(I don't own any of these properties. This is purely a non-profit, fan-made project! All rights go to their creators and affiliates)

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A/N: One Piece is finally here! So just some quick notes: It's obviously still far from being over, so for the sake of my story, just regard this as taking place after whatever arc is going on at the moment and when new story developments are made and the latest arcs are finished, I'll make appropriate developments and adjustments in later episodes of my story, giving the illusion that they have already occurred in the past. Ta-Da! Artificial canon-continuation!

Oh, and one last thing. Those who are already familiar with the Straw-Hat Pirates can go ahead and skip over the parts where I introduce and describe the characters, as they're a bit lengthy, but there to introduce and familiarize potential new fans with each crew-member. Though if you still want to read them for a refresher, that's fine too! It took forever to carefully write all that out!

Sorry for the long note, enjoy!

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(Opening theme: Stratovarius - "Deep Unknown" - 00:00 to 01:52)

Codename: Warriors Next Dimension

Season 1: Quantum Genesis – Episode 7: Straw Hats and Jolly Rogers!

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(Banquet Hall, Dimensional Ship Esperanza)

Samurai Jack, Numbuhs 1-4, Dexter, Double D, and Ed all ate in silence, except for Dee Dee, who hummed as she ate, which really started to get on Dexter's nerves.

The only sounds that emanated from everyone else was the sound of their silverware tapping and scraping their plates as they dined upon the traditional Japanese cooking that Jack and Numbuh 3 had collaborated on using the ingredients that Dexter had stockpiled within the food-pantry and freezer.

Despite the meal itself being very delicious and everyone enjoying each other's company, the atmosphere in the room lacked a crucial something.

That something was Eddy.

It had only been one day since the battle in Dexter's laboratory, so Eddy was still in the medical room, recovering from his devastatingly near-fatal wounds. But what worried everyone the most was that he had recently slipped into a coma-like state.

Double D was the first one to finish his meal, even though he wasn't all that hungry. After quickly cleaning up his dining area, he politely thanked them for the meal and excused himself, immediately heading to the medical ward to check up on Eddy.

Ed soon followed, though only after wolfing down the rest of his meal, and left without saying a word. He had planned on asking for seconds, but decided that it would have to wait.

Dexter finally snapped as his sister's humming reached a crescendo.

"Dee Dee! Will you please shut up?! Now is not the time to be humming, woman!"

Dee Dee ignored him and continued humming.

"Poor guys," said Numbuh 2, "They're taking it pretty hard."

"They're not used to it like we are," responded Numbuh 1.

"None of us ever got hurt that badly, though," said Numbuh 2, taking another bite of his food.

"You're right," said Numbuh 1, "but we've all lost someone who had."

Numbuh 4 quickly tried to lighten the mood, "So I heard that Dexter, here, finally decoded that file for us, right? So have you decided on who you're gonna recruit next, mate?"

"Not yet," said Dexter, mildly embarrassed, "I'm afraid that I have yet to finish. My knowledge on the ancient Ilumari alphabet is a little rusty, and I seem to have misplaced the original file somewhere within my databases."

Numbuhs 1 and 2 perked up with curiosity.

"Wait, those symbols were from the Ilumari language?" asked Numbuh 1, bewildered.

"In a way," answered Dexter, "they were from their ancient alphabet –not their current one," he absent-mindedly began speaking in the same manner as a great professor, "You see, it was the perfect code, seeing as only a handful of Ilumari historians -and myself- are familiar with it. Thus, if Surt were to ever get his hands on it, well, it would just be gibberish to him!"

"I see," said Numbuh 1.

Dexter just smiled and nodded proudly.

"But, what if he had captured one of those historians to read it for him?" asked Numbuh 2.

"A wasted venture! I switched each symbol with another corresponding symbol. He would have been getting the wrong coordinates and names each time!"

"Very clever," said Numbuh 1, impressed. Then he remembered something, "Wait, so if you know some of the Ilumari language, what does Numbuh mean? Numbuh 1-Trillion told me once that it was actually an Ilumari word, but he got called away before he could tell me."

"I've been wondering that too!" said Numbuh 2, "Because the RND were supposed to be some super-serious organization, right? So then, why did they still use what was obviously our kid-friendly way of saying 'number'?"

"Well," said Dexter, pausing for a moment, "it is no coincidence that despite sounding like the word 'number' just as you pointed out, it's actually the Ilumari word for warrior."

"Awesome!" yelled Numbuh 4, throwing some punches into the air, "I'd say it's been suiting us pretty well!"

Numbuh 1 was filled with understanding as well. Never had he been more proud of the title he carried.

The room suddenly filled with light and shadow as a familiar yellow and purple temporary portal opened up near Dexter.

Everyone, minus him, jumped out of their seats and pointed a weapon at it, but Dexter calmly waved them to stand down.

"How are you, Lieutenant Sa'rai?" said Dexter, not even looking in her direction.

"I've definitely been better. How did you know it was me, short-stuff?" responded the young, blonde-haired, brown-skinned Ilumari.

"I've been expecting you. But also, I never forget a good woman's perfume," he said, flirtatiously.

Her cheeks flushed as she replied, "Little idiot. Anyway, I've come with some really bad news."

"Just a moment, Lieutenant, how about a proper introduction, first?" he said, waving the others over, "Everyone, this is Lieutenant Sa'rai of the Barrier Defense Force. Her organization was one of the RND's biggest allies, and now, they're our allies."

Everyone happily greeted her and introduced themselves in turn, until she finally got to Numbuh 1.

"So you're the famous Numbuh 1?" she asked.

"That's me," he responded, "I've actually met one of your fellow members before. I believe his name was Ikaan. He was a big help during the Anti-Spiral Wars. But man, is that guy unstable!"

"Oh yes, Colonel Ikaan," she said, "he's a loose cannon, that one. Always taking things too far. Anyways, I know you from Numbuh 529's stories! You're his pride and joy!"

"You know Salvador?" he asked.

"Salvador? Isn't his name Alejandro?"

Numbuh 1 was suddenly confused. Why would he go by two names within the RND? He thought intensely. This was going to bother him, but he decided to just ask him when next they talked.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting you. It's always a pleasure to meet a friend of Numbuh 529," he said, bowing to her in the traditional Ilumari way.

She bowed back and replied, "The pleasure's all mine." She then went dead-serious as she turned back towards Dexter.

"Back to business. I have some horrible news, Dex. We're definitely in some major trouble."

