Hey, guys. Sorry about the long wait. For the most part, I have excuses.

The first one is my weakest. I got hooked on this one game that I just bought, called Overlord 2. God, it's addicting!! Being evil has never been so much fun!! It's basically Pikmin, BUT EVIL!!! AND you get a harem of hot chicks!! FOR REAL!!! It's AWESOMENESS!!! 'Ahem'

Video game nerd moment over… next, I went on vacation. You would be surprised how many hotels in Tennessee have no wifi. I managed to get a good portion of this done on that trip, but it wasn't enough…

Because once I got home, I went on ANOTHER vacation. This time, my grandparents stole me, my sister and my annoying brother away to go to Yellowstone, stopping at the badlands and Mount Rushmore along the way. Yeah. Not really sure what to say about that.

And then… school started again. Le Gasp! The horror! The inhumanity! I think you can all understand that bit, at least.

All in all, at some point without my knowing, I became Murphy's bitch. I haven't checked my email in weeks… hot damn! My beta-boss is gonna be so pissed at me! Sorry, guys! It's not my fault!!

Well, so far as I can tell, nobody got the cookie from last chapter! Oh, well! Sally forth, young readers, into the great unknown! Lol

Edit: oh, fuck. I just realized I screwed up! But it's not my fault!! It's the damn translators!! I just found out on the One Piece Wikia that merfolk (I.E. caimie, from the shabondy archipelago arc) and fishmen (I.E. Arlong) are different species!!! Fuck dammit!! I blame the translators. The source that I usually get my stuff from (I.e. when it's not an anime-only filler arc like this) translates them the same. I didn't figure this out until just a few days ago. Please ignore my screw-up, and, for the sake of me saving face, pretend that they are, in fact, one and the same. Unless an arc shows up that differentiates the two (which, in all honesty, probably will, because fate likes to screw with me. Dammit!) In which case, I will go back to the previous chapters and make the necessary edits.

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Disclaimer: I don't own one piece, it really does suck, I don't own one piece but I don't give a fu- 'random mom appears out of nowhere' WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!!!!

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"This looks like some sort of command post for the island." Gold roger said as he semi-closed the stones doors behind him. Luffy nodded and pointed at a pearly white object.

"Well. You can tell what happened here." Luffy said nonchalantly as he stared around the room. Gold roger winced.

"Yeah. Looks like they must've put up a hell of a fight." The room was littered with the bones and weapons of dead soldiers, still gripped tight in their unmoving hands. At the back of the room, a man (he assumed) dressed in much more finery and regalia, lay slumped over a desk, an arrow in the back of his head. "Look. That guy right there must've been the leader."

"Looks like he was the first to go." Luffy walked around to the skeleton, noting with some interest the book clutched tightly in his hand. "Hey, roger! Commere, take a look at this." The man stood from examining a soldier and walked over, and his eyes widened ever-so-slightly.

"Wow. Incredible. That a book of paper and leather survived all this time… in such good condition, too!" he looked over at the slightly ajar stone doors they had come through. "It really says a lot about the technology of the time. If they were able to get stone doors to seal so tight as to block out the elements for this long…" Luffy gently pulled it out of the commander's grip and did a quick once over.

"I can't make head nor tail of this writing. Roger, can you translate this?" he handed it to the pirate king.

"Oh, yeah. This is cake. Standard dialect of the east blue, eight hundred years ago. This was my language for god knows how long."

"What? Didn't you stay at Atlantis, in the grand line?"

"Nah, I travelled a lot. Broadened my horizons, if you will. After all, who else would get a chance to see the world eight hundred years ago?" He turned it over to the cover. "Log of the Capitolinus islands, by Samuel B. Richard. Looks like some sort of captain's log for a whole island."

"Or a report for a military outpost." Luffy added. Roger nodded and gently flipped open to the first page.

"'Year 701 under our great lord of the sky. We have finally reached the island which will be our new home. The days after we separated from the mainland were difficult, and many of the new settlers fell ill from scurvy. However, we have arrived, and have now set up makeshift huts while we try and create more permanent lodgings. We request stone and masonworkers to assist us in this endeavor.'" Roger frowned. "Hmmm…"

"What?" Luffy asked.

