Enter The Devil's Child: Nico Robin...

Chapter 24 - Enter The Devil's Child: Nico Robin...

The night was pressing in on all around them as they knelt in the grass, trying to catch their breath, and resister what just happened to them all.

"This… is… ridiculous!" Usopp gasped, speaking for them, so out of breath that he was panting, unable to speak in full sentences.

"Tell… me about it," Nami said, looking around, feeling a strong sense of frustration as Chopper examined Zoro's wound.

"I'm going to kill that thing," Zoro threatened as he kept his hand over the bleeding hole in his gut. After the Crocodile slime appeared, they began a fierce fight with it. The whole time, it was trying to get to the two graves behind them, clearly looking ready to destroy them. Nothing they did any damage to it however.

None of their attacks hardly fazed the thing. For less than ten minutes, they fought with the Crocodile slime, avoiding his hook while their attacks were like poking him with a stick. Once, he was finally able to get around them all, and raised his hook, ready to strike Ace's grave… but thankfully he didn't so much as scratch it…

"What were you thinking?!" Chopper demanded as he dabbed at the wound with a salve to stop the bleeding.

"Relax," Zoro said, his eye closed as he lay back and let Chopper tend to him. "The wound isn't that deep. He really was just a fake… he didn't even go halfway through."

"It's still bad!" Chopper snapped, as he reached into his bag and pulled out some bandages. "What were you thinking standing in front of that thing like that?!"

"If I didn't do it, then he would've destroyed it," Zoro said firmly, jerking his thumb over at the grave markers with a sense of relief. "Good," he said, "Not a scratch."

"Don't you dare take this off until that heals!" Chopper warned him angrily as he began to bandage him up. He guess that he should've known that he would do this. He was both amazed and horrified to see that when that fake Crocodile attacked, Zoro intercepted it with his own body, and getting the hook stabbed right into him.

It was just after that did the slime fall apart once again like it did with Arlong. Sanji, Franky, and Brook went racing after it when it fled, and now the rest of them were waiting to see if they were able to find it. The others escaped the battle pretty much unscathed aside from some minor bruising.

Robin, Nami, and Usopp were watching as Zoro just let Chopper tell him off as he opened his eye stared up at the sky. Maybe it was stupid, but the truth was, he never would've been able to look Luffy in the eye again if he had let this thing destroy his brother's final resting place. Besides, he had far worse injuries than a minor hole in his gut… nothing that he wouldn't recover from.

While he was hoping that the three who went after that thing had been able to find a way to kill it, a part of him was hoping that they weren't… so that he could get payback for this later. So when they came back, that part of him was a little happy to hear that it had escaped once again.

"What the hell are we gonna do about that thing?!" Usopp cried out, pointing a shaking finger in the direction that the thing had took off in. "What's the good of fighting this thing if we can't even touch it?!"

"I don't know," Robin answered softly and they all looked to her as Zoro cautiously sat up. "But this thing was much more realistic than it had been with Arlong. Since it spent so much time hiding in the memories with Crocodile, I guess that it had enough memories to be able to stick to that form much easier than before."

"But it didn't have any sand powers though," Chopper pointed out, slapping Zoro's hand when he tried to take the bandage off. "It only attacked us with that stupid hook!"

"Maybe," she said, "But it also gained Crocodile's personality." She looked to the graves and added, "He went after something he knew would make us angry. You got hurt because of that, Zoro."

"Yeah," he said, pushing Chopper off him as he took several more deep breaths and felt better.

"That's what Crocodile was known for," she added softly, thinking it all over. "Taking advantage of people's feelings and using them against them. If that had been the real one, then I'm sure that would've been a tactic that he would've done as well."

"So what does this all mean?!" Nami cried exasperatedly. "What are we supposed to do?! We don't know what that thing is, what it wants, or how it's doing this! So what do we do?"

"You think if we knew we would still be here?!" Franky snapped, punching his giant fists together in frustration and making a deep clanging sound. "Damn, it was like fighting air! It's there but you can't do anything to it."

"Hey, Moss Head!" Sanji snapped, "Didn't Ace tell you about how to fight that thing?!"

Zoro glared at him. "I don't know if it was him or not! Only that we had to beat that thing to get Luffy back, Eyebrow Cook! That was all he said!"

"What did you say?" Sanji snarled.

"Shut up you two!" Nami yelled at them before she looked back to Robin, who looked back to Zoro and pressed on.

"Didn't you say that we had to lead that thing back to the ruins?" she asked, trying to remember everything that Zoro said. It was hard to do so with the memories they've seen clouding up everything else.

Zoro blinked before he thought about it. "Oh, yeah… he did say something like that…?"

"That Moss Head of yours is also empty," Sanji hissed under his breath.

"Yohohoho, so now all we have to do is find it and lure it back to the ruins!" Brook said happily. "How hard can that be?"

"Ok," Franky said in annoyance, "But how do we do that?! And say that we do get back there, what next? How is fighting it there gonna be any different than us fighting like a bunch of squirts who never threw a punch in their lives?!"

No one knew what to say. But their tempers flared a little in frustration when the memories started up again. They were all on the Merry's deck once again, the ship still bearing the fresh scars of the battle with the Marines and past Zoro was leaning over the side of the ship to look behind him.

"Looks like the Marines have stopped following us!" he called, before they heard several loud groans behind them, as if the fact that they were now out of danger was a bad thing.

"That's good news! We shook them off!" he added as he glared at them, but the rest of the crew only groaned a little louder before they spotted them. All other five members of the crew were all lying down on the upper deck with their heads through the railing, looking close to tears with big, sad puppy dog eyes looking behind them.

"Stop it!" past Zoro snapped at them, "What's with the pathetic groans!?"

"I MISS HER!" they all cried out together and it didn't take long at all for them to know who they were talking about.

"You were the least saddest out of all of us to say goodbye to Vivi," Chopper pointed out to him.

"Hellos and goodbyes always come, there's not much point in worrying about it," he answered back firmly. "Think of it this way… at least we know for a fact that she's safe in her country. We don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Yeah, but didn't you miss her at all?!" Nami asked sharply.

"I miss her a lot!" Chopper cried out at once as Zoro just sat there, his wound already starting to feel better as he watched his past self telling them to stop whining.

"If you wanted her to join that bad, then you shouldn't have let her leave!" he told them and that got them all gasping.

"How could you even suggest something like that?!" Franky demanded.

"What? They were all crying like babies," he retorted, "If they were that upset, then why not take her?"

"Because we have consciences!" Nami snapped.

"AH! You savage!" memory Chopper gasped, as if he couldn't believe he heard Zoro say something like that.

"Blockhead!" memory Nami agreed as Sanji then added, "Idiot."

Luffy tried his hand at insulting him, but it sounded pathetic, and Usopp began telling him off for that as past Zoro turned away from them, as if he couldn't believe he was dealing with this.

Brook merely shook his head at that. How could you call yourself a friend if you kidnapped them?

"We didn't did we?!" their Zoro demanded, already sick of this whole thing, "Now shut up about it!"

Just then the galley door opened up and a familiar voice cooed from inside, "Looks like we finally escaped the firing squad."

"So this is where you decided to show up?" Franky asked her as she smiled back serenely at him. Past Zoro barely registered the voice until memory Robin stepped out and said, "Excellent work."

She looked greatly different than the Robin they had seen up to that point. She was dressed much more casual and modestly than she had before. A simple light purple shirt with darker pants… but she looked a great deal more like the Robin they knew with them.

She smiled confidently at them as memory Zoro looked and finally realized who he was talking to. As soon as they saw her, the other five above them got up so fast that they banged their heads on the railing above them.

"Well, that's great," Franky said nervously, "You barely said hello and they're already freaking out."

"We didn't think we'd see you again after we left Alabasta," Nami confessed, "We thought that you had been captured as well."

Current Robin smiled as she sat down next to Zoro to watch. "Don't worry about it," she told her. "You had every reason to be suspicious of me."

Past Zoro's hand went directly to his sword as he yelled out, "Here to avenge your friends!? Just try it!"

"It's an enemy attack!" memory Usopp screamed out fearfully

"What the hell are you doing here!?" memory Nami demanded as she held onto the swollen bump on her head before she took her new weapon out, ready to protect herself. It was really quite funny to watch them all freak out at the sight of Robin, who just stood there and watched. Past Usopp was yelling fearfully over a speaker as Chopper ran around in a panic. It was very tense as they finally calmed down enough to have her surrounded on all sides, looking ready to fight her if she so much as moved wrong.

"One heck of a way to welcome someone on board," Brook said softly.

"Well, she was a former enemy, what were we supposed to think?" Usopp asked him as past Chopper was asking who she was.

"Right, you never saw her up to here did you?" present-day Nami asked him, remembering that he wasn't on board when they first saw her, and he had been outside the casino when she was with Crocodile.

"I don't know!" past Sanji gasped happily, his eyes turning into little hearts like how it had been when he first met Nami. "But she's so damn beautiful!"

"And you still are, Robin dear!" current Sanji swooned to her. "I didn't think it was possible, but you seem to get more and more beautiful every day!"

She only smiled back happily as Franky watched it all with a little surprise. Considering how hard they were all willing to fight to get her back from the World Government, you'd never guess that they started off like this.

Memory Robin, meanwhile, was walking passed them all without even giving them a glance of concern. She went over to a lawn chair that was underneath the stairs before she disarmed Nami and Zoro—surprising them both.

"Didn't I tell you before?" she asked nonchalantly, "Don't point such dangerous objects at me. Are you always so slow?"

