Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

by RoseDragonWitch

In the middle of some strange ruins, Luffy disappeared. As the rest of the Straw Hats try to find him, they end up travelling through his memories and are trapped in the past, with no idea to how to get out or how to find their captain. But not all things are meant to be seen… how will they take to seeing what had Luffy been hiding from them?

25. Enter the Devil's Child: Nico Robin

Chapter 25: Enter the Devil's Child: Nico Robin

The night was pressing in on all around them as they knelt in the grass, trying to catch their breath, and resister what just happened to them all.

"This… is… ridiculous!" Usopp gasped, speaking for them, so out of breath that he was panting, unable to speak in full sentences.

"Tell… me about it," Nami said, looking around, feeling a strong sense of frustration as Chopper examined Zoro's wound.

"I'm going to kill that thing," Zoro threatened as he kept his hand over the bleeding hole in his gut. After the Crocodile slime appeared, they began a fierce fight with it. The whole time, it was trying to get to the two graves behind them, clearly looking ready to destroy them. Nothing they did any damage to it however.

None of their attacks hardly fazed the thing. For less than ten minutes, they fought with the Crocodile slime, avoiding his hook while their attacks were like poking him with a stick. Once, he was finally able to get around them all, and raised his hook, ready to strike Ace's grave… but thankfully he didn't so much as scratch it…

"What were you thinking?!" Chopper demanded as he dabbed at the wound with a salve to stop the bleeding.

"Relax," Zoro said, his eye closed as he lay back and let Chopper tend to him. "The wound isn't that deep. He really was just a fake… he didn't even go halfway through."

"It's still bad!" Chopper snapped, as he reached into his bag and pulled out some bandages. "What were you thinking standing in front of that thing like that?!"

"If I didn't do it, then he would've destroyed it," Zoro said firmly, jerking his thumb over at the grave markers with a sense of relief. "Good," he said, "Not a scratch."

"Don't you dare take this off until that heals!" Chopper warned him angrily as he began to bandage him up. He guess that he should've known that he would do this. He was both amazed and horrified to see that when that fake Crocodile attacked, Zoro intercepted it with his own body, and getting the hook stabbed right into him.

It was just after that did the slime fall apart once again like it did with Arlong. Sanji, Franky, and Brook went racing after it when it fled, and now the rest of them were waiting to see if they were able to find it. The others escaped the battle pretty much unscathed aside from some minor bruising.

Robin, Nami, and Usopp were watching as Zoro just let Chopper tell him off as he opened his eye stared up at the sky. Maybe it was stupid, but the truth was, he never would've been able to look Luffy in the eye again if he had let this thing destroy his brother's final resting place. Besides, he had far worse injuries than a minor hole in his gut… nothing that he wouldn't recover from.

While he was hoping that the three who went after that thing had been able to find a way to kill it, a part of him was hoping that they weren't… so that he could get payback for this later. So when they came back, that part of him was a little happy to hear that it had escaped once again.

"What the hell are we gonna do about that thing?!" Usopp cried out, pointing a shaking finger in the direction that the thing had took off in. "What's the good of fighting this thing if we can't even touch it?!"

"I don't know," Robin answered softly and they all looked to her as Zoro cautiously sat up. "But this thing was much more realistic than it had been with Arlong. Since it spent so much time hiding in the memories with Crocodile, I guess that it had enough memories to be able to stick to that form much easier than before."

"But it didn't have any sand powers though," Chopper pointed out, slapping Zoro's hand when he tried to take the bandage off. "It only attacked us with that stupid hook!"

"Maybe," she said, "But it also gained Crocodile's personality." She looked to the graves and added, "He went after something he knew would make us angry. You got hurt because of that, Zoro."

"Yeah," he said, pushing Chopper off him as he took several more deep breaths and felt better.

"That's what Crocodile was known for," she added softly, thinking it all over. "Taking advantage of people's feelings and using them against them. If that had been the real one, then I'm sure that would've been a tactic that he would've done as well."

"So what does this all mean?!" Nami cried exasperatedly. "What are we supposed to do?! We don't know what that thing is, what it wants, or how it's doing this! So what do we do?"

"You think if we knew we would still be here?!" Franky snapped, punching his giant fists together in frustration and making a deep clanging sound. "Damn, it was like fighting air! It's there but you can't do anything to it."

"Hey, Moss Head!" Sanji snapped, "Didn't Ace tell you about how to fight that thing?!"

Zoro glared at him. "I don't know if it was him or not! Only that we had to beat that thing to get Luffy back, Eyebrow Cook! That was all he said!"

"What did you say?" Sanji snarled.

"Shut up you two!" Nami yelled at them before she looked back to Robin, who looked back to Zoro and pressed on.

"Didn't you say that we had to lead that thing back to the ruins?" she asked, trying to remember everything that Zoro said. It was hard to do so with the memories they've seen clouding up everything else.

Zoro blinked before he thought about it. "Oh, yeah… he did say something like that…?"

"That Moss Head of yours is also empty," Sanji hissed under his breath.

"Yohohoho, so now all we have to do is find it and lure it back to the ruins!" Brook said happily. "How hard can that be?"

"Ok," Franky said in annoyance, "But how do we do that?! And say that we do get back there, what next? How is fighting it there gonna be any different than us fighting like a bunch of squirts who never threw a punch in their lives?!"

No one knew what to say. But their tempers flared a little in frustration when the memories started up again. They were all on the Merry's deck once again, the ship still bearing the fresh scars of the battle with the Marines and past Zoro was leaning over the side of the ship to look behind him.

"Looks like the Marines have stopped following us!" he called, before they heard several loud groans behind them, as if the fact that they were now out of danger was a bad thing.

"That's good news! We shook them off!" he added as he glared at them, but the rest of the crew only groaned a little louder before they spotted them. All other five members of the crew were all lying down on the upper deck with their heads through the railing, looking close to tears with big, sad puppy dog eyes looking behind them.

"Stop it!" past Zoro snapped at them, "What's with the pathetic groans!?"

"I MISS HER!" they all cried out together and it didn't take long at all for them to know who they were talking about.

"You were the least saddest out of all of us to say goodbye to Vivi," Chopper pointed out to him.

"Hellos and goodbyes always come, there's not much point in worrying about it," he answered back firmly. "Think of it this way… at least we know for a fact that she's safe in her country. We don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Yeah, but didn't you miss her at all?!" Nami asked sharply.

"I miss her a lot!" Chopper cried out at once as Zoro just sat there, his wound already starting to feel better as he watched his past self telling them to stop whining.

"If you wanted her to join that bad, then you shouldn't have let her leave!" he told them and that got them all gasping.

"How could you even suggest something like that?!" Franky demanded.

"What? They were all crying like babies," he retorted, "If they were that upset, then why not take her?"

"Because we have consciences!" Nami snapped.

"AH! You savage!" memory Chopper gasped, as if he couldn't believe he heard Zoro say something like that.

"Blockhead!" memory Nami agreed as Sanji then added, "Idiot."

Luffy tried his hand at insulting him, but it sounded pathetic, and Usopp began telling him off for that as past Zoro turned away from them, as if he couldn't believe he was dealing with this.

Brook merely shook his head at that. How could you call yourself a friend if you kidnapped them?

"We didn't did we?!" their Zoro demanded, already sick of this whole thing, "Now shut up about it!"

Just then the galley door opened up and a familiar voice cooed from inside, "Looks like we finally escaped the firing squad."

"So this is where you decided to show up?" Franky asked her as she smiled back serenely at him. Past Zoro barely registered the voice until memory Robin stepped out and said, "Excellent work."

She looked greatly different than the Robin they had seen up to that point. She was dressed much more casual and modestly than she had before. A simple light purple shirt with darker pants… but she looked a great deal more like the Robin they knew with them.

She smiled confidently at them as memory Zoro looked and finally realized who he was talking to. As soon as they saw her, the other five above them got up so fast that they banged their heads on the railing above them.

"Well, that's great," Franky said nervously, "You barely said hello and they're already freaking out."

"We didn't think we'd see you again after we left Alabasta," Nami confessed, "We thought that you had been captured as well."

Current Robin smiled as she sat down next to Zoro to watch. "Don't worry about it," she told her. "You had every reason to be suspicious of me."

Past Zoro's hand went directly to his sword as he yelled out, "Here to avenge your friends!? Just try it!"

"It's an enemy attack!" memory Usopp screamed out fearfully

"What the hell are you doing here!?" memory Nami demanded as she held onto the swollen bump on her head before she took her new weapon out, ready to protect herself. It was really quite funny to watch them all freak out at the sight of Robin, who just stood there and watched. Past Usopp was yelling fearfully over a speaker as Chopper ran around in a panic. It was very tense as they finally calmed down enough to have her surrounded on all sides, looking ready to fight her if she so much as moved wrong.

"One heck of a way to welcome someone on board," Brook said softly.

"Well, she was a former enemy, what were we supposed to think?" Usopp asked him as past Chopper was asking who she was.

"Right, you never saw her up to here did you?" present-day Nami asked him, remembering that he wasn't on board when they first saw her, and he had been outside the casino when she was with Crocodile.

"I don't know!" past Sanji gasped happily, his eyes turning into little hearts like how it had been when he first met Nami. "But she's so damn beautiful!"

"And you still are, Robin dear!" current Sanji swooned to her. "I didn't think it was possible, but you seem to get more and more beautiful every day!"

She only smiled back happily as Franky watched it all with a little surprise. Considering how hard they were all willing to fight to get her back from the World Government, you'd never guess that they started off like this.

Memory Robin, meanwhile, was walking passed them all without even giving them a glance of concern. She went over to a lawn chair that was underneath the stairs before she disarmed Nami and Zoro—surprising them both.

"Didn't I tell you before?" she asked nonchalantly, "Don't point such dangerous objects at me. Are you always so slow?"

"Maybe not the best way to make friends, Robin-san," Brook pointed out as past Zoro was looking annoyed. That stupid ability of hers made her deadly to swordsman. He looked ready to fight her barehanded when memory Nami demanded to know how long she had been on the ship.

"Quite a while," she answered as she picked up the lawn chair and added, "These clothes are yours, right? I'm borrowing them."

"JUST A MINUTE LADY! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" memory Nami screamed at her, outraged that a member of Baroque Works was in her clothes.

But Robin was looking directly at Luffy, her attention solely on him. "Monkey D. Luffy," she said calmly, "It hasn't been so long that you've forgotten what you did to me has it?"

"What did he do?" Brook asked, not getting what was happening here.

"She means that he saved her," Zoro reminded him as Sanji nodded sagely, truly respecting Luffy for doing that.

"But why is that a bad thing?" Chopper asked in confusion, as a doctor, he couldn't understand why anyone would want to throw their lives away so easily. Their Robin didn't answer him as she watched memory Sanji grab Luffy by his front and started shaking him in anger, demanding to know what he did to her.

"Whose side are you on?" present-day Zoro asked him darkly.

"The side of the beautiful women!" he retorted without a second thought. "I couldn't stand the thought of a lovely lady being mistreated by even Luffy."

"Wait a minute, stop lying!" Luffy then called to Robin as she walked by him and set the chair up. "You know I didn't do anything to you!"

"Wrong," she answered back firmly, with that same smile on her face, as she sat down and started to make herself comfortable. "And what you did to me was unbearable," she added as she leaned back, "Go ahead… admit it."

"You're making it sound like him saving your life was the worst thing he could've done to you," Nami told her and Robin shrugged back. That was because she thought it was, at the time anyway. She honestly didn't see any point in living such a miserable, lonely life any longer. She had reached the end of her rope here… no longer having anything left to lose when she stumbled on bard. She couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling that she could trust this man here to take her in for a while… though she didn't think that she would have grown as attached to them as she had here.

Past Sanji was shaking Luffy harder than ever as Usopp was telling Robin to leave from behind the mast and they could hear Chopper asking what it was she was talking about from just above them, out of harm's way.

"You're not making any sense!" Luffy said, now looking really annoyed at everything that was going on. "What do you want me to do!?"

With a smile, she leaned forward in her seat, as if they were discussing business, "I want… to join you."

"Well, you sure didn't beat around the bush," current Zoro whispered to her and she chuckled a little. For a brief moment there was nothing but silence around them—except for the sound of the flag flapping in the wind above them. Each one of the Straw Hats stared at her as if she had suddenly confessed to a murder.

"WWWHHHAAATTT?!" almost everyone yelled, staring at her with a mixture of different expressions. Some angry some shocked, some fear… and—in Sanji's case—bliss.

She only smiled, turning back to Luffy as she explained, "I wanted nothing more than to die at that very moment… but you forced me to live. That's your crime."

Past Sanji looked startled at that as she rested her chin on her hand, still looking directly at Luffy as she finished, "There's no place for me to go or to return to. So I decided… that I'll join you."

Luffy's face held no expression as he thought it over for a moment. "I see your problem, guess there's no other choice," he finally said calmly. "Welcome."

"Well, that was easy," Brook said impressed.

"Easiest recruitment I've ever seen," Zoro agreed before he added, "Aside from Usopp that is… but even then, we had to tell him that before he went out sea on his own."

"Wouldn't have lasted long if he had," Nami added.

"Hey!" he called just as the past selves all yelled at their captain furiously. But he just looked back at them with a smile and added, "There's nothing to worry about," he said firmly. "Trust me, she isn't a bad person."

Everyone was staring at him, sure that he lost his mind, but Sanji was looking overjoyed at Luffy's decision and was cheering it on in the background even after the memory faded.

"So that was when you officially joined up with them, Robin-san?" Brook asked.

"That's it," she answered calmly.

"Dang," Franky said, shaking his head. "After so much trouble you gave them, he let you stay just like that?"

"Well, it wasn't like we could throw her off," Nami reminded them. "And Luffy's a little too trusting for his own good."

"I suppose that he remembered those times you helped him out?" Zoro asked her, suddenly understanding. He had always been a little curious to why the he and Robin seemed to be sharing a private talk in their heads in that moment—and he never fully understood what she was talking about when she said that he saved her. Now it all made sense. The next memory popped up and the sun was going down while they were up in the air, near the crow's nest with past Zoro was there.

"Oh, it's this," Zoro said, recognizing it all at once.

"What is it?" Usopp asked when Luffy's hands suddenly appeared and he rocketed himself up to him.

"Hey! Zoro!" he said happily. "Sanji told me to tell you dinner'll be ready in five minutes! He said he's going to try making some of the yummy food they had at the palace! It's gonna be so good!"

"Is that all I am to you?!" Sanji asked in mild annoyance. "Come on…"

Past Zoro didn't respond at once as he kept lifting weights silently for a moment, staring out at the sky that was an assortment of different shades of reds, oranges, and pinks. And then, without even looking at him, he asked, "Why did you do it?"

Luffy looked confused. "Why did I tell you? Well, its dinner and we need food!"

"Not that you idiot," Zoro said in annoyance, finally looking at him, his back to the fading sun. "I mean why did you let that woman join us?"

"Don't be an idiot, Moss Head!" current Sanji snapped at their Zoro, "I was behind Luffy one hundred and ten percent!"

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked him in confusion.

"Did you forget already that woman used to be part of Baroque Works?!" he snapped at Luffy in frustration. "We don't owe her anything! You saved her life and suddenly you owe her a favor?!"

"What is this?" Chopper asked, not getting any of this.

"This was later that night," Zoro told them all. "When most of you were inside the cabin, I wanted to know why he chose to let you in Robin. And there aren't many chances to really have a private talk in on such a small ship."

"Oh, I understand," Robin answered. "I had a feeling that you would."

She didn't tell them that she knew all about this talk of theirs, because she heard every word that evening. Eavesdropping was a habit she picked up at a young age and just never fully been able to overcome it. But she always had to be careful… especially when it came to Zoro. After all, she knew that he was the one person that she had to be most careful around. When she first joined, he had been the only one she couldn't bribe, hold debt to, or 'charm' as it was. It really wasn't until they began looking for a way to get to Sky Island did he start to drop his guard around her.

"How do we know that we can really trust her?" past Zoro finished asking him seriously. "After her part in helping to tear Alabasta apart? You really want someone like that in the crew?"

"But what reason does she have to attack us now?" Luffy asked him calmly. "It's like with Bon-chan… she only wanted to leave Alabasta right? There wasn't any reason for her to want to stick around there anymore."

"Wow, maybe he does have a few brain cells in there," Nami said in an impressed voice.

"He must be thinking about how Bon-chan sacrificed himself for us," Usopp sniffled. "So he wanted to give Robin that chance maybe?"

"Like she needed a second chance to begin with!" Sanji said, looking over at her adoringly, "I would've welcomed you into the crew without any questions my dear!"

She laughed a little, "That means a lot Sanji."

"Maybe," past Zoro said, "But what makes you think that we can let her stay and not worry about her betraying us later?"

"I dunno," he answered and Zoro looked ready to hit him over the head with the weight in his hands at the answer.

"We need more than that!" past Zoro yelled.

"I don't know," Luffy repeated, his eyes looking out into the distance. "But something just tells me that we can trust her, Zoro. I mean, we've all done a lot of bad things in the past right?"

Both Zoro's looked at him, and they knew what he was talking about. After all, he had been a cold pirate hunter before he even joined didn't he? How many people had he killed in the past? Though he knew Luffy wasn't referring to his past, he couldn't help but think about all the things he had done… even if he truly didn't regret anything he did.

"What's he talking about?" Chopper asked, not understanding.