"Just how bad could it possibly be, Lieutenant?" asked Dexter, continuing his meal.

"Oh, I don't know!" she said in a mockingly cutesy voice, "You tell me!"

She then tossed a folder onto the table, which Dexter promptly grabbed.

"That's a report from our spies within the Fallen Hand. Apparently, Smith's little data transfer party-trick didn't need to finish in order to give them what they wanted!"

Dexter read through the first few pages of the report and turned bone-white.

"No . . ." he stammered.

"That's right! He specifically targeted your files on the RND, first! The only consolation is that he didn't get all of them, but what he did get were top priority files, chief among them being your special project!"

"Dexter, what is she talking about?" asked Numbuh 1, worriedly.

"They got it," said Dexter with a devastated look, holding his head in his hands.

"They got your research on the Quantum Devourers?"

"I actually wish that they had gotten that instead. Numbuh 1, I'm so sorry," whimpered Dexter, "but they got the original, non-encoded version of the file that you're having me decode! Ugh, Of course I couldn't find it in my archives! That bastard Smith deleted it as soon as he gave it to them!"

Numbuh 1 couldn't believe his ears, and took a seat as he felt all strength leave him, as did Numbuh 2 as well.

"That's not all, Dexter. They've chosen their first targets," said Sa'rai.

Dexter flipped through the folder some more and found what she mentioned.

"They're going after a group of A and S-class beings?!" he shouted, in disbelief.

"Dexter, can you explain it to the others?" said Numbuh 1 as everyone else took their seats again, "I would myself, but I'm not familiar with the S-class."

"Ah yes, you see, all beings within the Multi-Verse are ranked according to their battle-strengths and abilities by the Ilumari Royal Military. The rankings can go from E to SS. There is also a Z-class, but nobody messes with those, -not even the Fallen Hand." He cleared his throat before continuing, "E-class beings are normal people. The E literally stands for everybody else. D-class beings are normal martial artists and common soldiers. C-class beings are expert martial artists and highly armed and trained soldiers and weapons users. B-class beings are martial arts masters and elite soldiers and weapons masters. A-class beings have the skills and power to devastate entire armies by themselves. S-class beings are what we would consider as beyond superhuman. SS-class beings are at least planet-buster level and can easily fight an endless amount of A or even several S-class beings at once… and Z-class… don't even get me started on Z-class!"

Everybody's jaws were wide open with both bewilderment, and for some, sheer and utter fear. Even Numbuh 1, who had no idea that there were mortal beings that powerful out there.

"To further put this into perspective for you all, the Eds were once E-class. They've since pushed their ranking to D-class by training with Jack. Numbuhs 2, 3, and 4 are C-class. Numbuh 1 and Lieutenant Sa'rai are B-class, as well as Mandark and I due to the power of the robots and weapons that we use in battle, which are also taken into account. Jack, Numbuh 529, and the Sky Vanguard are A-class, while Warmaster Surt is S-class. Finally, the Quantum Devourers are SS-class."

Again, everyone was astonished, except for Numbuh 4 who looked angry.

"What?! I'm obviously A-class!" he pouted.

Everyone busted out laughing.

"What? I am!"

"So they're going after these… Straw Hat Pirates, right?" said Dexter, holding up some pictures from the folder.

"Correct," said Sa'rai, "they're very valuable and potential allies, so please do all that you must to stop the Fallen Hand. Let's hope that you're not too late."

"We will," said Numbuh 1.

"Very well," she responded, casting out her rift device, "I leave it to you then." She then walked through as it closed behind her.

"So that's where we're going next?" asked Numbuh 2.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go let Numbuh 5 know what's up. Set a course."

(Technoasis Island, New World of the Grand Line)

The sun was rising and reflected brightly over the ocean waves as the infamous group known as the Straw Hat Pirates docked on the pier of a brand new island.

They had recently received an invite through mysterious means to attend a series of nightly festivals at a technologically advanced amusement park called Thrash Rocket Park, as it was celebrating its first anniversary. The invite also said that as VIPs, they would have an all-expenses paid stay for the whole week at a five-star hotel, and ended with the phrase: "Adventure and fortune await you . . ."

Other than that, they soon after had also received a transmission from one of their good friends, telling them to come to the island for urgent matters.

The only things that was visible on the island were some tall hills and an impossibly tall tower that held a massive, spherical construct that sort of resembled the moon.

Out of curiosity (as well as the constant begging of certain crew members) they decided to cautiously check it out.

"This is so cool! I can't wait! I hope that it's even better than Sabaody Park!" exclaimed a young man with a straw hat from atop the mast of his ship, which was known as the Thousand Sunny.

On its sails, there was a large image of a smiling Jolly Roger wearing the very same straw hat.

"I can't wait to see Jimbei, again!" he said, happily referring to the friend that had sent them the letter.

The man was Monkey D. Luffy.

Besides him, the Straw Hat Pirates consisted of Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, and Brook.

(Skip the entire following section if you are already familiar with One Piece and all the Straw Hats)

First off, Luffy was the 19 year-old captain. He was an extremely skilled fighter with inhuman levels of strength, speed, and stamina. Over the course of the past three years, Luffy had been making a name for himself all over the world as a fearsome pirate captain, even though he and his crew never actually did anything truly pirate-like such as pillaging towns or killing innocent people or even their enemies. No, his and the crew's reputations for being powerful badasses came more from constantly evading and escaping from the Marines, who were the Navy-like world-wide military that enforced the law, and from constantly defeating other powerful, rival pirate crews and villains that were once considered unbeatable. All of this was due to Luffy's dream to sail the entirety of the Grand Line (the world's craziest and most dangerous ocean) in order to find the legendary "One Piece" treasure, which belonged to the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, in order to become the new Pirate King.

On top being pretty dumb, he was also laid-back, care-free, goofy, immature, and reckless, though when facing a serious situation, he could become very serious, surprisingly wise and strategic, and extremely strong-willed. He was also a very caring, and kind friend, often becoming infuriated if someone hurt any of his friends in any way, and often went to great lengths to protect them, even putting his own life on the line if needed. He was also a gluttonous eater who could eat impossible amounts of food and still be constantly hungry.

He came to be known as "Straw Hat" Luffy because of his trademark brimmed straw hat with red ribbon around its circumference that he always wore, which he considered his greatest treasure and hardly ever parted with it unless he thought that it was in danger. It was given to him by "Red-Haired" Shanks, the man that inspired him to become a pirate, as well as one of the Four Pirate Emperors, who were the four strongest pirates in the world, and actually originally belonged to Gol D. Roger before he himself passed it on to Shanks.

