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

Chapter 19 - Whales, Princesses, and Dinosaurs: OH MY...!

This had been the best memory yet.

The Straw Hats all enjoyed the break-neck ride down Reverse Mountain, the wind blowing past them as they continued to pick up speed as they went, the water sprayed everywhere creating more mist. Their memory selves were all shouting in joy—obviously loving every minute of it.

"I can't believe that this all happened over two years ago!" Usopp yelled joyfully, everything rushing back to him in a happy blur. Before he joined this crew, he never once thought that he would've made it to the Grand Line—but now look at him here in the New World! He had already changed a lot when they first came here and he couldn't help but wonder just how much more he could change by the next time that they see this mountain.

"It was stormy the night that I came to the Grand Line too, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed happily. "This all takes me back! Nice to know that some things stayed the same."

Downwards they sped, almost as if they were on a waterslide, breaking through the clouds so that they couldn't see anything but the white fog in front of them. All five were laughing, sounding as if they didn't have a care in the world… but then memory Zoro was shouting out, "Did you just hear something?"

"Huh, what's that?" Nami yelled over at him as the present-day Straw Hats stopped laughing long enough to hear them.

"That groaning sound!" past Zoro shouted out, "Didn't you hear it?!"

"It was probably just the wind!" she dismissed at him as they started to go even faster, "At this speed, everything sounds distorted!"

But then they heard it—a distance wailing that sounded like a foghorn had come through the clouds.

"What is that?" Chopper yelled as memory Usopp began to look through his goggles to try and find that answer as well. But Brook suddenly remembered and was looking around desperately. Was this possibly…?

"Nami!" screamed Sanji from the mast, "I see a mountain up ahead!"

"Another mountain?" repeated Robin in surprise. "There's not supposed to be anything but ocean here once you get over Reverse Mountain."

"Not a stone mountain anywhere," current Zoro stated casually, remembering what—or rather who—they met here.

"WHAT?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" memory Nami yelled up at him in panic.

"But it's right there!" Sanji screamed back as he pointed in front of them, "I can see it!"

"Who cares!?" Luffy yelled from the Merry's head—and it was obvious that he couldn't have cared less to what might happen. "GO!"

"Of course he's not concerned," current Nami sighed, "I bet that he would still be laughing even if was a mountain."

"But what are you guys talking about…?" Franky began as past Nami began to scream that they should be home free after they pass the Twin Capes. But then that groaning wail sounded off once again, louder than ever so that no one could deny that they didn't hear it.

"NO!" Brook shouted out as he ran to the upper deck so that he was right beside Luffy as he tried to see through the clouds. "IT CAN'T BE!"

Zoro smiled, knowing that Soul King was about to lose his mind when he saw how big his old friend became. Luffy was now trying to squint his eyes through the thick fog—trying to make something out. Just then, they broke through the white sheet and all that could be seen was a vast navy blue, almost black—which caused the five memory Straw Hats, Franky and Chopper to scream in shock.

"It's a black wall!" Luffy screamed in fear.

"No, it's not…!" memory Nami shouted in horror as she grabbed hold of the railing, tears in her eyes.

"Then what is it!?" memory Zoro yelled before she could finish.

"It's a…" Chopper exclaimed, his eyes wide when he heard the words behind the wailing.

"It's a whale!" past Usopp screamed.

"It… It's Laboon!" Brook shrieked out, unable to believe his eyes as his boney hands were shaking as he stared up at the familiar whale, though his size was not recognizable. To say that this whale was enormous would be the understatement of the century… in front of them was a magnificent creature that was so large, it looked like it could swallow an entire island in one gulp. The whale's massive mouth opened a little so that they could see the row of sharp teeth, and a single tooth about the size of the Merry, if not bigger… and his great head was also covered in dozens of scars, both old and new.

But unaware of what was going on around him, the whale wailed out once again—the loudest one yet—that made the entire mountain shake. They all covered their ears, the noise piercing their brains and their eardrums felt as if they were about to burst.

"So that's Laboon?!" Chopper yelled, clamping his hooves over his ears to that they were flattened against his cap.

"I forgot how loud he was," Zoro hollered back, cursing in his mind at the blast.

"LABOON! LABOON! IS THAT REALLY YOU?! YOU'VE GOTTEN SO BIG!" Brook cried out as he tried to reach out and touch him; unable to stop the tears falling from his empty eye sockets as he remembered that baby whale that was barely big enough for him to ride. He could hardly believe that they were one and the same.

"You were right, he does look just like the pod of whales we saw when we left Fishman Island," Robin called, staring at him in fascination.

The memory Straw Hats, however, were all screaming in a panic.

"W… wha… what are we gonna do!?" memory Usopp screamed out, looking ready to faint as he stared at them all, desperate that one of them had a plan here.

"Should we fight?" Luffy suggested quickly.

"That's his answer for everything. Unfortunately, fighting doesn't solve all our problems," current Nami stated as her past self started screaming at him.

"Idiot, how are we supposed to fight a HUNDRED TON WHALE?!" she demanded hysterically.

"Well, do something!" past Usopp screamed at them both. "Our path is blocked! How do we escape?!"

"Calm down," memory Sanji yelled—though he too sounded close to losing his mind in blind fear, "If this creature looks like a giant wall to us, we must be a speck!"

"Good point," Franky yelled as they were getting closer to Laboon with every second, "I mean… this ship is puny! About half the size of most common ships these days. I wouldn't be surprised at all to guess that he hasn't even noticed you guys yet."

"Even if that's true, it won't do much good if they don't do something about stopping," Robin reminded him coolly, and she reached into her bag to pull out her sketchbook to draw Laboon.

Past Zoro realized that as well and yelled out that it wouldn't matter if they were small to him because they were going to crash right into him unless they changed course. "Look!" he then shouted, pointing to Laboon's side where there was an opening, "We can get by on the left! Port! Hard to port!"

"The rudder's broken!" past Usopp reminded him loudly.

"Man, just getting to the Grand Line almost killed us," current Sanji stated casually. Though he remembered the terror they experienced before, it was almost funny seeing it now.

"Just one bit of bad luck followed by another," Robin stated in light amusement. "Most would find it hard to take after awhile."

"We got used to it," Zoro informed her with a shrug.

"Do something, dammit!" memory Zoro yelled, and it was strange to see him lose control of his calm like this, "Anything!"

"Wait! I know!" Luffy yelled as he jumped off the figurehead and headed straight down to the hull. "This'll work, it has to!"

"What is he up to here?" Franky asked as memory Nami yelled after that same question, but he didn't stick around to answer as he disappeared through the front of the ship. The present-day Straw Hats stayed above deck as the three men went and tried to pull what was left of the rudder to the left.

"This is pointless!" past Usopp yelled as the other two cursed, "The ship's not gonna turn!"

Just as they had almost reached Laboon—below deck there was an enormous blast which could only mean one thing…

"THE CANNON?!" they heard the others scream.

"He didn't…?" Franky asked just as the impact of the blast shot the ship back slightly and blew up in front of them once it hit the whale. Brook—who hadn't looked away from Laboon—screamed in horror at what he saw.

"LABOON!" he cried out, thinking that his friend had been hurt.

"Relax!" current Sanji yelled at him. "I don't think he even felt it."

"That was clever actually," Robin stated as everyone tried to regain their footing. The cannon had stopped them from crashing right into Laboon and being destroyed, but it wasn't enough to stop them completely. The ship had slowed down considerably but when it bumped into the whale, it ended up breaking off the Merry's figurehead. The sheep's head broke with a loud CRACK and went flying overhead so that when it hit the deck they could hear Luffy's scream of horror, "HEY! THAT WAS MY SPECIAL SEAT!"

Chopper and Usopp were both taking that hard as well as Merry's head lay there sadly on its side. But once everyone had caught their breath and let sink in what happened, the memory selves broke out the paddles and were now trying to slip past Laboon without him noticing anything.

Memory Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were all yelling at each other about what just happened. "Damn, let's get out of here before it's too late!" Zoro began.

"Someone mind telling me what the heck is going on?!" Usopp shouted back, looking ready to cry.

"It's so big that the cannonball didn't even make it flinch!" past Sanji cried as they were working hard to paddle, "That, or his reaction time is really slow!"

"Who cares!?" past Zoro yelled at him, "At least we're alive!"

"I can't remember seeing you all freak out like this," Chopper said as he looked to memory Nami, who was lying there as if in shock.

"Well, we weren't expecting a giant whale to be the first thing to greet us to the Grand Line," Sanji told him. "And we did almost die here."

Once again, Laboon howled out, feeling as if his voice was a shockwave, they memory Straw Hats were all trying to block out the sound and only focused on paddling right past him. But now that they were close enough, Brook was trying to reach out and touch him.

"Laboon!" he cried; the tears beginning to flow more fluently. "It's me!" He gasped, and for a few moments, he had to clasp his hands over his jaw in order to speak more clearly through his cries. "Laboon I can't believe it's you!"

"But Brook, it's only a memory, he can't really see or hear us!" Usopp yelled, pointing up at him. But Brook ignored him as he continued to cry louder, desperate for Laboon to hear him.

"LABOON! IT'S ME!" he screamed out, as he began to sing out a few verses of Bink's Sake. "PLEASE HEAR ME! IT'S ME! BROOK! FROM THE RUMBAR PIRATES!"

Chopper was trying to listen to what Laboon was saying, but they kept rowing until they were passing right underneath Laboon's eye, which was easily more than four times bigger than the little ship, and even now, the Sunny wasn't even half it's size in comparison.