"I think he means that we've all done things in the past that were far from innocent," Sanji answered for him softly, having to fight the urge to smoke another cigarette. Damn, he was only down to three now, he hoped that they found their way back to the Sunny soon so that he could get another box. "And when we joined his crew, it was like a new beginning, so I guess he wanted Robin-chan to have that as well if she really wanted it."

"I'm glad," Robin nodded her head a little.

"Speaking of which, what were you going to do if he didn't give you one, Robin-san?" Brook asked her quietly.

Robin looked a little surprise by the question as she thought it over. "I didn't really think about it," she confessed. "Something just told me that it would be alright."

Once again, he reminded her so much of Saul, she wasn't truly afraid that he wouldn't let her join. If this man was capable of saving her life when he didn't have to, especially over her part of what she had done to his friend's country, then she had a feeling that he just might've let her stay.

"Either way it was fine by me," she confessed, "I wouldn't have blamed him if he had said no, and I would've gone somewhere else. But I am glad that he decided to let me stay in the end."

Nami smiled softly at her. "So are all of us," she answered happily.

"Well… he did tell you to do whatever you wanted when you got out," Zoro pointed out next to her. "So, I guess he shouldn't have complained."

"Besides, I don't think she ever really liked Crocodile," Luffy said and they all looked to him in surprise, including past Zoro.

"She was his partner," he reminded her.

"And he tried to kill her," Luffy spoke up, looking back at him, "And she saved me before."

Memory Zoro looked even more startled by this as Luffy explained about how it was Robin who gave him the antidote to the scorpion poison, and had even been the one who helped him out after Crocodile left him at Rainbase.

"I was surprised to hear that," current Zoro confessed. "I just couldn't make heads or tails what you were doing here. Why would our enemy want to go out of her way to help us?"

Robin didn't answer as she thought about it all. She had made many enemies in the past aside from the World Government through her constant betrayals. But Crocodile had been the most dangerous and almost succeeded in killing her. But Luffy was right… she was never loyal to him. He saw her only as a tool, and she thought of him as only a bodyguard.

"And when I finally caught up to them in that tomb, Crocodile stabbed her with his hook," Luffy finished explaining to him. "After she gave Vivi's dad the antidote for me, I could hear what they were saying. Crocodile was looking for something."

"Looking for something?" past Zoro asked, "What was it?"

"So he told you about the weapon?" Franky asked him.

"I don't think he even knew what it was they were talking about," Zoro stated, watching the scene. And it was clear from the look on Luffy's face, that he didn't get the fact that it was some kind of weapon that could cause mass destruction that Crocodile was looking for. Only the fact that it was something dangerous that that bastard wanted for himself. And his suspicions were confirmed went Luffy went on speaking.

"I don't know, but it was something bad," he answered him, "And I overheard Robin say that she decided from the start not to hand it over to him." He was quiet for a moment before he added, "I don't know, but she doesn't seem like a bad person to me." He looked to him and finished, "She sounded more sad than bad to me…"

"Sad?" Nami repeated as she looked to Robin, who also looked a little taken aback by that.

"You heard how Robin sounded before didn't you?" Zoro asked and they all looked to see that their Robin was blushing a little bit at those words.

"So that is why," she said softly to herself as she thought it over.

Past Zoro just looked at him before he sighed. "Fine," he told him. "I guess we have no choice anyway. But I'll be keeping a close eye on her just so you know. She does anything that seems like a betrayal, I'll be the one to throw her off."

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN YOU BASTARD?!" Sanji roared at him as Usopp tried to hold him back, willing to keep things calm between them all.

"You really didn't trust her did you?" Franky asked coolly as the memory faded.

"I had no reason to do so at the time," he answered, his one eye looking at her. "Hope you don't take offense to it?"

"Not at all," she nodded, showing that she didn't bear any ill thoughts to him for his words. "It's quite alright, and like I said, I don't blame you at all for your feelings."

It was a very surreal experience for her those couple weeks on board the Merry. She had mostly kept out of the way as they worked, argued, or played with each other. She hardly spoke, merely read most of the time as she let the others do what they wanted. It had been years since she was able to sit back and really relax and enjoy her free time.

To just sit on deck with a good book as she enjoyed the warm sun and sea breeze had been the most fun she had in years. And though her new crew members never seemed to have a quiet moment, she had started to really enjoy their boisterous spirits. And aside from the occasional attempts by Sanji to impress her, or several questions from Nami, they mostly left her to do her own thing.

Joining Luffy and the crew was a choice that she had to make out of desperation and necessity to survive. She had told herself again and again those weeks that she didn't belong with them and that she shouldn't grow too attached because she would soon be forced to leave once again… like she had always been forced to do.

But over time, the whole crew warmed up to her as she got to know them. Every morning she was able to wake up to bright faces and good food that Sanji worked so hard for them. Luffy was always the first to wish her a good morning and Nami was more than happy to talk to her and get some relief from the boys. Usopp and Chopper had also gotten used to her and didn't seem as nervous to be around her… even Zoro's cold eyes slowly seemed to warm up and he seemed to be willing to take a nap even when she was around them. She felt like part of the crew even then… and that had scared her more than anything else in twenty years.

When she first joined, she simply told Luffy that she had nowhere else to go and that he was responsible for her life now so he had to face up to that. But their free spirits brought her a sense of peace that she could never remember feeling before and developed a sense of belonging with them. She didn't know when or how it happened, but somewhere along the way, she had grown to care more about their safety and well-being than the whole world. Most would never understand something like that but it made sense to her.

The world was her enemy.

The world had never wanted her to live… had denied her happiness for years.

The life that she had given up on… the dream that she had discarded… the empty feeling inside her that had suddenly been filled… they were all responsible for giving it back to her. So yes, of course they meant more to her than the whole world. How could they not?

"No matter who you are, an't no one born into this world to be alone!"

She smiled at Saul's words and shut her eyes. She had held onto those words in her heart for all these years… they could possibly have been the only thing that kept her going all this time. She was truly grateful to Luffy for taking her in and even more so for being the one who convinced her that she should live even if the world didn't want to… and if so, they are his and the rest of their crewmates enemies as well.

But she voiced none of these feelings as she merely smiled at everyone and enjoyed the next few memories. They were all pretty straight-forward and seemingly unimportant, but they were also calm; just the next couple weeks sailing the seas, and aside from occasional attacks from Marines, it was very peaceful.

It actually cheered them all up greatly, especially after seeing such vicious and intense memories up till now. They spent most of the time watching, hardly speaking to one another as they watched their past selves doing normal things like collect food and water, camping out on the beach and telling stories, once they pulled up a strange salesman from the water and was showing off all the merchandise he had before he realized that he was on a pirate ship and left everything he showed them in his need to escape.

Nami laughed at it, wishing that she had thought of something like that sooner as she looked fondly at the sheets of paper that she had gotten. Franky and Brook were stunned to hear how she was willing to pay such a heavy price for the paper… and even more so that Sanji was actually willing to hand Luffy over to the Marines for the reward money to pay for it all.

"Is that the thanks he gets for saving your useless ass all this time?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"Damn, remind me to watch my back with him," Franky whispered to Usopp who nodded firmly as Sanji snarled at Zoro, "It was all for Nami!"

"Like she needs it," Zoro retorted, and soon they were looking ready to fight.

They did their best to calm them both down as they watched the memory of a grand fireworks show when they stopped by another island. Which ended in a grand finale by the largest firework any of them had ever seen. Usopp smiled as he remembered that little girl Kodama and her grandfather and their wonderful work that he knew he could never measure up to. Eyes bright, and all of them truly enjoying themselves, Sanji particularly enjoyed the memory of seeing that Marine boy called Tajio fall of a ship and started telling them that his dream was to one day find the All Blue when they rescued him. Sanji had Luffy take them both back to the ship where they watched Luffy running around curiously as Sanji discreetly helped Tajio out.

Franky and Brook were both overjoyed to finally meet the infamous Zenny 'the goat man' and had a great laugh when the old man made them all work on his chores for him. They even cried when they heard about his determination to live out a little longer as a pirate, no longer wanting to die once they helped him to fully realize his dream of becoming a pirate when Luffy told him that age had nothing to do with it. After all the madness and chaos it had been one after another since entering the Grand Line, they couldn't help but laugh joyfully at it all.

"It really is like with that old man," Franky laughed. "What was his name again?"

"Naguri," Robin answered smiling.

"Right him," Franky said, drinking his last bottle of cola. "This is all great."

Soon the memories of the Zenny Pirates faded as the memories of the Rainbow Mist and the Pumpkin Pirates appeared. Luffy and his crew barely escape some Marines before they found themselves at the island named Ruluka that was ruled by a dictator that was over-taxing the people in order to build the Rainbow Tower. The island also has a scientist named Henzo who is researching something called the 'Rainbow Mist' to find his friends. Eventually the Going Merry, with all but Sanji, Nami, and Chopper aboard, got caught in the Rainbow Mist. Within the Mist, the crew discovered a group of children who have been trapped in the mist for years, not even realizing how long they had been trapped in. Eventually, however, they were able to all escape the mist… and had discovered that the Marines who had been chasing them before were the same children they rescued before, and had let them go as they dealt with Wetton and his family.

"This is all amazing!" Brook said in awe as they had set sail again. "So this is what you were all talking about when you mentioned the Rainbow Mist."

"Yes, it was very much like that dark world we were in before," Robin agreed, "A sort of 'in-between' place."

"You all do realize that you could've been killed trying to escape that place though right?" Franky asked, feeling truly honored that he got to see such a legendary place as the ship's graveyard… the things he could've made there… wonderful. "And I thought that some of the stuff we got into after I joined were wild."

"They are," Nami admitted a little sadly. "Everything we get ourselves into is trouble."

In this new memory, the whole crew were on deck, just after they did a rough patchwork repair on the Merry after the beating she took when they escaped Ape's Concert. They were looking out at the sea with Luffy, still on the Merry's head, suddenly said, "You know what? That place was pretty awesome don't you think?"

"Of course he thought that creepy graveyard was cool," Usopp sighed as past Nami was looking highly skeptical, telling him that she had enough of that ship's graveyard to last a lifetime.

"Well, it's not like I wanna live there," Luffy added, looking to her, "But it'd be nice to visit."

As Chopper commented that he couldn't really believe that he enjoyed that place, Zoro, who was lifting weights in the background, looked up and asked if that was rain. They all looked up to see that it was dust and bits of wood that were falling on them.

"What's that?" Brook asked curiously as everyone but Franky smiled at what was about to come falling on top of them.

"No way," memory Sanji said, holding his arms out to try and catch it, "This ain't rain." He looked up and they all did the same thing in time to see something falling through the clouds just above them. "That's interesting, it looks like a… oh…"

His eyes widen and his voice died in his throat as they all realized what it was. Franky and Brook both screamed out in shock to see a worn-out, rickety old ship falling from the sky.

"IT'S A SHIP?!" Brook cried out, freaking out.

"WHERE'D THAT THING COME FROM?!" Franky screamed in shock.

The past Straw Hats were all so stunned that it was as if time had frozen for a second. But that soon faded as they all began to scream out in fear as it hung right above their heads. It ended up missing the Merry, though narrowly, and the ship hit the ocean with such a large crash that it turned the waves around them as fierce as any Grand Line storm.

Unlike with Nami giving them a slight heads up before the weather turned unforgiving, this came without any warning and all they could do was cling onto the Merry desperately as bits of the ship counted to fall from the sky like hail.

It soon turned into insanity as they all struggled to stay upright, the waves pitching the Merry around like a piece of driftwood. They could hear past Zoro's voice screaming somewhere to hold on tight and not to let go no matter what.

"WHAT ELSE COULD WE DO HERE?!" present-day Usopp yelled out, remembering, and not missing, the chaos from this event.

"Had to say something here," current Zoro added as their past selves—Usopp and Chopper especially—screamed and seemed ready to have a nervous breakdown.

"WHY ARE THERE SHIPS FALLING OUTTA THE SKY?!" memory Nami screamed as she hung on to the mast as more bits of wood fell around them, the waves rising up above them like some kind of beast trying to swallow them.

"I know!" memory Usopp cried out, his eyes wide and a mad smile on his face. "This is just an awful dream!"

"That's your answer to everything scary," Sanji said to him as he blushed.

"Great I love dreams!" past Chopper called out, truly believing Usopp for a moment before their heads crashed together, thus ending that theory.

"Hang on! I don't think the party's over yet!" past Sanji called over their cries of pain, and when they looked up it was as if they were stuck on a merry-go-round, everything was spinning. "It won't stop falling!"

"THE RUDDER! TURN THE RUDDER!" memory Nami screamed and Zoro called that they would only flip over in these waves.

"What a nightmare," Brook called out, "How is this possible?!"

"We never did really figure out where that thing came from!" Nami called as past Sanji yelled to Luffy to help protect the ship.

"What did you expect him to do?!" Franky yelled.

"I don't know," he retorted as a large chuck of wood narrowly missed his past self's head. "But he had a better chance of doing something than I did."

Luffy then noticed how Usopp seemed to have calmed down suddenly. He was sitting in a meditative state, his eyes closed with a calm smile. "I cast aside my worries and reach deep within to find my happy place!" past Usopp declared firmly. "And when I open my eyes, this serene landscape is all that will lay before me…"

He picked the wrong moment to open his eyes…

He screamed at the top of his lungs when his new 'friend' fell out right in front of him, "A SKELETON DEAD GUY!"

"Hey, he looks like me," Brook said softly as suddenly several other skeletons were falling around them. Before he realized what he was saying and also began to scream until current Nami hit him over the head, yelling at him to calm down.

"DON'T THROW THAT NASTY THING AT ME YOU IDIOT!" past Nami screamed as he threw the pile of bones off him and near her.

"I still don't get why you did that," Nami hissed to him, who shrugged. He had just been so shocked at seeing it, he just wanted to get it away from him as soon as possible.

"THEY'RE FALLING EVERYWHERE!" past Sanji yelled out, another skeleton falling near his feet.

"I'M SURROUNDED BY DEAD!" Usopp cried out, sounding close to losing his mind as he curled up in a fetal position.

"WHEN IS THIS STUFF GONNA STOP FALLING?!" memory Nami screamed out.

They could only continue to hold on and hope for the best. Soon however, after several more chaos filled minutes, the sky was clear again, the falling debris had finally stopped, and the Merry was surrounded on all sides by the broken ship that had reminded them of the destroyed galleon back at the Baratie.

But they hardly noticed it as they stared up at the sky, as if expecting another ship to fall. After doing a quick headcount to see that everyone was alright—at least most of them since Usopp and Chopper were now in a corner, hugging the other like how a child would to a teddy bear—Luffy cried out, "Alright… why did a ship just fall out of the sky?!"

"As if any of us knew!" current Nami whispered menacingly as they all began talking about that very same thing.

"I knew coming to the Grand Line was a mistake, it freaks me out!" Usopp cried out, still hugging Chopper—his eyes twitching so much that it looked as if he was having a seizure. "First we travel over a ship graveyard and now they're falling out of the sky, COMPLETE WITH SKELETONS!"

"What's wrong with skeletons?!" demanded Brook suddenly.

"I just don't like them falling out of the sky on top of me!" he yelled back at memory Nami gasped in horror. She was staring at the Log Pose, telling them that she was sure that it was broken because it was now pointing to the sky.

"To the sky?" Franky asked before Brook gasped out this time.

"That's right! It was in your own logbook!" he said quickly, "I remember! The infamous story of the island in the sky! You all went there! So this is it?!"

"Yeah, this is it," Sanji said, unable to help himself and pulled out one of his remaining cigarettes. "Of course it was a lot of trouble getting up there I'll tell you that."

Memory Robin stepped forward, the only one who hadn't screamed in all that madness, she had returned to her usual calmness. "It's not broken," she answered, as if things fell from the sky all the time on them. "The Log Pose registers an island with a strong magnetic pull and the needle is reflecting that. If the needle's pointing to the sky," they all looked to her as she focused her attention skyward, "Then… it must be pointing to Sky Island."

"SKY ISLAND?!" they all repeated loudly, none of them having ever heard of such a thing. They all talked about it, with Zoro ending the talk as pointing out that there wasn't anything but sky right over their heads.

"Hmm, that's not actually how it works," memory Robin answered, "It's not an island above us, but an entire ocean."

"It sounded so crazy, I wasn't sure if you were joking or not," current Nami whispered to her. Their Robin smiled back and answered, "I rarely joke."

"Yeah, and when you do, it's to scare us," Usopp whispered as his past self, Luffy and Chopper all had their eyes wide and bright at the thought of going to an island floating in the air. They were all cheering and going on about wanting to go to such a place, but Robin used her powers to cover Luffy's mouth and past Sanji reminded them they couldn't fly.

Soon though, past Robin and Nami were arguing about it, with Nami telling her that there was no such thing as a flying island and insisted that their Log Pose was broken. That was all. Current Nami smiled as she watched herself. Well, she was proven wrong here wasn't she? And after all, she spent two years living on such a place… it was amazing how close-minded she was here.

"Not quite Miss Navigator," memory Robin countered coolly as she pointed to the Log Pose, "You're trying to fix something that's not even broken. We should be trying to find a way to get to Sky Island. You really need to learn to trust your instruments. No matter how crazy things get, or how weird the situation is we find ourselves in, never doubt the Log Pose."

"Yes," Brook agreed, thinking back to terrors that he and his old crew had gone through in the Grand Line until they learned about the Log Pose. Though it was still a long and difficult journey, the Log Pose had gotten them through every time. Though it may seem impossible here, he would have gone no matter what way the needle went over just sailing randomly.

