Chapter 9: Full Assault

"Mr Ellix! Mr Ellix! Please wake up Mr Ellix!"

My eyes slowly opened to be met with Florina, biting her lip with tears streaming down her face.

"Fl...Florina?" My voice was raspy from all my crying and screaming, I quickly realised it was night-time and I was no longer buried, surrounded by Florina, Xiao, and their respective families.

"M-Mr Ellix! There was a load of crashing and smashing sounds and wh-when we came back everything was gone and you were buried and everyone was...was...waaaaahhhh!" Florina burst into tears.

"Oh Florina..." Her mother whispered, trying to comfort her.

I looked around, it seemed that the whole village had been destroyed, I vaguely remembered some men in gas masks uprooting the Daft Green plants, and the animals charging through...when had I passed out?

"Ellix." a familiar voice called. I turned to see a raven haired woman wearing glasses (it was weird to see her wearing glasses) and a white and green striped shirt.

"R-Robin..." I sobbed.

Flashback

I was sitting with her, trying to avoid eye-contact. I didn't trust her, it seemed that me and Zoro where the only ones who shared this opinion.

"You don't seem to trust me do you Lookout-san?" She questioned in her calm voice which practically flashed experience.

"Luffy trusts you, I guess that's good enough for me." I mumbled, still looking away. "But if you try to hurt my nakama I won't forgive you."

"Really?" She said, still calm. "I don't doubt that." We sat in silence for a bit. "What is your full name?" She asked as if she didn't really care.

"Why do you want it?"

"Just curious."

I sighed. "Wodos T. Ellix."

"T.? Interesting..."

I finally turned to look at her. "What is?"

"I just thought you might have been a D."

I crossed my arms. "A D.? You mean like Luffy?"

She smiled at me. "Yes, surprising really, your as close to a D. as anyone can get."

"What does that mean?"

Robin glanced at me. "Oh...nothing."

Flashback End

She held out her hand, I took it and she helped me to my feet, not saying a word, as if she already knew what was wrong. I stumbled around a bit, being buried alive stops all feeling to your legs. "Shiki is behind the attacks in East Blue."

"I know...heard it straight from the lions mouth." I sighed.

Franky and Brook suddenly turned up too. "Hey Sleepy, you okay?" Franky asked.

I slowly shook my head. "Franky...Brook...it's good to see you, but no, I'm not...Nami..."

"It's alright Ellix-san." Brook said resting a bony hand on my shoulder. "We have heard what happened...you tried your best."

"It's not that..." I whispered. I looked up at him. "Is everyone alright?"

He gestured over to a large pile of rocks, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper were sitting there. The doctor ran over to me and started bandaging my head and waist. "I'm sorry Ellix." He whimpered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Chopper..." I told him.

"Ellix..." Luffy said. "Usopp told us what happened to Nami..."

"How could I have been so selfish?" Xiao's mother said abruptly. "I was just so happy that Shiki was leaving for East Blue that I forgot you and your friend were there!...You heard everything didn't you?" She directed at me.

"Don't blame yourself." I reassured her. "It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry too!" Xiao cried, wiping away her steady flow of tears.

"Us as well!" Florina and Niko wailed.

"Thanks you guys." Luffy spoke up. "Your homes just been destroyed but your worried about Nami. I'll make sure to beat the crap outta Shiki for every one of you!" He smiled which caused the three children to copy him.

I just hung my head in shame, feeling the dried blood and tears on my face. I suddenly felt something tug on my shorts, I looked down to see Xiao clutching the golden Tone Dial.

"Is this important?" She asked me before handing it over.

"Yes...thank you Xiao..." I said. I walked over to Luffy and placed it in his hands. "This is Nami's farewell message."

"Farewell message?" He questioned me with a scowl, I just walked away, if she didn't let me hear it it probably wasn't meant for me. I kept walking until I was far away, then sat down, burying my head in my hands.

