Chapter 4 – Island 2

No proof reading took place after I finished this chapter. It is very late, and I am too tired to do so! So, yeah... enjoy!

As the slim form ran closer to them, the Mugiwara Crew was able to hear a distinctly feminine voice:

"Mugiwara no Luffy! Mugiwara no Luffy!"

She was calling Luffy's pirate name over and over. When the crew stopped and made it apparent that they were aware of her presence, she stopped calling and waving her arms. When she finally reached them, she stopped before them and doubled over trying to regain her breath. A cascade of beautiful brown hair flowed down from her head and nearly touched the ground as she bent over. When she regained a decent amount of breath, she straightened and faced the pirates, giving them a dazzling smile.

Sanji nearly fainted on the spot.

The slim brunette was indeed very beautiful. Her hair cascaded down her back in a shining waterfall of silky locks. Some of it draped over her shoulders and the rest of it came to an end at her lower-middle back. Her short bangs swayed in the slight breeze above her breathtaking sky-blue eyes. Her pale skin seemed to shine in the sunlight. She wore a white jumpsuit which clung tightly to her body and showed off her amazing curves.

To Sanji, she was the very definition of perfection. Even Luffy and Zoro couldn't take their eyes off her. Usopp glanced apprehensively at Nami's face from the corner of his eye. She looked a little resentful. This girl seemed to be about Nami's age, and Nami couldn't help but feel... inadequate next to her. Nami unconsciously gripped Luffy's hand as if to tell this stranger to keep away from her Luffy, as if to reassure herself that Luffy was still indeed hers. Nami realized how silly she was being. 'The girl's pretty, but it's nothing to get all worked up about... Jeez.'

"I was not aware that angels walked among us," Sanji said in awe. "Please, tell me your name."

Crystal looked at the expression on Sanji's face and rolled her eyes.

"Of course," said the stranger. "My name is Lemora."

"Lemora..." Sanji sighed blissfully. "Such a beautiful name suits such a beautiful woman."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," snapped Nami. Lemora looked at the navigator in mild surprise. She was probably wondering where the hostility in Nami's voice had come from. "Beautiful girl with a beautiful name, whatever," Nami continued. "Now why are you so eager to meet the world's most wanted and dangerous pirate crew?"

Lemora smiled. "You probably don't realize where you are. There is something you should know about this island. The only other pirate in history who made it this far is... Gol D. Roger."

Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. Sanji inwardly smirked. 'So the old geezer never made it this far, eh? Well, no surprise; he was only on the Line for a year. We've been sailing it for a little under a year and a half now.'

"Suge!" Luffy and Chopper cried.

"So... that makes us welcome here?" Zoro asked quietly.

Lemora nodded. "Uh-huh," she said sweetly. "This town, this island has no name. There is no need for a name since we are completely out of contact from the rest of the world. We are known simply as Island 2. Because we are so far away, it is nice to see new faces around here. And, as I told you, that just about never happens." She smiled.

It was apparent that the pirates wanted to know more, but before they could ask anything, Lemora said, "Come. I shall lead you to a place where we can relax, and then we can further discuss things."

Luffy enthusiastically agreed. He let go of Nami's hand and started following Lemora eagerly. The others followed behind him. As they walked away from the port, Crystal took Nami by the forearm and led her to the rear of the group. Usopp was already there. The three of them hung back from the rest of the group as they walked.

"You okay?" asked Usopp, looking intently at Nami.

Nami looked surprised. "Yeah, why shouldn't I be?"

"You have a problem with that girl, don't you?" inquired Crystal.

Nami scowled. "Of course I do. Don't you, Crystal? She has an air of utter perfection about her! As in, she thinks she is perfect. Don't girls like that bother you, too?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah, but... this girl seems very nice to me. And... she might have interesting information on Roger..."

"...so don't get jealous if Luffy seems interested in her," Usopp finished very quickly.

Nami stared at them both for quite a bit. The silence started to get very uncomfortable... and then she burst out laughing. She kept on laughing until she had tears in her eyes.

"Y-y-you guys are so funny!" she gasped, wiping the tears of mirth out of her eyes. "Me, jealous? Why? Hahahahaha!"

This sudden outburst of laughter worried Usopp even more.

"Nami..." he said quietly. "The look in your eyes when you talked to Lemora... It was really scary. There have only been two times that I can remember you ever having that look in your eye before. The first time was the way you looked at Arlong when you burst in during his fight with Luffy. The second time..." It pained Usopp to bring this subject up. "...the second time was the way you looked at Luffy after that whole thing with Vivi."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Nami. She gave Usopp a cold stare. "You know those two things are the most hated parts of my life... How dare you bring them up?"