"Out here, on the water, this is one of the most steadfast and unbreakable rules," past Robin said, summing up his thoughts. "What we should be doubting… is the common sense we all that that tells us that an island cannot exist in the sky, on an ocean nothing. That needle is pointing towards an island, I bet my life on it."

"And you sure won that," Usopp said, shivering at the thought of how frightening that place was.

"Amazing," Brook whispered, "I can't wait to see what kind of place this Sky Island is with my own eyes! Not that I have eyes, Yohohoho!"

"Well, you won't be disappointed," Nami said firmly as Robin began looking through the remains of a skeleton they had found. As they looked through it, Luffy and Usopp went jumping over to the bigger parts of the ship to explore it. However, Franky pointed out that it was sinking fast, and most likely wouldn't last much longer. Luffy didn't pay any attention to the slowly sinking boat as he walked inside, the old ship cracked and creaked under his weight as he went looking through all the rubble.

"How was looking through a dead man's clothes going to help you guys out?" Franky asked as they followed after Luffy, who was looking over some of the papers they found among a desk that was broken right in half.

Nami smiled, having felt the same way before Robin showed her. And she told them about how just looking at a skull and a some books, they discovered that the ship's name was the St. Briss, which left the Kingdom of Breeze in the South Blue about 208 years ago… as well as being able to tell how old the man was when he died.

"Really?" Brook said interested as he looked to Robin and asked, "What can you tell about me, Robin-san?"

She examined his face for a moment before she said, "You were in your late thirties as well when you died… and I can tell that you had that same scar on your skin that you do now…"

Brook looked at her in great surprise. "Yohohoho, that is very impressive Robin-san. And you were right. I was thirty-eight when I did die. How can you tell?"

"You just need to know what to look for," she answered as they heard Luffy gasp. They looked up in time to see that he was staring in wonder at one of the rolls of paper in his hands and his eyes were bright. But soon the ship had filled up with water and Luffy was forced to run out of there, having Usopp haul him back to the Merry.

"Was there any point in that?" Franky asked. "Waste of time."

But Luffy didn't think so as he sat there, sopping wet and gasping for breath. "You won't believe it! I did it!" he held up the roll of paper he found, "I found the most incredible thing!"

"He does come in handy once in a while," Nami teased as their past selves gasped at what it was he had.

"A MAP OF THE SKY ISLAND?!" they all cried out.

"Ha! So it really does exist!" Brook called happily as past Nami almost ripped it out of his hands and stared at it. "It's called Skypiea?" she asked, more to herself than to Luffy who was nodding firmly by her side. "Then it's true! There really is an island up there!"

It was great to see everyone looking excited at the thought, even as the last bits of the ship slowly sank beneath the waves. As the 'goofy trio' cheered, doing a dance with their arms linked, Nami pointed out that they didn't know how to get there or if it was even possible… and that there was always a chance that the map was a fake.

The looks on their faces was as if she had just told a bunch of little kids that Santa Claus didn't exist. She saw the hope fading from their faces and quickly tried to reassure them that she was sure it was real. But then she punched the mast angrily and yelled out that if it existed or not wasn't the point, the fact was they didn't know how to get there. Luffy was refusing to listen and began yelling that he wanted to go there no matter what and the fight only ended when she hit him over the head.

"This isn't about me! It's about reality!" she yelled at them angrily, "And the reality is that we know next to nothing! What we do know is that we can't defy gravity and sail upwards! That's impossible! What we need is more information! If a big ship like that made it up there, then odds are we can do the same thing. We just have to find all the records left on that ship!"

"But how do you all intend to get it?" Brook asked curiously as past Usopp reminded them that the ship was most likely at the bottom of the ocean by now.

"You could've done that with the shark sub," Franky pointed out.

"But we didn't have the sub yet," Chopper pointed out as past Nami cried out confidently, "If it's sunk… THEN WE'LL SALVAGE IT!"

And with a little more thought, Usopp came up with the plan. He quickly built a diving system made up of barrels and long air hoses. And in the end, the 'Monster Trio' had all volunteered to go down and find what was left of the ship.

"I'm glad that I didn't go," Chopper whispered, knowing that he never would've felt safe in that thing. If the barrel suddenly broke, he'd be dead for sure.

"Yeah, kinda sad," Franky muttered, shaking his head. "Old stuff here…"

"Watch it!" Usopp snapped back. "And they worked great when we needed them! At least until they were eaten by that stupid turtle."

"What turtle?" Franky and Brook asked as the memory faded with the three jumping head first into the water.

As they waited for the next memory to come up, the others quickly explained that when the three of them went down to salvage what they could of the ship for more information, they come across a group of pirates led by a man who looked like an ape, named Masira, who claimed that he had control over the territory and all ships that sink there belong to him. Masira and his crew begin salvage operation and are in the process of raising the ship when they run into a snag… the 'Monster Trio' were still inside the wreck and beat up his crew. Masira went down to handle things and confronts them when a Giant Seaturtle appeared out of nowhere and swallowed the ship they were in like how a fish would to bait on a hook.

"Oh, so that's what happened," Zoro said in understanding.

"What was it like under there anyway?" Usopp asked as Chopper jumped up, looking ready to listen eagerly.

"Nothing special," Sanji admitted, remembering the wreck. "It was a mess… but hardly anything in the ship. The most valuable thing we found was that old waver."

"Waver? You mean the White Hobby Horse?" Franky asked.

"Yeah," Nami stated, "It was a mess when we found it… and I still don't see how you could modify it the way that you did!"

"Hey," he said, "When I was through with it, not only does it look great, it can cover any kind of terrain you can throw at it! And it moves even faster than it did before!"

"I liked it better before," Nami hissed to herself as the memory popped back.

They were back on the Merry, however now it was pitch dark out. There was another large ship there with them. One that was at least twice as large as the Merry and had rows of palm trees going along the sides of his ship and two banana-shaped poles. Also on the sails was another pirate flag… a monkey's head with two banana's in place of the crossbones.

"So this is Masira's ship?" Franky asked, looking at it in bright interest, almost as much as the giant sea turtle, that was the size of an island.

"I forgot how big that thing was," Usopp whispered as it hung there with its mouth wide open.

"I still can't believe we were in that thing's mouth," Sanji whispered. "I thought that the ship just fell apart. We grabbed what we could and took off with that crazy monkey on our tails."

Luffy was coming too from where he lay on the deck, dripping wet and slowly getting back to his feet, dropping the large sack that was on his back. "Hey!" he called to them all, "When'd night happen?"

"Looks like you were down there for a long time," Brook said, looking around at the dark sky.

"Hardly, it wasn't even half an hour," Zoro stated as his past self was pulling on a rope, telling them that they were getting out of here now.

"What? Then how'd it get all dark like this?!" Franky asked as suddenly, there was a cry of anger and they looked in time to see someone jump out of the sea and landed on the side of the ship, screaming back that they hand back the treasure the took. Franky and Brook could only guess that this was Masira… and he truly looked like an ape… more primate than human. He was also in a bright orange-yellow jumpsuit with headphones and goggles—much like the ones that Usopp had—but what made him really interesting was the fact that he looked like he had a tail.

However, his face was full of anger as he glared at them all, threatening to tear their ship apart if they didn't hand the treasure over.

"He looks like an interesting character," Brook said.

"Yeah," Chopper agreed wholly, "He really wasn't such a bad guy once we got to know him. He was great!"

"Yeah, I wonder how they're all doing these days," Usopp said thoughtfully, looking to Robin hopefully who shrugged back, truly unable to give him an answer this time and he sighed unhappily.

"I'm sure they're doing just fine," Sanji reassured him. "He, his brother, and the whole crew are as tough as nails. I'm sure that they're doing great."

Chopper smiled at that, feeling a lot better as past Nami asked them about the treasure, her eyes bright.

"Some treasure," she whispered, "It was mostly junk!"

"Well, one man's junk is another man's treasure," Franky pointed out as everyone got up, ready to fight Masira off. But then, Masira's crew were all looking ready to cry as they pointed wildly behind them, too frozen to speak about what it was.

When they all looked, they all felt close to choking—feeling close to fainting at what they saw…

Giants… at least five of them, so large that blocked out the sun. Black as night, they towered over them as great as the sky—even the giant island turtle was tiny compared to them all. They carried spears and had wings on their backs… like angels of death… looking down at them as if they were prey to them, though there were no eyes. Everyone was frozen in fear… even Robin was turning a shade of blue they had never seen from her before. As the middle one raised his spear above their heads, they all came back to life and screamed out, "SSSEEEAAA MMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEERRRRRRSSSSSSSS!"

"GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE!" Franky screamed out as Brook lay on the ground, and they guessed that he probably fainted. Chopper and Usopp were both hugging each other again, both still as freaked out as they had been that day.

Everyone knew that they were safe from these creatures, but it still struck fear into their hearts at the sight of such things. Their past selves were all in overdrive… together they broke out the paddles and began to paddle as fast as they could go to get away from these things… it was as if they suddenly had a motor on their back and were going as fast as ever before.

Fear was the only thing that kept them going, and they didn't stop until they had reached the end of the dark sky and were safe in the bright sunlight. Once the danger had passed, they all huddled on the deck, shaking and trying to catch their breath.

"What were those things?" Franky croaked out, never before seeing such things before.

"I still don't know," Nami stated, freezing at the very thought of seeing those things. "But I don't ever wanna see them again!"

"I forgot all about those things!" Chopper gasped as Sanji put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, past Zoro spoke up what they were all thinking. "That couldn't have been real!"

"My words exactly," Franky agreed firmly as Robin poked Brook awake. He jerked up, convinced that was all just a dream, at least until they told him otherwise and he shivered.

"I got goosebumps just thinking about it!" he cried out. "Not that I have skin to have goosebumps anyway! Yohohoho!"

"Glad to see that you're over that," Nami told him dully as past Sanji lit another cigarette to calm his nerves.

"The Grand Line is an endless parade of mysteries and annoyance. I mean, look at the nightmare of just making through today!"

"True, it's been one thing after another since we got to this place," present-day Usopp nodded sagely as they all began to list what happened in the last few hours alone.

"First there was that huge galleon that fell from the clouds on top of us," memory Zoro started off.

"The Log Pose's needle started pointing to the sky?" Nami added, hugging her knees as she glanced at the needle.

"A psycho make-up wearing monkey shows up and blocks our way," past Usopp added, slowly calming down to a normal breath-rate. Memory Chopper then added, "And then a gigantic sea turtle eats our salvage ship…"

"Then darkness fell," past Robin sighed, almost grimly.

"Because the biggest monsters I've ever seen in my life blocked out the sun!" Luffy finished for them all.

"Yep, this wins first prize for the strangest day ever," current Usopp nodded firmly as the crew noticed that they still had Masira still on deck with them and kicked him off. The memories after that were all about the 'Monster Trio' unloading the sacks of stuff they got from the ship before it was eaten. There wasn't anything that told them about Sky Island, and not even a scrap of treasure like Nami had thought there would be… needless to say, memory Nami wasn't the least bit happy. She began to yell at them about this as they tried to tell her that his was all they found down there. That they picked it clean by the time that Masira appeared.

But she only got angrier as she began to break it all, even crushing the suit armor that Luffy was walking around in. It wasn't a good thing… she looked ready to start foaming at the mouth with rage until Robin was able to pacify her by showing her the map and Eternal Pose to a place called Jaya that she took from Masira's ship, and they soon decided to go there, in hopes of finding someone who could help them.

"And did you find someone at Jaya who helped?" Brook asked.

"Yeah, we sure did," Usopp said as Nami looked sour. She really hoped that she didn't have to think about that stupid Mock Town ever again. She was disappointed however when the memories came back, and they were sailing into a harbor. At first glance, it looked like some kind of resort—full of beautiful buildings with red-pointed roofs and palm trees.

"Oh no," she groaned, slapping her forehead, and standing up.

"What?" Sanji asked, glancing at this place. "We hardly spent any time here."

"Why? It's gorgeous!" Brook added. But Franky was frowning at the harbor, which was filled with ships—each one bearing a skull and crossbones. "This is a pirate town isn't it?" he asked.

"You knew?" Nami asked in surprise before he pointed to the ships and she nodded in understanding. "This is a town I rather forget," added darkly, shooting Zoro an annoyed look, who had seized this chance to take off the bloody bandages before Chopper noticed anything. Past Usopp had noticed the ships as well and pointed it out to them, with past Nami slapping him playfully that since when can pirates dock their ship without being run outta town. Just as he was starting to calm down, they could hear someone from one of the buildings screaming that he was about to be killed and the 'Weakling Trio' all looked ready to cry in fear.

"What the heck is going in with this crazy town?!" they demanded.

"In towns like this, you must always be on guard," Robin said knowingly. "Here, pirates come in and go as they please. So brawls and murders in the streets are common." She had been to places just like here many times in the past, and she had to learn to keep a low profile in these situations. "If you keep your head down and mind your own business, you should be able to avoid the trouble."

"Sounds like a bad place," Chopper gulped. "I stayed on the Merry with Usopp and Sanji…" he suddenly remembered how Zoro and Luffy looked when they got back. They were covered with cuts and bruises all over… he didn't want to know how bad a fight they had gotten into to see them in such bad shape.

"Was it really that bad?" Brook asked.

"I'm not even going to talk about it," Nami said darkly, "Just thinking about this place makes me angry."

"Why are you looking at me?" Zoro asked as he stood up and began to follow his past self and Luffy through the town, and also take off his own bandages

"Because you were being a complete coward!" Nami yelled at him in annoyance.

"Nami!" Chopper yelled, "What are you talking about?!" But then, suddenly he noticed bloody bandages on the ground near his and he yelled in rage as he practically tackled Zoro and held up a roll of new ones threateningly.

"Just what did happen?" Usopp asked Nami quietly as the two fought each other, yelling angrily as Zoro tried to throw him off. Nami just glared, her anger still high as she marched on, everyone following Chopper and Zoro still arguing loudly.

Past Nami had decided to go with the boys, and as they walked on, they could hear the sounds of fights and arguments going on everywhere they passed. They couldn't go a few feet without something breaking or hearing death threats—and past Nami was giving the boys an earful, making them promise that they wouldn't fight back no matter what. If they got into trouble, they'd be forced to leave and then they'd never be able to find information on Sky Island. They barely acknowledged what she was saying just as a crippled old man fell off his horse right in front of them.

Croaking for help, he asked if they could help him back up onto his horse.

"Man, he looks like he's on his last leg," Franky muttered. He was a very large man, with a slightly longer than normal nose, straight purple tattoos coming from his hairline to the corners of his eyes, and was wearing a thick, black fur coat.

Sanji frowned. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about this guy he didn't like—just something that ticked him off. After Luffy and Zoro helped him back on his horse, he offered them some apples as a thank you

"Do you take us for idiots?!" past Zoro demanded, noticing the sneaky look on his face. "We'd never trust food from someone like you."

But Luffy did take one and took a bite, and as soon as he did, there was an explosion behind them.

"What happened?!" Usopp cried out in shock.

"Luffy was really lucky here, I'll say that much," Zoro said in annoyance finally getting Chopper off him. "If he had picked any other apple, he'd be dead."

"You mean they're poisonous?!" Usopp cried.

"No, but not a bad guess," Nami hissed. They then heard some shouting, some men yelling that apparently some men took some apples from that same old man and when they ate them, the apples blew up.

"LUFFY!" Chopper and Brook both screamed in panic. Past Zoro and Nami had turned almost as blue in the face as they had been when the saw the giants as they realized what was going on. Memory Nami the screamed at Luffy to spit it out, practically strangling him in the process as Zoro had his sword in his hands, looking ready to attack the man, demanding to know what he had done.

The old man smirked. "No worries," he said with a hiccup, "The boy isn't hurt. If he had eaten a 'bad' one, you would've died on the first bite. You're lucky."

The others all sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness for that," Usopp whispered as the two dragged Luffy away before he could do anything else that might kill him.

"Hopefully this'll teach him never to take anything from strangers like that," Brook said dabbing at his forehead with his feathered boa as if he was sweating.

"I doubt it," Sanji sighed.

"We can't take our eyes off him for an instant," Usopp sighed tiredly as they walked on. Past Nami was hissing about it to Luffy, who didn't seem bothered by his close escape from death. But then they heard the sounds of insane laughter from one of the roofs right behind him, and when they looked, there was a large man standing there as if he had just been declared the next king. He was a big, muscular man with curly, light violet hair reaching past his shoulders and with a mask covering his upper face.

Zoro frowned. "I remember him… and now that I think about it, I remember that old man from before. Weren't they some of the losers with that Blackbeard guy who went after us?"

"What?" Sanji asked, thinking back. "Oh right… just before we went to Sky Island, they showed up wanting Luffy's bounty."

"Yes," Robin said softly. "I remember seeing them in the paper. They're two members of Blackbeard's crew."

"They are?!" Nami said in surprise. "And that means we're about to see that Blackbeard jerk here. Oh, this is just great… how were we supposed to know it was them?"

Chopper stared up at the man with an unreadable look on his face. So he was one of the men who attacked his home and made such a mess of it? Why? Why did they come after his island in the first place? Kill all those people and then be here like nothing happened? He suddenly felt a strong surge of hatred that he couldn't remember feeling in a long time go through him.

The others heard some of the citizens talking about how he wanted to be the fighting champion… which got Zoro's and Luffy's attention as they looked back, ready for a fight.

