Whales, Princesses, and Dinosaurs: OH MY...! 2

Chapter 19.5 - Whales, Princesses, and Dinosaurs: OH MY...! 2

The memory came back just then, and they were in the alley with the trio and Vivi. Luffy was sitting up on a barrel and was laughing his head off. "Oh!" he said in new understanding, "They were all bounty hunters?! Why didn't you just say so, Zoro?!"

"I did! Like twelve times!" Zoro yelled back furiously at him.

Zoro rolled his eye again. What an idiot…

"What a funny mix up!" Luffy laughed before Nami snarled at them to shut up, which they did at once.

"I guess they didn't want to get hit again," Robin offered brightly.

"Would you drop it?" Zoro demanded as Nami turned to Vivi and offered to take her home for one billion beri's.

"No, I can't!" Vivi said sharply and Nami blinked in surprise. "But I appreciate the help you've given me so far."

"Why not?" Nami demanded at once, "You're a princess aren't you? So aren't you rich?"

"Just because you have the title doesn't necessary make you rich, Nami-san," Brook stated.

"Yeah, but I would've thought that she have some money," Nami sighed.

"Do you know much about Alabasta Kingdom?" Vivi asked sadly. And so she went into details about her home and how they were now in the middle of a civil war. The people are revolting and the entire kingdom was on the verge of self-destructing so she had decided to take matters into her own hands when she discovered that someone was now behind this war. So she and her companion Igaram infiltrated Baroque Works to find out who was behind it all for the last two years.

"You've got some guts considering you're a princess," Zoro said in an impressed tone, "So… were you able to find out what their plan was?"

She nodded just as Nami answered, "To create an ideal nation." Vivi looked up at her in surprise and she explained, "Anyway, that's what Igaram said it was. Is that what you found out?"

Vivi looked back down at her knees and admitted, "It's not. That was only a cover story the boss was using. It's a lie to cover their tracks!" Her eyes darkened and she finished, "Their true goal is to take over Alabasta Kingdom!" They all just looked at her as she said that she now had to get back home and warn everyone what was really happening before it was too late.

She looked ready to cry and Nami sighed. "Ok, I get it," she said in annoyance, "I see how it is. Yeah, it's all starting to make sense now. I suppose you wouldn't have much money laying around during a civil war."

"But who's behind it all?" Brook asked. He remembered reading the voyage journal on the Sunny once, but he couldn't remember just who it was…?

"Hey," Luffy said eagerly, and Brook was glad that he asked this question, "So did you find out who's in charge?"

Vivi looked horrified at the suggestion. "WHAT?!" she screamed, causing everyone to become startled at her sudden change in tone, "THE BOSS'S IDENITY?! YOU SHOULDN'T ASK THAT!"

"But you know don't you?" Luffy asked calmly.

"ASK ME ANYTHING BUT THAT!" she yelled, waving her hands around, "IF I TELL YOU, YOUR LIVES WILL BE IN DANGER TOO!"

"Drama Queen," current Zoro whispered to himself. Despite her not wanting to tell them anything, she went and blurted out the name anyway.

"Yeah, I'll pass!" past Nami added with a nervous laugh, clearly letting them know that she was happy not knowing. "This guy is trying to take over an entire country after all! I wouldn't want someone like that chasing after me, thank you."

"No, you don't!" Vivi said loudly, "I don't care how strong you people are, you wouldn't stand a chance against one of the Warlords of the Sea! Against Crocodile!"

Silence…

"Did she just blurt his name out?" Franky asked with a deadpanned expression.

"Pretty much," Zoro confessed.

"That's right!" Brook yelled, smacking his skull with the boney hand. "That's the name! I couldn't remember who it was. Is he really a Warlord?"

"Was a Warlord," Sanji told him, "We put the kibosh on his plans."

"Who now?" Luffy asked, and Vivi turned white as she realized what she said and covered her mouth when Nami's jaw fell open in horror.

"How was she able to stay a spy for two years and then just declare who she was and who was behind it to a bunch of strangers?" Nami sighed.

"You had to say it," past Zoro said darkly before they felt like they were being watched. They looked up and they saw a strange sight… there was an otter in a white one piece cloth with purple polka dots and a vulture with a flowered swimcap—both with thick sunglasses. They all looked up at the duo for a moment before the otter jumped up on the vulture's back and they took off.

"What were those guys?" Chopper asked.

"The unluckies," Robin told him, "Mr. 13 and Miss Friday… they served as Crocodile's messengers and were also in charge of executing any Baroque Works agents that fail their missions."

"He trusted those things to do that?" Usopp asked, his eyebrows raised. Past Nami then grabbed hold of Vivi's front and began to shake her as she screamed at her, with Vivi telling her how sorry she was. The men on the other hand were looking excited at the thought.

"Hey, a Warlord?! That's cool!" Luffy yelled out, his eyes shining.

"Not too bad," Zoro agreed.

"Of course you would think that's awesome!" Usopp yelled at Zoro. "That guy was beyond dangerous! It's a miracle that we survived going up against him!"

"Well, we did, so stop complaining about it," Zoro answered.

Luffy began to laugh wildly as Nami continued to yell at Vivi before she began to cry. "Being hunted by a Warlord in the Grand Line? That's more than I can handle!" she cried, covering her face.

"So when do we get to see this guy?" past Zoro asked conversationally.

"Why would you want to? That guy was pure evil," Sanji reminded him. He was still burning with rage at the reminder of this guy and what he had done to Vivi… any man who causes a woman such pain and sadness was no longer a man.

"I get it now," he said in annoyance. "This was before we met the guy."

"I wonder what he's like?!" Luffy added as Nami yelled out, "SHUT UP YOU!"

She then turned and began heading down the road. "It's been nice knowing you idiots! Thanks for everything!" she yelled at them.

"Where're you going!?" Luffy called after her.

"They don't know what I look like yet!" she yelled back, "I'm leaving!"