"This reads almost exactly identical to a status report. You know, lieutenants would send these to the generals and whatnot to report on how their troop is holding up? But why, in a book…" he waved his hand over it, and it glowed a faint blue. "Aha!"

"What? What'd you do?"

"I scanned for any unnatural powers, and this book faintly resonates of god-magic. It's faint, after all these years, so you'd only be able to find it if you knew what you were looking for. But now I understand! This book must somehow have had the power to transport back and forth from the sender and the receiver! Sort of like a messenger bird, only no bird!" Luffy's eyebrows arched up.

"Wow. Pretty impressive god. And for the storm and the mirage to have held that much power for all that time, without any reinforcement, he must have been monstrously powerful. Maybe as strong as Kronos in his prime, even."

"No kidding. And this is just an outpost, apparently. Who was this guy?" roger flipped it to another page. "'Year 632 under out great lord of the sky. Word has reached us that Shandora has been taken in a coup.'" Luffy's eyes shot open. 'Skypiea…' he mouthed. "'The conquerors seem to have also taken all of Shandora's outposts outside of the Grand Line. They call themselves 'the Tenryuubito'.'" Here Luffy very nearly had a heart attack.

"The Tenryuubito!?!?" he screamed. Roger gave him a critical glance.

"Who do you think conquered Atlantis? This doesn't surprise me that they took over other superpowers as well. They'd want their power to be unrivaled." He looked down and continued reading. "'They have also cast down any and all altars to their previous god, Poseidon.'" Here both of them were shocked.

"Poseidon!?" they shouted. "Poseidon belonged to Shandora!?" Luffy exclaimed. Gold roger looked faintly queasy.

"Poseidon AND Kronos… they took both of them down… what manner of monster are they?" he slowly began to read again. "'They seem to wish for peace between our nations, however. As a sign of a peace offering, they have sent us two mighty serpent sea kings to guard us. Our mighty lord of the sky, however, took this as an extremely favorable offering, as he then transformed these beasts into a form that pleased him. They have now grown feathers and have the ability to fly. We have taken to calling them, 'Sennenryuu', as we are told by the Tenryuubito that they have an almost unlimited lifespan, far beyond regular sea kings.'" They spared each other a glance.

"So, once Poseidon was out of the picture, this sky god transformed some sea kings into the Sennenryuu."

"This is a lot more twisted around than I had imagined." Gold roger hissed. "'Year 624 under our great lord of the sky. Increasing tensions between us and the Tenryuubito, as they have taken more and more land from our neighbors. Trade has all but stopped as they place embargos onto us. Only our lands and the lands of Kronos, thrice-begotten son of seaspawn that he is, remain out of their control.'" They spared each other a look.

"Apparently people worshipping this guy don't like Kronos." Luffy shrugged.

"Indeed. 'The Tenryuubito are inching closer and closer to our borders, and the villagers are growing frightened. Requesting additional forces to bolster their morale.'" Gold roger skipped to the last entry. "This last bit seems to be more frantic than the rest. And a bit more disturbing."

"Disturbing?" Luffy echoed.

"Yeah, just listen. 'We are under attack!! The Tenryuubito have betrayed us and are storming us!! We are safe atop the Capitoline hill, but they are sacking the town as I write. We recently sent some settlers to the island next to the holy grounds to try and populate it, so our lineage is safe, but we are doomed!! The garbs they wear, the savage way they fight, it proves to be that the motherland is not safe. I repeat, the motherland is not safe. The insignia they wear, it proves to me! The Tenryuubito worship the traitorous kro-.'" Gold roger flipped to the back, and sighed. "It cuts off there. There's blood on that entry, and it's smeared out the last word. But if you look at what's left of the last word…" Luffy frowned.

"The farther we get into this mess, the worse it smells."

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"Well… so far as I can tell, that is one big-ass painting." Gin stared at the drawings on the crumbling ceiling. Nami smacked him upside the head.

"Idiot! It's a mural! A picture that tells a story!" Luffy-clone nodded.

"Yeah, I've seen a few of these before, back when I was in Atl- at, at, where was it again?" he fumbled, catching his slip early. Zoro spared him a meaningful glance.

"But what's it a picture of?" Usopp asked, before hissing in pain. Sanji lit a cigarette, his previous one having died.

