My Darkness To Bear 2...

Chapter 28.5 - My Darkness To Bear 2...

"Dumb name," Sanji mutter as the man jumped down from the elephant and charged forward. The crowd went wild cheering his name, his name going up on a large board above their heads in lights and when he reached the Straw Hats, the crowd was doing the wave, yelling out things like 'Go Muchigoro' and 'You're our hero!'

"This is so stupid…" Zoro muttered, "And I thought putting up with Foxy's antics was bad enough."

"Pirates come in all flavors I guess?" Robin offered with a shrug. They all watched as Muchigoro stopped in front of them and introduced himself as the Baron's first mate. Like everyone else, he sported a green sprout on his head, but he also had large lips like Usopp, a pudgy body and stubby legs that reminded them all a little of Foxy in fact. But he was suddenly, doing something strange… he was jumping left to right as if trying to be intimidating. And everyone silently agreed that he was an idiot.

The current Nami laughed but as she looked at Muchigoro she felt something strange in the back of her mind and she felt a headache growing so quickly that she swayed suddenly. Robin noticed this and supported her shoulders as she asked, "Is there something wrong Nami?"

"No," she answered automatically, "I guess I just find Muchi stupid."

"Muchi?" Usopp repeated in confusion.

"I mean… I… I don't know…" Nami said softly to herself, her hand going to her forehead like she was checking for a fever. "Why did I call him that…?" But all at once, a stabbing pain inside her head erupted and she gasped out in pain, gripping her head as she fell to her knees. It felt as if someone was banging on the inside of her skull with a hammer—but through the fog, she could see something there.

She was sitting with Muchigoro at a small table and sharing drinks with him. She remembered trying to find out more about the Baron and was flirting with him… trying to get some information out of him with compliments and wine.

Now holding onto her head in pain, she could vaguely hear her crew gathering around her in concern, calling her name and trying to figure out what was going on, but she ignored them as she tried to focus more on the memory that had suddenly come back to her. She remembered… Muchi was a nickname she had given him in an attempt to flirt around with him. But he suddenly turned to look at her with a questioning look on his face.

"By the way…" he asked her, "Why are you drinking with me instead of with your crewmates?"

Her past self looked surprised by the question. "Why?" she asked, and she frowned as if wondering the same thing, "I wonder… we've never fought like this before…"

What was she talking about? A fight…? But just as soon as it had come, the memory had disappeared and the pain faded. Gasping for breath, her eyes snapped open and she could see the faces of her crew around her, staring at her with anxious eyes—Sanji especially looked like he was about to cry in fear.

"Nami-swan…?" he asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

She blinked and looked around. She was on the ground, and leaning up against Robin, who seemed to have caught her when she fell. They were still in the memory, right at the goldfish tank and watching Muchigoro finishing up his dance.

"What… what happened?" she gasped, looking around in confusion as she sat up.

"That's what we want to know, sis," Franky said at once, having to tower over Usopp to get a better look at her.

"You had us worried," Brook said in concern as Chopper checked her pulse. "You just seemed to be in a lot of pain and fell over."

"I… I did?" she said, shaking her head a little and pushed herself up.

"No! Don't!" Chopper said, "I need to look over you!"

"No!" she gasped, "It's… it's nothing!" She found her footing and stood up, "I… I guess I suddenly felt dizzy all of a sudden and collapsed. That's all…"

"But Nami," Sanji said anxiously, "You didn't just faint! You looked like you were hurting!"

"I think…" she muttered softly, her forehead drenched in sweat, "I think… my memory was starting to come back."

"Your memory?" Brook repeated, "Hold on, do you mean that you remember everything?"

She shook her head. "Only a tiny part…" she confessed, "I mean… I just…?"

But the rest of her words were drowned out with the Baron now calling out over the megaphone, asking which of them would be brave enough to try their luck against his first mate.

"Really, guys," Nami told them as they all glanced at her in worry once again. She smiled, though not feeling very happy at the moment, "I mean it. Let's just finish watching the memories. If it makes you feel better Chopper, I'll let you examine me once we're done here."

Chopper frowned, and she sighed a little as she crouched back down and let him run a few quick tests to make him happy. With everyone feeling better that Chopper was looking after her, they turned back in time to see that Luffy had unsurprisingly raised his hand and volunteered to be the first one to try. However it was memory Usopp who was telling him to step aside and that he'd deal with it all; he then turned to Muchigoro and began to taunt him.

"You?" Franky asked, but as he looked to the little goldfish, he had a feeling that Usopp would be the best option. Luffy would've found some way to break something if they let him do it.

Memory Nami was raising her eyebrows at him and asked, "Weren't you shaking in your boots about the Ordeal of Hell just a second ago?"

The others were all steadily moving away from the tank, thinking that Usopp had this. Memory Sanji yawned and spoke up, "He got a burst of confidence after hearing it was Goldfish Catching."

"Do you all have to make me sound so pathetic?" the current Usopp asked them.

"Just stating it like it is," Sanji teased.

Memory Usopp ignored them however as he turned back to his opponent and taunted, "Hey, Tamegoro!"

"It's Muchigoro!" he yelled back angrily.

Memory Usopp just laughed and declared loudly, "You'll regret facing me! You will be facing a man who is known as a master at Goldfish Catching!"

"A master? Really?" current Zoro asked, "That's not exactly something you would want to brag about."

"How hard is it to catch goldfish?" Chopper asked curiously.

"I was just trying to intimidate him!" Usopp retorted, pointing a finger at Muchigoro, "And it worked didn't it?! He believed it!"

And he was right. Of course memory Chopper believed every word that Usopp said here, but what really surprised them all was that Muchigoro also seemed to buy it as well. Back and forth it went, until Usopp confessed that he was lying and the two yelled at him in anger.

"I can't believe that they bought that," Sanji whispered, "I mean… not even Luffy believed that."

"I'm sure that he might be tougher than he first looks," Brook pointed out, "After all, if the Baron truly was as dangerous as we think he is, he wouldn't have made just anyone his first mate?"

"True," Robin nodded as the Baron started to yell at Muchigoro to snap to attention, and once he remembered the matter at hand, he turned to his captain and apologized quickly before he turned to face the memory version of Usopp.

Once he was sure they were ready to go, the Baron yelled, "We shall now begin! Ready…"

And to everyone's surprise, the little flower that the Baron wore, opened its mouth and yelled out, "GO!"

"I know that there are strange things in the Grand Line, but has anyone ever seen a flower talk?!" Franky yelled out, wanting to move up to get a better look at the thing.

"Can't say that I have," Zoro yawned, "Who cares? It's probably just some kind of toy."

Everyone's attention was drawn to memory Usopp, who was now striking a pose, ready to start fishing… but then Muchigoro smirked, suddenly turning smug as they heard the sea begin to thrash wildly.

"Now what?!" Brook yelled as memory Sanji cried out, "What's that?!"

They had their answer very quickly. For far out in the ocean, rose what they thought was a Sea King at first. But what they saw made Franky and Brook, as well as Chopper and Usopp—even though they've seen the creature before—yell in shock. It was a goldfish alright… but it was one of gargantuan size—as large as any Sea King. It had large rainbow like eyes, thick brown armor on its back and what appeared to be jewels on its head and along its sides. Its mouth opened wide and they saw the huge, razor-sharp teeth like a piranha's… it was hungry.

"Where do they get these guys?" Sanji couldn't help but ask as it practically soared up into the air, flying right above them.

Muchigoro was now grinning as he pointed up to the fish and told them, "That's my pet goldfish, Rosario."

And with a crash, the fish landed in the water once again and the waves that it created was like a mini tsunami, washing up and covering them all. Some of the present-day Straw Hats screamed in shock as the wave came, but they didn't need to bother, for it came over them all without them getting the slightest bit wet.

"Looks like Muchi's getting payback for you lying before Usopp," Nami answered as she looked around, Chopper looking both relieved and frustrated that he couldn't find anything physically wrong with her.

"You really need to learn to break such a bad habit, Usopp," Robin offered, "You think you would've learned your lesson by now?"

"I can't help it!" he shot back as the baron began to laugh once again. He then began to yell at the rest of his crew to laugh at the 'feeble cowards' as they could do nothing to fight back against the fish.

"I don't see him out here and fighting," Zoro snarled, watching as the Baron stood underneath the large umbrella to keep himself from getting wet. He barely saw the Baron for a few minutes, but already he hated every little thing about this guy.