'Why say that? Of all the things she could have said...why that?' I played the question over and over in my head, until two small figures sat next to me.

"Mr Ellix?" The left figure, Florina said carefully. "Mrs Nami went with Shiki didn't she?"

"Yeah..." I nodded, trying to keep my voice calm and steady.

"Mr Ellix?" the right figure, Xiao whispered while looking at her feet. "Do you still love Mrs Nami?"

I hesitated.

Why the heck did I hesitate!?

Had that single sentence really knocked me so far down?

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" The two girls next to me jumped at Luffy's outburst. "Why is she saying something like this!?" His voice was heavy with pure rage and disappointment over the message Nami had recorded. "She said we can't beat him!? What the hell was she thinking!? Why would she say something like that!?" I raised my head to see my captain thrust the Dial into Usopp's hand, before storming away to a nearby rock and stretching his arm back. "Gum-Gum Bulletl!" His punch connected with the rock, smashing it into smithereens, panting now that he had vented out his anger. He looked over at us, making Florina and Xiao hide behind me. Luffy walked over slowly, panting until he stood above me. "What was the last thing...Nami said to you?" He was dead serious.

I looked down and readied myself for what I had to say. "She said she...hated me, and for me to leave her alone..."

Luffy's brow furrowed even more at my answer. His expression was asking a lot of questions, what was she thinking? Didn't she care about them? Just...why? "Do you believe her?"

I hesitated again.

He suddenly grabbed my shirt and pulled him in front of his face. "DO YOU BELIEVE HER!?"

"NO!" I yelled without...thinking. He let go of my shirt and nodded. "No..." I repeated standing up.

"We're...gonna get Nami back..." He switched to a slightly softer tone. "...so she can tell you she didn't mean it."

Everyone already seemed to be in agreement, I just nodded back.

"Mr Luffy..." Two voices spoke up. We turned to Florina and Xiao.

"Is Mrs Nami...gonna be okay?" Florina murmured whilst biting her lip.

"What are you gonna do?" Xiao mumbled quietly.

We both knelt down, I rested my hands on Florina's shoulders while Luffy rested his on Xiao's.

"We're gonna beat Shiki!" We said in unison.

xxxStrongxWorldxxx

Robin had explained that we had to wear formal attire in order to get into Shiki's palace. Apparently he was gathering pirate crews from all over the Grand Line for his army against East Blue.

We walked back to the Sunny and went to get changed, I threw open my wardrobe and grabbed some clothes Nami had given me. I now wore a black tuxedo with matching crisp trousers and polished shoes, made nicer by a little black bowtie and a top hat with a dark red ribbon around it's base, deliberately shadowing my eyes.

We all walked back on deck with our new uniforms. Zoro, Sanji, Chopper in Heavy Point, Franky and Brook were all wearing black suits with different shirts. Usopp being Usopp wore traditional Japenese armor with a black stag beetle helmet over his own suit. Robin had discarded her glasses and had a deep black dress on. And Luffy wore a a black suit as well, accompanied by a long black coat draped from his shoulders similar to a marine admiral, I had never felt more proud to call him my captain.

We all went to Franky's workshop, where he pulled out a load of large guns and various firearms for us to use. I chose a handheld gatling gun which I strapped sideways behind my waist, then we once again went to the main deck where Franky took the wheel.

"Let's get going Franky." Luffy said solemnly.

"Right." He replied as the Sunny charged up energy. "Everyone hang on tight! Coup de Burst!"

A large blast of compressed air shot out of the Sunny's back cannon, launching us into the air and towards Shiki's palace...

xxxStrongxWorldxxx

The Sunny crashed in front of Shiki's palace, destroying several Daft Green Plants and scaring a lot of guards in the process. Luckily the ships main material, Adam wood, protected it from damage.

"What the hell is that!?" One guard called out. "Is that a SHIP!?"

"H-Hey!" Another called. "What do you think your doing!? You're right in front of the royal palace!"

"Who the hell do you think you are!?"

