Third Day Troubles Part One

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

After a long night for the Axe-Head crew, and after they had a good rest for themselves, the morning sun peeked through the many windows of the hotel and shined on the sleeping pirates. Austin was snoring while he lay sprawled over Devon's stomach, Herman's face was buried in a large pillow, Azu wore a large ice pack taped onto his face as he slept, DJ hugged a large pillow tightly with a large grin on his face (do we even want to know why he's like that right now?), and Axe (who had stayed up late to work a little on his journal) was fast asleep, drooling on the blank page he was currently on.

The girls and the pets of the crew were fast asleep too, save Kirsty and Chizuru. While the former was nowhere to be found, the latter stood at a large window, a cup of coffee in her hand as she stared out at Water 7's beautiful architecture.

This place...so much life is here, but I can also feel pain she thought as she sipped her morning drink I can also feel something strange around this place. Something...dark, and hidden very well, but I can't get any more than that right now.

A loud yawn was heard from behind, but she didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Good morning, Niri, have a good sleep?"

Niri yawned again as she scratched her bed head, "Morning...," she looked around, "Where's Kirsty?"

"With Paulie, I'm guessing," Chizuru said with a shrug, "She didn't come back last night,"

"Should we go look for her?"

"You know as well as I do that Kirsty can handle herself," Chizuru sipped her coffee, "Besides, she's probably with the Galley-La carpenters. I bet she slept at Dock One to talk to Paulie again and again until he gets it right,"

"Mm," Niri turned her head to see Axe slumped over his book, "He still going at it?"

"He's got a lot of memories to write down, and his wrists will be sore, but I think he's really determined to write everything he knows down," Chizuru turned around and looked at her sharpshooter nakama, "I know, by the way,"

Niri met her gaze, "Know what?"

Chizuru walked over to her and lowered her voice, "I know his name,"

Niri's eyes widened a bit, "You know that he's-?"

"Shh," Chizuru cut her off and glanced as Dusty came into the room, eyes closed, feet dragging behind her with her tail, Yes Niri, I know, but I'm not gonna say anything about it here.

Why not?

Because it's his right and his right alone to reveal that information, we have no business telling that to anyone. Besides, you know what's happened in the past!

I didn't know until my father told me before he died a couple years before Axe set off to find One Piece Niri looked right at her, So, how much you know?

I know more than I wanted to know about our dear, tormented captain. Believe me, Niri, he's hurting terribly on the inside. He may not look it most of the time, but he's absolutely terrified.

Because...?

Because of Kairi.

He's terrified because of her? What's that murdering, betraying bitch done to scare him so much?

You don't want to know...

"Hey, you guys having a staring contest?" Dusty asked, interrupting their mental conversation as she walked over, "I call the winner!"

Both Chizuru and Niri looked at her silently.

"What, something in my hair?"

After breakfast, Dusty and DJ found themselves in one of the many clothing stores of Water 7 buying new outfits with the money they earned from their performance yesterday. As she modeled clothing for DJ, Dusty went on another rant about her troubles. This rant involved something relating to her very distant relatives.

"...I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Chizuru like a sister, but she keeps bugging me about that,"

"Well, maybe she's-,"

"I mean, yes I have miko blood in me, and yes I like the power I get from it, but that doesn't mean I should study some damn Wakanda miko scrolls she found in the ruins of the Wakanda's house,"

"Dusty-chan?"

"What is it, DJ-kun?"

"Maybe Chizuru-chan's just looking out for you," he offered, "I mean, no offense intended but you are kind of the damsel of the crew,"

Dusty fell over, I can't believe he said that! I am not! Just because I've been nabbed by my father's relatives, Dimitri, Foxy and my old crew...okay, okay, maybe I've had some bad luck regarding me being tied up and carried off, but that doesn't make me a damsel!

"Anyhoo, Dusty-chan, maybe she thinks that if you learn more about your miko power, the stronger you'll get?"

"I'm already strong, I'm strong thanks to my father's blood-,"

"Which is miko blood,"

"...and my Zoan fruit," Dusty finished, "After all, Zoan fruits that are carnivorous in nature are often more violent than other Zoan's,"

DJ sweatdropped, "Quoting from Kagura-chan, eh?"

"So what if I am?"

"Anyway, Dusty-chan, just think about it: If you study to gain more miko power, and you hone that power to become really strong, you can beat loads more enemies!"

"Hmm, well-,"

"You get stronger, you can kick that baka Devon's ass the next time he makes fun of you,"

"Alright, I'm in!" Dusty gave a thumbs up, grinning. The smile disappeared however, when she noticed something outside. She ran to the nearest window just in time to see a couple of familiar people go by the store while riding on a couple of Yagara Bulls.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, whirling around, "IT'S LUFFY! IT'S LUFFY, DJ-KUN, LUFFY!"

DJ's eyes swirled around and around, "That's nice...Dusty-chan...,"

"Hey, Paulie!"