He wasn't the only one either… every one of the Straw Hats were frowning at the Baron, each of them feeling angry and their hatred only increased as Muchigoro laughed along with everyone else, still standing from the force of the wave. "Rosario is a good kid who would never anything bad!"

Zoro rolled his one good eye. Had anyone met an animal, even a fish, who wasn't guaranteed to bite you? He sure hadn't. Luffy, however, was laughing and staring up at the giant fish with a big grin as if this had just made his day. He was clearly loving all of this. Memory Nami however yelling out furiously, "Hold on, what's the big idea!?"

"Oh?" the Baron asked in mock confusion, and it was obvious from the look on his face that he was enjoying watching this. "I told you that it was Goldfish Catching."

"He did say that," Brook nodded.

"That thing hardly counts as a goldfish!" Nami yelled at him as her past self demanded to know how they were supposed to catch that thing. He just smirked and pointed behind her so that they couldn't miss the giant yellow bucket and told them to try to get it in there.

"Where'd that thing come from?" Franky asked bewildered.

Memory Robin looked as calm as ever as she shook her wet bangs out of her eyes. "He certainly did not mention this," she stated.

"He duped us!" past Zoro yelled out angrily. But Luffy ignored them all, looking ready to try his hand at it. He just yelled out how interesting this was getting and memory Nami started to scream at him for that.

Suddenly, memory Usopp reappeared and held up the paper net to her. "Pass," he said and when she took it in confusion, he added as he slunk away, "The rest is up to you, Nami!"

"Why the hell did you think that I could do it?!" the current Nami shouted out and hit him over the head.

"You looked ready to take on the world there!" he retorted.

And at first it looked as though he was right. She glared at the net before she called, glaring up at the fish as it had jumped out of the sea and was falling quickly towards here. "Oh, fine!" she yelled, looking ready to deal with it on her own, "I'll do it if I have to!"

"Did you really think…?" Franky asked slowly, trying hard to point out that she didn't usually do something like this.

"Don't worry," she whispered back, "I woke up quickly."

And it was true. She just pointed as her past self continued to glare up at the fish that was steadily falling towards her. But as it got closer, she seemed to remember where she was and what was going on before she looked back to them all and said, "Forget it!"

"What was I thinking?" the present-day Nami sighed as they all smirked at her. "I guess I was just so frustrated that I wasn't thinking. I mean, I had enough of this ridiculous cheating with those Davy Back Fights. And this… it couldn't have been more than a couple weeks since then right?"

"But I thought that you were still so brave, Nami my dear!" Sanji sighed happily as his past self came to the rescue. With a single kick, he knocked the fish away—causing everyone outside the crew to gasp in amazement, their eyes practically bulging out of their heads. With a graceful fall, he landed on the platform before he jumped right back up and this time kicked the fish so hard in the stomach that it was sent flying even higher above them and glittering scales fell from the creature's body like confetti.

"Yeah!" Chopper shrieked in amazement, "You go, Sanji!"

"Pfft, he didn't even finish the job," Zoro reminded them and Sanji glared fiercely at him. But at that moment, his past self was staring down dismayed at Nami, who was holding the paper net to Zoro.

"Zoro, pass," she said, handing him the net as if sending him to the grocery store to pick up milk. And apparently, heartbroken that she wasn't even bothering to watch him, Sanji just seemed to lose his fighting spirit and fell with a splash in the water.

"I don't get it! What happened?!" Franky yelled, staring at the spot where they could see the ripples from where Sanji had landed and the fish was falling back towards them.

"Me?!" memory Zoro yelled in annoyance at her, but looking like he was ready for a fight, he put the handle of the fishnet in his mouth, he jumped up and decided to deal with the fish in his own way. In other words, turn it into sushi… however, as he drew his sword and they could see the blade flashing in the bright light, hear the sound of the sword against its sheath as it was being drawn, the Baron ruined the moment by declaring loudly that swords were against the rules.

"What rules? All that you said was to put the stinkin' fish in the bucket!" current Zoro said in annoyance, "You never said it had to be alive!"

"Do you have to be so cold?!" Chopper gulped out fearfully. Memory Zoro, startled, had to re-sheath his sword and then he used it like how one would use a baseball bat to hit the thing and sent it spinning several times in the air, once again freaking the crowd out.

Once Zoro landed, Muchigoro was shouting in anger, "Hey, you tried to cut my Rosario into pieces!"

"Well, no duh…" Zoro muttered.

"What did you expect me to do!?" memory Zoro screamed irritated at him. But Luffy finally had enough of waiting and grabbed the net from him.

"I don't see how he thinks that he can do anything with that thing," Franky muttered as Luffy stretched out his arm and hit the fish, though he knocked it back once again, he ended up tearing the paper to shreds. As the ones in the stands screamed in horror at the sight of Luffy's powers, Luffy screamed at the destroyed net.

"Oh, you think it tore?" current Nami asked in annoyance as Chopper finally sat back, finally satisfied that she was in good health. "What did you expect to happen?"

"Something tells me that you weren't supposed to use that net," Brook pointed out.

Memory Nami was shouting out, "There's no way you could catch that huge goldfish with that tiny net!" The Baron then burst out laughing, before telling Muchigoro to show them how to really catch it, and Muchigoro did by going and pulling out another paper fishnet, only it was so large that it would've easily been enough to catch and hold such a large creature.

"How'd he pull something that big out?" Robin asked interestedly as memory Nami, Zoro, and Usopp all began to scream at the Baron that wasn't fair. However, the Baron smiled devilishly and twirled another net between his fingers as he informed them, that he never said that they had to use the net, only that the paper dissolves easily in water.

"That is true," Robin nodded as the three all looked dumbstruck by his words. "He's a master of loopholes."

"This is frustrating," Sanji sighed, hating all these stupid games.

"Thankfully, we're pirates too, so that means that we don't have to play fair either," Usopp pointed out with a smug look.

"True," Zoro nodded as the flower the Baron wore declared that there was only one minute left for someone to score. Muchigoro called for his pet to come in; though an idiot, he appeared to have been much stronger than they had first thought he was for as the fish came as called and landed directly into the net. With a great heave, he was able to lift the handle up and throw the fish right up into the air and tossed it towards a bucket identical to the Straw Hat's yellow one, only pink.

The audience was screaming in joy as they watched the fish head towards the bucket, everyone now sure that this would be the win.

That smug, know-it-all look on the Baron's face pissed them all off, and only more so when he praised, "Well done, Muchigoro!"

Muchigoro was beaming with pride, thanking him before memory Robin snatched victory from his grasp.

She held up her arms and said, "Oh, so there was never any rules to begin with." Before anyone could ask what she had planned, she had already done it, she created a net of arms over the very top of the bucket, and like a trampoline, the goldfish was sent out and flying back in the air.

"Their faces are gonna freeze like that if they keep this up," Sanji muttered with a satisfied smirk at the freaked out expressions on everyone's faces when Robin showed them what she could do.

"Serves them right," Zoro muttered firmly. "Nice one, Robin."

"We always know that we can count on you!" Nami added happily, standing back up and Robin laughed good-naturedly. However, the fish was off course, going to miss the bucket—and it was right above them.

"Your aim however needs work," Brook said before he yelled, "You're gonna get squashed?!"

"Don't worry," Zoro added with a smile and jerking his thumb at Chopper, who beamed in pride. The memory Straw Hats all began to run, with Zoro yelling that they were gonna get crushed, but memory Chopper didn't move as he stared determinedly up at it.

"Why aren't you moving?!" Franky yelled in terror but they all smiled calmly, knowing that Chopper had this covered.

"I can handle this!" he cried out as he threw a Rumble Ball into his mouth and went into his Guard Point… however he was much larger than he had been before—a giant furball. And when the goldfish landed on top of him, he was flattened like a pancake…

"Did that hurt?" Robin called over the stunned shouts of shock over the crowd.

"A little," Chopper confessed, "But it wasn't bad!"

They could hear the flower counting down the last ten seconds and Chopper was able to almost inflate himself and bounce the fish off him and towards the bucket. It was inside just as the flower finished counting down and a loud buzzer went off.

"Way a go, Chopper!" Usopp cheered. "You won that thing for us!"

"I'm just glad it was over," Nami said as Chopper turned red and was twirling around happily, while at the same time, proclaiming that he wasn't happy. The looks on the Baron's and everyone else's faces was just great, and they couldn't deny that they wanted to rub it in their faces for that. The crowd was silent, just staring at the Straw Hats in stunned disbelief even as the flower was calling out the game was over and the Straw Hats won.