"You were really going to walk out on them?" Chopper asked her in surprise and she sighed.

"Oh, I didn't get far, believe me," she stated. And no sooner had she said that did the otter show up with three very detailed drawings of Luffy, Zoro, and Nami.

Nami clapped as she saw them, "Wow, that's so lifelike!" And that was when they took off, their silhouette against the bright moon. Nami turned back to them and yelled, "No use in leaving now!"

"That was just my luck," current Nami sighed, "Of course the otter was an artist!"

"Hey, that wasn't too bad! I wonder if he takes requests?" Usopp said, watching them flying out of sight.

"I'm really sorry," Vivi said again quietly but Luffy said that she'll get over it.

"Where's she planning on going anyway?" past Zoro asked, as a twisted grin appeared on his face, "Well then, it looks like the three of us will be sitting right on top of Baroque Works' hit list."

Luffy chuckled to himself, "That's so awesome!"

"How could you two be so excited about being on someone's hit list?" Usopp yelled out. "Man, you two have the same mindset!"

"But it is nice to see that you two made up so well after your fight," Robin stated, like how a mother would when her sons had apologized after an argument.

Zoro just shrugged. It was a shame that they hadn't had a match against each other since then, it was always nice to fight someone who was anything but a pushover. Nami however, was now sulking in a curled up ball on the ground with Vivi trying to think of something to say to cheer her up.

"I'm worried for you here, Nami," Robin said, looking at her almost comatose form.

"Being hunted by a Warlord would do that!" Nami said loudly.

"Well, now we're being hunted by an Emperor and you're taking that well," she reminded her and the 'Weakling Trio' all turned pale at the memory and looked ready to cry at that. How was it that just a few words from her could scare them all out of their minds?

"You have nothing to fear!" someone suddenly yelled.

The Straw Hats turned to see a fairly tall, muscular man standing there with three stuff dummies and stared intensely at the group of pirates. Though it was clear he was a man, he was dressed in clothes similar to Vivi's, and with thick tube-like hair had been done up in a ponytail, and even wearing lipstick…

"What…?" Brook said as Sanji's eyes began twitching horribly. Violent flashbacks of Okama's coming back to mind and he felt the need to bang his head against a wall or something so that he'd black out.

"Is that guy alright?" Chopper asked, vaguely recalling seeing him there… or was that his wife?

"I remember him," Robin stated, "That's Igaram. He is the Captain of the Royal Guard in Alabasta and was known as Mr. 8."

"Ah, so that's Mr. 8," Brook said, "My does he have a very strange fashion sense."

"It's…" Igaram coughed. He started to hum scales before he went on to say, "It's gonna be alright princess, I've come up with a plan!"

"I know I never met this guy, but he's… insane isn't he?" Franky asked as some of them laughed at his humming scales.

"Yeah, Vivi told me that was a habit of his," Nami laughed.

"Igaram!" Vivi exclaimed, coming over to him. "What are you…?"

"Men, should wear nothing but clothes made for men," Sanji hissed, a muscle standing out against his forehead. This just wasn't natural. Who in their right mind would believe him as Vivi here?

"That's a really funny outfit old guy," Luffy said as he looked over the outfit.

"An entire parade of idiots," past Nami whispered where she huddled.

"And I know I was right," current Nami agreed with herself.

"What is his plan?" Usopp asked, looking around, as if hoping that they could explain to him what was happening.

"He wanted to be a decoy for them," Robin answered, "By pretending to be Vivi and taking those dummies with him."

They all stared at her.

"What?" Franky cried out. "Who would ever believe that?!"

"I don't know," Chopper said, looking up at Igaram. "I think it's a really good disguise."

The rest of the Straw Hats behind him all had sweat-drop at those words. Sanji opened his mouth to tell him that there must be something wrong with his eyes, but Zoro shook his head at him, knowing that there wasn't any point trying to tell him otherwise. They let it drop as Igaram began to tell them his plan. Since Baroque Works had learned who Vivi really was, agents would be sent after her to try and kill her. So he came up with the plan to disguise himself as her and try to draw their attention to give them time to escape.

"So these things are us?" Luffy asked as he poked one of the dummies.

"Yes, and those dummies are more convincing than Igaram here," Sanji stated darkly.

"A decoy…" past Zoro summed up for them.

"While Baroque Works is busy chasing after me," Igaram finished up. "The rest of you will head with Vivi straight for Alabasta Kingdom along a less direct route."

"Hold on! Just a second!" past Nami screamed, finally getting back to her feet. "Who said we were gonna take her with us?!" They looked to her and she finished, "We still haven't discussed the matter of payment."

"Payment for what?" Luffy asked as he stared at Vivi. "Take her where?"

"You think he would've picked up on what was going on here after all that?" Usopp stated in annoyance.

"Idiot has selective hearing," Sanji answered with a shrug.

"Where've you been, Luffy?" memory Zoro asked impatiently as he stood up and jerked his thumb to Igaram. "The old man here wants us to take the princess back home to her kingdom."

"Oh, is that what all this yelling is about?" Luffy said, getting it and Vivi looked to him in surprise as he finished by saying, "Sure thing."

Memory Nami completely lost her cool and screamed out, "CROCODILE MAY ALREADY BE AFTER US!"

"He was," Robin nodded. "He doesn't waste time, Crocodile."

"Is this Crocodile guy really that dangerous?" Luffy asked Igaram curiously. Igaram looked back and explained about how he was one of the Seven Warlords, and because of that, there wasn't a bounty on his head. However, once upon a time, his bounty had once been over eighty million. Though they knew that this was the highest bounty the memory Straw Hats encountered, the present-day ones knew that had been Crocodile's bounty before it became frozen after becoming a Warlord. Bounties were no guarantee of power…

"EIGHTY MILLION? THAT'S FOUR TIMES ARLONG'S BOUNTY!" memory Nami screamed out, "THERE'S NO WAY!"

"Sure," Luffy answered with a confident smile as memory Nami looked like she was about to burst into tears again. "It sounds like it'll be fun."

