Cheaters And Memories...

Chapter 27 - Cheaters and Memories...

Part of the forest that the Straw Hats were in at that moment was mostly destroyed. They were all gasping for breath and Zoro—in anger—hacked down several trees in a way to vent some of his frustration.

"Would you knock it off?" Nami asked him in deep annoyance as he continued to go on his mini-rampage. "Destroying trees won't bring it back will it?"

"Why not?" he demanded darkly, "Maybe if we destroy this whole island it'll come back out?"

"For once, I'd agree," Sanji hissed as he caught his breath and sat down on one of the tree stumps. "I'm getting sick of all this! If that thing wants to fight us, why not come out and face us already instead of running away!?"

*Flashback*

"Yohohoho, I have never heard such a more beautiful sound!" Brook said dreamily as the memories of them riding down the inflatable octopus disappeared and they ended up in the middle of a thick forest. "Such a ringing sound almost makes me embarrassed by my own music!"

"Nothing can compare to it," Robin agreed. "I'm glad that some parts of the City of Shandora managed to survive despite everything that happened. The bell was truly the heart of the ancient city, so as long as the bell survives, I don't think the city will ever truly be gone."

"That's good," Sanji muttered. "Though I'm sorry I missed most of the action. Damn that Eneru…"

"At least he was taken care of," Zoro reminded him.

"So long as we never see him again is all I want," Usopp said firmly. But no sooner were the words out of his mouth did Zoro and Sanji both spin around, ready for a fight.

"For crying out loud! Would you stop hiding and fight like a man?!" Zoro yelled, pulling two swords out this time, and his temper now sky-high. "I'm sick of this stupid game!"

"What are you talking about?" Franky asked before his eyes widen in realization.

"You mean…?!" Chopper cried out anxiously, but before he could finish his question, light flashed once again as the ball of slime reappeared. Sitting cross-legged on a slime version of the Surprise Cloud… was a familiar face… one that they weren't overjoyed to see. Yet at the same time, none of them were surprised to see him.

"Heso…" the slime Eneru said to them, the staff over his shoulder and the arrogant smile on his face.

*End of Flashback*

"I'm so sick 'n tired of this stupid thing," Franky growled out, picking up a rock with his metal hands and crushing it to dust. "How the hell are we supposed to get that thing back to the ruins when we don't have the slightest idea where the ruins are anymore?"

"I know the direction," Robin answered, her eyes closed, as she used her powers to see across the island. "I know how to get there… the problem is to lure that thing in…"

"Like catching fish with a hook and line," Usopp sighed as Chopper put a salve on Usopp's burnt hand. "And is it me, or did that slime have some real power?"

"This thing is getting more dangerous," Zoro answered once he had calmed down and sat on another tree stump. "No lightning… but it was able to heat up that staff. What were you thinking grabbing hold of it?"

"That freak was trying to break my neck with it!" Usopp retorted, "I had no choice! I didn't think that it would burn me!"

"This is just sad," Sanji muttered bitterly, "It's like back in the old days when we couldn't fight those stupid Logia types. What was the point in mastering Haki if we can't fight against one slimeball?"

"I think we can agree that thing's not of this world," Robin muttered with a sigh as she stared off in the direction that the slime disappeared to. "If this island is connected to the land of the dead…" her eyes suddenly widen in shock as if she just realized something.

"What's the matter, Robin?" Chopper asked as she turned around to look at them.

"I think that's the whole problem," she said at once as she stood up. "Maybe that's why nothing we do can hurt that thing. Because maybe weapons of this world cannot hurt it?"

"Wait, what do you mean it can't be killed by weapons of this world?" Zoro asked at once as he stood up.

"Because if I'm right, then it makes sense," she answered him. "That thing is not of this world. So anything that belongs in this world cannot hurt it."

"Hold on!" Usopp gulped as he got up as well, "You mean so that's why nothing we do can hurt that thing?"

"It would explain a lot," Brook whispered.

"What now?!" Nami screamed out, looking as pale as a ghost. "How are we supposed to fight if nothing we do can ever hurt it?! It's getting stronger and stronger! Before it couldn't even hold onto its shape, but here, not only could Usopp touch it, but it was able to hurt him! And when it was Crocodile, it stabbed Zoro!"

"Maybe that's why Ace told us to lure it back to the ruins," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe we can trap it there or something. But that's what we have to do. We don't need to worry about fighting it if nothing we do can hurt it. So instead, we have to make sure that we're able to get it back to the ruins."

"And what then?" Franky asked at once, punching his fits together. "I'm all for taking that thing out, but how's fighting it at that freaky old temple going the change anything?"

"Shut up!" Sanji snapped back. "If Robin-chan says we get it back to the ruins then we're gonna do it! I'm all for trying anything to get that shitty blob out of our lives."

But before anyone could think of a good plan, the memories started up again and this time they were still on the Merry and floating down through the air with the octopus still tied to them like a balloon. They were still high up, but the sun had gone down and they seemed to be drifting through the night sky. All of them were growing frustrated by this point, but again, they knew there wasn't much they could do but wait for their 'friend' to show up again.

"Beautiful," Brook said in wonder as he walked to the side of the ship and stared out, memories of their task once again vanishing from his mind. "You know, this almost reminds me of when we were sailing up from Fishman Island. Like we're sailing through a sea of stars."

"This was one of my fondest memories," Robin smiled, as she looked around. "It's something I'll never forget… in fact, most of my memories since joining this crew are good ones that I don't ever want to forget."

"I know what you mean," Nami laughed. This was their life now… and the days just seemed to fly by in a happy blur. Though they had a lot of dangerous and terrifying experiences, she knew that she wouldn't have traded them for anything. She sighed, only sad that they had to miss out on two whole years of adventures with each other. Well… she glanced to the star-filled sky and gave a quiet prayer that they could stay together from here on out.

"It sure took us forever to fall," Zoro commented and she came out of her thoughts. He was looking at their past selves, who were all gathered around the deck and talked with each other. "I mean, how long had been up in the air like this?"

"Longer than we thought it would take," Sanji agreed, "But then again, we were up ten thousand feet so I suppose that it would make sense that it would take us so long to fall since we were only floating down."

"Well, it sure took a long time," Zoro yawned. "We were up here for hours…"

"What were you complaining about?" Usopp asked suddenly, "All you did was sleep!"

But the memory Straw Hats seemed to be growing impatient as well. In fact, memory Zoro was sitting up, having just woke up from his nap, and asked how much longer it was going to take.

"Go to sleep," memory Usopp said sharply just as they could all hear Luffy's voice calling from above them.

"Where is he now?" Franky asked.

"Getting himself into trouble, what else?" Nami asked in annoyance. Really, did they even have to babysit him on their own ship? "Who was watching him here?"

"Well, we didn't think that he could get into trouble while we were up here!" Usopp told her.

"What happened?" Brook asked.

"That rubber idiot almost got us killed," Sanji said in bitterness. Before Brook could ask, their past selves had discovered that Luffy had climbed on top of the octopus's head and was now bouncing up and down like on a trampoline.

"Yohohoho, that sounds like fun!" Brook said happily.

"No, it wasn't!" Chopper whimpered as memory Nami screamed up at Luffy, "HEY DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID! ALL OUR LIVES DEPEND ON THIS BALLOON! YOU HEAR ME?!"

"We should've gotten him down anyway," Zoro sighed.

"Yeah," Nami added dully, "I should've known better."

"Ok, now I really wanna know what you're talking about," Franky muttered, suddenly having a bad feeling to all this.

"Let's just say that the ride to the Blue Sea ended a lot sooner than it would had been," Robin chuckled a little as they looked to her.

"DON'T WORRY! DON'T WORRY!" Luffy laughed as they were all looking over the side and up at him. But memory Sanji had turned deadly pale and was screaming out in a commanding voice that left no room for argument, "LUFFY STOP! GET DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

"You sound kinda freaked out here, bro," Franky said slowly as memory Nami asked him what he was yelling about.

"The octopus is shrinking!" he yelled as he jumped up and began climbing up one of the tentacles to get Luffy, "If we don't do something we'll fall!"