Memory Chopper had returned to his normal size and was stumbling around with dizzy eyes—clearly dazed from the impact. The memory Straw Hats cheered for him and jumped for joy, at least until they noticed that he was too close to the edge.

"Chopper, I think you're gonna…?" Franky began, but his voice died in his throat when Chopper went too far back and ended up slipping right off the platform and they all screeched in terror as he went over and hit the water below them.

"I remember that," current Chopper said embarrassed. "I hate not being able to swim…"

"Don't worry," Nami smiled, "We wouldn't let you drown if we can help it."

He gave her a grateful look as the memory Straw Hats were all still frozen. Luffy was the first to snap out of it and shook his head furiously. "CHOPPER! I'LL SAVE YOU!" he yelled, and before anyone could stop him, he went running over and dove right in.

"YOU IDIOT!" they heard the others cry before the memory faded and they were under the water. It was a terrifying experience for the Devil Fruit Users to be under the water, forgetting for a moment that they were perfectly safe.

"This just keeps getting freakier and freakier," Franky muttered, not sure how to take any of this. He stretched out, feeling nothing but air around him instead of water. "I hate memories! They don't make sense!"

"What I don't get, is why he does this!" Nami stated furiously, "He knows that he can't swim! He's a buoyant as a brink! It doesn't matter how many times he throws himself into the water, he's never gonna be able to swim even a little bit! So why does he try to save you from drowning?"

"Probably for the same reason that Chopper and Brook jump in after him when he falls in?" Zoro pointed out and the two looked deeply embarrassed at that.

"We just wanted to help," Brook spoke up. "Luffy-san's our captain and he's in trouble… helping him is the first thing on our minds… we…"

"Forget that we can't swim?" Chopper added helpfully and Brook nodded.

"You really need to start remembering that," Usopp pointed out, "Because then we have to save you too!"

"How shameful," Brook muttered to himself sadly, "But I can't say I regret wanting to save someone!"

"No one's saying otherwise," Sanji said, his fingers itching to go for another cigarette, "But just try to remember to leave saving Devil Fruit Users to those of us who can swim." He shut his eyes and thought dreamily of diving in and pulling Robin out of the sea… holding onto her body as he pulled her back onto the ship… opening her eyes and smiling at him…

He fought hard to keep the nosebleed from starting up as they spotted Chopper falling. He was sinking like a stone, and suddenly they spotted Luffy there and they were surprised to see that he was still able to move, but his movements were slow and weak. However, he managed to grab hold of Chopper tightly as he struggled to get back to the surface. But of course he just sank as if he had an anchor attached to him.

Chopper could only watch, his heart feeling strangely warm at that as he watched Luffy struggling to save him. At Luffy's touch, his past self's eyes opened up and he stared in a mixture of horror and amazement to see who it was who had him. Luffy just gritted his teeth refusing to let go even as he was running out of air and was becoming weak. Chopper just covered his eyes with the brim of his hat as he felt the grateful tears burning there.

"This is hard to watch," Usopp said softly as Luffy seemed to have given up and fell backwards, dropping down even deeper. "I mean… you guys are right here and we can't do anything to help."

"No matter how badly we wish to help, to do something to change it…" Zoro said softly, "There's nothing that we can do… it's all history."

"I know that!" Usopp snapped before he calmed down and looked miserably back to the pair. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"That's just so sweet…" Franky sniffled. "He ignored the fact that he can't swim for ya… I don't know what to say!" and then he started to sob openly.

"Why do you cry so much?" Sanji moaned out as he covered his ears, feeling exhausted and was thinking longingly of his bed on the Sunny. But as the memory around them began to fade, memory Sanji had appeared and they saw him grab hold of Luffy's ankle and was now pulling the two back up to the surface.

Robin smiled, feeling truly relieved at that as the others were trying to get Franky to stop crying. But just before the memory completely faded around them, she looked down and blinked in surprise to see the blurry forms of several sunken ships sitting on the very bottom of the seabed. She let out a startled gasp, but as they turned to look at her, the memory disappeared and they were back out in the forest.

"What is it, Robin my love?" Sanji asked at once as Robin continued to stare down at the ground, as if she could still see the forms of the sunken ships. But she shook her head, and spoke up, "I saw… ships…"

"What ships?" Franky asked at once and Robin held her thumb up to her lips in a thoughtful way.

"When you were pulling Luffy and Chopper up, Sanji," she informed him, "I just made a bunch of destroyed ships lying at the bottom there. I think that we might have been in more danger that we first thought."

"Wait," Sanji said suddenly, "You think that the Baron was the one who destroyed those ship?"

"You have any other suggestions?" she asked.

"Well, no but…" Sanji whispered before he thought that all over.

"Hold it!" Usopp said quickly, "If it was the Baron who destroyed those ships… what do you suppose… happened to their crews?"

"I don't think we wanna know," Zoro frowned, not liking this at all. The more memories that they were watching about this messed-up island, the more he began to feel that there was something truly wrong with this place. He wished that their past selves would just leave… he shut his eye and did his best to try and remember something—anything—about what happened, but nothing came. The memory suddenly reappeared and they were back on the platform. Luffy and Chopper were lying on their backs and spitting water out like a fountain would.

"I-I thought I was a goner," Luffy croaked out.

Memory Chopper looked over at him with a faint smile. "Thanks Luffy," he said.

"No, it was no problem," he answered.

"Oi!" memory Sanji called, "I'm the one who saved you!"

"It's the thought that counts," the current Robin added with a laughed and Sanji nodded a little at that.

"Hey Sanji," memory Nami suddenly spoke up and glanced at him and asked, "How long were you in the water?"

"Yeah, not that we needed your help here," Usopp stated.

"Please, you wanted to make a lady do the job for you!" he retorted as his past self merely smiled meekly at Nami. He looked to the water-logged pair and asked, "How long is it gonna take for you guys to remember that you're hammers? You morons."

"That's what I wanna know," Franky said shaking his head fondly. The two just grinned and laughed as they sat up; as they celebrated their victory, they heard Muchigoro crying behind them. They glanced back to see that the guy was on his knees and crying his eyes out, telling the Baron that he was sorry that he brought disgrace to his name. Strangely enough, it was the flower who showed the most sportsmanship by telling them congratulations.

"At least one of them has got manners," Brook pointed out.

"What babies," Zoro stated in disgust.

But hearing the flower congratulate them was probably too much for the Baron as he suddenly screamed out, "Wait, the contest is not yet finished!"

They stopped celebrating and look to him.

"But you all just won!" Brook yelled, "How can it not be finished?"

"Sore losers that's what…" Sanji said sourly.

Memory Zoro was looking annoyed as he snapped, "We just finished it!"

But the Baron pointed a shaking hand at them. "You must undertake the next ordeal!" he yelled out sounding furious. "I will not let this travesty go unpunished!"

"Travesty? He's going a little far with this isn't he? He lost a game that they rigged! Be a man and admit it!" Usopp yelled out. But what really seemed to make the Baron angry was that his first mate was still crying out and he yelled out in fury, "How dare you make my Muchigoro cry!"

"Not much of a first mate if he cries over losing at a goldfish contest," Franky muttered darkly. "Just… grow up! Just get over it!"

"Hold it!" memory Nami called and walked forward angrily, "You never said anything about this!"

But the Baron was passed listening. He began to yell at them to stay silent and to do what he ordered them. They were going to undergo the next ordeal whether they wanted to or not.

"What made him think we should do what he said?" Usopp asked at once, his anger towards the Baron rising up, "He wasn't our captain so he had no control over us!"

"He's the boss of this island," Nami pointed out, her eyes narrowing, "I guess he's used to getting his way."

"What was the next ordeal again?" Chopper asked in confusion. The others all glanced at each other in surprise, unsure how to answer a question that they didn't know the answer to.

"More importantly, I think you should take Luffy out of here before…?" Franky began, but it was too late.

"Another ordeal?" asked Luffy excitedly. "Sounds like fun!" and they all gapped at him as he told them they should try the next one as well. But memory Nami seemed to have had enough. Instead of the relaxing stay that she had been hoping for, she had to deal with this. She hit Luffy hard over the head and refused to the Baron on behalf of the rest of the crew. Though as she and Luffy began to argue about that, the current Zoro suddenly saw something flashing in the jungle besides them.

