Stupid weather *sticks tongue out at white backyard* It's supposed to be spring!

Meh. At least no one's lost power or anything.

Thanks to animebella09, LadyPinkyofJapan8181, sess18, Maistyria, and kotono3 for the Favs and Follows!

And reviews!

THEFIREKING (Guest) - Yes, new story! :D

Maistyria - Well, there's more coming! Like I said last week, I'm planning on posting three chapters this week! I hope you enjoy it as much as you did the first chapter of this arc!

And here we go!

Chapter 97 (or 2) - Sea Monsters, Talking Gloves, and... a Mermaid?!

"We have to remain alert," Nami said in a warning tone. "We're right next to Marie Jols, also known as the Holy Land. It has the headquarters for the Navy and the World Government."

"The Holy Land?" I frowned and scratched my head at the name. "If anyone from the World Government would refer to a place as the 'Holy Land,' then it's probably a good idea to steer clear from there."

Nami nodded in agreement, looking at me with a determined expression.

I could hear Usopp and Chopper laughing and splashing around in the pool that was sticking out of Channel 4 below us. Franky had basically taken a rubber sack and had let it fill up with seawater, with an inflatable ring at the top to keep any unwanted monsters from making their way in.

I had considered jumping in myself, but I had already had enough of a soaking today, so I put it out of my mind.

As soon as we had reached the Red Line, the crew had pretty much scattered: Usopp and Chopper wanted some time to relax and have fun, so they had jumped in Franky's "Surprise Pool." Zoro had made a beeline for the crow's nest, muttering something about his weights and doing some training.

"How does it look down there, Robin? Brook? Luffy?" Nami asked into the Snail Phone that she had brought out onto the main deck while Usopp and Chopper climbed up onto the deck. Franky came over near us and sat down as Robin responded.

"Not good," Robin responded through the snail. "It's pitch black."

Luffy laughed loudly. "Yeah, it's really dark! Hey, I just saw something flash!"

Brook let out a noise of horror. "Y-y-you think it was some monster's eyes?!"

I stiffened a little out of surprise at the statement. "If those three are caught by a monster underwater..."

I didn't know what to think, what with three Devil Fruit users going underwater in the Shark Submerge. Yes, they were looking for Fishman Island, but did we have to send people who couldn't swim down there?

"M-monster?" Chopper repeated in alarm.

"W-we're gonna die!" Brook wailed.

I leaned forward, getting ready to leap up and do what I could to come to the others' aid. Although, since they had taken our only sub...

I forced myself to sit back down, feeling tense while the others stared at the Snail Phone with wide-eyed expressions of alarm.

"Oh, wait. I'm already dead. Yohohohoho!"

I sighed and facepalmed. "Brook...I don't think now's the time..."

"Oh, right - my apologies, Maria-san. Nami-san, pardon me for asking, but..."

"Huh?" Nami looked back at the Snail Phone.

"What kind of panties are you wearing today?"

I spluttered at the question while Nami became absolutely murderous.

"Shut up!" Nami roared at the Snail Phone. "Don't joke about this!"

Usopp looked nervous at Nami's outburst. "He's got some guts."

Franky moved a little closer to the Snail Phone. "Hey, guys! The Shark Submerge can't dive deeper than five thousand meters! Be careful!"

I blinked at Franky's statement, considering that. "Um, Franky, is it possible that they may have to go deeper than that in order to find any clue as to where Fishman Island is? I know Nami's Log Pose is pointing down, but we could end up needing to go deeper."

"Oh, hey! That monster from before is still around!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed.

Robin laughed. "It sure has a big mouth!"

Of all the things Robin had to comment on...wait.

"Did you just say that there's a monster after you?" I asked, eyes widening.

"That was close!" Luffy let out a yell. "It's gonna eat us!"

"It's coming after us!" Brook yelled.

Luffy started laughing.

"Looks like this isn't gonna go well," Franky remarked, looking at the Snail Phone with a raised eyebrow.