"It's shrinking?!" Brook gasped in shock as he looked up with everyone else at the octopus's underside and they all realized that he was right. It looked a lot smaller than it had been before.

"That's not good," Franky said, "So that's what you meant."

"As endearing as his childlike personality is sometimes, it's gotten us all in a lot of trouble," Nami sighed as her past self ran to the side of the Merry and gazed down at the sea below them. They were still as high as a mountain…

"What are we going to do?" her memory self cried to the others, "We're still really high up in the air!"

"If we got Luffy off there, I think we would've floated down to the sea without any trouble," Usopp muttered as they heard memory Sanji yelling at Luffy above them. "But I guess he knocked so much air out that it couldn't hold on anymore.

Suddenly the whole ship jerked and Sanji and Luffy went tumbling down from above them, rolling right over the edge and down past them. Frank and Brook screamed with the past Straw Hats as they ran to the edge to look. Luckily, Luffy saved them by grabbing onto the side, and stretched out his other arm to grab Sanji.

"He still owes me a pack of cigarettes," Sanji muttered in annoyance as his fingers itched to go to one of his last two smokes. "I ended up dropping a full box of them because of that stunt!"

But Luffy was laughing. "That was scary!" he said happily, "Wonder why the octopus isn't bouncy anymore?"

"I told you it's shrinking, bonehead!" memory Sanji yelled at him as everyone sighed in relief, just glad to see that they were alright. But then they realized that the wind picked up and they were suddenly falling much faster… falling so fast that their feet were actually starting to leave the deck.

"Oh! This is bad!" Brook cried out fearfully as they were steadily picking up speed and Luffy and Sanji were actually floating in the air as they continued to hang desperately onto the side of the ship.

"That's weird," Luffy said, no longer sounding like he was having fun, "How'd the ship get below us?"

They were all screaming as they clung onto the ship as the violent wind felt like it was about to tear the ship into pieces and the roaring sound it made was almost deafening.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS GONNA DO NOW?!" Franky yelled out, truly unable to think of how they got out of this mess. And with the Merry in the shape that she was in, there's no way that she'd survive the impact now.

"WE'RE GONNA HIT THE SEA SO HARD WE'LL SINK TO THE BOTTOM!" memory Nami screamed.

"ONLY IF THE SHIP DOESN'T SHATTER FIRST!" past Robin yelled back.

"DO YOU HAVE TO SCARE US ALL THE TIME ROBIN?!" current Usopp yelled at their Robin over the noise.

"BUT SHE'S RIGHT!" Franky yelled, "THE SHIP IS FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS! SHE WON'T MAKE IT!"

But memory Usopp refused to let that happen. He quickly reached for his bag and pulled out his Usopp AAAaaaAAAaaaAAA and a pair of what looked like miniature octopuses on his feet; he did something uncharacteristically brave. He jumped over, swung underneath the ship, and was able to use a bunch of Breath Dials to greatly slow down the descent of their fall. They didn't return to the gentle float downwards as it had been before, but they certainly slowed down—to a speed that was sure to keep the Merry from breaking apart.

"Awesome!" Franky yelled, truly impressed.

"That was very clever of you, Usopp-san," Brook said as Usopp beamed in pride here.

"Why can't you act like that more often?" Zoro asked him. It was funny how when it came to the Merry, Usopp's personality changed… both in good ways… and bad… he shut his eye and briefly remembered seeing Luffy and Usopp standing opposite each other in the dead of night.

"Merry was very important to me!" Usopp said firmly, "We all owed her a lot! And I worked so hard every day to keep her afloat!"

"Yes, but if Franky-san was right, then she's pretty much reached the end of her life hasn't she?" Brook asked in concern, not understanding why everyone seemed to grow so tense when anyone mentioned how much Usopp loved that ship. Even Franky, who they often shared bewildered looks to what was going on seemed to understand what was going on. If he still had a face, he'd be frowning in concern—especially to the miserable expression on Usopp's face at the thought of the Merry.

"Usopp-san?" Brook began, but their past selves were all laughing awkwardly, truly thinking they were safe, at least until the octopus suddenly shrank to the size of a normal octopus and they stared at it in horror before they started to fall faster once again. Luffy pulled Usopp back on board, grabbing him by the nose, and pulled him safely onboard as they hung on… hoping for the best.

"Why?" Usopp whimpered in pain, "Why does he always grab me by the nose?!"

"EVERYBODY HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" Luffy screamed over the roar, and with an almighty crash, they landed violently in the sea, splashing waves everywhere and getting everyone soaked as they almost ended up flooding the shop.

"That… was close…" Brook whispered. "I would've thought that you were all done for, for sure there!"

"It was a narrow miss," Zoro gasped as their past selves struggled for breath, trying to calm their racing hearts. "I guess the Breath Dials were enough save us?"

"Probably," Franky nodded, "The air blowing out created a kind of cushion just before you hit the water. It broke the fall so that you guys were killed."

"Way a good Usopp," Sanji told him as Usopp smirked, rubbing his finger across his nose proudly.

"Well, when push comes to shove, the great Master Usopp, becomes an awesome sea warrior!" he bragged.

"You were great Usopp!" Chopper chirped up as memory Nami finally caught her breath and spit out some seawater, saying how scary that was and asking what happened to the octopus.

"Guess it ran out of air," memory Robin reasoned.

"Wonder how that happened?" past Sanji snarled, glaring at Luffy as the octopus landed on Luffy's face, who laughed once again.

"Hey, come on," he smiled as he pulled the octopus off his face, "Don't whine. We did get down here alive."

"Barely!" current Nami snapped. "Doesn't anything faze him?"

"You really need to ask?" Robin asked her in amusement as past Sanji lit up another cigarette. "You're right," he admitted grudgingly, as he looked put to the sky, a dreamy look in his eyes, "And we got to see an incredible place."

"Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it," current Chopper added softly, hoping that he could see that place once more someday. He'd love to see Aisa, Conis, and the others again—he hoped they were doing alright.

"Now that we're down here, it looks so far away," memory Robin said softly, looking up, and it was hard to believe that there was an island floating directly above them from here. They couldn't see anything but a dark sky.

"Like something outta a dream," memory Nami agreed as Chopper sat up on deck, and agreed full-heartedly with her, asking them if they thought they'd see it again.

"Well, you might see something similar when you die," memory Zoro said, his face unusually gentle as he looked at Chopper's happy expression.

"Not you," past Usopp informed him, "I doubt you're going anyplace good."

"True… very true," current Sanji said as past Zoro yelled at Usopp.

"Oh please, I guarantee that you're not going anywhere near heaven you jerk," current Zoro snarled at Sanji.

"Never said that I was," he admitted as his past self got back to his feet and headed to the cabin, telling them that they could discuss the afterlife, but he was going to make a pot of coffee. After telling Luffy to be patient for dinner, their rubber captain got up and asked, "Hey! By the way…"

Suddenly lights came on and were pointed towards them like spotlights and they could hear the sounds of a siren was going off with Marines surrounding them on all sides. Luffy finished awkwardly, "Does anybody know… just where the heck we are?"

"HELL! OF ALL THE PLACES YOU COULD'VE ENDED UP YOU LANDED RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF A MARINE BASE?!" Franky screamed as the memory faded around them.

"YOU COULDN'T HAVE HAD WORSE LUCK!" Brook added in terror.

"I forgot about that," Zoro muttered in surprise.

"Yes, we landed right in the middle of the Marine Base G-8… also known as Navarone," Robin answered as she sat back down on a stump. "That was a very interesting adventure…"

"How'd you get off the ship?" Franky asked at once. "With Marines swarming everywhere…?"

"We didn't think," Nami sighed, "We just bailed out and hoped for the best."

"I remember," Sanji sighed. "We were forced to abandon the ship as the stupid Marines came onboard looking for us."

"What happened to you all? How were you able to escape?" Brook asked in wonder.

"We just did what zebras do," Robin smiled.

You could almost see the question marks hanging above Franky and Brook's head. "Zebras?" they repeated.