"Exactly!" said Usopp quickly. "That's the severity of it! You understand now?"

The anger in Nami started to subside as she realized Usopp's point. "Was I really...?"

Usopp nodded, relieved that he was able to avoid bloodshed.

"Well..." said Nami slowly, "I guarantee you that I don't have such strong feelings of hatred toward her... I have no reason to hate her like that." She smiled. "You guys are being silly. Seriously, you are completely freaking out for no reason."

And with that, she sped up to catch up with the others.

Usopp gave Crystal a grim look. "Told you," he said gravely.

"What kind of city is this?" Zoro said in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

Luffy was speechless as he looked around at his surroundings. They had gotten out of the dock area by then and were following Lemora through a city that could only be described with one word: unreal. All the buildings shone in the sunlight. It turned out that Franky was right; the buildings were made out of a metal alloy called chrome. However, that is not what amazed the pirates. It was the flying vehicles. Sleek, shiny, and multicolored, these flying cars were everywhere. They were the main form of transportation here. They were propelled by small rocket engines, Lemora explained. Some stayed close to the ground and just hovered over the roads. Lemora called these hovercraft. These were usually large, hulking vehicles used for cargo. A vast majority of the vehicles were small and flashy, and they flew among the tops of the buildings. They were nothing but gleaming blurs in the as they sped along in the sunlight.

"How can this all be possible?" inquired Sanji, amazed. Suddenly, Nami remembered something. "Hey, guys, remember Little Garden?"

"How could I forget?" exclaimed Usopp. "Those giants..." He sighed happily at the memory.

"Yes, well," Nami continued, "remember how it was prehistoric? We were confused about that, too. Then Vivi explained to us that due to the Grand Line's extremely strange climate, there would be some islands stuck far in the past and some that are ahead in time and have highly advanced technology." She gestured around her at the magnificent buildings and flying cars. "This is the polar opposite of Little Garden. This is a future island."

Lemora smiled warmly. "I couldn't have explained it better myself," she praised. To Usopp's relief, Nami looked a little pleased at the compliment.

As she gave them a small tour of the city, she explained more about Island 2. There were many people on the streets. They all wore jumpsuits. Nami was a bit disappointed with the lack of fashion in this city, but she didn't really care that much. The interesting thing about these people was that a great majority of them would go out of there way to say hi to Lemora. She seemed to be very popular, since everyone seemed to love her. It made the Mugiwara pirates wonder what kind of person Lemora was. Was she a heroic figure or something?

Another nice thing about this city was the weather. The weather was really nice. It was a nice change from the hell the crew had just sailed through for over two months. Sanji suddenly realized just how nice the weather was.

"Ah, Lemora-san, I have a question for you," Sanji interjected politely. "Why is the weather so nice? It was raining pretty hard when we arrived here."

"Yes, good question," replied Lemora. "There is a forcefield around the island. It is like one giant, invisible shield. It protects us from the weather. As I am sure you noticed, the weather around this part of the Grand Line is really bad. But be happy! You have gotten through the worst part of it." Everyone cheered. "But there are still many dangers ahead," Lemora added grimly. "I will tell you about them later..."

Eventually, they reached Lemora's living quarters. It took a while since Luffy would constantly wander away from the group looking for meat. No one could really blame him; they were all still starving. They went up about 13 stories in a tall chrome building. Her apartment was huge. The living room area was very comfortable. Luffy and Chopper eagerly jumped onto the biggest, softest sofa there.

"Ah, it reminds of the cloud in Skypiea!" Luffy sighed happily.

"Yeah, like that island cloud stuff from Skypiea!" Chopper agreed happily.

Lemora brought in drinks and lots of snacks for everyone. They eagerly dove for the snacks and refreshments. There was no grog for Zoro. At first, he was a bit angry about that, but then she gave him some sake. It was somehow different from any other sake he had ever had. It was... better. There was no other word for it. Sanji couldn't help but admit that the snacks were all among the best he has ever had, too. Everything in this city seemed to be better.

"So, Lemora," said Sanji, "tell us more about yourself." He reached over to the table for one of the snacks only to realize that they were all gone. Nami was already busy slapping Luffy in punishment, so Sanji didn't say anything.

Lemora smiled. "There really isn't much to know about me. My life is pretty plain."