He glanced around and noticed the flashing light once again and realized they looked like a pair of lenses reflecting the sunlight. It was too far for him to truly see who it was, but he narrowed his own eye, knowing that they had been watched by someone. After much more shouting, memory Nami grabbed Luffy and dragged him off the platform and back to the trees with the others right behind them.

"So you're really leaving?" Brook asked at once.

"I remember that we were heading back to the ship…" Usopp admitted as he frowned in thought. "But…"

"It's right after that did it become hazy," Zoro nodded in agreement.

"Is this the same for all of you?" Franky asked.

"I remember the rest of you going to the next ordeal, but me, Luffy and Chopper headed back to the resort to wait for you," Robin explained. "And, for me, that's when it starts to fade out."

"I remember that!" Chopper said, raising his hoof in the air as they trooped after their memory selves. "It wasn't until after I met Daisy did I forget!"

"So whatever happened… it started going downhill when we tried to leave," Sanji summed up, glancing around anxiously. Memory Nami wasn't in the mood to listen to Luffy's complaints as she tried to find the Merry. But the jungle they were all in seemed to have become mixed around since they had been in here before and they soon found themselves lost. Luffy, lagging behind them, kept trying to convince them to go back and face the ordeals, with Nami snapping at him that if he loved those games so much he could do it by himself. She looked around and asked something she rarely ever asked, "Where are we anyway?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Brook asked in great surprise.

"I… I don't know," Nami said, trying hard to think back, but unable to truly think straight for some reason. Memory Robin looked mildly surprise and asked if they were lost as Nami began asking where the ship was.

"This has never happened to me before," the current Nami said, unable to believe it. Whenever someone needed a direction or to know where something was, she was always able to answer.

"We don't know anymore!" past Usopp cried out, sounding freaked out and glaring at Sanji and Zoro who weren't helping things by making random suggestions to where they should go.

"If Zoro said that way, then we know that the right direction is in the opposite direction," the current Sanji nodded. "That was problem solved."

"Shut up, you crappy love cook!" Zoro yelled.

"What? Are you saying I'm wrong?!" Sanji shouted back at him angrily. It wasn't his fault the guy got lost going in a straight line!

"Slow down!" memory Nami called, "Everyone stay calm!" she then pulled out the old map of the island and looked over it. "Let me see… where are we?"

"That's why we're asking you," the current Usopp added and she glared at him so that he'd shut up. Her past self stared down at the map before she gave a cry of frustration and yelled out that the map was useless! The current Nami walked up and looked over her shoulder and knew the problem was. It truly was a confusing map… and as far as she could see, there weren't any real landmarks… there was the general shape of the island, but there was also the form of a large, flowering tree… other than that, there was no real way to tell where they were.

"You think that things are moving around or something and that's why we can't find our way?" present-day Chopper asked them.

"Good point," Robin said, thinking that all over, "I don't think it's outrageous to think that…"

"Yeah, after all, they were able to move all those buildings and rides around so I don't think that it would be hard for them to have moved the jungle around," Franky nodded. But why? Why did the Baron want them to stick around so much? He had a bad feeling that it didn't have to do with anything about games…

Memory Chopper suddenly found something strange… a blanket and an empty picnic basket. The current Straw Hats couldn't imagine anyone wanting to have a picnic in the middle of a place like this, but Zoro frowned as he saw them… having a feeling that maybe the someone who had been watching them before might've been here.

Memory Nami snapped at Chopper not to touch it as they continued on their way. They decided to try and find the shore first of all, and that they were sure to find it eventually if they kept walking long enough. It was a pretty uneventful walk aside from the usual arguments from each other… but after walking for a few more minutes they spotted a large curtained stage right in the middle of the trees.

"Where'd that thing come from?!" Usopp yelled in shock.

"That's not what we should be asking," Sanji glowered, "What's he doing here is more like it."

And standing in the center of the stage was none other than the Baron, and he didn't look the least bit surprised to see them again. The Baron laughed once again, and called in that loud voice of his, "I've been expecting you, courageous pirates!"

"I'm sure he was," Sanji hissed, now growing seriously pissed off. Memory Nami was looking around in bafflement—obviously wondering if they somehow got turned around and ended up back at the resort. The Sanji from the past sighed in defeat as he said, "Since we can't enjoy our vacation…"

"And we can't get off this island," memory Zoro added, now looking grumpier than usual.

Past Robin looked resigned as she spoke up, "So the only thing we can do is…?"

And it was Luffy who finished it up for them all, "The Ordeal of Hell!"

"Part TWO!" the Baron added and the lights shone on the stage.

"Of course he would be happy," current Usopp sighed wearily and sat back down on his butt and rested his chin in his hand. "Why must he always be so carefree?"

"It's in his nature?" Nami offered.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the Baron called out loudly, though there really wasn't much point in broadcasting his words, "The next ordeal will be… The Ring Toss!"

"More games?!" Franky groaned out, "Oh, great… I can't wait to see how they cheat here!"

"Ring… Toss?" Usopp whispered to himself, shaking his head and trying to clear the fog from his mind.

"Ok, I've had enough of this place," Zoro said. But the memory Straw Hats were all lost at the game as well. However, the Baron explained that the game worked with taking between two teams of four people, each in two gondola-like waver boats. To win, a team must throw rings over every member of the other team.

"So…" Brook said carefully, "Instead of a pole or something to throw the rings over, you had to ring each other?"

"I guess…?" Sanji said, knowing that he was asking the wrong person. The Baron introduced his own team… which was made up of four tiny, froglike people who were called the Kaoru family: Kerojii, Keroshot, Kerodeek and Keroko. The Four Wise Men…

"But one of them is a girl!" Chopper pointed out as he looked to Keroko. "At least I think so?"

Though old, they were lively and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as they started to insult the Straw Hats. Getting them—especially Nami—angry and finally accepting to participate in the stupid competition. After much fighting among them, the Straw Hats left the three Devil Fruit users behind to head back to the resort and made up one team of Sanji and Zoro and one of Nami and Usopp.

"You know… it's funny that Luffy's not able to play here since he was the one who wanted to participate more than anyone," Brook pointed out.

"It's for the best," Robin answered as they walked behind the three, Luffy still moaning loudly as they headed back to the hotel where they would stay. "After all, it's a race on the water let's not forget…"

"And if he falls in, he's screwed, right…" Franky nodded in understanding. "That I get… but what I don't get is why these two here were paired up," he jerked a massive thumb back at their own two members of the Monster Trio, who were glaring at each other.

"Well, they worked together really well during the Groggy Ring right?" Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah," Nami snarled, "But only after they almost lost because they spent the whole time arguing. And I doubt that those stupid old geezers are gonna play any fairer than those guys did."

"They really got you upset didn't they?" Robin asked her in amusement.

"THEY SAID THAT I WAS ONLY A LITTLE BIT YOUNGER THAN THEM!" she shrieked out, "I'M NOT A LITTLE BIT! I'M A LOT YOUNGER!"

"Of course Nami dear!" Sanji swooned, "I only wish that we could've been on the same team…" but before he could finish speaking, a shooting pain went through his skull, felling like it was about to split in two.

Suddenly he was in a boat and moving at incredible speed down a winding canal through a city that didn't look dissimilar to Water 7. He was in the front of the boat and moaning to himself about not being on Nami's team and insulted Zoro behind his back like he usually did… however, from another waver boat came two of the old geezers riding up and began to shoot a machine-gun right at them from the tooled-up boat.

It ended right there and he was breathing hard, trying to catch his breath. However he did a much better job of hiding the pain and was grateful that they were so busy talking about the game that they didn't noticed that there was something wrong with him.

'What the hell… was that…?' he thought to himself as he opened his eyes.

"So we won't get a chance to see it ourselves?" Chopper asked in disappointment as he turned into his Walk Point, finding it easier to walk. "The Ring Toss Game I mean?"

"No," Robin answered, "Since Luffy wasn't there, I doubt that we'll be able to see it." Strange though… to put the muscle in one boat, and the more logical and strategically ones in the second.

"Why do you two fight so much anyway?" Chopper asked Sanji and Zoro as they glared at the other.