"Maybe not the best way to make friends, Robin-san," Brook pointed out as past Zoro was looking annoyed. That stupid ability of hers made her deadly to swordsman. He looked ready to fight her barehanded when memory Nami demanded to know how long she had been on the ship.

"Quite a while," she answered as she picked up the lawn chair and added, "These clothes are yours, right? I'm borrowing them."

"JUST A MINUTE LADY! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" memory Nami screamed at her, outraged that a member of Baroque Works was in her clothes.

But Robin was looking directly at Luffy, her attention solely on him. "Monkey D. Luffy," she said calmly, "It hasn't been so long that you've forgotten what you did to me has it?"

"What did he do?" Brook asked, not getting what was happening here.

"She means that he saved her," Zoro reminded him as Sanji nodded sagely, truly respecting Luffy for doing that.

"But why is that a bad thing?" Chopper asked in confusion, as a doctor, he couldn't understand why anyone would want to throw their lives away so easily. Their Robin didn't answer him as she watched memory Sanji grab Luffy by his front and started shaking him in anger, demanding to know what he did to her.

"Whose side are you on?" present-day Zoro asked him darkly.

"The side of the beautiful women!" he retorted without a second thought. "I couldn't stand the thought of a lovely lady being mistreated by even Luffy."

"Wait a minute, stop lying!" Luffy then called to Robin as she walked by him and set the chair up. "You know I didn't do anything to you!"

"Wrong," she answered back firmly, with that same smile on her face, as she sat down and started to make herself comfortable. "And what you did to me was unbearable," she added as she leaned back, "Go ahead… admit it."

"You're making it sound like him saving your life was the worst thing he could've done to you," Nami told her and Robin shrugged back. That was because she thought it was, at the time anyway. She honestly didn't see any point in living such a miserable, lonely life any longer. She had reached the end of her rope here… no longer having anything left to lose when she stumbled on bard. She couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling that she could trust this man here to take her in for a while… though she didn't think that she would have grown as attached to them as she had here.

Past Sanji was shaking Luffy harder than ever as Usopp was telling Robin to leave from behind the mast and they could hear Chopper asking what it was she was talking about from just above them, out of harm's way.

"You're not making any sense!" Luffy said, now looking really annoyed at everything that was going on. "What do you want me to do!?"

With a smile, she leaned forward in her seat, as if they were discussing business, "I want… to join you."

"Well, you sure didn't beat around the bush," current Zoro whispered to her and she chuckled a little. For a brief moment there was nothing but silence around them—except for the sound of the flag flapping in the wind above them. Each one of the Straw Hats stared at her as if she had suddenly confessed to a murder.

"WWWHHHAAATTT?!" almost everyone yelled, staring at her with a mixture of different expressions. Some angry some shocked, some fear… and—in Sanji's case—bliss.

She only smiled, turning back to Luffy as she explained, "I wanted nothing more than to die at that very moment… but you forced me to live. That's your crime."

Past Sanji looked startled at that as she rested her chin on her hand, still looking directly at Luffy as she finished, "There's no place for me to go or to return to. So I decided… that I'll join you."

Luffy's face held no expression as he thought it over for a moment. "I see your problem, guess there's no other choice," he finally said calmly. "Welcome."

"Well, that was easy," Brook said impressed.

"Easiest recruitment I've ever seen," Zoro agreed before he added, "Aside from Usopp that is… but even then, we had to tell him that before he went out sea on his own."

"Wouldn't have lasted long if he had," Nami added.

"Hey!" he called just as the past selves all yelled at their captain furiously. But he just looked back at them with a smile and added, "There's nothing to worry about," he said firmly. "Trust me, she isn't a bad person."

Everyone was staring at him, sure that he lost his mind, but Sanji was looking overjoyed at Luffy's decision and was cheering it on in the background even after the memory faded.

"So that was when you officially joined up with them, Robin-san?" Brook asked.

"That's it," she answered calmly.

"Dang," Franky said, shaking his head. "After so much trouble you gave them, he let you stay just like that?"

"Well, it wasn't like we could throw her off," Nami reminded them. "And Luffy's a little too trusting for his own good."

"I suppose that he remembered those times you helped him out?" Zoro asked her, suddenly understanding. He had always been a little curious to why the he and Robin seemed to be sharing a private talk in their heads in that moment—and he never fully understood what she was talking about when she said that he saved her. Now it all made sense. The next memory popped up and the sun was going down while they were up in the air, near the crow's nest with past Zoro was there.

"Oh, it's this," Zoro said, recognizing it all at once.

"What is it?" Usopp asked when Luffy's hands suddenly appeared and he rocketed himself up to him.

"Hey! Zoro!" he said happily. "Sanji told me to tell you dinner'll be ready in five minutes! He said he's going to try making some of the yummy food they had at the palace! It's gonna be so good!"

"Is that all I am to you?!" Sanji asked in mild annoyance. "Come on…"

Past Zoro didn't respond at once as he kept lifting weights silently for a moment, staring out at the sky that was an assortment of different shades of reds, oranges, and pinks. And then, without even looking at him, he asked, "Why did you do it?"

Luffy looked confused. "Why did I tell you? Well, its dinner and we need food!"

"Not that you idiot," Zoro said in annoyance, finally looking at him, his back to the fading sun. "I mean why did you let that woman join us?"

"Don't be an idiot, Moss Head!" current Sanji snapped at their Zoro, "I was behind Luffy one hundred and ten percent!"

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked him in confusion.

"Did you forget already that woman used to be part of Baroque Works?!" he snapped at Luffy in frustration. "We don't owe her anything! You saved her life and suddenly you owe her a favor?!"

"What is this?" Chopper asked, not getting any of this.

"This was later that night," Zoro told them all. "When most of you were inside the cabin, I wanted to know why he chose to let you in Robin. And there aren't many chances to really have a private talk in on such a small ship."

"Oh, I understand," Robin answered. "I had a feeling that you would."

She didn't tell them that she knew all about this talk of theirs, because she heard every word that evening. Eavesdropping was a habit she picked up at a young age and just never fully been able to overcome it. But she always had to be careful… especially when it came to Zoro. After all, she knew that he was the one person that she had to be most careful around. When she first joined, he had been the only one she couldn't bribe, hold debt to, or 'charm' as it was. It really wasn't until they began looking for a way to get to Sky Island did he start to drop his guard around her.

"How do we know that we can really trust her?" past Zoro finished asking him seriously. "After her part in helping to tear Alabasta apart? You really want someone like that in the crew?"

"But what reason does she have to attack us now?" Luffy asked him calmly. "It's like with Bon-chan… she only wanted to leave Alabasta right? There wasn't any reason for her to want to stick around there anymore."

"Wow, maybe he does have a few brain cells in there," Nami said in an impressed voice.

"He must be thinking about how Bon-chan sacrificed himself for us," Usopp sniffled. "So he wanted to give Robin that chance maybe?"

"Like she needed a second chance to begin with!" Sanji said, looking over at her adoringly, "I would've welcomed you into the crew without any questions my dear!"

She laughed a little, "That means a lot Sanji."

"Maybe," past Zoro said, "But what makes you think that we can let her stay and not worry about her betraying us later?"

"I dunno," he answered and Zoro looked ready to hit him over the head with the weight in his hands at the answer.

"We need more than that!" past Zoro yelled.

"I don't know," Luffy repeated, his eyes looking out into the distance. "But something just tells me that we can trust her, Zoro. I mean, we've all done a lot of bad things in the past right?"

Both Zoro's looked at him, and they knew what he was talking about. After all, he had been a cold pirate hunter before he even joined didn't he? How many people had he killed in the past? Though he knew Luffy wasn't referring to his past, he couldn't help but think about all the things he had done… even if he truly didn't regret anything he did.

"What's he talking about?" Chopper asked, not understanding.

"I think he means that we've all done things in the past that were far from innocent," Sanji answered for him softly, having to fight the urge to smoke another cigarette. Damn, he was only down to three now, he hoped that they found their way back to the Sunny soon so that he could get another box. "And when we joined his crew, it was like a new beginning, so I guess he wanted Robin-chan to have that as well if she really wanted it."

"I'm glad," Robin nodded her head a little.

"Speaking of which, what were you going to do if he didn't give you one, Robin-san?" Brook asked her quietly.

Robin looked a little surprise by the question as she thought it over. "I didn't really think about it," she confessed. "Something just told me that it would be alright."

Once again, he reminded her so much of Saul, she wasn't truly afraid that he wouldn't let her join. If this man was capable of saving her life when he didn't have to, especially over her part of what she had done to his friend's country, then she had a feeling that he just might've let her stay.

"Either way it was fine by me," she confessed, "I wouldn't have blamed him if he had said no, and I would've gone somewhere else. But I am glad that he decided to let me stay in the end."

Nami smiled softly at her. "So are all of us," she answered happily.

"Well… he did tell you to do whatever you wanted when you got out," Zoro pointed out next to her. "So, I guess he shouldn't have complained."

"Besides, I don't think she ever really liked Crocodile," Luffy said and they all looked to him in surprise, including past Zoro.

"She was his partner," he reminded her.

"And he tried to kill her," Luffy spoke up, looking back at him, "And she saved me before."

Memory Zoro looked even more startled by this as Luffy explained about how it was Robin who gave him the antidote to the scorpion poison, and had even been the one who helped him out after Crocodile left him at Rainbase.

"I was surprised to hear that," current Zoro confessed. "I just couldn't make heads or tails what you were doing here. Why would our enemy want to go out of her way to help us?"