"Well, it's a known fact that lions eat zebras," she answered, "Zebra's stick out like sore thumbs… however, lions don't get one every time do they? That's because, unlike the chameleon, they don't need to blend in with their surroundings but rather with other zebras. A single zebra on its own wouldn't stand a chance against a pride of hungry lions, but when they're in a herd with other zebras they do. When they're in a herd, the lions can't tell where one stripe ends and another begins. When you look just like everyone else, you blend in… and when you blend in you're as good as invisible. Now… if we were able to get our hands on a few uniforms for example…?"

"I get it!" Franky laughed, "You guys hid among the enemy! That's great!"

"Stupid if you ask me," Zoro said in annoyance.

"That's because you were the first one caught and locked up in the brig," Sanji smirked and a very ugly look came over the swordsman's face as he glared at him.

"You got caught?" Brook asked in surprise. That didn't sound like Zoro to him.

"It wasn't my fault!" Zoro snapped, jerking his thumb at Nami, "She's the one who got me caught!"

"You were the one walking around the base without a care in the world!" she yelled, "Don't you go blaming that on me! You would've been caught sooner or later anyway!"

"What are you talking about?" Franky asked, not getting it. They gave him and Brook a quick talk about what happened. Separated, they were forced to disguise themselves and try to find each other and out of the base. It turned out that the entire base was comprised up of a huge mountain and surrounded by water with a ring of sheer rock cliffs that form a kind of wall. Sanji explained that he found Luffy and they were able to get by whilst impersonating a pair of famous cooks in the kitchens. His began to drool over the memory of Jessica, who he had was fawning over as he talked about how beautiful she was.

"Get on with it," Zoro said in annoyance and Sanji glared at him until Nami asked him what happened and he happily went on. He said that she insulted his cooking, and he decided to show her what it was to really cook. In the end he impressed all the Marines with his skills and taught them that though it's important for their food to taste good, but it's equally important to avoid wasting even a scrap of food. While they were in there, Nami added that she escaped the Merry on the Waver before she disguised herself as a janitor—which was a mistake because she was forced to clean. As she worked, she ended up running into Zoro, who was walking around the base without even bothering to try to hide, which Zoro added that it was because she threw his swords out the window that he got caught.

"Hiding was stupid anyway," he said stubbornly.

"YOU SEE?!" she yelled in frustration. "IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I GOT YOU CAUGHT OR NOT! YOU WOULD'VE BEEN CAUGHT SOONER OR LATER!"

"Ok," Robin said, stepping between them to avoid a full fight. And to try and bring peace between them, she told them that she and Usopp had winded up in the same place for a short time before she went off to try and gather more information and he went off to try and find the Merry, so they went their separate ways. She laughed a little as she told them that she ended up 'meeting' a Special Inspector from Marine HQ and she took his coat and ID so that she could sneak in and meet the Commander. A man named Jonathan.

"That's cold sis," Franky laughed when she told them how she left him unconscious in the hallway.

"What about you, Usopp?" Chopper asked curiously, and Usopp merely shrugged, telling them that he managed to steal some Marine uniforms and disguised himself as a Marine Rookie. He went around to try and find the Merry, meeting a shipwright named Mekao who told him that the ship needed some serious repairs or else it would sink. No one said anything to that as they all felt a pang of grief at the lost of their ship and friend.

Controlling his tears, Usopp told them that one of the lieutenants found him and tricked him into admitting that he was a pirate, but when Robin arrived, disguised as the Inspector, he tried to pretend he was her assistant and she told them that she was lying before being thrown into the brig.

"It was for your own good you know," she told him. "You were safer with Zoro. You were causing a lot of trouble."

"Besides," Sanji said at once, "Who would believe that? It only would've gotten you both thrown behind bars and my Robin is too beautiful for that!"

"This only made her all the more convincing," Nami added as Usopp sighed. "Why is everyone against me?" he asked.

"What about you, Chopper-san?" Brook asked curiously. Chopper laughed and told them that he somehow ended up being brought to the medical center. All the other doctors had been called away from G-8 except for Dr. Kobato who couldn't stand the sight of blood and fainted at the littlest amount of it.

"Then… why is she a doctor?" Zoro asked, sounding lost. "Big baby… how could she call herself a doctor if she couldn't stand seeing a little blood?"

"I know," Chopper said softly, "But she toughened up. I helped her when a ship full of injured Marines came and she had to operate. So I dressed up like a doctor and helped her. I also ran into Nami who was disguised as a nurse and she helped."

"I guess that the janitor outfit didn't suit you?" Franky laughed as Sanji swooned at the memory of seeing Nami in a nurse's outfit. Oh, he'd break both his legs if he could have her there treating him…

Nami sighed. "Turns out no matter what disguise I'm in, I was screwed."

"Whatever happened to the real inspector though?" Franky asked, suddenly thinking about him. Robin, Usopp, and Zoro all laughed at that as Usopp said that the real Agent Shepherd was found in the hall and thought to be one of the Straw Hats and was thrown down into the dungeons with him and Zoro. He then lied and said that Shepard was their crewmate 'Condoriano'.

"Where'd you come up with Condoriano?" Franky asked as they all laughed with him.

"It just came to me?" he offered as they all wiped the tears of laughter away. "Oh, but that was great… you should've seen the look on his face!"

Finally, the next memory appeared and they were in what looked like a dining hall. Luffy was on the floor, dressed in kitchen garb, with a man towering over him. He had a rather laid-back expression with orange hair and black eyebrows and mustache.

"Who's that?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"That would be Commander Jonathan," Robin answered.

"Ah, so he's the head honcho around here?" Franky asked.

"Straw Hat Luffy," Jonathan said politely, "I would rather not resort to violence in the dining hall, so please be civil. Just answer me one question if you will be so kind."

"If I answer can I split that food with you?" Luffy asked as he looked behind him to see the plate of meatballs there.

"If you answer the question, you can have all of it," Jonathan answered agreeably.

"Really?" Luffy asked happily, his hand stretching out to grab it and brought it back to him. "You got a deal! Sorry I called you a jerk."

"You moron," Sanji sighed, "You should've just gotten out of there! He was the one who blew our cover."

"Funny, I was under the impression that you were the one that got you both in the kitchen in the first place," Robin asked him and Sanji froze.

"Probably fawning over this Jessica lady," Usopp nodded.

"Too bad that she's married to Jonathan here," Robin laughed and Sanji sighed. "He's got to be the luckiest man in the world," he said enviously.

"No matter how hard I try, I can't figure out your purpose here," Jonathan went on as Luffy enjoyed the meatballs. "I am certain that Captain Smoker is the one who defeated Crocodile in Alabasta…"

"Oh, that is just bullshit," Zoro said rolling his eye.

"It doesn't surprise me that the Marines try to make it sound like they took care of Crocodile when they didn't do a thing about it," Robin said. "After all… Crocodile—who was an approved pirate by the Government—almost ended up toppling Alabasta and he wasn't stopped by them, but by a band of wanted pirates. They just couldn't take the embarrassment. I heard that Smoker was given the official credit but he refused the promotion and everything else that they offered him."

"Better that than to live a lie," Sanji said firmly. "Smokey's a lot of things, but he's at least honorable. I think he rather leave the Marines in disgrace than to be giving a reward for nothing."

"Your shenanigans resulted in no discernable gain," Jonathan went on, "They acquired you neither fame nor fortune. Your motives remain a mystery and I want to know why it is you came to Navarone of all places."

"Easy," Luffy answered as he finished the food, "We fell from the sky. This was just where we landed."

"That's what I said to those stupid lieutenants who came down to interrogate me," Zoro nodded, "It's not my fault that they didn't believe me."

"To be fair, you don't expect pirates to be falling out of the sky," Nami told him as the commander looked startled by the blunt honesty in Luffy's voice and watched as he got up from the floor.

"Here in the Grand Line its one crazy thing after another," Luffy smiled, "I gotta say I'm really starting to enjoy this fortress. The food here is great!"

"That would be my food he's talking about," Sanji said proudly.

"Wow… than the food here must've really been shit if you were their best cook," Zoro said as Sanji threw another kick at him, which Zoro blocked.

"Would you stop for five minutes?" Nami snapped.

Commander Jonathan chuckled suddenly and they all looked up to see that he was smiling. "You should know that even with the power of the Devil's Fruit, one would find that escape from our charming little fortress is impossible. It would take nothing short of a miracle." He smirked at Luffy and added, "Check mate."