Dammit, now what? the blonde carpenter set his tools down and turned around to see Azu, as well as a young man with wings on his back, coming his way. Paulie frowned and crossed his arms.

"Baba, I heard you were back in town. What the hell are you doing here, and who the hell is that?" he asked, pointing to Devon.

"Name's the Demon King, and I'm here to talk to you about something," Devon cracked his neck, "You got some place for us to talk?"

"Why can't you just talk here?" Azu asked, earning an elbow jab to his already damaged face, sending him to the ground, "What the hell, man?!"

Paulie bit into his cigar and nodded to the back area of the shipyard, "This way,"

Devon nodded and looked down at his nakama as Paulie walked off, "You, stay here, got it?"

"I got it...shit!" Azu held his bleeding nose and looked up at him, "Devon, what the hell is your problem lately?! What crawled up your ass and died?"

"That's for me to worry about, the only thing you have to worry about is," Devon's leg swept across Azu's face and sent him to the ground, "Don't piss me off anymore,"

"Okay, Demon King, what is it you want?" Paulie asked as Devon joined him in an empty work area, "If you got a job lined up for me-,"

"Fuck jobs, I'm here for Kirsty,"

"The White Dragon?" Paulie waved his hands, "Look, I already had a hard enough time to get her to leave me alone, what I don't need is some muscle under her thumb to convince me otherwise that-,"

Devon cut him off, grabbing him by his jacket and slamming him up against the wall, lifting Paulie a good few feet off the ground.

"Now, you listen to me, you piece of cigar-smoking shit. Kirsty is my woman, and I would like to see her happy. If she wants her half-brother to accept her, then I'll do anything to let that happen,"

Paulie glared down at him, "You shouldn't mess with a Galley-La carpenter, punk,"

"And you shouldn't dismiss a girl who's come so far to see one of the only family members she has left his in this world!" Devon shouted, "Her entire family except her sister were slaughtered when she was a child. Now, I'm aware that you may have daddy issues because he left you and this place, but believe me I know what that feels like. My own father left me and my family alone for years and my mother died because of it,"

"Let go,"

"No, I will not let go until you at least consider the possibility!" Devon tightened his grip, "Until then, feel free to hang around,"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Devon felt a familiar wooden blade poking him in the back. He didn't even turn around.

"Back off kid, this is between me and goggles,"

Nick Olas frowned, "Put him down, Demon King,"

"I'm busy with him,"

"Put. Him. Down. Unless you want to take on the entire Galley-La workforce, I suggest you put him down right this moment," Nick pressed his sword into Devon's back, "Don't make me hurt you,"

"You think you can hurt a guy with a three-digit bounty, kid?"

Nick scoffed, "Bounties are nothing when measuring strength,"

You don't have to tell me that, kid, but I'm still strong enough to keep up with you and kick your ass... Devon looked back at Paulie and lowered him to the ground, releasing his jacket, "You're a jerk, Paulie,"

Paulie batted his hands away, "Only jerks that come to mind are you, Demon King, and my old man. I dunno why he left my family when he did, but i do know that that White Dragon chick isn't related to me,"

Devon stuffed his hands into his pockets, "We still got four days until our Log Pose sets, Paulie, so I'll let you dwell on the possibility. If you're not convinced by then, I know a couple of people who will show you the truth. Now," he looked around, "Where the hell is Kirsty?"

"I haven't seen her since yesterday,"

The blonde nittoryu user turned to him, frowning, "What?"

"I haven't seen her since yesterday," Paulie repeated.

"You mean she's not with you?"

Paulie looked around to the empty area that was occupied by himself, Devon and Nick, then turned to the Devon, "Does it look like she's with us, you idiot?"

If she's not here... Devon looked back the way he came, Then where is she?

"Oi, Paulie!" Kaku ran up to them, "That pirate guy's looking for you,"

"Which pirate guy, this town's full of 'em?"

"Mikaziki, the pirate captain worth 36,000,000 Beli,"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming...," Paulie glanced at Devon, "I got work to do, kid,"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll be seeing you later anyway,"

As Kaku and Paulie left, Azu joined Nick and Devon, his nose full of bloody rags used to halt the bloodflow.

"What'd I miss?"

"Nma, just your idiot friend pickin' a fight with a Galley-La worker," Nick jerked a thumb to Devon, "Tell him how things work around here before he gets his ass kicked,"

"Oi...,"

Azu scratched his dreads and sighed, "Alright, alright...I'll see what I can do,"

"Oi oi...,"

"Oh, by the way, Azu," Nick snapped his fingers, "Iceburg-san wanted me to tell you that he wants to see you as soon as possible,"

"Why?"

Nick shrugged, "He just said he needed to talk to you,"

In one of the many eateries of Water 7, Niri and Herman were eating lunch with Pingu, Sora and Austin while they went over the ship catalogue they got from Galley-La a few days ago. Niri was scanning the pages of the catalogue while Pingu stuffed his beak filled with fish. Austin did the same thing with at least half a dozen steaks.