"It looks like some kind of map. But I can't tell what it's a map of, since it's falling apart." Nami glanced across the ceiling, taking in the streams of people, and the geometric Sennenryuu surrounding a plateauing object, whose center was missing. "What is this place, anyways? Isn't this supposed to be the dragon's nest?"

"I don't know, but I think I know what this cavern IS for." Luffy-clone picked up an incense burner, buried under a smaller pile of rock. "So far as I can tell, this is some sort of chamber for worshipping. It'd be able to fit in a lot of people, or a few REALLY big things, and the decoration is, or was, pretty extravagant, so these guys had a lot of cash burning a hole in their pocket." He pointed up to the massive holes in the side of the building. "There are massive holes in there, possibly for something to fly through into here. Put two and two together, and I'd say the Sennenryuu were somehow worshipped as a type of demigod or holy beast on this island." He cracked his neck. "Still doesn't answer the big question, though: is this the dragon's nest?" Apis looked up from staring into Ryuuji's eyes.

"I don't know. Ryuuji says he doesn't remember what this is."

"Geez, the same useless geezer as always." Said Alvida as she frowned.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?"

"Well, it's true!" Alvida protested as Luffy-clone shuffled over to a collapsed portion of the ceiling.

"And how are YOU being useful!?" Alvida drew back as if stung.

"m-me?"

"Oi! Guys! Take a look at this!" the entire group turned as one. "The ceiling over here collapsed."

"Geh!?" Usopp choked.

"It's huge!" Apis exclaimed. Usopp glanced up at the ceiling nervously, as if expecting to be smushed.

"Man, this whole place looks ready to cave in! If we don't get out of here fast, we're going to be in real danger!!" Nami took another look at the ceiling and gasped.

"But this could be the dragon's nest!!" Apis said obstinately.

"Oh really?" Alvida interjected, feeling bitter. "And how do you figure that, when there's not a dragon in sight!?" Luffy-clone pointed at the Sennenryuu painted on the collapsed portion. "Sennenryuu that are alive!!"

"Actually, guys… this might not be lost island." Nami said slowly. Alvida stuck her tongue out childishly.

"See?" Apis' forehead pulsed with veins.

"DON'T ACT LIKE A SMARTASS WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW THE REASON EITHER!!!!"

"And how do you figure that, Nami?" Luffy-clone asked. Nami pointed to the ceiling. Luffy-clone's gaze followed. "The mural?"

"Take a look at the pictures. I think it's a map that shows the direction of the lost island." Luffy-clone arched an eyebrow.

"Now how does that wor… OHH!! I see it!!" he pointed up at the ceiling. "That island with the dome is us, and the dome is this building! All the people that are facing away from it are the people that are leaving, the worshippers!" Nami nodded.

"Right. They're probably Apis' ancestors or something." Apis' eyes widened slightly.

"My ancestors…?"

"Hey, do you remember what grandpa Bokuden said?" Nami asked. Luffy-clone shook his head.

"Nope. I can't remember anything past breakfast." Nami facepalmed.

"Idiot. He said that the people of Gunkan Island came from somewhere else, right?" Luffy-clone retained the same blank look.

"Hey, now that you mention it… he did say something like that, didn't he?" gin interjected. "So that royal court thing, with all the kings and stuff, was here?" Nami nodded.

"Probably. We saw all of those buildings and statues of the Sennenryuu when we showed up here. I think that the people here worshipped the Sennenryuu as gods or holy beasts, like Luffy said. Long ago, the Sennenryuu probably flew around here quite a bit." Usopp nodded.

"Well, if the people moved, then the chances of the dragon's nest being here is probably pretty low."

"But then, where's the real one?" Apis asked frantically.

"Probably the island with a dragon drawn on it." Zoro finally spoke up. Nami nodded.

"Exactly. The people who are worshipping are facing a different island, right? That's probably the real lost island. The dragon's nest is probably there too." Apis' eyes widened as she stared at the plateauing island.

"Wait! That island looks like…!" here Nami looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Yeah. If you think about the way it's drawn on the map… then the dragon's nest would have to be on Gunkan Island." Luffy-clone's eyes widened as he swore loudly.

"Oh, fuck me sideways and call me a daisy!!" he smashed his head against the collapsed ceiling portion. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!" the entire crew jerked away in shock.

"L-Luffy!?" Nami exclaimed.