"Really?" said Robin, mildly surprised. "You seemed to be quite popular with all those people out there."

"Ah, yes, well, I am the mayor here," Lemora replied as if this was perfectly ordinary. Everyone fell down anime-style.

"I wouldn't call your life very plain, then," grunted Franky. "Modest, eh? Well, personally, I think being famous is quite a burden."

Nami glared at the cyborg and his smug smile. "How would you know anything about being famous?" she retorted. The rest of the crew laughed appreciatively. Franky growled angrily, but decided to change the subject.

"Listen," he said to Lemora, leaning forward in his seat. "We've heard a lot about you and this city. We're the most famous pirates in the world, you know. However, since all you guys on this island are isolated, you probably don't know much about us." He grinned arrogantly. "Would you like to hear some of my amazing stories?"

"Hey, that's my job!" Usopp protested. "I WANT MEAT!" yelled Luffy. Nami smacked him again. "Be patient," she hissed in his ear. "We'll all go out for a nice dinner once we're done talking here..."

Luffy couldn't restrain himself. "WE WILL? YAHOOOOO!"

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, WE WON'T!" bellowed Nami, causing Luffy to cower in his seat. Everyone stared. Nami chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. You know how Luffy can be... ha ha ha..."

Lemora turned back toward to Franky and smiled. "No, no, that won't be necessary. The rest of the city might not know anything, but I do. Now, let's see if I have my facts straight..." She delicately cleared her throat.

"You are all known as the Mugiwara Crew. You have opposed the government more times than anyone since the days of Gol D. Roger. Your captain is Monkey D. Luffy, a boy from a small town in East Blue. He has no real set bounty anymore, but his worth is estimated at about 220 million beli." Luffy nodded proudly. "You achieved this bounty through defeating very powerful opponents. You killed Arlong and defeated Don Krieg. You managed to kill two Shichibukai, Crocodile and the merman Jinbei. You even managed to defeat the highly-dangerous Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo. You also played a huge part in taking down Cipher Pole 9, one of the most powerful government organizations in the world. In the process, you nearly demolished Enies Lobby, one of the most powerful government headquarters. Also, although no one really knows about this, you took out Eneru, the 'god' of Skypiea." Everyone gave Lemora a surprised look. How could she have known that? "And your dream, I believe, is to become the next Pirate King, correct?" Luffy nodded eagerly. "Yep!"

She turned to Nami. "You are Nami the navigator. Your bounty is at 10 million which you achieved through your help in the downfall of CP9. You also come from East Blue. You were enslaved by Arlong for about ten years after your foster mother was killed by him." Nami hated hearing this again. And how did she know about Bellemere in the first place...? "Your dream is to draw a map of the world, right?" Nami nodded. "Good luck with that," said Lemora kindly. She turned to Usopp. "You are Usopp the sharpshooter. You have no bounty, but your alter-ego, Sogeking, does." Usopp gasped. "How did you know that?" Chopper looked confused. "Alter-ego...?" he mumbled, confused. Lemora nodded. "Yes. You achieved a bounty of 20 million for the same reason Nami got a bounty, but at a larger scale." She turned to Zoro. "You are Roronoa Zoro, formerly known as the Pirate Hunter. You are a swordsman who uses Santoryu. Your bounty is at 100 million for killing a certain Baroque Works agent, helping to kill Jinbei, and helping to take down CP9. You want to defeat Mihawk and become the world's greatest swordsman." Zoro grunted affirmatively. She turned to Sanji. "You are Sanji the chef. You used to work for the Baratie before you joined the crew. You have a bounty of 90 million for single-handedly taking out a train full of powerful government agents, and of course, for your aid in the defeat of CP9. You want to find the mystical All Blue." She turned to Chopper. "You are Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer who ate the Hito Hito no Mi and gained human characteristics. You have a bounty of 5 million simply because you are the doctor of the infamous Mugiwara Crew. You were born and raised on Drum Island. You are out to prove that you are the best doctor in the world, and maybe even find a cure for every disease in the world." She turned to Robin. "You are Nico Robin. Your bounty is at 110 million for your infamous deeds as a child and the parts you played in defeating CP9 and also Doflamingo. You are an archaeologist who wants to find the Rio Poneglyph and discover the True History." She turned to Franky. "You are Franky, the carpenter from Water 7. You are a self-made cyborg. Your bounty is at 25 million for openly opposing the government on several accounts and for your help in the downfall of CP9. You want to prove to the world that you are undeniably the greatest shipbuilder on the planet."