"Of course that's his answer!" Sanji stated tiredly.

"Well, you might as well," Brook laughed, "Even if you had said no, they would've still come after you."

"Thanks for that, Brook," Nami told him darkly. "But you're right. Even if we had said no, that wouldn't stop them from trying to kill us since we knew about Crocodile's plan."

"We are forever grateful," Igaram said, and they could hear the gratitude in his voice as he lead them to a small ship and put the dummies on board before he turned back and spoke in a much higher voice, "Now then, I, Vivi, will leave from here."

"Come on?" Nami asked, shaking her head. It would've been better for him to go as himself with an extra dummy. That would've been more convincing.

Luffy began to laugh, "Great imitation old guy!"

"Imitation of who?" memory Zoro asked, looking at Igaram like he thought that he was insane. But Igaram didn't pay any attention to them as he asked Vivi for the Eternal Pose and she handed it over, looking like she was doing this against her will.

They could all see the sadness in her eyes; the truth was that she didn't want this, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Nami looked at Vivi and realized that maybe it was because she thought that Igaram had died that became the reason that she would try to do everything on her own.

"What's an Eternal Pose?" her past self suddenly asked and Igaram looked at her in surprise.

"You've never heard of it?" he asked her.

"We only got to the Grand Line! How were we supposed to know how anything works here?" present-day Nami sighed irritably. "There was hardly any information about this place in the East Blue… so how can they be so surprised that we didn't know anything?"

"You can say it's sorta like a permanent version of the Log Pose," Igaram answered, holding up the little compass. It looked a great deal like the one Nami wore, only this one was made to look a little more like an hourglass shape with only one orb in the middle with needle floating inside it and the name Alabasta was printed on the top. "Whereas a Log Pose will always lead sailors to the next island on the course, an Eternal Pose will forever remember the magnetic energy of the island stored inside it. So it will always point to that island and no other. And this Eternal Pose is set to Alabasta Kingdom."

"And you're going to use this to set your course to home?" Vivi asked him worriedly.

"Princess Vivi, please take the indirect island hopping route to Alabasta," Igaram told her softly, silently letting her know that he knew the dangers, but he was ready to take them. "I have never gone that way myself, but you should only need to pass two or three island to get there." He turned his attention towards Luffy. "Please, take care of the princess in my absence."

"Yeah," Luffy said cheerfully.

"But of course!" Sanji cheered as well, his eyes turning to hearts at the memories of sailing with Vivi. "As long as this prince is here, I swore that no harm would come to sweet Vivi! She stole my heart, and I will do whatever it takes to…"

"Would you shut up?" Nami snapped at him in annoyance. Really, his stupid quotes of love were getting on her nerves.

"Igaram…" Vivi started to say something, but her words died on her lips, unable to come out and say what she really wanted.

"I expect that your journey will be a difficult one," he said with a gentle voice and an encouraging smile, "Please, be careful."

Vivi still didn't look happy about it, but she forced a smile and took his hand as they promised that they would see each other again soon. They watched as Igaram set sail, all of them saying goodbye. But before he got too far away, there was a bright light and, to their horror, the ship exploded apart. The blinding light and force of the shockwave created a great wind and blew back at them, everyone looking stunned.

The ship went up in flames, burning everything until there wasn't anything but a pile of burnt wood on the water. Only Zoro, Nami, and Robin looked on calmly, knowing what happened.

"What… what just happened?!" Franky yelled out, trying to make out Igaram through the wreckage, but not seeing anything.

"Wait, are we sure that's what happened?!" Usopp yelled, pointing at it, "I mean… that old, tube-hair guy survived didn't he?! We met him in Alabasta after we stopped the rebellion!"

"So he did survive?!" Brook called, sighing in relief. "That is good to hear. He was a good man."

"We all thought he was dead for a long time," Zoro explained, "We didn't think we'd ever see him again."

"Yeah, I can see why you thought he was pushing up daisies here," Sanji said, lighting up another cigarette, calming his nerves.

"They're already after us?!" past Nami exclaimed fearfully, once she got over the shock. "That's impossible!?"

Luffy said nothing as he turned around and walked over a few feet to where his hat, that had been blown off by the shockwave before, and put it back on his head. He let out a loud yell, and looked ready to charge. Now was the time that they had to hurry and leave before they were killed as well. Zoro was right behind him as he yelled at Nami about the Log.

She quickly checked and let him know that it was set, they could leave.

"Get the girl!" he yelled back as he turned back to run with Luffy, "Come on! Let's go!"

As Nami tried to pull Vivi away from the horrible sight, Zoro told Luffy that he'll get the ship ready and that he should get the other two.

"Right," Luffy answered, "I'm on it!"

All the Straw Hats had to run hard to keep up with him as he sprinted back down the street, to the building where they had been staying. He broke down the door in his haste and looked wildly around the room for the cook and sniper. It was clear that there had been a party here… the whole place was a mess, and the two were both passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. The present-day versions of Sanji and Usopp were both embarrassed by their appearance after everything that happened here, they didn't complain as they watched Luffy grab hold of past Usopp's nose and Sanji's leg, waking them up… but not soon enough…

"COME ON!" Luffy shouted as he ran out the door, which was only big enough for him, and so he pulled his two crewmates out through either side of the walls, both of them yelling in pain and confusion to what was going on.

"Why does he always grab me by the nose?" Usopp demanded with a grumble as they ran after them, the two being dragged along the ground like dolls.

"That all hurt," Sanji hissed as his past self was cursing at him to stop it and Usopp was screaming that his nose was gonna fall off.

"Well, we didn't have time to sit around and explain to you what was going on," Zoro informed him with a smirk. "That would've taken days for you to get."

"What? Don't you go there, don't even go there!" Sanji yelled as they continued running, and Luffy didn't stop until they reached where the ship was docked, and Zoro was just finishing up pulling up the anchor.