We all stepped out into their line of sight, causing them to gasp in horror. We walked forward and either punched, kicked or slashed the tiny party of defence out of the way. We silently walked through the palace, our captain leading us on our do or die mission. We finally stopped in front of a pair of sliding doors where we heard various voices coming from the other side, obviously the throne room.

The captain stepped back while Zoro drew his three swords, cutting up one of the flimsy doors easily, Usopp tried to kick the other door off, only to get his foot stuck.

"Oops." He said nervously. I just sweat-dropped, trust Usopp to ruin a totally awesome and serious moment.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Sanji yelled.

"Well I-I um just wanted to-"

"Your not gonna bust it down that way! Let me do it!" He readied his leg.

"No! W-wait a secon-"

He kicked down the door along with Usopp, sending him sprawling across the floor.

Us other six crewmembers followed through into a large room. It was long and spacious, with pirate captains sitting on two lines on either side of the path up to the throne...where the golden lion himself sat.

We formed ourselves into a semi-circle, leaving a space for Usopp to scramble into, and allowed Monkey D. Luffy to enter the room.

Shiki glared at us with evident rage, seeing the brats who he had tried to get rid of twice now obviously riled him up. However he quickly regained his composure by lighting a new cigar. "You kids...never cease to surprise me."

We paused for a second, then slowly began walking down the room, every step each of us took echoing in the presence of the large group, who looked on at this mysterious group of pirates who dared to invade this ceremony.

"Do you really plan...on attacking East Blue?" Luffy questioned him, his hat covering his eyes like my own.

"Well, yeah." Shiki replied matter-of-factly.

We stopped walking. "Is Nami safe?" Luffy asked with determination.

"You mean Baby Doll? She's busy." The golden lion answered with a dark smirk, this caused the surrounding men to chuckle at her current fate. I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands at their hidden knowledge, wanting to know what they had done to her, my nakama noticed the groups shared joke as well and instantly knew something wasn't right.

"Jihahahaha!" Shiki boomed. "You may look and act tough, but don't think you can make a difference with only nine people." As soon as he finished the screen doors either side of the lower and upper levels fell away, kicked down by more smart looking pirates. A man in a lab coat with an eccentric scarf with weird hair and shoes stood beside Shiki, followed by a red gorilla wearing a matching suit with large yellow buttons and sunglasses, also standing beside the notorious pirate.

We continued to stand our ground as the enemy's speech continued. "A stupid woman who thought by sacrificing herself she could protect her hometown...and a sucide group containing a straw-hatted weakling for a captain and a stubborn brat! How fitting! Jihahahaha!" The large number of men surrounding us laughed along with their smug leader, creating a disgusting self-centred harmony that I wanted to shoot in the face. But we still didn't move, not a muscle.

"Nami didn't sacrifice herself..." Luffy said. "...she came here as the vanguard." With that I unhooked my gatling gun from behind my waist and aimed it at the pirates in time with the rest of the crew. "Get ready Golden Lion..." My captain was the only one who hadn't readied his gun as he spoke slowly and with deep confidence. "We're the Main Force!"

On our captains hidden command we instantly began firing upon the group, explosions rang out throughout the area as hundreds of pirates were thrown into the air and blasted away from the impact, Shiki watching on in horror at the insignificant brats who were spoiling his perfect plan. None of us showed any signs of restraint or regret as Luffy now joined in the onslaught, smashing the elegant room with devastating impacts.

Eventually I pulled the trigger only to hear a dull click come out of the barrel. "Che, out of ammo." Franky said with disappointment, tossing the two large heavy guns he was carrying to the ground.

"Me too." I sighed, dropping my now favourite weapon to the floor, we all seemed to have the same problem.

"There's still a bunch of 'em." Sanji proclaimed, surveying the room.

"We were just getting started...it's just about right." Zoro told the man he supposedly hated.

"Ellix! Usopp! Chopper! Find Nami!" Luffy commanded us.