"Don't even think about it you two!" memory Nami screamed before she dragged them on. They glared back at the member of the Blackbeard Pirates, all of them having bad feelings of knowing that they were going to see these men again…

The memory came and went once again, and suddenly, they were all suddenly in a worn-down looking bar. Nami and the boys were at the bar enjoying some drinks and food as they talked about what it was they were supposed to do.

"Oh no," Nami whispered, rubbing her eyes. "Not this place."

"Are we still in Mock Town?" Chopper asked, looking around him.

"Unfortunately," Nami hissed, shaking in suppressed anger.

"Jeez, what happened here?" Usopp asked her as memory Nami slapped her glass down on the bark in front of her.

"Man, that really pisses me off!" she said bitterly as the other two let her let her complain, Zoro downing his drink and Luffy waited impatiently for his food. She began with a long talk with the bartender about this island, and he gave her the same kind of advice that Robin had stated only a little earlier. He set two cherry pies on the bar for Luffy and a large man next to him before he told her that the Log Pose would reset in only a couple more days, but it might be wiser to skip town sooner than that.

"I've had enough of this town and I'm not even here," Franky muttered. "But you gotta admit, there's never a dull moment."

"You talk like you know a lot about it," Sanji commented as he shrugged.

"I've dealt with the black market before plenty of times," he answered, waving his hand at him. "It's not that hard… and let me tell you, you can get pretty much anything there for the right price."

"True," Robin nodded next to him as past Nami had started to ask the bartender something when both Luffy and the man next to him slammed their fists down onto the bark, each with their own opinion about the pies.

"It's him…" Nami whispered, finally realizing who was there.

"You mean…?" Franky asked as Zoro answered, his one eye narrowed in dislike. "Blackbeard…"

It was hard to believe that this guy had become an Emperor. He didn't seem like such a bad guy, but soon he and Luffy had gotten into a fight about the pies being served to them. Noticing that their remarks opposed with each other, they decided not to mind the other at first and drink some soda. But at that, they both made opposing remarks about that. Really getting on each other's nerves this time and they decided to have some food for take-out. Luffy ordered pieces of meat and Blackbeard started ordering pies—however upon learning the number of food that the other was ordering, they started competing about who can order more.

"Is this really what happened?" Usopp asked with a deadpanned expression.

"I keep expecting the bartender to call out 'SOLD'! Or something like that," Sanji muttered as the two were now glaring at each other, looking ready to fight.

"DO YOU TWO EVEN HAVE THE SLIGHEST IDEA TO WHAT YOU'RE FIGHTING ABOUT!?" memory Zoro screamed, as Nami shouted that he promised her not to start a fight. And that they didn't have that kind of money anyway—they weren't here to shop.

"Again, are we sure this is the Blackbeard that we need to worry about?" Usopp asked.

"Don't laugh," Robin said softly, "Appearances can be deceiving. After all, people like Crocodile learned that the hard way didn't they?"

Usopp stopped but he still looked confused as he glanced at them. Luffy didn't look happy at all, glaring at the man as if daring him to say something wrong.

"Is it just me or is just looking at this guy ticking anyone off?" Sanji asked, sounding unusually sour.

"It's not just you," Zoro said in a bad mood.

Blackbeard suddenly grinned evilly at Luffy. "So then… are you a pirate?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of his business but yeah," Sanji muttered, suddenly having a strong urge to kick this bastard.

"Yeah, that's right," Luffy answered and then Blackbeard asked how high his bounty was.

"Thirty-million," Luffy answered.

"It's funny that everyone else seemed to know about you two having such high bounties here," Usopp pointed out.

"Well, Luffy only had his first bounty for a short time before it jumped up more than triple," Robin answered. "That kind of sudden jump, as well as gaining a sixty-million bounty is practically unheard of."

Zoro only smirked at that, remembering the pride he felt to have seen his first bounty doubled by the time they were done with Enies Lobby. Blackbeard however seemed to think that Luffy was making it up, and even telling him that he wouldn't believe it even if he collected it.

"Are you calling me a liar you fat, hairy ape?!" Luffy yelled angrily.

"There ya go," Franky called out, "You're getting better with your insults, Luffy."

Finally, memory Zoro was yelling at them both to break it up, as the bartender sent down a package of cherry pies on the bar in front of Blackbeard, telling him that one of the rules in his bar was no fighting and that if they wanted to settle it so bad they could do it outside. Hoping that he would just leave, he gave him the package of fifty pies and asked for him to just go.

Blackbeard glared down at Luffy, who glared back harshly before he seemed to decide that it just wasn't worth it. Instead, Blackbeard picked up his package and left the building without a glance back.

"What a jerk," Nami hissed under her breath, each one glaring at Blackbeard as he left through the doors.

"All in all, it could've been a lot worse," Usopp pointed out, wondering just why Nami suddenly felt so angry about this place. That ended rather well if you asked him.

"That's not what makes me angry," Nami hissed just as someone came bursting through the doors, calling that he was looking for someone with a straw hat. They all looked, to see a tall and darkly tanned man with unkempt blond hair as well as a scar just above his right eye and a mark of a smiley face with a slash through it on his chest.

"HIM!" Nami yelled, pointing to him before she rounded on Zoro. "You mind telling me just why you didn't fight this guy? You could've taken him on easy couldn't you?! So why did you just stand there and let him beat you two up?!"

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked just as Chopper asked who this guy was.

"He's a loser who wasn't worth the effort," Zoro stated, still looking ahead as Bellamy came in, and spotted Luffy at the bar.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked impatiently.

"Looks like he's got a bone to pick with you, Luffy," memory Zoro muttered as they watched him come nearer.

"He must be that Bellamy guy who rented out that hotel we were act," past Nami whispered to them.

"Hotel?" Brook repeated in confusion.

"While we were looking around for someone to help us, we went to this hotel and someone had rented the whole thing out just for his crew," Nami said, waving her hand at him, "That was this guy. But that's not important. What is important is that Luffy and Zoro just let him…"

But before she could finish, Bellamy was right next to them, towering over Luffy as Luffy commented that everyone they were meeting today was huge. Bellamy ignored that as he ordered a glass from the top shelf and told the bartender to give Luffy anything he wanted.

"This doesn't seem so bad," Usopp said slowly. Soon, the rest of Bellamy's crew came in, talking in loud voices about how disgusting and cheap this bar was. One of them, a guy wearing a long coat made of fur, took out a bent knife that was as big as a sword, and actually slashed one of the other customers so that he could get his seat.

Brook, Usopp, and Chopper screamed at that as the man with the knife sneered at the dying man on the floor, "You'd be in a lot less pain if you'd offered us your seats already. Pathetic harbor trash."

"Better than small-town thugs," Zoro stated quietly as several others ran out of the bar in terror, gasping at how it was 'Big Knife Sarquiss'.

"That's a stupid name," Franky said. "Who wants to be named Big Knife?"

Meanwhile, the bartender brought out the drinks that Bellamy asked for and stood back, clearly not wanting any trouble as Bellamy said to Luffy, "Cheers."

"Hey, thanks for the drink pal," Luffy said cheerfully as current Nami felt her fingers curl into fists at what was about to happen here. "You know what, you're alright," Luffy said as he started to tilt his head back to drink when suddenly, Bellamy slammed Luffy's head into the bar table so hard that it shattered.

"What was that for!?" Chopper screamed out as the whole bar went silent and stared at them as Bellamy smirked.

"Anyone else sense a little Déjà vu?" Robin asked calmly as memory Zoro had his blade out and was holding it to Bellamy's neck.

"And what are you doing, punk?" Bellamy asked him, as if amused that Zoro turned his blade to him.

"That's the question you should be asking yourself," memory Zoro sneered, his face dark as night.

"Looking real scary there Zoro," Franky whispered as they watched, suddenly feeling that exact same sense of Déjà vu that Robin mentioned, but they weren't sure of why.

Bellamy only sneered at him, as if enjoying the thought of fighting him. Memory Nami was behind him, pleading with Zoro not to fight, that they still needed information, but he interrupted her, telling her to be quiet because if this guy wanted to fight, he was more than happy to give it to him.

"You did not just yell at her!" Sanji hollered at him as Zoro rolled his one good eye.

"Did you not see what just happened?" he asked coldly as Luffy slowly stood up, wiping his face. "Of course I wanted to gut the guy."

"Then why didn't you?!" Nami snapped at him as Luffy turned to face Bellamy, asking if he was ready to take him on or not. Bellamy only grinned wildly at him as everyone else cheered on, wanting to see a fight.

"You've got it all wrong kid, this isn't a fight, it's a test!" Bellamy laughed. "Now come on, let's see how strong you are!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Franky asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Robin asked, getting what was happening. "He wants to see if he thinks Luffy's strong enough to join him. When he heard about his first bounty, he thought that he might want someone strong in his crew."

"But Luffy's bounty isn't thirty-million anymore!" Chopper pointed out.

"Yeah, but they don't know that," Robin answered as Sanji spat on the ground near Bellamy's feet.

"Like we would've joined such a pathetic group," Sanji stated darkly.

Looking worried that a fight would break out, memory Nami turned to the bartender and asked quickly, "Mister, we're trying to get to the Sky Island do you know anything about that?!"

The bartender stared at her as the bar went silent once again, all of them staring at her.

"Why do I get the feeling you just said something you really shouldn't have?" Brook asked, not liking this as others began whispering to each other on that subject. Clearly unable to believe they heard right.

Current Nami just stood there, shaking in anger as Luffy glanced at them all in confusion. Memory Nami looked just as confused, but went on bravely with her question, "Like I was saying, if you knew how to get to Sky Island…?"

But before she could finish, the whole bar burst out laughing, startling them all as everyone around them began to mock them about searching for a place that didn't exist.

"But the Log Pose…?" Chopper began in a confused voice as memory Nami held up her wrist so that they could see their Log and she yelled out, "What the… you can look at the Log Pose yourself! It's pointed at the sky plan as day!"

That stopped them all laughing for only a brief moment before they began laughing once again, mocking and taunting Nami who was turning a bright red color.

"How dare they?" Sanji hissed, aching to break each and every one of their faces. They embarrass a lady like this and they don't even deserve to live. "Nami my love," he said firmly, "If we ever meet them again, I will personally deal with them all."

"I'll hold you to that," Nami growled as Usopp was asking what they were all laughing at. But his answer was given almost at once as Bellamy sat down sharply, slapping his knee as he also roared with laughter.

"You got me there kid!" he yelled out. "I can't believe you guys are putting hope in such a ridiculous legend like an island in the sky! Especially considering how little you know! Like how out of the thousands of weird currents in the Grand Line one of them is called a Knock-Up Stream." He then stared at Nami. "Looks to me like this is the first time you've ever heard about it."

"Maybe, so why don't you tell us?" Franky asked, his dislike for this guy growing with every second.

"This place is terrible," Usopp whispered, now wishing that their past selves would just hurry up and leave before anything else happened.

"Any ship that get caught up in the Knock-Up Stream is catapulted into the sky and later slams back down into the ocean!" Bellamy continued to laugh, "Years ago, a bunch of ignorant sailors saw a bunch of ships falling from of the sky and assumed that there must be an island up there somewhere! In their minds, how else could a ship get up that high?!" He stuck his tongue out with a deranged smile as he finished, "Ha! Ridiculous! Anything that seems supernatural always has a rational explanation! Anything a man can dream can eventually be explained and let me tell you the truth will hurt!"

"There is some truth in that," Robin answered softly, "However just because you haven't seen something before doesn't mean that it doesn't exist."

"That's right!" Usopp said firmly as Chopper yelled out in agreement. "Sky Island does exist! In fact, there's more than one floating island out there! We've seen it with our own eyes!"

The bar continued to laugh with Bellamy however as Luffy seemed to grow angrier, his hands now fists, as if he was fighting back the urge to punch this guy. Bellamy sighed again as he looked to them. "What a shame. Look, I was gonna to let you into my crew if you passed the test for the New Era, but it seems like you're a lost cause."

"Like we would've joined!" Usopp yelled.

"We wouldn't join you even if you paid us for it!" Franky added loudly as Bellamy glared at Luffy like he thought that he was not worth the trouble anymore. "Thing is… the time of pirates dreams are over!"

"What did he say?!" Brook demanded angrily, not sounding like himself.

"The City of Gold, The Emerald Ruins, and the great One Piece… fools who dream of these fictional treasures don't notice the real treasures all around them!" Bellamy laughed, "In this age of oceans, the very men who are capable of navigating currents end up chasing these ridiculous dreams and die in the process!"

"Well what's the purpose of going to a place that everyone else has been before?" Sanji asked, his eyes closing as he dreamt for a moment of the All Blue. "What if you want to see a place that is supposed to only be a dream?"

"Yeah! I want to see it all!" Chopper yelled loudly, "You're just being a bully!"

Bellamy's smile got even wilder as he said mockingly, "Whenever these people speak of these dead idiots, they always say 'he was happy because he died living his dreams'! Ha! No! He died because he was a fool!"

"But at least people remember them," Usopp said, his hands shaking. "They're always remembered as brave warriors of the sea! If I had to die like that, then I can't think of any other way I rather go!"

"This guy's heart is an empty hole," Brook whispered furiously, "And he calls himself a pirate? Pirates and dreams all go hand in hand! You can't be one without the other! Otherwise you're nothing but a brute!"

"And that's all that he is!" Nami hissed as Luffy glared at him, his fist slowly loosening up as his anger seemed to vanish so that there was no emotion at all on his face. But then… Bellamy held up his own fist and declared, "So when I see people chasing dreams of One Piece I get disgusted!"

And without raising a hand to defend himself, Luffy just shut his eyes and allowed Bellamy to hit him so that he fell back onto the ground.

"What happened?!" Brook cried out as memory Nami cried out in shock—past Zoro didn't react at all as he looked at his captain—as if wondering what it was he going to do about it.

"What's happening here?!" Usopp cried out, pointing a hand at them, "Luffy could've easily dodged that."

"He could've," Zoro agreed, "But he chose to let him hit him."

"But why?!" Chopper cried out, "What's the point?!"

"To prove a point," Zoro answered nonchalantly. "Luffy has a lot to learn about being a Captain and a pirate… but I back him up on this choice completely."

"Why would you back him up when you two got your faces pummeled into mush?!" Nami yelled irritably at him.

"Because it wasn't worth it," Zoro answered firmly.

Bellamy suddenly went on speaking, laughing as if he knew the answer to the meaning of life. "You're a weak pirate just like they were! And as long as you're hacking around you're making us, the real pirates, look like trash!" And then he threw his glass at the floor, narrowly missing Luffy's head, who was still lying there, staring up at the celling.

"Come on Luffy! Hit him!" Chopper yelled as Brook and Sanji both watched calmly. Though they understood now that the shock had worn off, they were all wishing that Luffy just decked them already just to shut him up.

Luffy didn't move at all, just laid there with an empty expression, as if he was merely bored as everyone followed Bellamy's example and began to throw food and drinks at them.

"I see," Robin answered, understanding where she had seen this all before.

"See what?" Nami demanded as Sarquiss encouraged Bellamy to beat them up, who was grinning back only too eagerly.

Memory Nami finally couldn't take it anymore. "Luffy, Zoro, forget all about all that pacifist crap earlier!" she screamed. "Take this jerk out!"

"Believe me, under different circumstances, I would've," Zoro answered, as Luffy slowly sat up, not even reacting to the food and drink around him as he looked directly at memory Zoro and gave him one order. What he said, stunned a lot of the Straw Hats… "Zoro… no matter whatever happens, don't fight back."

"Did he just tell you not to fight?" Chopper cried out as past Zoro looked just as expressionless as Luffy—though a little cold.

Chopper, Usopp, Nami, and even Franky were stunned at this as the others watched on quite calmly, no longer surprised as they watched as Bellamy and his crew attacked. They began to punch and hit them, like they were practice dummies. They watched as they threw food at them and Bellamy took a long sip of booze before he spit it all into Luffy's face.

But no matter what they did to them, neither one fought back… even as Bellamy slammed Luffy's face right through a window, leaving the steady dripping of blood on the shattered glass.

"You see?!" Nami hollered at him, pointing a shaking hand at him. "What was the point?! Going through all that only to be beaten like this?!"

"You're really pissing me off here," Zoro snapped at her. "Fight! Don't fight! Run! Don't Run! Do this! No, do that! Make up your mind already!"

"Truly amazing!" Brook said, as the two lay on the ground. "You two never seem to stop surprising me."

Nami stared at him along with the other three who were looking lost and confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked, getting angry again, "Well, give me one good reason to why I should be proud of them."

"Nami, do you by any chance remember one of the earlier memories?" Robin asked, "When we were at Makino's bar and those bandits came in, taunting Shanks?"

Nami blinked as the others looked to her.

Sanji was smirking as Brook said, "Going around picking fights with every random person you meet, thinking that they are weaker than you, doesn't prove you're strong. One doesn't need to fight senseless battles to get ahead. When faced with a person like this, the only way to prove that you are better than that is not to fight back."

"And get beaten up?" she demanded.

"At least we know they're nothing like these losers," Sanji answered and jerked his thumb at Bellamy and at that, Nami slowly felt her anger fade.

"He learned this from Shanks," Robin smiled, as Franky nodded, finally getting it.

"That's right," he agreed, "Real men don't need to prove anything."

"It wasn't that bad anyway," Zoro stated with a wave of his hand. "They were pathetic."

Memory Nami went running over to them both, still trying to get them to fight back, but what Sarquiss said next, got Sanji so angry that he looked ready to kill. Saying that he wanted to 'buy' her.

"BUY HER?!" Sanji roared, the fire practically exploding off him. "HOW DARE THEY SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON THEM I'M GOING TO GUT THEM ALL!"