Though he was skinny, Luffy was actually very muscular. He was of average height at 5' 8.5'', had light-tan skin, short, spiky, jet-black hair, and always wore a red, long-sleeved, cardigan shirt that was unbuttoned, showing off the "X" shaped scar across his chest, a pair of blue jean-shorts that ended just below his knees, a long, yellow sash that was tied around his waist like a belt, and a pair of sandals. He also had a small scar with two stitches underneath his left eye from when he cut himself with a knife as a young boy to prove to Shanks that he was tough.

But perhaps Luffy's strangest feature was the fact that his body was made of rubber, which gave him the ability to stretch his body and limbs to extreme proportions. This was due to having eaten the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit when he was young. Devil Fruits were mysterious, ultra-rare fruits that gave their eater a special power, but in exchange for their ability to swim in the ocean, for it drains their strength and life away if they happen to fall into it. Despite this, his ability has greatly aided and enhanced his fighting skills and helped him survive many situations that would've surely killed any normal human. His fighting skill and powers have only gotten insanely stronger after the two year period that his crew was separated, during which, they all went through intense training in order to prepare themselves for their journey into the New World, which was the second and most dangerous half of the Grand Line.

Next, Roronoa Zoro was the 21 year-old First-Mate, and master swordsman with equally inhuman levels of strength, speed, and stamina. Known as the Great Pirate Hunter, he is largely considered the second most powerful and dangerous member of the crew, after Luffy, which was more evident given that, while Luffy always fought the strongest enemy, Zoro always fought the second strongest. Since he was young, he had been developing his own unique sword-fighting style known as Santoryu (Three-Sword Style) in which he fought with a sword in each hand, as well as a third by biting down and holding onto its handle sideways in his mouth. His lifelong goal was to become the world's greatest swordsman in order to fulfill a promise that he made to his deceased, childhood-friend, Kuina.

Besides being the first member to join Luffy, he has also become a very close friend, even to the point of having been willing to sacrifice his own life for his captain on multiple occasions.

His personality was very serious, stern, and distanced, though he has been known to have a mildly goofy side when he gets comically angry with his fellow crew-mates, or when he's playfully insulting his competitive rival and crewmate, Sanji. His hobbies usually included sleeping and drinking alcohol (mostly Sake).

He was a well-built, muscular man, and was also at an average height of 5' 11'', had light-brown skin that was a bit darker than Luffy's, short, light-green hair that he kept slicked-back, three, small, gold earrings in his left ear, black trousers that were tucked into black boots, a long, dark-green, Japanese-style overcoat that was tied with a red sash around his waist, which he kept open over his chest, and only buttoned over his legs. Visible under where his coat was open was his green haramaki (a thick cloth worn around the belly, usually worn by samurai in the winter) and across his bare chest was the long, stitched scar that ran diagonally from his left shoulder down to his right hip. He kept his black bandanna tied around his left bicep, which he only tied around his head when fighting seriously against a really strong opponent. Being left-handed, he kept all three of his katana on his right-hip in order to draw them easily. Finally, his left eye had a vertical scar over it and was always kept closed. He had apparently sustained this injury through as-of-yet unknown means, sometime during his two years training with Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, one of the "Seven Warlords of the Sea" (more on them, later) and the man who currently held the title of "The World's Greatest Swordsman", as well as being the one who gave Zoro the long scar across his chest and torso long before.

Third, Nami was the 20 year-old Navigator and Meteorologist of the crew. Since joining, she had been invaluable to the crew, being able to accurately predict any type of weather, as well as navigating them to their next island as well as out of dangerous situations. She was also a capable and intelligent fighter, combining her skills with a bo-staff with her knowledge of both weather and chemistry using her "Climatact", which was a staff-like weapon, created by Usopp, which allowed her to create different types of weather and attack with them. Her dream was to be the first person to map out the entire Grand Line, as well as all of the other oceans in the world.

Nami was a smart, compassionate, and caring woman, though she was usually prone to comical, violent outbursts when angered by the crew, and was very manipulative and greedy. She loved money as much as Zoro loved drinking, and would usually go to almost any length to get it. Despite this, friendship came first to her, and thus, she would never sell out a friend, no matter the price.

She was a normal-sized girl at just 5' 6.5'', with a very nice hourglass figure. She was also considered by many to be very beautiful, and had light skin, reddish-orange eyes with large pupils, long, wavy, orange hair that extended down to her lower back, and very large, round breasts that were only accentuated by her outfit, which was usually a changing variable, but it was commonly just a green and white bikini halter top, tight, low-rider jeans, orange high-heeled sandals, and pearl-earrings. On her left wrist, she wore a gold bracelet that had been given to her by her sister Nojiko, and on her left shoulder, she had a blue tattoo of a symbol that stood for tangerines, which was the fruit that her deceased, adoptive-mother grew during Nami's childhood, as well as of pinwheels, in homage to her good friend Genzo, who was the mayor and sheriff of her home-village.

Fourth, Usopp was the 19 year-old Marksman of the crew. As an expert sniper with his trusty slingshot, as well as almost any other projectile weapon, Usopp had been useful when escaping Marine ships and when fighting range-based enemies. He was also a very capable inventor (as stated earlier, he was the one who created Nami's Climatact). His dream was to become a "brave warrior of the sea" as he put it.

During the two years that everyone was separated to train under different masters, Usopp probably changed the most as a person. Before then, he was a major coward who was easily frightened, anxious, insecure, and a compulsive liar that was constantly boasting about his supposed dangerous adventures and abilities in order to hide his insecurities. But now, thanks to his intense and dangerous training, he was much more confident in himself and no longer needed to lie (as much) because he was now able to back up most of his claims. On top of everything though, he was still a bit of a cautious coward, but not to such an extreme degree as before.

He also went through the most dramatic physical change. Before, he was an extremely scrawny teenager, but now, he had pumped himself up considerably and now actually looked manly. That being said, Usopp still had the world's longest and most cylindrical human nose. He had very long, curly, black hair in a bushy bunch on his upper back, a small, triangle-shaped goatee on his chin, large lips, and he was now always shirtless, wearing only a pair of three-quarter length, yellow pants with red suspenders, light-brown boots, and a white sun-cap. He also had some sort of orange earmuffs on his ears, and had a pair of red-tinted, orange sniping goggles around his neck. He also carried a red satchel where he stored his various types of slingshot ammunition and still wore his blue and white striped wrist-band on his left wrist.