As everyone sat and stared, shocked, at Lemora, she finally turned to Crystal. "Crystal... Not much is known about you. You are a great musician and a refiner of kairouseki." Lemora frowned. "Also, you have a brother... His name is Doflamingo, am I correct?"

Crystal stared down at her feet. "Yes," she mumbled.

"And... what is your dream, if I may ask?" Lemora inquired gently.

Crystal looked up. There was an uncharacteristic fire in her eyes. She actually looked extremely intimidating. The rest of the crew gave her concerned looks, which she didn't seem to notice.

"My dream... is to kill all the Shichibukai, and any other scum that works for the government and claims to be protectors of justice."

Lemora nodded solemnly. "I understand perfectly. There is no need to explain any further..."

Everyone stayed silent for a while. Luffy's stomach growled several times, but he ignored it. They were all stunned... How did Lemora know so much about them? None of them seemed to feel suspicious; they were all just surprised at how much people could know about them. 'I guess it's to be expected,' thought Robin. 'We are so infamous... A lot of people probably know our life stories.'

"Lemora-san," Sanji broke the silence. "I have a question for you. Why is this place called Island 2?" Everyone seemed to be relieved at the change of subject.

"Well," said Lemora, "believe it or not, you have reached the Final Three."

Nami gasped. "You can't possibly mean... the last three islands of the Grand Line?" Lemora nodded.

"So this is called Island 2 because it is the second of the last three islands?" inquired Robin.

Lemora nodded again. "The island with the natives is Island 1, and the next island is Island 3." She looked down for a second. "That is where Roger supposedly left his treasure. At least, that is what he told us when he came back to the island.

A thrill of excitement ran its course through Luffy's body. 'The One Piece...! Shanks, Ace, I'm finally gonna do it!'

Luffy's excited thoughts were interrupted by yet another growl emitting from his suffering stomach. Lemora laughed. "Maybe it's time we get ready to go get dinner."

"YES!" Luffy agreed very loudly.

"Oi, oi, oi, Luffy!" Zoro scolded. "Stop being so loud! I got a headache here..."

"Awww, poor baby," Nami said in mock sympathy. "Does the big, strong swordsman have a big headache?" Everyone, except Zoro, laughed. "Shut up," he growled.

Sanji was still somewhat troubled. There was still one more question pressing on his mind...

'How can Lemora-san know about Island 3 and what Roger said about his treasure when he got back...? Is it a story passed on from generation to generation, something every mayor must know? Because there is no way she could have been there herself; she's no older than I am!'

Sanji pushed these thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't bring himself to ask one more question; everyone was starving and it would be wrong to deprive them of food any longer with his silly questions.

Lemora got out a restaurant guide book. There were a lot of choices. Nami pointed out that the Mugiwara Pirates were very successful, and therefore very rich, so they needed to go somewhere really nice and fancy. Luffy didn't care where they went; all he needed was lots of meat. Beyond that, he would let his girlfriend take care of the restaurant choice. Nami, Crystal, and Franky got into a big argument about where they should go. Eventually, with Sanji's influence added, they all agreed on Nami's choice: the Lost Paradise.

Lemora nodded. "All right, then, I will make reservations while you all go back to your ship to get prepared. Be there by 8:00. I'll meet you there."

"Prepared?" groaned Zoro. He didn't like the sound of this. He really hated getting dressed up.

"Aw, Luffy!" Nami practically squealed. "You look adorable!"

Luffy felt rather uncomfortable in his black blazer, white button-down shirt, and black tie. "Adorable?" he repeated uneasily. "I don't wanna be adorable. I wanna be... full."

Nami ignored him as she turned about in front of the mirror in their room, admiring her dress. It was strapless and a deep royal purple color. It glittered in the light. The dress ended at about mid thigh. "How do I look?" she asked Luffy, striking a little pose like a model.

Luffy shrugged. "Fine," he replied. He saw the look in her eye and quickly added, "Uh, amazing! Really beautiful, really!"

They went out onto the deck to meet the others. Usopp had on a suit and tie not completely unlike Sanji's. Sanji's appearance barely changed; he always dressed nicely, anyway. Zoro looked extremely uncomfortable in a tuxedo. Even little Chopper was dressed up in a little tuxedo. Nami and Crystal nearly fainted when they saw him. "OH, KAWAIIIIIII!" they squealed. Chopper frowned as if concerned about their mental health. Crystal was wearing a flowing light blue dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun. Robin was wearing a black dress. It was low cut, had spaghetti straps, and ended at mid thigh like Nami's dress did. Her hair remained untouched as always. Franky was still wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and speedos. "I'm watching the ship," he explained quickly before Nami or Crystal could say anything.

