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A Large Leap

A Supposed Take-Over And A Undersea Forest

Previously on A Large Leap,

And so,

"I said to release me!" Brook was running down the hallways with the Minister on the Right, still tied up in ropes. "I will check on the princess!"

"Sorry, but I only agreed to that if you promise for me to get a glimpse at the mermaid princess!" Brook was still the perverted gentleman like before. He sure is an enigma, a combo that makes no sense. But all that was halted once they got to the doors to the princess's tower.

The sound of the doors being hit by weapons was confirmed. Only, instead of axes or swords being the weapons, it was humans. Human beings that were either stuck in the walls around the door or on the ground, all covered in blood. "Vander Decken used living projectiles this time!? He never done that before!"

Brook was just shocked and speechless. By how one person, of any race, can treat living beings in such a disgraceful way. And the sight of the bloodied humans brought back bad memories within the eighty-year-old skeleton; memories of his own dying crew after that attack had doomed them all, with only the energy and time left for one more music session as one by one succumbed to the poison embedded wounds.

That was also when the bodies started to twitch and the bloodied humans started to rise like zombies. "The…switch…" One of them spoke as if his lungs were damaged badly. "The…switch…to…open…the…gate…"

"Where…is…it?" Another got up and spoke in the same way.

"Show us…the switch…" Yet another spoke well, better than the ones before, even with blood and bruises all over. "Or we all die!" But before Brook or the Minister could say anything, something else happened at the tower.

"Go Megalo! Off to the forest!" The doors of the tower burst open to reveal,

"Luffy-san and Nami-san!?"

"Megalo!?"

They were right. Megalo swam, swam like something was going to eat him. And, within an air bubble, was Luffy and Nami. Nami was pointing for Megalo to go while Luffy looked like he was in deep thought and stiff meditation. But there was someone else flying out of the tower with them.

It was the Mermaid Princess herself! Shirahoshi was riding on Megalo's back, but no one seems to notice that. 'Luffy-sama was right! Now I am finally leaving without permission! But everyone, I will be back before dinner!'

"Why would Megalo just barge right out of the tower like that, with two of your crewmates?" The Minister on the Right asked and Brook had no idea either.

"At least now I can tell everyone else where Luffy-san and Nami-san have gone off too." The skeleton said until both of them faced each other when they finally remembered what they were doing at the tower in the first place.

"THE PRINCESS!"

Evading and whizzing past the zombie-like human pirates, the two finally got to see inside the room; which was obviously empty! "Where did she go!? She can't have been kidnapped right under our noses!" Of course, that was dashed when Brook happened to gaze away from the entrance to the princess's room.

"Look! There are fishmen at the front door!" Brook then suddenly shouted and pointed his hand made of nothing but bones into that direction. The Minister on the Right then took a look and recognized two of them.

"That's Vander Decken of the Flying Pirates! And Hody Jones of Fishman District!" Brook had heard of that section; it was the most violent district on Fishman Island. That means whoever lives there is a bad news. Brook had to get himself and the tied Minister on the Right back to the main room, fast!

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in other parts of Fishman Island,

"I told you that we will get you out Shirahoshi. You just didn't trust me." Luffy smirked to see that Nami, the princess and Megalo had the expression of having their distrust filled in the rough way.

"Right, right Luffy." Nami grumbled until Luffy cheered her up by gently pulling her by the shoulder into close contact of his chest. She silently groaned and growled at herself for being so weak-willed when it came to having this 'handsome hulk' give her attention and affection; to everyone else, she was trying to nuzzle her way into Luffy's head like a tamed house cat in the presence of her owner.

"All joking aside, Shirahoshi?" Luffy then turned to the princess. "You said that you had a place to want to be right?" Shirahoshi nodded. "Do you know where it is, we can go there if you want."

Shirahoshi then started to cry, almost worrying Luffy and Nami. But she didn't brawl and instead had the expression of looking forward, to doing something that she wanted for years. "Yes, there is a deep sea forest Luffy-sama. There is a grave. That is where I want to go, it is the grave of someone that I have missed for ten years."

"…" Luffy said nothing. 'Maybe Ace and old man Whitebeard both have a grave of their own somewhere in the Grand Line. Somewhere that even Shanks or Rayleigh wanted to me to go just yet.' "Of course Shirahoshi. Megalo, take us to the Deep Sea Forest."