"I know that he's the enemy, but I have to say that I like this guy a lot better than most of the morons you guys get stuck with," Franky said thoughtfully, "At least he's got a sense of humor."

"Yohohoho, I think that you're right," Brook said.

"He wasn't such a bad guy I suppose," Nami agreed, "In fact, I remember him offering us a deal that if Luffy and Zoro surrendered themselves, he'd let the rest of us go free since we didn't have bounties on our heads."

"What?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Which we refused naturally," Usopp said at once. "But I have to say that we narrowly escaped prison because of him. He was really good… but I gotta say, I think that the Marines should have more guys like him in charge.

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready Mr. Commander," Luffy said with a laugh and a grin.

"I doubt you'll talk so tough when you hear we've captured Zoro," Jonathan informed him.

The smirk faded and he looked alarmed at that. "Zoro?" he repeated in surprise. The enjoyment seemed to disappear as he stood tall and asked 'Fortress Guy' where Zoro was.

"Why do you ask?" Jonathan asked, still sounding polite.

"Well why do you think?" Luffy asked, and finally, he sounded angry, "So that I can find him and rescue my friend!"

"Nice to know he cares," Zoro said, "But I was doing just fine. They just put me behind bars… they didn't even put me in chains or anything. I caught up on some sleep… it was dull as hell."

"They had guns pointed at us!" Usopp yelled at him.

"Don't be so hasty," Jonathan said calmly, "You'll be joining the swordsman soon enough, I'll make sure of that." And when he stepped forward, the step seemed to shake the room. Luffy looked ready to fight until the door behind him opened and Sanji appeared, grabbing Luffy by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back quickly into the room behind them.

They walked through the walls to see memory Sanji pull Luffy up. "You blew our cover we gotta get outta here!" he hissed to him and they were starting to run, but a beautiful woman and several cooks all appeared, each holding a pot, rolling pin, or anything else that you could find in the kitchen.

"This sorta reminds me of the Baratie," Nami said in surprise, "I bet you felt at home here, Sanji."

"It was a little nostalgic," Sanji nodded, "But these guys had nothing on the Baratie. Though I gotta say that I'm glad that we were able to get out without hurting Jessica. I never would've been able to forgive myself if that happened."

His past self stared at her worriedly as she said darkly, a hint of regret in her tone, "Such a shame that someone with skills like yours wastes their life as a filthy Straw Hat pirate."

"Give up while you can pirates!" one of the cooks yelled, "The cooks of Navarone are even tougher than the soldiers!"

Memory Sanji just smirked. "Bring it on," he said, "I come from cooks that make you look like school girls playing house."

"True, very true," current Sanji said proudly. His past self looked at Jessica worriedly, but the doors opened behind them and Jonathan was there. They were outnumbered and surrounded. But just then the doors to the side opened up and a flood of marines came in, looking for food.

"That's a lucky break," Robin answered as memory Sanji and Luffy were able to use this as a way to escape, bursting through the crowd and Luffy even called back that he'd see the commander around later as they hurried off.

"This is a dangerous game you guys are playing," Brook said, "After all, you're in the middle of enemy territory… but it's like you're running around the base like you own it."

"If they know you're afraid, then they'll use that against you," Sanji said as the memory faded around them. "We knew that they had Moss Head, and while we were running around the hallways, we overheard that they also had Usopp. I knew that they had to be in the brig, but finding it was the hard part… this place was huge and finding anyone in this place was almost impossible."

In the next memory they were standing next to the side of a large bridge and they looked up to see a flight of stairs. Out of a doorway, an old man in an orange jumpsuit came out and walked down the stairs.

"It's Mekao!" Usopp said happily.

"The old shipwright you were talking about?" Franky asked curiously.

"Yeah," Usopp nodded, "He came down to give me some advice to how to properly care for a ship."

"Why?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Well, when I came looking for the Merry, he said that he could tell that she was really loved," Usopp said softly. "He thought that all ships should be cared for. The Marines keep destroying their battleships after all…"

"Yeah, I can respect that," Franky nodded. "She was a mess and falling apart when I first saw her. But anyone can tell that she was really treasured."

"I wish I had a chance to meet Lamb-chan," Brook said sadly.

"Her name is Merry," Usopp said as memory Sanji whispered that he didn't like it. Something was fishy about this place, but he was sure that's where the others were.

"Well, let's do it!" Luffy decided as he got ready to charge in.

"Hold on a minute," memory Sanji told him sharply, "Let's think things through." He looked to the bridge and told him that the path they took to get here was completely unguarded… like the Marines were going out of their way to show them where their friends were… which could only mean one thing.

"A trap," Nami frowned.

"I know!" Luffy decided, "The boss of this fortress is a nice guy!"

Memory Sanji was subtle in his answer—in that he kicked him against the rock.

"Think he got the message?" Nami asked them as they all had mix reactions to hearing that answer. Anywhere from laughter to exasperation. "They're planning to ambush us!" memory Sanji snapped before he looked back to the door. "If anything, it saves time for those jerks, we'd be literally walking into a jail cell."

"So what are we waiting for?" Luffy asked, battered and bruised from the kick. "So it's a trap, big deal. We won't be getting any rescuing down unless we go in there."

"Good point, there really wasn't much choice at this point," Robin answered, "The longer that we stayed here, the more we were pushing our luck. They had countless Marines on their side and we were out of our element. We didn't even have Merry… we had to leave this place as soon as possible."

"I won't complain about that," Chopper nodded as past Sanji thought about the plan of just barging in. He said that he didn't think it was a good idea, but it was better than not doing anything. And he knew that they needed to leave as soon as possible as well.

"Sanji? It's not such a bad idea…" Luffy said.

"You're kidding right?" Nami whispered, "It was a very bad idea!"

"Yes, it is," memory Sanji hissed, but suddenly they charged off together.

"But you like it huh?" Luffy asked knowingly.

"No, I don't!" he retorted angrily as they ran up the stairs and after cautiously looking through the door, they went running off with Luffy in the front yelling out for Zoro and Usopp.

"I know that I wasn't there," Franky said, "But something tells me that running around and yelling isn't the best option."

"No, but hey, what else could we do at that point?" Sanji shrugged. "We rescued them so I say that it was a success."

Just then they heard Usopp's voice calling from somewhere down another flight of stairs. "HEY LUFFY! DOWN HERE!" but then he seemed to change his mind, "NO TURN BACK!" finally he decided, "RESCUE US IF YOU WANT TO!"

"What's going on?" Chopper asked him, "Didn't you want them to save you?"

"Of course I did," Usopp panted as he ran along, "But they had an ambush waiting for them down here! I didn't know what to say!" They followed them down to the end of a long passage, and there they found them. Usopp and Zoro were behind bars, their hands tied by boards behind them, Usopp's bag and Zoro's swords were in the cell next to them.

"I still can't believe that they caught you both," Brook called as Usopp cried to Luffy to be careful.

"Found them!" Luffy said happily as he grabbed the bars, "Hold on! We'll get you outta… th…" his voice died in his throat as he slowly seemed to melt against the bars, his energy leaving him and Usopp cried out in horror as he realized what the problem was. Sea Prism Stone Bars…

But they weren't alone like they said… there were several battalions of men on either side, blocking them all off. Even memory Sanji was looking worried at the number… it was funny considering how strong they had all become now, and were worried about bunch of weaklings like them in these days.

In desperation, he began kicking away at the bars, but they didn't even shake as the soldiers told him that it wasn't going to take anything short of a cannon to break those bars. Memory Usopp then told Sanji to reach into his pocket for an Impact Dial. Looking hesitant about that, Sanji did what he was told, making a point to try and warn the men. But when he pressed down on it, it was a Tone Dial. They could hear Usopp's voice in that and the men all started to laugh as Sanji turned as red as a tomato in embarrassment.

"I'm still going to kill you for that," current Sanji hissed to Usopp who blushed this time.

"Sorry," he muttered as past Sanji stood up and gave the Marines a death glare, snarling, "Shut up or I'll gut you!"

He said it in such a way that there was no way that was just a bluff… that shut all of them up—believing what he said and didn't say anything else.