"Okay, now who's going with who?" said Crystal.

"NAMI-SWAAAAAN!" cried Sanji, floating up to her.

"Not a chance," she said firmly. "I have a boyfriend."

"ROBIN-CHWAAAAAN!" cried Sanji, floating up to the archaeologist instead. Robin covered her mouth as she chuckled. "Okay," she said, holding out her arm. Sanji thought he was about to die of bliss as he linked his arm with hers... then he remembered Crystal. He looked over his shoulder at her. It seemed she was refusing to meet his eyes, but it was probably just his imagination. She stood before Zoro and Usopp. "Hmmm, one of you has to go with me," she declared.

"Why?" Zoro demanded to know. "Who cares? This is so stupid. Why don't we just go?"

Crystal scowled. "Be quiet. This is fun."

"Women," muttered Zoro.

"You know what?" Crystal retorted. "I think I'll take you, since you would seem to enjoy it so much." And with that, she seized his arm in the crook of her own and led him off the ship. Usopp and Chopper chuckled at him. "DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH!" Zoro yelled behind his shoulder. "I'll gut the both of you!"

Usopp and Chopper, needless to say, both fell silent.

Luffy took Nami's arm and the crew finally left.

As they walked, Nami periodically reviewed the road map she obtained from Lemora before leaving her apartment. "Okay, we turn left... here," she muttered to herself, turning left onto a side road. Suddenly, something caught Luffy's attention. A rocket car had just landed on a separate road to the right. Pedestrians were boarding it. Nami was too engrossed in the map to realize that Luffy had slipped out of her arm and walked away from the group. Chopper followed.

"Look, Chopper," Luffy whispered. "We have to get on that Mystery Vehicle. It'll be so much fun!"

Chopper enthusiastically agreed. The two pirates started jogging towards the rocket car. However, the side door of the car closed and it took off. "NO!" cried Luffy, breaking into a dead run. Chopper couldn't transform into his reindeer form to keep up; it would rip apart his expensive suit. Nami would kill him. "LUFFY!" he cried as he tried to keep up on his short, stubby legs. Luffy was already gone, chasing the car. Chopper took in his surroundings. "Kuso..." he cursed. "I'm lost!"

"COME BACK!" cried Luffy. The rocket car rose higher and higher.

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"

Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed the top of a building. He launched himself at the rocket car. He missed completely and came crashing back down to the ground. He cracked the pavement when he landed. A small group of people in jumpsuits surrounded him as he got up.

"Who are you?" demanded an official-looking man in an official-looking gray jumpsuit. "State your name."

"Monkey D. Luffy," replied Luffy.

"ID.?"

"Um, what's ID?" asked Luffy, scratching his head. "Listen, all you need to know about me is that I'm gonna be the Pirate King, so yeah... I gotta eat first, though. So.. can you let me go? Please?"

"No."

The man took out a gun.

"Wait, no!" said Luffy. "I don't wanna fight you."

Too late. The man shot at him. No bullet came out. A laser did. Luffy somehow dodged it. "SUGEEEE!" he exclaimed. "Ossan, ossan, let me try!"

"No!" the man replied indignantly.

In response, Luffy took off like a bat out of hell. "Hey, stop!" the man yelled. "Your under arrest for non-citizenship! No non-citizen is allowed here!" He started to give the rubber man chase.

The others had reached the restaurant. "Where are they?" Nami sighed exasperatedly. "If I have to go out and look for them... So help me god..."

A waiter seated them. The place was amazing. It had several indoor fountains and tropical plants. There were many little aquariums filled with cute little fish. The pirates took their menus and started looking through them.

"They'll be here," said Sanji reassuringly. "Don't you fret, my dear Nami-san."

Robin have a loud, fake cough.

"Oh, sorry, Robin-chan! I should be paying more attention to you, huh?"

Robin's answer was a teasing smile.

Just then, the door of the restaurant burst open. Everyone craned their heads to take a look. It was Luffy and Chopper led by none other than Lemora. All the customers and waiters cheered as she walked in. She waved to them all in response. She had changed into an elegant off-white gown. She also looked stunning, just like the other girls.