Robin didn't answer as she thought about it all. She had made many enemies in the past aside from the World Government through her constant betrayals. But Crocodile had been the most dangerous and almost succeeded in killing her. But Luffy was right… she was never loyal to him. He saw her only as a tool, and she thought of him as only a bodyguard.

"And when I finally caught up to them in that tomb, Crocodile stabbed her with his hook," Luffy finished explaining to him. "After she gave Vivi's dad the antidote for me, I could hear what they were saying. Crocodile was looking for something."

"Looking for something?" past Zoro asked, "What was it?"

"So he told you about the weapon?" Franky asked him.

"I don't think he even knew what it was they were talking about," Zoro stated, watching the scene. And it was clear from the look on Luffy's face, that he didn't get the fact that it was some kind of weapon that could cause mass destruction that Crocodile was looking for. Only the fact that it was something dangerous that that bastard wanted for himself. And his suspicions were confirmed went Luffy went on speaking.

"I don't know, but it was something bad," he answered him, "And I overheard Robin say that she decided from the start not to hand it over to him." He was quiet for a moment before he added, "I don't know, but she doesn't seem like a bad person to me." He looked to him and finished, "She sounded more sad than bad to me…"

"Sad?" Nami repeated as she looked to Robin, who also looked a little taken aback by that.

"You heard how Robin sounded before didn't you?" Zoro asked and they all looked to see that their Robin was blushing a little bit at those words.

"So that is why," she said softly to herself as she thought it over.

Past Zoro just looked at him before he sighed. "Fine," he told him. "I guess we have no choice anyway. But I'll be keeping a close eye on her just so you know. She does anything that seems like a betrayal, I'll be the one to throw her off."

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN YOU BASTARD?!" Sanji roared at him as Usopp tried to hold him back, willing to keep things calm between them all.

"You really didn't trust her did you?" Franky asked coolly as the memory faded.

"I had no reason to do so at the time," he answered, his one eye looking at her. "Hope you don't take offense to it?"

"Not at all," she nodded, showing that she didn't bear any ill thoughts to him for his words. "It's quite alright, and like I said, I don't blame you at all for your feelings."

It was a very surreal experience for her those couple weeks on board the Merry. She had mostly kept out of the way as they worked, argued, or played with each other. She hardly spoke, merely read most of the time as she let the others do what they wanted. It had been years since she was able to sit back and really relax and enjoy her free time.

To just sit on deck with a good book as she enjoyed the warm sun and sea breeze had been the most fun she had in years. And though her new crew members never seemed to have a quiet moment, she had started to really enjoy their boisterous spirits. And aside from the occasional attempts by Sanji to impress her, or several questions from Nami, they mostly left her to do her own thing.

Joining Luffy and the crew was a choice that she had to make out of desperation and necessity to survive. She had told herself again and again those weeks that she didn't belong with them and that she shouldn't grow too attached because she would soon be forced to leave once again… like she had always been forced to do.

But over time, the whole crew warmed up to her as she got to know them. Every morning she was able to wake up to bright faces and good food that Sanji worked so hard for them. Luffy was always the first to wish her a good morning and Nami was more than happy to talk to her and get some relief from the boys. Usopp and Chopper had also gotten used to her and didn't seem as nervous to be around her… even Zoro's cold eyes slowly seemed to warm up and he seemed to be willing to take a nap even when she was around them. She felt like part of the crew even then… and that had scared her more than anything else in twenty years.

When she first joined, she simply told Luffy that she had nowhere else to go and that he was responsible for her life now so he had to face up to that. But their free spirits brought her a sense of peace that she could never remember feeling before and developed a sense of belonging with them. She didn't know when or how it happened, but somewhere along the way, she had grown to care more about their safety and well-being than the whole world. Most would never understand something like that but it made sense to her.

The world was her enemy.

The world had never wanted her to live… had denied her happiness for years.

The life that she had given up on… the dream that she had discarded… the empty feeling inside her that had suddenly been filled… they were all responsible for giving it back to her. So yes, of course they meant more to her than the whole world. How could they not?

"No matter who you are, an't no one born into this world to be alone!"

She smiled at Saul's words and shut her eyes. She had held onto those words in her heart for all these years… they could possibly have been the only thing that kept her going all this time. She was truly grateful to Luffy for taking her in and even more so for being the one who convinced her that she should live even if the world didn't want to… and if so, they are his and the rest of their crewmates enemies as well.

But she voiced none of these feelings as she merely smiled at everyone and enjoyed the next few memories. They were all pretty straight-forward and seemingly unimportant, but they were also calm; just the next couple weeks sailing the seas, and aside from occasional attacks from Marines, it was very peaceful.

It actually cheered them all up greatly, especially after seeing such vicious and intense memories up till now. They spent most of the time watching, hardly speaking to one another as they watched their past selves doing normal things like collect food and water, camping out on the beach and telling stories, once they pulled up a strange salesman from the water and was showing off all the merchandise he had before he realized that he was on a pirate ship and left everything he showed them in his need to escape.

Nami laughed at it, wishing that she had thought of something like that sooner as she looked fondly at the sheets of paper that she had gotten. Franky and Brook were stunned to hear how she was willing to pay such a heavy price for the paper… and even more so that Sanji was actually willing to hand Luffy over to the Marines for the reward money to pay for it all.

"Is that the thanks he gets for saving your useless ass all this time?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"Damn, remind me to watch my back with him," Franky whispered to Usopp who nodded firmly as Sanji snarled at Zoro, "It was all for Nami!"

"Like she needs it," Zoro retorted, and soon they were looking ready to fight.

They did their best to calm them both down as they watched the memory of a grand fireworks show when they stopped by another island. Which ended in a grand finale by the largest firework any of them had ever seen. Usopp smiled as he remembered that little girl Kodama and her grandfather and their wonderful work that he knew he could never measure up to. Eyes bright, and all of them truly enjoying themselves, Sanji particularly enjoyed the memory of seeing that Marine boy called Tajio fall of a ship and started telling them that his dream was to one day find the All Blue when they rescued him. Sanji had Luffy take them both back to the ship where they watched Luffy running around curiously as Sanji discreetly helped Tajio out.

Franky and Brook were both overjoyed to finally meet the infamous Zenny 'the goat man' and had a great laugh when the old man made them all work on his chores for him. They even cried when they heard about his determination to live out a little longer as a pirate, no longer wanting to die once they helped him to fully realize his dream of becoming a pirate when Luffy told him that age had nothing to do with it. After all the madness and chaos it had been one after another since entering the Grand Line, they couldn't help but laugh joyfully at it all.

"It really is like with that old man," Franky laughed. "What was his name again?"

"Naguri," Robin answered smiling.

"Right him," Franky said, drinking his last bottle of cola. "This is all great."

Soon the memories of the Zenny Pirates faded as the memories of the Rainbow Mist and the Pumpkin Pirates appeared. Luffy and his crew barely escape some Marines before they found themselves at the island named Ruluka that was ruled by a dictator that was over-taxing the people in order to build the Rainbow Tower. The island also has a scientist named Henzo who is researching something called the 'Rainbow Mist' to find his friends. Eventually the Going Merry, with all but Sanji, Nami, and Chopper aboard, got caught in the Rainbow Mist. Within the Mist, the crew discovered a group of children who have been trapped in the mist for years, not even realizing how long they had been trapped in. Eventually, however, they were able to all escape the mist… and had discovered that the Marines who had been chasing them before were the same children they rescued before, and had let them go as they dealt with Wetton and his family.

"This is all amazing!" Brook said in awe as they had set sail again. "So this is what you were all talking about when you mentioned the Rainbow Mist."

"Yes, it was very much like that dark world we were in before," Robin agreed, "A sort of 'in-between' place."

"You all do realize that you could've been killed trying to escape that place though right?" Franky asked, feeling truly honored that he got to see such a legendary place as the ship's graveyard… the things he could've made there… wonderful. "And I thought that some of the stuff we got into after I joined were wild."

"They are," Nami admitted a little sadly. "Everything we get ourselves into is trouble."

In this new memory, the whole crew were on deck, just after they did a rough patchwork repair on the Merry after the beating she took when they escaped Ape's Concert. They were looking out at the sea with Luffy, still on the Merry's head, suddenly said, "You know what? That place was pretty awesome don't you think?"

"Of course he thought that creepy graveyard was cool," Usopp sighed as past Nami was looking highly skeptical, telling him that she had enough of that ship's graveyard to last a lifetime.

"Well, it's not like I wanna live there," Luffy added, looking to her, "But it'd be nice to visit."

As Chopper commented that he couldn't really believe that he enjoyed that place, Zoro, who was lifting weights in the background, looked up and asked if that was rain. They all looked up to see that it was dust and bits of wood that were falling on them.

"What's that?" Brook asked curiously as everyone but Franky smiled at what was about to come falling on top of them.

"No way," memory Sanji said, holding his arms out to try and catch it, "This ain't rain." He looked up and they all did the same thing in time to see something falling through the clouds just above them. "That's interesting, it looks like a… oh…"

His eyes widen and his voice died in his throat as they all realized what it was. Franky and Brook both screamed out in shock to see a worn-out, rickety old ship falling from the sky.

"IT'S A SHIP?!" Brook cried out, freaking out.

"WHERE'D THAT THING COME FROM?!" Franky screamed in shock.

The past Straw Hats were all so stunned that it was as if time had frozen for a second. But that soon faded as they all began to scream out in fear as it hung right above their heads. It ended up missing the Merry, though narrowly, and the ship hit the ocean with such a large crash that it turned the waves around them as fierce as any Grand Line storm.