"Got it!" The three of us called out together. We then all dashed outside where it was snowing, running down an alternative hallway leaving the sounds of shouting and orders behind.

"Where do we even start looking?" Usopp called out frantically.

"We'll look everywhere!" I told him. "And if she isn't there we tear it down!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Chopper agreed.

We ran for a little bit before Usopp yelled at us. "Ellix! Chopper! We have a problem!"

I tipped my top hat up to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

In response he pointed to the front of the palace. Looking out I could see a large group of Shiki's insane, battle-enhanced animals surround the entrance, but they still kept a far distance away. "Must've been because we destroyed the Daft Green plants surrounding the entrance."

"They must be determined, I can still smell some..." Chopper added.

"Let's actually try to keep away from the monsters okay? I've had a whole week of them!"

"I agree with Usopp, we don't have time to fight them, we've gotta find Nami!"

We began running down hallways again, this time stopping in front of every door possible to fling it open and check inside for her.

"Nami!?" I called into a deserted room, I quickly smashed it with Rankakyu before moving on.

"Nami?" Usopp called before firing an Exploding Star into the room.

"Nami?" Chopper cried, smashing up a table when no navigator was found.

We eventually ran outside again when we ran into trouble in the form of a bunch of guards. "Where...is...NAMI!?" I yelled. "Shigan Akai Hatsu!" I ploughed through the guards with multiple stabbing fingers, with Usopp incapaciting a few more with a Tabasco Star, and Chopper giving a powerful left hook to several unwary faces.

"Chopper! We need to move faster!" I called to him.

"Okay!" Chopper shifted to his Walk Point, allowing Usopp to get on him.

"You need a ride Ellix?"

"I'll be fine! I'll use Soru!" We began tearing down the paths again, more guards trying to stop us from the side.

Usopp quickly took aim with the Kabuto. "Continous Fire Star!" The attack ignited the unsuspecting soldiers, knocking them out instantly. We all leaped onto the roof, climbing as high as we possibly could until we had a clear view of Shiki's palace.

"Chopper? Can you trace her scent?" Usopp asked the reindeer he was riding.

"It's no good, I can't smell well because of the Daft Green in the air."

"We have to find Nami! She could be in DANGER!" I shouted.

Usopp rested a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find her, no matter what." He reassured me.

"You're right...sorry you guys..."

"No need to apologize!" Chopper said.

"Wait! I can see her!" Usopp yelled with his goggles over his eyes.

"WHAT!? Really!? Where!?"

"Down there! In the Daft Green grove!"

"Then what the hell are we doing standing around here for!?" I said as we all leapt off of the roof, dashing as fast as possible towards our next destination. I ran faster then I thought possible in order to help her.

"Just a little longer Nami..." Chopper whispered.

We all took a flying jump into the grove, dashing towards a flash of light and electricity that I instantly recognised.

"Billy!" I called to the giant peacock/duck, who cried happily upon seeing us.

"Ellix! Stop!" I turned to see that Chopper was frantically putting on the breaks.

"Hey! What are you do-"

BOOM!

I had failed to notice the explosives that had been wrapped around the Daft Green plants. I was instantly thrown backwards by the blast of fire and noise. I got up with a small groan, dusting off my hat and replacing it on my head before straightening my bowtie.

"Ellix! Are you alright!?" Usopp called over.

"I'm fine!" I called back, I looked over to Billy to see a recognizable unconscious figure wearing a black dress. "NAMI!" I yelled in horror. She was being suspended in the air by metal poles, some destroyed by the recent explosion I dashed over to her and cupped her face in my hands, only to make my eyes widen even more. Her skin was covered in green splotches, signifying she had the same 'Daft' disease as Xiao's grandmother. "Oh god..." I whispered, I began to gently shake her. "Nami? Nami can you hear me!? Please Nami open your eyes!" I felt myself begin to cry at the thought of her dying while she hated me. It was then her eyes slowly fluttered open, allowing me to sigh in relief. I wiped away my tears as she looked at me.