As Brook continued to try and get Laboon's attention, Luffy came back up to the deck, looking furious.

"Luffy?" memory Nami whispered, wondering just what it was that he was going to do now.

"You think you can break my special seat and get away with it?!" Luffy yelled as he balled his fist as he punched Laboon right in the eye. "TAKE THIS!"

"What an idiot! What did he think that was going to change?" current Nami sighed.

"Luffy-san! What are you doing? How could you do that to Laboon?!" Brook yelled angrily.

"He never thinks before he acts," current Sanji reminded him.

"YOU MORON!" all the Straw Hats in the memory yelled—each one of them had tears of fear in their eyes. For a second, time seemed to freeze for nothing could be heard but the sounds of the waves hitting the ship… but then Laboon's massive eye suddenly looked down at them and they screamed in terror.

"It sees us!" they yelled, and looked ready to start paddling like crazy away from there.

Luffy, naturally, stood his ground. "I'm not through with you! There's a lot more where that came from!"

"Don't you dare!" Brook yelled. It was the first time that he ever said something like that to his captain. Even though this was all history, Brook sounded ready to fight Luffy for threatening Laboon.

Zoro put a hand on his shoulder to get him to remember what was going on here. "Just calm down. I know you're upset, but you just have to watch everything to understand."

Brook looked back at him, looking completely lost as both memory Zoro and Usopp kicked Luffy in the head, yelling at him that he could get them all killed.

Laboon groaned angrily before he slowly opened his massive mouth, revealing the large teeth once again.

"Please… no," memory Nami croaked out, now crying hard. But the rushing water going into Laboon's mouth was like a current and their little ship didn't stand a chance as it was quickly pulled in. It acted as a black hole… they were pulled right into Laboon's mouth and there wasn't anything they could do but hold on tight and hope for the best.

"We're being pulled in!" Chopper yelled over the roar of the water.

"So Laboon tried to eat you?!" cried out Brook as they tried to hang on.

"Pretty much!" Sanji yelled back. "And you'll never believe how we got out!"

But as they were swept away into Laboon's mouth, Luffy was knocked overboard—screaming the whole way as his crew called after him earnestly. Luffy almost hit the water, but had enough sense to stretch his arms out and grab onto one of Laboon's teeth and hung on tightly.

"I am not gonna die here!" they heard Luffy growled as he held on for dear life. Through the wind he struggled to climb his way up. After a few moments, Laboon closed his mouth, eating the Going Merry whole—the ship spinning as if it was going down the drain. However… it was almost anti-climatic when it was over.

"Well, that was… dramatic while it lasted?" offered Robin as they were suddenly standing on Laboon's head as the memory shifted ever so slightly so that they were still with Luffy.

"I can't believe it!" Franky yelled, staring around, "You guys got eaten?! By a whale?"

"Yep," Zoro said with a nod, "However, compared to some of the other stuff that's happened to us since coming to this place, it's actually pretty tame.

"Oh, so this is normal for you guys?" Franky laughed as Brook was now on his knees, running his hands over Laboon's skin. Though he couldn't really anything, if he thought hard, he could remember the rubbery, smooth skin from when he last saw the whale. But what concerned him were the thick scars on his head.

"Laboon…" he whispered tearfully, "I miss you so much! But what happened to you here? So many scars…? Chopper-san? Do you know what did this?"

Chopper came running over at once to examine them. "I've never treated a whale before," he said, although he did get an idea to what caused these scars when he got a good look at them. "It looks to me that these scars look like he's been hitting his head against something…?" What concerned him was though most of these were old scars, a lot of them looked fairly new—as if they were only a few days old. He frowned, running a hoof over the nearest scar… it looked barely healed.

"Will he be alright?!" Brook asked quickly, anxiety filled in his non-existing heart.

"He should be once they heal," Chopper said to him as some of the Straw Hats behind them all looked at each other worriedly, as if trying to think of the best way to break the news to him.

Just then, Luffy had been able to climb up to join them on Laboon's head, breathing heavily as if he had run for hours. As he attempted to catch his breath, he had anger and fear on his face as he looked around, wondering what to do.

"Ah man…?" Luffy stated, barely controlling his panic. "Everyone was swallowed whole!"

"It's a surprise that you weren't digested after getting swallowed," Robin informed them as she began work on drawing Laboon's eye.

"Yeah, we would have if we had been there for too long," Sanji agreed, "But thankfully, we ended up meeting someone who helped us out."

"HEY!" Luffy's voice suddenly shouted out and caused them to all look up.

Luffy was now punching Laboon, yelling that he spit them all at once. Though they weren't sure if Laboon could feel those punches, he stared to submerge. "Where do you think you're going you jerk?!" Luffy demanded, sounding more and more angry with each second. "Listen you big whale I'm not gonna ask again! Stop sinking! I mean it! My friends and me are on an important adventure! I can't lose them!"

"I'm touched," Usopp said, his heart feeling a little warm at how concerned he was for them all.

Luffy seemed to be going nuts as he screamed out, "GIVE THEM BAAAAAACCCCCCCK!"

"He better do something before he sinks completely," Chopper cried out. He knew that they were safe, but he still didn't feel secure to be standing on the ocean like this so he jumped up to Zoro's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Laboon was continuing to go down and it would only be a matter of seconds before Luffy would sink. The water was rising up quickly and as they stared around for a way out, Luffy noticed something embedded in Laboon's head.

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

"It looks like… a hatch?" Franky said startled, "Almost like a submarine hatch!"

"Now that is an unusual blowhole," Robin stated calmly. Luffy noticed that as well and, without thinking, he ran over to it and opened it so that he could jump in. They all followed after him so that they were standing with him as he closed the little door. They could hear the water washing around them as they caught their breath. They made it just in time…

But they were all staring around with Luffy—who looked too stunned to speak here.

"I don't know much about whales," he said to himself after he got a good look around and they felt their jaws drop. They were standing in an iron hallway with light hanging every few feet, "But since when do they have doors and lighted hallways?"

"That is a very good question, captain," Franky said, staring around in amazement. "Is Laboon a cyborg?"

"No, but not a bad guess," Nami told them as they walked down the hall, right behind Luffy. But then something else happened—the room seemed to tilt and Luffy was knocked off his feet so that he went tumbling down, all of them sliding to catch up with him. They kept going, watching Luffy bouncing around like a rubber ball down the hallway until they ended up in a large tunnel with metal walkways on either side of a river.

"Laboon! What's happened to you?!" cried out Brook in great confusion. Just how did all this happen?

"It's alright," Usopp told him quickly. "It doesn't hurt him at all apparently! Crocus did all this to help him!"

"Huh? Crocus-san…?" Brook asked, looking up as Luffy bounced around violently and landing with a painful thudding sound on the walkway. Gasping for breath, Luffy raised his head and stared around.

"Hey that's weird… the whale's got a river inside it too?" he gasped as the room began to shake again and was tilted up one way.

"Here we go again!" Nami cried out as Luffy tried to hold on so that he wouldn't go sliding down again, but it was too steep for him. He slipped and fell, all of them starting to feel a little green at the constant falling and moving floor.

"This is getting crazy!" Sanji yelled, and he thought they had it bad stuck in Laboon's stomach. Despite all the constant rocking back and forth, after a few minutes, Luffy had been able to straighten up enough so that he was now running down the hall, looking like he wanted nothing more than to get out of this place. He was waving his arms around in panic, trying to stop himself, but before he could, they looked up in time to see two people standing in front large of a large, metal door. The two were a strange looking duo… there was a middle aged man with a large crown on the top of his long hair and the numbers 9 written on each of his cheeks. The second was a young woman with long, wavy blue hair tied in a tight ponytail and a bit of a stuck-up expression.

"VIVI?!" Chopper cried out in shock. He didn't think that they would run into her again this soon.

"That's right!" Nami yelled, a smile on her face as she saw her, "We met Vivi here!" It was so good to see her again.

But Vivi didn't see pleased to see Luffy. She and her partner looked scared stiff at seeing someone come running at them, screaming at the top of his lungs, before he slammed right into them with such force that the doors were forced open and they were flying through the air.

"One heck of a way to introduce yourself!" laughed Usopp as they also went jumping through the doorways with them. It was a bit of a shock to find that they were back under a blue sky and clouds—along with a small island, complete with a coconut tree and shack with the Merry right alongside it.

"Oh good! We're outside again!" Chopper cried in relief, he had been starting to feel claustrophobic trapped in those metal walls. But the Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp with them all felt a little sweat-drop at those words, wondering just how they could explain that they weren't outside. But then Chopper realized something and asked, "Wait, how did you guys get out?"

"When you gotta go," Franky suggested with a laugh, "You gotto go."

Nami gave him a hard punch in the head, yelling out, "DON'T BE SO DISGUSTING! WE ARE STILL IN LABOON'S STOMACH!"

"WHAT?!" cried Brook in amazement, as he stared around him. "But there's the sky! And clouds! And seagulls!"

"No, look," Robin said, as they all landed on the water, standing above it like always. She noticed that there was something not right… "Nothing's moving! It's… painted on?"

"WHAT!?" Chopper yelled, glancing up and realizing it's true.

"Yep," Nami gasped for breath as she landed next to them. "Believe it or not, it's a giant mural inside Laboon's stomach! Crocus painted it."

"I guess living inside a whale's stomach would make you bored after awhile," Franky reasoned. But who would have that much spare time in hallowing out and painting the inside of a whale? Whoever this Crocus guy was, he seems a bit insane. Then again, he did sail on the same ship as Rayleigh, and that guy was anything but normal. He wondered just how strong this guy was…?