Fifth, Sanji was the 21 year-old Ship Cook. Besides being a master chef, he was also one of the top three fighters in the crew (known as the Monster Trio) after Luffy and Zoro, being a very skilled martial artist as well (again, while Luffy and Zoro fought the two strongest enemies, Sanji always fought the third strongest). But unlike Luffy, he fought using only his legs, which he named the Black-Leg Style, and thus had superhumanly powerful kicks. He also utilized another style called Diable Jambe (Devil-Leg Style), in which his legs would ignite, allowing him to set his opponents on fire with his kicks. Surprisingly, this technique caused no harm to him or even his clothes unless he used it for too long or too often. He fought this way because ever since he was young, he had been taught that a chef's hands were sacred to them, and thus it would be disastrous if they were to get injured during a battle. Also, as a chef, his dream was to find the All-Blue, which was a mystical ocean, said to contain wildlife from every ocean in the world –a true chef's paradise.

He was usually serious like Zoro, being his competitive rival and all, but unlike him, he wasn't afraid to get silly and goofy at times. Also, like Zoro, he was quick to getting angry, even to the point of comically bursting into flames when he did so. He was also a huge perverted womanizer, getting super excited, as well as sustaining several nosebleeds when around any attractive women. This earned him some funny nicknames from Zoro such as "Dumbass Cook" and "Nose-Bleed" just to name a few. He was also a heavy smoker, as he was almost always seen with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and almost always had his hands in his pockets due to his laid-back attitude.

Sanji was of a smaller build than Zoro, though he was the same height as him, but had light skin, as well as medium-length, mildly scruffy, blonde hair that he always had combed over his right eye. He had a small dark goatee on his chin, stubble on his upper lip, peculiar eyebrows that swirled upwards at the ends, and always wore a fancy, black suit that consisted of slim-legged pants, a buttoned, double-breasted coat, an orange, button-up shirt underneath with a brown tie, and black, leather dress-shoes.

Sixth, Tony Tony Chopper was the 17 year-old Ship Doctor, and a very skilled one at that. Arguably his most interesting aspect was that he wasn't even fully human. In fact, he used to be a normal reindeer until one day he wandered off into the forest and ate a strange fruit that turned out to be the Human-Human Devil Fruit, turning him into a reindeer/human hybrid, as well as giving him the ability to turn into a fully human form (which was big, muscular, and was still furry and still retained his blue reindeer nose) and also gave him human intelligence. Since then, he's been able to transform into a total of eight different forms (which he calls "Points"), each with a much different use during battle. For example his Kung Fu-Point allowed him to turn into an average-sized human form that looked somewhat fat, but had thick, muscular arms and legs, letting him use his Kung Fu skills to great effect. As a doctor, his dream was of being a doctor that can cure any disease.

Just like Usopp, Chopper seemed to have grown quite a bit as a person after his two-year training. Before, he was very timid, child-like (due to living a very sheltered life before joining the Straw Hats), cowardly, and very distrusting of any unfamiliar humans. Lately though, he had become quite confident in himself and his abilities, matured quite a bit, was much more brave, and finally overcame his trust issues. Other than that, he was usually like a happy, innocent child, but, just like Luffy, would act quite grown-up and serious when the time called for it. He also shared a brotherly bond with Zoro and Usopp.

Chopper was almost always in his "Brain-Point" form, which, other than boosting his intelligence, gave him a big head with a small body, thus giving him the appearance of a small child with light-brown fur and little antlers –a form that Nami, Robin, and almost any other woman found extremely cute, but caused almost anyone else to mistake him for a "Raccoon-Dog". He also always wore a round, blue cap with a red bill that had buckles hanging from the sides and had a strange design on the front that consisted of a ring of red dots, and a red circle in the middle that had a light-blue "X" in the center. His antlers were also visible, as they protruded out of the sides of the cap from two holes. He also wore a pair of orange shorts that could stretch with his transformations, and a white and yellow vertical-striped tank-top.

Seventh, Nico Robin was the 30 year-old Archaeologist and Historian of the crew who served to translate the highly important ancient texts known as "Poneglyphs" that they found along the way. Like Luffy, she too possessed Devil-Fruit abilities. Having eaten the Flower-Flower Fruit, she has since gained the ability to "bloom" or rather, sprout multiple copies of any part of her body, either from her own body or from any surface, be it living or inorganic. This has resulted in her having a strange fighting style that incorporated submission holds and wrestling moves by using her extra limbs to hold or attack her opponents. After her two-year training, she now has the ability to bloom entire copies of herself anywhere she wants to act as decoys, as well as blooming giant versions of her limbs. Her dream is to find and translate the final poneglyph known as the "Rio Poneglyph" which tells the world's true history.

Being a former antagonist to the Straw Hats, an ex-assassin, and having gone through a traumatic childhood experience (she was the sole survivor of her people, who were wiped out by the marines) her personality was very similar to Zoro's, though she was much more serious and was much more reserved about her emotions, having the calmest demeanor of all the Straw Hats to the point of being mostly silent unless spoken to or when something noteworthy happened. She was extremely intelligent, hardly ever smiled, was usually drawn to anything dark in nature, and was usually the first one to point out anything negative about a situation.

Due to her age, she was a very mature woman with curves and "assets" that exceeded even Nami's, and thus, like Nami, she too was considered by almost everyone to be a very beautiful woman. She was tall, at 6'2'', and had tan skin, dark-blue eyes with large pupils, long, straight, black hair that she kept combed back, reaching her lower-back and allowing only two thin locks to hang down and frame her face on both sides. Hanging on her forehead was a pair of silver framed sunglasses with orange lenses, and her outfit consisted of a half-length, purple, leather vest with the collar up, that exposed her stomach and was only partially zipped, revealing a lot of her cleavage. Printed on the left breast of the vest was a white rose. She also wore a long, pink, sari-like skirt, pink high-heeled pumps, and a pink backpack.

Eighth, Franky was the 36 year-old Shipwright, whose job it was to fix and modify the ship. He was a large, half-human cyborg who, besides having tremendous strength, had modified his own body with multiple dangerous weapons such as missiles and even a high-powered laser. His dream was to build a ship capable of circumnavigating the entire world.

