Hey everyone! How are you today? I'm in a lousy mood. Wanna know why? Yesterday, my cousin brought over her little two year old dog, Sparky. Sparky is a Maltese. I have known that dog since my cousin first bought him when he was a month old. And you want to know what he did yesterday? HE BIT ME! That little dog bit me on the leg! I actually bled a little and now my wound is scabbing over…I can't believe it….So sad….

Anyways, enough about me! Let's get on to the story! This will be the last chapter on the battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Marine Inspection Ship. I went one chapter more than what I originally intended. Starting next chapter, we'll go back to Caout and Tide.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep saying this…? I do…? Alright…I do not own any creation of Oda's One Piece….There! Happy…?

Several floors below the deck of the Marine ship, Hazuki was quietly sneaking about. She would freeze in her tracks whenever she heard an explosion coming from above. Hazuki kept thinking over and over how she would give anything not to be noticed by any of the Marines.

Truth be told, Hazuki was actually amazed at how far she had gotten on her own. She smugly thought that if all went well, she would rub this incident in her father's face. So, she couldn't handle herself in a battle? Well, she was going to prove him wrong in a few minutes!

As she wandered hall after hall, Hazuki thought about how she had actually made it on to the Marine vessel without anyone's knowledge…

"DAMN IT!" Hazuki yelled from inside her prison cell of a room, "I want to fight too!"

Hazuki sat down on the stool, her arms crossed in front of her, and pouted. What she wouldn't give to be able to battle like the others were doing at that very moment…Hell, even Anna was fighting and she was younger than Hazuki!

"Oh, that's right…It's because she has 'specialpowers'…" Hazuki said, mocking her father's words.

Hazuki growled in frustration and looked up at the window. If only it wasn't so high up! Then, maybe she could get out of this accursed room!

The angry redhead looked around her room. A box of matches, a candle, a stack of books, a Den-Den Mushi and the stool she was sitting on…What could she do with all of that? Hazuki then took a closer look…The stool, the books, the Den-Den Mushi, the matches…Maybe there was something she could do…Maybe she could be of some use in this battle…Maybe she could-

"AHA!" Hazuki exclaimed, getting up from the stool suddenly, "I've got an idea!"

A few minutes of trial and error later, Hazuki put her hands on her hips. The Den-Den Mushi was safely stowed in one pocket; the box of matches was in the other. The stool was positioned just under the window. On top of said stool were the books, stacked from biggest to smallest in a more or less stable pile.

"Alright, her it goes…" Hazuki muttered as she put her foot on the stool.

It took her a few moments to get her balance right when she got on top of the books. After all, the pile was swaying slightly under her weight. But the pile eventually stood still. Hazuki looked up and saw that, even with all the books, she was still a couple feet too short.

Hazuki furrowed her brow and stared at the window. She realized that there was only one way she was getting up there. She cracked her knuckles and aimed carefully.

Hazuki jumped and grabbed the edge of the window, holding on as tightly as possible. She kept one hand on the edge while the other pushed the window open. Hazuki then used her upper body strength to pull herself up and got half her body out the window.

Thank God I'm such a twig…Hazuki thought as she looked at her surroundings.

The Marine ship was only a few feet away from the Thousand Sunny. Hazuki saw a net hanging off the side of the ship. She could climb that rope and board the vessel. But here came the hard part…Getting to the ship.

Hazuki took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the salty waters. She swam as quickly as she could in the direction of the vessel. Hazuki tentatively brought her head above water. She looked and saw that the Marines were too busy fighting to notice her. Hazuki grabbed hold of the net and started climbing up the side of the ship.

The redhead kept pausing every now and again as she heard the incredibly loud explosions that were rocking the ship.

Franky…Hazuki groaned in her head, knowing the source of said explosions…

Hazuki quickly but carefully scaled the netting until she came across an open window. She glanced inside and saw that the room was empty. Of course…When the ship was under attack by notorious pirates who would want to stay in their room? So, Hazuki maneuvered herself through the window and landed on a rather comfy bed. She sat there for a few moments before jumping off.

"Still nothing compared to a hammock…" Hazuki said as she slowly opened the door.

There was no one in the hallways so she was able to slip out. She quickly made her way through hall after hall, with one goal in mind…

Hazuki was wondering how much longer it would be until she got to the place she was searching for…She sneaked down the hallway, past all the rooms, trying hard not to make any noise…This was actually going very well for her.

"C'mon, we have to hurry!" a Marine yelled as he and his comrade burst out of a room, slamming the door in Hazuki's face, "Those pirates are really beating us up there!"

Hazuki waited a few seconds before slowly pushing the door away from her. Her eyes were watering. She touched her nose gingerly, only to see blood on her fingers when she pulled the hand away. She just shook her head and continued down the hall.

"Oh!" Hazuki gasped as she saw that her sight was becoming blurry, "It must be that time again…"

Hazuki reached to her necklace and pulled off her glasses. She was about to put them on when another large explosion rocked the boat. Hazuki stumbled and the glasses fell out of her hands. Hazuki dropped to her knees and felt around the ground, trying to locate her glasses as her vision steadily grew worse and worse.