"You're scary here," Franky said as Chopper hid behind Zoro, shaking in fear. Memory Sanji looked ready to kill Usopp, but the next dial that he took turned out to be an Odor Dial, and they found out that Luffy had stored his farts in there because he thought it'd be a funny joke.

"That is disgusting!" Nami yelled. However gross it was though, it did the job. It ended up igniting from the torches that hung on the walls and it blew everything up around them.

"Wow! Didn't see that coming!" Brook called happily. "Ah… were you all alright?"

"Don't worry, nothing bad," Zoro said with an indifferent shrug. His past self hadn't moved an inch from where he had been sitting as memory Sanji pulled himself out of the rubble. "Hey! You guys ok?!" he yelled in worry.

Past Usopp was a mess, his eyes rolled back and badly burnt as he croaked out, "Mission… accomplished."

"Barely! It almost ended up killing you all!" Nami yelled as memory Zoro pulled the boards holding his hands apart. The past version of Sanji freed Usopp from his own boards, almost smashing his hands before they heard Luffy croak out, "Help… meeee…."

Luffy was trapped underneath the bars and Sanji sighed. "Every time I turn around…" he muttered before he bet down and heaved the heavy bars off him.

"That had to be miserable," Robin answered, knowing how awful Sea Stone was. She rubbed her wrists, remembering the helpless feeling of being unable to do anything.

"Is it really that bad for you guys?" current Usopp asked her in worry. He had always been curious about how Sea Stone affected Devil Fruit Users.

"Well, you don't have the same fear as when you fall into the ocean," she answered, "Because we have no fear of drowning… however…" she trailed off as Chopper and Brook seemed nervous.

"What's it like?" Nami asked curiously.

"We can't use our powers… we feel so… weak and helpless," she sighed. "Imagine swimming for an entire day I suppose… you'd be exhausted wouldn't you? We can move… but just barely. It's like having heavy weights tied directly to your skin. That's what the sea, and Sea Prism Stone, does to Devil Fruit Users."

"That does sound bad," Franky said sympathetically. "And that is why I'll never eat one."

"Same here," Zoro and Sanji both nodded—even though the latter had once had a desire to eat one.

After Sanji got Luffy up, memory Zoro heaved a boulder that had been on top of his swords, and then threw Usopp his bag of tricks. "Well," he called once he put his swords back to his hip, "No point in staying around! Let's get outta here!"

"Let's go, Luffy," past Sanji smirked and Luffy beamed after he dusted himself off.

"Right!" he cheered, "EVERYBODY RUN!"

And that's what they did. They took off like a flash with Usopp shouting behind them that they shouldn't let Zoro lead because he'd get them all lost. They laughed a little as the memory faded.

"Sad thing is… we did get lost," Sanji said.

"You what?" Chopper asked in surprise. "How do you get lost going to the door?"

"That's what I want to know," Sanji said thoughtfully as Zoro glared at him.

"Oh, would you just shut up?!" he hissed as the memory appeared and they were outside on the edge of a cliff overlooking the rest of the base.

"Ah great," memory Zoro groaned, "A dead end!"

"No!" Luffy called, pointing down to a walkway that connected to their ledge, "We can run along this cliff here!" But before they could head down there, gunfire came and the three Straw Hats who weren't bulletproof dodge behind some rocks as they looked up to see Jonathan there with one of the lieutenants who had them cornered back in the brig, standing on a balcony just above them.

"So you finally shown yourselves, eh?" Jonathan asked calmly.

"He doesn't seem surprised that you all escaped," Brook said in surprise as they heard memory Usopp and Sanji mutter that it was the base commander.

"Hey, fortress guy," Luffy said happily, "Why are you up there?"

"This is the balcony to my office," he answered casually as Luffy jumped up to another rock so that he could get a better look, with memory Usopp warning him not to do it.

"My crew! I rescued them! What do you think?" Luffy asked him, and he smiled when Jonathan look impressed. "Sorry I beat your guys up," Luffy went on, though he didn't sound too sorry, "but I told you that I was gonna leave when I wanted to didn't I?"

"This whole thing was like a dare to him," Sanji stated as he watched.

"When someone tells him that it can't be done," Zoro said knowingly, "Luffy just takes that as a challenge. The commander said that it can't be done, but he wants to prove that he can do it."

"Indeed," Jonathan answered, "Do you still intend to do that, Straw Hat Luffy? Leave?"

"Yep, we're leaving right now!" Luffy answered happily and Jonathan laughed good-naturedly.

"You're funny," he smiled. "Do you actually think you can escape from Navarone? With your treasure?"

Nami's eyes twitched at that as the memory faded with Luffy said confidently, "You bet I do! We're pirates! You guys can't catch us!" Just then they heard the sounds of a cannon going off and the memory disappeared.

"What happened?" Chopper asked worriedly.

"They fired on us," Zoro said in a bored tone. "They had terrible aim though."

"I had a feeling that was you," Robin stated, remembering the rush of Marines running around and the explosions in the distance. She smiled, knowing that it could've only been the boys. She was just surprised that they remained quiet for so long.

"I know," Nami sighed as the memory came back and they were all suddenly back on the Merry and sailing unusually close to the wall.

"Whoa, what happened?" Brook asked in confusion. "How'd we get back here so soon?"

"I guess parts of the memory skipped," Usopp said before he quickly told them that they escaped and were heading to the docks to where he'd seen the Merry. When they tried to cross the bridge connecting the mountain in the middle to the cliffs, they were attacked by a tough group of Marines before Luffy broke about part of the bridge and they all fell into the bay.

"He just never thinks about the consequences of his actions," Sanji sighed in annoyance before he almost fainted in joy over memory Nami in her bright pink nurse's outfit.

"Wow Nami-san!" Brook gasped out, "You look amazing! Would you mind letting me see your panties?"

Nami's natural response was to kick his head right into the ground.

"Ow," Franky winced before he looked to Nami and asked how she got there. She sighed, shooting Brook another annoyed look before she explained that while they were in the medical ward Dr. Kobato found out that they were pirates. But she was so grateful to them for helping her, and to Chopper giving her the confidence to be a doctor, she decided to help them find their ship and even pretended to be their hostage.

At that point they all headed straight towards Dock 88, but when they got there it turned out that Jonathan had already predicted what they would do and they had at least half the Marines in G-8 there waiting for them. Luffy ended up getting trapped in a net of Sea Stone, but they used Nami and Dr. Kobato as their hostages to get onboard and Mekao—who happened to be Kobato's father—decided to release the Merry into the water.

"Why would he do that?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Well, I never did found out why," Usopp said, "But I guess… he just wanted to help us?"

"I guess he took a liking to us," Sanji laughed a little as he added that the Marines were able to grab Kobato, but since Nami was dressed like a nurse when the rest of them got to the ship, the marines thought that they still had a hostage and let them go.

"That explains it," Brook said as memory Zoro was asking the others in an annoyed voice why they were hugging the base of the cliff with Nami snapping back that they needed protection. They'd have cannons blasting them from both sides if they went straight down the middle. Memory Usopp—who apparently had been knocked out—was coming to and Luffy happily explained how they escaped. As they talked, they looked to memory Sanji who was lovesick over Nami as she stared around, trying to figure out what to do.

"Well, we escaped," she said, "But what good are we without maps or charts? We were way better off with you guys in jail! What are we gonna do now?"

"That's cold," Franky winced.

"Well, what could we do?" she asked before memory Sanji was staring up above them happily. "ROBIN!" he cried and they all looked up to see that past Robin had created a rope of arms and was swinging down towards them, a pair of sunglasses glinting in the light. "Now there's a girl with style!" memory Sanji cried out.

"You couldn't have arrived at a better time," current Nami told her. "Looks like we can always count on you."

Current Robin laughed. "I'm just glad that I could help." Her past self landed on the deck and greeted them all, and she truly sounded glad to see them as she handed a map of the fortress to Nami who beamed at her, looking ready to cry. They had a chance to escape, and not a moment too soon for cannonballs were flying around at them.

"I think they're done playing around here!" Chopper called worriedly, having forgot about this part.

"They're shooting at us!" Luffy called.

"I thought they weren't going to attack us because we had a hostage!" past Usopp yelled, but memory Nami didn't seem surprised as she called, "We knew it was only going to be a matter of time!"