Like Robin, Franky had once been an antagonist to the Straw Hats, and like Luffy, he had quite an eccentric and robust personality. He was usually very goofy, care-free, and strong-willed, though, a running gag with him was that despite his super-tough appearance, he had a funny habit of crying melodramatically during any sort of sad or touching story or moment. Despite this, he was widely admired by Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper because of his robotic body, creative inventions, and powerful weapons.

Being a cyborg, he was the second tallest member of the group at about 8' tall. He had a very bulky upper body (out of which, his head and large, muscular torso were the only things that looked human), had light-blue, buzz-cut hair (which he could grow and style at will), tan skin, a silver nose, and sunglasses. His arms appeared to be very robotic, almost as if they were made for a mech because his shoulders were massive, red ball and socket joints with "BF-37" printed on them, his elbows were replaced with light-blue hinges, his forearms were large, light-blue rectangular cubes that each had a half of his trademark, dark-blue star tattoo (which became one star when he would put his forearms together), and his hands were large, red, studded robot hands. His legs also looked very robotic and were silver. The only clothing that he wore was an open, red Hawaiian shirt that was patterned with green, coconut palm-trees, and instead of pants, he only wore a red speedo (which in another running gag, often caused a lot of strangers to label him as a pervert).

Finally, Brook was the 90 year-old Musician. He was a pseudo-immortal, living skeleton that had been revived sometime after his death by having eaten the Revive-Revive Fruit before then, and besides being a very talented musician that could play any musical instrument with complete mastery, he was also a master sword-fencer. After his two-year training, he now had the ability to hypnotize enemies with his music, as well as now being able to channel "the chill of the Underworld" as he said it, through his sword, freezing the blade and in turn, freezing anyone he cut. His dream was to be reunited with his best friend, a giant whale named Laboon who had been awaiting his return on the other side of the world for decades due to his death.

Like Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Franky, Brook was a funny, silly, childish, and laid-back guy, often participating in their goofy antics and stunts. Even though he acted as a gentleman most of the time, he also possessed bad manners, often asking women to see their panties or impatiently waiting for food (even though he was a living skeleton, he still somewhat functioned like a normal human and thus still ate, drank, and even digested). Despite this, he was a loyal and fearless friend, often protecting his crew mates, similar to Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Franky. During his two year training, Brook also became a world famous rock-star called "Soul King".

At 9' 1'', Brook was the tallest member of the crew. Despite being a skeleton, he still had his large, black-haired afro from when he was alive (which he hilariously accredits to having strong roots). Being both a Victorian-Gothic gentleman and a rock-star, he sure dressed the part. His manner of dressing was similar to many real-world rock-stars (think of weird undead fusion of Ozzy Osbourne, Jimi Hendrix, and Slash) as he wore a fancy, black, Victorian suit jacket that was open except for the bottom two buttons, a white button-up cardigan with frilly-ended sleeves that extended past the suit's sleeves, and a pair of orange-red trousers that were patterned with white flowers. In place of a tie, he wore a long, frilly, blue cravat that was held in place by a tight, red, pearl necklace. Hanging on his forehead was a pair of white, heart-shaped, pink tinted sunglasses, and upon his afro sat a golden, pointed crown that had a brimmed base, making it look like a golden top-hat. He also carried his trademark purple cane, which was actually his trusty cane-sword, which he named "Soul Solid".

(End of the Straw Hats' introductions – Resume here if you skipped the previous section)

Once Franky had dropped the anchor and finished tying off the ship to the pier, they all proceeded to get off, carrying their luggage.

Luffy impatiently jumped off of the ship, empty-handed.

"Luffy, are you gonna get your bags, or what?" asked Zoro, annoyed, "I'm not carrying your crap for you."

"Oh, right! My meat!" yelled Luffy, running back to get his four bags.

"Luffy, are all of those seriously filled with meat? Did you even pack any clothes?" asked Nami, disgusted.

"Yeah, in this one!" said Luffy with a big dumb grin, holding up one of the bags, "the other three have meat!"

"Will you put all that back in my freezer!" yelled Sanji, bursting into flames, "It'll be spoiled by the time we get to the hotel! Besides, I'm sure there'll be plenty of food at the park and especially during the festivals!"

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Luffy, running back into the ship to put the meat away. He soon returned and caught up to the others as they made their way to the coast of the island, which was comprised of several tall hills.

Upon clearing them, everyone (minus Zoro and Robin) gasped in astonishment at the view of the park, which was down in a large, wide valley.

The amusement park was very visually impressive and colorful. There were massive roller-coasters of varying designs whose tracks sprawled all over the park's airspace, as well as several other magnificent rides, the most notable of which, was a Ferris Wheel type of ride that resembled an atom and twirled its cars around itself in varying and changing paths, similar to the protons and electrons of a real atom. But what really made it stand out was that the cars weren't even connected to it and seemed to be floating on their own. On top of everything else, though, was the huge tower in the center of the park that led up into the moon-like sphere.

"So cool!" shouted Chopper with wide-eyes.

"Super!" exclaimed Franky.

"It's so beautiful!" exclaimed Nami in wonderment.

"Sure is!" agreed Sanji, "But not as beautiful as you, Nami-Swan!" he yelled goofily as pink hearts appeared over his eyes.

"Does anyone else hear that?" asked Brook, looking around.

Luffy, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper, being extremely excited, were about to run off toward the park, when a black, Harley Davidson-styled hover-cycle appeared from the side of the path and shot over to them at a high-speed, barely stopping a few feet in front of the crew.

"Whoa! Is that thing really floating?!" exclaimed Franky, as well as some of the others.

The hover-cycle's rider then stepped off. He was a young man of about Zoro's build, with black hair in a similar style to Sanji's (the difference was that both of his eyes were visible, not just one), and pale skin, wearing leather fingerless gloves, torn jeans, a long, open, black leather trench-jacket with a black tank-top underneath, leather motorcycle boots, and a black top-hat that had barbed wire wrapped around it multiple times in an ascending spiral with a large, red rose at the top. Besides that, he also carried a red electric guitar on his back, and appeared to be wearing a heavy amount of eyeliner.

"Luffy, this guy doesn't look very nice!" said Usopp, worriedly.

The others all put up their guard, except for Luffy, who just smiled.

"Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" he shouted in a friendly manner, waving his hand in greeting.

The man simply smiled and opened his arms widely in a welcoming gesture and said, "Welcome, Straw Hats, to Technoasis!"

"Huh?!" exclaimed the others, who were all expecting the man to be hostile.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Thrasher Hetfield -owner of Thrash Rocket Park!"

Everyone was shocked. They had imagined some corporate fat-cat to be the owner, not this guy.