"Ellix...you're here?" She whispered. She buried her face in my tuxedo, tears flowing down her face and wetting my suit. "Ellix...I'm so sorry...for what I said to you...I just..."

I hugged her back as tightly as I could, crying myself. "It's okay...you don't have to say anything..." I felt her body go limp and I feared the worst until I saw she had just fainted.

Usopp ran over and looked at her. "Damn it! She's been poisoned by the plants! She needs a cure!"

Chopper-in Heavy Point-followed suite. "We need to get her out and find a cure!"

We all began pulling out the remaining pipes as quickly as possible until we heard a low rumbling noise.

"Oh no..." I whispered.

"We've got too much on our hands already!" Chopper said.

"Hurry and get Nami out!" Usopp yelled at us. We yanked two out at a time until Nami was finally free, I clutched her close to my chest and ran once again in the opposite direction with Usopp and Chopper as the frenzied animals stormed the Daft Green grove.

xxxStrongxWorldxxx

We ran and didn't stop out of fear that we would have to battle them, until we finally lost them. I gently laid her against a wall as Chopper took of his coat and wrapped it around Nami. "How is she Chopper?" Usopp spoke up.

"It was close, but she's finally able to breath again, we have to do something..."

I kept checking Nami, she was fading fast, and I couldn't lose her. I suddenly felt something next to me and I turned to see Billy, also very worried about her. I patted my friend on the head, trying to reassure myself just as much as him.

"The only thing that can cure 'Daft' is IQ, but Shiki is the only one who has it."

"What?" I asked, now hearing this new piece of information. I looked back to the distant battlefield with new determination. "Then we have to-"

Before I could finish a load of rocks smashed into the support we were standing on, causing us al to fall to the ground. I once again placed my hat back on my head and tightened my bowtie before calling out. "Is Nami-"

"She's okay!" Usopp responded.

I turned to the attacker to see a familiar evil face. "Shiki!"

"You've gona and done it now little girl." He snarled at Nami, his voice laced with hatred for her and her nakamas actions. "It seems you want to die, I don't need you anymore. No matter how hard you struggle I will make sure East Blue is destroyed!" As he finished multiple white lion heads rose from the ground similar to what happened in Xiao's village, roaring and ready to charge at us.

"Usopp...Chopper...get behind me and protect Nami..." I walked out in front of them, no way was I gonna let him hurt them, with my hat covering my eyes I crossed my arms over my chest. "Tekkai..." I was ready to die.

"Ellix! No!" The duo called out.

"Good! Look's like you'll go first brat! Shishi Odoshi: Gosho Chimaki!" The snow covered earth lions charged me, and I readied myself for the impact. "Die in despair!"

"ELLIX!"

I was prepared...but no impact came, I opened my eyes to see that the lion heads had all been destroyed by the figure in front of me. He was wearing a dark red long-sleeved suit with a black tie, and a straw hat was dangling behind his neck via a piece of string around it. His body had turned a hot pink and heavy steam was emanating off of him.

It was Luffy in Gear Second.

"Luffy!" We all yelled happily.

Shiki was enraged even more by Luffy's sudden apperance and his thwarting of his killing plans. " You still want a fight?"

I stepped back and turned to Nami, she had her eyes open weakly and was looking at him. Luffy noticed this and looked over his shoulder at her. "Nami, I'll beat that guy and we'll all go back together!"

"Luffy..." Nami whispered as she drifted back into subconciousness.

"Leave this guy to me, take Nami somewhere safe."

"Got it." I said to my captain.

"Fight hard Luffy!" Usopp called as we ran off.

I saw Billy fly over my head and smiled as he went to assist Straw-Hat Luffy.

xxxStrongxWorldxxx

Eventually we burst into a large room. It was dome-shaped and filled to the brim with large glass containers housing a strange, spindly green plant that I didn't recognise.

"What is this place?" Usopp spoke his mind.