"Luffy?" past Zoro's voice came from the ship, and they saw the four of them standing on deck as they watched Luffy and the other two go flying by.

"Zoro! Is everyone okay?!" Luffy yelled in relief before he realized that there wasn't much to stand on and he was falling fast. "So ah… I can use a hand!" he yelled before the memory faded with the three of them hitting the digestive juice.

When the night sky came back, the Straw Hats noticed that they could no longer see the shore and were somewhere in the green fields again. No one really talked as they thought it all over. Brook, without a doubt, was in the worse shape as he cried out with Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all trying to comfort him.

"Man, that's something you don't see everyday," Franky said, thinking it all over, sure that he had been dreaming that stuff up. "But who's that Vivi person you guys were talking about?"

"Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta Kingdom," Robin answered, her voice a little grim at the name. "I didn't realize that you met her here. Now that I think of it, they were ordered there to kill the whale."

"WHAT?!" screamed Brook as he jumped to his feet, looking furious. "YOU MEAN THEY WERE TRYING TO KILL LABOON?!"

"Which they failed to do!" Nami told him loudly, hoping that he wouldn't bear a grudge against Vivi for this. "She was like an honorary member of the crew once we got to know her! She didn't really want to kill Laboon, I'm sure!"

"Yeah, Vivi's really nice," Chopper added, still patting Brook's leg since he couldn't reach any higher. "I'm sure that you'll see that soon!"

"Oh, Vivi-chan! My love! How long has it been?!" Sanji swooned as he fell to his knees, his face a bright red and another nosebleed was on the way.

But his declares of true love were interrupted by the next memory. From the looks of things, they had just fished Luffy and the other two out and were all on deck—and the constant shaking had stopped and there was a deep, almost humming sound that they could hear echoing off Laboon's stomach walls.

"I don't claim to speak whale," memory Nami said, going to the railing and looking around, "But it seems to have calmed down a bit."

"Seems that way," memory Zoro said, looking at Vivi and the man, who Robin informed them as being Mr. 9. "Now, we saved your lives for the time being," he told them irritably, "you better talk and make it quick."

Memory Sanji was right up next to Vivi and was almost drooling when he saw her. She looked at him with a mixture of apprehension and repugnance as she moved closer to Mr. 9. They then heard her whisper, "Mr. 9… these heathens are pirates."

"Heathens? That's a new insult on me," Zoro told them all. Then again, Vivi wasn't very good with names or insults. After all, he couldn't remember her ever calling him by his name—other than Mr. Bushido.

Mr. 9 looked to her and they heard him whisper back, "Yes, that's painfully obvious Miss Wednesday. But if we speak to their humanity and compassion, they should understand our plight! Maybe…?"

"You know… we can hear every word they're saying," Usopp said, all of them shaking their heads at this.

"Well, I noticed that some people do tend to think that pirates are stupid," Nami proclaimed. And she admitted that when you met people like Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp… she could understand why.

"You parasites are still here?!" yelled an aged voice from above them, and they looked up to see an old man standing up on a small iron platform next to the enormous gate that they had come charging out of. He had a rather stocky and muscular body, with a bald patch on the top of his head, but with white hair with yellow flower petal-like things.

"It's him! That's Crocus!" Nami yelled, pointing up at him.

"So that's the doctor of Roger's crew?" Franky asked, looking at him in great interest.

Brook was staring at him, never really realizing just how much people change in fifty years. When he first met him, he had been young and strong with a lot of muscle… but here, it almost didn't look like the same person.

But he could still detect that same voice in there as Crocus declared loudly, "I grow weary of this and for the last time! As long as I draw breath you will not lay a single harmful finger on Laboon!"

"You tell them, Crocus-san!" Brook declared, his hand on his sword. "And I vow that as long as there is breath in this body, I won't let anyone harm Laboon either! Not that I have breath anymore, Yohohoho!"

"He's back again," past Usopp said as Luffy looked to them and asked who he was.

"You already met him?" Chopper asked Usopp and he nodded.

"Yeah, we met him after we got stuck in here, I think it's a good thing that these guys came flying out when they did because he was driving us crazy," Usopp sighed, "What a crazy old man he was."

Suddenly, Vivi and Mr. 9 were laughing. "You can't bully us into abandoning our mission!" Vivi said in a conceited voice as she picked up one of two bazookas that they had been carrying with them.

"We were sent here to hunt this whale and that's exactly what we're gonna do!" Mr. 9 yelled in agreement as he also picked up one, "And this time we won't let you interfere!" They held up the guns as Luffy looked on. "WE'RE ABOUT TO GIVE THIS WHALE A NEW BLOWHOLE! FIRE BABY!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Brook screamed as they launched the two cannonballs at the walls of Laboon's stomach. Brook yelled with a mixture of horror and rage as he jumped up, ready to take the hit, but the two cannonballs passed right through him. "LABOON NO!" he yelled, but then Crocus acted for him. He jumped right into the line of fire—protecting the whale from the weapons.

Brook stared as Crocus, burnt and injured, fell into the pool of acid as the memory Straw Hats all gasped at what he had done.

"He took the hit!" Chopper screamed. "And he fell right into hydrochloric acid! He'll dissolve!"

"Relax, it'll take a lot more than that to kill him off," Zoro stated firmly, remembering seeing the old man willingly jump into the pool before. "He's tougher than he looks!"

"I guess!" Franky yelled out.

Vivi let out an annoying laugh and proclaimed, "Your defiance is pointless!"

"Go ahead! Waste your time!" Mr. 9 yelled and Vivi continued to laugh, "But make no mistake! That hulking beast will provide food for our town!" With Crocus now trying to stay afloat in the acid, the two continued to cackle and Luffy seemed to lose his patience. He slammed their heads so hard that he knocked them out.

"Thank you," Franky said in annoyance, "That laugh was getting to me."

"How dare that rubber idiot hit a lady?!" Sanji snapped furiously.

"Ah… what was that for?" past Usopp asked him.

"I just…" Luffy said looking up in aggravation, "Wanted to hit them!"

"I don't blame him for that, I wanted to hit them too," Brook said, furious that they would ever think to hurt such a gentle creature. But if this Vivi was their friend…? He did his best to try and beat that anger down, waiting to see what happened next.

After they fished Crocus out and tied the two up, the old doctor invited them over to the island—which the four explained to the other Straw Hats who weren't here that it was actually a ship with an iron bottom so it could float here without worry of dissolving. "I thank you for saving my life," Crocus said gratefully once he made himself comfortable in a lawn chair, "Though I must ask, why did you do it?"

"I wasn't trying to save you," Luffy answered bluntly as he started to climb the tree, "There was just something about those two I didn't like."

"If rudeness was a reason to attack someone, half the world would be dead by tomorrow," Robin answered calmly.

"Ok, I think it's about time we got some answers," past Nami said in annoyance as Usopp tried to pull Luffy back down the tree. "Who are these guys?" she asked, pointing to Vivi and Mr. 9. "And how did you end up inside this whale?!"

"These two are thugs from a nearby town looking for whale meat," Crocus answered grumpily, "If they caught him, Laboon could feed the townspeople for at least two or three years easy. All they're concerned with is feeding their fat, greedy bellies."

Brook's skeletal fingers tightened around his cane, and his teeth were cracking together as he fought to keep his anger from rising out of control again.

"Laboon?" past Nami repeated in confusion.

"That's the whale's name," Crocus answered gruffly, "He a unique and magnificent creature. An Island Whale, a rare species that can only be found in the West Blue. I won't allow them to slaughter him for food."

"I agree," Robin said, admiring her sketch of the whale and smiled, "He truly is an amazing creature. I should've guessed that he'd be after we came across the pod of Island Whales."

"They were Laboon's relatives weren't they?" Chopper asked eagerly.

"They are a very rare species, so I would say that is a very good possibility," Robin answered.

"But if these whales are found only in the West Blue… how did we end up meeting them in the Grand Line?" Usopp asked in confusion.

"You saw how big they were, I guess that even an entire West Blue sea isn't big enough all the time," Sanji answered, "I mean, it's not that hard to think that such a large pod of whales don't visit the Grand Line from time to time. They're bigger than some Sea Kings and I'm sure they can take care of themselves."

"It's a shame he's stuck here so far from his domain," Crocus went on with sigh, "You see there's a reason he keeps hitting his head against the Red Line and hollering at Reverse Mountain."

"There is?" past Nami asked a little quietly.

"Yes," Crocus answered looking at them, "To put it one way, inside Laboon's body beats the heart of a human. He has most impatiently awaited and is eternally devoted to a certain band of pirates." He paused and added, "Going on fifty long years now."

Zoro clapped a hand on Brook again, who had frozen, and was also shaking a little at his words.

"All who have seen Laboon ask the same questions," Crocus went on, "Why does he continuously strike his body against the Red Line? Why does he keep howling at Reverse Mountain? Listen closely and I will reveal Laboon's tragic story."

"He's really good at storytelling," Franky said in awe before he looked to Usopp, "Maybe you should've taken a few lessons from him so that your stories sound a little more believable, bro."

"Hey! My stories are amazing!" Usopp yelled.

"But I think that's the problem," Nami added, "They're so unbelievable that they're hard to take seriously."

Crocus sighed and began, "One fine, sunny day… while I was fulfilling my duties as Lighthouse Keeper… some good-natured pirates came down from Reverse Mountain. They were followed by a baby whale, spry and chipper, who I would soon come to know as the one and only, Laboon."

