despite her weight. He launched her at Mr. 5's unconscious body, which exploded on contact with the heavy projectile that was his partner in crime. The tree he was laying next to caught fire as the explosion went off, taking out Miss Valentine as well.

Luffy looked back at Miss Goldenweek as she started quietly and discretely walking away. "Where are you going, exactly?" he asked. She slowly looked back at him, sweat pouring down her face. "Lucky for you, I don't like hitting kids," Luffy said nonchalantly. Suddenly, she fell to the ground, unconscious and foaming at the mouth. His task accomplished, Luffy shot off in the direction of Vivi's aura. He sensed that she had met up with Nami and Usopp during Dorry and Brogy's fight. When he arrived, the two were still locked in a stalemate, neither giving the other an advantage.

Nami and Usopp saw his approach and looked at him nervously. "Luffy," Nami started. "Vivi told us the situation. Did you…?"

"Yeah, I took care of it," Luffy said with a grin.

"Oh, too bad," Usopp said as his legs shook. "The great Captain Usopp was looking forward to some action!" he lied. They all heard a loud crash and turned around to see Dorry and Brogy lying on the ground in exhaustion.

"73,467 draws," they said in unison as they panted heavily. Luffy walked up to them.

"Good fight, you two," he said happily.

"Yes, it was!" Dorry shouted. "Thank you, my friend. You have defended our honor just as you promised you would."

"Defended our honor?" Brogy asked in confusion. "How was it threatened?"

"I didn't want to tell you until after the fight," Dorry admitted. "Some humans on the island tried to sabotage our duel." He spat out the words distastefully. Brogy looked outraged, but Luffy assured him that he thoroughly kicked their asses and he calmed down.

"You're all an interesting batch of humans," Brogy commented. "Very well. You have my thanks."

Sanji walked through the jungle in the direction of the numerous explosions he had heard earlier. So far, his mission to stake out any enemies had gone smoothly…meaning he hadn't found any. But then he had heard the sounds of a struggle, and he couldn't exactly ignore that, now, could he? He eventually came to a clearing with a small, white building in the middle. What immediately drew his attention were the four unconscious people on the ground. "What the hell happened here?" he asked himself as he strolled through. He looked at two of them carefully before coming to the conclusion that they were the Baroque Works agents that had attacked them at Whiskey Peak. So, then, the other two were most likely part of the organization as well. He blew out a puff of smoke, wondering who knocked them all out. "Who am I kidding," he said aloud. "It was either Luffy or Zoro."

He decided to do some investigating and walked into the white building, noting that the door had been blown down. He took a look around and suddenly heard the sound of a transponder snail. He looked towards it as it rang and shrugged. Might as well. He picked up the receiver and spoke. "Hello, you've reached the shitty restaurant," he said nonchalantly. "What would you like to order?"

"Stop shitting around, Mr. 3," an emotionless voice said. "I've called to confirm the status of your mission."

"Mission?" Sanji said. "Who is this?"

"It's me, you dumbass. Mr. 0. Who else has this number?" Sanji was a little surprised at his information. Mr. 0 was the head of Baroque Works from what he'd been told. That meant that this was Crocodile, the Royal Warlord on the other line. Interesting.

"What's with the silence?" Crocodile asked. "I asked you a question. It's been awhile since I sent you your orders. Have you done away with Princess Vivi and her escorts or not? And have you confirmed that they were the Straw Hat Pirates?"

"Oh, yeah, them," Sanji said casually. "Yeah, it was the Straw Hats. But they're all dead as can be. Mission accomplished."

"I see. Good work," Crocodile said. "Due to the disappearance of the Unluckies, I've been forced to send a Billions ship to your location. They'll arrive soon with an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. It's time to carry out our most crucial operation. From now on, all communication will be by letter. I can't risk the Marines intercepting our calls from here on out. See you when you arrive." He hung up.

Sanji walked out of the house with a smirk. "Yep, mission accomplished."

Back at the Going Merry, the giants and the rest of the Straw Hats were throwing a party. Zoro had returned dragging ludicrous amounts of dinosaur meat behind him, and the giants had taken to preparing it. After checking all the sake for more bombs, they had let loose.

"Hey, where's Sanji-kun, by the way?" Nami asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"Oh, he went to stake out the jungle for enemies. He'll probably run into those agents that Luffy took down at some point," Zoro said.