Niri looked up at Austin, "How he can suddenly eat that much that fast is beyond me...must be a growth spurt on the horizon,"

"Either that or it's the Shandian blood in him," Herman offered, rubbing his chin in thought.

"How the hell does blood make you hungry like that?"

"I dunno...maybe it's the same thing with the D's,"

"What do you mean?"

"Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Shidyk D. Shade and even our captain all have the middle initial of D in their names, and look at them eat!"

"He's right!" Pingu honked, his voice muffled by a fat fish slice, "We D's are always fighting, so we needs lots of food to keep up our strength!"

"Some day, I'd like to know what the hell it is he says," Herman murmured, drumming the table.

"Me too, Herman, me too,"

"AUSTIN-KUN!"

A yellow blur shot through the air, in between Herman and Niri and collided into the young cabin boy, sending him to the ground as he still chewed his food. Penny of Death Root smiled widely as she hugged him tightly.

"It's been so long, Austin-kun! What've you been up to?!"

Niri leaned forward, "Uh, Penny...listen, I'm not one to interrupt hug time between a girl and her boyfriend-,"

Penny blushed and loosened her grip, "He's...he's not my boyfriend!"

"Oh really?" Herman propped his head up on his arm, "I remember a certain kiss back in Jaya...,"

"He's not my boyfriend, so shut up!" Penny shouted, her face going redder.

Bingo, touched a nerve... Niri smiled, then noticed Austin's face turning blue, "Either he's choking on his food or you're suffocating him, Penny,"

"Oh crap!"

Niri sweatdropped, Doesn't this kid have any supervision?

Pingu, looking for another bite, raised his fork to spear his fish again, but he noticed that his plate was spinning...and empty.

"Hey, not bad,"

The penguin's eye twitched as he turned his head to see a familiar looking panda sitting next to him, chewing on the fish happily.

"You sonofa...!"

Herman shook his head and looked back at the catalogue, "If I'm gonna learn how to make Mizu-Mizu Meat for this crew in the future, we're gonna need a bigger fridge and a stronger lock,"

"Way ahead of ya, Red,"

"I wonder if he would get mad when he finds out I helped him with this? He needs his rest after all, and with my talents, it'll be just like how he planned on it...hope so, anyway,"

As Axe was still taking a long sleep, Chizuru took it upon herself to use her abilities to help him write his story in the big book. So, with one hand on his head, one hand guiding the pen, and her mind dipping into his mind and controlling the writing utensil, Chizuru had written a fair amount for him. Double-checking what she had written with what she saw in his mind, Chizuru smiled and decided to take a break.

After writing a quick note, she grabbed her hat and walked out of the hotel room, a look on her face. She had kept feeling something strange around her, but it was only when she was diving into Axe's mind that she didn't hear it. The more she heard and the more she felt it it, the more worrisome she became. She knew where everyone was, she could hear their thoughts even though they were off somewhere (it was the mental connection that she had with everyone, which had grown stronger the more time she spent with the crew), but still...

She couldn't hear Kirsty anywhere.

Something's happened to her, I know it... she thought as she walked down the stairs to the ground floor, I'll have to have Austin's Mantra to lock onto her position before I can find her though. Wait a moment, what's this I feel?

As soon as she stepped onto the landing, a group of oddly dressed men in black armor-like shells gathered around her, grinning from ear to ear. She looked at them all calmly, "Gentelmen, may I help you?" she asked coolly.

One of the men laughed, "Chizuru Ukita, pirate woman with a bounty of 29,000,000 Beli. Thanks for giving us your head for that prize!"

Chizuru smiled, "Afraid not boys,"

She stood there and almost instantly, the group of men were startled by something. Each of them looked around, surprised looks on their faces.

"Where that hell-?!"

"She's fast!"

"Where is she!"

"C'mon, let's go! Don't let that bounty get away!"

Chizuru stood there calmly as the men ran out of the building, shouting at one another. She giggled and started walking again, a sly smile on her face.

"Gotta love being psychic...being able to mess with one's mind can be very helpful from time to time. Now," she stepped out of the building and looked at the surrounding buildings, "Let's start looking. First, I need Austin's help,"

Kilnorc: Okay, I think this is a good chapter. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, folks, I've had a busy week. Don't worry though, within a few days, I should be back on top of my old daily updating routine.

On the next chapter of The Secret Power...

Niri: Don't worry, guys, I'm sure those two can handle themselves. They may be kids, but they're tough.

Azu: I don't have to put up with your shit, Devon!

Axe: I love this Mizu-Mizu Meat...ooh, comfy cushions! What is this, water-cushions? Oh, we are so getting these for the new ship.

Chizuru: Hello Sanji-kun, it's been quite a while since we last saw one another, hasn't it?

Third Day Troubles Part Two

Azu: Yo, boyos! Hope ya don't mind, but I came to hang out for awhile...hey, where's Franky and the Squares?