And so he told them the whole story. How these pirates had met up with a baby whale while they had sailed the West Blue, and Laboon had traveled with them for most of their journey. But knowing how dangerous the Grand Line was, they had decided that it was in Laboon's best interest to leave him behind where he would be safe. But Laboon had followed after them anyway because he had come to see these pirates as his family.

The damaged that their ship had taken just getting to the Grand Line however was very extensive so they decided to stay here for several months to sing with Laboon until repairs were made. After about three months, and their ship finally repaired, they had asked Crocus to take care of Laboon for them until they came back. They had promised that when they finished sailing around the world, they would come back for him and that the whale would then come with them on their future adventures.

Crocus sighed and finished his tale by saying, "That was fifty long years ago."

"Fifty years?" past Sanji repeated as they all stared at him.

"So Laboon has been waiting here all this time for his friends to return?" memory Usopp whispered, his eyes wide and his jaw falling open at hearing that.

"No one he's upset," memory Nami said, looking up at the whale with new sympathy, "That kind of wait would drive anyone crazy."

They could hear Laboon's voice crying out once again and Brook started to cry again. "Chopper-san?" he asked tearfully and Chopper looked a little startled at what he asked him next, "What is he saying? Can you hear him?"

"I…" Chopper trailed off. He did understand what Laboon was saying, but he didn't want to tell him. He didn't think that Brook could stand it. But Brook was insistent on it, asking him over and over to just tell him what Laboon's words were as the memory Straw Hats climbed up on the ship and had Crocus lead them out through the door and through a long canal inside Laboon's body.

"He's… he's saying…" Chopper gulped out as tears entered his eyes. "'Where are you? Where? It's been so long… I'm still waiting… when are you going to come back?!'"

Chopper had been right. Brook broke down completely at those words, hating himself for taking so long to come back. How could he have ever been stupid enough to have gotten trapped in the Devil's Sea for so long? He knew now that he wasn't fit to be captain. Captain Yorki was and will always be the real captain of the Rumbar Pirates. But when they made him the next captain… he had been the one to lead the crew into that fog and got them all wiped out! Because of his stupidity, he ended up causing all this pain to his dear friend…

Chopper hugged him tightly as Soul King fell to his knees and cried. All of them were offering words of encouragement and kindness that Brook didn't feel that he deserved.

"This is some canal," past Zoro suddenly said and Brook held his crying back long enough to listen in. "Amazing this whale's still alive with a hole like this in its body."

"I suppose you're responsible for this?" past Sanji asked Crocus, as the little island boat went sailing alongside them. Crocus was reading the paper and didn't look up as he answered.

"Just a doctor's playful mind," he stated causally, as if telling them what day it was.

"Doctor?" past Usopp repeated in surprise.

"That's right," he answered, "Legally certified. I also ran a clinic on the Grand Line once upon a time. Before that I served as a ship's doctor."

"Right," Robin stated, thinking back, "That's what Rayleigh said. He joined up with Roger's crew so that he could find out what happened to you and the other Rumbar Pirates, Brook."

"What a good man, Crocus-san," Brook said softly. "But why did he do all this to Laboon…?" he added as he looked at the iron walls.

"Really?" Luffy said eagerly, as he sat up on the broke Merry's head. "That's great! Then join us! We need a doctor!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" he called back, stopping near a ladder and started to climb, "I no longer have that kind of energy! Exploring the seas is a young man's job!"

"It's a good thing that he didn't," Nami said, smiling at Chopper, "Otherwise Chopper never would've joined us."

Chopper blushed as he said, "Telling me something like that isn't going to make me feel happy you jerk!" They all smiled at him as past Sanji asked what kind of doctor would hallow out a whale's insides.

"Maybe it's part of the treatment?" memory Nami suggested as Crocus reached the top of the ladder and stood on a platform.

"The girl is right," he answered, looking back at them, "With a creature of this size is it's virtually impossible to treat it from the outside. Therefore I devised a more drastic solution. Here's the exit!" he added as he then turned a wheel and the large door opened up and they could see the sky… the real sky.

"Treatment?" repeated Brook in confusion and some of them all looked at each other anxiously, knowing that he wasn't going to take the news of where Laboon got those scars from well.

"Don't you think fifty years is a bit extreme?" past Usopp suddenly asked, "Those pirates sure know how to test someone's patience."

"What were you thinking?" Franky whispered to him, "Did you honestly believe that they would willingly keep him waiting for fifty years?"

Usopp shrugged. He honestly didn't know what he was thinking when he said that.

"Idiot, don't you get it? This is the Grand Line!" past Sanji yelled at him as they moved the Merry's head onto the upper deck. "His friends are dead!" he blew out smoke from his cigarette and added, "That whale can wait forever, they won't be back."

Past Nami folded her arms and said, "Sad to say, but it's probably true. Back in the day when those guys traveled the Grand Line it was an uncharted sea. A thousand times more treacherous than it is now."

"I hate to imagine just what it had been like to sail these seas in those days," current Nami added kindly to Brook. "It must've truly been terrible."

"Well, it was far from easy," Brook said, finally starting to get a hold of his tears. He rubbed his eyes with his feathered boa and added, "Nothing in this sea makes sense… logic, reason, judgment… all of that is almost useless here. Unless you really knew how it was done, you didn't stand a chance of sailing here. I guess I should be happy that we lasted as long as we did in those days."

Past Usopp gave a grunt of anger and ran over to them, yelling, "Why are you all being so pessimistic? You don't know that they're dead! They could still come back for him! Come on, have some sympathy would ya? I thought it was very touching! I mean a whale still believing a promise that his friends made to him despite all these years?! That's a true bond! Right pops?"

"Yes," Brook answered softly. You could ask for a more loyal friend than Laboon.

"Indeed," Crocus agreed, but he leaned his hand against the coconut tree and answered, "But the lesson here is that reality is cruel. Laboon's cohorts aren't dead. The truth is that they abandoned their quest!"

And then told them that he learned that the pirates turned and left the Grand Line through the Calm Belt. He couldn't claim to know exactly what happened to them, but he doubted that they would ever return for him here.

"So if I got this straight," past Sanji said, now sounding angry, "These pirates were a bunch of cowards who cared more about saving their own asses than keeping a promise to a friend?!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Brook yelled out, furious that they would say that, and slamming his fists onto the ground so hard that, if he still had flesh and blood, he would be bleeding now. But he didn't care.

"So Crocus lied?" Nami asked in surprise, "That's not what really happened? Then how did he learn that?"

Brook was silent for a moment before he finally confessed, "It's only half true. But they didn't leave the Grand Line because they wanted to! You have to believe me!"

But before he could tell them any further, memory Usopp's voice rang out in outraged. "Why would anyone abandon such a loyal creature?! Just look at him! It's cruelty on a grand scale!"

"But if you've known all this, why haven't you told him?" past Nami asked Crocus, "Laboon can obviously communicate with you. He seems to understand humans quite well for a whale."

"Whales are all highly intelligent creatures," Robin stated, as she also looked up to him. "Even if they haven't been around humans like Laboon has, I think they can understand us."

"I did tell him," Crocus admitted, "Down to the last miserable detail." He sighed as he said, "That was the day Laboon began to howl at Reverse Mountain. Soon after he started slamming his body against the Red Line. It's as if he believes that wall is what keeps his friends away. And that by breaking it, he can clear the path for their return."

"You mean…?" Brook began as he slowly began to understand what was happening here. "So… Laboon got those scars…? Because… because…?"

"Don't worry about him," Usopp said quickly to him, "Crocus had taken really good care of him all these years! And Luffy was the one who got him to stop slamming his head there!"

"What…? Luffy-san…?" Brook asked, completely startled as the past Straw Hats were admiring Laboon's dedication. "How did…?"

"He refuses to believe me because then he'll have to admit that it's over," Crocus said grimly, "And that though terrifies him more than anything. There's no way for him to go back to the West Blue so what we have here is a paradox of tragic proportions. Laboon is a lost soul dying to live with his friends, but won't stop killing himself to reach them."

Brook wanted to tune everything out—he didn't want to hear anymore, but he kept listening in. He wanted to know all of Laboon's pain. It was the least that he could do.

"Tragedy," past Sanji stated, "But still, despite all the grief those pirates put him through they did the same thing to you by saddling you with their burden." He pulled out his cigarette and asked what he was going to do—and added that he had done enough for Laboon.

"The scars on his hide are deep," Crocus answered simply, "Those in his heart are even deeper. He needs someone to tend his wounds and I'm all he's got. For years he's battered himself and I patched him up. A strange friendship but it works."

"Thank you, Crocus-san," Brook said between tears. He could never thank Crocus enough for taken care of him all these years. "And Laboon… please forgive me!"

"It'll be alright," Robin stated gently. "You still kept your promise despite all these years and are now fighting to get back to him."

"Yeah," Usopp added, unusually optimistic, "And we're already more than halfway around the world now! All we have to do is keep following the Log until we reach the Red Line again! And then Laboon will be able to come on adventures with us!"

"You mean it?" Brook asked softly, looking up at him.

"Of course," Sanji said with a rather wicked smile. "Don't see how we're going to be able to sail with something so big by our side, but hey, I'm sure we'll work something out."

"Complete approval!" Franky yelled out as he and Chopper cried at the touching scene, "I already love that whale!"

Brook sniffled and said simply, "Thank you all… that is so kind of you to say that."

"Hey guys?" Robin suddenly asked as she watched Luffy rip the mast off the Merry and went charging up to Laboon. "Why did Luffy just break off part of the ship?"

"Huh?" Chopper asked as they all turned to look. She was right, with a loud cry, Luffy hauled the heavy mast, sails and flag in all, up Laboon's head.