Elsewhere,

"What's all this!?" One citizen was approaching what appeared to be a bus stop but there was a pile of knocked out solders on the ground. "Who could have done such a thing?" None one found about this but a certain archeologist was intercepted by this squadron but easily overpowered them and got on her ride like planned.

"Those troopers are supposed to be protecting this island? No wonder out captain is feeling uneasy about all this." Robin talked to herself softy while sitting in her seat on the bus. "But back to business, I do hope that this information is correct. About a certain stone with a dead language written on it within a certain forest under the sea."

And yet elsewhere, in a clearing of a deep ocean forest, the Thousand Sunny rests. "I really do appreciate your work on my baby." Franky was there with his masterpiece and was talking to whoever was onboard, spreading a special coating on it; one that will allow the Thousand Sunny to survive the trip back to the surface, in the New World. And when the figure was down and jumped off of the Thousand Sunny, "By the way, what was your name again?"

"Den!" Den is a muscular merman with long, curly fair hair reaching down below his shoulders. His long and hooked nose points downward. He has a mustache and a dark, long, pointed goatee. Though a more common feature amongst fishmen, and very rare amongst merfolk, Den has webbed hands.

He has tattoos resembling four-leafed clovers on each of his arms; this symbol is also present on the dark, short-sleeved shirt he wears. He also wears a wide-brimmed hat on his head and what it appears to be glasses or safety goggles on his face. He has an earring on each of his ears and a beaded necklace around his neck. Den carries around a bag full of tools attached to a belt around his waist; just below it is tied a light cloth, somewhat similar to an apron.

"And I must say that I wasn't expecting like you to be one of the best students to my brother Tom." Den then said. Apparently his older brother was the very fishman that took in Franky and the man who would become the President of his own boat construction company and mayor of Water Seven, Iceberg, as his students in shipbuilding and to become professional shipwrights.

"I wasn't expecting Tom to have a brother. He was a cowfish fishman and you, his 'brother', are a mermaid. How can that be?" Franky rebuked with his remark of confusion. Den just chuckled.

"It was because Tom received the genes from our mother and I got the ones from my father. We fishmen and mermaids are limited inclusively to each other in terms of breeding." Den then explained. "I just don't understand you humans and your need to look so different to tell each other apart."

"Well whatever, I am sure that Luffy will get here soon." Franky then said, turning to face a certain direction away from the Thousand Sunny. "He has been giving this headache of a reminder for that fact. I just wish he will cut me some slack, there were no blueprints on this Haki stuff." Den was left speechless and unable to process what Franky just said; still, the student of Tom should be trustworthy.

XXXXX

Back in the palace,

"Ja-ha-ha!" A large fishman laughed cruelly, at the Straw Hats and the already captured army. "I came here to take over the palace but a bunch of puny humans have beaten me to the punch! You are your pathetic army has turned soft and weak, now all we have to do is kill the puny humans!" He talked like a terrorist and one of the soldiers then shouted out the name 'Hody Jones'.

Hody is a grey-skinned great white shark fishman. He had a large belly, with a tattoo of a strange design on the right side as well as a long scar on the left, and muscular arms and legs. That tattoo had a sun outline and within it was a figure with its head off that was cut off with a slash bar. His facial features include glaring eyes, with long and distinctive eyelashes, a mouth full of sharp, triangular teeth, and a stub nose. He had long brown curly hair, with a long tuft hanging on the left part of his face. His left arm is intricately tattooed, with the Arlong Pirates' Jolly Roger (Like with Hammond) near the wrist and several circular designs above it ending with two skulls on the upper arm; he also has some spikes protruding from his bare wrist and circling it all, possibly decorative piercings.

He sported a pink newsboy cap, with a little trident represented on the left side and a massive scarf seemingly made from a dog-like animal around his neck, with the animal's head hanging on the left side of his chest. Hody was seen wearing a red open shirt with short sleeves, a wide collar and dark-red spots on the lower part, short blue trousers with a similar pattern but with light-blue spots, a pink sash tied around the waist, and sandals.

And beside him was the same four-legged fishman, Vander Decken. "Decken!" Neptune shouted in anger. "I should have known better! You ally yourself to Jones and then kidnap my daughter just so you can take over the palace!" Decken just laughed,

"Come on father-in-law, we haven't married yet and already you want me to leave the house the house with my wife!" Decken thought that Neptune was joking until he saw that everyone had a serious look on their face. "My future bride was kidnapped!? And it wasn't me!?"