"I never want to ride in the Shark Submerge," Chopper commented.

"Ditto," Usopp agreed.

"I wouldn't do too well in a confined space like that," I agreed, nodding at the both of them. "Plus, it's underwater. I wouldn't be able to do anything if some underwater creature came and attacked."

"Nami-swan! Maria-swan!"

I looked up as Sanji came twirling down the stairs towards us.

"My tart made of horror pears from Thriller Bark is done!" Sanji exclaimed. He placed them in front of us, and I have to admit, I started drooling a little.

"Wow, it looks delicious!" Nami exclaimed.

"Yeah," I agreed, licking my lips. "And here is another reason I didn't go down in that sub." I started cutting away at the tart when Brook started yelling again.

"Behind us! Behind us!"

"Here it comes!" Luffy sounded...well, I don't know what he was thinking. He either sounded excited or terrified, but I wouldn't have been sure unless he was right there in front of me. "We're gonna get eaten!"

"This is a problem, though," Nami remarked looking at the Snail Phone with concern as I stuck a bite of the tart in my mouth.

It tasted really delicious - not too sweet, and there was some sour in there, too. Plus, the entire thing just felt rich with taste.

"Yum!" I licked my lips as I grabbed another forkful. "You really outdid yourself, Sanji!"

"Yum!" came unanimous cries from the guys.

Sanji twirled around for a moment, then returned to his normal stance with his arms folded across his chest. "Looks like another dead end, just like when we were looking for that Sky Island."

"Yeah," Nami agreed, looking over at the cook. I followed her gaze then to the Log Pose, which was pointing straight downward. "I know which way we need to go, but I don't know how we're going to get there. How are we going to get to Fishman Island?"

I frowned, considering the question. I was about to add my own two cents in from what I remembered, but then there came a splash and the sound of metal creaking from nearby.

"We're out!" Luffy exclaimed from one side of the ship.

"That was fun!" Brook added.

Nami and I moved to the edge of the ship, and we looked down at the Shark Submerge and the people who were climbing out of it.

"Welcome back!" Nami called. "Great job!"

"It wasn't any good," Luffy responded. "We couldn't see the sea floor. Are you really sure Fishman Island is here?"

Brook laughed. "That was my first time riding in a submarine!"

"I'm not surprised you couldn't see the sea floor," I commented. "From what I can remember, the sea floor can get to be hundreds of thousands of meters deep in some places - deeper than most subs can go, in fact."

"If Fishman Island is as deep as that, then we'd die before we get there," Robin remarked.

"I'm sure the Log Pose was pointing at something right beneath us," Nami muttered, frowning.

"Well, it can't tell the distance, right?" I asked. "It's probably just deeper than you think it is, that's all."

Nami looked over at me for a moment before nodding slightly and letting out a frustrated groan. "This is a real problem. I probably should have tried to talk to Lola about it a bit more."

I thought back to the New World pirate we had run into on Thriller Bark and nodded in agreement. "Well, we didn't know back then, but it would have been helpful to press her a little more-"

Anything else I was going to say was cut off rather abruptly by an explosion of water and a loud roar. I turned my head sharply and felt a shudder run down my spine when I saw what had made the noise.

"What in the name of the Grand Line?!" I yelped.

"It's that thing from before!" Luffy yelled, staring at the giant, half-rabbit half-fish-thing that had come up out of the water. It was about as big as our ship!

"It followed us back!" Brook added.

I felt a chill run down my spine, then. "Seriously? That's the monster that ended up following you around down there?! It looks like something out of some little kid's nightmare!"

"It looks like some kind of Sea Bunny!" Nami yelled in alarm.

The "Sea Bunny" roared again while Luffy jumped off the sub and up onto the figurehead of the ship.

"Don't think you can beat me when we're up out of the water!" Luffy called out. "Gum Gum...Rifle!"