"They're all IQ plants, the type used to rapidly evolve the animals on these islands." Chopper confirmed. "It looks like they use moonlight to plant them."

I clutched Nami closer to me and looked around. "Is there any cure here though?"

Sadly Chopper shook his head. "Almost...we need to-" He abruptly paused mid-sentence, and began sniffing the air with a look of great interest in his eyes. "This smell...it's medicine!" He ran to the opposite end of the room to reveal a staircase. "This way!"

We ran up the stairs until we came to a similar room, except this one was littered with test tubes and beakers with a large manner of chemicals that stayed still or hissed and spat.

"This is where the IQ research is carried out." Chopper reviewed.

I began scanning the huge line-up of odd liquids. "At least one has to be a cure!" I tried checking every one twice, however there were no labels to confirm anything, and none of us dared to taste any.

"Which one should we give her?" Usopp called.

Our search was suddenly interrupted by the sound of...pooting? We all turned our heads upwards to see the professor I saw with Shiki earlier, standing on the second level grinning to himself.

"An enemy!" Ussop cried.

"Who are you!?" I yelled at him, wrapping my arms protectively around Nami.

"So nice to finally meet you! My name is Dr. Indigo!" He laughed, almost as if he found our intrusion amusing.

"He smells of medicine...are you a scientist?"

"Why yes! And an excellent one at that!"

"Hand over the 'Daft' cure!" I yelled at him.

In response he held up a test tube filled with a bright pink liquid. "You mean this? Piropiropiropiro! You think I'll just give it to you baka? I always carry it with me in case of an emergency."

I gently handed Nami over to Chopper, who held her in a piggyback position just like me with Florina. "Hold Nami, I'll take care of this guy!"

"Hold on a second Ellix." A familiar voice called from behind me, I turned to see our green haired swordsman Zoro walking into view with his swords drawn, one in each hand while he carried one by the scabbard in his mouth. "All it is is taking it off of him, back off and I'll cut him to pieces."

"Zoro!" Chopper and Usopp called with joy.

"Alright Zoro, I trust you." I stood back allowing Zoro to pass me.

Dr. Indigo now sat where he was with a genuinely unimpressed look on his face. "Well, looks like you chased me to this place too."

"We need that cure Zoro...show him who's boss!" With Usopp's small speech finished we dashed off down a hallway, splitting up from the two fighters.

We ran outside just in time to see Dr. Indigo get blasted through the wall, followed by Zoro, who seemed downright angry. They stood on a long bridge as Indigo recomposed himself and stood up.

"Chemical Juggling!" Lots of small purple and green flame-like chemicals that looked similar to wisps appeared out of the scientists hands, hanging over his head in an arch. "Ignite!" The small fireballs shot towards Zoro, who could only slash at them to make them dissipate before they hit him, but they still managed to break through and engulf him in a green smokescreen.

"Zoro!" The two next to me called out.

"Piropiropiropiro! Do you feel the power of Chemical Juggling?"

The smoke vanished quickly as Zoro stood unharmed. "I don't have time to juggle with you." He warned him.

Indigo, realising he had to be more serious, shot out a load of flaming chemicals above his head, condensing them into one giant purple and green chemical mass.

"Mass Juggling! Eat this!" He yelled as he threw the giant fireball at Zoro, swallowing him up in a huge explosion.

"Zoro!"

"He ate the whole thing! Piropiropiropiro!"

As he giggled to himself the green smoke turned into a violet/red one, revealing the swordsman without a single injury.

"Demon Spirit...Nine Sword Style." Through sheer energy and power, two identical images of Zoro appeared either side of him, weilding two swords of their own, they had their backs to Zoro's side, making him look like he had grown two extra heads and four more arms. "Asura."

With his form now complete he charged the unsuspecting indigo-haired man, speaking to him with a dark tone and matching aura. "If you were to be..."

"Chemical..."

"...defeated by a pawn born in East Blue like me..."