Luffy quickly ran up to him and began shaking his hand vigorously.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay here for a week, Trash-Guy!" he said, smiling widely and happily.

"It's Thrasher and, you're welcome," he responded, mildly annoyed.

Is this really Straw Hat Luffy? He wondered, genuinely surprised. Due to his reputation, I always pictured some ruthless brute, but I guess his wanted poster was spot-on, after all.

He was referring, of course, to the fact that on his own wanted poster, Luffy was smiling like the world's happiest and most oblivious idiot.

"One question please, Mr. Hetfield!" said Nami.

Thrasher gave her the green-light with a nod.

"The invite said that 'fortune' awaits us. So is there, perchance… a casino?!" she asked, hopefully and wide-eyed.

"What?!" yelled most of the others, aware of her penchant for extreme greed.

"Of course, baby!" said Thrasher, "Only the finest casinos in the New World!"

"Awesome!" squealed Nami, excitedly.

Baby?! Thought Sanji, filling with jealousy and anger.

"I think what Nami meant to ask was why did you invite pirates here, and how did you know that we were coming just now?" asked Zoro, interrogatively.

Thrasher continued smiling and, pointing a finger at Brook, said, "I was hoping to get the Soul King, himself, to play at the festival! I'm a huge fan! And I'm sure you all can't be such terrible people to have someone like him in your crew!"

"Thank you! I'll be happy to!" said Brook, bowing in his gentleman-like fashion.

Thrasher continued, "Also, I just happened to be riding my bike in the area."

Zoro wasn't buying it and asked him again. This time, more menacingly.

Thrasher finally stopped smiling and looked around, scoping the area before answering nervously.

"Fine, I'll talk. I invited you here because I kind of need… protection."

"So you just invited us here to be your mercenaries!" yelled Usopp, outraged, as was everyone else except for Luffy, Zoro, and Robin.

In truth, Luffy and Zoro were now rather interested.

"If that's the case, who's giving you trouble?" asked Zoro.

"Are they strong?!" asked Luffy, excitedly.

"I'm not sure," said Thrasher, "All that I know from my reputable sources is that they're thugs hired by Sabaody Park to shut me down. They've been sending me ominous letters, each time warning me to 'watch out for fireworks'. This got me so nervous that I resorted to luring you here to hopefully scare them off. I assumed that by their mention of fireworks, they mean to attack during tonight's festivities. And as for finding you guys, I have several robotic birds on the island that alerted me to your arrival. They're also what I utilized to get the invitation out to your ship. I assure you all that there will be a big cash reward if you succeed."

All of the Straw Hats huddled together to talk it over at a distance from Thrasher.

"I don't know about you guys, but I say we do it," said Nami.

"Sure, anyways you'll be off gambling all of our money away while we do all the fighting!" whispered Usopp.

"Don't you talk to Nami like that!" whispered Sanji, angrily, "You should be glad that our precious navigator won't be exposed to any danger!"

"I wanna fight those guys!" said Luffy out loud, looking serious. This earned him a smack to the back of the head from Usopp.

"Will you pipe down?!" he scolded.

"I won't lie," said Zoro, grinning devilishly, "but I'm interested to see what kind of guys Sabaody Park got to take this place down. Maybe one of them is a skilled swordsman!"

"Are you all crazy?!" said Usopp, in disbelief, "Franky, Chopper, you guys haven't said anything about this. Are you guys also considering going?"

"I wanna see the specs on everything here," said Franky.

"I bet they have lots of cotton-candy!" exclaimed Chopper, drooling.

"And I want to play some shows!" said Brook, wearing his heart-sunglasses and holding his guitar in his skeletal hands.

"I didn't even ask you!" yelled Usopp, glaring in a hilarious face-fault towards Brook.

"Well, we do need the money, and we need to get in there one way or another to see Jimbei," said Robin. "But I can't seem to shake the feeling that we're not being told the whole truth."

"I agree, but if that isn't the case, there are only three of them, right?" said Sanji, "Luffy, Zoro, and I can take them."

"Alright then!" agreed Usopp, relieved that he wouldn't be fighting.

"It's settled," said Nami.

They parted and walked back over to Thrasher.

"So where do you have food?!" asked Luffy.

"Excellent," said Thrasher, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'll show you to the Hetfield Hotel. There's plenty of food around there, my friend."

They made their way to the park, which was surrounded by a massive strange wall that looked like the bottom half of a cracked egg that was surrounded by hundreds of tall palm-trees.

Upon arrival to the huge, red double-doors that made up the entrance, Thrasher took out his guitar and played a short, though fast-paced solo, after which the sounds of various locking mechanisms undoing themselves emanated from inside the door, making them swing open automatically.

"Impressive!" said Brook, marveling at his skill with a guitar.

"Thank you. Well everyone, I officially welcome you to… Thrash Rocket Park!"

The doors finally swung outwards completely, letting everyone see the park's colorful inside.

It was sprawling with people of all shapes and sizes as they all went about, either shopping, playing carnival games, or waiting in line for their next ride.

"See you guys later!" exclaimed Luffy, attempting to run off, but Zoro grabbed him just in time, making his lower body stretch out a few feet as it continued running, causing a lot of people to cry out in disbelief and amazement at the scene.

"Damn it, Luffy, are you trying to gain us a lot of attention! We've gotta go leave our bags at the hotel first! Then you can go and cause whatever mayhem you want!"

He then dragged a sad-looking Luffy along as they made their way through the park's main hub area which had a huge neon sign that read "Gummy Plaza". Like everywhere else, it was filled with people. Every once in a while, a group or family would stop Thrasher to get pictures with him, much to the Straw Hats' annoyance.

The Gummy Plaza was a wide area that had strange purple trees in between the two wide, parallel pathways that had blue leaves with little red berries growing on them.

Luffy immediately grabbed some out of a tree and began eating them.

"Luffy, what the hell are you doing?! You don't even know what those are! Hell, I don't even know what those are!" scolded Sanji.

"They're good!" said Luffy, stuffing more in his face.

"Ah, yes," said Thrasher, "These are my gummy trees. The kids love 'em! I originally made them on accident while trying to create new attractions. Go ahead and take a handful! They're free and automatically grow back on the tree after a few seconds!"

"Gummy trees?" said Sanji, picking some of the berries. After eating them, he said, "Amazing! They're actually made out of gummy candy!"

Everyone else, (surprisingly, even Zoro and Robin) picked some out and tried them as well.

