Hi, guys! Happy birthday to Luffy! :D

Normally, I wouldn't post stuff on a Thursday (and certainly not so late), but I figured I'd make an exception this week.

One, because it's Luffy's birthday, and why not?

Two, because I'm attending my first convention ever this weekend, and I'm gonna be too busy to post!

chaosrin - Oh, her attitude towards blood is gonna change, all right. That change is coming up fast. As for the worlds she's been to...none of them have really allowed her to actually see blood for the most part - except for probably a few rare instances. At this point, even if Maria wasn't sick to her stomach pre-amnesia attack, she is now because that's how she was before her adventures even started. Yeah, I liked using the rage as a memory trigger, too - Maria's got a valid reason for it, but it's not really going to pop up in the stories previous to this one until I actually "catch up with myself" and get around to posting those stories (Number 9, World Collision, is going to be a big one).

Son of Whiteboard - Yup, we have mention of him and the other Supernovas! Maria's not going to be meeting them all at this point, though...

And now, onto the chapter!

Chapter 105 (or 10) - The Amusement Trap

Maria's POV

"We've reached Sabaody Park!"

I looked up at the large, pink entrance that was in front of us. I couldn't help but get the feeling that I'd seen something like it before somewhere before. I wasn't exactly sure, though.

"Yay!" Chopper and Brook cheered.

We parked our Bubble Bikes just inside the entrance - which was, actually, just an entrance without an entrance fee - and took a quick look around at all the rides that were scattered all over the park.

"That's a big...rollercoaster," I said, looking at the tracks that rose up in the distance.

"It looks so fun!" Luffy exclaimed.

Pappagg jumped up and slapped Luffy's head, making it bounce around like a bobble-head. "You're not even gonna LOOK for the old guy, are you?!"

"But the old lady said the old mechanic dude likes it here!" Luffy responded, looking at the starfish.

"But that was only if he wasn't in a lawless zone!" Pappagg barked back.

"Ah! There's the ferris wheel!" Camie exclaimed, looking up at the large turning wheel. "This is the first time I've been this close!"

"Right!" Luffy grinned widely. "Then, you guys, let's go have some fun!"

"Yeah!" Brook and Chopper agreed.

"You're not gonna look, huh?!" Pappagg barked.

A thought occurred to me then - a tricky, goofy thought, but it felt like it suited the area.

"We are looking for him, though," I remarked. "We're just going to ride every single ride and try every attraction in case he's on them when we are! And if he isn't by the time we get through all of them, we can just go through them all again!"

Luffy laughed, grinning widely. "Shishishishishishi! Yeah! That's the best way to go look for the old man! Come on - let's do it!"

Luffy took off into the park, and the rest of us took off after him as he went straight for the second-largest thing in the park.

The rollercoaster.

I couldn't help but grin like a giddy little toddler as we rushed in and clambered into the seats. We managed to get in just before the bars came down on the seats and the cars started moving up the first hill.

I ended up right next to Brook, who was looking over the side of the car and watched as the ground got further and further away from us.

"We are rising quite slowly, aren't we?" Brook asked, looking over at me as I stuffed my hat into one of my pockets. He started doing that laugh of his...

...and then the cars abruptly went over the edge and shot down the first hill at high speed, turning Brook's laugh into a scream of terror while the rest of us cheered and screamed from delight. I was surprised when the coaster took a few sudden turns, but it was really fun.

Except for the fact that Brook was screaming in my ear the entire way.

When we got off the roller coaster, we all walked a short distance away from the exit before Brook collapsed on his hands and knees, panting heavily.

"That was awesome!" Luffy threw his fists in the air. "Let's go again! Again!"

"Nyuu." Hachi looked at Camie. "That wasn't scary, was it, Camie?"

"It was really scary, but it was really fun!" Camie responded.

I let out a laugh. "You've got that right!" I rubbed the ear that Brook had been screaming in. "Although, I could have done with a better seat, I think."

"My heart is still racing," Chopper said, putting a hoof to his chest.

Pappagg, on the other hand, burst out laughing. "I've never had so much fun!"

"This coming from the starfish that didn't want us coming in here to have fun?" I asked, looking down at him.

Pappagg started to stutter. "Uh - I - er -"

"Hey! Let's go on that one next!" Chopper pointed over at what looked like a collection of animals going round and round in a circle. It took me a moment to think of the name.