"I'm SUCH a DUMBASS!! How could I not have seen it!? I even said it to Apis!!" Luffy-clone gave himself one more whack on the head for good measure before he turned away. "When we were high-tailing away from the marines, I felt a huge thing under the island. I thought it was just an underwater volcano or something, but if lost island is at Gunkan Island…!" Apis' eyes widened.

"You mean… it's underwater…?" she said hesitantly. "No! I refuse to believe that!" she ran to Ryuuji's side. "Ryuuji!! Please remember, Ryuuji! We thought we had found it here, but there's nothing here!! Only these drawings!! We have nothing to go on unless you remember!! Ryuuji!!" a quintuplet of birds, perched atop a window to the outside, took flight across the mighty expanse. The elderly dragon looked skyward with his failing vision, to the great mural as the flock of verdant birds passed across the depiction of the Capitoline Dome. His eyes widened, and he remembered.

"My…! My friends!! Towards the homeland!!" Apis gasped.

"Ryuuji!!" Luffy-clone nodded.

"Alright, the dragon's nest IS at Gunkan Island." Apis nodded.

"You're right. 'To the east of the summit, in a place that looks like a battleship.' That's where the dragon's nest is."

"Geez, we come all the way out here and look what happens." Luffy-clone slapped him upside the head.

"Hey, you! Shut your mouth! Don't go dissing Apis! She didn't know this wasn't the dragon's nest!"

"I'm sorry." Apis mumbled. "I dragged you all out here, knowing that it might not even be here… that it might have actually sunk into the sea. I guess it was all just a waste of time." Luffy-clone sighed and ruffled his hair, before grinning.

"Oh, come on! Don't act all depressed! We still learned a lot here! And who knows? The dragon's nest might NOT be on the lost island! We messed up here, didn't we?"

"But we won't know unless we go looking, won't we?" Nami smiled. Sanji smiled as well, cigarette dangling precariously from his lips.

"If you're too afraid of making mistakes in life, you won't get anything done."

"The roundabout way of life isn't bad." Zoro merely smirked. Gin sighed good-naturedly.

"We got to see this incredible place, didn't we? That should more than justify the trip! I for one don't regret this a bit!" Kuro, having said nothing throughout the entire duration, stared up at the gaping hole in the ceiling where they had fallen from.

"Thank you!!" Apis cheered. Kuro shifted and leaped up through the hanging vines, having reached the top of the room in less than a second.

"I suppose you were going to ambush us now?" Kuro stated, pushing his glasses up. "I think not." The entire gathering gave a start as they heard Erik chuckle once.

"I suppose I have to thank all of you, for now I know where the Sennenryuu are." Kuro held out a hand to his crew.

"Zoro." The swordsman nodded and threw up Yubashiri into his open hand. Kuro flicked it open, brandishing it towards the enemy. Erik laughed.

"Ha! You think that a mere sword will stop me? I will make sure that die a very painf-"

"SHARK ON DARTS!!!!" a voice shouted out. Erik's eyes shot open as the very painful nose of Nokogiri Arlong punched straight through his shoulder. The falling body knocked into Kuro, and all three fell through into the cavern. Luffy-clone was the first to react.

"Arlong!?!?"

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Luffy gave a start at the battle cry. "Roger!! Did you hear…!?" the pirate king nodded.

"Yeah. Looks like Arlong managed to bust himself out. Seems like there's a fight going on, too. I'll leave you to your machinations." And with that, he dissipated into vapor. Luffy smashed through the door, leaping down to the rest of the crew.

"Boss!!" Luffy-clone exclaimed. "Arlong…! He…!"

"Yeah, I heard! Your work is done!" Luffy snapped his fingers, and the clone dissipated. Luffy reeled from the influx of information, but quickly recovered. "Arlong, you lucky sunnovabitch! How'd you bust yourself out?"

"I have to thank this guy here." Arlong pulled himself up, blood dripping from his nose. "He weakened my chains while he tried to torture me. If not for that, I'd still be on the ship." Kuro groaned and wriggled out from the unconscious mercenary.

"Next time, when you decide to be a big damn hero, try to do it when I'm not in the fall-out zone!" Arlong chuckled and pulled his crewmate up.

