Note: Okay, you get one last chance to guess about the hunters.


Luffy twisted his body in midair and tossed an elastic punch at Natkaz, who seemed to float away to dodge. Landing on Sunny's lawn, he grit his teeth. "Dammit! He won't stay still..." He stood up, realizing that his opponent was missing. "What the..?" Then he felt something tickling his legs. "Ahh!!"

A strange mist of a sickly green was floating up, trying to engulf the young pirate, who leapt straight up, only to have the mist jump up after him. Now Luffy was surrounded. But he hadn't lost yet. Spinning his rubber body in two directions at once, Luffy extended his limbs everywhere at once. "Gomu-Gomu no Hanabi!"

The mist dispersed, only to reform into Natkaz, who was grinning. "Think you had me figured out, huh, boy? Guess not. See, I've eaten the Mure-Mure no Mi. I can turn my entire body into a 'swarm' of little insect things... so I'm never, ever outnumbered."


"Ocho Fluer Twist!" Robin managed to pull Naakah's flamethrower away from Nami, who managed to zap the bounty hunter with a Swing Arm. Naakah grunted, then looked directly at Robin. The historian felt a large wave of pain wash over her brain. Her concentration broken, her extra eight arms disappeared.

"Robin!" cried Nami, sending out a flurry of Cool and Heat Balls to create a fog to temporarily deter their opponent. "Are you okay?"

"Fine..." Robin replied, holding her head as she sat up. Blood dripped from her mouth. "Let's finish this soon."

The navigator nodded and helped her fellow female pirate up as Naakah's laser beams barely missed them. "It's like Enies Lobby all over again."


Chopper reluctantly put a Rumble Ball in his mouth. As he felt it shatter between his teeth, he knew that he had to finish this battle in three minutes or less. Otherwise, his nakama would be in trouble. He shifted into Jumping Point to evade a blast of frost from Koht's gun. From the reindeer's new vantage point, he could see how everyone was doing.

"Brain Point Scope!" Shifting into his hybrid form, Chopper put the tips of his hooves together and focused his concentration on Koht. The pale-skinned hunter was looking around confusedly for Chopper.

"Got it! His weak point is..." Shifting into his Arm Point, Chopper fell back towards the Sunny. "His forehead!"

"Wut?" growled Koht, eyes widening as he saw Chopper hurdling at him. "My forehead...?" The hunter realized it at the last second, so he jumped out of the way to avoid the blow.

Chopper stumbled, shaking his head. "Okay, so that was a miss.. But next time, I'll make I don't."


Meanwhile, in the storeroom, Zoro was tossing everything around, trying to find a single trace of alcohol to consume. So far, not much luck. He had no idea how far away they were from port. He could ask Nami, but he had a feeling he didn't want to deal with her.

His thoughts momentarily drifted back to Raftel, where Tashigi had revealed her real identity – that of Zoro's childhood friend Kuina.

"I-impossible!" Zoro spat, not taking his eyes off of the dark-haired Marine in from of him."No way you're Kuina! She's dead, after falling down the stairs in her father's dojo! I saw! I saw! I saw! There's... no way..."

Tashigi – Kuina – smiled weakly. "Zoro... I had to convince you that I was dead, didn't I? I practiced holding my breath, and staying perfectly still... All to convince you. I knew that... you needed some help to go after your dream... you wouldn't go after it on your own."

"BULLSHIT!" yelled Zoro, feeling years worth of anger and grief surfacing. "I would've gone, especially if you – no, Kuina – was still alive! So I had decent competition!"

"But I am alive, Zoro!" screamed back Kuina, tears starting to stream down her face. "I'm here, right in front of you, aren't I?! I can finally see how strong you are, what you've done... you've accomplished more than I can imagine..."

Zoro said nothing, biting his lip in anger. He undid his bandana and tied it back on his arm. Sheathing his katanas, he said, "Whether you're Kuina or not... I'll show you. I'll show you that I am going to complete my promise. I will become the greatest swordsman in the world!"

"The best until your name is known in both Heaven and earth?" asked Kuina meekly. "I... heard you say that." She looked at a sword at Zoro's waist – the one in the white scabbard. "I'll be wanting Wado back."

"You won't be getting it back for a long time," Zoro said, feeling Luffy's arm grab his haramaki. "Not until I'm the best."