"The merry-go-round?" I asked. "Sure! It's definitely going to be slower than the rollercoaster."

Brook looked up at that. "I-it is?"

"Sure. There aren't any sudden drops, but they do have you bouncing up and down a little. It shouldn't be all that terrifying."

Brook considered it for a moment, then shook his head as he got to his feet. "I-I think I'll just sit and watch you ride the rides. We are looking for the coating mechanic, right? He might be near the rides, but not riding them."

"Oh!" Luffy hit a fist into an open palm. "Yeah, he could be! All right, Brook - you watch for the old mechanic guy if he isn't on the rides! We'll just ride all the rides to make sure!"

"Of course, captain." Brook bowed to Luffy, sounding relieved.

We went to the merry-go-round next, jumping on balloons that had animal parts attached to them - just the head, legs, and saddles for people to sit on top of. I managed to find one that had a giraffe's neck stuck on the front and jumped on while Luffy and the others scrambled around looking for other animals. I liked the fact that I was able to relax by lounging a bit on the large bubble animal as I bounced around.

When the ride was done, Luffy practically dragged us over to the next ride - a large tower with seats going around on the outside. Even without having ridden on it, I knew what it was.

"Oh, boy." I felt something in my gut drop. "You guys mind if I sit this one out? I'm not sure if I'd like riding this particular one."

Luffy frowned at me, but then Brook spoke up, "I think I'll be able to handle this one."

Luffy brightened. "Okay! Come on, guys!" He dashed towards the tower, and everyone was strapped into the seats surrounding the thing's base before the bars lowered and it started to go up.

I sat down on a nearby bench and looked around at the other people around us for a moment before I realized that we didn't even know what the mechanic even looked like.

I facepalmed as I heard Brook screaming all the way down the tower as the seats fell at high speed. "Great. We're practically going to be going on a wild goose chase at this rate. How are we ever going to find that coating mechanic...?"

Brook came stumbling out of the ride and collapsed on his knees again while Luffy and the others bounded out with large grins on their faces and their hair sticking up in all directions.

I chuckled. "Nice hair, guys. Looks really windswept."

"Oh?" Luffy looked up and felt the top of his head. His grin got even wider - if that was even possible. "Shishishishishi! Cool!"

"Do you think we could try riding on those next?" Camie pointed towards a flat area where what looked like large teacups were spinning around in circles. I could see little kids turning wheels in the middle and spinning the teacups at faster speeds.

I got a pulse of a headache from the back of my mind, and I found myself sitting on a similar ride in a place that looked like it had been designed to be a crazy tea-party in the middle of a flower garden or something.

"Sure, that looks like fun." I started towards the ride, then looked over at Brook. "Brook, you and I can take one of those by ourselves, all right? It's not a bad ride if you don't spin out of control."

Brook perked up a little hesitantly at this. "Really? You're sure?"

"Yeah." I rubbed the back of my head. "I think I've ridden in a ride like that before somewhere, but the memory doesn't look all that familiar."

"Well..." Brook paused. "All right. I'll take one with you."

"Chopper can ride with me!" Luffy declared as he started for the ride.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Chopper bounded after our captain as we moved towards the ride. I couldn't help but smile after them.

"Maria-san."

I looked over at Brook.

"Why is it that so many of these rides that start slow always make it so that I feel like my heart wants to stop beating? Even though I do not have a heart..."

I looked up at the rollercoaster above us as a set of cars went by with its screaming occupants. "They designed the rides so that you would get an adrenaline rush. Just the mere thrill of the ride and the near-death feeling you get on it is actually pretty popular for some reason - so most of the rides we've been on so far have been called 'thrill rides'. Little kids can't ride them, though - they probably would end up dying from shock if they did - so there are rides that aren't going to give them heart attacks. This teacup one is kind of in the middle, because you can control how much the cup spins."

"Ah! I see." Brook let out a sigh of relief. "I had been worried that all these rides were threatening to kill me. This is my first time in an amusement park too, you see, and I am not exactly certain of my first impression of it."

"Well, don't worry - there are other things we can do here that shouldn't be too taxing on you. Maybe we should do the ferris wheel next - that one's a slow ride, and I think they usually offer pretty good views of the area."

Brook hummed. "I trust your judgment, Maria-san. Have you been in amusement parks before?"