Unlike with Nami giving them a slight heads up before the weather turned unforgiving, this came without any warning and all they could do was cling onto the Merry desperately as bits of the ship counted to fall from the sky like hail.

It soon turned into insanity as they all struggled to stay upright, the waves pitching the Merry around like a piece of driftwood. They could hear past Zoro's voice screaming somewhere to hold on tight and not to let go no matter what.

"WHAT ELSE COULD WE DO HERE?!" present-day Usopp yelled out, remembering, and not missing, the chaos from this event.

"Had to say something here," current Zoro added as their past selves—Usopp and Chopper especially—screamed and seemed ready to have a nervous breakdown.

"WHY ARE THERE SHIPS FALLING OUTTA THE SKY?!" memory Nami screamed as she hung on to the mast as more bits of wood fell around them, the waves rising up above them like some kind of beast trying to swallow them.

"I know!" memory Usopp cried out, his eyes wide and a mad smile on his face. "This is just an awful dream!"

"That's your answer to everything scary," Sanji said to him as he blushed.

"Great I love dreams!" past Chopper called out, truly believing Usopp for a moment before their heads crashed together, thus ending that theory.

"Hang on! I don't think the party's over yet!" past Sanji called over their cries of pain, and when they looked up it was as if they were stuck on a merry-go-round, everything was spinning. "It won't stop falling!"

"THE RUDDER! TURN THE RUDDER!" memory Nami screamed and Zoro called that they would only flip over in these waves.

"What a nightmare," Brook called out, "How is this possible?!"

"We never did really figure out where that thing came from!" Nami called as past Sanji yelled to Luffy to help protect the ship.

"What did you expect him to do?!" Franky yelled.

"I don't know," he retorted as a large chuck of wood narrowly missed his past self's head. "But he had a better chance of doing something than I did."

Luffy then noticed how Usopp seemed to have calmed down suddenly. He was sitting in a meditative state, his eyes closed with a calm smile. "I cast aside my worries and reach deep within to find my happy place!" past Usopp declared firmly. "And when I open my eyes, this serene landscape is all that will lay before me…"

He picked the wrong moment to open his eyes…

He screamed at the top of his lungs when his new 'friend' fell out right in front of him, "A SKELETON DEAD GUY!"

"Hey, he looks like me," Brook said softly as suddenly several other skeletons were falling around them. Before he realized what he was saying and also began to scream until current Nami hit him over the head, yelling at him to calm down.

"DON'T THROW THAT NASTY THING AT ME YOU IDIOT!" past Nami screamed as he threw the pile of bones off him and near her.

"I still don't get why you did that," Nami hissed to him, who shrugged. He had just been so shocked at seeing it, he just wanted to get it away from him as soon as possible.

"THEY'RE FALLING EVERYWHERE!" past Sanji yelled out, another skeleton falling near his feet.

"I'M SURROUNDED BY DEAD!" Usopp cried out, sounding close to losing his mind as he curled up in a fetal position.

"WHEN IS THIS STUFF GONNA STOP FALLING?!" memory Nami screamed out.

They could only continue to hold on and hope for the best. Soon however, after several more chaos filled minutes, the sky was clear again, the falling debris had finally stopped, and the Merry was surrounded on all sides by the broken ship that had reminded them of the destroyed galleon back at the Baratie.

But they hardly noticed it as they stared up at the sky, as if expecting another ship to fall. After doing a quick headcount to see that everyone was alright—at least most of them since Usopp and Chopper were now in a corner, hugging the other like how a child would to a teddy bear—Luffy cried out, "Alright… why did a ship just fall out of the sky?!"

"As if any of us knew!" current Nami whispered menacingly as they all began talking about that very same thing.

"I knew coming to the Grand Line was a mistake, it freaks me out!" Usopp cried out, still hugging Chopper—his eyes twitching so much that it looked as if he was having a seizure. "First we travel over a ship graveyard and now they're falling out of the sky, COMPLETE WITH SKELETONS!"

"What's wrong with skeletons?!" demanded Brook suddenly.

"I just don't like them falling out of the sky on top of me!" he yelled back at memory Nami gasped in horror. She was staring at the Log Pose, telling them that she was sure that it was broken because it was now pointing to the sky.

"To the sky?" Franky asked before Brook gasped out this time.

"That's right! It was in your own logbook!" he said quickly, "I remember! The infamous story of the island in the sky! You all went there! So this is it?!"

"Yeah, this is it," Sanji said, unable to help himself and pulled out one of his remaining cigarettes. "Of course it was a lot of trouble getting up there I'll tell you that."

Memory Robin stepped forward, the only one who hadn't screamed in all that madness, she had returned to her usual calmness. "It's not broken," she answered, as if things fell from the sky all the time on them. "The Log Pose registers an island with a strong magnetic pull and the needle is reflecting that. If the needle's pointing to the sky," they all looked to her as she focused her attention skyward, "Then… it must be pointing to Sky Island."

"SKY ISLAND?!" they all repeated loudly, none of them having ever heard of such a thing. They all talked about it, with Zoro ending the talk as pointing out that there wasn't anything but sky right over their heads.

"Hmm, that's not actually how it works," memory Robin answered, "It's not an island above us, but an entire ocean."

"It sounded so crazy, I wasn't sure if you were joking or not," current Nami whispered to her. Their Robin smiled back and answered, "I rarely joke."

"Yeah, and when you do, it's to scare us," Usopp whispered as his past self, Luffy and Chopper all had their eyes wide and bright at the thought of going to an island floating in the air. They were all cheering and going on about wanting to go to such a place, but Robin used her powers to cover Luffy's mouth and past Sanji reminded them they couldn't fly.

Soon though, past Robin and Nami were arguing about it, with Nami telling her that there was no such thing as a flying island and insisted that their Log Pose was broken. That was all. Current Nami smiled as she watched herself. Well, she was proven wrong here wasn't she? And after all, she spent two years living on such a place… it was amazing how close-minded she was here.

"Not quite Miss Navigator," memory Robin countered coolly as she pointed to the Log Pose, "You're trying to fix something that's not even broken. We should be trying to find a way to get to Sky Island. You really need to learn to trust your instruments. No matter how crazy things get, or how weird the situation is we find ourselves in, never doubt the Log Pose."

"Yes," Brook agreed, thinking back to terrors that he and his old crew had gone through in the Grand Line until they learned about the Log Pose. Though it was still a long and difficult journey, the Log Pose had gotten them through every time. Though it may seem impossible here, he would have gone no matter what way the needle went over just sailing randomly.

"Out here, on the water, this is one of the most steadfast and unbreakable rules," past Robin said, summing up his thoughts. "What we should be doubting… is the common sense we all that that tells us that an island cannot exist in the sky, on an ocean nothing. That needle is pointing towards an island, I bet my life on it."

"And you sure won that," Usopp said, shivering at the thought of how frightening that place was.

"Amazing," Brook whispered, "I can't wait to see what kind of place this Sky Island is with my own eyes! Not that I have eyes, Yohohoho!"

"Well, you won't be disappointed," Nami said firmly as Robin began looking through the remains of a skeleton they had found. As they looked through it, Luffy and Usopp went jumping over to the bigger parts of the ship to explore it. However, Franky pointed out that it was sinking fast, and most likely wouldn't last much longer. Luffy didn't pay any attention to the slowly sinking boat as he walked inside, the old ship cracked and creaked under his weight as he went looking through all the rubble.

"How was looking through a dead man's clothes going to help you guys out?" Franky asked as they followed after Luffy, who was looking over some of the papers they found among a desk that was broken right in half.

Nami smiled, having felt the same way before Robin showed her. And she told them about how just looking at a skull and a some books, they discovered that the ship's name was the St. Briss, which left the Kingdom of Breeze in the South Blue about 208 years ago… as well as being able to tell how old the man was when he died.

"Really?" Brook said interested as he looked to Robin and asked, "What can you tell about me, Robin-san?"

She examined his face for a moment before she said, "You were in your late thirties as well when you died… and I can tell that you had that same scar on your skin that you do now…"

Brook looked at her in great surprise. "Yohohoho, that is very impressive Robin-san. And you were right. I was thirty-eight when I did die. How can you tell?"

"You just need to know what to look for," she answered as they heard Luffy gasp. They looked up in time to see that he was staring in wonder at one of the rolls of paper in his hands and his eyes were bright. But soon the ship had filled up with water and Luffy was forced to run out of there, having Usopp haul him back to the Merry.

"Was there any point in that?" Franky asked. "Waste of time."

But Luffy didn't think so as he sat there, sopping wet and gasping for breath. "You won't believe it! I did it!" he held up the roll of paper he found, "I found the most incredible thing!"

"He does come in handy once in a while," Nami teased as their past selves gasped at what it was he had.

"A MAP OF THE SKY ISLAND?!" they all cried out.

"Ha! So it really does exist!" Brook called happily as past Nami almost ripped it out of his hands and stared at it. "It's called Skypiea?" she asked, more to herself than to Luffy who was nodding firmly by her side. "Then it's true! There really is an island up there!"

It was great to see everyone looking excited at the thought, even as the last bits of the ship slowly sank beneath the waves. As the 'goofy trio' cheered, doing a dance with their arms linked, Nami pointed out that they didn't know how to get there or if it was even possible… and that there was always a chance that the map was a fake.

The looks on their faces was as if she had just told a bunch of little kids that Santa Claus didn't exist. She saw the hope fading from their faces and quickly tried to reassure them that she was sure it was real. But then she punched the mast angrily and yelled out that if it existed or not wasn't the point, the fact was they didn't know how to get there. Luffy was refusing to listen and began yelling that he wanted to go there no matter what and the fight only ended when she hit him over the head.