"I just… don't like him!" they both hissed at the same time. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" they both yelled at that and Nami hit them both over the head to shut them up as they finally reached the hotel and entered through the front doors. It was gorgeous… high ceilings with graceful columns, spiraling staircases that reached up to the upper levels, a large crystal chandelier hanging over their heads…

"I have to say this Baron doesn't spare the expense on décor, I'll give him that," Nami smiled around at it. If only he wasn't such a jerk here, this would've been a wonder place to stay for a vacation. But she suddenly frowned, suddenly wondering where the Baron got all the money to pay for this place…? She glanced around, and realized that there didn't seem to be anyone else but them staying here. If that's true, then… then how did he get the money for all this?

They heard Luffy groaning behind them, "I wanted to play ring toss too."

"Not much you can do now, captain," Franky muttered as Robin reassured him that maybe he can play later. But for now they were to just let the others handle it and they could rest until then. Luffy just groaned again as the other two both went to explore the rest of the hotel. They were just beginning to wonder what was happening at the Ring Toss right now when the shadow of a man had appeared from the upper level and threw a tiny pebble at Luffy's head.

Luffy didn't even seem to notice the pebble, but he heard the sound it made when it hit the ground however. He blinked in surprise, but before he could look around for the source of the sound a larger rock hit him and he was now looking around to see what had hit him.

"Who is that guy?" Usopp asked as the man was running around the level and tossing another, an even larger rock, down at him. With this rock, Luffy was now getting angry, glaring around and asking who was throwing stuff at him.

"Is that…?" Robin said, having trouble making him out through the shadows. The man threw a fourth rock, and they heard the sound of it hitting his head like a gong and Luffy seemed to have had enough.

"Who's there!?" he yelled out, "Where are you!? Stop hiding and come out!"

Finally, Luffy spotted him, a short man heaving the largest rock yet over his head and looking ready to throw it.

"You know… he didn't have to throw those rocks," Brook said, "He could've… you know… come out and talk to him? I mean, it's not like there are others around who would interrupt them?"

"THERE YOU ARE!" Luffy yelled and scared the living daylights out of him. He turned and ran with Luffy and all of them right on his heels, eventually throwing the rock away and it began a chase through the hotel. They ended up getting a good look around, and every room was just as beautiful—and as empty—as the entrance hall.

It only caused them to feel as if they were in a ghost town as Luffy chased the man upstairs, and through rooms, down hallways—once they ended up running through the women's bathroom and Sanji let out a disappointed sigh when they saw that there wasn't anyone there.

It wasn't until Luffy spotted him in a large room with a shallow pool in the middle that connected it to several long hallways did they finally catch up with him. He was a rather short, middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and a toothbrush mustache—wearing a beige safari helmet with bow tie, white shirt, and black jacket with yellow shoulder pads. Zoro blinked in surprise as the light reflected off his glasses, suddenly wondering if this was who was watching them earlier.

"Isn't that Brief?" Chopper asked, remembering seeing him just before they left the island.

"Yeah, that's him," Nami said, remembering that mustache.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Franky asked as Brief and Luffy stared each other down, and began to circle around the pool, trying to anticipate the other's moves.

"Sorta…?" Nami suggested. "I mean, he helped us out after we woke up… but I'm not really sure who he was."

"But he wasn't with the Baron right?" Brook asked as Luffy finally got fed up and asked who he was and what he wanted. "So… he's not an enemy right?"

"I guess not," Usopp said brightening up at that. Brief just put on a big smile that alarmed them all at first since it was so sudden, but then he greeted Luffy like he had been expecting him to show up here. He then added that he had braved many dangers to reach this place and make Luffy what he thought was a wonderful proposal.

"Many dangers?" Luffy repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, do I want to know what he's talking about?" Usopp asked, suddenly thinking that maybe this guy wasn't completely right in the head, and his thoughts only increased when Brief introduced himself as the captain of the Toothbrush Mustache Pirates and he plans to revolt against the Baron's tyranny.

"He's kidding right?" Zoro asked slowly, a bit of sweatdrop over his head. "I've heard some dumb names before but that has got to be the stupidest name ever."

"It could've been worse?" Usopp offered half-heartedly.

"Yeah, you could be called one of the Usopp Pirates," Sanji teased and Usopp looked ready to just start yelling at him before he laughed and added, "It's a joke! I'm kidding!"

"Huh?" asked Luffy, looking at him in confusion. "You've got snot hanging from your nose," he informed him bluntly and they laughed as he looked angry and shouted, "THIS IS A TOOTHBRUSH MUSTACHE!"

"Actually, I can see what Luffy's getting act," Zoro laughed.

But the angry look in Brief's eyes faded at once as he stood tall and proclaimed proudly, "This is proof that I'm part of the Toothbrush Mustache Pirates! By the way, we have a special greeting among our crew. Watch this!" and he eagerly put his finger under his nose as if it were a mustache and he cried out, "Mustache!"

No one said anything as they watched how lame that 'greeting' was.

"Ok… I think that this guy definitely has some issues he needs to work out," Usopp whispered.

"He seems nice enough though," Brook pointed out happily, "I think I like him! He's interesting! Yohohoho!"

Luffy was just staring at him, and apparently Brief misinterpret it to think that he was amazed, rather than taken-aback. "Well?" he asked eagerly, "Cool huh? Try it!"

"How can anyone think that's cool?" Sanji asked slowly, looking around nervously.

"That's dumb," Chopper muttered, but he couldn't help but smile in amusement. Though he wouldn't call that 'cool', he really was funny.

But Luffy, who was normally so laid-back, didn't do it. Brief looked disappointed and showed him how to do it again before Luffy asked him about his proposal and Brief blinked in surprise before he remembered the reason he was here. "Oh!" he gasped out, "That's right!"

"He's not too bright," Chopper said to himself.

Brief then pulled out a pair of binoculars and Zoro knew at once that this really was who he saw spying on them earlier. However strange that Brief was, he didn't really seem him as much of a threat… but… why was he looking at Luffy through them when he didn't need them to do so? Getting off the subject, Brief asked, "You have six crewmates with you right?"

"Yeah," Luffy answered. And Brief began to tell them what a team they all were, good friends and their teamwork was just perfect. Luffy answered yes to everything, smiling in pride, and they all felt the same surge of pride inside them. But it disappeared when Brief put down the binoculars and asked them, "That's the thing. Listen to me. Will you be my crewmate?"

"What?" Usopp asked, of all the things that he was expecting, that sure wasn't one of them. Luffy clearly wasn't expecting that either. Afraid that Luffy didn't hear him, he asked again, "Will you join Toothbrush Mustache Pirates?"

"He's kidding right?" Sanji asked as they all looked to each other in surprise.

"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen," Usopp whispered and they nodded with him.

"Hey?!" Brief yelled when Luffy still didn't answer him. "You can hear me right? I'll say it one more time! Will you join the Toothbrush Mustache…?"

"How can we join without mustaches?" Chopper asked curiously.

"I think it's just a name," Robin smiled back as Luffy stretched out his arm so that he could grab hold of Brief by his shirt and drag him back so that they could talk to each other properly. Brief, thinking that Luffy was going to hurt him, he covered his face and begged that Luffy wouldn't hurt him.

But Luffy simply placed him down right in front of him and said, "No. Why would I want to be your crewmate?"

Relieved that he wasn't about to be hit, he merely gave a dark chuckle before he told him clearly and with a hint of sadness in his tone, "Everyone has that attitude at first. But when you stay on this island a little bit longer, you'll change your mind."

"Why's that?" Chopper asked in confusion. Why would staying on the island make him want to change his mind? He didn't like this, what Brief said next made him regret that they ever came to such an island. "Here's some advice for you," he added darkly, "Be careful of Baron Omatsuri. He will break your crew apart."

The memory faded with Luffy turning and walking away and soon they were all out of the forest and found themselves among a thick patch of rocks and moss covered boulders.

"I don't like this," Brook said after a few seconds of silenced. "I don't like this at all."

"Break the crew apart? What the hell did he mean by break crews apart?" Usopp asked hurriedly, "I mean… just what kind of person is this Baron guy? So far he's a sore loser and a bit of a jerk but I don't see him as some kind of killer…"

"CP9 didn't seem like killers when we first met them did they?" Nami asked softly.

"But we don't have to worry about us falling apart right?" Usopp asked her at once. "I mean… even after two years we're still as sharp with teamwork as we were before! In fact, we're even better!"

"Yeah! That's true!" Chopper said firmly, "We won't need to worry about leaving each other behind!"

"Well, yeah, we all know that but…" Nami began but for a fraction of a second, the pain in her head was back, though not as intense as it had been before. She could hear her own voice screaming out, "How could you leave me and escape on your own?!"