"...Juggling!" A single flaming chemical was shot at the fast approaching demon, who easily batted it away with one of his ilusions for arms, causing him to gasp as the swordsman reached him.

"Piercing Drill!" Zoro slashed him with all nine swords simultaneously in a quick spin, sending the annoying man flying into the air while Zoro stood in his pose, as Dr. Indigo crashed onto the bridge, the fire from Zoro's swords ignited the scientists chemicals and caused him to blow up himself and the bridge, while Zoro's extra appendages faded like a mirage.

"...then what would that make you?" He said.

"Zoro is super cool." Me and Chopper said in unison without thinking, hey, I give him credit a lot.

"I just wanna know if he's invincible." Usopp asked.

"Chopper!" The reindeer who looked like a gorilla held one hand out as a small vial containing a pink liquid landed in it.

"It's the cure."

"I'm heading back now, take care of Nami."

"Yeah!" All three of us agreed. The demon turned and ran off...in completely the wrong direction due to his terrible sense of navigation.

"That way man!" Usopp called as both me and him pointed the right way, he just grunted in annoyance and did a U-turn.

xxxStrongxWorldxxx

As we ran off again I happened to spot Sanji furiously kicking that scarlet gorilla I saw earlier with a foot literally on fire. Once the monkey was beaten to a pulp I watched with wide eyes as he jumped off the tower he was on to catch a falling Robin who had been in the apes clutches moments before. However with a "Yohohohoho!" Brook leaped and caught her first, allowing Sanji to smash into the ground.

I burst out laughing at the sight. "Hahahahahahaha! You baka Sanji!" I swear he had heard me as I saw him lift his head and angrily glare around.

It was then that I heard a small moan and turned to see Nami waking up on Chopper's back after Usopp had given her the medicine. "Where are we?" She asked weakly.

"Nami!" We all burst out.

I ran beside Chopper to talk to her. "Thank Oda you're awake." She looked at all three of us with sad, but joyous eyes.

"The cure worked!" Chopper cried happily.

"Did you come to save me?"

"Not just us!" The sniper said. " Zoro, Franky, Brook, Robin, Luffy...we all came!"

She stared at us with wide eyes at the people she had betrayed, but still came to save her, causing her to start crying again. "Thank you..." She sobbed.

I wiped away her tears with my hand. "No problem..." She pressed her face against Chopper's back to hide her face.

"Oi, oi, this isn't the time to cry." Usopp tried to reassure her.

"I know."

"Nami...no matter what happens, we're gonna get you out of this place." I said seriously.

"Ellix..." Nami whispered sadly before turning to Chopper. "But if we don't beat Shiki then East Blue will be-" She paused abruptly to stare at the sky, she was examining the weather. "Stop!" All three of us were surprised by the outburst but did so none the less.

"What's wrong Nami?" Her carrier asked.

"A storm is coming..." Our eyes widened at our navigators statement, knowing that her skills made it correct. "The air pressure's dropping, a big cloud must be nearby...we need to go back to the palace."

"Eh!?" All three of us yelled.

I thought about it, but in the end nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Before we could run back though a familiar silver claw smashed the ground in front of us, with all my anger I glared at the next opponent. "Silver!"

"YOU'VE GONE WAY TOO FAR STRAW-HAT PIRATES!" He roared. "DON'T THINK YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE!"

"You don't get to decide that!" I screamed as I dashed forward and punched him in the face, knockng him into a nearby building. I knew what I had to do now...

"Ellix..." I turned to see Nami shaking her head at me. "Don't..."

I walked over to her and smiled. "I swear on my life I'll be back." I then placed both hands on my top hat, and placed it on her head. "I've gotta teach this guy a lesson."

I turned around and threw off my tuxedo, revealing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with my bowtie still attached. "Take care of Nami." I told Usopp and Chopper.

I then dashed off of the path and landed with a crash on the roof, my new opponent gritting his teeth at me while I glared back. "I've got a score...to settle with you..."