"I won't make any promises." The Fishman whistled as he took in the surroundings. "Damn! This is one hell of a set-up! What is this place?" his eyes settled on Ryuuji. "And WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!" Arlong shouted in surprise. Luffy blinked.

"Oh! That's right, you were on guard duty! You didn't meet him! Arlong, this is Ryuuji! He's a Sennenryuu!" Arlong's eyes bugged out.

"A Sennenryuu…! They actually exist!!" Arlong inched closer. "Umm… is it okay if I…?" Luffy, finally realizing his intent, laughed.

"Yeah, it's okay!" Arlong tenitively reached out a hand to touch him.

"A real Sennenryuu…! My mother told me bedtime stories about them when I was a child! I can't believe they're real!"

"You have a mother? Would've figured you crawled out from under a rock…" Nami muttered under her breath. Both Luffy and Arlong heard, though both pretended not to hear. "So! What do we do with this guy?" the navigator prodded Erik in the side. Luffy waved him off.

"Ah, ignore him. We can just leave him here. More importantly, we need to figure out a way to get out of here." He peered around. "Hmm… doesn't seem like there's any openings…"

"That, would be a problem." Gin stated. Luffy grinned as he slowly backed up.

"That's no problem for us, now is it? If there's no opening… THEN WE'LL MAKE ONE!!!!" with those final words, Luffy charged past Arlong.

"What the!?" Nami felt the breeze.

"He isn't…!"

"GRAAAAAAH!!!" Luffy roared as he slammed into the stone wall… and bounced right back off, thrown to the floor. Luffy stuttered explicitives as he nursed his bruised forehead. "The hell is that stuff made of? I was sure I could break it…"

"Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi..." The crew muttered as one.

The ceiling rumbled as stray stones fell to the ground. With startling suddenness, the wall one segment over cracked and fell to pieces. Luffy stood amongst the cloud of dust and laughed. "Hey! It opened! Result alright, result alright!" he chuckled as he walked back to Ryuuji. Arlong, along with the rest of the crew, gaped in astonishment.

"That guy is stronger than a caveman…" he mumbled.

"I like strong men, but this is ridiculous…" Alvida whispered. Nami's throbbing cluster of veins was the only indication she gave of hearing. Luffy picked up the rope attached to the cart and laughed.

"All aboard!!" he called. The crew slowly loaded onto the wooden contraption as Luffy gave it a tug. "Let's GO!!"

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY!!!" Erik leaped up and slashed at the air.

"What!?" Luffy shouted as the blast shot toward the backside of the cart.

"Secret technique: three thousand worlds!!" Zoro leaped up and rapidly spun his blades, more or less neutralizing the attack. Luffy breathed out.

"Zoro!! Take care of hiiiiiiiiiiiim!!!!" he screamed as the cart flew off the edge of the cliff, skating downwards on the tree's massive roots. The santoryuu user cracked his neck as Erik snarled menacingly.

"Cretin! You will regret getting in my way!!" Zoro merely pointed a sword in his direction.

"We'll just see how much I regret it… mercenary."

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"I'm the fastest thing alive right now!!!" Usopp screamed as he clung for dear life to Ryuuji's pinfeathers.

"How is that supposed to impress anyone!?!?" Sanji screamed.

"Luffy!!! Do something!! We'll be in pieces before we reach the ship!!" Luffy merely laughed giddily, jumping onto the front of the cart.

"s'okay, Nami! S'okay!"

"HOW!?!?!?!?"

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Erik leaped backwards. "Kama Kama no KAMAITACHI!!!!" Zoro only barely ducked in the middle of his charge as the wind soared over his head, slicing through the fallen masonry.

"What the hell was that!?" he shouted. Erik smirked and charged forward. Zoro whipped up a sword to defend himself… only for Erik to race right by him, running for the gaping hole. "What!? Running away, bastard!?"

"I have to time to deal with your kind my only objective is to take the Sennenryuu!!" with that, Erik leaped over the edge and was gone. Zoro snarled and leaped after him.

"WAIT!!!" Zoro shouted as he plunged over the Cliffside, screaming. Luckily for him, he landed precariously on the massive roots, skating down on one foot. The swordsman spotted Erik a few yards ahead of him. With a clench of his teeth, he leaned forward to speed his descent.