"Hey, I got them!" Luffy screamed up, holding them up.

"Bring 'em up! We're ready to go!" memory Zoro told him.

Luffy turned around to check and saw Usopp and Sanji were both out cold. "What? They're still asleep?" He shrugged and dragged them onto the Going Merry.

"We weren't sleeping you idiot! You knocked us out!" Sanji yelled at him as Usopp rubbed his nose at the memory of the pain.

"Now that had to have been one heck of a wake-up call," Franky laughed, "And I thought Brook waking us all up with that stupid song every morning was bad."

Suddenly, they heard arguing and, they looked behind them to see that Nami brought Vivi here and she was yelling at her, "We don't have time to look for him!"

"I'm not just gonna leave him here!" Vivi yelled back.

"But listen!" Nami screamed, looking close to slapping her.

"What's the problem?" Chopper asked in confusion as past Zoro yelled the same question down at them.

"We couldn't find her duck," Nami sighed, "And she didn't want to leave without him."

"You mean that thing that's on board already?" Franky asked, pointing to the yellow duck in the ski cap that was walking around on deck.

"Apparently her duck's gone missing!" past Nami screamed up at him. "And now she's refusing to leave without him!"

"This duck?" he asked, pointing to the duck that was standing next to him.

"HE'S HERE?!" both women yelled in fury.

"Yeah, he was there when I climbed on board," Zoro stated.

"I'm surprised you were able to find it at all with your shitty sense of direction," Sanji said darkly.

"Just because you had to be dragged there doesn't mean that you need to tell me off," Zoro taunted him and Sanji looked ready to drop-kick him right there.

"Made it here before I did!" past Zoro informed them.

"I guess he's more chicken than duck," Franky said thoughtfully. With the knowledge that her duck was safe and sound, Vivi climbed up the ladder, while giving them all directions to the best way out of here. With the sails opening, the Straw Hats were more than happy to say goodbye to Whiskey Peak and sailed off into a thick fog.

As they got underway, Zoro turned to Vivi. "Hey?" he stated and she looked up in surprise.

"Mr. Bushido?" she asked.

Brook laughed a little at the name and Zoro frowned. "She never did get my name right," he stated, shaking his head. "But she got that crap cook's name right. I never got that."

"Do you want me to kill you?" Sanji demanded hotly as past Zoro asked how many people did she think that they were going to send after them. Vivi told them that there were at least two thousand loyal employees and several bases like this one set up in the area. As she told them that, Sanji and Usopp both came to and began screaming that they wanted to stay another night.

"How were we supposed to know what was going on?" Sanji demanded as they all looked to him and Usopp. "You try getting dragged across the ground like that and then we'll talk!"

"We should've just left them behind," past Zoro said irritably as Nami went and punched them both, shutting them up. "Nami?! Will you explain it to them?"

"I just did!" she answered.

"Okay that was fast," he said in surprise.

"I left out the complicated parts!" she added.

"Oh, you made your point very clear," Usopp whispered fearfully.

"She sure made you use your heads," Brook teased.

By this point, the first rays of light were starting to appear on the horizon and they were clear of the island, though they were now forced to sail very carefully through all the fog and avoid the rocks. One false move, and they could end up sinking right here.

"That would've sucked, dying out here after all that to get away from there," Franky commented.

"Finally, it's getting light out," past Nami sighed in relief.

"I'm just glad we got away from the people chasing us," Robin's voice said.

"That's for sure," memory Nami agreed.

"With all this fog, we'll need to be careful to avoid the rocks," Robin spoke again.

"Wow, how are you able to talk to them like that, Robin?" Chopper asked in amazement. But when he looked up at her, she had her eyes on something else, and as he followed her gaze, he gasped at who he saw.

"I'll take care of it!" past Nami shouted confidently before she realized that she didn't know who had spoken. She looked to Luffy and asked hesitantly, "Wait… did you…?"

Luffy looked at her in confusion, until they heard someone clear their throat behind them. And as everyone looked up they saw a very familiar figure sitting comfortably on the upper railings.

It was Robin…

"This ship is nice," she informed them casually, as if they were already old friends, and the memory selves all gasped at her. She tilted up her purple cowboy hat to look at them.

"Looks like we finally get to see you, Robin," Franky said in surprise. "Wow, that's an outfit."

"Is that really you, Robin?" Chopper asked. He was sure this was here, but at the same time, he didn't recognize her…

"That's the person I used to be," she answered softly. "The part that I had to play in order to survive out here on the seas. I forgot about that."

"That's a good look for you, Robin-san," Brook stated, "Would you let me see your…?"

But Robin held up her hands and caused her arms to grow out of Brooks's back and cover his mouth. "You don't want to finish that," she said, a little ill-tempered.

"It's… it's you!" Vivi stuttered in shock and fear.

"I just happened to run into your dear Mr. 8 a while back," memory Robin said coldly. "He didn't look so good."

Vivi's eyes turned dark as she yelled, "So you killed Igaram!"

"What?!" Chopper screamed, looking at her in horror.

"Sorry, not quite," Robin answered him. "I was ordered by Crocodile to kill him and the princess, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I've done a lot of things that I hated, but I just didn't have it in me to do it this time. I destroyed the ship, but I let Mr. 8 escape… apparently the injuries he got from the explosion weren't that serious. After a couple days of rest, he set sail…"

"Oh, so that's what happened," Nami said softly.

"It was something that I was used to doing," Robin confessed. It was all she knew. She had to always be ready to trade sides if something happened. By letting him live, she could've come to him for a favor later… that was the only thing that she could do in those days.

Her eyes turned sad as Nami put her hand on her shoulder, much like how Robin comforted her when they were watching Arlong. "The important thing is that you let him live. You did what you had to," she told her and Robin nodded.

"YOU! What are you doing on my ship and how did you get here?" Luffy demanded of past Robin, "Who are you?!"

"Answer him!" Vivi yelled, "What are you doing here, Miss All-Sunday!?"