As he screamed out more death threats, memory Nami stared up at him as she hissed, "Excuse me?! Did you just say that you wanted to buy me?!"

"That's right," Sarquiss said with a rather evil grin that got everyone angry as the glared daggers at him, "Come on girl… join us."

Memory Nami didn't look angry, but her face had turned to one of a disgusted smirk. "I hate to say it," she said, her face dark, "But I'm too good to be seen with a pirate like you! You're nothing but a small time thug!"

"You tell them!" Usopp yelled, punching the air.

"Now that is facing slime with grace and dignity," Sanji muttered, looking at the two women who were with Bellamy. They could do a lot better than these guys—they were also too good to be with them.

The rest of the bar laughed at them, with Luffy and Zoro lying on the floor, no longer moving. The only other person who wasn't laughing was the bartender, who was cleaning some glasses and just watched—his own expression was empty as Bellamy threw his glass down like a child having a tantrum, and yelled at them to get out of his sight. With as much poise as she could muster, memory Nami picked up both men by their shirts and dragged them out as they continued to throw bottles at them the whole way out.

"What a horrible place!" Brook said in disgust.

"Yeah, if we never come back here, it'll be just fine by me," Nami said, her anger still high, but was slowly starting to understand why they acted the way they did… even if she didn't like it. That guy got off too easily if they asked her. But as her past self dragged Luffy and Zoro they heard a familiar voice proclaim, "The Sky Island does exist!"

"Who said that?" Usopp said stopping at once. Past Nami had her head turned right towards Blackbeard, who was eating his pies, sitting on the ground watching them with a curious expression. After he took a big bite he said with a laugh, "That place really does make a killer cherry pie."

"What does he want?" Sanji asked cold, getting angry all over again. Memory Nami seemed to be expecting trouble as well. She dropped both the boys and snarled at him, "Got something you wanna say?"

"Now what could you possibly be angry about?" Blackbeard asked cheerfully with a wide grin. "Your two friends won that fight without ever throwing a punch!"

"That's true," Brook said softly, looking at the two on the ground with a deep respect. "They handled it very well. You and Luffy-san."

Zoro merely smirked as past Nami looked to Blackbeard in surprise. Just then, as if echoing across the memory, there were two voices:

"Ha… you think you'll surpass us?"

Everyone froze at that and stared around, recognizing that one voice. "Shanks?" Usopp whispered when they heard another voice speak up, only this time it was Ace's voice…

"When next we meet, we'll both be top pirates."

"What's going on?!" Franky yelled out, have expecting to see the two show up.

"I think…" Robin said, her eyes going to Luffy, who was staring blankly at Blackbeard from where he lay on the ground. "Maybe Luffy was thinking about them so greatly that we could've heard their voices?"

"You think?" Nami asked her in surprise.

"Both of them are a big influence on his life," she answered. "I think that it's not too hard to think that he would've been thinking about them the whole time that was happening."

"Well, if he was, then I'm sure that he made them proud," Zoro stated as Blackbeard began to laugh again, but unlike the men back at the bar, it wasn't a mocking or belittling laugh… more like one of respect. And this was proven when he said, "I respected the way you treated them back there. You've got nerves of steel, lady!"

"True," Robin agreed, "Not just anyone could've dealt with that as well as you did, Nami."

Nami went a little bit red, holding her head high she answered, "I've dealt with pirates just like that before. It's not that hard."

"But still," Usopp frowned heavily, glaring back at the bar's doors. "They all themselves pirates?"

"They are the ones who make the real pirates, look like trash!" Brook said in outrage as past Zoro and Luffy got up and began to dust themselves off. Fixing his hat, Luffy turned his bloody face towards Blackbeard, looking at him with that same unreadable look that he had given Bellamy.

Blackbeard only grinned a little wider, looking at Luffy with a great deal more respect than he had before. He then said, "This New Era they keep rambling on and on about is a load of crap!"

"It's a load of shit, I'll agree that much," Sanji said, hating the fact that he agreed with this guy.

"The era where pirates dream of treasure will come to an end? Yeah right!" Blackbeard laughed again just as he slammed his whisky bottle onto the ground and called out loudly, getting everyone's attention around them, "THE DREAMS OF PIRATES… WILL NEVER END!"

There was silence from everyone as Luffy still didn't react at all, like he could see something in Blackbeard that they couldn't. "Am I right?" Blackbeard challenged, and soon his shouting had caused the crowd around them to laugh good-naturedly at him, asking what he was talking about.

"One upping your peers isn't easy!" was his only answer before he calmed down enough to look directly at Luffy, answering, "They can laugh at us all they want because when you aim high, you often come across fights that just aren't worth fighting! Right?"

Chopper frowned heavily. He didn't seem like the guy who had attacked his home… what was with him?

"I'm confused here," Franky said, pointing at him.

"Yeah, didn't Jimbei tell us about what a rotten guy he was?" Usopp added as memory Zoro told the other two that they should just go. Nami had no problems with that and was about to follow him until she noticed that Luffy still hadn't moved.

"Luffy?" she asked softly, but he was still giving Blackbeard that long and hard look… and they knew him well enough to tell that he wasn't happy with what he saw, but didn't say anything else as Blackbeard stood up, his bottle and sack of pies back in his hands.

"Oh, it looks like I interrupted you," he said as if he just realized that he was being rude to a group of shoppers, "Are you in a hurry kid?"

Luffy didn't answer, however he didn't seem to be expecting one as he turned and raised his drink, "One more thing…" he added, "I hope you find your way to Sky Island." He turned and laughed as Luffy also left, leaving him behind.

No one said anything as they followed the three, no one able to think of anything that they could say to what they just saw. The Straw Hats tried to speak but memory Nami was now pressing the boys, suggesting that they should go back and talk to that guy and that he might know something about Sky Island.

"I would prefer if we didn't, thank you," current Zoro said, glaring back at Blackbeard's retreating back. They didn't know who this guy was, but he knew even back then that there was something wrong with that guy…

Past Nami was then asking if they had any idea who he was.

"I dunno," Luffy confessed softly, in serious voice that was almost unheard of from him, "But it's not he."

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Franky asked their Zoro who didn't answer as they kept walking.

Memory Nami looked at him in confusion and asked, "If it's not he then… what is it?"

"Probably they," Zoro answered, who seemed to know what Luffy was taking about as his captain rubbed some blood off near his mouth before the two headed onwards, not bothering to answer any of Nami's questions as she asked what they were talking about.

"That there were others with him," current Zoro answered in annoyance.

"But how did you know?" Chopper asked in confusion.

Zoro didn't answer. The truth was, he could feel similar feelings of annoyance from some of the other guys in town, including the two he saw. He couldn't be completely sure, but something just told him that they were together.

He shook his head as the memory faded and Chopper was frowning heavily as he began picking at the grass beneath their feet in a frustrated way.

"Who would've guess that guy was a real rat?" Usopp asked with a pout, not getting this. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the guy who would've betrayed his crew like how he did?"

"It doesn't matter," Sanji stated, breathing out smoke again, "Words don't mean anything… actions do. You could say something that sounds brave and kind, but that could just as easily be a lie. It's what we do that shows off what kind of person you are."

"That guy's a monster," Nami said firmly, thinking about how bitterly Jimbei talked about him. Anyone who he shows such disgust for had to be rotten to the core in her book.

The next memory turned up and they were back on the Merry with Zoro and Luffy both cleaned up and Chopper treating their many cuts and bruises.

"So… what happened to you guys?" memory Usopp asked in concern, leaning against the railing and watched as Chopper dabbed disinfectant on a deep cut on Luffy's arm. "It looks like you were mauled by a pack of rabid wolves."

"Not quite, but not a bad guess," current Zoro stated causally.

"It was pirates," Luffy admitted before he assured him, "But we're ok. Just some scratches."

"Yeah," past Zoro added, looking as if they had just got into a simple misunderstanding—but memory Nami was looking put out as she sat on the stairs, her back to them all.

"You guys seemed to be ok with everything, but I certainly am not!" she said as the boys looked at her. She seemed to be trying to hold her rage back before she lost it and began yelling out, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO?! YOU ARE MEN RIGHT?! WHEN SOMEONE PROVOKES YOU, THE ONLY LOGICAL RESPONSE WOULD BE TO PUMMEL THEIR FACES AND THEN WIPE UP THE BLOOD WITH THEIR FRIEND'S FACES! OR BETTER YET YOU SHOULD'VE JUST BLOWN UP THE ENTIRE ANNOYING TOWN!"

"Dang," Franky gulped, suddenly inching away from the Nami standing next to him.

"And I thought Zoro was scary," Usopp whispered as Chopper nodded firmly by his side. Memory Zoro asked what happened to all her pacifist talk, but shut up at once when she turned the evil eye at him.

"SHUT UP ZORO! WHAT'S PAST IS PAST! WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ANCIENT HISTORY HERE!" she shrieked at him.

"Why are you so mad here?" Robin asked her curiously as she watched both Nami's shaking in anger.

"I just… wanted to shut them all up," she muttered, her hands in tight fists. "First they laughed at us, and then they did all that stuff to us? I just couldn't stand it! But I knew I couldn't do anything to stop it. I really thought that they had turned into cowards there."

"Hey!" Zoro snapped as memory Usopp was asking Luffy was she was in such a bad mood since she didn't get a scratch on her.

"And if there had been a scratch on Nami-swan's delicate skin, I would've killed everyone in this town," Sanji said firmly, "So you guys were lucky on that."

"I thought we went over this," Zoro said firmly, "We weren't afraid! There just was only one way to win!"

Nami didn't think of anything to counter as Luffy answered he had no idea. Chopper then bravely asked if they found any information on Sky Island… which seemed to bring up those bad memories from Nami as she slowly turned her wrath onto him, who was crying in fear.

"I'm not that scary," Nami said as she watched past Chopper and Usopp, who were scared so badly, that they were guarding themselves and pretending to be dead. But her past self didn't seem to notice as she screamed out that she honestly couldn't care less about Sky Island anymore. That all she had to do was say the name and they laughed at her. She then screamed out, demanding to know what was so funny about saying it.

"I could never laugh at you my dear!" current Sanji swooned at their Nami and she hit him to shut him up.

"She's scaring me again," Chopper whispered as he, Usopp, and Brook all moved back.

"You and me both, Chopper," Usopp whispered. Thankfully, memory Robin returned at that moment and Nami turned her wrath onto her. Yelling that if it turned out that Sky Island didn't exist, she was going to throw her overboard with rocks in her pockets for good measure.

"Dang girl…" Franky whispered as memory Usopp warned Robin to keep her distance for a while until she calmed down. "You're practically foaming at the mouth here."

"When she's in a bad mood she likes to spread it around," Usopp whispered as Nami narrowed her eyes at him and he froze up at once as if it was death he was looking at.

"What did you say? Wait a second, you better not be laughing at me!" she demanded softly and Usopp hid behind Franky, croaking out that he didn't say anything. But memory Robin only smiled as she gave Luffy a map of this island, telling him that she got some information on it. As they looked over it, they saw that they were at the point labeled 'Mock Town' but on the other side of the island was a large X. And Robin told them that apparently a man was banished there because he didn't blend in with the town here.

"What does that mean?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Didn't blend in?" Usopp and Luffy repeated in surprise.

"His name is Montblanc Cricket," memory Robin explained as she headed to the door to the galley, "Apparently Mr. Cricket talked about his dreams too much. Sounds like you have something in common." She smiled brightly as she closed the door and Luffy beamed at the map, loudly proclaiming that they needed to go pay this guy a visit.

"So we get to see Cricket again?!" Usopp beamed. "That's great! I've been wanting to see him again!"

"Who is this guy?" Franky asked curiously.

"He was a good friend of ours," Sanji told them, watching as the final embers of his cigarette die out sadly. "We never would've made it to Skypiea without him."

"Yeah, he was great!" Chopper agreed as he jumped up to Franky's shoulders.

"He was a real inspiration!" Usopp said a little tearfully as the next memory popped up. They were back out at sea on the Merry, with a large ship right in front of them. It looked a great deal like Masira's ship, with the giant trees that served as masts, the sides of the ship were covered in little doors and ladders where some men, dressed in wetsuits, were climbing up, and a large orangutan skull and crossbones for the Jolly Roger.

"And this fellow is…?" Brook asked in surprise.

"That would be Shoujou's ship," Zoro stated, "Masira's brother."

"Oh, that explains a lot," Franky said, "But what's with the monkey theme?"

"Don't know," Zoro stated as Luffy asked the others if this was the same salvage ship from before, with the others dismissing that, saying that it though it looked the same, it wasn't Masira's crew. The memory versions of Usopp and Chopper both nodded in firm agreement behind them, saying that they saw those guys and it turns out that they docked at Mock Town just like most ships in these waters. And they reasoned they must be all the same as the guys who fought them.

"I'm glad that we were wrong about that," Usopp said just as a large man who looked like an orangutan with long green hair and wearing a black button up shirt that is too small for his body showing off his hairy torso. "Can you believe I got all worked up, wondering who you people are?" he asked them all.

"Your face looks weird," Luffy called bluntly, "What species are you?"

"I didn't think he could get any ruder," Sanji whispered.

"I don't know, I kinda see what he means," Zoro added.

"I'm human, moron!" Shoujou yelled angrily as his crew all yelled in outrage as well. That there was no one out there who knew more about underwater search than their captain. But Shoujou calmed them down, going on to admit that his temper was short these days because he wanted to be named as the next Warlord since Crocodile was defeated, but he hadn't gotten the news yet.

"I don't see why they would?" Franky said, this guy seemed pretty harmless to him.

"Well, what a shock it would've been to them if you told him that you guys were the ones who took him out," Brook laughed happily.

"Well, one thing I've always liked about Luffy is that he's modest," Sanji stated, "He doesn't go around talking about the people he's beaten… unlike that Bellamy."

"Yeah, why can't you be a little more like that, Usopp?" Nami asked, who had calmed down enough to start returning to her old self.

"Hey!" Usopp yelled back as Luffy asked Shoujou, "So your goal is to become one of the seven Warlords of the Sea?!"

"Didn't I just say that?" Shoujou called in annoyance. But then he went on to introduce himself, bragging about how he never cut his hair once in his whole life. But when Luffy said that was lame that got Shoujou angry.

"Sensitive or what?" Franky asked with a sweat-drop.

"Yeah, he is," Chopper nodded sagely. However, when Luffy told Shoujou to move, the ape seemed to lose it as he screamed out, "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT DO YOU?! THIS IS MY TURF! IF YOU WANT TO PASS YOU EITHER PAY THE TOLL OR BE SUNK! GOT IT?!"

"Yeah, you can tell that he and Masira are brothers," Nami nodded as memory Usopp, who was crouching low behind Chopper, began asking what he was talking about 'his turf?'. "He's starting to sound like our old friend Masira…?" he ended.

"Huh?" Luffy asked, looking at him in surprise, "Masira said stuff like that?"

That also got Shoujou's attention. "Masira?" he asked at once, "What about Masira?!"

"He really shouldn't go talking about his brother and how you guys treated him," Brook warned, but Luffy went on anyway.

"If you must know," Luffy said, looking back up at him, "We kicked his butt off our boat! But we didn't think…?"

But Shoujou screamed in outrage as he yelled at him to how dare he kicked his own brother.

"Wait, hold on!" Luffy yelled, trying to make himself heard, "Listen to me! Sure we threw him off our boat, but I bet he's alive!"

"Yeah, I mean, you guys just kicked him off, you didn't even beat him up," Franky said. "Unless he was eaten by a Sea King or something—or by one of those giants—?" he shivered at the thought, "I'm sure that he's just fine."

"These two were tough," Usopp said, remembering how they found them all beaten unconscious, but still ended up recovering enough to help them fix the ship up. But Shoujou was far from listening as he pulled out his microphone and began to scream into it. No one could tell what he was doing at first, but the sound waves from his voice was actually causing pain to his crew and destroy his ship. The Straw Hats didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about until the Merry was also being torn apart. The planking was coming up, the patches that Usopp worked so hard to fix were falling apart and looked close to being blown away…

"What's going on?!" Brook cried out in confusion. "How's he doing all this?!"

"Sonic vibrations!" Robin had to call through the noise. "He's using the wavelengths from his voice to do all this. The vibrations are ringing through the ship and causing it to all fall apart."

"Oh, hell! Let's get out of here! This guy's as crazy as his brother!" Franky yelled, his hands over his ears as the past Straw Hats realized what was going on and knew that if they stayed for too much longer, they were sure to sink. Memory Nami calmed down from her experience in Mock Town enough to give them all orders, and soon they were able to sail away from the range of Shoujou's voice, though the damage had been done—the Merry was in such bad shape that they were actually leaving a trail of debris behind them and Usopp was now pulling planks of wood and his tool set out as they quickly began patching it up as best as they could.

"That won't work," Franky frowned, not liking what he was seeing.

"How bad was the Merry here?!" Chopper asked him worriedly. "Was Merry already in such bad shape here that she couldn't be fixed?"

"Hard to say since I can't really look at her from here," he answered as the memory faded once again. "But from what I could see, the frame seemed to be shot. And that's not good."

"So Merry was already irreparable even here?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Maybe not just yet," Franky said, wishing that he could examine her. "So long as the keel itself isn't broken, I guess that it could've all be replaced… but even then, that's a long shot. She's taken quite a beating here… I mean, she's falling apart at the seams and the only kind of repairs you guys could do was amateur ones. It would take a master shipwright to save her at this point, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"That bad?" Sanji asked worriedly.