"What a wonderful place!" said Nami, who then began eyeing every piece of cute clothing that she spotted, "I'm gonna gamble twice as hard just so that I can come shopping here!"

"No need!" said Thrasher, "All-expenses paid, remember? That includes shopping!"

"Oh my gosh! Thank you, Mr. Hetfield!" exclaimed Nami, very much delighted.

Sanji's curly eyebrows twitched with anger.

"Does that include any booze?" asked Zoro.

"Drink to your heart's content! Or should I say liver?" he replied, smiling.

"Big mistake!" laughed Zoro, grinning mischievously.

Thrasher laughed along with him and jokingly agreed.

"I wonder if there are any other pirates here, besides us?" said Chopper, quietly. He was riding atop Zoro's shoulders due to getting a lot of attention from both kids and women who were constantly commenting on how adorable he was, which made him rather shy and nervous, but also happy. Besides that, Zoro also treated him like a little brother, so he didn't mind carrying Chopper.

"Forget that! I'm wondering if there are any Marines here! At least most pirates hesitate before attacking us!" whispered Usopp, loudly, as he was scouting the area in a rather conspicuous manner, earning himself a lot of weird glances.

They continued following Thrasher until they finally arrived at the huge, 20-story building that was the Hetfield Hotel, and proceeded in.

Once inside, they marveled at the beauty of the hotel's large, open lobby, which had its own waterfall oasis at the back, complete with tall palm trees and a brightly glowing whirlpool that changed colors as it spun around at a high speed.

"Wow, when you said five-stars, you really meant it!" exclaimed Nami, marveling at its beauty.

"Thanks, babe! Well, make yourselves at home! Here are your room keys and VIP passes which will let you skip to the front of the line on all of the rides as well as get free stuff! It's the least that I can do for the people who will be protecting my park. Now, if you need anything, just let my staff know, and they'll take care of it right away!"

(Somewhere in the distance)

"Sir, I see the Straw Hats. They're with Thrasher in the hotel, and there are indeed nine of them, over," said a shadowy, cloaked figure from atop a distant rooftop.

"How exciting! Nine more to cut into little pieces! Continue monitoring them, Monstrosidad, and report back if anything develops. Use your shape-shifting to get real close, over!" said a sinister voice through an RND communicator.

"Aye, Aye, Sangriente! Over and out!" said Monstrosidad as he retracted his strange, snake-like eyes back into their sockets and made his way closer to the hotel.

(Aboard Smoker's Marine Battleship)

"Alright, marines, get your asses in gear!"

"Yes, Vice-Admiral, sir!" they yelled out, scrambling everywhere as their large battleship headed towards a distant island.

Usually, the Marines' uniforms consisted of white sailor's vests that had their insignia on the back with dark-blue neckerchiefs tied around their necks, dark-blue cargo-pants, black military boots, and white military caps that said "Marines" in blue print, on them. These Marines, on the other hand, wore at least some of the uniform, but were mostly more pirate like, wearing bandannas, eye-patches, and even some articles of casual clothing.

These were the G-5 Marines, who were infamous for being brutal, ruthless, pirate torturers that had complete disregard for any law or order. The very fact that they were listening to an order right now was a true testament to the even fiercer reputation of their superior officer.

"Vice-Admiral Smoker, sir, are you sure this is the place?" came a female voice from behind him.

"Of course it is, Captain Tashigi. Two ex-Warlords of the Sea have traveled to that island recently for an unknown reason. Straw Hat will be there as well. I just know it. It's strange though. I've never known that this island was inhabited before just a few days ago."

(Skip the following section if you're already familiar with Smoker, Tashigi, and Devil Fruit types)

Vice-Admiral Smoker, age 36, along with his second in command, Captain Tashigi, age 23, had been chasing down Luffy and his crew since they had first left the East Blue Sea to begin their journey on the Grand Line more than two years before. Besides being the Straw Hats' longest running Marine adversary, he was also one of the strongest fighters within the Marines, evident by his fast rise from the rank of Commodore to that of Vice-Admiral during the two years that Luffy and the others were split up for training. Besides being a very dangerous combatant in his own right, he also possessed Logia-class Devil Fruit powers from eating the Plume-Plume Fruit, which allowed him to generate, manipulate, and even become white smoke. It was this power that had earned him the nickname of "The White Hunter".

Now for a quick, short explanation: There are three classes of Devil Fruits: Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia.

Logia-class Devil Fruits allowed their users to, just like Smoker, generate, manipulate, and partially or completely become a certain element. Physical attacks don't work on a logia-class, as they can make themselves intangible by turning into their element, however they can be hurt if their opponent either catches them off guard, or is using a power called "Haki" (the manifestation of one's spirit). These are the rarest of the Devil Fruits.

Zoan-class Devil Fruits allowed their users to, just like Chopper, transform into a certain animal, thus gaining their natural powers and abilities. Martial artists favored these the most, as they enhanced physical abilities such as strength, speed, reflexes, and agility tremendously, and even (depending on the animal they could turn into) gave them claws, horns, and/or fangs. These are also very rare, though not nearly as much as Logia.

Paramecia-class Devil Fruits were those that give any other power that doesn't fit in with the other classes, and thus, are the most varied as one never knows what weird or awesome power they're gonna get. Examples of this are Luffy's stretching, Robin's limb-blooming, and Brook's second-life and soul abilities. Compared to the other classes, these were relatively common.

Smoker, himself, was very much an imposing and intimidating figure. He was a fairly tall, muscular man with all-white hair that was slicked back on the top, but cut short on the sides, a long, stitched scar that ran from the top of his forehead to his right eye, where it tapered off to the side of his face, and was always seen smoking two large cigars at the same time. Like all of the other high-ranking Marine-Officers, his manner of dressing was much different than his troops. He wore black sunglasses, an open, white and blue Marines-Specialist jacket that had dark-green fur lining the wrists, hem, and neck, no shirt underneath, dark-blue jeans with a brown belt that were tucked into tall, dark-brown military boots, brown combat gloves, and, like all other high-ranking marines, he had a long, white, traditional Naval Officer's coat draped over his shoulders like a cape (a common manner of wearing coats in their world, as both marine officers and some pirate captains did this). Surprisingly, even without having arms in their sleeves, the coats always stayed in place during battle, almost as if they were stitched in place. Also, his coat had the Japanese kanji for "Justice" on the back. Finally, he had several cigars strapped to his jacket in a line (similar to how one would carry spare shotgun shells), and carried a very long, sea stone-tipped Jitte (Japanese Steel Baton) on his back.