"Miss All-Sunday?" Brook repeated softly.

"That was the name that I used for the four years I worked with Crocodile," she answered. "It was safer than my real name after all."

"So you know who she is?" Nami questioned. "Which of the numbered guys is she partners with?"

"Her partner is Mr. 0, the Boss," Vivi said gravely.

"Did he trust you?" Zoro suddenly asked as memory Nami screamed at that. "Crocodile I mean?"

Robin looked a little surprised by the question and thought it over. She remembered the words that he spoke to her in the tomb just as he impaled her with that hook… "I'm not sure he trusted anybody…" she said softly.

"She's a bad guy?" Luffy questioned her.

"She was the only one who knew the Boss' identity," Vivi explained as she continued to glare up at Robin, as if expecting her to start attacking at any moment. "That's how we found out who he actually is! By following her back to him!"

"Oh wow, they had to have been good to follow after you," Franky said impressed.

"Not quite," Robin told him, "I knew that they weren't who they said they were…" And as if her past self heard her words, she said, "To be accurate… I allowed it."

"Oh, that makes much more sense," Brook said in understanding.

"So she's a good guy then," Luffy said, trying to understand this.

"I'm no saint," current Robin answered, "Far from it. But I don't like to think of myself as a bad guy either."

"Luffy's always had the mindset of a child," Nami sighed, "Either you're good or bad… and if you're not either, then he decides for you."

"I know you knew we were there!" Vivi yelled, "You're the one who told the boss what we knew! Weren't you?!"

"That's right," she answered in a bored tone.

"That's cold," Usopp said, looking at Robin. She was a real puzzle… even after sailing with her all this time, he still didn't know much what went on inside this woman's mind. But then again, he would probably be scared stiff if he did… if her dark sense of humor was anything to go by anyway…

"Alright so then she is bad!" Luffy finally concluded, pouting and Zoro told him to cut it out.

"You still haven't told us what it is you're doing here!?" Vivi yelled again and Robin was looking annoyed at the rudeness.

"Oh, right," she said coolly, "You were just so serious about the whole thing I couldn't help myself. A princess doing whatever it took to help her country while making herself an enemy of Baroque Works? The idea was just so… ridiculous."

"That's cruel, Robin-san," Brook said as the rest of the crew nodded.

But Vivi was looked enraged as she screamed out at the top of her lungs, "YOU KILLED HHHHHHIIIIIIIMMMMMM!"

The five Straw Hats had leapt into action. Sanji and Usopp were both up on their feet, Usopp with his slingshot loaded on one side, and Sanji on the other with a gun pointed directly at her head. Zoro was below them with Nami, both of them had weapons as well.

"Wow, you never used a gun before," current Zoro told the cook. "I thought that stupid chivalry of yours got in the way all the time."

"Damn it Moss Head, I wasn't trying to hurt her," Sanji said angrily as he puffed angrily on his cigarette. "I would never hurt a lady! I rather die than do something so horrible! The pistol wasn't even loaded… it was just for show. I wanted to protect Vivi… I didn't know what was going on, but it was the only thing I could do at the moment.

"I see, I'm glad to hear that, Sanji," Robin said and he smiled, almost falling over with joy that she spoke to him.

"We all might as well have had unloaded pistols for all the good it did us anyway," Nami added, watching the whole thing. Usopp and Sanji exchanged a brief conversation to what was going on, but Robin didn't look worried at all.

"I would really appreciate it if you would…" she said softly, and it all happened so quickly that they all missed seeing the hands appear and threw the two off the railing, "Stop pointing those at me?"

"Now you, are super cool, Robin," Franky said softly, watching them all looked freaked out.

"You mean…?" Zoro said gasped,

"She's eaten…" Nami went on before her staff and Zoro's sword were knocked out of their hands. And then Zoro finished, "A Devil Fruit?!"

The current Zoro felt a muscle going in his head at this. Robin wasn't even trying hard and she disarmed him so easily. He felt the need to kick his past self's ass for letting his guard down.

"But which one? What's her power!?" memory Nami cried out, now standing farther back with the others in front of her like shields. Sanji looked up to get a good look at her and hearts reappeared.

"Wow!" he gasped, as if he had never seen anything like her before, "now that I get a look… You're beautiful!"

"And you've grown even more beautiful," current Sanji swooned as he looked to their Robin, and she cracked another smile.

"How kind of you to say that," she said and he fell over, hearts now beating around his head like how one would see stars after they've been knocked out.

Past Robin chuckled a little at past Sanji's words before she looked back to Vivi. "Now there's no need to get so excited," she informed her, "You can all calm down. I haven't been given any orders to follow you here. I have no reason to fight you."

Holding up her hand, she used her powers to get hold of Luffy's straw hat—spinning it around on her hand in a bored way. "So, you're the captain," she said, looking over at Luffy. "I've heard so much about you… Monkey D. Luffy."

"Robin? Were you trying to get on Luffy's bad side?" Zoro asked her. Luffy didn't let just anyone touched his treasured straw hat—that was a fast ticket to an ass-kicking.

"Well, I didn't realize how special it was to him," Robin answered, watching herself.

"I almost don't recognize you here, Robin-san," Brook said softly.

"I won't say you're wrong," she answered with a soft look in her eyes.

"Give me my hat back!" Luffy yelled enraged, shaking his fists at her. "You don't want me to come up there and take it!"

"You are a bad person! I demand you leave this instant!" past Usopp yelled from his hiding place behind the mast.

"Bad luck," memory Robin corrected as she put Luffy's hat on top of her own before going on, "Picking up a princess who Baroque Works already made up their mind to see eliminated… protected by a mere handful of pirates. But your luck gets even worse. Because of the direction your Log Pose is indicating… you see?"

"I have to agree, your odds don't look good at all," Franky said with a frown, "Especially since you're up against an entire organization and its leader is a Warlord."

"But we came out on top in the end," Sanji reminded him with a satisfied smirk.