All in all, the dinner went smoothly. Of course, Luffy ate about the entire supply of meat in the restaurant, but he did so relatively neatly, and that's all Nami cared about. The price would be nothing; they were filthy rich from their latest treasure finds. Lemora explained how she had to get Luffy out of trouble with the authorities.

"Weird," said Usopp, frowning. "We weren't challenged by anyone."

"You probably didn't drop from the sky," Robin pointed out. "Good point," agreed Usopp.

After eating their fill and paying their ungodly immense bill, the crew and their new friend left. On the way back to the apartment, they encountered a bank robbery.

"Well, this is rare," said Lemora calmly. There were flashing lights everywhere from the many police rocket cars humming idly around the building.

"I'll take care of this," said Luffy. "GOMU GOMU NOOOO..."

Lemora grabbed his outstretched arm. "No," she told him. "Don't worry; it'll be taken care of. Don't interfere, just watch."

They stood and watched from across the street as three robbers burst out of the front door, large money bags slung over their shoulders. They started to make a run for their getaway car. Suddenly, they were stopped dead in their tracks as if they had run into an immense invisible wall. They fell to the ground. One broke his nose on the invisible obstacle.

Luffy turned around to see Lemora with her hands raised, palms facing the robbers. She quickly put them down. "What was that?" he inquired.

"An invisible wall," she explained, flashing him a smile. "Remember, this is a future island."

"Ah, a Mystery Wall..." muttered Luffy. He gave her the thumbs up. "Got it."

They reached Lemora's apartment. They all felt like beached whales as they lounged upon her large, comfortable sofa. They were all so full. It was the best meal that they had had in a long, long time.

Nami gave a loud yawn and slumped over, her head coming to a rest on Luffy's shoulder. "I think we should all get going," said Zoro quietly. "We need sleep."

"Okay," said Lemora sweetly. "You all know the way to the docks?" The crew nodded drowsily. So, after they all said their farewells, they made their way to the Eternal Merry for a much-needed sleep. "I'll see you all in the morning!" Lemora called after them, waving. When they were out of sight, she gave a little chuckle and walked back into the building to return to her apartment. She, too, needed sleep... Tomorrow was going to be a long day...

"Foooooood," moaned Luffy the moment he woke up.

Nami was already up and in the process of getting dresses. "Are you kidding?" she said incredulously. "That dinner last night was huge. Wait. I forget who I'm talking to." Luffy chuckled as he got up out of the bed.

The couple went out onto the deck. The sun was out again and it was a beautiful day. The others were awaiting them. "Come on," said Sanji impatiently. "We have to meet Lemora-san for breakfast!" "Oh, shut up about Lemora, will you?" snapped Crystal. Sanji blinked. "Um, okay, Crystal-chan. Sorry."

Soon, the crew was off the ship again and was making their way across the large, empty dock area. Their shoes made various clicking and clunking noises on the wooden dock as they walked.

"Hey, look!" said Chopper suddenly. "It's Lemora!"

He was right. Lemora's slim form was making its way towards them from the opposite end of the dock area. Her heels clicked on the wood as she walked briskly to meet them. She was wearing the same white jumpsuit. Her hair flew out in different directions in the wind that had suddenly picked up.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted cheerfully.

"Greetings, Lemora-san," replied Sanji, bowing low. "It is a great pleasure to see you come here so early. But why did you come, my sweet? We said we would meet you at the apartment."

Lemora's gaze fell upon each and every face as she scanned the crew. Zoro got a sudden strong sense of foreboding. He didn't know why, but he felt threatened by something... Perhaps Lemora was coming here to warn them about something dangerous? Whatever Zoro was thinking it could have been, he most certainly wasn't expecting the next thing she said.

"Well, there's something I haven't told you guys, she said calmly. "It's really very important. I needed to come tell you now, before you got into town."

Luffy winced. "Oh, it isn't about what happened to me yesterday, is it? If it is, I'm really sorry about that."

"No, no, it's nothing like that." She paused. "However, you are in a certain amount of trouble."

"I knew it," Zoro muttered. "Tell us what it is, Lemora. We'll take care of it." He gripped the hilt of one of his swords as he spoke.

Lemora's stated her reply with one hundred percent calmness.

"Well, it's me. I am a Shichibukai."

Dun, dun, DUUUUUN! What will happen next chapter? Will Luffy and the other prevail over this unlikely Shichibukai? Will Crystal get one step closer to achieving her "dream"? Well... all will be revealed next week! And thanks for your reviewing. : ) Never stop the reviewing!