"We take our eyes off him for five minutes and he does this!" Usopp informed them all, shaking his head. Though he got why Luffy did it, it wasn't any fun trying to fix it.

"This is the reason why he needs to be chaperoned everywhere," Nami added with him darkly.

"Wait! Why the hell did he just break the mast off!?" demanded Franky furiously. "Do you not have any respect for your ship you rubber idiot!"

"It was for a good cause," Zoro stated as Luffy reached Laboon's head, and found a place that was already bleeding; most likely where he had slammed his head against the Red Line earlier. This was the opening that Luffy needed, and slammed the broken part of the mast right into the wound, causing blood to gush everywhere.

"LABOON!" screamed Brook, horrified at that. What was Luffy thinking?!

"IS HE STILL ANGRY?!" screamed Chopper furiously. "WASN'T HE LISTENING TO CROCUS AT ALL? IS THIS PAYBACK FOR WHEN HE SWALLOWED YOU GUYS?!"

"That's not like Luffy though," Robin answered softly as Franky's jaw dropped at what he just did.

This time, Laboon felt the pain and his eyes watered up in pain as he let out a loud howl of agony. Luffy hung on tightly to the mast as Laboon attempted to throw him off. Laboon was now angry as he jumped right out of the sea and slammed Luffy right into the Red Line with his body. The waves that the whale was creating almost ended up capsizing their ship, and with the sails still on Laboon's head, there wasn't anything their memory selves could do but hold on for dear life.

"I don't get it!" Chopper screamed over Laboon's moans. "What's the point? Why's Luffy doing this?!"

"Logic that makes sense only to that rubber brain," Zoro answered as Luffy got right back up and was now grinning cockily at Laboon. The whale was now seriously ticked off and went to smash him with his tail, which did end up hitting him. "Nami was wrong here…" Zoro finished, "this was settled in the end with a fight."

Luffy then punched him in his eye again, but Laboon retaliated by slamming him into the lighthouse. This continued on until Laboon had actually managed to lift a part of his body onto land to try and go at him again… but then Luffy suddenly screamed out, "It's a draw!"

Those words shocked Laboon so much that he stopped. Luffy looked up, dirty and bruised, but was smiling. "I'm stronger than I look! But I had a feeling you knew that."

Laboon just looked back, and even those who didn't understand whale could tell that he was completely lost here to what was going on.

"Luffy-san?" Brook said quietly. "What are you doing?"

"Giving Laboon something to look forward to," Zoro answered with a smile. "Though he goes about it in an unusual way, he gets things done. He gave Laboon another reason to keep living."

Brook stared at him in confusion until Luffy went on speaking.

"I can always tell when someone's itching for a fight," Luffy told him as he looked up. "Well, if you wanna battle I'll give you one! Your shipmates used to spare with you didn't they and you miss it? Well, I can rival anything they threw at ya! Tell you what. After me and my friends travel the Grand Line, we'll come back here and find you."

Tears were forming in Laboon's giant eyes as Luffy finished, "Then you better be ready for a rematch!"

"We… we did," Brook said softly, more tears falling from his eye sockets. "Just a little sparing… he was strong, even as a baby."

"So that's what he was doing!" Chopper cried out, now getting it. Tears were now falling from the whale's eyes—the anger and madness that had been there only seconds before seemed to fade as he let out another howl. But this time, it wasn't of sadness… it was the thrill of another fight.

Brook now understood completely why Luffy had gone out of his way to fight him. He wanted to give Laboon hope for the future… that, in an effort to give Laboon a renewed sense of hope, picked a fight with and then promised Laboon that he would return to see him, under the guise of wanting a rematch.

Luffy then did something else that brought, if that was possible, more tears to his eyes. After a while later, after they had retrieved the mast off Laboon's head, Luffy had gotten some paint and had managed to do a very poorly drawn version of their Jolly Roger on the whale's head where the scars were. It looked just like Luffy's first attempt to draw their flag before… and it just looked so funny painted there that they all laughed a little at it.

"Hey, not bad," Luffy commented as he looked back to admire his work, also covered in paint. "Consider this a symbol of my promise to come do battle with you!" he told him, "Course, it's a rushed paint job, so you'll have to be careful and avoid hitting your head or you'll rub it off! Understand?"

"Smart…" Robin said in an impressed tone, "Not just anyone would think of something like that. Now this will ensure that Laboon won't continue to risk his heath by smashing into the Red Line."

Laboon grunted in acknowledgment and Chopper said excitedly, "He said that he understood and that he'll make sure that he won't do anything to rub it off!"

"Good whale," Luffy stated happily.

"Thank you…" Brook said, his hand up to his jaw as more tears ran down, but these were tears of hope… just like the ones that Laboon had cried only moments ago. "Luffy-san… thank you."

"I'm sure that Laboon's doing just fine too," Usopp told him, "And won't he be in for a big surprise when he finds you there with us when we get back for that rematch?!"

"It's a day that I will dream about!" Brook declared as memory Nami told Luffy to clean himself up as she tried to work out a plan for the Grand Line journey. Luffy looked annoyed, but did what she said. However, as he got back to the deck, and Usopp was finishing up putting the mast back up, they spotted two things different here.

First off, Vivi and Mr. 9 were gone… and second, they spotted a Log Pose rolling around on the deck. "What's this thing?" Luffy said to himself as he picked it up. But Franky had moved over to examine Usopp's handiwork.

"Your hammer skills suck even back here," he said, "What? Just iron plates? Those won't last! You gotta…"

"Hey! I get it!" Usopp snapped, "I know! I'm not a shipwright! I work with gadgets and things like that! Not building ships! But hey, I like to think that I did a good job! They lasted until we got all the way to Water 7 didn't it?!"

But as soon as he said 'Water 7' he suddenly had a horrible reminder that they were sure to see that as well. He felt himself going pale and was now looking around desperately. He hoped that they would find that blob monster again before those memories… he did NOT want to see how stupid he had been there.

But then they heard past Nami screaming and the noise startled Laboon so that he dove under the water.

"You mind?!" Luffy yelled back as Sanji and Usopp climbed up to talk with her—Sanji bearing plates of food, "Keep it down!"

"You idiots!" Nami's voice yelled, "The compass is broken!"

Looking surprised, Luffy put the Log Pose into his pocket and they followed him up so that they were sitting at a small table outside the lighthouse with the other three already gathered around it. Nami was there with the map and her compass in front of her, the little needle was spinning around and round… never stopping. "The needle just spins! It won't stop!" she told them all.

As they all talked amongst themselves about it; Crocus, who had been standing close by, turned to look at them. "It is sadly apparent that none of you possess the slightest knowledge to how things work here," he said, "Did you all come here to die?"

"Harsh way to put it," Chopper gulped.

As they all looked to Crocus and he explained, with Sanji warning Luffy not to eat all the food, "There is nothing wrong with your compass. The Grand Line has little regards for the rules of the sea. Common sense is useless in this place."

"Out here on the sea, never doubt the Log Pose," Robin nodded in agreement, "This is the one unspoken law here in the Grand Line. Without it, we have no hope."

"The needle," past Nami asked slowly, "Why does it spin?"

And so Crocus told them the reason why normal compasses don't work on the Grand Line was because of the nature of the island's magnetic fields. In order to navigate the Grand Line, a special compass called a 'Log Pose' must be used. The Log Pose works by locking on to one island's magnetic field and then locking on to another island's magnetic field. Luffy pulled out the Log Pose that he found earlier and Nami ended up punching him for not telling them about it. He argued back that he found it on deck and assumed that those two must've dropped it when they escaped as Nami took it from him. Crocus then finished up his explanation by telling them that there were a total of seven different routes that diverge from Reverse Mountain and travel east before merging again to the last island… Raftel. An island that's existence was only confirmed by Roger himself.

"Raftel…" memory Nami repeated softly.

"That's it!" past Usopp yelled excitedly, a big grin on his face. "That must be where the One Piece is hidden!"

Robin smiled a little as well as she wondered if the one thing that she had searched for her whole life… where her dream—the Rio Poneglyph—was also there as well. She knew that it had to exist… but the question of where to find it was the main problem.

"That's the most promising theory," Crocus said, "But no one has been able to set foot on Raftel Island since then."

"He would know better than anyone!" Franky smirked. "He was there."

"I'm sure that Luffy was glad that Crocus didn't tell us that," Nami told him, remembering to when Luffy angrily told Usopp off for asking Rayleigh if the One Piece existed or not.

"If you have to cheat to get to the top, where's the satisfaction?" Zoro asked calmly.

Luffy, who was chewing on some of the bones of the meal, grinned, "Don't worry. We'll know soon enough." Crocus was looking at him with new surprise as Luffy finished the food and everyone began yelling at him for not leaving anything for them. Past Sanji, especially, was furious and beat him up for it… however ended up breaking the Log Pose in the process.

"Well, that didn't last long," Robin stated as Nami kicked both men into the sea, screaming that she was going to kill them if they didn't get out of her face. The memory faded as soon as they watched the two hit the waves.

"You're scary…" Franky gulped. Damn… Nami may not be as strong as most members of the crew, but she didn't need to be to scare them all.

"Well, they broke it," Nami told him hotly.

"I'm surprised that it did break that easily," Robin stated as she looked to the new Log that Nami was wearing. "They're built to last out here on the sea. But Sanji broke it with little effort."

"Not made very well," Franky told her firmly. "Those don't last long. You need a really good, reliable one."

"What happened?" Chopper asked, looking to Nami, "You did get a new one didn't you?"