'Those idiots had better be okay…'

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"Luffy!! Is Zoro going to be okay!?" Apis yelled over the roar of the cart. The pirate captain laughed and clutched his hat to his head.

"Oh, yeah, he'll be fine! I've seen him take down way worse than that gay guy!"

"But that guy is a devil fruit user!!" she screamed. Luffy was quickly reminded of another devil fruit user he fought and nearly died against.

'He never did explain to me how he managed to cut steel.' He thought absently. "Don't worry! Even then, it'll be okay! He always pulls through!!" Apis fell silent.

"Luffy!!!" Alvida screamed, pointing straight forward. "We're headed straight into that cave!!" Luffy blinked and looked up. It was a mausoleum, really, but the results would still turn out the same.

"Oh, fuck. That's not good…"

"DO SOMETHING!!!" the pirate shrieked. The group screamed as they plunged headfirst into the opening… before shooting out the other end. Luffy breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank god there wasn't a wall there, or we would be flatter than a pancake.' As is was, the opening out the back was a bit too small for comfort, smashing through the only thing holding up the structurally unsound building. With a mighty crash, the mausoleum crumpled into itself, sending a cloud of dust, dirt and decay into the air.

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Erik smirked at the tell-tale cloud. "There they are." He crouched, only to straighten again as Zoro landed on an opposite building.

"Sorry, but you shall not pass!" Zoro stated, leveling a blade at the mercenary. Erik flinched, before grinning.

"Oh? Is that so? I think it is up to me whether I pass or not." He whipped his arm back. "Get out of the WAY!!!" he threw the cutting whirlwind at Zoro. The swordsman leaped away onto solid ground, only to duck again as another wind blasted out of the newly-formed dust cloud. In the confusion, Zoro grimaced as he watched Erik leap away on the rooftops.

"Bastard, you're not getting away from me!" Zoro shouted as he took pursuit.

Erik looked behind him to note, with some irritation, that the meddlesome teen was still trailing after him. With a split-second motion, a low-hanging branch from a passing tree was severed and in the way of Zoro. Erik grinned. "The ryuukotsu shall be mine yet!"

Zoro gasped as he skidded to a halt, the branch very nearly crushing him. He scowled as he looked at a stubby outlying branch on the fallen limb. An idea took form.

"Finally." Erik smirked as yet another dust cloud shot into the air. He leaped…

And flipped mid-air as a twirling limb hit him in the ankle, messing with his angle. He landed splat on the ground as the twig skittered away. A katana was hefted in front of his nose. Zoro scowled at the man.

"I told you once before! YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!!!" shouted the clearly irritated man. "Move and I skewer you through the face!"

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"Luffy… there's another dead-end coming up…" Apis moaned.

"We'll destroy it, same as the others." He replied, nonchalant.

"WE CAN'T!!" Nami screamed. "That's the same cliff that we came up before!! If we fall off the edge of that, we're done for!!" Luffy's eyes widened.

"Wait, WHOAWHOAWHOA!!! You mean the dead-end's a CLIFF!?!? That changes things!!! What do we do!?!" Kuro held his glassed to his nose.

"We could fly down to the ground." The strategist offered.

"WE CAN'T FLY!!!!" Apis screamed.

"I wonder about that…" he replied. The choice was taken out of their hands as the front-right wheel burst off its axle, pinwheeling the cart and miraculously lining it up exactly with the small path zigzagging up the mountain. Everybody screamed as the cart slammed into the wall…. And bounced right back off, into another zigzagging path. And so it continued, down the entire cliff.

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Zoro's ears twitched a he heard faint screaming, quickly looking over in the general direction of his crewmates. Erik wasted no time. Zoro yelped as a fistful of dust was tossed into his eyes, effectively blinding him. Erik helped himself up, clearly pissed.

"I believe I told you to stay out of my way!" he shouted. Now die like a good boy!!" Zoro squinted at him, completely incapacitated.

'Dammit!!'

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"I think we arrived safely…" Nami moaned as the cart slowed to a stop near the going merry.

"I wouldn't say that, considering our shitty luck today…" gin commented, breathless. The cart slammed into a root… and stopped it dead flat, sending all the people on the backside of the cart into the water. Luffy peered around at them, laughing.

"We made it! We made it!"

"I can't take it anymore…"" Nami moaned.

"Shitty rubber-man…" Sanji growled.