And she felt a stinging sensation on her fingers and her eye snapped open, horrified as she remembered that moment. She was breathing hard and took a step backwards. She didn't know what made her do it, but in that moment, she felt an anger rise up inside her, one so great that she couldn't contain it and lashed out by slapping Usopp. She hit the boys all the time, but that moment had been completely different, she had truly wanted to hurt him.

She stared at Usopp, who blinked back at her in confusion. "Nami? What's wrong?"

"Nami?" some of the others said when they noticed she was shaking.

"Usopp…?" she asked quietly, "Did… did I ever…?"

But she never had a chance to finish asking the question before the memory came back. They were all outside in the twilight air at the hotel. Luffy was there with everyone except for Chopper… but they all knew right away that there was something seriously wrong. The crew, that was normally so relax and enjoyed each other's company, was extremely tense. The four who had competed in the Ring Toss, were all giving each other dirty looks and the anger between them was so thick they could all practically taste it.

The hostility had always been strong against Sanji and Zoro, but now those negative feelings seemed to be rather extreme. The two were glaring at the other, as if daring the other to do something… they were practically foaming at the mouth for an excuse to fight. But what really got them was how angry Nami was towards Usopp. There was anger and hurt in her eyes as Usopp stayed as far away from her as possible, as if he were a little boy who didn't want to catch a girl's cooties.

"Jeez, what happened with you guys?" Franky asked, looking from one to another.

"Not sure," Zoro said, and he sounded surprised at how they were all acting. Just what happened during that competition…?

But at that moment, both Zoro and Sanji felt that splitting pain in their heads and this time it was more intense than it had been for Sanji than it had been before. They both let out cries of pain as they fell to their knees and everyone gathered around them as the two men heard a strange ringing sound in their heads.

It was as if they were watching the memory inside their heads only sped up greatly. The two of them were in one of the wavers and were racing along the canal just like the ones at Water 7. They were arguing with each other as two of the wise men drew their boat up closer and used a mechanically operated arms to try and catch Zoro in a ring. He spotted it however and sliced it to pieces.

"What's going on?!" Zoro yelled through the ringing in his ears.

"Hell if I know!" Sanji hissed, actually falling to his knees.

"Zoro! Sanji!" Chopper cried in fear, unable to think of anything that he could do to help them. But they could no longer hear him.

As the two of them argued and blame each other, Sanji went faster and actually made Zoro an easy target for them to try to ring again. Zoro was forced to jump right out the boat onto the sides and ran to try and keep up with their craft. When he jumped back into the boat, the two were now fighting with each other, Zoro was determined to get the two wise men back for their stunts, but their boat starts to back off and the canal splits into two pathways. And then the two were practically clawing each other's eyes out until the paths merge again and the opponents show up.

"Hell!" Sanji yelled, his hands clamped tightly over his ears. "I'm gonna kill those old geezers!"

But the memories coming back to them were far from over.

Without them noticing, their boat appeared right in front of them, and were determined to ensnare them with rings. The two were duking it out on the boat until the two wise men, Keroshot and Kerodeek, tried to get their attention by shooting at them; however their shots missed every time. That was the point—they were trying to provoke them… and Zoro lost his temper that he slicked up their boat, though it only took Kerodeek seconds to patch it up and presents a larger, more intimidating version of it.

"I get the feeling that Foxy would get along well with these guys!" Zoro panted, gritting his teeth in pain as the others were now trying to shake them awake as Chopper was giving them orders to lay them back so that he could try and give them a sedative.

"NO!" Zoro gasped to him, grabbing hold of Chopper's arm as he went to his medical bag.

"Zoro! What do you think you're…?" Nami yelled but he shook his head, trying to focus on the memories that were coming back to him.

A massive version of their boat pulls up from behind them, a large gold drill that was plowing through the bridges that were across the water. But Zoro and Sanji had enough… they broke the massive boat apart together, sending the two old men into the air, convinced that they could properly fight each other without interruptions. But Nami caught their attention and yelled at them to throw the rings since she was tied up herself and hanging there by strings by some lanterns. Only too happy to do so, Sanji stopped the boat and threw the rings… trapping the two old men.

And at that, the pain disappeared and the two were laying there on their backs and gasping for breath. The others were leaning over them in concern, trying to ask them if they were alright and Chopper going to his bag again.

"No! It's alright, Chopper," Sanji muttered, holding up his hand and he stopped to watch them sit up as the full memories of what happened in that race fully came back to them.

"What's happening here?" Brook cried out, "First Nami-san… and now you guys?"

"Are you alright?" Robin asked in concern.

But it was Nami who was looking at them sadly. "Then it's not just me then?" she asked them, and they didn't need to ask her what she meant to understand what she was getting at. They got to their feet as Chopper was yelling at them to lay back down but Zoro just shook his head, understanding what was going on.

"I remember," he said, though his voice was steady, he was dripping in sweat. They all stared at him, most of them not understanding what he was saying as Sanji added, "Everything in that shitty race…"

He now had to fight the urge to grab a cigarette and smoke. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold it back for much longer.

"What?" Franky asked them in a startled voice.

"It just all came back," Sanji muttered in a shaky voice as he leaned against Franky as he struggled to stand upright.

"You mean your memories of what happened are back?!" Usopp gasped out in amazement.

"No, just what happened during the race," Zoro hissed, his dizzy spell over.

"So… what happened?" Chopper asked quickly, but meanwhile, their memory selves had apparently been asking each other where memory Chopper was and when Usopp had repeated himself several times, memory Nami yelled out angrily, "Nobody asked you!"

They glanced up to see the rage in each other's eyes and no one was liking anything that they were seeing. And memory Usopp seemed hurt as he asked her how long she was going to stay mad at him.

"Why were you mad at me?" Usopp asked slowly but Nami just shook her head in confusion, almost trying to will the fog in her head to disappear. Memory Robin sighed at the sight of them before she looked to Luffy, and they heard her say softly to him, "Please do something, captain. They've been at it for the last few hours."

"Few hours? What happened?" Brook asked, now feeling as though someone had scrambled his brains—if he had any—he was just so confused to what was happening here. He didn't like these memories at all. But then a set of drums started up and the Baron was back again, looking so smug that Zoro and Sanji wanted nothing more than to break his face.

He laughed cockily and asked them all, "Why are you arguing? I thought pirate crews got along well."

"We do! Most of the time," Chopper said slowly as memory Sanji glared at the Baron as if hoping his head exploded, snarling at him to shut up. The Baron merely laughed once more and said that he was going to entertain them all with a private dinner.

"Food…" Usopp groaned out, his hand on his stomach, which was now roaring with hunger as well.

"I just hope it's not another trick here," Zoro said darkly, "I'm sick of all these stupid games! I've had enough of them."

"You may be an idiot, but I'm with ya there," Sanji said, now returning to normal, the bits and pieces of the memories they were watching now were also starting to fill in some of the holes in his memory as well. Like before, the scenery changed around them and the water in front of them part so that a large platform rose up to take its place and it appeared to have been a giant grill. Current Sanji whistled in an impressed way when he saw it, and there was a large man wearing a chef's hat and apron standing on it.

"This should be good," Chopper said excitedly, wishing that he could've seen the show for himself. And a large fire was ignited while the Baron called, "I present to you all the outdoor iron-griddle restaurant!"

It got stranger when the chef put some skates on his feet and was actually skating around on top of the grill as he spread cooking oil for them. Everyone was watching with eagerness, except for Sanji who was no longer impressed. Food was something to be enjoyed and eaten… this was clearly just wasteful and frivolous of cooking to him. He glared as he watched the cook, Kotetus, skated round and slid the food around in an overtly flashy manner. Now Sanji loved to show off what he knew about cooking, but to show off your skills was one thing and to make a performance of it was another. His past self seemed to agree with him, but he was in such a bad mood, that he looked ready to explode at any moment.

As the cook went on with his show, Zoro and Sanji told them what they could remember of the race. When they finished, they were all looking at each other in worry.

"So it sounds like they were purposely trying to get you two to fight with each other," Robin said softly before she added, "Is this what Brief meant?"

"What?" Sanji asked in confusion.

She glanced up and added, "Remember what Brief said? He warned Luffy to beware the Baron because he breaks crews apart. I think this was what he was talking about. By forcing them to compete in these ordeal, he tricks them into fighting with each other."