"Why now of all times…?" she asked as she kept crawling around the hallway.

Suddenly, one of the doors opened and a Marine came rushing out. He had to get on deck before those lousy pirates killed everyone! But, instead, he tripped on Hazuki, who he hadn't seen when he exited the room. The fall made him slam his head into the wall, knocking him out cold.

Hazuki finally found her glasses and put them on. Glad that she could see again, she turned to see the unconscious Marine. Hazuki nervously got to her feet and ran down the hall, hoping no one would suspect a thing…

She finally came across a flight of stairs that led downwards. Hazuki slowly descended the steps, pausing whenever the steps creaked. She tried to hold back her coughs as she went down into the smoke filled room. Hazuki slowly looked around and saw that yes, this was the right place. Over on the other side of the room, oblivious to Hazuki's presence, were three Marines who were firing cannons. The room was loaded with gunpowder and cannonballs.

"We have to go faster!" one man yelled as Hazuki hid behind some large crates.

"That cyborg keeps blasting back all of our cannonballs!" another yelled.

Hazuki squatted down behind the crates of gunpowder. She had to figure out a way to lure those men out of the room. But how?

Once again, fate seemed to provide her an answer as Hazuki saw a rifle sitting beside her. She picked up the weapon and saw that yes, it was loaded. But what was she going to do with it? She wouldn't shoot those men in the back….Not in this lifetime! Then again, she didn't think she had the guts to shoot those guys in the front either. Instead, Hazuki aimed the gun at the doorway leading into the hall.

Please let this work! Hazuki thought as she fired several shots into the hall.

It did work as planned. The Marines, thinking that there were pirates in the hallway, all ran out with their swords out. Hazuki ran up the stairs and locked the door behind the men. As the Marines struggled to get back in, Hazuki took out her Den-Den Mushi. It was time to make a call…

Anna and Annetoinette had beaten the last few Marines off of Sunny when Anna heard the Den-Den Mushi ringing from her pocket. She knew it was a good idea taking the creature with her when she and Annetoinette had run upstairs.

"Haz! Is that you?" Anna asked.

"Yeah! Are you guys okay?"

"The only Marines left are still on their ship!" Annetoinette responded.

"Great….Listen to me, you two! If there's anyone in our crew on the Marine ship, you have to get them off in the next three minutes!"

The girls looked at each other confused. What was Hazuki getting at?

"Trust me on this!" Hazuki continued, "You've got three minutes to get them back onboard. When they get back on the ship, tell Franky to launch a Coup de Burst! We need to make a hasty retreat!"

"What're you gonna do…?" Annetoinette asked nervously.

"…I'm gonna make some fireworks!" the girl responded before hanging up.

"Oh dear…" Anna sighed as she tried to figure out what her friend was planning.

"C'mon, Anna," Annetoinette said, "We've got work to do!"

The other Straw Hats who were on the Marine vessel were handling their battles easily. Luffy was one punch away from knocking out Commander Ora….permanently.

"EVERYONE!"

The pirates turned back to their ship, to see Annetoinette standing on the railing and calling out to them.

"RETREAT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "GET BACK ON SUNNY NOW!"

The rest of the crew was dumbfounded. Retreat? When they obviously had the advantage? But something on Annetoinette's face told them that they better do what she said. Soon all the Straw Hats were back on the Thousand Sunny. The Marines were cheering, thinking that the pirates had suddenly gotten scared.

Anna leaned over the side of the ship as Annetoinette shouted for Franky to ready the Coup de Burst. That's when she saw it. A familiar redhead who was swimming furiously towards the ship. Anna sprouted several arms to grab Hazuki and pulled her onboard.

"Just a few more seconds…" Hazuki gasped as the Thousand Sunny was suddenly launched in the air.

Just then, the Straw Hat Pirates heard it…A loud explosion. They turned to see that the Marine vessel had, for some strange reason, blown up. A few moments later, the Sunny landed back on the ocean. The crew turned to look at Hazuki, who let out an exhilarated laugh.

"It's amazing what you can do with a few matches and a lot of gunpowder…" she said with a chuckle.

Luffy looked at his daughter…She was soaking wet. Her nose was bleeding. She had some minor burn marks on her hands…Hazuki had broken out of the room…She had risked her life on the Marine ship…

"Luffy!" Nami called out to him, "It looks like the Coup de Burst was a big help! We cut down travel by a couple days. I estimate we'll reach Garuka in another day!"

Luffy walked to his daughter, who was wiping her glasses and putting them back on her necklace now that her vision wasn't blurry anymore. Hazuki saw Luffy standing by her and stood up, the two watching each other carefully.

"Hazuki…" Luffy finally said, the first word spoken between them in the past few days.

"I know," Hazuki said seriously, "…We need to talk…"

Another chapter down! Leave it to Hazuki to use her head to get her out of a mess, huh? Okay, so next chapter it's back to Caout and Tide. I'm still trying to figure out the talk between Luffy and Hazuki. I know what they have to say…It's actually writing it down, wording it, that's giving me problems…

Anyways, please keep reading and reviewing! And thanks for sticking with this story for so long! I appreciate it! Thank you guys!