Sea stone was a special type of mineral that mimicked the properties of the ocean, and thus, rendered devil fruit powers useless when making contact with them.

Captain Tashigi, on the other hand, was a very skilled swordswoman who carried one of the Legendary Swords, a katana named "Shigure". Her primary goal, other than to apprehend the Straw Hats, was to gain the three legendary swords that Zoro possessed by defeating him. She believed that it was her duty to "liberate" all of the legendary swords from the hands of any criminals that possessed them. Still, even though she had come to fearfully respect Zoro due to his monstrous skill and strength, and knew that he wasn't a complete criminal, just the fact that he was a pirate was enough to drive her to want to at least defeat him in a duel and thus, win them fairly. She had tried on multiple occasions in the past, but lost every single time.

She had a similar figure to Nami, but with a much more reserved manner of dressing. She had medium-length, very dark-blue hair that was pinned up, letting only a few bangs to hang over her forehead, as well as two long locks to frame her face on both sides, extending well below her chin. Just like the other high-ranking Marines, she dressed in her own manner instead of wearing a uniform. She wore red, rectangular spectacles, a purple, button-down shirt with pink floral designs, light-blue Capri-pants, pink gloves and boots, and just like Smoker and the other high-ranking marines, she had a traditional, Naval-Officer's coat with the kanji for "Justice" on its back draped over her shoulders like a cape, only unlike Smoker's, it was a very light-pink color.

(End of the Smoker, Tashigi, and Devil Fruit introductions – Resume here)

"Do you think that we should initiate a Buster Call, sir?" asked Tashigi.

"I am the Buster Call, Tashigi," retorted Smoker, "besides, there are too many civilians on that island, and I want Straw Hat alive."

"Smoker, sir, I'm sorry, but even you can't handle two ex-Warlords by yourself," said Tashigi, matter-of-factly, "Remember what happened back on Punk Hazard? And that was only against one!"

She was referring to their battle against Trafalgar Law, the Warlord who had allied himself with Luffy, which ended in them getting their bodies switched for a time.

Their ship continued on its course when they spotted a group of civilian ships at the island's docks.

Smoker took a large drag from his cigars as the Thousand Sunny suddenly came into view, by which time all of the marines began yelling out their war-cries as the ship approached the docks.

"Tashigi, you take your men and head in from here. I'll head around in case they try to run out the back. If they're not found by sundown, stake our men at strategic positions around the park. I damn well don't want to lose Straw Hat again this time!"

(Aboard the Esperanza)

"You've got to be kidding me!" yelled Numbuh 1, who was talking on his communicator with Numbuh 5.

She had just finished explaining to him that a group of strangers claiming to be from the RND had recently arrived on Moonbase, demanding for his whereabouts.

At first, Numbuh 1 thought that it might have been Numbuh 529 and the others, but he quickly realized that Numbuh 529 already knew that he had been on Dexter's world.

This was further denounced when Numbuh 5 mentioned that they had used force to get the information that they wanted from the security archives, which contained video and audio footage of everything that had happened in Moonbase… including their meeting in which they clearly stated where they were going next from there.

Luckily, nobody had been killed, but many were still recovering from near-fatal injuries.

Who could they be? Thought Numbuh 1, trying to think on who would have a grudge against him. I never made any enemies within the RND, he thought, perplexed. Maybe Numbuh 1-Trillion's Honor Guard survived and now they're hunting us?!

After finishing up his conversation with Numbuh 5, he promptly called Numbuh 529.

"Failed to connect," said the robotic voice through his communicator.

He unsuccessfully tried several more times when somebody suddenly pulled him into a bear-hug from behind.

"What the hell?!" he cried, struggling to get out of it.

"Really, Numbuh 1?! I leave you alone for a few weeks and you forget my training on how to get out of a measly bear-hug?!"

That voice! Thought Numbuh 1, excitedly, yelling out in surprise, "Numbuh 529! What are you doing here?!"

"I came to finally join up with the group!" he responded, "We took care of business back on Tierra, so now we're free to join up with you guys!"

Numbuh 1's face lit up.

"We? You mean… Numbuh 860 is here too?!" he asked, bright-eyed.

"You bet, man," responded Numbuh 529, letting him go, "We told you we'd watch her for you, didn't we?"

Numbuh 1 promptly pulled his mentor into a thankful embrace.

"You're welcome, bud," said Numbuh 529, embracing him back, "Now go get your girl –she's waiting for you in the command bridge."

They both quickly headed down and found everybody gathered (minus the still-recovering Eddy).

Numbuhs 2, 3, and 4 were excitedly talking with both Numbuhs 860 and 2476 as they approached.

"Numbuh 1! You didn't tell us that your girlfriend was such a badass chick!" said Numbuh 4, earning another punch to the arm by Numbuh 3, "Ow! I meant to say: an awesome operative!"

Numbuh 1 tuned him out as he approached Numbuh 860, who looked just as happy as he did.

"Nigel!" she squealed with tears of joy, and jumped into his arms, landing into a kiss.

"Aw! How romantic!" said both Dee Dee and Numbuh 3 with teary eyes as well.

"I missed you so much, Keilana," said Numbuh 1, holding her firmly, "Sorry for not calling more often. Things have not been very well around here."

"Hey! No sugar for me, Baldy?!" joked Numbuh 2476.

"Nice to see you too, Hello Kitty," said Numbuh 1, calling her by her ironic nickname.

After a few hours of catching up, Numbuh 1 then walked over to Numbuh 529 and asked to talk to him in private, after which, they walked out of the room.

Numbuh 1 then explained to him about what had happened with the three unknown beings that had terrorized the WND's Moonbase. After relating Numbuh 5's descriptions of them, Numbuh 529's brown skin turned almost as white as Numbuh 1.

"Numbuh 529, are you alright?"

"Of all the people that should have survived, it had to be them!" he said, visibly disturbed.

"Who? Wait… you don't mean…" said Numbuh 1, now gaining a sense of who it was. He had never met them, but he had heard stories of them –horror stories. "Don't tell me… is it… him?" he said this as he made two horns on his head with his fingers.

Numbuh 529 nodded grimly and said, "And his two followers. Damn it all… the Devil of the RND survived."

(Closing theme: Abingdon Boys School - "Strength" - 00:00 to 01:45)

To Be Continued . . .

Next Episode: A New Enemy! Jimbei's Revelation