"Of course," Nami answered, "Crocus had one and he gave it to us as a thank you for helping Laboon."

"That was so kind of him," Brook said, now sounding more upbeat than before. "I guess it was a good thing that it broke then. Better to have one from him than a cheap one that could break out at sea?"

"That's for sure," Nami agreed as the next memory came up, "My anger with them faded when Crocus told us that he would give us his. But I did warn them that if they ever broke that one, I would kill them."

"Nami, you were just so beautiful when you were chewing us out," Sanji sighed and Zoro made a gagging sound behind him. They went back to watching the scene with Luffy sitting up on the table with Vivi and Mr. 9 on their knees.

"What's this?" Franky asked curiously.

"Well, after Laboon got us out of the water, he also brought up Vivi-chan and that 9 guy," Sanji explained. "Since they lost their Log Pose, they needed a ride back."

"Man," Zoro said, feeling a little let down. "You mean to tell me that I missed hearing them beg for mercy? Shame."

"Where were you anyway?" Robin asked curiously.

"He was sleeping," Usopp stated, and for some reason, he was sounding angry about it. But before they could ask him about that…

"Whiskey Peak?" repeated Luffy in puzzlement, "Huh, that's a funny name."

"Maybe, but sounds like one hell of a place," Franky laughed, sounds like his kind of place to visit.

"So what it is?" past Usopp asked.

"It's where we live!" Mr. 9 snapped, before he added more respectfully, "Sir…"

As Nami asked them what happened to their ship, Vivi answered nervously that it was destroyed.

"How did that happen?" Franky asked in surprise and scratched his head. Really, this part of the Grand Line is tame… how could it have been destroyed?

"Asking us for a ride is pushing it Mr. 9," Nami said slyly, "Especially after you tried to kill the whale!"

"I agree!" Brook stated, "But I rather that they went with you and away from Laboon! If you had left them there, they might've tried to kill him. I'm sorry for saying this but…"

"Don't be," Nami stated in understanding, "We all understand. And I think that Luffy might've felt the same way because he did end up agreeing."

But when they tried to get some real answers out of them, the two refused to answer. Vivi and Mr. 9 were now begging, telling them that they couldn't tell them anything, because of their line of business. They told them that the only thing they wanted was to just get home.

"We have confidence in your character, can't you grant us the same courtesy?" Vivi asked.

"People who dress like that doesn't deserve it," Franky said darkly, looking at them. It was funny, considering that these two were singing a different tune earlier.

"Please, we're begging you, show some mercy!" Mr. 9 added.

"Don't do it," Crocus advised them at once, "These two fools are dishonest to the core! They can't be trusted!"

"I have to admit that Vivi did a good job of spying on Baroque Works for as long as she did," Robin admitted.

"She does play the 'bad girl' thing decently," Nami agreed as her past self held up the broken Log Pose still on her wrist and told them that they didn't have another one and asked if they still wanted to ride with them.

The reaction was hilarious as they began yelling at her for trying to trick them. But Nami merely smiled devilishly and said in a fake innocent voice that fooled no one, "Oh, sorry! I forgot! Crocus gave us his so…!"

And as soon as they heard that, they got back to their knees and began begging for pity again.

"That was mean," Chopper said, but they were all amused by how Nami handled it. Mr. 9's face was twitching horribly, as if he was biting back what he really wanted to say. But to their surprise, Luffy said that it was alright for them to ride with them.

"Why?" past Usopp demanded, pointing an accusing finger at them, "These two are obviously pretty shady characters! Why would we take them anywhere?!"

"It's fine," Luffy repeated, "Don't sweat the small stuff. It'll be alright."

"Choose your route carefully," Crocus warned him seriously from behind him, "Once you head out from here, you'll be committed to that course."

"It's ok!" Luffy said happily. "If we don't like it, we'll try a different route next time."

"Good point," Sanji stated, still puffing on his cigarette. "Once we reach the end of the Grand Line, we'll have to find something else to do with our time and we can start again by going another route."

"That would be cool!" Chopper agreed happily as Crocus smiled at Luffy's words.

"Okay, it's time we get going!" Luffy declared as he jumped to his feet and looked to the rest of his crew, "Now that me and Laboon have an understanding, I can leave with a clear conscious!"

"Just who in the world do you think you are anyway?" Vivi asked as Luffy stretched out his stiff body.

"What's that? Me?" Luffy asked looking back at her before he said confidently, "Well, I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates!"

Crocus smiled widely at that, as if remembering something from a long time ago. But Vivi and Mr. 9 covered their mouths as they fought back the laughs.

"You think that they would be a little bit more grateful," Brook said, wondering just how this girl became an honorary Straw Hat. "You didn't have to take them anywhere, but they are laughing about it."

"We're not that shallow to stop what we're going to do just because a couple people laughed," Zoro said, "Let them laugh… we'll see who's laughing when we get there in the end."

Brook stopped at that and sighed. "I'm sorry… I guess I still hold some bitter feelings towards them."

"Don't worry about it," Sanji told him. "I'm sure that you'll become as fond as Vivi-chan as we are."

Brook nodded hopefully as the sun was now setting and they all climbed onboard the repaired ship with Crocus letting them know that their Log should be pointing directly to Whiskey Peak and they finished saying their goodbyes.

Luffy looked to Laboon. "I'm off, Laboon!" he said, "Be ready to fight when I get back!"

Laboon gave a surprisingly soft, almost purring sound as the ship pulled away. "Next stop?" Luffy cried out, "Whiskey Peak! Ready gang? Let's set sail!"

They all cheered as Laboon let out noises of farewell, the crew waving goodbye to him and Crocus. Brook waved off at Laboon as well, though he knew that there wasn't a point. "Just a little longer, Laboon!" he cried out, his own feelings of hope rising considerably as he waved, "I promise that I'll be there soon! Wait for me just a little bit longer!"

He dreamt of returning and seeing that baby whale almost every day for fifty years. It was his reason to keep on fighting no matter how hard it was… to see that smiling face once again. At least inside his dreams he can return to that time they spent together.

When the memory faded there, and they were back in the outside world again, Brook sighed and looked to them. "I guess I better explain what really happened," he said, "I don't want you all to think that they left the Grand Line because they were cowards. I think you need to know what happened to the Rumbar Pirates."

"Brook," Robin said at once, knowing better than anyone how it felt to ask about questions of your past and not like to answer, "You don't have to…"

"I know I don't have to," he said firmly, "But I feel that I must do this. So please listen to me." Brook hesitated for a moment before he gulped hard and came right out and told them all that when he first joined the Rumbar Pirates; how it was because he truly admired and was good friends with Captain Yorki. He was a man that he, and the rest of their crew, would've given their lives for. In fact, the whole crew was like one big family—they all looked out for each other and did their best to keep each other's spirits up when times got rough.

They all traveled across the Grand Line and experienced all the challenges the sea had to offer; despite the many difficulties, they simply sang along while continuing. However, disaster struck the crew one day. Captain Yorki had caught an incurable disease while disembarking on one of the islands they had passed. It was highly contagious, and ten other crew members besides the captain had already fallen prey to it once they discovered it.

To keep it from spreading to the rest of the crew who weren't infected, Yorki decided to take himself and the other sick members on the Rumbar Pirates' first ship and try to escape the Grand Line by going through the Calm Belt.

Brook told them that he remembered his first captain's words very clearly and informed them how deeply his old captain regretted that it was the only way to save them. Seeing as he could not return back to Laboon, Yorki asked Brook and the rest of the crew to give his regards to him when they reached him. He then made Brook the next captain and told him to get a new ship before they sent him off with his favorite song. After that, Brook and the remaining Rumbar Pirates continued on their journey until their deaths in the Devil's Sea where they had all been wiped out by an incredibly strong foe.

"So it was the only way to save the rest of the crew?" Zoro asked him as Brook nodded, his sleeve over his eyes. "None of us wanted to… it hurt us all so badly! Captain Yorki was a man that we would've gone to the ends of hell for. But there was nothing that we could do about this! I can't tell you how sick at the heart it was to send the ship off and watch it disappear into the Calm Belt. But Captain Yorki did the only thing he could to protect us."

"Do you know if they made it through the Calm Belt?" Robin asked, but she already had a very good idea to what happened.

"No, I don't," he confessed as he sniffled. "I tried to find out during these last two years… but I never found anything. I would like to think that they did make it, but given how sick they all were…? And even healthy people trapped in the Calm Belt wouldn't stand much of a chance! I can't help but think the worse!"

"He was a real captain then," Sanji said softly as Franky began to cry loudly at that. "He made the right choice… even if it was a hard decision, it did end up protecting the other crewmates. He did what he knew was best for everyone."

Brook nodded as he got back to his feet. "I know," he confessed, "I know that it was all for the best… but still… he was my captain! A man who was also a dear friend! Thinking about how we were forced to leave him behind…?"

"You were just following his orders," Zoro reminded him. "A captain's orders are absolute. If you went against it, even more people would've become sick and died… and not only that, but you would've disrespected him as your captain."

Brook could only nod. He knew that was the case. But still… it still made him feel close to weeping at the memory of continuing on without him. He breathed deeply and dried his tears. Thanks to that decision, it kept him alive all this time after all… and he had a mission to complete! He promised Laboon that he would find him and meet up with him again no matter what it took! If he couldn't deliver the Rumbar Pirate's final song to him, then he would never be able to face his crew in the next life. It was the only thing that kept him going all these years.

He wiped the tears away, wishing that they could have Luffy back so that he could thank him. He didn't know how he could ever thank these people enough for all they've done for Laboon, but he hoped that he could repay them all someday.