"She had to be kidnapped, she will never leave the room all by herself. And she is as big as I am!" Neptune retorted, not noticing that Brook imagined Shirahoshi as a mermaid that was as bulky as she was large; the complete opposite to how she really looks. "Wait! Maybe someone stuffed her into Megalo's mouth and swam away with her that way!" Everyone just laughed at the idea (and for good reason this time :) )!

"Hody, I agreed to this little take-over so I can finally marry the princess! What's the meaning of this!?" Decken then turned to his 'partner' who just scoffed.

"Hell that I know and I damn don't care about the princess." Hody retorted. "And you said that your powers can always lead things to the princess. Why can't you just do that and stop whining?"

Decken then looked he had a sudden thought. "That's it! You are a genius Hody, I think." Hody didn't respond and Decken just showed his way out of the palace, forming some kind of bubble from a certain corral in his hand. Seeing a large coral reef nearby, he kicked hard enough to break the stem; the next thing he did was to use his right hand to pat it.

Then the coral move from drifting and then soared fast and true, away from the palace! "It is not flying to the Hard-Shell Tower!" Vander Decken pointed out. Then he jumped on the point of coral, riding it towards Shirahoshi. "The two of us are destined to be together! Now, not even the King himself can stop me from marrying the one I love more than anything in the world! And if she doesn't want me than nobody else will have her!" And he ranted all the way from the Ryugu Palace, not knowing what he will find when his journey ended.

XXXXX

Much later,

"There! That's the place!" Shirahoshi went off like a little kid who saw the amusement park in the horizon. That was a good way of describing her and the forest.

"That's a forest alright." Luffy commented as he was narrowing his eyes and, while unseen, he was doing the same with his Haki. Trying to narrow down Franky's location and from that small dot, he found where the Thousand Sunny ended up. "It is going to be a big reunion once we set foot there. Make sure that you don't freak out too much, Franky will just get the wrong idea once he sees you."

"Okay Luffy-sama." Shirahoshi still had no idea what Luffy was doing but her childish mindset told her to just go along with it. "That was still cool, what you did back in the town square." She said, then wondered why Luffy looked a mild boggled.

"I figured that you will be more scared and angry instead of this Shirahoshi, I did rough handled your people and even that jerk Decken." Luffy clinched his fist with almost enough strength to draw blood. That fishman pirate was just the one of those characters Luffy couldn't stand the most. "Not to mention that giant who tried to…" Luffy sounded like he was going to explode when he felt someone holding his hand; the complexation and size could only be one person, Nami.

"It's okay Luffy. That is long over, right?" Nami was still nervous but still wanted to comfort her captain all the same. When Luffy turned his focus to Nami, she flinched and braced for him to redirect his anger towards her; at least that was what her instincts were either commanding or protesting. Her mind has been nothing but chaos, a maelstrom since Luffy revealed his new look and his new character.

"You're right Nami." Luffy instead smiled and loosen his fist, turning it to take Nami's. She almost blushed to feel the roughness and stiffness that was the surface of Luffy's palm; it made her feel like a man was touching her with passion. "Thanks, I needed this." Luffy then snaked his arm around Nami and pulled her in; she didn't feel like protesting and snuggled in again.

'Why am I so weak when I am this close to him?' Nami thought to herself, not really expecting an answer. But she had gotten one anyways.

'I think it's cute.' Nami was slightly surprised to hear Luffy's voice inside her head. 'This is not a weakness, but a new side to you Nami. One that we tend to show when we are around those we want to be with forever.' Nami said nothing, and tried to ponder about this even with her captain linking their minds together. 'I used to believe that I felt this way with all you guys. But recently, I felt a warmer and fuzzier feeling when I am around you. Like I am losing my strength, that I want to just melt, I just don't want to leave your presence.'

Nami was trying to lose her blush especially after hearing from Luffy on how she was feeling around him to the exact word. 'Are you reading my…?' Nami tried to argue with one of her thoughts when Luffy's hand brushed against her cheek.

'I can read each other's thoughts but not your memories, your emotions either Nami.' Luffy answered her incomplete question. 'Maybe whoever created Kenbunshoku Haki (Observant Haki) had the privacy of people's brains in mind.' Somehow, Nami found the strength to giggle at that joke and she was internally relieved; there were a lot of secrets buried and skeletons in her closet that she didn't want anyone to find out so soon.

"But Luffy, just how did you get the giant princess out of the palace? We didn't see her until you were attacked by that crazy guy on the coral reef!" Chopper brought up and that got everyone else wondering the same thing (Sanji was still tied up and unconscious).