"This isn't about me! It's about reality!" she yelled at them angrily, "And the reality is that we know next to nothing! What we do know is that we can't defy gravity and sail upwards! That's impossible! What we need is more information! If a big ship like that made it up there, then odds are we can do the same thing. We just have to find all the records left on that ship!"

"But how do you all intend to get it?" Brook asked curiously as past Usopp reminded them that the ship was most likely at the bottom of the ocean by now.

"You could've done that with the shark sub," Franky pointed out.

"But we didn't have the sub yet," Chopper pointed out as past Nami cried out confidently, "If it's sunk… THEN WE'LL SALVAGE IT!"

And with a little more thought, Usopp came up with the plan. He quickly built a diving system made up of barrels and long air hoses. And in the end, the 'Monster Trio' had all volunteered to go down and find what was left of the ship.

"I'm glad that I didn't go," Chopper whispered, knowing that he never would've felt safe in that thing. If the barrel suddenly broke, he'd be dead for sure.

"Yeah, kinda sad," Franky muttered, shaking his head. "Old stuff here…"

"Watch it!" Usopp snapped back. "And they worked great when we needed them! At least until they were eaten by that stupid turtle."

"What turtle?" Franky and Brook asked as the memory faded with the three jumping head first into the water.

As they waited for the next memory to come up, the others quickly explained that when the three of them went down to salvage what they could of the ship for more information, they come across a group of pirates led by a man who looked like an ape, named Masira, who claimed that he had control over the territory and all ships that sink there belong to him. Masira and his crew begin salvage operation and are in the process of raising the ship when they run into a snag… the 'Monster Trio' were still inside the wreck and beat up his crew. Masira went down to handle things and confronts them when a Giant Seaturtle appeared out of nowhere and swallowed the ship they were in like how a fish would to bait on a hook.

"Oh, so that's what happened," Zoro said in understanding.

"What was it like under there anyway?" Usopp asked as Chopper jumped up, looking ready to listen eagerly.

"Nothing special," Sanji admitted, remembering the wreck. "It was a mess… but hardly anything in the ship. The most valuable thing we found was that old waver."

"Waver? You mean the White Hobby Horse?" Franky asked.

"Yeah," Nami stated, "It was a mess when we found it… and I still don't see how you could modify it the way that you did!"

"Hey," he said, "When I was through with it, not only does it look great, it can cover any kind of terrain you can throw at it! And it moves even faster than it did before!"

"I liked it better before," Nami hissed to herself as the memory popped back.

They were back on the Merry, however now it was pitch dark out. There was another large ship there with them. One that was at least twice as large as the Merry and had rows of palm trees going along the sides of his ship and two banana-shaped poles. Also on the sails was another pirate flag… a monkey's head with two banana's in place of the crossbones.

"So this is Masira's ship?" Franky asked, looking at it in bright interest, almost as much as the giant sea turtle, that was the size of an island.

"I forgot how big that thing was," Usopp whispered as it hung there with its mouth wide open.

"I still can't believe we were in that thing's mouth," Sanji whispered. "I thought that the ship just fell apart. We grabbed what we could and took off with that crazy monkey on our tails."

Luffy was coming too from where he lay on the deck, dripping wet and slowly getting back to his feet, dropping the large sack that was on his back. "Hey!" he called to them all, "When'd night happen?"

"Looks like you were down there for a long time," Brook said, looking around at the dark sky.

"Hardly, it wasn't even half an hour," Zoro stated as his past self was pulling on a rope, telling them that they were getting out of here now.

"What? Then how'd it get all dark like this?!" Franky asked as suddenly, there was a cry of anger and they looked in time to see someone jump out of the sea and landed on the side of the ship, screaming back that they hand back the treasure the took. Franky and Brook could only guess that this was Masira… and he truly looked like an ape… more primate than human. He was also in a bright orange-yellow jumpsuit with headphones and goggles—much like the ones that Usopp had—but what made him really interesting was the fact that he looked like he had a tail.

However, his face was full of anger as he glared at them all, threatening to tear their ship apart if they didn't hand the treasure over.

"He looks like an interesting character," Brook said.

"Yeah," Chopper agreed wholly, "He really wasn't such a bad guy once we got to know him. He was great!"

"Yeah, I wonder how they're all doing these days," Usopp said thoughtfully, looking to Robin hopefully who shrugged back, truly unable to give him an answer this time and he sighed unhappily.

"I'm sure they're doing just fine," Sanji reassured him. "He, his brother, and the whole crew are as tough as nails. I'm sure that they're doing great."

Chopper smiled at that, feeling a lot better as past Nami asked them about the treasure, her eyes bright.

"Some treasure," she whispered, "It was mostly junk!"

"Well, one man's junk is another man's treasure," Franky pointed out as everyone got up, ready to fight Masira off. But then, Masira's crew were all looking ready to cry as they pointed wildly behind them, too frozen to speak about what it was.

When they all looked, they all felt close to choking—feeling close to fainting at what they saw…

Giants… at least five of them, so large that blocked out the sun. Black as night, they towered over them as great as the sky—even the giant island turtle was tiny compared to them all. They carried spears and had wings on their backs… like angels of death… looking down at them as if they were prey to them, though there were no eyes. Everyone was frozen in fear… even Robin was turning a shade of blue they had never seen from her before. As the middle one raised his spear above their heads, they all came back to life and screamed out, "SSSEEEAAA MMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEERRRRRRSSSSSSSS!"

"GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE!" Franky screamed out as Brook lay on the ground, and they guessed that he probably fainted. Chopper and Usopp were both hugging each other again, both still as freaked out as they had been that day.

Everyone knew that they were safe from these creatures, but it still struck fear into their hearts at the sight of such things. Their past selves were all in overdrive… together they broke out the paddles and began to paddle as fast as they could go to get away from these things… it was as if they suddenly had a motor on their back and were going as fast as ever before.

Fear was the only thing that kept them going, and they didn't stop until they had reached the end of the dark sky and were safe in the bright sunlight. Once the danger had passed, they all huddled on the deck, shaking and trying to catch their breath.

"What were those things?" Franky croaked out, never before seeing such things before.

"I still don't know," Nami stated, freezing at the very thought of seeing those things. "But I don't ever wanna see them again!"

"I forgot all about those things!" Chopper gasped as Sanji put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, past Zoro spoke up what they were all thinking. "That couldn't have been real!"

"My words exactly," Franky agreed firmly as Robin poked Brook awake. He jerked up, convinced that was all just a dream, at least until they told him otherwise and he shivered.

"I got goosebumps just thinking about it!" he cried out. "Not that I have skin to have goosebumps anyway! Yohohoho!"

"Glad to see that you're over that," Nami told him dully as past Sanji lit another cigarette to calm his nerves.

"The Grand Line is an endless parade of mysteries and annoyance. I mean, look at the nightmare of just making through today!"

"True, it's been one thing after another since we got to this place," present-day Usopp nodded sagely as they all began to list what happened in the last few hours alone.

"First there was that huge galleon that fell from the clouds on top of us," memory Zoro started off.

"The Log Pose's needle started pointing to the sky?" Nami added, hugging her knees as she glanced at the needle.

"A psycho make-up wearing monkey shows up and blocks our way," past Usopp added, slowly calming down to a normal breath-rate. Memory Chopper then added, "And then a gigantic sea turtle eats our salvage ship…"

"Then darkness fell," past Robin sighed, almost grimly.

"Because the biggest monsters I've ever seen in my life blocked out the sun!" Luffy finished for them all.

"Yep, this wins first prize for the strangest day ever," current Usopp nodded firmly as the crew noticed that they still had Masira still on deck with them and kicked him off. The memories after that were all about the 'Monster Trio' unloading the sacks of stuff they got from the ship before it was eaten. There wasn't anything that told them about Sky Island, and not even a scrap of treasure like Nami had thought there would be… needless to say, memory Nami wasn't the least bit happy. She began to yell at them about this as they tried to tell her that his was all they found down there. That they picked it clean by the time that Masira appeared.

But she only got angrier as she began to break it all, even crushing the suit armor that Luffy was walking around in. It wasn't a good thing… she looked ready to start foaming at the mouth with rage until Robin was able to pacify her by showing her the map and Eternal Pose to a place called Jaya that she took from Masira's ship, and they soon decided to go there, in hopes of finding someone who could help them.

"And did you find someone at Jaya who helped?" Brook asked.

"Yeah, we sure did," Usopp said as Nami looked sour. She really hoped that she didn't have to think about that stupid Mock Town ever again. She was disappointed however when the memories came back, and they were sailing into a harbor. At first glance, it looked like some kind of resort—full of beautiful buildings with red-pointed roofs and palm trees.

"Oh no," she groaned, slapping her forehead, and standing up.

"What?" Sanji asked, glancing at this place. "We hardly spent any time here."

"Why? It's gorgeous!" Brook added. But Franky was frowning at the harbor, which was filled with ships—each one bearing a skull and crossbones. "This is a pirate town isn't it?" he asked.

"You knew?" Nami asked in surprise before he pointed to the ships and she nodded in understanding. "This is a town I rather forget," added darkly, shooting Zoro an annoyed look, who had seized this chance to take off the bloody bandages before Chopper noticed anything. Past Usopp had noticed the ships as well and pointed it out to them, with past Nami slapping him playfully that since when can pirates dock their ship without being run outta town. Just as he was starting to calm down, they could hear someone from one of the buildings screaming that he was about to be killed and the 'Weakling Trio' all looked ready to cry in fear.