I couldn't help but sigh in relief when Luffy's fist connected with the monstrous fish-thing and sent it falling backwards. Something about seeing the monstrous "bunny" half brought to mind what looked like a group of guys in suits of armor having their heads gnawed off by a small, super-fast, white rabbit with bloodstained teeth...

"It actually doesn't seem all that huge," Usopp commented.

"Yeah, since we've seen Oars," Chopper agreed. "We're okay now!" The little reindeer laughed.

I looked at the rabbit for a moment, thinking about the zombie that we had faced on Thriller Bark. "Yeah, Oars did kinda look bigger than that, didn't he...?"

It was while I was looking at the sea monster that I noticed something. Sanji obviously noticed it, too, because he said something before I could.

"It spit something out," Sanji said, looking up at the sky. I could see the two things flying through the air...and falling down towards us.

"Huh? A fish?" Luffy asked.

"Looks like-"

I cut myself off when I heard what sounded like a girl screaming.

"A person?!" Usopp gasped.

I took a second look at the figures that were falling towards us. "Something's wrong with the shape of the bigger of the two..."

I figured it out a second before Sanji did, but I unfortunately wasn't fast enough to get him out of the way.

"It - It couldn't be!" Sanji looked like he had fallen all lovey-dovey again, and that was more than enough to keep him in place as the figures who had been in the sea monster a moment ago landed on top of Sanji.

At least, the larger of the two did. What kinda looked like an orange, four-fingered glove with a hat landed on the grass near me on two of its "fingers" before exclaiming, "Nailed it!"

"...What in the name of Arceus?" I asked, confused. How could a glove talk like that?

"You saved me!"

I turned my head and caught sight of the other figure who had fallen from the sky. It looked like a girl from her head down to her waist, with short green hair and a yellow shirt with a purple star shape on it. Her stomach was bare, and from her waist down...there was pink scales and a flowing tail.

"That was awesome!" the mermaid exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. She was still right above Sanji, who looked like he had collapsed into a love-coma. Or something like that.

I couldn't help but stare with wide eyes for a moment, but then I shook my head when I remembered everything else that I had seen - the Pokemon, who were able to use Devil Fruit abilities without needing fruits, and the Mobians, which were basically Zoans.

Plus, there was Granny Kokoro - and that particular vision made me want to gag for some reason.

So, I guess the only thing that's weirding me out is...

"You're not supposed to be impressed!" the glove-thing barked at the mermaid, scowling. "We were about to be digested! You just had to stroll right by that monster, didn't you?!"

Yeah. That thing.

The mermaid looked a little more subdued by the glove's reprimanding. "Well, I didn't see it there..."

I looked at her like she was crazy and would have opened my mouth to say something hadn't the glove said it first.

"How do you miss something that huge?!" The glove paused a moment later. "Hey, not that it matters, but you're sitting on something."

"Huh?" The mermaid blinked in confusion before looking down at Sanji and gaining the most terrifying expression I have ever seen - either she looked terrified, or she was terrifying. "GAH! I crushed a human!" The mermaid reached down and started shaking Sanji by the shoulders. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"He's probably fine," I responded, folding my arms across my chest. "He's probably just off in lovey-dovey land right now, but that's normal."

"Don't worry, I'm okay," Sanji spoke up, still sounding like he was horribly out of it. "More importantly, are you...?"

"Please, snap out of it! Are you okay?" Obviously, the mermaid hadn't heard me when I said he was all right.

"Is that..."

I looked over at Nami, then scanned the rest of the group to see that it looked like they were shocked at what was going on in front of us.

"...a tail fin?" Usopp asked. He blinked a couple times, looking like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"No way..." Nami was definitely in shock. "It's really..."

"A mermaid?!" everyone except me exclaimed at once.

My explanation for Maria not reacting in shock: her memories. She's seen Pokemon that can control time and space, and who knows what else. For now, she's got an innate sense of "huh; that's interesting," and she's starting to learn to just roll with it.

At least, for now.

Anyway, I'll be posting again tomorrow and Saturday, so be sure to keep an eye out! See you tomorrow!