"It was another skill I developed with my Kenbunshoku Haki that I developed back on Rusukaina Island. I found out that I can fool the large animals into not seeing me or even smelling me." Luffy replied. "I found out from Rayleigh that the three forms of Haki are each a reference to what a makes a human being or any other living creature; Body, Soul and Spirit." Everyone were still silent to take in this info. "Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki symbolizes the Body being protected by an invisible barrier or a suit of armor as well as being enhanced in terms of durability and power. Kenbunshoku Haki is the Soul as in the senses that help with survival and response to danger of any form. And Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki) refers to one's own soul used to dominate or command those of others."

"So…the senses are affected by Kenbunshoku Haki?" Nami asked and Luffy nodded.

"Everyone relies on their senses, mostly the sense of sight but the senses can be fooled." Luffy said. "I merely forced Brook, that tied Minister on the Right and all those battered pirates into not seeing Shirahoshi or even hearing her. It was simply an alternative to being invisible, as long as I keep my focus."

"And when Vander Decken came, trusting his devil fruit power to where the princess is…" Chopper then stated and Luffy nodded at that too.

"It was either that I was too distracted to keep up the technique or Shirahoshi was found out anyways. I simply saw no need to try and fool everyone further when Decken had to come with intent to kill her." Luffy said and almost showed off his rage-containing state, worrying his crew again. "But I shouldn't worry about him just yet, it did feel good to crack the tooth of that mountain monk."

"Uh…sure." Everyone said when they saw Luffy's tugging of his lips that he calls a smile. That was when they noticed that they could even see Franky by the Thousand Sunny, so they cried out for him.

"Ow!" Franky cried out in surprise and called out to his crew and captain. Until of course he removed his sunglasses to get a better look at what was riding the giant shark from before. "Wow! And who is that big babe you snagged up!?" Luffy just laughed, happy to get with another one of his crew.

And once they settled in the clearing,

"Her is Shirahoshi, but you can call her Wimpy." Luffy joked and Franky just chuckled.

"You are Wimpy huh? Honey, you need to learn to pull yourself together." Franky replied and Shirahoshi just nervously laughed it off. She had heard about Luffy's shipwright on the trip to the forest but then again, imagination had gotten nothing on this guy.

"Please Franky-sama, just call me Shirahoshi." The princess tried to say politely, she was still shaking inside to see just a creature that was Franky. Not even the creatures that dwell within the caverns, ditches and trenches at the bottom of the ocean look that strange.

"Hey Franky, who is that on the ship gawking at Shirahoshi?" Luffy pointed out and Franky did a very long introduction of Den. "So he is the guy whose teacher is going to fix up your brother?" Luffy then said, getting curious looks until he laughed. "Just kidding, I've got the picture." Franky just nervous smiled and gave a large thumbs-up. Thankfully, that straining atmosphere was soon broken,

"Luffy-kun!" Everyone turned to another familiar sight, a large blue fishman that Luffy knew every well indeed. They both own each other their lives during the great war two years ago.

"Jinbe!" Luffy cried out and then promptly hugged the large fishman like a distanced close friend. The former warlord was a little startled by the affection but smiled and returned it anyways. "I missed you Jinbe!"

"I did too myself. And I did hear about how you were able to make a lasting impression on the marines stationed there." Jinbe responded with a chuckle, "Now rumors are that you have become nigh invincible in standards of Paradise." Luffy just laughed,

"People can say all they want about me, but I don't regret what I did. After all, I wasted only a second or a half when they tried to arrest me for being a pirate." Luffy remarked and his crowd all shook their heads in amusement in prefect unison. They even ignored Jinbe with his expression of shock to see the presence of the princess outside of her room in the tower at the Ryugu Palace. But that steady and easy-going atmosphere was shattered once another arrival came; in the form of a desperate and scared Kiemi.

"Luffy-kun! Luffy-kun!" The mermaid looked like there was a murder, that happened right in front of her eyes. "The Palace! The…palace…!" Kiemi tried to utter what was on her mind but her voice was as unstable and broken like her thoughts were. That is until Luffy firmly grasped Kiemi by the arms, making her gasp.

"Take in a deep breath and tell me everything you know. Has anyone been killed or captured?" Luffy asked and Kiemi nodded at option number two. "Then what about the King or my crew?" That that question Kiemi looked down with sorrow and regret.

End of Chapter 9.

*I hope you like it! *