"And by planting seeds of doubt, he gets you to all distrust each other and if that happens…" Brook added, understanding washing over him, "The crew will surely fall apart!"

"And I think that maybe something like that happened with you two as well," Robin added as she looked to Nami and Usopp. "And that is why you both are so angry with each other." Nami especially went pale as she remembered that she must be right, for she could still feel the sting on her fingers.

"They aren't the only ones," Franky muttered, pointing up to see that memory Sanji seemed close to snapping as well as he watched the cook skating around up there.

"Wow, you're either about to kill him or cook him yourself, I can't tell which," Usopp whispered, "Were you that upset over this show?"

"I just don't know," Sanji shrugged in confusion as his past self seemed to grow more frustrated with every second. As the cook went on, everyone was getting excited and applauded him as he performed several tricks. But when Luffy commented that the food looked good, memory Sanji seemed to snap as he took to the grill as well. The current Sanji was stunned by this… to think that he was so angry that he was now resorted to performing tricks with food? What the hell was happening to him?

His past self was so full of anger that he seemed to be willing to do anything to vent it off, even if it meant lowering himself to such a thing. And soon it was an all-out war going on between the cooks.

Robin noticed the horrified expression on their Sanji's face and decided for a quick distraction. She turned to Chopper and said, "Chopper? You still aren't back here? Just where were you?"

"Huh?" Chopper asked in surprise before he saw what she meant and added, "Oh, that's right! I was having a look around the island! See, I thought it was strange that such a big place wouldn't have so many people around, so I went to see if I could find anyone."

And he told them all about how he had wandered out into the city, only to find that it was deserted.

"You sure?" Zoro asked in surprise. "Because there were plenty of people watching us play that dumbass game."

"Maybe that's where they all were?" Brook pointed out and they seemed to buy that. Chopper nodded and went on with his story. He watched the battle of the cooks going on for a moment before he added that it wasn't until he found an old graveyard did he find anyone else. He was shocked to find so many graves there, but he ended up meeting up with Daisy and the others.

"So you were with your friend?" Brook asked in relief. That was good, he was starting to grow rather worried about him after not seeing his memory self for a while. "What did you do?"

Chopper laughed, "Well, her papa wasn't really that strong—that's what he said anyway. He was there with his son Rick and his daughters Rosa and Daisy… and he was the captain of the Tearoom Pirates."

"Another dumb name, but I like that one better than the Toothbrush Mustache Pirates," Franky muttered.

"Well, they weren't real pirates," Chopper added with a smile. "Their papa asked me to pretend to get beat up so that he could look strong in front of his kids and he'd tell me what he knew about this island."

"Well, that's stupid," Usopp muttered, folding his arms, "Lying to his own kids like that?"

"Like you're one to talk, pal," Franky pointed out in annoyance.

"So what did he tell you?" Robin asked curiously.

"Not much," Chopper confessed, "He did say that he brought his family here because they thought that it was a great resort. But he told me that it was all a trap. He was forced to take his kids and hide when they brought out the giant goldfish. He also said that the Baron and everyone else here were all former pirates. And he showed me an old wanted poster… the Red Arrow Pirates."

"Red Arrow? How'd he get that name?" Nami asked.

"I don't know," Chopper said, frowning as he remembered something important. "That's right! I was gonna tell you! The Baron and his whole crew were in the poster… but the Baron was the only one who looked older!"

"You mean… that everyone, even the four old timers that we raced against didn't look any older?" Sanji asked in surprise.

"Yeah! I remember that!" Chopper cried out with certainty. "And I think that date on the poster was about twenty years old at the time!"

"That's impossible!" Nami said at once, "I mean… how can only one person age while the others look the same? Those old jerks had to be dead within twenty years right? No one just stops aging! Right?" she added with a look to Robin who frowned once more.

"There are certain Devil Fruits who have that kind of power," she confessed, "But if that's the case, why hasn't the Baron remained looking young as well? This… this isn't right…?"

"This is seriously starting to creep me out," Franky muttered, an odd shiver going up his spine.

"Chopper? What else?" Nami asked quickly but Chopper could only shake his head, unable to tell them anything else, informing them the last thing he remembered was hearing Daisy screaming… but everything after that was a haze.

"Scream?" Brook gulped down. "I don't like this. Nothing about this island is adding up… it's not normal!"

"Damn, why'd we have to come here?" Sanji demanded as the fighting between the cooks got so heated that they all turned to see what was going on. They had seen Sanji get angry at other cooks before, but it was never like this. The other Straw Hats were all watching… but soon Zoro seemed to grow bored and went to take a quick cat name in a lounge chair, characteristically unimpressed with Sanji's skills—none of them realizing just yet that Robin had also disappeared.

Luffy wasn't acting any differently than normal as he cheered Sanji on, but what really got them was the way that Nami and Usopp were bickering with each other. Nami refused to stand next to him, and it was clear that Usopp was making an effort to try to be friendly to her. But finally she walking away from the grill to sit with Muchigoro, who was alone at one of the tables and Usopp just marched off, muttering to himself what was wrong with her.

"I don't get it," Usopp said in confusion, "Just what did I do to get you to hate me so much?"

But no sooner were the words out of his mouth did the ringing start in their ears now.

"Oh, no!" Nami gasped as she yelled and Robin was there to support her arms and helped her to sit down on the ground as she held onto her head in pain. As Usopp fell forward onto his face, cracking his nose so that it looked crooked, Chopper cried out in shock, but Zoro and Sanji told him to relax.

Nami and Usopp were in the back of their boat, speeding along as the duo of Kerojii and Keroko were ahead of them, preparing for an attack against them. Keroko pulled out an outdoor roast and began to actually cook a pair of fish above a barbecue and waved her pan over it so that she was creating a trail of smoke and steam so that Nami and Usopp couldn't see.

She then pulled out a larger fish and roasts it as their own boat began to speed up and catch up. Nami was startled to see the face that they were having a meal on their boat, but she readied a ring anyway. At that moment, Keroko began to fling pieces of coal at them and the boat began to catch fire.

They both cried out in shock as the memories came flooding back at them and they supported their shoulders as they sat up, the memories pounding in their skulls. They couldn't make out what their crewmembers were saying half the time.

Nami held her ring high to spare it from the flames that were quickly spreading to the rest of the boat—though Usopp was sitting surprisingly calm as he tried to think of a way out of this. As he tried to think of a way out of here, Nami became full of hope until Usopp came out and confessed that he couldn't think of anything.

"Usopp you dope!" she yelled out loudly.

But in a rage, she grabbed a box and she found on the boat and threw it at him—by then noticing that it read out: RESCUE BOX. With Kerojii and Keroko telling them that they should open it in case it could save them, Nami's excitement disappears only to find that there were two coffee mugs. In desperation, she uses them to start to pour water onto the fire. But as Usopp found a second box, it opened up automatically and wrapped itself around him; wings extending out from his back and carried him up and into the air. Nami stared up in horror as Kerojii laughed, telling her that he cared more for himself than for her. She couldn't do anything but watch in disbelief as he disappeared into the sky.

And that was all that came as their eyes snapped open and they gasped for breath. They stared around at their crew surrounding them and Sanji was begging for Nami to answer him. Both were alright and were able to sit up as Chopper looked over them.

"Why does it hurt so much?" Nami asked him.

"Well, I'm not sure," Chopper confessed, "But I do know that in some cases when someone who forget something like with amnesia, and they get their memories back, it can be painful. Especially if we don't remember it for a long time, and see something that suddenly jogs it, I think that it would be really hard."

"And naturally with everything we've seen here, I suppose that our buried memories would start to come back in a hurry," Robin said as she helped Nami to stand up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said before she stumbled to Usopp. The two stared at the other, as if seeing them for the first time. "You…" Nami began softly, "Left me in a burning boat and saved yourself?" She didn't sound angry, not even upset… she sounded more confused than anything else.

"No!" Usopp yelled at once and they looked at the two in confusion as he explained, "I didn't do anything! I swear it! The stupid box opened up and it wrapped itself around me! I didn't have a choice! I didn't leave you behind because I wanted to! It lifted me up in the air even though I tried to stop it!"

Nami just continued to look at him. When they asked her what they were talking about, she quietly told them what had happened and what they remembered. Sanji was furious with Usopp for leaving Nami behind before he explained his side of the story. By the time that he was done, the cooking contest was just about over and Kotetus was on his knees in defeat. But no one was watching them as Usopp told her how sorry he was.