"It wouldn't have been hard for them to realize their nurse staff was all accounted for," present-day Nami nodded. They turned the rudder and were now heading full speed in the direction memory Nami pointed—three battleships giving chase. They continued sailing onwards until she showed them the exit.

"Yeah!" Franky cheered. "We're getting outta here! So long G-8! It's been real!"

"I wouldn't get ahead of myself here," Zoro muttered as past Nami called out the giant steel door was their only way out. And that they had to break through that gate. But then Usopp ran back up the deck and yelled that they had a problem, all their cannonballs were gone.

"Those stupid Marines dare to call pirates thieves," the present Nami said angrily. "Do they know how hard we had to work for all that?!"

"Wait…?" Brook said softly, slowly realizing that if they took the cannonballs… then did that mean that they also took all their…?

"You're kidding me!" past Nami yelled down at him in shock, "We don't have a single cannonball?!"

"Not a one!" he told her regretfully, "No explosives of any kind! Not even the boxes they came in!"

"Doesn't matter, it was going to take a lot more than our one cannon to do any kind of damage to that door anyway," current Zoro added.

"Well, that's hardly surprising," past Robin reasoned, "Considering they confiscated the Going Merry."

"What do we do?" Usopp cried out to them in fear, "We can't bust through that gate without some serious firepower!"

But Luffy had that covered for them. They watched as cannons from the gatehouse were fired directly at them and Luffy jumped up as he inflated himself and caught the cannonballs, hitting the sail for a moment before he was able to send them flying back and at the gate, which blew up in a massive fireball, and thick, black smoke billowed everywhere.

"Well, that's problem solved!" Franky cheered out as Chopper jumped up and down.

"That was even better than seeing it the first time!" he cried happily as past Nami told Luffy that he did a great job and they should sail out of here. But as they entered the black smoke, thinking they were in the clear, they heard Nami let out a loud, piercing scream as if she had her arm chopped off.

"WHAT'S WRONG?!" Brook cried out in shock as they looked back to see her running down from the upper deck and to the door where the storage was and threw it open. She stood there frozen for a few minutes as Usopp asked what was wrong. She stared in horror at the empty room before she cried out, "We've been had! MY TREASURE!"

"Oh, they took all your gold!" Franky yelled over the noise and the black smoke got even darker and they realized that the memory was fading, with Nami's voice echoing across the memory to turn back and get their gold.

"You were willing to risk your life for that gold?" Brook asked.

"You saw what we had to go through for that stuff!" she retorted. "And we needed it! We could put that gold to a lot better use than those Marines! What was the point in leaving without all our hard-earned gold?! We needed it!"

"Yeah! But you were almost killed here!" Brook pointed out, "What good is gold if you're dead?"

"Hey, since when do pirates turn their backs on gold?" she demanded. "Look! We got out of the smoke and hid in one of the abandoned docks so that we could figure out what we were going to do!" The next memory appeared at her words and they were all back in the cabin of the Merry, most of them sitting at the table and looking at Nami as Sanji went looking for any food that they had leftover that wasn't taken by Marines.

"Just so I understand you correctly," memory Nami asked them, "You guys are ok with us leaving this place without our gold?"

"It was too bad, but at the end of the day, I still believe that our lives are more important," current Usopp added.

"But without it, we wouldn't be on the Sunny now would we?" she asked and as Brook looked puzzled, Franky suddenly realized where all that money went to… he suddenly started to sweat nervously. As their past selves all nodded to Nami, who sighed. "Well, that's too bad," she said with a smug look, "Cause you know pirate treasure is always divided up. Even after splitting up the loot, we'd still have more gold then we'd know what to do with! Just think of all the stuff we could've bought."

"That… was logic I couldn't argue with," Usopp sighed with a nod. That got everyone's attention, and soon they were talking excitedly about the things they wanted to buy. But then Nami added that one member was going to take an extra cut… eight percent. Naturally, they all thought she was talking about herself, and even Sanji was looking angry at that until she answered that it wasn't for her but it was for a special lady. She smiled at them and informed them all that they were going to set aside the gold to pay for the repairs they desperately needed to make.

"A lady?" Luffy repeated in confusion, before he understood. "Oh, wait, you mean the Merry?"

"That's right," she said, "Isn't it about time we pay her back for all she's done for us?"

"That's true," Brook said softly, "But…"

"But it's already too late for this old girl," Franky sighed. "The damage is just too much for her. In fact, if I didn't know how special she was here, I'd be amazed that she's still floating."

"Special?" Brook repeated in confusion as all the Straw Hats held expressions of grief and loss.

"This was before we found out how broken she was," Nami sighed sadly. "But with all that gold, I thought for sure that we'd…?"

"It's not that we don't love the Sunny," Chopper sniffled, rubbing his hoof over his blue nose. "But Merry…?"

"She was one of a kind," Usopp said, looking back up with tears burning at his eyes. "She was as much a crewmate as any of us… and she was the greatest ship in the world!"

No one bothered to correct him, all of them feeling the same way. In Franky's case, she was the best… but now the Sunny was there to take that role and carry on her will. Brook was lost… he knew that the Merry was special to them all, but they were all acting like she was a living thing. Though even as he looked at the battered and worn walls of the cabin, he couldn't help but feel the same… as though this ship was another friend… looking out for them all. Once again, he lamented the fact that he was the last crewmember to join, and the only one who hadn't meet the Merry.

After the past Straw Hats all talked it over, and thought of all that Merry had gone through for them, they realized that Nami was right. She had been there for them since Usopp left his home in the East Blue, gone over Reverse Mountain, flew up to Sky Island, and Chopper even risked his life for her when he was attacked back in the Upper Yard.

Past Usopp nodded, adding that they shouldn't forget that mysterious someone fixed the ship for them. When he noticed that they were all looking at him funny, he yelled out, "I SAW SOMEBODY! I SWEAR!"

"Did you ever figure out who it had been?" Brook asked them curiously.

"Yeah," Zoro said softly. "Though it seems impossible… we were able to thank them for all they did for us."

"But…?" Brook began but Franky shook his head. "No, you'll see…"

Brook was feeling frustrated, but didn't say anything else to it as Luffy said, "When you think about it. This ship's gone through a lot for us."

"And that's exactly why we need to give her some tender loving care," memory Nami added gently as her present self couldn't help but feel a sense of pain at the thought of knowing that their TLC came too late.

"Good idea!" past Usopp said, in full agreement. "The Going Merry's great repair!"

"Let's do it!" Luffy agreed as well.

"It's settled," past Nami said, glad that they were all on the same page now, "And since we don't know how much the repairs will be," Nami went on, "We'll just hold off dividing up the treasure until we do."

Past Sanji came over with a plate of leftovers that he was able to scrape together of what was left of the food as they talked more about how they were wondering how much longer Usopp's repairs were gonna last. Usopp rolled his eyes and snapped at them for the millionth time that he wasn't a shipwright. But he agreed that Mekao said the same thing before, it needed professional repairs. But then Luffy seemed to realize something.

"That's it!" Luffy said suddenly standing up. "We gotta get a shipwright for our crew! Are journey is far from over, right?!" they nodded, "We really need someone with those skills." They nodded again, "And the Merry isn't just our ship! She's our home to! So let's go find a shipwright who can keep the Merry safe!"

The memory faded after that.

"So I guess that means that the SUPER me is going to be coming into these memories at long last?" Franky asked eagerly.

"Yeah, it was still a couple weeks before we got to Water 7 though and a lot happened between then, but yeah, I'm guessing that you're gonna show up finally," Zoro said. "Of course… we sure didn't start off as friends now did we?"

Franky laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah… but hey, it all worked out in the end didn't it?"

"Really? What happened?" Brook asked curiously.

"When we first met him, he and his thugs stole more than half of our money from us," Nami said, her eyes narrowed in danger and Franky held up his hands in surrender.

"What?" Brook cried in shock.

"Now to be fair," Franky said quickly, "I thought that you were just a bunch of low-life pirates who stole that money! If I had known what you had to go through for it, I'd never have touched it! But it all worked out didn't it?"