"Very bad," Frank confirmed. "I don't know how you guys did such damage to the keel, but from what I remember when I looked at her myself at Water 7, she looked like she fell from a great height, any ideas to how that happened?"

The six Straw Hats who had been to Skypiea, all glanced at each other, all of them thinking the same thing. But before they could give Franky any kind of details, the next memory appeared and as the boys patched up the ship as best as they could, Nami and Robin were looking over the map.

"We left Mock Town and headed east by circling around the northern shore of the island. Our destination… is here," memory Nami said as she traced the path with her finger before she looked to Robin and asked, "We're supposed to meet that man here. What's that name?"

"His name is Montblanc Cricket," she answered calmly as they turned the bend.

"And you're sure he'll be able to help us out right?" past Nami asked. But her voice was drowned out by Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper when they spotted a beautiful palace right on the edge of the water.

"Gorgeous!" Brook cried in wonder. "This Cricket gentleman must be very rich!"

"Not really," Nami answered as the past versions of the 'Goofy Trio' were gapping at it, but the others all sighed at it, having already figured out what it was. It wasn't until Luffy jumped off to get a closer look, and yell in shock did they all find out that it was just a paper covering part of a house that looked like it had been carved right in half.

"Well, that's a letdown," Franky sighed as memory Nami asked Robin why Cricket decided to live here.

"I don't know all the details," she admitted leaning against the rails, "But I think it has something to do with his belief that a large amount of gold rests somewhere in the hills of Jaya.

"GOLD?!" Brook cried in excitement with memory Usopp.

"Do you think he's here looking for some kind of buried treasure?!" past Nami asked at once, her eyes lighting up. But even when Robin admitted that she didn't know, Nami didn't care as she began chanting about gold and beri marks in her eyes. In fact, as soon as they landed, she was having Chopper digging up places around the house. But Luffy didn't really mind as he stuck his head into the house, looking for anyone who lived there. After he confirmed that no one was home, Usopp snapped at him to get out of there in case this guy was dangerous. But as they started making themselves comfortable, on a large tree stump, Nami found a book and started to read it out loud for them all. Noland the Liar.

"I think I heard that story," Franky said thinking back. "Something about a guy who told tall tales about seeing a city made of gold?"

"Yeah, only it wasn't a lie," Sanji muttered as memory Nami began reading it out. About how an explorer named Montblanc Noland who always told amazing stories about his adventures. But they sounded so far-fetched, no one was sure if they were to believe him or not. One day, when he returned from one expedition, he reported back to his king that on an island he found a city built out of solid gold. To see if tor himself, the king took two thousands of his own soldiers and set out with Noland to find this city for himself, fighting off powerful storms and sea monsters. By the time they finally found the island that Noland talked about, there were only a hundred of his soldiers left. But all they found was deserted island with an ordinary jungle. Because of this, the outraged king sentenced Noland to death for his lies. His final words before he was executed were the followed:

"I can only assume that the City of Gold sunk into the sea!"

But no one believed him anymore, even though he never swayed from his story until he died.

Luffy, who was kneeling near the water's edge was looking down to see bubbles coming up and bursting at the surface. As he looked a little closer, something was swimming up towards him.

"A… chestnut?" Brook said in surprise when he finished listening to the story and went to see what had gotten Luffy's attention.

"That's ah… not a chestnut," Zoro stated just as a large hand shot out of the water and grabbed Luffy by the front of his vest. With a startled scream Luffy was pulled right into the sea and that's when the memory faded until it came back with Usopp pulling Luffy back out of the water.

"What happened?" Franky asked, not sure he understood what he saw.

"Cricket thought that we were all just a bunch of thieves," Usopp explained as his past self snarled at Luffy to be more careful. "So he attacked us and collapsed halfway through the fight."

"Why?" Brook said in surprise, looking around in confusion as Luffy coughed up seawater and tried to explain what happened. Once he had coughed the water all up, he asked who that man was. They looked to see a rather muscular, middle-age man with blond hair, and a large chestnut on his head; he was also bare-chested and barefooted and had a strange tattoo of a chestnut with the word 'Maroon' on his arm… but he was laying on the ground and struggling for air, as if in terrible pain.

"Is that Cricket?" Brook asked as they pulled Luffy out of the sea and memory Chopper was carefully approaching the man to get a good look at him for any injuries.

"That's right," Nami answered, "He was really sick here, and Chopper helped him out."

"I really hope that he hasn't been diving since then," Chopper whispered to himself anxiously. After all, Decompression Sickness wasn't like taking some medicine and that was the end of it. Once his past self was sure that he was out cold, he ordered for the others to bring him inside the house so that he could see what was wrong with him.

"Is he ok?" Franky asked, not liking how pale the old man looked.

No one felt the need to explain to him, because they knew that memory Chopper would do that for them, and sure enough he told them the whole story. He explained that he was actually really sick and suffering from a serious disease known as Caisson Disease, or Decompression Sickness. Apparently a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out as bubbles inside the body on depressurization. Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, DCS can produce many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death and it happens with divers.

"I see," Brook whispered. "How did he get in such a state?"

"He was looking for something," Sanji whispered to him as Luffy naturally called it a 'Mystery Disease' even Chopper explained it in full detail.

"And that's why he would never be a good doctor," Nami whispered with a smile as Chopper gave them all orders on how to help this man—knowing just what to do to make him comfortable and ease up some of Cricket's suffering. But memory Chopper confessed to them all that he wasn't sure if he could help him here, guessing that he must've been diving every day for years without letting his body fully rest and it finally caught up to him… that was why he collapsed during the fight.

As they watched the scene, no one really bothering to talk, two more guests showed up—both Masira and Shoujou appeared, so big that they couldn't fight through the doorway together and had to settle by sticking their large heads in. "HEY OLD TIMER!" they cried together, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"Wow, didn't expect to see them again so soon," Franky said, now that they were side by side, he could definitely see the family resemblance. As they looked up and saw who it was, memory Usopp and Chopper screamed, as they started to run around in fear as Usopp cried out, sounding close to tears, "THEY'VE COME TO KILL US!"

"What in the world are you people doing there?!" Shoujou demanded angrily.

"And what do you think you're doing to our friend?!" Masira added just as angry.

"Well, you can't blame them for being upset," Robin offered, "After all, Cricket was like a father to them, and we didn't exactly leave good impressions on either of them…?"

"When you put it that way, I guess I get it," Usopp said, laughing a little at how his past self was acting just as Luffy answered, "We're trying to help. So I suggest that you either lend us a hand or find somebody else to bother."

Memory Usopp was screaming at him not to antagonize them, reminding them what they were capable of, and was even suggesting that they just jump outside the window and run away. But then the two over-sized monkeys surprised them all by thanking them and practically crying—startling over Usopp and Chopper.

"Wow," Franky said, unable to think of anything to say.

"They must've really been worried about their friend," Robin said kindly as their past selves explained what was going on. Luffy went outside so that they could really talk to them—already getting along great with them like old friends. As they listened in, the two admitted that they did live here as well, but spent most of their time on their ships since this place was too small for them. It turns out that this little house was the headquarters for what they called the Saruyama Alliance. Shoujou was talking to Luffy, saying how impressed he was that he got Masira off his ship like that, which Luffy responded that he was sure that even he could kick his ass if he tried.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard," Sanji admitted as memory Chopper came running out of the house, calling Luffy that Cricket was awake. As he went in to see him, Shoujou had kicked Masira and seemed surprised that he was able to do so as he went flying off into the distance.

"I can tell that these two are a handful," Brook said with a cheery laugh.

"They remind me a lot of Luffy," Nami stated, "You can't take your eyes off them for a moment without them getting into trouble…" Or maybe even like Zoro and Sanji since they fight all the time. She giggled to herself a little as they followed Luffy into the house.

"Oh, that is good," Brook said in relief to see that Cricket was sitting up, a great deal calmer than before, and smoking a cigarette like how Sanji did before he spoke. "I'm sorry I attacked you," he said sincerely. "I thought that you were nothing more than another group of bandits who had come to steal my gold."

Nami's eyes turned to beri symbols. "Did somebody say something about gold?!"

"Just calm down Nami," Usopp hissed as Cricket asked, "What exactly was it you wanted to ask me?"

Luffy walked over to him and said eagerly, "We're searching for Sky Island! And we were told you might be able to tell us how to get there!"

"Yeah, how do you do it?" Franky asked, still not able to figure out how to get your ship to fly straight up… not even the Sunny could fly like that.

"Are you serious?" Cricket asked before he burst out laughing, "DON'T TELL ME YOU BELIEVE THAT PLACE ACTUALLY EXISTS?!"

"You mean he thinks it's impossible too?!" Brook cried out in shock as the laughing ticked memory Nami off, looking ready to slug Cricket. With Usopp desperately trying to hold her back as Luffy cried out, "YOU MEAN THERE'S NO SKY ISLAND?! ARE YOU SURE?!"

"It does exist!" Chopper yelled out firmly, wishing that they could've gone back to find Cricket and told him all about Sky Island and the City of Gold.

Though he had calmed down greatly, Cricket was still chuckling as he admitted, "I don't know," he breathed a little more on his cigarette before he finished, "See… nobody really knows if the Sky Island exists or not. I know only one man who claims to have seen the island himself but he's considered a liar of epic proportions."

Luffy turned to look at memory Usopp—as well as most of the Straw Hats looked at their Usopp and Robin giggled to herself as both Usopp's asked what they were looking at.

"There's an old fairytale that the people in the North Blue know very well," Cricket went on. "It's called Noland the Liar."

Again, Luffy looked to Usopp. "Quit looking at me Luffy!" he yelled, "My name's not Noland!"

"I can see it now," Sanji said as they all laughed, "Usopp the Cowardly Liar…"

"Can't you all leave me alone?!" current Usopp yelled as memory Sanji spoke from a chair near the window, "Now that I think about it… Noland's family name… was also Montblanc. Does that make you related to him somehow?"

"You mean that storybook is about his ancestor?!" Brook stated in great surprise.

"That's right," Zoro nodded as Nami in the memory gasped if that was true as well. Cricket looked out one of the windows and admitted it all without any shame. Noland was his distant ancestor. However, he also added that they were so far removed, he doubted that he had any of Noland's blood in his veins. He acknowledged that his family was driven out of the North Blue a long time ago. And though his family may deny the name, they have never hated Noland for it because contrary to what everyone else believed, Noland had been a very honest man.

"He was?" Franky asked, wondering how two sides of the same story could be so different but both be true, "But… but that doesn't add up?"

"Because Noland wasn't lying about the City of Gold!" Usopp explained. "I don't know how it all happened, but you see, the City of Gold didn't sink into the sea, but rather was shot up into the air!"

"The air?!" Franky and Brook repeated in bafflement.

"I think you're going to see how it happened very soon," Nami answered.

Cricket went on to state that he knew that Noland was far from stupid. That he truly believed what he saw and stuck to this story even though he was put to death for it. Memory Usopp got excited, thinking he had it all figured it out, that Cricket came here to prove Noland right and clear the family name. However, Cricket lost it, "DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!"

And to their surprise, he fired at him, freezing them all as they stared at him. Though it was clear that he never intended to hit him, missing him clear by a mile, it was enough to get his point across. "I DON'T EVEN CARE IF THE CITY OF GOLD EXISTS OR NOT! THE ACTIONS OF MY ANCESTOR HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ME AND MY LIFE!" Cricket screamed out, "YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BEGIN TO IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE! AS A KID FOR EVERYONE TO LAUGH AT YOU AND RIDDICULE YOU CAUSE YOU'RE A DESCENDANT OF THAT IDIOT NOLAND? THAT'S WHAT I DEALT WITH MY WHOLE LIFE!"

Brook gulped down as Cricket took several calming breaths, putting the gun back down. "It must've been hard for him," Brook said softly.

"I don't get it," Franky asked, "If he doesn't care about the City of Gold, then why's he here? Why's he risking so much to try and find a place if he doesn't care?"

"Oh, I think he does care," Robin answered, "But this was something that he needed to prove to himself."

Their Usopp began to sniffle at that as Cricket declared that many members of his family tried to do the same thing, to find the city and clear the family name. But in the end each one of them died in the attempt—long before they even reached the island. Ashamed of his family, Cricket ran away from home and became the captain of a crew of pirates. He did not necessarily wanted to become a pirate then, he just wanted to escape the curse of carrying the Montblanc family name.

However, ten years ago, Cricket and his crew accidentally came across Jaya, the island that Noland supposedly found the city and the island that so many of Cricket's family members failed to find their way to. Standing upon the cape where the City of Gold was supposed to be, Cricket decided to accept his fate and find out once and for all if there was the legendary city that Noland found or not. His crew however, did not agree with his decision and left him alone on the island. Cricket finished his story by telling them that he began diving all alone in these waters every day in search of any clue of the City of Gold.

"With a crew like that, who needs enemies?" Zoro stated in a dull voice.

"They weren't a real crew," Sanji stated. "A real crew would've stayed and helped him look."

"What has happened to the world of pirates since I set sail I wonder?" Brook whispered, remembering how pirates used to be in the good old days, to just search the world and live on the sea… not all these cowards and bullies…

"I don't care if I find the city or not!" Cricket finished with a sigh, "I'm not here to prove Noland right or wrong. I have no interest in rewriting history. All I'm doing is following what I believe to be my destiny. This is between me and Noland. I am facing what I fear. And whatever the outcome, the act is all that matters."

His words moved, not only past Usopp to tears, but the present day Usopp, Franky, and Brook.

"What a sad story!" Brook cried out, wiping up his tears with his boa once again. "It truly touches my heart! Not that I have one, Yohohoho!"

"A real man facing his fears without any hesitation or doubts! That is something truly amazing that's so rare in this world!" Franky sobbed out. "What a guy! I wish I could meet him!"

"But what about the monkeys?" Luffy suddenly asked. "How did they come to be on this island with you anyway?"

"I'm sure that's another story of bravery in the face of incredible odds!" memory Usopp said tearfully, "Your life reads like a great book, you know Cricket?"

"Not quite," Sanji said before Nami told the more sensitive men to be quiet.

"They're just fans of the fairytale," Cricket answered and that ticked Usopp off, as well as starting Franky and Brook.

"How did they find you?" memory Nami asked with a few sweatdrops around her head.

"I think it was about five or six years ago," Cricket said, thinking back. "They heard a rumor and set out to find me. Those two truly believe that the City of Gold exists somewhere and they're me find it."

"Really?" Brook said in interest as they could hear the very same monkeys fighting and arguing outside the house. It was truly touching to hear Cricket admit that they showed up out of the blue one day, proclaiming themselves as his followers without his permission, and became part of his crew without asking. Though they were loud and did nothing but fight all the time, Cricket allowed them to help him in his search and accepted them as his surrogate sons.

To Cricket, their barging into his life out of the blue saved his life from the constant loneliness he felt before they came. With this, Cricket became the leader of the Saruyama Alliance. Together with the two brothers and their pirate crews, they had been searching all around Jaya for the lost city. Once he told him how much he had grown to enjoy their company and put him at ease, past Usopp cried again. But Luffy said bluntly, "Are you just about finished telling us your life story?"

"Shut your mouth you ungrateful brat!" Usopp yelled, punching him, which Luffy responded by throwing him off him and saying loudly that all he wanted to know about was Sky Island.

"You think that he could be a little more touched by what he said," Usopp whispered harshly.

"Well, he's got a one track mind," Zoro reminded him calmly, "And the only thing he was thinking about was going to Skypiea.

Cricket chuckled again. "You're a pushy guy aren't ya?" he asked in amusement, "But like I told you before earlier, the only person who's claimed to see Sky Island is Noland. And nobody knows if it's the truth or just another tall tale." He then reached to the bookshelf next to him and pulled off a very old and worn-out book as he flicked through it.

"Is there any record of his trip to the island?" Luffy asked hurriedly.

"Officially? No," Cricket admitted, "But he does mention it in here."

"It's amazing that his family was able to hold onto that after all these years," Robin smiled, truly glad that she could read something like that herself before they were forced to say goodbye. Nami then gasped, asking if that was Noland's logbook and Cricket threw it roughly at her, telling her to read there.

She looked at it in amazement, and read out things that Noland had claimed to have seen such as Sky Fish, and the Sky Waver that was said to be created in the Sky Island along with many other strange and fabulous objects. As she read on, everyone's eyes grew wider and wider with every word like a fascinating story that they wanted to know the ending to.

"Do you know what this means?!" memory Nami cried out excitedly.

"Sky Island must really exist!" Luffy cried out and seeing that, the present-day Straw Hats all knew that Luffy was now determined to head to the floating island no matter what it took. The memory disappeared around them and Brook asked, "What kind of place is it? And please tell me something! Don't make me wait to see for myself!"

"Yeah!" Franky added, raising his iron fist high. "I wanna hear!"

"I don't know how we can describe it," Robin answered as some of them grew dreamy looks. "It was like something out of a dream."

"It was fun! But scary too!" Chopper added, "I wonder if we'll ever see it again someday?"

"Well, we did promise Konis that we'd be back," Nami smiled.

"Konis?" Brook repeated in shock. "You mean there are people living up there?"

"Ah… Konis…" Sanji said dreamingly, hearts back in his eyes. "A beautiful angel we met there… I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her."

They looked like they wanted to go on explaining it, but the newest memory was up. Cricket was in front of a tree stump that served as a table as Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper sat down, listening to him talk.