Past Nami was looking at their Log in fear as Robin answered, "The name of the next island… is Little Garden."

"Little Garden?" Brook repeated. "It doesn't sound so bad."

"Don't let the innocent name fool you," Nami told him darkly. "That place is far from little!"

"We won't even need to lift a finger," memory Robin finished up, "You'll all be dead long before you reach Alabasta."

"You're making it sound like they were heading into the lion's den," Franky said in surprise, having never heard of such a place, "Man, was it really that dangerous?"

"Not really," Zoro and Sanji both admitted as Nami and Usopp gave them both annoyed looks.

"Well, you guys are monsters, so it wouldn't seem dangerous to you would it?" Nami demanded.

"But we're normal," Usopp added, "We're made of delicate flesh and blood here! I can't count how many times we were almost eaten there!"

"Eaten?" Chopper repeated, sounding horrified.

"Come on, we'd been through a lot worse than that," Zoro told them.

"My hat! Give it to me!" Luffy screamed, obviously not caring about anything she said.

"Leave now evil… doer!" past Usopp yelled.

"Evil-doer?" past Zoro repeated, rolling his eye, "Seriously?"

"It was all I could think of at the moment!" Usopp defended.

"That's all a matter of opinion," Robin answered, not at all offended by it. She was used to far worse… and she was acting pretty obnoxious here.

"You don't think it's a little foolish allowing yourselves to be wiped out?" memory Robin asked as she threw back Luffy's hat and something over to Vivi. When she held it up, they saw that it was an Eternal Pose.

"An Eternal Pose?" Vivi whispered as she looked at it suspiciously.

"Is that for Alabasta?" Chopper asked, remembering seeing that Nami had kept her eye on an Eternal Pose after he had joined up… now that he thought about it, he was sure that she still kept it on the ship with them in case they ever wanted to return to Alabasta.

"Not quite," Robin answered him. "That was for a different island."

"Using that, you can just skip right past Little Garden without stopping," Robin answered her a little smugly. She also explained that this one island was near Alabasta and that none of their agents know that course so they shouldn't be followed.

"You know, I still don't get what you were up to here, Robin," Usopp said, but she didn't answer as she continued to watch with an unreadable expression on her face. "I mean… we were your enemies here but you went out of your way to warn us and even give us an Eternal Pose to an island near Alabasta? What were you up to?"

Robin looked over at him, as if she just realized that they were there. The truth was, they were just another back-up at the time. Aside from the World Government, she made many enemies in the past through her constant betrayal, the most dangerous of which was Crocodile. Their relationship was a strictly business-related one; he did not consider her a friend, only as a tool for his own ambitions. She never intended to awaken such a weapon for him. She always knew that he would betray her in the end, and here she tried to get in a few good points with them should something happen.

She knew that Crocodile would turn against her in the end…

"Were you really helping us here, Robin?" Nami asked her curiously.

"That depends on your point of view," she answered back. "I knew how dangerous Little Garden was, and who would be waiting there… as well as the fact that it takes a lot longer than a few days for the Log to reset. I didn't see any other way that you could've left that place safely. And this particular island is uninhabited. It lay just beyond Alabasta. It wouldn't have been too difficult to get there if you had taken it. But…?"

"But what?" Zoro asked her, suddenly wondering what would've happened had they listened to her.

"But the whole island also happens to have just been the remains produced from a creature called an Island-Eater," she answered. "I believe that you must have met it after you left Little Garden?"

They all blinked at her before Nami's eyes widen and she gasped out, a horrible realization came over her face. "You mean… that Giant Goldfish…? That island was just…?"

"Pretty much," Robin answered and Nami screamed out in horror at the thought and the other three men with her looked disgusted at the thought.

"But you didn't go that way," Robin answered, "I guess it was more of a test to see what you would do…"

She supposed that was true. As soon as she heard that Luffy had the middle initial D, she wanted to met him. And she had been pleasantly surprised… he was so like the last man with the D initial she met—and her heart ached a little painfully as she thought of Saul.

Luffy and Saul were very much alike and she could've sworn she was talking to him again when Luffy had refused the Eternal Pose. She knew that she liked this kid at once.

"What? So she's good after all?" past Nami suddenly asked as she looked up at her, trying to figure out what was going on.

But the gesture seemed to make Vivi angry as she yelled up, "Why are you giving this to us?"

"It's gotta be a trap," past Zoro said firmly, but Vivi was staring at the Pose with a wondering expression and they could tell that she was trying to figure out what to do.

"Oh, does it?" memory Robin asked as Luffy walked over to Vivi and grabbed the Eternal Pose out of her hands.

"Forget your thingy! We don't need it!" he yelled as he then crushed it until it broke into nothing but shards of glass and wood. Nami and Vivi were both looking horrified at what he had done.

"Now that I know where it was heading, I'm glad that he broke it," Nami whispered and Usopp nodded firmly by her side.

But Past Nami obviously didn't feel that way as she kicked him hard in the face and knocked him to the deck. "YOU JERK!" she screamed out, pointing up at Robin, "SHE JUST WENT OUT OF HER WAY TO SHOW US AN EASIER COURSE TO FOLLOW! MAYBE SHE ACTUALLY IS TRYING TO HELP US GET AWAY!"

But Luffy didn't react at all for a moment before he turned to look up at Robin and declared that she wasn't the one who decided where the ship goes.

"You know, he's right about that," current Robin smiled. "Don't know what I was thinking."

Both Luffy and past Robin looked at each other for a few extra long seconds—with Robin just looking at him, as if she was trying to figure out a complicated question, before she smiled. As if she had it answered.

"He reminded me of a dear friend I once had," Robin answered softly, the memory of her laughing with Saul came to her mind. "In fact, he was just like him."

"Really?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"Who?" Sanji asked curiously but she shook her head, not wishing to go any further.

"Well, that's too bad," memory Robin told them all casually as she walked along the upper deck, looking a little satisfied as she did so. It was as if she was glad that he had decided not to accept her offer.