"I am DEFINITELY going to kill him one of these days…" gin burbled, head stuck deep into the mud underneath the water. Alvida looked over at the sopping wet Nami and leered, but said nothing. Nami's glare told her she already was pissed enough without her poking the fire. Arlong helped himself off the cart and walked over to Nami and held out a hand.

"Need some help?" he smiled. Of course, with his shark-like fangs, it came out more menacing than anything. Nami quickly stood and stormed away, not saying anything. Arlong pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course you don't."

Apis looked upwards at the sky, where a flock of birds were hovering. She gasped. "Luffy!!" the captain looked up from hauling in the anchor. "Zoro!! They said that Zoro's in trouble!! What do we do!? We have to go help him!" Luffy looked up at the towering cliff.

"…I have an idea."

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"DIE!!" Erik shouted. Zoro grunted.

"ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~OOOOO~OO~O~O!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Luffy's screamed echoed across the entire island. Erik blinked, caught completely off-guard. Zoro looked behind him, only to squeak very unmanly-like as a hand latched onto the back of his shirt.

"BINGO!!!!" Luffy shouted.

"AWESOME!!!!" Apis cried as he lifted her binoculars.

"Luffy… why am I seeing a pattern here…?" Zoro whispered.

"GET BACK HERE!!!!" Luffy shouted… and the arm retracted.

"I'D BETTER NOT HIT THE SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!!" WHAM!!!!

"Ah. Sorry Zoro."

"One of these days, I am DEFINITELY going to kill you."

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The marine stared through the binoculars. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It had to be some sort of illusion. But it wasn't. The disembodied head of a goat was floating in midair on the sea. He opened his mouth to say something… ANYTHING… when the head moved. And out from the head followed a ship.

"Woo!! We're out!" Luffy cheered from the crow's nest.

"Jeez, that is so weird. The hell is up with that mirage?" Arlong asked, shivering. The marine gasped.

"CAPTAIN!!!" he shouted as he ran into the brig. "Captain, the pirates!"

"What about them?" Souza, who was examining the broken chains that once held Arlong, asked.

"They have the Sennenryuu and are headed in the direction of Gunkan Island! They are currently close to entering the harbor!"

"Set all ships to pursuit! Don't waste any time! Chase them down before they get away!" he shouted, walking out onto the deck.

"Sir, that's not all!" the man continued. "Just after the pirates appeared, Erik-san did the same…" Souza whipped his head to the side of the ship, where Erik was being hoisted over the side. "And is now boarding our ship." Souza cursed.

"Idiots. They should've sunk his damn ship." He muttered.

"What was that, sir?"

"NOTHING!! I appreciate the report!" he walked over to Erik, who hopped onto the deck. "I see you returned safely. Did you get those ryuukotsu you were looking for?" Erik snarled.

"If you've got enough time to be sarcastic, then start chasing them again!" Souza got up directly in the mercenary's face, any and all pretense of being courteous gone.

"I don't care who you are, mercenary, but I run this ship! And your idiocy with that merman allowed him to escape! He damn near scuttled the ship before he ran! I don't care if you come with the authority of all three of the admirals, If your damn obsession gets in the way of protecting my men, so help me god, I will throw you overboard myself! Understand!?" Erik grimaced and brushed him aside.

"Don't think commodore nelson won't hear about this!! You'll regret your impudence, captain." Souza smirked.

"We'll just see who regrets it… Hammer."

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"Woohoo!! They're trying to come after us!! But they'll never catch up!!" Usopp crowed, staring back at the rapidly disappearing marines. Kuro pushed up his glasses.

"Compared to the going merry, those large, bulky ships are much slower… but when we stop at Gunkan Island, they'll be able to use their superior fire-power. What do we do then?" Luffy shrugged.

"I dunno. We'll figure it out then, Kuro." Kuro rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"That one sentence goes against everything I believe in… I hope you know what you're doing, captain…"

"It's okay! As long as we find the dragon's nest and get Ryuuji better, things'll turn out fine!"

"You make it sound so easy, Luffy…" Sanji said, taking a drag on his cigarette. "The island might've sunk into the ocean, you know."

"So? I AM the ocean! That's no problem for us!"

"I doubt even you can raise an entire island from the ocean, Luffy." Said Arlong. "Strong as you are, that's a little on the side of impossible."