"Listen up and listen good," Cricket said, "I decided to tell you guys everything I know about the Sky Island. Most of this is rumor and hear-say so you'll have to make up your own minds whether you believe it or not. There's something very strange that happens in this part of the ocean." He pointed out to the sea, "Everything will suddenly turn dark as night, right in the middle of the brightest day."

"Oh!" Brook called in surprise. "That's what happened to you all before! It turned dark and then those giants appeared!"

"That's right," Sanji agreed, as Luffy held up his hand as if he were in class and exclaimed that happened to them as well.

"Yeah," past Usopp agreed at once, "It was like the sun vanished! And then these enormous monsters showed up!"

"You've seen the giants," Cricket said, not sounding the least bit surprised at that, "There's a tale on where those things come from but forget about it for now, we can go into it later. Now about this sudden nightfall… it's caused by the shadow of an incredibly dense cloud."

But memory Nami was lost, telling him that it was too dark for clouds, it was as if the sun went out. He then explained that this cloud is special from every other cloud in that it forms high in the sky, has no internal air currents and never turns to rain. No light can reach the ground and it turns even the brightest day dark. These clouds, called the Cumuloregalis cloud, never changed at all… and some people actually believe that these clouds are like fossils. Petrified clouds that drift around for centuries unchanged.

"Is there such a thing?!" Brook gasped out as Franky looked skeptical.

"Anything can happen in the Grand Line," Nami told them as her past self doubted all that before Cricket added that this was all rumors that he heard and what she believes is up to her. "But compared to some of the other things we've seen here, this blew all our minds."

"So it's… a 'Mystery Cloud'," Luffy decided upon.

Instead of telling him he was stupid, Cricket agreed with that statement, but also said that there was only one place that Sky Island could be and it's on top of one of those clouds. Luffy and Usopp were both cheering, getting ready to go, but Nami hit them both, screaming at them that they still didn't know how to get there.

"She sure is quick to resort to violence isn't she?" Franky whispered to Usopp who nodded, truly grateful that Nami was so focused on the memories that she didn't hear them.

"Yeah, that's gonna be the hard part," Cricket agreed, "Because you'll be risking your life every minute."

"You mean like now?" the boys whimpered behind him, memory Chopper looking at their beaten and swollen faces.

"There's only one way to get there, the Knock-Up Stream," Cricket answered for them, "It shoots straight up in the air, so theoretically, it can take you into the sky if you're lucky."

"What is this thing?" Franky asked in surprise.

"Remember the 'Thrust-Up Stream' we used to escape the Marines in the Maubeugemour Sea?" Nami asked them, "Imagine something like that, only a hundred times more powerful!"

"More powerful?!" Franky yelled out. "That thing blew apart a Marine Ship!"

"Yeah, and let me tell you that it almost killed us," Sanji muttered darkly. Luffy was looking thrilled at this idea and said that all they had to do was hitch a ride when it next went off, but memory Nami countered by asking if they would end up falling back to the ocean and get smashed to pieces.

"Usually, that's true," Cricket stated, "Unless you can get the timing just right. It's one thing to sit here all comfy and talk about riding the Knock-Up Stream. But if you think this trip is gonna be some kind of pleasure cruise you're in for a very rude awaken."

"He had that right," Usopp said, shivering at the power that thing had. Luffy had wide eyes as Usopp and Chopper both looked freaked out. Cricket said that he heard many theories about it, but only one has ever made any real sense to him however no one's ever been stupid enough to confirm it. The Knock-Up Stream is apparently created by giant underwater pockets below the ocean floor. Water seeps in, and is heated by geothermal energy until it turns to steam. At some point the pressure becomes too great and explodes, sending a giant stream upwards. The strength of each particular event varies dramatically but they all last for about a minute each time.

"Makes sense to me," Franky muttered.

"One full minute?!" memory Nami cried out in shock, getting up, "Do you realize how enormous an explosion like that would have to be?!"

Cricket turned his back on them as they tried to digest this thought as he finished, "Anyway, you can't really explain something like this with words and theories. It's one of the great mysteries of creation."

"So…" memory Usopp said, summing it all up, "So then… we gotta ride this current that shows up five times a month into to reach some island in the sky… and just hope it's waiting for us?!"

"That's a pretty suckish deal here bro," Franky nodded firmly. "Did you guys think of what you were going to do if Sky Island didn't exist and you were falling?"

"Get killed most likely," Zoro stated with a shrug. "Luffy was going to try it no matter what we said to him."

"In the end, can we really resent that?" Sanji asked, "We did get to see an amazing place…"

"Now this I can't wait to see!" Brook cried out, excitement building inside him at the thought of seeing such a legendary place.

"I'd say that sums it up pretty well," Cricket said. "And if you miss, you fall back down, slam into the ocean, and get blown into fish food. Just like you said."

Usopp, pale and sweating, turned to Luffy's smiling face. "Ok, so we're gonna forget about Sky Island right?" The two laughed, though Usopp a little forced before he said seriously, that this was nuts. That they would have to be beyond lucky to be able to pull off a stunt like this. But Luffy's eyes were shining at the thought and said that they will go anyway.

"I don't see why you bother to try talking him out of it," Zoro said to him. "It never works and it gets real old, real quick."

"Doesn't mean that I can't try!" Usopp yelled at him as his past self reminded him about the Merry's condition, that she'll never be able to withstand something like that in her condition. Cricket agreed, saying that she was worthless… even brand new she would never have been able survive it. Usopp frowned at him for that, as if almost tempted to do it just to prove that the Merry could, but let the insult slide before he thought that it would settle the matter. But then Cricket surprised them by offering to fix and reinforce the ship. Which Masira and Shoujou happily agreed to from inside the house.

"How helpful they're being!" Brook said happily.

"But why?" Franky asked, "They don't owe you all anything, why do they want to help you reach this place?"

"He didn't have a reason," Usopp said.

"He sure was nice!" Chopper laughed a little, "We all even had a fun party while we were at it! It was great!"

Past Nami then reminded them that they could only stay on this island for one more day before the Log Pose reset and they'd be forced to move on. Usopp beamed at that thought and asked Cricket when he thought that the next time the Knock-Up Stream would line up with those clouds—clearly sounding like he believed that they would be long gone by the time that it did line up perfectly. But that didn't last when Cricket stated that it would be at around noon tomorrow.

"WAIT A MINUTE! YOU MEAN WE CAN MAKE IT?!" memory Usopp screamed.

"'Fraid so," Cricket said, back still to him. "If you're scared then don't go."

"But how did he know about all that?" Franky asked again, "I mean… unless you can see the future…?"

"It was simple logic here," Robin answered calmly as memory Usopp's eyes turned angry and he began to shout, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're lying!" Cricket turned to look back at him as he went on yelling, "There's something's fishy about this! We've known you less than 24 hours why are you being so helpful? And what's more…?"

Luffy then stepped up, looking angry as he tried to tell him off, but Usopp snapped at him to shut up before he turned back to Cricket, yelling, "This Sky Island… this legendary place, that we don't even know the location of is just gonna show up outta the blue? At noon tomorrow? And to help us get there you're gonna rebuild and reinforce our ship… for nothing?!"

"When you put it all like that, it does sound a little too good to be true," Sanji admitted, "But what would he gain by lying to us?"

"That was rather rude of you, Usopp-san," Brook said, deciding not to point out how he treated his captain like that.

"When something looks too good to be true, it probably is!" memory Usopp yelled, "The infamous liar Noland was your great-great grand whatever right? So how do we know we can trust you?!"

"Because it's wrong to blame a descendant for something that their families did," Robin answered, her eyes overshadowed by her long hair—remembering painful memories as she spoke those words. "Whether it's his father, or distant ancestor, you shouldn't base your judgment on someone purely on who their family is."

Usopp lowered his head with every word that Robin spoke, feeling more like slime with everything that she said. Cricket didn't seemed fazed at all by this as he pulled out his cigarette and looked at him, Usopp tense up as if expecting a fight. The two monkeys were calling from inside the house that dinner was ready and Sanji came stumbling out and noticed the tense atmosphere.

Untroubled Cricked said as he slowly walked to him, "Masira said, whenever the midday night happens in this area, the Cumuloregalis cloud appears in the southern sky the next day. Based on its usual cycle of five appearances a month, I'm guessing the Knock-Up Stream will also erupt tomorrow at midday. That will probably also be to the south. I can't be 100% certain but there's a good chance the two events will coincide."

"That is all very smart thinking," Robin answered, "And hard to argue with."

Cricket walked passed Usopp, whose anger faded to a look of nervousness and confusion. "I'm proud to have met a bunch of brave fools like you," he said warmly, "You're true pirates."

"So that's it," Brook said softly.

"He was just happy to meet a bunch of dreamers like him who were just as crazy," Sanji laughed a little, "So he wanted to help us try to reach it."

"What a kind-hearted man!" Brook called happily. "I truly look forward to the day that we can meet him! I hope that he found his answers!"

"I have a feeling that he did," Nami answered with a smile, wondering how everyone was going to react to when they saw Luffy ring the golden bell. Meanwhile, shame came over Usopp's face at those words as Cricket finished, "Now then, let's go inside and eat. Tonight I want you to call my home your home… my friends."

Those words were enough to cause Usopp to fall to his knees and Luffy smiled happily at that as the memory faded around them. Usopp, feeling down for his behavior, apologized to Cricket. Cricket however, was a bit disgusted by Usopp as he was rubbing his running nose on Cricket's pants while apologizing on his knees just as the memory disappeared.

"I really was an idiot here," Usopp sighed, looking off into the darkness, "I mean… it really did seem too good to be true…"

"I don't blame you for being suspicious here," Zoro told him. "But maybe next time you'll think before you start accusing people of something."

Usopp laughed a little uncomfortably at that as he lay back onto the grass, thinking long and hard about what Zoro said, even as the next memory was of them back inside Cricket's house, with all the Straw Hats, Cricket, and the monkeys laughing and enjoying a good party. Masira was chasing Usopp around for tricking him to eat hot sauce, Cricket was drinking so much that his face was red, and Luffy and Shoujou were dancing together.

Franky laughed out loud, "Never a dull moment with you guys around. Seems like you can make friends anywhere you go?"

"These guys really weren't so bad," Sanji offered as they noticed that the past version of Robin was sitting in the background, reading Noland's logbook. Cricket noticed it as well and when he went over to her, he quoted from a passage, "The Skull's right eye. That's where I saw the gold."

And they all fell silent as they looked to him, waiting for him to speak as if he was giving a speech.

"The City of Gold?" Brook said, his own finger going up to touch his empty eye socket.

"It was the place that he saw the city," Nami sighed, wondering what it would've been like to really see the city before Eneru got his hands on it. "It all makes sense after we get to Skypiea.

"Those words, smeared with tears, were the last words Noland wrote in his logbook," Cricket answered as he stood up. "'The skull's right eye, that's where I saw the gold.' That very same day, Noland was executed. I still don't know what he meant by that… it doesn't refer to the name of a city or some landmark that used to be on the island. Or is it just a poetic illusion to his own impeding death?"

"That would make a lot of sense," Usopp whispered, "They do say that when a man is about to die, they suddenly become poets."

"I thought that applied when they fall in love too," Robin joked a little and Sanji's eyes turned to hearts.

"And can write books full of poems from just the two of you alone!" he declared.

"Who wants to hear a poem from you, Love-Cook?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"The blank pages the follow give us no clue," Cricket sighed, his face still red as he tilted his head back and drank deeply, "And that's why we continue to dive to the bottom of the sea… we dream."

"I see that he's got a little poetry in him as well," Nami laughed as their past selves all raised their glasses high to that as they went on to enjoy the party. It was fun to watch, even as Cricket took the logbook and began to read out a particular entry. It was when Noland first arrived on Jaya. They heard the peculiar cries of a strange bird and the ringing of a grand bell. "'In our pride and arrogance we thought we've seen and heard everything in our short lives," Cricket recited, obviously knowing this part by heart, "But the sound of that bell tolling left us all speechless! It was as if the clang of that bell all struck us dumb with wonder!'"

"Must've been one heck of a sound," Franky said as the six Straw Hats smiled. They agreed whole-heartedly with what Noland said. Even after all this time, they had never heard anything like the ringing of that bell.

Cricket let out a loud cry which Luffy and the monkeys echoed happily.

"Hey old timer, it sounds like you just might be a little fond of Noland after all," Usopp teased and they all laughed. Smiling, Cricket pulled out a few bags from a trunk. He passed one of them to Masira before he sat back down and opened up the one he still had and revealed three miniature golden bells.

"Amazing! Are these from the Golden City?!" Brook cried out.

"I bet you anything they did," Usopp smiled knowingly as their past selves were in awe as they stared at them.

"You mean these little things are the bells that Noland heard?" Franky asked in confusion.

"No, the real one is a lot bigger," Nami sighed happily.

"The real…?" Franky asked before Usopp stated that they didn't seem so impressive to him, sounding a little let down.

"None of these is the bell that Noland was writing about in his logbook," Cricket informed him as Nami picked up one and ran her hands over it lovingly. "These are bell shaped golden ingots we found on the ocean floor during a dive."

"They're still so beautiful," current Nami sighed, suddenly wishing that she held onto one of the golden bells they found from that giant snake's stomach.

"Golden ingots?" Chopper repeated in surprise.

"They were a way to use as currency such as gold bars," Robin answered as Luffy cried out happily that the City of Gold was real.

"Too bad that it's going to take a lot more than a few pieces of gold to convince the rest of the world," Sanji muttered grimly.

"It's still not prove though," Shoujou said sadly, voicing Sanji as he sat up from where he fell over from drinking too much. "You can find golden relics like that lying around any old ruin in this part of the world."

"Maybe so," memory Robin agreed, "But that does suggest there was some civilization here sometime in the past. Ingots are made to divide gold into standard unit of weight… and that would indicate an advantage trading society."

"Which means they were on the right track!" Franky called happily. "People had to have lived on this island some time a long time ago. So that part of the story was wrong when it said that no one lived on the island before right?"

"True," Robin agreed with a chuckle.

"But then what happened to the people?" Brook asked, still not getting any of this.

"Right," Cricket spoke up to what Robin had said, "And you remember that peculiar bird call he said they heard when they arrived?" he looked to Masira and told them to show it to them. He opened the bag and revealed the enormous chunk of gold that was carved into the shape of a strange looking bird holding a bell.

As they all gasped in wonder at it, Cricket told them that was the last of it as Nami swooned over it, reminding them all of how Sanji did the same whenever he saw a cute girl.

"Golden bells and birds, huh?" past Sanji smiled, "Do you think that these are symbols of some ancient, giant civilization?"

"Truly a beautiful piece of work," Brook said as he walked over and bent down to get a really good look at it.

Cricket shrugged at Sanji's question, but said that he was sure they had all come from the same casting. He then began to talk about the golden statue being a South Bird and that they could still find some on the island today. Masira began to talk more about them about how sailors had used them on their ships, but before he even finished, he and his brother both stared at each other and Cricket gasped.

"OH NO!" they yelled out so suddenly that it startled them all. And Franky and Brook jumped at their sudden tone, not getting what the problem was.

"What's wrong?" they cried out in surprise.

"This is really bad!" Cricket said, his face no longer holding any trace of the party and was deadly serious, "You guys gotta get to the forest on the south side of the island quick!" when Luffy tried to ask what was going on, Cricket pointed to the gold bird and added that they had to go and catch one of the South Birds and fast.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" Brook asked in confusion.

"There is something really special about the South Bird," Robin answered, "And without it, we never would've found Skypiea.

"Why?" Franky asked in wonder.

"He couldn't have mentioned something as important as that before the sun went down could he?" Usopp asked in irritation as the past selves asked why they needed the bird. They spent hours running around that creepy forest trying to find a bird, and it was an experience that he never wanted to go through a madness like that again if he could help it. Getting chased all night by bugs and giant animals wasn't a fun experience in his book.

"Now listen carefully," Cricket said crossly, "Tomorrow you're gonna sail for the Knock-Up Stream. It lies directly south of here… how are you gonna get there?"

"We just sail the ship due south of course," Luffy said obviously.

"Have you forgotten this is the Grand Line?!" Cricket yelled at him. "You're heading for open sea! You won't be able to get your bearings!"

"In our excitement to go to Sky Island, we didn't think everything through," Nami said with a laugh as her past self gasped at that, realizing that he was right. That since they were in the Grand Line, the Straw Hats would not know where to go south since normal compasses would not work. Also since the place that they were headed to was a location in the sea and not an island, the Log Pose would not help either.

Cricket told them that they could still make it if they could capture a South Bird and follow its direction. These strange looking birds have an odd habit of always pointing their head south, no matter where they are. Because of this, they were used in ancient times to navigate. With it, they could get the direction and just follow it…

"You see?" Cricket finished explaining, "If you don't get going to that forest and catch one of those birds right now, you'll have to kiss your only chance of going to Sky Island goodbye!"

"AND YOU'RE JUST TELLING US THIS NOW?!" they yelled at him, looking panic-stricken as they all jumped up and ran to the door, bursting outside and headed for the trees as Cricket threw them several nets, letting them know that they would get started on the repairs to their ship in the meantime before he reminded them that they had until morning to find one of those birds or to forget about the whole thing.

"That wasn't a fun time," Zoro growled.

"Come on, how hard was it to catch a bird?" Franky asked with a chuckle.

"Harder than you think," five of them stated as Robin laughed a little. They followed the group into the forest, quickly looking around and trying to get their eyes used to the darkness. It was a creepy place as they all walked on, searching for the bird. Usopp was sticking a little too close to Sanji for comfort as Chopper looked ready to fall where he stood, his stomach still full from the party as Zoro complained about wanting a drink.