Past Nami looked ready to yell again but Luffy answered, "She blew up that funny old man and he was nice so now I hate her."

Robin chuckled a little sadly at that. "Yes, I can't say that I blame him for that," she answered. Once again, she wasn't offended, she understood what happened and let it slide. That no longer matter here anyway.

"I'm sorry to hear that," past Robin stated looking back at him, "And I'm sorry you didn't accept my offer. If you survive… I hope we meet again."

"No," Luffy said childishly and she actually chuckled at that. Sanji was shaking his head at that—he had no manners whatsoever and yet the girls seem impressed by that? Just how does that rubber idiot do it?

Memory Robin gave them one last smile before she jumped ship and when they went running off to look, they found her leaving on the back of a giant sea turtle—heading back to Whiskey Peak.

"Yow! You sure seem to leave an impression no matter where you go," Franky told her.

Luffy watched after the turtle with bright eyes as Vivi fell to her knees in defeat. "That woman!" she cried out, "I don't have the slightest idea what's going through her head!"

"I think we all wonder that," Usopp whispered.

"Then there's no point in thinking about it is there?" past Nami asked irritably.

"There's someone on this boat who's just like that," past Zoro added as Usopp demanded to know what was going on and Sanji swooned over Vivi.

"Yeah, looks like you and Luffy have a little more in common than we first thought," Zoro whispered to her and she laughed a little. "You can never guess what's going on in your heads. Though one of you has mostly empty space in there."

After quickly explaining everything that was going on to Sanji and Usopp, their cook sighed and confessed that he was sorry that he missed all the fun. "But it sounds like there'll still be plenty of demand for my skills! No need to worry now that your sleeping prince has awoken my sweet, you'll be safe."

"What skills?" Zoro demanded as Sanji glared at him.

"I've got more skill in my little finger than you have in your whole body!" he growled back, sparks of anger flying between them. Past Usopp was stating the opposite. He was glad that he asleep, as past Sanji asked if Nami was jealous. She gave him a frosty look and gave him a definite no.

"Nami, you're so beautiful when you're cold," Sanji swooned.

"Shut up," she told him just as coldly.

"Excuse me?" Vivi asked hesitantly, and they all looked to her. She was standing there, looking truly terrible that she got them involved in this mess. "I'm sorry but… is it really alright that I'm on your ship? I'm just causing you a lot of trouble."

"Well, even if it wasn't, there's nothing that can be done about it now," Zoro stated, rolling his eye as he watched. "We said we'd get her home didn't we? What is she complaining about?"

"Guilt does that to people," Nami said, "And I'm sure that she must still feel bad after how she acted to us when they went after Laboon."

"While I am not happy with her for that," Brook said firmly, "I understand why she did. Hate the crime, not the criminal…"

"Well said," Sanji agreed with him.

Past Nami, meanwhile, looked put out as she came over and started poking Vivi's forehead. "It's a little late for apologizes don't you think? If you didn't want to cause us trouble you shouldn't have told us who you were!"

"True…" Franky said, shaking her head. How could she be such a ditz that she screamed out Crocodile's name after her big speech about how she couldn't tell them anything?

"Sorry for that," Vivi said.

"Isn't that right Luffy?!" Nami yelled and Luffy cheered, saying that he was hungry too—which didn't do anything to boost Vivi's confidence.

"How diluted is his hearing?" Usopp asked exasperatedly.

"Well, for now," past Zoro said, ending the fight, "At least we know where we're heading to."

"Little Garden, huh?" Sanji said.

"Remember what she said?" memory Usopp said worriedly, "Are we gonna die?"

"Big baby," Franky teased and Usopp gave him an annoyed look.

Luffy laughed. "Who knows?! Let's go pirates!"

"So that's how Vivi joined up with you!" Chopper said happily as the rest of the pirates cheered at hs words and the vision faded.

"Yeah, but technically, she didn't really join us," Nami reminded him. "More like we were all hired to be her bodyguards."

"That's truly something SUPER you guys did for her though," Franky said, striking his pose. "After all, you didn't owe her anything. And she apparently was one of the bounty hunters who attacked you guys till they had to deal with Zoro here. But you still took her home and helped save her country?"

"That's the one downside to making friends," Zoro stated gruffly. "More people you gotta look out for."

The next memory was up in no time and they were all standing on the Merry's deck with Sanji passing out fruit drinks to them all and Luffy asking them if they wanted to get out the fishing gear.

"Fishing? Hell yeah, I'm in," memory Zoro said agreeably.

"Sounds good to me," past Usopp said eagerly, "I'll even make you one of my custom fishing rods! You'll love it!"

"Can you make one for me, Usopp?" Chopper asked excitedly.

"Sure," Usopp said happily, pointing his thumb at his chest. "I Usopp, the fishing master, will be more than happy to make one for you! You won't find fishing gear better anywhere! You'll be catching dozens of fish in no time at all"

"You're so awesome Usopp!" Chopper cheered as the rest of them all chuckled at it. They turned back to see that the men were all giving the duck, Carue, drink after fruit drink, even cheering him on with each one he took.

"This looks like a fun time," Robin smiled as memory Nami came out of the cabin with a couple more drinks and Vivi, who was standing up there, looked to her, saying loudly, "They're acting like idiots!"

"Maybe, but is that really such a bad thing?" Franky asked in surprise. "At least they're handling the fact that they're being hunted well. What? Does she want them all freaking out or something?"

"I guess so," Zoro stated coolly, having never thought about it before.

"That was always the one thing that really bugged me about her," Nami sighed, "She was such a worrywart. Always thinking the worst… it took her a long time before she was able to even trust us."

"Yeah, I remember when she kept trying to get all of us to climb the mountain after you guys after Luffy and Sanji took you to see the doctor," Usopp said, "It took me forever to calm her down."

"Climb a mountain to see a doctor?" Brook repeated in surprise.