"Just… shut up," Nami said angrily as the memories came back, "I don't want to talk to you right now!"

"Just be happy that she's not beating you up for that," Usopp whispered to him, which Franky nodded. Truthfully, while he wanted to see himself finally come into the scene, he wasn't looking forward to see those old wounds reopen. He could only hope that they were over quick, and to stay out of Nami's reach in case she decided to beat him up.

They were next seen standing in a dark base, one of the abandoned docks that they mentioned before and the first thing they saw was that the Merry was covered in paper, paint, and plywood so that it looked like a Marine battleship that a three-year-old drew.

"What's that?" Franky asked as they all laughed.

"We thought that we needed to disguise the Merry just to be on the safe side in case anyone came here," Usopp laughed. Their past selves were all starting to head off, looking ready to get their gold back, when memory Usopp suddenly called out behind them, "Hey! Wait a minute!"

They all looked back, asking what the matter was. "We can't just rush off like this," he said, "Shouldn't we come up with some kind of plan first?" they all looked at each other and he sighed. "Oh great," he sighed, "We're off to a successful start. Don't you think those Marines will notice seven people sneaking around their fortress?"

"I'm surprised, normally you all at least try to think of a plan before it all goes wrong, Yohohoho," Brook teased.

"No one was really thinking I suppose," Robin laughed, she hadn't even realized just how comfortable and part of the crew that she had become here. She supposed that they were both a good, and a bad, influence on her.

Past Usopp sat down and they pulled out the map of the base and they all began to talk about their plan—after he yelled at Nami, asking what happened to the Waver. He then took the map of the fortress and they all gathered around him as he began to explain it. He explained that the Gold Recovery Team would consist of himself, Luffy, Zoro, and Robin. While Nami and Sanji were to go and get the Waver Recovery Team with Chopper standing guard over the ship. Chopper looked ready to cry at that—possibly bad memories of the last time he stood watch over the Merry coming back to him.

"You were the one who had the easiest and safest job, I don't know what you were complaining about," Zoro said.

Chopper blushed. "It's just… if I was attacked in a creepy old base by myself, I wouldn't have been able to fight them all off!"

"But you did your part, and we were glad that nothing happened," Nami told him and he blushed a little bit redder.

"Oh, be quiet! I don't know why you all keep trying to flatter me because it never works!" he danced around a little as memory Usopp used a little flattery to reassure him that he'd be fine, and they all got up, ready to go. The Gold Recovery Team was to move by land and take the shortest route to the vault while the Waver Recovery Team were to take a patched up boat across the bay to where Nami hid the Waver. They were then to meet back here once they got their things, after that, they were to make a daring escape.

"All in all, it was a good plan, Usopp-san," Brook agreed. "But did it all work?"

"Well, we got the waver back pretty much according to plan," Nami said thinking back as the memory shifted. "But when we got back to the Merry, we found out that the others weren't back yet."

"If the gold was where we thought it was, maybe," Robin answered, "But the vault that we thought the gold was in was empty."

"What happened?" Franky asked as she quickly explained that Commander Jonathan tricked them into another ambush, this one in a huge room that was locked from the outside. With countless Marines, things looked bad until the real Agent Shepherd opened the door and gave them the chance to escape.

"Why…?" Franky asked slowly.

"He was an idiot," Zoro answered in an unconcerned voice and they nodded. "He wanted the credit for taking us out, but instead, he ended up helping us out big time."

"That's just funny," Franky said as Brook laughed.

"Condoriano is a real laugh," Usopp laughed. "Anyway, long story short, we ran into Nami and she figured that the gold was in the Commander's office so they went to go get it while we went back to the Merry."

At those words, they were back in the G-8 base with Luffy and Nami on the Waver, and Luffy struggling to stay on with the gold weighing them down. "LUFFY!" Nami screamed, "DO YOU SEE THE MERRY OUT THERE ANYWHERE?!"

"It's so dark, I can't see anything," Luffy answered before he spotted their ship in front of him and he warned Nami to be careful of the 'battleship', but she just smiled as they spotted Usopp in the mast, waving a light over at them.

"You know in the dark… it does look like a warship," current Nami laughed as she watched their past selves greet them and pull them onboard with their things. With everything and everyone accounted for, they were finally ready to break out of here for good. They followed behind several other marine ship, headed up and snuck behind them. When the tip of their ship hit theirs, it shattered into pieces and the Merry burst through.

Luffy, on the bow, "FULL SPEED AHEAD MERRY! YEAH!"

"Oh, that was a dirty trick!" Franky roared with laughter.

"We're pirates… remember?" Robin reminded him with a smile and Chopper laughed happily.

"THANK YOU FOR SHOWING US WHERE THE CURRENTS ARE!" past Nami called, sitting calmly on the side of the ship passed the battleship, "WE COULDN'T HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR WITHOUT YOU!"

"WE OWE YOU ONE!" Usopp laughed from the mast, next to Robin, "THANKS YOU GUYS!"

"Now that's adding insult to injury!" Brook laughed happily. "Now we get to see you all escape?"

"Again, don't get your hopes up," Zoro said.

"What?" Franky asked startled, "What'd you forget now?"

"We didn't forget anything… they had one last trick up their sleeve for us," Sanji sighed.

"It turns out that when the tide goes out of this place, the lake becomes so shallow that we were…" Nami began but they saw what happened first-hand. The water receded… and they were suddenly stranded on a reef with a giant hole in the Merry's side. With no water they were stuck in the mud while the Marines were given time to mobilize. Luffy fell over the side, and believed that he was drowning until he noticed that the water was practically gone.

"Oh, this isn't good," Franky frowned, "There's no way that the Going Merry can sail with a hole like that in her side!"

"Well, good thing that we didn't sail out then," Sanji muttered softly.

"On the bright side…" past Robin said, "The water's so low we don't have to worry about the ship sinking until the next high tide."

"That's true, but we can't escape either!" memory Nami cried out in fear. But soon the lights came on like spotlights once again and there were cannons pointing at them.

"Oh, hell," Franky said, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire!"

Over a loudspeaker they heard Commander Jonathan's voice calling out to them. "ATTENTION STRAW HAT LUFFY AND HIS FELLOW CREWMATES!" they all looked up. "ALL OF YOU HAVE FOUGHT VAILANTLY AGAINST ONE OF THE MARINES GREATEST FORTRESSES! AND FOR THAT I SALUTE YOU! YOU MAY BE THE ENEMY BUT YOU'VE IMPRESSED ME GREATLY! HOWEVER IT'S TIME WE END THIS GAME! THIS IS CHECKMATE! YOU'VE GOT NOWHERE TO RUN AND DON'T EVEN THINK OF TRYING TO ESCAPE! YOU'VE PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT, BUT ACCEPT IT! YOU'VE BEEN BEATEN!"

"Not yet we haven't!" present-day Usopp yelled as Chopper hollered loudly in agreement as Luffy stood up, lowering his hat over his eyes.

"NOW THEN," Jonathan's voice went on, "SURRENDER AND AS COMMANDER OF THIS FORTRESS, YOU HAVE MY WORD YOU AND YOUR CREW WILL BE TREATED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT! GIVE UP QUIETLY AND I'LL EVEN MAKE YOU A DEAL!"

"I have to say that I believed him here," Zoro said, "Not that we were going to do it, but I've got the feeling that he wasn't lying."

"He certainly seems like a good man," Brook said softly, "but I'm glad to hear that you didn't listen."

Memory Nami was looking scared as she looked to Luffy, where a dark smile was curling on his mouth.

"Did you believe that he was going to go through with it?" Robin asked curiously.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure what he was going to do," she said, but she didn't go on. If Luffy thought that it was the only way to save the rest of the crew, she knew that he would've gone through with it and that scared her more than anything else. 'Luffy…' she thought worriedly, 'I hope that we get you back soon… it's just not the same without you. And I want to give you a piece of my mind for all these stupid stunts of yours…'

"YOU AND RORANOA ZORO ARE THE ONLY STRAW HATS WITH BOUNTIES ON YOUR HEADS SO I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO HAND YOU OVER TO HEADQUARTERS!" Jonathan went on, "HOWEVER, I PROMISE TO LET THE REST OF YOUR CREW GO FREE! BUT IF YOU ATTEMPT ANOTHER ESCAPE… I'LL GET MAD."