The next memory was a little bit of a surprise… they were on the Merry with a thick layer of snow on deck. Sanji was shoveling it all off—but each shovelfull that he threw overboard was replaced quickly as the snow continued to fall. Luffy and Usopp meanwhile were fighting over snowmen when they heard Nami screaming in horror from inside the cabin.

"What's wrong?" past Usopp yelled as he and Luffy were stopped in the middle of their snowball fight.

"Sounds mad!" Luffy said knowingly as past Sanji declared that he would save Nami from whatever the problem was. Memory Nami, dressed in a warm coat, came out of the cabin, staring at the Log Pose in horror.

"What's wrong?" Chopper asked worriedly. Did they break another Log?

"No way!" memory Nami screamed before she cried out, "Make a hard turn 180 degrees, hurry!"

"A one eighty?" past Usopp repeated, baffled as he dropped his handful of snow, "Why would you want us to turn back?!"

"Did you forget something?" Luffy asked curiously.

"The ship has turned around! We're sailing in the wrong direction!" she yelled at them, still looking at the Log Pose. "I only took my eyes off the Log Pose for a second!" she looked up at the sky and said, "I thought the waves were calm!"

"I still don't get how that happened," Usopp stated. "I mean, as far as I knew, we were sailing straight ahead… but we all got turned around without ever noticing it?"

"This is why you should never doubt the Log Pose," Robin stated calmly. "Like Crocus said, common sense is useless here."

"I know that now," Nami stated, "But it took awhile to figure that out."

Just then, Vivi asked from inside the cabin in that same conceited way, "You're not a very good navigator are you?"

"I was so close to throwing them overboard for that," Nami hissed. She had forgotten what a spoiled brat Vivi was when she was Miss Wednesday.

"You can't trust anything here. Not the wind, sky, waves, clouds… nothing is what it seems in the sea. The only way to get reliable direction on the Grand Line is with the Log Pose. Everyone knows that," Vivi finished with a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, everyone who is in the Grand Line," Usopp stated darkly, "But we're from the East Blue and have no idea to how things worked."

But Vivi had finally gone too far and Nami kicked her and her partner outside. "SHUT YOUR CONDENSATING MOUTHS AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL AROUND HERE!" she screamed as she took charge. "Brace the yard! Force the wind starboard! Turn the ship one hundred and eighty degrees to the left! Usopp man the lateen sails! Sanji take the helm!" when they went running off she then barked orders at the two, "WORK YOU TWO!"

"This girl's crazy!" Mr. 9 stated as they began pulling ropes.

"I often thought that," Zoro stated as he looked around. "Strange that I don't remember any of this…?"

Usopp gave him a slap on the side of the head and pointed to where his past self was sleeping against the side of the boat, covered in snow. "I still don't get how you could've possibly slept through all that!" he snapped at him.

"Oh, is that what happened?" Zoro said in an understanding tone. "That explains it."

"I'm still going to kill you for that," Nami hissed at him threateningly, "What kind of first rate idiot sleeps through a freaking nightmare like that?!"

"Hey wait! Looks like the wind changed!" past Usopp yelled, getting their attention, and he was right. It changed rapidly from freezing cold to a springtime gale.

And that was how it went. The winds would constantly change, waves would become violent or calm when you least expect it, once they almost hit an iceberg as a fog came pouring in. Although they had managed to turn just in time, the helm was damaged and Usopp went off to fix the leak. Dark clouds came pouring in and they were battling the fierce wind right after that as Sanji was forced to keep bringing food for them to keep their strength up… the winds were tearing the sails apart and water was filling the bottom of the ship… it was chaos.

"Jeez, and this is only your first journey?" Franky asked as the waves almost ended up capsizing the boat. "This is crazy!"

"Not as crazy as that Maubeugemour Sea," Chopper disagreed. At least they didn't have to worry about giant raindrops or the sea splitting here.

"I guess so," Nami laughed. To be honest, it was a bit nostalgic sailing the Maubeugemour Sea because it reminded her so much of this first journey. Thankfully, the horrible weather had finally calmed down enough that they could all rest on deck—trying to catch their breath. But true to form, Zoro had finally woken up and was telling them all that they shouldn't be so lazy just because the weather was nice. He didn't notice the evil eyes that Nami, Sanji, and Usopp were giving him as he finally noticed the two newcomers on deck. He went on to ask what they were doing there and Luffy explained the whole thing about taking him home.

Grinning evilly, Zoro bent down to look at them. "So tell me… what are your strange names again? Cause I don't think you two can be trusted."

"Why is it that smirk scares me out of my mind?" Usopp hissed. Really, that evil grin looked like a shark before it devoured its prey. The other two seemed scare of it as well as they stuttered out their names.

"I… my name is Mr. 9," Mr. 9 croaked out.

"I'm called Miss Wednesday," Vivi added nervously, her eyes twitching a little fearfully.

"Right," Zoro said skeptically, his thumb under his chin, "You know those names sound familiar and that's what's bothering me. In fact, the more I think about the more I'm sure I've heard them somewhere before!"

The two were looking terrified just as Nami hit Zoro over the head from behind and began to tell him that he was lucky that they didn't throw him overboard for sleeping when they did all the work. But as he glared back, looking ready to tell her off, she hit him three times over the head so that he was on the deck defeated, nursing his wounds.

"I take it back, she scares me more than anything," Usopp gulped as Chopper hid behind him and nodded firmly in agreement.

"Well, you can see now that you deserved it!" Nami snapped at Zoro, who remembered those wounds painfully well.

But memory Nami stood up in front of them all and declared, "Listen up everyone! There's no way to know what's gonna happen next! During the terror that most of us just experienced…" she shot Zoro another evil look before continuing, "I came to an understanding why this sea was named the Grand Line." She held up her fist and finished, "My navigation skills are useless here! Anything can happen! But mark my words I will guild us through!"

"And you've done amazing, Nami!" current Sanji sighed lovingly and she smiled proudly.

"Once you get the hang of it, it's easy," she said confidently as her past self and Usopp talked briefly as she then pointed through the mist and yelled out, "We're here! Our first journey on the Grand Line comes to an end!"

And through the thick mist, they could see the outlines strange, cactus-shaped mountains with several buildings set up on either side of the river that they were travelling on.

"So this was your first stop?" Brook said interestedly. "I ended up taking a different route when we came to the Grand Line. It will be fascinating to see the places you've all seen!"

"Yeah, but this isn't a place that I remember too fondly," Nami confessed, remembering the trouble they got into here.

"What happened?" Franky asked curiously as Luffy was crying out in joy at the idea of visiting another island. As he and the rest of the crew talked in excited voices, Vivi and Mr. 9 both jumped to the railing.

"Now what are they doing?" current Zoro asked as they both said their thanks and goodbyes and chuckled darkly.

"Bye Bye baby," they finally finished speaking together before jumped overboard.

"Weirdo's both of them," Franky muttered and they all sweat-dropped as the others nodded with him.

"That was a quick exit," past Nami said.

"I guess we'll never learn what those nutjobs are up to," memory Usopp added darkly, looking over the edge to try and see where they went.

"Oh, we found out very quickly," current Zoro sighed, remembering what happened that night.

"Who cares?" Luffy asked, turning back to the matter at hand, "We're landing!" And that was where the memory faded.

"So, this Vivi-san is actually a princess?" Brook asked in surprise. "One would never guess it with how she acts. And why is she calling herself Miss Wednesday?"

"Well, to be honest, some the royalty I've seen are arrogant like that," Robin answered, remembering seeing all the things that nobles had been able to get away with over the years because they were rich. "But Vivi was only pretending so that she could spy on us."

"Us?" Brook repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, Robin here used to be our enemy," Zoro informed him, jerking his thumb at her. "She was the vice-president of a crime origination that tried to take over Alabasta."

"WHAT?!" Franky and Brook both said in amazement.

"I can't say that I'm proud of it," Robin stated, "But at the time, I needed protection."

"Protection from who?" asked Brook, looking at her in a new light.

But she merely shook her head as the new memory appeared. They were standing in the same town they had gotten a glimpse of before, only now it was the middle of the night and a bright moon shone above them. Bright enough for them to see by, but also casting dark shadows from the nearby buildings.

However, at the moment, those buildings were mostly destroyed… there was rubble and broken boards cast every few feet along with giant shards of broken glass and the walls around them looked close to crumbling away.

"Where are we?" Chopper asked, looking around at the destruction in surprise, "Is this Whiskey Peak?"

"This isn't the Whiskey Peak that I saw," Usopp said in surprise, staring around at the mostly destroyed town. "What happened? Looks like a tornado came through here."

"Well, you were sleeping through all the action I seem to recall," Nami sighed. "This whole town was inhabited by bounty hunters working for Baroque Works. The citizens here fooled pirates into thinking that they are kind and hospitable and proceed to throw a party for them, only to turn them in and steal everything from their ship when the pirates pass out."

"It was original, I'll give them that," Zoro confessed unconcerned.

"And I guess that you all fell for that?" Franky asked knowingly.

"They threw a party for us," Usopp said, sounding embarrassed. "And… I guess we drank a little too much."

"Well, I was up," Zoro stated, "And I was stuck doing all the hard work while you were sleeping. And you say that I don't pull my weight."

Sanji gave him a nasty look—wishing that he had woken up in time to show him up. So what if he took down all those bounty hunters? He could've done all that in half the time!

"I was up too," Nami retorted. "Don't think you're special. I was looking for their treasure… but they hardly had anything good here. What a waste of time."