"What the heck is going in with this crazy town?!" they demanded.

"In towns like this, you must always be on guard," Robin said knowingly. "Here, pirates come in and go as they please. So brawls and murders in the streets are common." She had been to places just like here many times in the past, and she had to learn to keep a low profile in these situations. "If you keep your head down and mind your own business, you should be able to avoid the trouble."

"Sounds like a bad place," Chopper gulped. "I stayed on the Merry with Usopp and Sanji…" he suddenly remembered how Zoro and Luffy looked when they got back. They were covered with cuts and bruises all over… he didn't want to know how bad a fight they had gotten into to see them in such bad shape.

"Was it really that bad?" Brook asked.

"I'm not even going to talk about it," Nami said darkly, "Just thinking about this place makes me angry."

"Why are you looking at me?" Zoro asked as he stood up and began to follow his past self and Luffy through the town, and also take off his own bandages

"Because you were being a complete coward!" Nami yelled at him in annoyance.

"Nami!" Chopper yelled, "What are you talking about?!" But then, suddenly he noticed bloody bandages on the ground near his and he yelled in rage as he practically tackled Zoro and held up a roll of new ones threateningly.

"Just what did happen?" Usopp asked Nami quietly as the two fought each other, yelling angrily as Zoro tried to throw him off. Nami just glared, her anger still high as she marched on, everyone following Chopper and Zoro still arguing loudly.

Past Nami had decided to go with the boys, and as they walked on, they could hear the sounds of fights and arguments going on everywhere they passed. They couldn't go a few feet without something breaking or hearing death threats—and past Nami was giving the boys an earful, making them promise that they wouldn't fight back no matter what. If they got into trouble, they'd be forced to leave and then they'd never be able to find information on Sky Island. They barely acknowledged what she was saying just as a crippled old man fell off his horse right in front of them.

Croaking for help, he asked if they could help him back up onto his horse.

"Man, he looks like he's on his last leg," Franky muttered. He was a very large man, with a slightly longer than normal nose, straight purple tattoos coming from his hairline to the corners of his eyes, and was wearing a thick, black fur coat.

Sanji frowned. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about this guy he didn't like—just something that ticked him off. After Luffy and Zoro helped him back on his horse, he offered them some apples as a thank you

"Do you take us for idiots?!" past Zoro demanded, noticing the sneaky look on his face. "We'd never trust food from someone like you."

But Luffy did take one and took a bite, and as soon as he did, there was an explosion behind them.

"What happened?!" Usopp cried out in shock.

"Luffy was really lucky here, I'll say that much," Zoro said in annoyance finally getting Chopper off him. "If he had picked any other apple, he'd be dead."

"You mean they're poisonous?!" Usopp cried.

"No, but not a bad guess," Nami hissed. They then heard some shouting, some men yelling that apparently some men took some apples from that same old man and when they ate them, the apples blew up.

"LUFFY!" Chopper and Brook both screamed in panic. Past Zoro and Nami had turned almost as blue in the face as they had been when the saw the giants as they realized what was going on. Memory Nami the screamed at Luffy to spit it out, practically strangling him in the process as Zoro had his sword in his hands, looking ready to attack the man, demanding to know what he had done.

The old man smirked. "No worries," he said with a hiccup, "The boy isn't hurt. If he had eaten a 'bad' one, you would've died on the first bite. You're lucky."

The others all sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness for that," Usopp whispered as the two dragged Luffy away before he could do anything else that might kill him.

"Hopefully this'll teach him never to take anything from strangers like that," Brook said dabbing at his forehead with his feathered boa as if he was sweating.

"I doubt it," Sanji sighed.

"We can't take our eyes off him for an instant," Usopp sighed tiredly as they walked on. Past Nami was hissing about it to Luffy, who didn't seem bothered by his close escape from death. But then they heard the sounds of insane laughter from one of the roofs right behind him, and when they looked, there was a large man standing there as if he had just been declared the next king. He was a big, muscular man with curly, light violet hair reaching past his shoulders and with a mask covering his upper face.

Zoro frowned. "I remember him… and now that I think about it, I remember that old man from before. Weren't they some of the losers with that Blackbeard guy who went after us?"

"What?" Sanji asked, thinking back. "Oh right… just before we went to Sky Island, they showed up wanting Luffy's bounty."

"Yes," Robin said softly. "I remember seeing them in the paper. They're two members of Blackbeard's crew."

"They are?!" Nami said in surprise. "And that means we're about to see that Blackbeard jerk here. Oh, this is just great… how were we supposed to know it was them?"

Chopper stared up at the man with an unreadable look on his face. So he was one of the men who attacked his home and made such a mess of it? Why? Why did they come after his island in the first place? Kill all those people and then be here like nothing happened? He suddenly felt a strong surge of hatred that he couldn't remember feeling in a long time go through him.

The others heard some of the citizens talking about how he wanted to be the fighting champion… which got Zoro's and Luffy's attention as they looked back, ready for a fight.

"Don't even think about it you two!" memory Nami screamed before she dragged them on. They glared back at the member of the Blackbeard Pirates, all of them having bad feelings of knowing that they were going to see these men again…

The memory came and went once again, and suddenly, they were all suddenly in a worn-down looking bar. Nami and the boys were at the bar enjoying some drinks and food as they talked about what it was they were supposed to do.

"Oh no," Nami whispered, rubbing her eyes. "Not this place."

"Are we still in Mock Town?" Chopper asked, looking around him.

"Unfortunately," Nami hissed, shaking in suppressed anger.

"Jeez, what happened here?" Usopp asked her as memory Nami slapped her glass down on the bark in front of her.

"Man, that really pisses me off!" she said bitterly as the other two let her let her complain, Zoro downing his drink and Luffy waited impatiently for his food. She began with a long talk with the bartender about this island, and he gave her the same kind of advice that Robin had stated only a little earlier. He set two cherry pies on the bar for Luffy and a large man next to him before he told her that the Log Pose would reset in only a couple more days, but it might be wiser to skip town sooner than that.

"I've had enough of this town and I'm not even here," Franky muttered. "But you gotta admit, there's never a dull moment."

"You talk like you know a lot about it," Sanji commented as he shrugged.

"I've dealt with the black market before plenty of times," he answered, waving his hand at him. "It's not that hard… and let me tell you, you can get pretty much anything there for the right price."

"True," Robin nodded next to him as past Nami had started to ask the bartender something when both Luffy and the man next to him slammed their fists down onto the bark, each with their own opinion about the pies.

"It's him…" Nami whispered, finally realizing who was there.

"You mean…?" Franky asked as Zoro answered, his one eye narrowed in dislike. "Blackbeard…"

It was hard to believe that this guy had become an Emperor. He didn't seem like such a bad guy, but soon he and Luffy had gotten into a fight about the pies being served to them. Noticing that their remarks opposed with each other, they decided not to mind the other at first and drink some soda. But at that, they both made opposing remarks about that. Really getting on each other's nerves this time and they decided to have some food for take-out. Luffy ordered pieces of meat and Blackbeard started ordering pies—however upon learning the number of food that the other was ordering, they started competing about who can order more.

"Is this really what happened?" Usopp asked with a deadpanned expression.

"I keep expecting the bartender to call out 'SOLD'! Or something like that," Sanji muttered as the two were now glaring at each other, looking ready to fight.

"DO YOU TWO EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHEST IDEA TO WHAT YOU'RE FIGHTING ABOUT!?" memory Zoro screamed, as Nami shouted that he promised her not to start a fight. And that they didn't have that kind of money anyway—they weren't here to shop.

"Again, are we sure this is the Blackbeard that we need to worry about?" Usopp asked.

"Don't laugh," Robin said softly, "Appearances can be deceiving. After all, people like Crocodile learned that the hard way didn't they?"

Usopp stopped but he still looked confused as he glanced at them. Luffy didn't look happy at all, glaring at the man as if daring him to say something wrong.

"Is it just me or is just looking at this guy ticking anyone off?" Sanji asked, sounding unusually sour.

"It's not just you," Zoro said in a bad mood.

Blackbeard suddenly grinned evilly at Luffy. "So then… are you a pirate?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of his business but yeah," Sanji muttered, suddenly having a strong urge to kick this bastard.

"Yeah, that's right," Luffy answered and then Blackbeard asked how high his bounty was.

"Thirty-million," Luffy answered.

"It's funny that everyone else seemed to know about you two having such high bounties here," Usopp pointed out.

"Well, Luffy only had his first bounty for a short time before it jumped up more than triple," Robin answered. "That kind of sudden jump, as well as gaining a sixty-million bounty is practically unheard of."

Zoro only smirked at that, remembering the pride he felt to have seen his first bounty doubled by the time they were done with Enies Lobby. Blackbeard however seemed to think that Luffy was making it up, and even telling him that he wouldn't believe it even if he collected it.

"Are you calling me a liar you fat, hairy ape?!" Luffy yelled angrily.

"There ya go," Franky called out, "You're getting better with your insults, Luffy."

Finally, memory Zoro was yelling at them both to break it up, as the bartender sent down a package of cherry pies on the bar in front of Blackbeard, telling him that one of the rules in his bar was no fighting and that if they wanted to settle it so bad they could do it outside. Hoping that he would just leave, he gave him the package of fifty pies and asked for him to just go.

Blackbeard glared down at Luffy, who glared back harshly before he seemed to decide that it just wasn't worth it. Instead, Blackbeard picked up his package and left the building without a glance back.

"What a jerk," Nami hissed under her breath, each one glaring at Blackbeard as he left through the doors.