Brook found that Kadier was very adaptable; no matter what techniques the skeleton tried to use, the hunter would dodge or counter it the next time it was used. This was tricky. But, after all, Brook was about eighty-eight years old. He had plenty of experience... and he hadn't used his signature attack yet. The skeleton felt he best end this quick, or watch his new nakama suffer.

Brook walked past Kadier, who watched with a scowl across his face. "Where da you think yer goin'?"

Ignoring his opponent, Brook directed his attention – still walking – to Sanji instead. "How are you doing, Sanji?"

"Oh, just fine, Brook," replied the cook, smashing Nozev's nose with a well placed kick. The silver-haired hunter groaned as blood squirted from his nose, then fell on his back. "Now I can kick this guy into the ocean where he belongs."

"Hey, I'm talkin' to ya!" said Kadier, raising his buzzsaw high above his head, intending to split Brook in two. "Pay attention to me!"

"If you're so desperate for attention," said Brook, not turning around, and starting to sheath his sword. "You'll get plenty after this. Hanauta Sanchou..." His blade only had an inch exposed now. "Yahazu Giri!" Brook slid the rest of the sword into his cane.

A massive cut, about five inches deep, appeared on Kadier's chest. Blood ruptured from the wound immediately, and Kadier's wide eyes got even wider. "No shit..!!" Then he collapsed, clothes and skin covered in blood.

Brook started humming, spinning his cane as he went to help his crew-mates, seemingly ignoring his now defeated opponent.


Usopp, in a pang of irony, found it fit for him to be facing a man who was assembling weapons from stuff out of his pockets – after all, the long-nosed sniper had created Nami's Clima-Tact, as well as several off his own ammunition. "I always seem to get the weirdos.." He muttered, loading Kabuto. He took careful aim at Kava, who seemed to be doing the same. "Ageha Ryusei!" The flaming shots squiggled in the air, missing Kava's own shot (which Usopp then dived to avoid)... but ended up missing Kava entirely. "How..??"

Kava grinned, which distorted his face due to his wide cheeks. "That shot I fired? Yeah. Major recoil for me. So, you missed. Me, too. But, I'm safe. You're not." He slammed his normal tool – something that looked like a jackhammer – into the Sunny's deck, sending Usopp off-balance. The hunter then fired a green sphere like Kozev had done earlier. And it was right on target.


"Strong Right!" Franky's chained fist shot straight for Kozev, who stepped aside, ready to fire another harpoon blast. But Franky was smarter than that. He pulled the chain with his left hand, letting it wrap around his grungy adversary. "Up and away, bro!" The shipwright said, hurling Kozev straight up into the air.

Kozev laughed. "Now what? Another cannonball that I'll slice in half? You can't use the same old tricks on me!"

"Oh, it's another cannonball, alright," said Franky, now attaching the T-shaped pipe to his forearms. "But you can't cut this one." Falling on his back, the cyborg started taking in massive amounts of air, causing his forearms to swell up. "Coup de..."

Kozev's eyes went wide and round. "You can't be serious..."

"VENT!" The shot of compressed air went straight up, colliding with Kozev and sending him up, up, up into the sky... until he disappeared from sight.

Pushing his pompadour out from his eyes, Franky sighed. "I guess I should get more cola before I can help anyone..."


Luffy collided with the railing of the Sunny. Without, he'd probably be sinking into the ocean by now. Spitting out a glob of blood from his mouth, he stood up to face Natkaz. "You're a pain in the ass."

Natkaz chuckled, walking towards Luffy, his giant three-bladed scissor gleaming in the sunlight. "Don't worry, this'll be over soon."

"Yeah, for you," Luffy grinned, then prepared to go into Gear Second, when he heard Nami's voice.

"No, Luffy!" His navigator screamed as Robin titled Naakah's flamethrower into its owner's face. "Don't! You're gonna overload your body and... and..." Normally, she would've been able to finish this, but she suddenly fell to her knees. "Y-you can't... you'll die..."

"..." Luffy looked at Nami for a few moments, then nodded. "Okay, I won't." He turned back to Natkaz, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like I'll be going easy on you." Then he slammed his fist so hard into the hunter's face that a few teeth fell out of the crooked smile. "But you'll still loose."


To be continued...