I nodded as we reached the ride, paid the admission fee, then scrambled for three cups near each other. "I went to one with my Pokemon team, once. It was a park designed specifically so that Trainers could spend the day with their Pokemon. I think I've been to others, too, but the memories of those places are fuzzy."

Brook and I sat down in a brown tea cup, and the ride started moving around the circular stage at a decent pace. Brook grabbed the edge of the tea cup for some extra comfort while I just leaned back.

"Just don't touch the table in the middle, and we won't spin." I motioned to the little circular green table in the middle of the cup. "The ride's enjoyable either way."

"Ah..." Brook relaxed a little and looked around. "Yes, it definitely is. I will have to ask Luffy if we could go on this ride again."

Luffy and the others, unfortunately, were a bit more eager for thrill than I think I had been expecting. Within seconds, their two cups were spinning so fast that I couldn't see them clearly.

"Oh! I am glad that I did not ride with them!" Brook exclaimed.

There was an explosion of noise that I could probably only describe as something shattering.

"Yeah. Definitely." I leaned back and watched as the two tea cups the others were riding on suddenly took off into the sky before falling back down with an almighty crash. "They are going to be so dizzy that they won't be able to walk straight for a while."

The ride came to a rather abrupt end after that, and a man wearing a uniform of some kind came stomping out of the admission booth and over to where Luffy and the others had landed.

"Hey, you guys rotated it too fast!" the man barked as Brook and I stepped out of our teacup. "What did you think would happen when you did that, anyway?! You can't do that kind of thing! You're definitely not coming back to this ride ever again!"

I gave a sigh and walked over to the man. "Sorry about that. I guess they're a bit too attached to the thrill of being here for the first time and that rollercoaster we rode on when we got here."

Brook put a hand to his chest. "Yoho! That kind of thrill is certainly a thing I can live without!"

The man gave a sigh and took off his hat, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, well, this ride isn't meant for thrill-addicted junkies like that. Since you said this is your first time, I'll put off charging you too much for the damages, but -"

Wordlessly, I dug into my pocket for the spending money Nami had handed out before we had left and took about half of what I had left. "Would this be enough to cover for at least one of the tea cups?"

The man's eyes widened in surprise. "W-well, yes, actually!"

"Go ahead and take it. It's the least I could do to apologize for Luffy's crazy behavior. I'm probably not going to be getting anything anytime soon." I shook the pile of bills a little, and the man took it as I put what I had left back in my pockets. "He can't really take being bored or slow very well."

"Yes...I suppose that is true..." The man spared a glance at Luffy and the others as they started to get unsteadily to their feet, looking like they were all horribly drunk. "Might I suggest that you go and do something far away from here? Like the ferris wheel?"

Camie turned when she heard that, and her dizzy eyes focused a little as they widened and she gasped. "The ferris wheel! Yeah, I would like to go and do that next!"

Pappagg rolled over as he lay on the ground, and he tried to say something, but it just came out as unintelligent babbling.

Luffy laughed. "Yeah, sure! Let's go!" He turned and started running for the large wheel that was hanging from one of the mangroves by a giant yellow chain. He stumbled about for a moment before he managed to get his balance back a little. Brook and I helped pick up the others - I literally picked up Chopper and set him on my shoulders - before we started after our captain towards the ferris wheel.

"I'm gonna warn you now, Brook, the ferris wheel's going to stop occasionally because people are going to be getting on and off," I commented, looking over at the musician. "It's going to feel kind of abrupt, but the entire thing is slow overall, so we should be fine."

"Oh? All right, then. Yohohoho! I am certainly glad that you are here to explain about the rides on this amusement park, Maria-san."

I smiled in agreement. "Well, anything to make sure you don't get a heart attack from these rides."

It didn't take us too long to reach the ferris wheel, and we quickly climbed into two of the bubble-shaped booths that was attached to it - Hachi, Chopper, Pappagg, and Brook took one, while Luffy, Camie, and I climbed into the one next to it.

I couldn't help but grin as we started going up, looking at the park and wondering at what the view was going to look like when we got up high enough.

"Wow!" Camie pressed her nose against the bubble, looking out over the amusement park. "We're so high up!"

I looked out over the park with an amazed expression on my own face. "Wow, this is a really good view. You can see all of the park from this height - and we're only halfway up! I wonder how far into the trees we'll be able to see when we get all the way up to the top."

"Ah! There's an ice cream stand down there, Luffy-chin!"