"All in all, it could've been a lot worse," Usopp pointed out, wondering just why Nami suddenly felt so angry about this place. That ended rather well if you asked him.

"That's not what makes me angry," Nami hissed just as someone came bursting through the doors, calling that he was looking for someone with a straw hat. They all looked, to see a tall and darkly tanned man with unkempt blond hair as well as a scar just above his right eye and a mark of a smiley face with a slash through it on his chest.

"HIM!" Nami yelled, pointing to him before she rounded on Zoro. "You mind telling me just why you didn't fight this guy? You could've taken him on easy couldn't you?! So why did you just stand there and let him beat you two up?!"

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked just as Chopper asked who this guy was.

"He's a loser who wasn't worth the effort," Zoro stated, still looking ahead as Bellamy came in, and spotted Luffy at the bar.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked impatiently.

"Looks like he's got a bone to pick with you, Luffy," memory Zoro muttered as they watched him come nearer.

"He must be that Bellamy guy who rented out that hotel we were act," past Nami whispered to them.

"Hotel?" Brook repeated in confusion.

"While we were looking around for someone to help us, we went to this hotel and someone had rented the whole thing out just for his crew," Nami said, waving her hand at him, "That was this guy. But that's not important. What is important is that Luffy and Zoro just let him…"

But before she could finish, Bellamy was right next to them, towering over Luffy as Luffy commented that everyone they were meeting today was huge. Bellamy ignored that as he ordered a glass from the top shelf and told the bartender to give Luffy anything he wanted.

"This doesn't seem so bad," Usopp said slowly. Soon, the rest of Bellamy's crew came in, talking in loud voices about how disgusting and cheap this bar was. One of them, a guy wearing a long coat made of fur, took out a bent knife that was as big as a sword, and actually slashed one of the other customers so that he could get his seat.

Brook, Usopp, and Chopper screamed at that as the man with the knife sneered at the dying man on the floor, "You'd be in a lot less pain if you'd offered us your seats already. Pathetic harbor trash."

"Better than small-town thugs," Zoro stated quietly as several others ran out of the bar in terror, gasping at how it was 'Big Knife Sarquiss'.

"That's a stupid name," Franky said. "Who wants to be named Big Knife?"

Meanwhile, the bartender brought out the drinks that Bellamy asked for and stood back, clearly not wanting any trouble as Bellamy said to Luffy, "Cheers."

"Hey, thanks for the drink pal," Luffy said cheerfully as current Nami felt her fingers curl into fists at what was about to happen here. "You know what, you're alright," Luffy said as he started to tilt his head back to drink when suddenly, Bellamy slammed Luffy's head into the bar table so hard that it shattered.

"What was that for!?" Chopper screamed out as the whole bar went silent and stared at them as Bellamy smirked.

"Anyone else sense a little Déjà vu?" Robin asked calmly as memory Zoro had his blade out and was holding it to Bellamy's neck.

"And what are you doing, punk?" Bellamy asked him, as if amused that Zoro turned his blade to him.

"That's the question you should be asking yourself," memory Zoro sneered, his face dark as night.

"Looking real scary there Zoro," Franky whispered as they watched, suddenly feeling that exact same sense of Déjà vu that Robin mentioned, but they weren't sure of why.

Bellamy only sneered at him, as if enjoying the thought of fighting him. Memory Nami was behind him, pleading with Zoro not to fight, that they still needed information, but he interrupted her, telling her to be quiet because if this guy wanted to fight, he was more than happy to give it to him.

"You did not just yell at her!" Sanji hollered at him as Zoro rolled his one good eye.

"Did you not see what just happened?" he asked coldly as Luffy slowly stood up, wiping his face. "Of course I wanted to gut the guy."

"Then why didn't you?!" Nami snapped at him as Luffy turned to face Bellamy, asking if he was ready to take him on or not. Bellamy only grinned wildly at him as everyone else cheered on, wanting to see a fight.

"You've got it all wrong kid, this isn't a fight, it's a test!" Bellamy laughed. "Now come on, let's see how strong you are!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Franky asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Robin asked, getting what was happening. "He wants to see if he thinks Luffy's strong enough to join him. When he heard about his first bounty, he thought that he might want someone strong in his crew."

"But Luffy's bounty isn't thirty-million anymore!" Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah, but they don't know that," Robin answered as Sanji spat on the ground near Bellamy's feet.

"Like we would've joined such a pathetic group," Sanji stated darkly.

Looking worried that a fight would break out, memory Nami turned to the bartender and asked quickly, "Mister, we're trying to get to the Sky Island do you know anything about that?!"

The bartender stared at her as the bar went silent once again, all of them staring at her.

"Why do I get the feeling you just said something you really shouldn't have?" Brook asked, not liking this as others began whispering to each other on that subject. Clearly unable to believe they heard right.

Current Nami just stood there, shaking in anger as Luffy glanced at them all in confusion. Memory Nami looked just as confused, but went on bravely with her question, "Like I was saying, if you knew how to get to Sky Island…?"

But before she could finish, the whole bar burst out laughing, startling them all as everyone around them began to mock them about searching for a place that didn't exist.

"But the Log Pose…?" Chopper began in a confused voice as memory Nami held up her wrist so that they could see their Log and she yelled out, "What the… you can look at the Log Pose yourself! It's pointed at the sky plan as day!"

That stopped them all laughing for only a brief moment before they began laughing once again, mocking and taunting Nami who was turning a bright red color.

"How dare they?" Sanji hissed, aching to break each and every one of their faces. They embarrass a lady like this and they don't even deserve to live. "Nami my love," he said firmly, "If we ever meet them again, I will personally deal with them all."

"I'll hold you to that," Nami growled as Usopp was asking what they were all laughing at. But his answer was given almost at once as Bellamy sat down sharply, slapping his knee as he also roared with laughter.

"You got me there kid!" he yelled out. "I can't believe you guys are putting hope in such a ridiculous legend like an island in the sky! Especially considering how little you know! Like how out of the thousands of weird currents in the Grand Line one of them is called a Knock-Up Stream." He then stared at Nami. "Looks to me like this is the first time you've ever heard about it."

"Maybe, so why don't you tell us?" Franky asked, his dislike for this guy growing with every second.

"This place is terrible," Usopp whispered, now wishing that their past selves would just hurry up and leave before anything else happened.

"Any ship that get caught up in the Knock-Up Stream is catapulted into the sky and later slams back down into the ocean!" Bellamy continued to laugh, "Years ago, a bunch of ignorant sailors saw a bunch of ships falling from of the sky and assumed that there must be an island up there somewhere! In their minds, how else could a ship get up that high?!" He stuck his tongue out with a deranged smile as he finished, "Ha! Ridiculous! Anything that seems supernatural always has a rational explanation! Anything a man can dream can eventually be explained and let me tell you the truth will hurt!"

"There is some truth in that," Robin answered softly, "However just because you haven't seen something before doesn't mean that it doesn't exist."

"That's right!" Usopp said firmly as Chopper yelled out in agreement. "Sky Island does exist! In fact, there's more than one floating island out there! We've seen it with our own eyes!"

The bar continued to laugh with Bellamy however as Luffy seemed to grow angrier, his hands now fists, as if he was fighting back the urge to punch this guy. Bellamy sighed again as he looked to them. "What a shame. Look, I was gonna to let you into my crew if you passed the test for the New Era, but it seems like you're a lost cause."

"Like we would've joined!" Usopp yelled.

"We wouldn't join you even if you paid us for it!" Franky added loudly as Bellamy glared at Luffy like he thought that he was not worth the trouble anymore. "Thing is… the time of pirates dreams are over!"

"What did he say?!" Brook demanded angrily, not sounding like himself.

"The City of Gold, The Emerald Ruins, and the great One Piece… fools who dream of these fictional treasures don't notice the real treasures all around them!" Bellamy laughed, "In this age of oceans, the very men who are capable of navigating currents end up chasing these ridiculous dreams and die in the process!"

"Well what's the purpose of going to a place that everyone else has been before?" Sanji asked, his eyes closing as he dreamt for a moment of the All Blue. "What if you want to see a place that is supposed to only be a dream?"

"Yeah! I want to see it all!" Chopper yelled loudly, "You're just being a bully!"

Bellamy's smile got even wilder as he said mockingly, "Whenever these people speak of these dead idiots, they always say 'he was happy because he died living his dreams'! Ha! No! He died because he was a fool!"

"But at least people remember them," Usopp said, his hands shaking. "They're always remembered as brave warriors of the sea! If I had to die like that, then I can't think of any other way I rather go!"

"This guy's heart is an empty hole," Brook whispered furiously, "And he calls himself a pirate? Pirates and dreams all go hand in hand! You can't be one without the other! Otherwise you're nothing but a brute!"

"And that's all that he is!" Nami hissed as Luffy glared at him, his fist slowly loosening up as his anger seemed to vanish so that there was no emotion at all on his face. But then… Bellamy held up his own fist and declared, "So when I see people chasing dreams of One Piece I get disgusted!"

And without raising a hand to defend himself, Luffy just shut his eyes and allowed Bellamy to hit him so that he fell back onto the ground.

"What happened?!" Brook cried out as memory Nami cried out in shock—past Zoro didn't react at all as he looked at his captain—as if wondering what it was he going to do about it.

"What's happening here?!" Usopp cried out, pointing a hand at them, "Luffy could've easily dodged that."

"He could've," Zoro agreed, "But he chose to let him hit him."

"But why?!" Chopper cried out, "What's the point?!"

"To prove a point," Zoro answered nonchalantly. "Luffy has a lot to learn about being a Captain and a pirate… but I back him up on this choice completely."