"The only ones with bounties? What about you Robin?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"Well, I'm guessing that by this point, they didn't know that I was part of the crew just yet," she said with a shrug. "I can't say that I'm surprised…"

"Fair enough…" Sanji offered with a shrug. "But you think that all the Marine losers who had been chasing us would've seen such a beautiful lady with us…?"

"Probably for the best," Robin answered, feeling a great sense of relief that her crew hadn't been put into danger because of her just yet.

The Straw Hats were all in a tough spot here. No matter what way you looked at it, they didn't have much choice here. But because of their adventure on Skypiea, they had a few tricks up their sleeves as well. Memory Usopp pulled out an Impact Dial, telling them that he used it while they were escaping and had a lot of attacks stored up in it. He was sure that they could use it to blast out of here, and Robin suggested that they used the same octopus they used to leave Skypiea to float out of here—which Luffy pulled out of his pants.

"Ah… why did he have that thing in his pants?" Brook asked in surprise as Robin burst out laughing once again.

"I never did understand that," Sanji sighed. "What an idiot…"

"Well, it's a good thing that he was able to keep the octopus safe," Robin chuckled. "And he was also the one with the Flame Dial as well…"

And after some shouting, he pulled out the very same Dial, confessing that he had been playing with it in the kitchen.

"He does have his uses I guess," Sanji shrugged. Memory Usopp then held up the Impact Dial, muttering about who fire it and they all gave him a rather evil would look… it was only fair to let the owner do it.

"You look like you were going to eat him here," Franky said, noticing the dark shine in each of their eyes as they made Usopp do it, and he screamed in horror.

"Why did I have to use it?" Usopp whimpered, "That thing hurts like hell!"

"But you saved us, Usopp," Nami offered with a devious smile. "It wasn't so bad was it?"

"Then why didn't you do it?" he demanded.

"She's too gorgeous to do something like that," Sanji said lovingly and she smiled back at him and he almost fell over in bliss as Usopp rolled his eyes. They owed him bigtime for that!

So the men took Usopp below deck to where the hole was, supported his arms and shoulders—or holding him there since they weren't given him a choice—and he ended up thrashing around once he realized what he was doing. But they counted down… and with an explosion they could feel the ship being dragged across the ground and lift off into the sky as they were flung backwards and hit the wall painfully.

"That had to hurt!" Chopper winced as they crashed, remembering how he had to treat them all after that escape.

"Come on! We're getting outta there!" Franky cheered as Luffy looked down at the hole and they could see the water coming up closer and he cried that they were falling. They heard Chopper yelling at Robin to get the octopus and Luffy ran up to the deck in time to see that Robin had used her powers to stretch the creature out and they were now inflating it with air.

They followed him up in time to see memory Nami screaming at him to use the Flame Dial, which he then joined the girls, flames and air both being blown and the octopus was quickly growing. They were all pleading with the octopus, telling it to fly.

"Come on! You can do it!" Brook cheered on with them, and they did it. The octopus had grown up to full size and were suddenly flying upwards, heading to the cliff just as the first rays of sun could be seen over the wall. "YEAH! WE DID IT!" Luffy yelled joyfully. As he got Chopper down from the balloon, a large cannonball came flying from the ground and hit the cannons that were aimed at them.

"WHAT WERE THEY SHOOTING AT?!" current Usopp cried out in shock, never understanding what happened.

"Bad aim?" Zoro asked, but it didn't matter. Whatever happened, it helped them out… they managed to make it up the cliff and finally over it so that they could see the open sea. They all beamed happily, staring at the beautiful sunrise.

Franky was laughing his head off. "Dude! I could only imagine the looks on their faces when they saw you flying off! That was classic!"

"Maybe we should work on a balloon for the Sunny just in case?" Chopper asked eagerly and Franky thought that over.

"Not a bad idea," he said, "Tell ya what, once we get back to the Sunny, I'll look her over and see what I can do!"

"Really?" Usopp and Chopper beamed at him, their eyes glowing.

"That would be so cool!" Chopper said in wonder and Franky struck a pose as they cheered. The others just smiled at that scene as the sunrise memory faded and they were left back in the dead of night, all of them starting to grow very tired from everything they've seen. No one said anything else as they politely waited for the memories to come back. The next thing they knew was that they were still on the Merry, the sun had long since gone down, but they were still flying through the air with the octo-balloon.

"Looks like you guys were up in the air for a long time," Brook said, looking in wonder at the sight.

"All day and most of the night," Sanji confirmed. "We decided to go on for as long as we could. Usopp had a few Flame Dials and we decided to just leave it to fate where we fell."

"So long as it wasn't in another Marine Base, I could live with it," Nami said. "And with the Breath Dials we had helped us to control our course so it wasn't hard. It was actually a really good time."

"All day in the air, truly the only way to travel!" Usopp sighed dreamily as they heard hammering below and glanced down to see that memory Usopp and Chopper were both dangling from ropes over the side of the merry and patched up the holes. But as they watched, the Flame Dial that they attached to the mast to keep the balloon going had gone out.

Luffy gave a sharp intact of breath. "It's out!" he said.

Memory Zoro, who was sleeping, looked up, "Fuel burnt out huh?" and at once the octopus began to lost height. "Hey! Usopp!" he called, "Going down!"

At his words, the two climbed up the side and made it onboard just as the ship landed with a crash on the water. Though not as violent as their first landing, it was still hard. The octopus was back to its small size, and Chopper was treating the small burns that it obtained from the fire. After Chopper reassured it that it would be fine, Luffy picked it up and gave it a hug. "That's two times now you helped us out of a real tight spot!" he then threw him overboard, "Thanks buddy!"

It stuck its head back out and began to wave a tentacle at them in farewell. Everyone all said goodbye and thanked it for all it did for them.

"You guys are the only ones I know who would want to thank an octopus," Franky laughed, "But I'm glad you let him go… if he stuck around, Luffy may have wanted to eat him."

"Maybe, but after he helped us out like that, I doubt it," Zoro laughed a little as the octopus gave one last little wave before he ducked under the water and disappeared.

Luffy beamed as he jumped everyone to attention. "Well then…" he said to them all excitedly, "Set the sails! Hop to! Let's find the next island!"

"Whoa! Hold on Luffy!" memory Usopp said tiredly, "Can't we rest for a little while?"

"I don't know about you, but I was already wanting something interesting to happen," Zoro said as he watched them.

"Hey! It was non-stop action ever since we left for Sky Island!" he reminded him, "Everyone was tired! Give me a break!"

Surprisingly, it was memory Nami who spoke up. "You're a little too relaxed," she answered him as she climbed up the stairs, "Listen, that attitude isn't going to get us very far on these seas."

"I agree with that," Robin smiled. "Pirates rarely get a chance to relax and not have to worry about attack."

"Hey!" Usopp retorted, "I was kidding!" But his past self fell to his knees, suddenly looking exhausted. "I don't think I wanna hear this."

"The waves look a little too strange for comfort," she went on, looking at the sky and the sea before giving them orders to turn to port. It wasn't a moment too soon, for a giant wave suddenly came up behind them and Usopp and Chopper screamed as she smiled knowingly. Any thoughts of resting now far from their minds as they went to work.

"Wait! There's something in there!" Brook called, and as the waves came closer, the faces of three giant monkeys appeared.

"SEA MONKEYS!" the past Usopp screamed and the memory disappeared.

"Yohohoho, it's just one thing after enough!" Brook said happily, "That's how it's been since you came to the Grand Line! It was only after leaving Alabasta did you guys have even a little bit of a break. But now it's just adventure after adventure!"

"Yeah, I'm tired just thinking about it," Chopper said. "And it's only going to get harder from here! We're going to get to Water 7 and Enies Lobby soon!"

"Yes! I read about that in the Logbook as well!" Brook said at once, "I am truly anxious to see that! I can't believe that you all invaded such a place on your own!"

"It was definitely one of our biggest wins ever," Zoro agreed, "But boy was that day a pain in the ass."

"A job well worth it in the end," Sanji sighed happily, looking at Robin with love-struck eyes...