"You think that they would at least keep the town in better shape than this," Brook said, looking around.

"No," Zoro stated, recognizing the damage. "Me and Luffy did that."

"Oh, so Luffy was up fighting too?" Chopper asked curiously.

"Ah, yeah… in a matter of speaking," Zoro said with a sigh, really not looking forward to seeing all this.

"I also recall that Baroque Works tried to offer you a position with us," Robin added, looking over at Zoro. "But your interview didn't end well?"

Zoro smirked evilly. "I remember. I think it was some guy name Mr. 7 who asked me. I said I'd join them if they made me their boss. When he didn't take that well, he attacked me so I put him in his place."

"That is harsh and cool at the same time," Franky said, thinking that over.

"And scary," Usopp added darkly. But just then there was the sound of explosions as walls on either side of the road broke apart and he screamed in shock with some of the other Straw Hats. Luffy and Zoro—bloodlust in both their eyes—came bursting through and were going at each other.

"Well," Sanji said in mild surprise, "Didn't see that coming."

"What's happening?!" screamed Chopper in shock. "Why are you and Luffy fighting?!"

Zoro sighed. "Kinda a long story. And a stupid one… that rubber idiot wanted to fight me for beating about a hundred bounty hunters."

"He was angry that you took out bounty hunters?" Usopp yelled as the two past versions were at each other's throats, making so much noise that they were having a hard time hearing him.

"He thought that I was attacking our hosts for no reason," Zoro said, rolling his eye, "Wanted to fight me over it."

"Wow, so this is the first time you two ever really went at it?" Robin asked as she watched the battle with great interest. "Blades are Luffy's weakness with his Devil Fruit powers…? But he's so unpredictable that it would be hard for you to hold up against him for long."

"I say we put a few bids on this," Sanji stated, looking at Franky and making bets. "I got a thousand beri's on Luffy for kicking your ass Moss Head."

"Say that again!" Zoro snapped as Franky whistled at it. "If you two weren't trying to kill each other, I'd think that you were enjoying it."

He folded his arms. "Well, it's always nice to fight someone and not have to worry about holding back," he admitted, "But this is so stupid…"

Zoro looked away, his eye watching the fight. Why did it go down like this? He never gave it much thought before, but looking at it now…? For some reason, it bothered him. Was it possible that Luffy didn't trust him here? Was that why he picked a fight like this? He remembered the memories of seeing Luffy threaten to hurt Johnny when he told them that Nami killed Usopp… but here, Luffy went right after him without giving him a chance to explain.

"Hard to say what goes on in Luffy's mind," Robin told him quietly, and he glanced over at him. She smiled a little as she said, "But I don't think that you need to be worried about Luffy not trusting you."

He looked to her and she explained, "You used to be a pirate hunter after all, and you weren't new to killing."

"Well, how come he didn't believe that Nami killed Usopp before?" he asked her curiously. "Johnny told him what he thought he saw, but Luffy never once doubted her."

"Hard to say, but do you remember what Nami said before when she refused to kill Luffy when he was in that cage thanks to Buggy?" she asked. "She said that 'Pirates took the life of someone dear to me, I'll never be one of them'."

"So?" he asked, "What's your point?"

"She ended up risking her life protecting him when she didn't have to," she answered softly. "I think that Luffy remembered what she said very well. And when she went against Buggy like that, I think it only proved her words. However… when he heard that she had killed Usopp… it didn't add up. The same person who had refused to kill a complete stranger would go around and kill a friend like she was no better than some pirate? I don't think that Luffy could understand that."

Zoro thought that over for a moment as she finished, "But this all happened long ago. You two trust each other completely now right? But if it bothers you that much, I'm sure that you can ask him yourself after we find him."

"Hmm," was all Zoro said. "Fair enough. I guess it really doesn't matter anymore. Though it bugs me…"

"Hopefully, the next time you two fight, it will be more light-hearted than this," she answered just as she noticed something moving at the corner of her eyes. Two figures were pulling themselves out of some of the rubble—a man and woman. The woman had short blond hair was wearing a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern and with two lemon earrings dangling from her ears. The man with her was a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks. He also wore a brown trench coat with the number 5 printed on along with dark sunglasses.

"Who are they?" Chopper asked, looking at them

"That would be Mr. 5 and his partner Miss Valentine's. Two of Baroque Works agents," Robin answered. She personally, never liked them.

"Wow! Miss Valentine's? She's gorgeous!" Sanji said, before he realized that she was hurt. "Hey! What did you two do to her Moss-Head?!"

"She was trying to kill Vivi so we took her out?" he offered as he jerked his thumb down the street to where Vivi was, riding a duck that size of a horse. She looked different from before—she looked a little beat up as well and her long hair was let down… but she was still staring at Zoro and Luffy with terror on her face.

"More members of this Baroque Works?" asked Brook, "But what exactly is it?"

"If they don't mention it soon, I'll explain it," Robin promised as they watched the two get up. They were both beat up, covered in bruises and cuts all over their faces; looking at them, they didn't have to think hard to what must've happened.

"I guess this is what happens when you step right into the line of fire," Franky said, looking back at the two still going at it.

"They weren't strong at all," Zoro said in annoyance as the two went charging at them, convinced that they could win. But they picked the wrong people to fight.

"You can't beat us!" Mr. 5 yelled. "Prepare to die at the hands of Baroque Works officer agents!"

Both Luffy and Zoro stopped their fight and glared murderously at the agents, stopping them all dead in their tracks. Even some of the Straw Hats froze at that… the two looked truly terrifying. Their faces were covered in bloody scratches, while their eyes were devoid of any sympathy or benevolence. There was nothing but cold rage that was so strong that they could all feel chills going up their spines.

"Shut up and go away!" they both yelled, raising their fists. "You're interfering…" and together they sent the two flying with such force that the Straw Hats all felt sympathy for the two poor fools. "WITH OUR FIGHT!" the two finished screaming out—a trace of evil flashing there.

Robin sighed as she watched her former colleges crashing into the side of the buildings until they were both out cold for good this time.

"They didn't have to go that far did they?" Usopp whispered tearfully.

"When those two gang up, it makes me feel really bad for our enemies," Nami croaked out, looking at Sanji. "It's almost as bad as when all three of you monsters gang up!"

"DAMN IT MOSS HEAD!" Sanji yelled at Zoro, "WHAT WERE YOU TWO THINKING ATTACKING A LADY?!"

"I don't see you doing any better," Zoro snarled back as his past self grumbled to himself, "Damn pests…"

"Messing with our fight," Luffy growled in agreement as Vivi was staring at them in amazement as they both went back to glaring at each other.

Zoro glared at Luffy, now looking completely insane here. "Shall we… continue?" he demanded.

"Yeah," Luffy snapped back, looking just as demented as Zoro at that moment.

"Come on guys!" Chopper yelled out, "Please stop fighting! You're supposed to be friends!"

But as the two moved in for another round, their muscles bulging and the energy they were releasing seemed to bend the air itself as they clashed like sparks between them. However, before these two powerhouses could collide, Nami appeared out of nowhere and punched them both so hard in the faces that they were sent flying—knocked right out of their frenzy mode.

Brook, Chopper and Usopp screamed in terror.

"How can she take them both out with a single punch each?" Usopp demanded.

"Though we always knew it, Nami is the one who's really in charge here," Robin chuckled.

"I guess it takes someone as amazing as you, Nami-swan to handle those two idiots," Sanji cooed at her as Zoro rubbed his hair in an irritated way.

"You two, what the heck do you think you're doing here!?" Nami yelled at them both as they lay there—looking stunned at what just hit them. "It's lucky for you that you managed to keep the girl safe! You almost lost us a billion beri's!" She picked them both up by the scruffs of their necks, like how a babysitter would to two brothers who just didn't want to get along and yelled, "You understand?"

"A billion beri's?" Franky whistled, "Where'd you come up with that?"

"She's a princess isn't she?" Nami asked, "I made a deal with her bodyguard to protect her for a billion beri's."

"I doubt even a princess has that kind of money stored away," Robin answered, knowing that Alabasta's funds had dropped drastically during those three years of no rain. And even if they weren't in the middle of a civil war, she doubted that anyone other than the Celestial Dragons could come up with that kind of money on the spot.

Vivi was staring at her, not understanding what she was talking about, as Luffy and Zoro were continuing to fight by pulling each other's faces and small punches like little kids.

"What do you mean?" Vivi asked anxiously, "What beri's? I don't understand! Why did you save me?"

As the two continued to fight where they hung in Nami's grasp, Nami smiled and said to her, "About that, I think we need to have a little chat. You see you and I have to work out a contract for a reward!" She frowned at the two before she finally slammed them into the ground to stop them fighting for good. "KNOCK IT OFF!" she screamed.

"Owww…" Franky winced, having been on the receiving end of one of Nami's punches and knew the pain they were in. The memory soon faded and they were back in the open air.

"So… her bodyguard asked you to protect her?" Brook asked.

Nami sighed regretfully. "Mr. 8—or rather Igaram—had been with Vivi ever since she left home to find out about Baroque Works, but he didn't stand a chance against Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's."

"You mean those two that Luffy and Zoro took out just by glaring?" Franky asked, remembering the horrible look in their eyes. And it was true… just a glare from them was enough to stop them in their tracks. "I wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes."

"Didn't stand a chance," Nami stated, "And well, he begged us to protect her for him."

Zoro glared at her. How was it that he was the one forced to do it? Because she loaned him some money, and didn't even spend it for his swords? God, he knew that there was no way that he still owed her anything anymore.