"Seriously?!" Luffy practically jumped from his seat as Camie pointed down at something below us. "Awesome! We should definitely get some ice cream after we get off this ride!"

"Ice cream actually sounds pretty good right about now." I licked my lips at the thought as the ferris wheel started to move up to the top of the circle. "Wow...if there weren't so many trees around, you could see for miles in any direction from up here." I looked out at the buildings that were beyond the entrance to the amusement park. "Man, the people are really tiny, aren't they?"

"Yeah!" Camie agreed. "Wow..."

The ferris wheel started going down slowly, and I got up and walked around the booth a bit in order to get a different view.

"Maria-chin! Luffy-chin!" Camie pointed out. "Look, it's the sea!"

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned as he glanced over.

"It looks really beautiful from up here," I commented, looking over the sparkling waves as we continued to go down. "Wow..."

"Amazing!" Camie exclaimed. "I can see everything from up here!"

Luffy and I looked at the mermaid, and I smiled when I saw the expression on her face.

Luffy laughed brightly. "You're so happy that you're crying?"

Camie nodded, not taking her eyes off the view. "Yes, because this has been my dream since I was a child."

My smile softened a little at that. "A dream like that held onto for as long as that..."

Camie wiped the tears from her eyes with a finger before turning and smiling brightly at us. "This is the first time I've been to a place as high as this! I'll remember it for the rest of my life! Thank you!"

I laughed a little at that. "It was your dream, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but Hacchin and Pappagg didn't let me go here during the other times that I've been here..." Camie's gradually unhappy expression brightened into a smile again. "But Hacchin and Pappagg let me come here because you guys are so strong!"

Luffy's grin widened, and he and I both laughed.

"It's good to relax every once in a while, though," I remarked, looking out the bubble at the world around us. "It feels good to be up in a ferris wheel again. These kinds of things have absolutely incredible views that makes you want to stay on for hours."

"Yeah!" Camie agreed, smiling. "Maria-chin, have you been to amusement parks before?"

"A couple, yeah. I'm not sure what they've been called, though. Maybe I'll remember the more time I spend here."

"Then it was a good thing we came to the amusement park!" Luffy laughed. "Awesome! We should ride on more rides after this one to jog your memory!"

"Sounds good to me!"

Time Break

Riding the rides definitely brought some of my memories back. I had more than enough memories now of yelling and whooping up and down rollercoasters that just thinking about them gave me a headache. I ended sitting on my Bubble Bike - we had gotten permission to bring them into the park to move around faster - licking my strawberry ice cream and watching as the others tried to choose which flavor they wanted.

Camie giggled, watching as Luffy pointed in all sorts of directions while the ice cream vendor yelled at him to limit his choices.

"You'd have a better chance if you had one that was meat-flavored!" I called, laughing.

"Do you have one?!" Luffy was practically drooling.

The vendor was getting to the end of his rope. "No, I don't! You'll just have to make do with something else!"

"Aw..." Luffy slumped over. "But I don't know what to choose!"

I laughed at my captain while Chopper and the others voiced his agreement.

I was starting to bite into the cone of my ice cream when I suddenly got the feeling that there was something running down my spine. I turned my head sharply in order to see if there was anyone behind me, but I didn't see anyone...

Until I turned around to face forward again.

"Gah!" I jumped out of surprise and dropped my ice cream when I found myself nearly nose-to-nose with a familiar face that I only usually saw in the mirror.

Airam gave a sly smile, her purple eyes seeming to change shades as she looked over my own face. The smile disappeared, though. "You're not back yet."

I frowned at that, then looked over at Camie, wondering why she hadn't cried out in surprise at seeing me jump. I became a little unnerved when I noticed that something was wrong.

"You don't know what's going on and you let me sneak up on you this easily," Airam continued, frowning as I quickly turned my attention away from the seemingly-frozen mermaid - and everything else around me, for that matter.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. "I'm getting my memories back, aren't I? Now what did you do?" I raised a fist threateningly, ready to bring up my fire.

Airam's expression gained a wide grin that almost seemed wolfish, sending warning chills down my spine. Something was wrong here, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Your defenses aren't what they're supposed to be. And that is going to make this so much fun."

I stiffened up as alarm bells started going off in my head, and I started to move to take Airam out, but then something slammed into the back of my neck, and I blacked out.

Uh oh.

You guys aren't gonna like where Maria ended up, I can tell you that much...

See you next week!