"Why would you back him up when you two got your faces pummeled into mush?!" Nami yelled irritably at him.

"Because it wasn't worth it," Zoro answered firmly.

Bellamy suddenly went on speaking, laughing as if he knew the answer to the meaning of life. "You're a weak pirate just like they were! And as long as you're hacking around you're making us, the real pirates, look like trash!" And then he threw his glass at the floor, narrowly missing Luffy's head, who was still lying there, staring up at the celling.

"Come on Luffy! Hit him!" Chopper yelled as Brook and Sanji both watched calmly. Though they understood now that the shock had worn off, they were all wishing that Luffy just decked them already just to shut him up.

Luffy didn't move at all, just laid there with an empty expression, as if he was merely bored as everyone followed Bellamy's example and began to throw food and drinks at them.

"I see," Robin answered, understanding where she had seen this all before.

"See what?" Nami demanded as Sarquiss encouraged Bellamy to beat them up, who was grinning back only too eagerly.

Memory Nami finally couldn't take it anymore. "Luffy, Zoro, forget all about all that pacifist crap earlier!" she screamed. "Take this jerk out!"

"Believe me, under different circumstances, I would've," Zoro answered, as Luffy slowly sat up, not even reacting to the food and drink around him as he looked directly at memory Zoro and gave him one order. What he said, stunned a lot of the Straw Hats… "Zoro… no matter whatever happens, don't fight back."

"Did he just tell you not to fight?" Chopper cried out as past Zoro looked just as expressionless as Luffy—though a little cold.

Chopper, Usopp, Nami, and even Franky were stunned at this as the others watched on quite calmly, no longer surprised as they watched as Bellamy and his crew attacked. They began to punch and hit them, like they were practice dummies. They watched as they threw food at them and Bellamy took a long sip of booze before he spit it all into Luffy's face.

But no matter what they did to them, neither one fought back… even as Bellamy slammed Luffy's face right through a window, leaving the steady dripping of blood on the shattered glass.

"You see?!" Nami hollered at him, pointing a shaking hand at him. "What was the point?! Going through all that only to be beaten like this?!"

"You're really pissing me off here," Zoro snapped at her. "Fight! Don't fight! Run! Don't Run! Do this! No, do that! Make up your mind already!"

"Truly amazing!" Brook said, as the two lay on the ground. "You two never seem to stop surprising me."

Nami stared at him along with the other three who were looking lost and confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked, getting angry again, "Well, give me one good reason to why I should be proud of them."

"Nami, do you by any chance remember one of the earlier memories?" Robin asked, "When we were at Makino's bar and those bandits came in, taunting Shanks?"

Nami blinked as the others looked to her.

Sanji was smirking as Brook said, "Going around picking fights with every random person you meet, thinking that they are weaker than you, doesn't prove you're strong. One doesn't need to fight senseless battles to get ahead. When faced with a person like this, the only way to prove that you are better than that is not to fight back."

"And get beaten up?" she demanded.

"At least we know they're nothing like these losers," Sanji answered and jerked his thumb at Bellamy and at that, Nami slowly felt her anger fade.

"He learned this from Shanks," Robin smiled, as Franky nodded, finally getting it.

"That's right," he agreed, "Real men don't need to prove anything."

"It wasn't that bad anyway," Zoro stated with a wave of his hand. "They were pathetic."

Memory Nami went running over to them both, still trying to get them to fight back, but what Sarquiss said next, got Sanji so angry that he looked ready to kill. Saying that he wanted to 'buy' her.

"BUY HER?!" Sanji roared, the fire practically exploding off him. "HOW DARE THEY SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON THEM I'M GOING TO GUT THEM ALL!"

As he screamed out more death threats, memory Nami stared up at him as she hissed, "Excuse me?! Did you just say that you wanted to buy me?!"

"That's right," Sarquiss said with a rather evil grin that got everyone angry as the glared daggers at him, "Come on girl… join us."

Memory Nami didn't look angry, but her face had turned to one of a disgusted smirk. "I hate to say it," she said, her face dark, "But I'm too good to be seen with a pirate like you! You're nothing but a small time thug!"

"You tell them!" Usopp yelled, punching the air.

"Now that is facing slime with grace and dignity," Sanji muttered, looking at the two women who were with Bellamy. They could do a lot better than these guys—they were also too good to be with them.

The rest of the bar laughed at them, with Luffy and Zoro lying on the floor, no longer moving. The only other person who wasn't laughing was the bartender, who was cleaning some glasses and just watched—his own expression was empty as Bellamy threw his glass down like a child having a tantrum, and yelled at them to get out of his sight. With as much poise as she could muster, memory Nami picked up both men by their shirts and dragged them out as they continued to throw bottles at them the whole way out.

"What a horrible place!" Brook said in disgust.

"Yeah, if we never come back here, it'll be just fine by me," Nami said, her anger still high, but was slowly starting to understand why they acted the way they did… even if she didn't like it. That guy got off too easily if they asked her. But as her past self dragged Luffy and Zoro they heard a familiar voice proclaim, "The Sky Island does exist!"

"Who said that?" Usopp said stopping at once. Past Nami had her head turned right towards Blackbeard, who was eating his pies, sitting on the ground watching them with a curious expression. After he took a big bite he said with a laugh, "That place really does make a killer cherry pie."

"What does he want?" Sanji asked cold, getting angry all over again. Memory Nami seemed to be expecting trouble as well. She dropped both the boys and snarled at him, "Got something you wanna say?"

"Now what could you possibly be angry about?" Blackbeard asked cheerfully with a wide grin. "Your two friends won that fight without ever throwing a punch!"

"That's true," Brook said softly, looking at the two on the ground with a deep respect. "They handled it very well. You and Luffy-san."

Zoro merely smirked as past Nami looked to Blackbeard in surprise. Just then, as if echoing across the memory, there were two voices:

"Ha… you think you'll surpass us?"

Everyone froze at that and stared around, recognizing that one voice. "Shanks?" Usopp whispered when they heard another voice speak up, only this time it was Ace's voice…

"When next we meet, we'll both be top pirates."

"What's going on?!" Franky yelled out, have expecting to see the two show up.

"I think…" Robin said, her eyes going to Luffy, who was staring blankly at Blackbeard from where he lay on the ground. "Maybe Luffy was thinking about them so greatly that we could've heard their voices?"

"You think?" Nami asked her in surprise.

"Both of them are a big influence on his life," she answered. "I think that it's not too hard to think that he would've been thinking about them the whole time that was happening."

"Well, if he was, then I'm sure that he made them proud," Zoro stated as Blackbeard began to laugh again, but unlike the men back at the bar, it wasn't a mocking or belittling laugh… more like one of respect. And this was proven when he said, "I respected the way you treated them back there. You've got nerves of steel, lady!"

"True," Robin agreed, "Not just anyone could've dealt with that as well as you did, Nami."

Nami went a little bit red, holding her head high she answered, "I've dealt with pirates just like that before. It's not that hard."

"But still," Usopp frowned heavily, glaring back at the bar's doors. "They all themselves pirates?"

"They are the ones who make the real pirates, look like trash!" Brook said in outrage as past Zoro and Luffy got up and began to dust themselves off. Fixing his hat, Luffy turned his bloody face towards Blackbeard, looking at him with that same unreadable look that he had given Bellamy.

Blackbeard only grinned a little wider, looking at Luffy with a great deal more respect than he had before. He then said, "This New Era they keep rambling on and on about is a load of crap!"

"It's a load of shit, I'll agree that much," Sanji said, hating the fact that he agreed with this guy.

"The era where pirates dream of treasure will come to an end? Yeah right!" Blackbeard laughed again just as he slammed his whisky bottle onto the ground and called out loudly, getting everyone's attention around them, "THE DREAMS OF PIRATES… WILL NEVER END!"

There was silence from everyone as Luffy still didn't react at all, like he could see something in Blackbeard that they couldn't. "Am I right?" Blackbeard challenged, and soon his shouting had caused the crowd around them to laugh good-naturedly at him, asking what he was talking about.

"One upping your peers isn't easy!" was his only answer before he calmed down enough to look directly at Luffy, answering, "They can laugh at us all they want because when you aim high, you often come across fights that just aren't worth fighting! Right?"

Chopper frowned heavily. He didn't seem like the guy who had attacked his home… what was with him?

"I'm confused here," Franky said, pointing at him.

"Yeah, didn't Jimbei tell us about what a rotten guy he was?" Usopp added as memory Zoro told the other two that they should just go. Nami had no problems with that and was about to follow him until she noticed that Luffy still hadn't moved.

"Luffy?" she asked softly, but he was still giving Blackbeard that long and hard look… and they knew him well enough to tell that he wasn't happy with what he saw, but didn't say anything else as Blackbeard stood up, his bottle and sack of pies back in his hands.

"Oh, it looks like I interrupted you," he said as if he just realized that he was being rude to a group of shoppers, "Are you in a hurry kid?"

Luffy didn't answer, however he didn't seem to be expecting one as he turned and raised his drink, "One more thing…" he added, "I hope you find your way to Sky Island." He turned and laughed as Luffy also left, leaving him behind.

No one said anything as they followed the three, no one able to think of anything that they could say to what they just saw. The Straw Hats tried to speak but memory Nami was now pressing the boys, suggesting that they should go back and talk to that guy and that he might know something about Sky Island.

"I would prefer if we didn't, thank you," current Zoro said, glaring back at Blackbeard's retreating back. They didn't know who this guy was, but he knew even back then that there was something wrong with that guy…