Nami only started to cry as they remembered the horrible things they said to each other. And at that they hugged and began to cry loudly. "I'm so sorry!" they both cried out and sobbed their hearts out as the others just let them do so. Though it was over two years late, it was as if it had all happened moments ago.

They let them sob and apologize to the other as memory Sanji stood proud, crying out for Robin to see if he had been watching, but realized that she was gone. He turned to Nami, and when he saw her with Muchigoro, he stalks away, looking angrier than ever.

Luffy happily dove back into the food and began to chow down. But Nami stared at her past self in the distance, talking with the ever growing pale Muchigoro. Now more memories were flooding back to her, but the pain had been lessened considerable, it was as if the floodgates had burst open and now that the eruption was over, it was just the less violent burst of water flowing through.

The memories were now coming back…

She was still talking to Muchigoro, who was telling her a little more of his background as a pirate and how much he admired his captain. He even told her that he believed that the Baron was strong enough to beat Roger.

That confused her. Was he really speaking about Gold Roger? But he's been dead for decades, how could Muchi be talking about him as if he had met him?

She asked him what he was talking about, and he was astonished that she didn't realize who he was talking about if she was truly a pirate. When she realized that he was talking about the previous King of the Pirates, she told him about how he had been executed before she was even born. Muchi was not making any sense to her… insisting that Roger was still alive and his eyes became strangely eye-piercing as he insisted that he saw him not that long ago…

Nami's own eyes widen at that. How is something like that even possible? Could it be that maybe their memories were messed up like how that seahorse messed with theirs? But that still didn't make any sense as to why they didn't seem to age… what was going on?

"Yes…" Muchigoro whispered to her, and then he began to shake, "Before that stormy night… that storm was terrible…"

Storm? What storm…?

Muchigoro put his hands to his face, now shaking worse than ever as she tried to find out more about this storm that he was talking about… but she gasped in horror as his face started to turn purple and withered like a dying plant… he whispered in fear just two words…

Robin, who was noticing the fearful look in Nami's eyes suddenly felt the stabbing pain this time. She stayed on her feet as, for a moment, she was standing beside the ruins of a ship…

But she wasn't alone. The Baron was there as he willing showed her the flower that she had been looking for… he called it the flower of reincarnation. And when she turned around, there was a giant tube-like structure at the top of the hill, curled around like a giant hair. She didn't know what it was, but it was sending waves of terror through her body. And one of the only few times she was rendered speechless, not believing that was the flower she had been looking for…

But the Baron's eyes began to shine as she heard a terrible wailing in the wind. She was afraid… and it was only made worse when the flower that he wore laughed madly and smiled… it's eyes blinking as the Baron readied an arrow…

"LILY CARNATION."

And at those words, sweat began to pour down Robin's face and her breaths came out in painful pants and Nami let out a scream.

"Ohm what now?!" Usopp yelled at them fearfully.

"Where's the Baron?!" Robin asked at once, looking around them, only to see that the man was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know," Brook said worriedly, "He disappeared while we were watching the show?"

Breathing hard, and wiping her brow she muttered anxiously, "He's dangerous."

"What? What did you remember?" Chopper asked freaking out.

"Nothing good," she answered, seeing how truly anxious that she was, was what clued them all in that something was seriously wrong. They were trying to get the girls to tell them what they just remembered, but Luffy was out of the food and turned back to Zoro, yelling at him to wake up and try some of Sanji's food.

Past Zoro heard him and woke up with a yawn and blinked up to see the large pile of food. As he started to get up, memory Sanji did something that caused them all to stare in amazement.

"You were asleep, so you can go hungry," he snapped at him. The current Sanji's eyes widen in horror as he stared ahead of him, as if watching the scene from the end of a long tunnel. This has to be wrong… he wouldn't have ever said something like that… he wouldn't…? Sure he hated Moss Head's guts, but making sure that everyone has a good meal always overrided his rivalry. He may sometimes tell the swordsman that if he disobeyed the chief then he'd probably wouldn't eat, but that was always just to make sure that he did work! And even then, he never meant it!

"What?" memory Zoro asked him darkly.

"Anyone who doesn't cheer me on doesn't have the right to eat," he shouted back at him.

"WHAT?!" the current Sanji yelled out, having to lean against Franky for a moment to fight off a sudden wave of nausea. He had denied someone—a crewmate a meal? It went against everything he believed in to let a man go hungry while he had the means to feed him! What is going on? Even if he couldn't stand Zoro most of the time, he couldn't ever imagine just letting him starve! Did he forget those painful months on that god-forsaken rock in the middle of the sea already?

"That… can't be you, Sanji," Nami said softly, eyes wide.

"Yeah, it's probably an imposter!" Usopp said, in what he hoped was the answer. "Yeah! The Baron makes us all think that we hate each other by impersonating us!"

"Unless Bon Clay is here, I don't see how anyone could have such a perfect disguise," Robin pointed out.

"Well, it has to be something!" Chopper said quickly. "No one but Luffy is acting like themselves! Just who is the Baron and why is he doing all this?"

"I don't know," Nami said, thinking about Muchi and how he had started to wilt right in front of her, and her eyes went to the sprouts on everyone's heads.

Memory Sanji suddenly brightened up and went running off to find Robin and tell her that dinner was served. Memory Zoro looked bitter as he leaned back on the chair, looking ready for another nap, but also muttered so that they could hear, "What a jerk…"

"I'll let you have that one," Sanji told him softly, his hands curling into tight fists. "Because it's true. But I don't get it. How could I…?"

"I don't think that the guys who live here are human," Nami said firmly and they all gapped at her.

"Wait!" Brook cried out as Franky and Chopper's jaws fell open. "Not human?"

"I was talking to Muchigoro," she said quietly, "And he told me that he met Roger recently."

"Roger?" Usopp added before his eyes widen, "Wait, you mean The Pirate King, Gold Roger!"

"Yes," she said. "I got him a little drunk and he was talking about meeting Roger just before they came to this island. Just before a storm."

"But that's impossible!" Franky said loudly. "I mean, if he had said that he had met Roger before years ago, I'd understand. But recently? How is twenty two years recent?"

"None of this is adding up," Robin said, "But I'm starting to think that you're right, these people might not be human."

"You mean about the sprouts growing out of their heads?" Chopper asked hurriedly.

"I don't know if that has anything to do with it," Robin went on, "But think about. You said that you found a wanted poster with everyone on it, right?" and when he nodded she went on, "But out of everyone, the Baron was the only one who looked older, right?"

"Yeah?" Chopper said, "And he looked a lot younger in the poster!"

"I see," she frowned, "The Baron is the only one who has aged. And Muchigoro remembered meeting Roger recently even though it's been more than twenty years…"

"But what does this all mean?" Usopp asked her, "I mean, you're making it sound like no time has passed since then and now. Like… twenty years never happened…?" He groaned as he held onto his head, "My brain hurts."

"And it doesn't explain why you all weren't able to remember what happened here…" Brook pointed out, "But… is it possible that staying on this island somehow erases a person's memory?"

"Maybe there's something about the island that causes time to stand still?" Chopper asked, "Maybe something like at Little Garden! Things there hadn't changed so dinosaurs were able to live there even after millions of years! So… maybe time on the island moves a lot slower than off it?"

"But that still doesn't explain the Baron," Zoro frowned. "What's his story? And why is he the only one who's older?"

"Lily Carnation…" Robin answered softly and they looked to her in confusion. All but Nami, who gulped a little as she went on, "I was with the Baron for only a moment as I was looking for a flower. I found an old destroyed pirate ship that had to wash up that hill due to a storm."

"Muchi mentioned a storm too," Nami nodded, "And when he tried to remember what happened, he… he started to… die…"

"DIE?!" the men all yelled in shock.

"I don't know!" she confessed, feeling scared as she told them what happened, how he looked like he was drying up or something and freaked out as he mentioned Lily Carnation, whatever that was.

"So… he's part… plant?" Sanji said hurriedly, "I don't think that I can look at a vegetable the same way again."

"I don't know, but he wasn't normal," Nami stated, "However it wasn't until he tried to remember what happened after the storm did it happen."

"So, what we know is that the Baron's ship got caught in a storm after they met Roger twenty odd years ago and washed up here," Franky summed up for them, "Ok, that I can get. But…? Come on! They've had to notice that twenty years passed right? The whole world heard about Roger's execution! There's no way that they shouldn't know about that...!"