"Actually, he already did," Luffy corrected. "And he's coming back right now." Usopp looked at him in envy.

"Man, that Haki stuff sure is useful. I can't wait until I actually make some progress on that…" It was then that Sanji came shuffling through some tree branches and made his way into the clearing.

"Oh, so you guys are back huh?" he asked. He spotted the giants and stared at them for a while. "That's new," he muttered. They both grinned widely at him.

"So, you're the other missing warrior! Welcome to the party," Brogy said.

"Nice to meet you, little human," Dorry said with a wave.

"No, no, pleasure's all mine," Sanji replied casually. He turned back to the crew. "So, are we ready to leave? It looks like we've got enough supplies to last a while."

"Oh, my God, that's right!" Vivi said in dismay. "The Log! It takes a year to set! How are going to get off this island?"

Sanji hummed thoughtfully. "I think I may have a solution." They looked at him in confusion and he explained that he had stumbled upon the enemy's base of operations, taken a call from the leader of the criminal organization that was out to kill them, impersonated his subordinate, and tricked him into thinking they were all dead. He blew out a puff of smoke. "He said he's sending a ship here with an Eternal Pose to Alabasta," Sanji said. Most of the crew stared at him in wonder. Luffy was laughing his ass off.

"So, basically, we wait for that ship to arrive, kick their asses, and take the Eternal Pose," Zoro concluded. "I guess all in all mission went well?" he asked with a smirk.

"You could say that," Sanji replied.

"Thank you so much! I was so worried! Sanji-san, I could hug you!" Vivi shouted with glee.

"Please feel free," Sanji said. Vivi's arms wrapped around Sanji's neck, and his eyes seemed to turn into hearts for a moment before reverting back to their neutral state when she detached.

"Oh,Oh, Sanji! Wait until you see all the meat Zoro caught!" Luffy said, his mouth watering. "You're gonna have your hands full!"

Sanji took note of the pile of prehistoric animals and whistled. "That is impressive. We should have a hunting contest sometime." Zoro blinked at this comment for some reason, and the giants' heads both perked up. Hunting contest?

It was while they were waiting for the enemy ship to arrive that Luffy caught sight of something extremely troubling. On the back of Vivi's neck was a large, purple bite mark. She was itching at it in irritation every once in a while. Luffy suddenly felt very nervous. It might not even be the same bug. It could just be a mosquito or something. But what if it's not? What if he had inadvertently caused Vivi to be bitten simply by coming back to the past and changing things? He tried to calm himself down. "Vivi?" he asked. She turned to him. "What's that mark on your neck?"

"Oh, that?" she asked. "I must have been bitten by some bug. It's been bothering me a little."

Zoro walked up and looked at it before exchanging a nervous glance with Luffy. "Vivi," he began, "you know this is a prehistoric island right? We have no idea what kinds of bugs thrive in these conditions. That might not be an ordinary bite. You should probably have someone look at it."

Nami narrowed her eyes at the words. The logic made sense even if she hadn't thought of it herself. It just seemed…so unlike Luffy and Zoro to be this cautious. What had them so worried? "Well, I guess I can get it checked out when we get to Alabasta," Vivi said.

Luffy and Zoro knew that it probably wouldn't be that simple, but they let it drop for now. What could they say?

Luffy, for his part, felt sick. He knew he couldn't have really prevented this. What was he supposed to do? Hover over everyone in the crew and make sure no bugs bit them? There were some things he couldn't control. Still, he felt guilty about what was most likely coming now.

Soon, the Billions ship arrived at Little Garden, only to be met by the Straw Hat Pirates and two giants. Realizing they'd been had, they attempted to make a call on the transponder snail, but everyone on the ship spontaneously fell unconscious. The ship was then looted for all it was worth, and the Straw Hats were able to secure a week's worth of rations, much to the pleasure of Luffy and Sanji, 200,000 Belly, much to the pleasure of Nami, and finally an Eternal Pose to Alabasta, much to the pleasure of everyone.

Before they set sail, Dorry and Brogy told them to sail straight ahead no matter what happened, and that they'd defend their flag just as their honor was defended. Luffy nodded, and told Nami not to change their course no matter what happened. They ended up getting swallowed by a giant goldfish, only to be set free by Dorry and Brogy's flying slashes. Finally, the Going Merry set sail for Alabasta as the Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy reminisced about memories long forgotten.