"So? I go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb! That's the straw hat way!" Luffy grinned. Nami felt the inexplicable need to blush. She wasn't quite sure why, but she REALLY needed to blush after that.

"R-regardless, we need to get out of her as soon as possible! We can't waste our time dealing with the marines!" Sanji blinked and scowled.

"Nami-san, I don't think that's going to be possible." Luffy nodded, frowning.

"You saw them too? They just appeared over the horizon." Sailing towards them from the distance, was a massive ship with a gargoyle-like figurehead, the sails blazing a proud '8' to the world. Nelson Royale giggled.

"So the little fishy has entered our trap! All ships, fan out!! Wanting Evil formation!!" and with those words, out from behind the ship flooded an endless multitude of marine ships. The entire straw hat crew gasped.

"ACK!!! How can they even have that many!?" Sanji exclaimed, cigarette trembling wildly. Arlong swore. Loudly.

"Goddamn, this guy's not even an admiral and they have THIS many ships for him!? How much money are they throwing around!?" out from the decks of the marines ships clicked and clattered steel chains as thick as a man.

"Hear this! Make sure not a single fishy escapes our trap! Connect the ships together with chains and form an impenetrable wall!!" the chains floated out across the sea, and soon the going merry was boxed in, completely surrounded on all sides by marine ships. Luffy swore.

"Goddammit!! Who this guy is, he's good. Block us off, box us in and blast us to all hell from all sides! He's good, alright."

"What are we going to do!? We'll be captured!" Apis screamed. Usopp looked strangely calm as he smirked widely.

"We'll board their ships, kick the marines off and break the chains. It's the only way." He said with a smug undertone in his voice. Apis turned to him, amazed.

"Wow! That's amazing! Can you really do that!?" Usopp chuckled… before pointing at the ships.

"GO!! Luffy!! Zoro!!! Sanji!!!"

"I should have known…"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, though." Zoro smirked as he hefted his blade. Gin leered at the ships.

"This'd be a good place to try my last add-on! I wonder…" Apis gasped.

"Are you sure!? You guys are strong, but even if you had the nine lives of a cat…!" Nami laid a hand on her shoulder, quieting the girl.

"Its okay, Apis. It'll work out somehow." She looked up at the fighters. "But be sure to get the job done quickly, alright?"

"Leave it to us Nami-san." Sanji gave her a thumbs up. Luffy merely cheered on Merry's head.

"ALRIGHT!!! Let's go!!!"

"The fleet's objective!!!" Nelson Royale shouted. "Destroy that pirate ship!! However, leave their cargo completely untouched!! I don't want to see one cut or mark on it!!" and with that, the marines opened fire.

Erik scowled as he watched the display. "stop." Souza blinked and nodded.

"All ships, full stop!!" Erik's scowl deepened as he watched the going merry be bombarded by cannon-fire.

'Nelson Royale.' He practically snarled in his mind. 'All this time, he seemed like just some fatass who only cared about eating. But on the seas, he is something else entirely.' A cannonball strayed dangerously close to Erik's position. 'Merely a commodore… but a commodore nonetheless.' Luffy grinned atop Merry's head as the ship rocked precariously.

"Woohoo!! This is great!! ALRIGHT!!! LET'S GO!!!!"

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Whew! Finally done! I had it, like, two percent away from being done for like, three weeks, just sitting on my computer. I figure, why not get it over with now? People are starting to complain! And, here!

Alright, guys! School is back up for me, and that probably means that my update schedule is going to be shot to hell in a twelve gage. Don't complain if you get a dry spell for a while. In my estimation, I'd say that this arc should only take one more chapter, two if the actual plot-based reason ii stuck this in here for takes longer than I thought. And then… WE'RE BACK TO CANON!! Woot!!

Does anybody really even NEED my reminder to review? You guys just keep doing it so much; I think it's really just not even necessary anymore. It's almost part of my signature by now. I'll just leave it up, for regularity's sake.

There is homage to the manliest anime in the world in this chapter. If you figure out the thinly veiled homage, you get chocolate chip cookies, as well as a pair of the most epic shades ever. MAN, I wish I had those shades!

Five reviews gets me to start working on the next chapter, ten reviews gets my ass in high gear!!

Review. You know you want to.