"Later," Usopp said, holding up a hand, "I'm sure that you'll see it first-hand." Now that he thought of it, he always did wonder how the three of them were able to make it up that steep mountain…?

"But still," Nami went on, "That's not always a bad thing, I guess. It's nice to know that she cares… though it did get old real quick."

"She may have had a lot of guts, but she sure had a lot to learn about the world," Zoro added softly.

"Maybe this will help," past Nami said, holding out the drink to her and Vivi looked surprised at that. "Just relax," she went on, "These guys may go through their goofy phases but when things get rough, they get to work. Trust me, I should know."

"That's got to be the nicest thing you've said about us," Usopp informed her and she laughed back.

"Well, you guys do tend to get on my nerves several times a day," she reminded him.

"Sorry," Vivi said, calming down, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm getting worked up over nothing."

Nami just smiled. "This ship will put you at ease!" she reassured her, "You'll cheer up in no time!"

As she said that, Carue had drank too much and was looking ready to burst. The others were all laughing around him and even Vivi cracked a smile as Carue lay on his back, a fountain of juice erupting from his mouth. "Yeah," she said, "They're… funny…"

"Annoying is more what I was thinking, but we'll go with that," current Nami said, thinking it all over.

Soon though, Nami's words went to the test. A dolphin, the size of a Sea King had jumped out of the sea, and as if they had this all planned out, they all dropped what they were doing and got to work. Like a well-oiled machine, they got the sails ready and turned around—all of them knowing just what to do without being told. Soon they used the waves that the dolphin created to ride out and go at an amazing speed, all of them even enjoying the ride. Vivi stared at them all in amazement as Luffy asked Nami for direction when the excitement died down.

"Why is everything in the Grand Line so big?" Sanji asked himself.

"Here is the first time she's really beginning to understand that you can't do everything on your own," Usopp said softly.

"Huh?" Chopper asked, looking up at him.

"Vivi had a lot of trouble asking for help," Nami reminded him softly. "She thought that she could do everything by herself and not have to let others get hurt. That's a lesson I learned the hard way to, so I can relate," she added as she crouched down to speak to Chopper eye-to-eye. She smiled and said, "It's ok to ask for help from your friends, remember?"

Chopper smiled at her knowingly as memory Nami told them to sail portside and they turned without any other complaints. Just after that, they could see it in the distance. Through a light mist, they could make out a large island that looked like a tropical jungle.

"So this is Little Garden?" Brook asked animatedly, wondering just what they were going to see next.

"You know… it reminds me a great deal of Goa," Robin said, looking at the thick jungle trees and knew of the great beasts that lived here. It was very similar to the forests that Luffy grew up in.

"Now that you mention it, you're right," Zoro said lightly, "Luffy seemed right at home here."

"There's no mistake!" past Nami declared as she checked the Log Pose to see that the needle was pointing directly at the island. "Cactus Island and this one are definitely pulling against each other." She pointed at it and cried out, "Our next stop!"

Everyone cheered as they slowly approached. "This is it!" Luffy yelled, jumping up and down with zeal, "Our second island in the Grand Line!"

"Yeah, and one place I'll never forget," Usopp said, his eyes lighting up at the thought of seeing his masters again. Master Dorry and Brogy… they were his biggest inspirations to become a Brave Warrior and it was thanks to them that he decided to see Elbaf someday.

They followed a little river right into the island, the heat of this humid weather and thick plantlife already starting to make them all uncomfortable. But Luffy wasn't deterred at all as he said, "I can see why they call this place Little Garden!"

"He would, think about all those giant animals he fought when he was a kid," Usopp stated, thinking of that monster tiger…

"I can't, what's little about it?" past Zoro asked him darkly

"Yeah, this island looks pretty harsh if you ask me! Why the cute name?" memory Nami added.

"Well, compared to its inhabitants, it is little," current Sanji reminded them.

"Why? What lives here?" Brook asked as the memory faded there.

"Two great warriors," Usopp said and Chopper's eyes lit up.

"Really?" he asked in awe.

"Yeah," Usopp said, beaming widely. "The great warriors Dorry and Brogy! They had been battling it out on this island for the last hundred years in a duel to the death!"

"What?! A hundred years?!" Brook cried out in amazement as Chopper let out a cry of wonder.

"They can't be human," Franky said, thinking that over. "Are you telling stories again?"

"This time he's not," Nami interrupted as she looked around at the dark fields and wondered when the next memory was coming up. "And they weren't human… they were…"

But before she could tell them the big secret, the memory reappeared and they were standing next to a shallow creek where Luffy had come running up to with Vivi riding Carue. Luffy had skidded to a stop and went over to the water, something catching his eye.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Vivi asked, wondering why he had stopped.

"Over here! Check it out!" Luffy called out excitedly as he picked up something from the water. "It's a shellfish that looks like a squid!" He held it up to her as she got off her duck to get a closer look, "Shell-squid fish!" he finished proudly.

"What is that?" Brook asked and they all looked in to see that Luffy was right, it did look like a squid and a shellfish together.

"Weird," Franky said, pulling up his sunglasses to get a look at it. "Never seen anything like that before."

"Its actual name is an aminoid," Robin said smiling, this place was an archeologists dream come true. Real live creatures that pre-date mankind?

"How strange," Vivi said, frowning as she looked at it, "It sorta resembles an aminoid…?"

"Cool huh?" Luffy asked and they heard the ground shaking… the sounds of giant footsteps. They all looked around, with Chopper asking if it was an earthquake, but they all soon saw what it was with their own eyes.

"That's weird!" Luffy yelled, looking up to see the giant creature overhead, "What's a Sea King doing on land?!"

"That's because it's not a Sea King," Robin said smiling as the creature turned its long neck to look over at them. And it looked remarkably like a…

Franky, Brook, and Chopper all began to scream as Vivi screamed out what they all knew it was. "A DINOSAUR!"

"AWESOME!" Luffy screamed as Vivi and Carue could only yell in terror.