"Would someone remind me how we ended up in this mess?" Nami asked nervously, hugging herself as Sanji pushed Usopp off him.

"That's how it always happens with us," current Nami explained for her past self. "No matter where we go…"

After some grumbling and complaining, they suddenly heard the sound in the distance…

"Jyooooooh…"

"What the hell was that?" Franky asked.

"HEY!" the Straw Hat men all cried out, "THAT SOUNDED PECULIAR!"

"Oh you think?" memory Nami asked in annoyance as they all split up into groups. Sanji took Usopp and Nami in one way, Robin and Zoro went in another, as they followed Luffy and past Chopper in another direction. Naturally, they were forced to follow after Luffy and Chopper, and Luffy really did look hard for the bird, at first. But soon was completely distracted when he spotted something in a tree trunk and pulled out an Atlas beetle.

"He hasn't changed a bit since he was a little kid," Usopp sighed.

"I find it kinda cute," Robin laughed a little as Luffy held the bug up to show Chopper, who looked fascinated at it, and Luffy began to talk all about it.

"It's amazing, he almost sounds like he knows what he's talking about," Nami laughed, "I guess there are some things that little boys never grow out of."

Then memory Chopper then pointed out a Stag Beetle and Luffy lost all attention for the South Bird once again. "Hey there it is!" Sanji called, pointing to a tree just in front of them as the two gave chase. Even the ones who had seen it, couldn't ever remember seeing such an unusual bird. It was a large, rather chubby looking bird with a body of purple and bright green feathers. It had a large toucan-like beak that was an assortment of colors, while its head looked a bit like a fish.

"What's that it has?" Usopp asked before it dropped a beehive near Luffy and Chopper's feet.

"I knew that he was the one who dropped it!" current Chopper cried out as the two were forced to run for their lives. They watched as they were able to escape from the onslaught of bees, after getting stung to within an inch of their lives, another South Bird dropped another hive.

"Ok, I'm starting to see your point," Franky muttered in a deadpanned voice.

"And I thought we had it bad with all those spiders," Usopp said.

"Of course we had it bad you idiot!" Nami yelled at him. Memory Chopper then pointed out the South Bird to Luffy, telling him that he was the one who dropped it before they heard the bird calling out in that strange sound again. Luffy hurried asked Chopper what he said this time, and when he answered, he sounded freaked out, "HE SAID 'I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO DISTURBS THIS FOREST'!"

"I hate these things," Zoro hissed, also thinking of when that stupid bird wouldn't leave him alone as he tried to eat his lunch, and dropped him right into the middle of a fight. God, this memory reminded him why he hated them so much.

The next few memories of them being chased around by praying mantis… ones bigger than Chopper, and were able to hack through thick trees like they were butter. It was almost funny to them all to see them running for their lives from the bugs and memory Chopper screamed that he noticed that it was South Bird's fault—that he was the one controlling the things in this forest.

"How does he do that?" Usopp asked.

"So they were the ones responsible for that nightmare!" Nami said in annoyance. "Do they realize what they put us all through here?"

"Oh, they knew alright," Sanji growled, "That was the point."

"If I ever see one again, I'm roasting it," Zoro decided as the others nodded darkly. Those South Birds set everything on the Straw Hats. Spiders, bees, Lady Bugs the size of small boulders, giant slugs, crickets, cockroaches, even pigs… it was a nightmare. The whole time they were continuing their call, sounding like ghosts of the past calling from beyond the grave.

"You guys could take on anyone they threw at you at Enies Lobby, but you can't deal with a single bird here?" Franky asked incredulously.

"Why don't you try it and see how easy it is!" Usopp snarled at him. Finally, after several hours of running around in the forest they were able to find each other and they gathered around each other as they tried to catch their breath.

"It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack," memory Zoro hissed in deep annoyance. "We didn't even see one!"

"Well, we did," Luffy admitted Chopper panted next to him, his tongue rolling out of his head. "But we could never get close enough to grab it thanks to all those stupid bugs!"

"All we did was run!" Chopper agreed tiredly, looking close to passing out here.

"So seven people couldn't catch one bird! That's pathetic!" memory Usopp said, "Come on, would you get it together guys?"

"I didn't see you coming back with a bird," Sanji snapped at their Usopp as his past self hissed the same thing to memory Usopp. Nami fell to her knees in exhausting, confessing that she didn't think that she could run anymore. However, their luck turned around when a South Bird showed up, laughing and taunting them. What it didn't know was Robin's powers, and that she used to grab hold of it and throw it at their feet. It was so sudden, everyone seemed a little taken aback by it.

There was silence around them.

"Ok…?" Franky asked. "That was it?"

"Looks like we can always count on you, sis!" present-day Nami said to Robin as she laughed a little at the looks on their faces.

"I can grab it when I can see it," her past self explained as Zoro picked it up by its feet, as it still let out it's weird sound, only now sounding angry.

"Can you hear what it's saying?" Usopp asked Chopper as they followed the troop through the forest.

"Mostly saying that he hopes that we all die painful deaths someday," Chopper answered as some of their past selves were poking at the bird, trying to get some payback for the hell it put them through. But what finally got the bird to shut up was Luffy asking if they could eat it when they were done with it.

"Well, that sure freaked him out," Usopp said with some satisfaction.

"I doubt it would've tasted good anyway," Sanji stated darkly.

They continued on their long walk back to Cricket's house, thinking that they were finally going to be able to relax, confident that they had the ship already done…

But to their horror, when they got back, the whole place was a mess. Cricket's house and the ground around them was torn up, the house itself had two giant holes as if someone had shot a cannonball through them… but the three were in worse shape. Masira was lying on his face with a deep bleeding gash down his back, Shoujou was floating unconscious in the sea… and Cricket was dripping blood all over as he lay there.

"What happened here?!" Brook cried out horrified as they ran ahead to see for themselves if they were alright.

"While we were gone, they had some unexpected guest stop by," present-day Sanji hissed, still angry at whoever did this. The past Straw Hats all went around to the three laying there, with Nami asking what happened. Sanji, who had dragged Shoujou back to shore stated, "I've got a better question. Who did this?"

As he and Chopper pulled the ape out of the water, Usopp gasped when he saw the Merry, the front half almost broken in half, now lying sadly on the ground and the mast snapped off like a twig.

"Whoever did this is dead meat when I get my hands on them!" Franky threatened, punching his fists together.

"Yeah, I wonder if we had stayed a little longer for the party, or if we caught the stupid bird a little sooner, we could've prevented this whole mess," Chopper told him sadly.

"It wasn't our fault," Zoro reminded him and Chopper glanced up at him. "And I'm sure that Luffy taught the ones who did this a lesson they weren't going to forget for a long time."

"I sure hope so," Nami hissed, already remembering who the rotten snakes were who did it.

Luffy was looking over Cricket, who had woken up. "Sorry kid…" he gasped, when he saw him.

"Why is he apologizing to you?! They're the ones who are the mess!" Franky called in shock.

"For what happened to the Merry," Usopp sniffled a little.

"You're alive!" Luffy said in surprise, trying to help him, "Don't try to move around…"

The whole time, Cricket was mumbling an apology about letting this happen even as he tried to push himself up. "Gotta get moving though," he gasped out, "The ship's not gonna fix itself up."

But Luffy was demanding that he tell them who did this to them, Cricket trying to say that it didn't matter anymore. That it wasn't important now and seemed pleased to see that they caught the South Bird. But why they attacked them was soon clear as Nami came running out of the remains of the house, calling to Luffy, "CRICKET'S GOLD! IT'S ALL GONE!"

"Those bastards…" Usopp hissed, a part of him wishing that he could've done something about what they did here, but like Zoro said, he was sure that Luffy handled it all on his own. What surprised their past selves was when Cricked waved his arm nonchalantly, as if it wasn't important, "That stuff?" Cricket asked, waving his arm around as they all looked to her. "It's just junk. Just forget it, it doesn't matter. Your dream is more important, we gotta get you to the Knock…"

"Junk?!" Brook repeated in shock. "They spent years looking for it all! And to just let it go?!"

"I think he's a little ashamed that they let this happen," Robin answered sadly, "That they weren't able to protect what was rightfully theirs."

Past Usopp seemed to agree with Brook as he put his foot down there. "Forget it?" he repeated angrily, "How can you say that? Think about all it took to get that gold?! Ten years of diving to the bottom of the ocean, subjecting your body to all the pressures of the deep?! Come on… you can't just…"

"Shut up!" Cricket snapped, silencing Usopp, "I'm serious. That gold and what happens to it is our problem! Got it?" he then looked back to the Merry and went on, "Your ships in no shape to make it to the Knock-Up Stream." He told them that if they gathered everyone in the Saruyama Alliance here, they could work through the rest of the night and have the ship ready for tomorrow. They should still be able to make it to their deadline.

"That's the least of their worries!" Chopper answered, pointing to those cuts as memory Chopper began treating the deep wound on Masira's back.

"But they were tough," Zoro reminded them all. "Even after the beating that they took, they still helped us to get our ship ready for the flight… even escorted us all the way out there."

"So they were alright?!" Brook asked with a sigh. "Oh, I'm so thankful!"

"They're built out of tougher stuff than we thought," Sanji chuckled a little as Cricket said in a determined voice that he was going to everything he could to make sure that they made it to the sky. But Luffy just stared at him with that unreadable expression…

Though they knew him well enough by now to tell that he was deeply angry by all this.

However, before he could say anything, Zoro called him over from the destroyed house… where he pointed out a pirate mark on the wall… a very familiar mark that they saw on a certain pirate just hours before.

"You've got to be kidding me," Franky muttered angrily. "That loser did all this?!"

"Now I really wish that you beat him up before," Usopp said darkly as Nami gasped out that it was Bellamy's mark. They glanced at Luffy's frozen face, all of them knowing what he was going to do. Now that they knew who it was who did it, Luffy was going to hunt him down and get back what they took.

Zoro looked at him calmly, already knowing what he was going to do and asked, in a tone that clearly said that he already knew the answer to, "You want any help?"

"I'll handle this one alone," he said firmly, moving his hat back to hide his eyes. This was answered by the others with mixed expressions. Most of the crew didn't say anything, already knowing what he was doing as well and fully supported his decision on it. Memory Nami was telling him that they only had three hours left before they had to set sail. But he didn't answer her, merely turning to Robin and asking if he followed the coast, would that take him back to Mock Town.

"Yes," she answered softly, "I believe it will."

"That's a serious tone I hadn't heard from you since you were telling Luffy to leave you in that tomb," Zoro said to their Robin.

"I agreed with what he was doing," she answered. She knew from the moment that they saw the destroyed house and heard that the gold was gone, what he was going to do about it. Trying to stop Luffy was like trying to stop the tides… you shouldn't even try. "I knew that he'd make it back in time. And I wanted to make the ones who did all this to pay."

"Here, here," Usopp said as Chopper nodded firmly by his side.

Cricket, on the other hand, was staring at him, slowly understanding what they were talking about. "Hey," he said angrily as he walked by. "Where are you going? Don't be an idiot, you can't possibly take on this Bellamy guy all on your own!"

"Please, he was nothing," Zoro answered as his past self flipped the handle of his sword over to Cricket, who stared up at him.

"If you wanna stop him," he said, "Use this."

"Why did you do that?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"If he really wanted to stop him so badly, he would have to use force," he answered with a shrug. "He wasn't going to listen any other way. Otherwise, he should have just shut up and let Luffy do what he wanted."

"He did make it back in time," Nami sighed, "But boy did he make us wait for him…"

"I don't think that he could've lived with himself if he stood back and not dead anything at all," Usopp pointed out as Cricket looked back to Luffy, warning him not to do it.

"Nope," Zoro agreed with a smirk. He may not always agree with Luffy's crazy whims, but he'll say this much of Luffy… he takes care of his friends no matter what. Possibly something that he always admired about him.

Luffy ignored what Cricket was saying as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll be back by morning guys," he declared firmly, no trace of happy-go-lucky captain here.

Knowing that the battle was lost, memory Nami sighed as she walked up to him. "Three hours Luffy," she said firmly, letting him know that she wasn't kidding around here. "That's all you got! If you take any longer we're gonna lose our chance to go to Sky Island. And it's gonna be all your fault!"

Luffy only nodded in understanding before he turned and began running off, heading to Mock Town. The memories vanished once again.

"You know something? I almost feel bad for Bellamy," Usopp muttered bitterly.

"I don't care," Nami hissed, "I hope that he pummels his face into the ground!"

"Harsh girl," Franky whispered back, though fully agreeing with her on this.

"Like he doesn't deserve it?" Nami hissed and the next memory appeared.

"Oh, this guy is going to pay for that," Zoro said firmly. "But it was really to make him pay for what he did to his friends… it's not the gold that Luffy cares around."

They were in Mock Town once again. Unlike earlier that morning, the streets were almost empty and everything was covered in the unearthly glow of the moon above them. They were standing on one of the roof tops with Luffy, who was glaring around him.

"BELLAMY!" he shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm looking forward to this," Sanji hissed as they could hear the sounds of shouts and cries from inside the bar. They didn't have to wait long—for Bellamy soon came stomping out of the bar as if he owned it. He was grinning cockily up at him when he spotted him up there.

"Well, speak of the devil!" Bellamy called, sounding just as conceited as he did from before, "We were just talking about you! You've got something to say to me kid?"

"Oh, he's got a lot to say to you!" Usopp yelled loudly, knowing that this wasn't going to last long.

"I do!" Luffy yelled back. "Gives back pops' gold! Every bit of it, right now!"

"You heard him!" Franky yelled, punching the air, "Otherwise you'll have to deal with me!"

"What gold?" Bellamy asked, though he clearly knew what he was talking about before he burst out laughing. "You mean the junk we got from old man Cricket?" Rather than answer, he hunched over, crouching low before he was able to jump, almost fly, though the air before he was able to spin around and landed gracefully behind Luffy.

"How'd he do that?!" Usopp cried in shock, staring at Bellamy's legs, that had become all twisted around.

"Springs?" Nami cried in shock.

"I've heard of this fruit," Robin answered, "The Spring Spring Fruit I think it's called. Apparently it's able to give the user the ability to turn parts of their body into springs."

"You think that Luffy's in trouble?" Chopper asked worriedly.

"It all depends on how well Bellamy uses it," Robin answered. "Any fruit can be deadly in the right hands."

"Maybe, but Bellamy's not gonna be taking him seriously because of what happened before," Zoro added, "He'll think that Luffy's a push over."

"Maybe it's news to you, but that's what pirates do. Ever heard of looting?" Bellamy taunted him. "But what am I saying? You're just a pathetic dreamer who can't open his eyes long enough to get a good look at the real world."

"Oh shut up!" Sanji called in deep annoyance. But Luffy glared at him, speaking in such a way that Bellamy looked taken aback by his tone, "Well, then. If stealing is what we pirates do, I guess I should just steal the gold back then."

"Get him Luffy!" Usopp cheered. "No one messes with one of our friends and gets away with it!"

"Clobber him!" Franky yelled encouragingly as Bellamy roared with laughter at what Luffy said.

"That's cute, but be serious!" he yelled, "Can you really fight? I mean, do you even know how to throw a punch?"

"Oh, he's in for a nasty surprise," Franky whispered and they all nodded darkly at that, thinking of all the battles that he fought up till now. Each of them wishing that Luffy would hurry up and take him out.

"I saw you're fighting skills earlier," Bellamy sneered at him when Luffy didn't say anything, "You're very good at just standing there."

Luffy's eyes narrowed dangerous as Bellamy mocked him, telling him that standing still wasn't going to get the gold back. "What, you're freezing up like this afternoon? Admit it, you're too scared to fight me!"

"You wish!" Chopper yelled.

"This afternoon was different. I'm not scared," Luffy said neutrally, the moon at his back making him look like some kind of demon of the night. But Bellamy just laughed, saying that was a good bluff, but he was now sick of listening to him, and decided to shut him up for good.

"You're the one with the big mouth!" Sanji yelled.

"He really is no different from that bandit who tried to kill Luffy when he was a little kid!" Usopp yelled, pointing a hand at him. "The one who was eaten by that Sea King?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought of," Zoro admitted. Both Bellamy and that bandit were arrogant who were used to getting their way. They both walked about as though they owned the world and was prepared to kill if needed. And if anyone resisted them, all they did was threaten them with their status as killers and wanted men.

They watched as Bellamy's spring-like legs kicked off, destroying the roof right under their feet as he shrieked out with laughter, "Don't worry, this won't take long!" and when he landed on the wall of another building he finished his attack, "Spring SNIPER!"

He shot towards Luffy like a torpedo, who didn't look impressed as Bellamy came flying at him. At the last second he jumped off the destroyed roof, soaring through the sky just as gracefully as Bellamy had, and they could hear some of the people on the ground talking about it—some impressed—others not so much.

Luffy landed awkwardly on another roof before he got back up and glared around at Bellamy, who was still undergoing his relentless attack. Once, he almost ended up falling right over the edge to the street below, and was forced to grab onto the side to keep himself from dropping.

"What's wrong?" Nami demanded, "Why isn't he taking him out here?" Was this jerk right? Was a part of Luffy actually afraid of him?

"Nah," Zoro said knowingly, "The truth is, he's just trying to see if Bellamy is as good as he brags about himself. All he's done is jump around, and that's easily dealt with if you know how."

The whole time Bellamy bragged and laughed at Luffy, taunting him at how weak he was and that he was never going to get the gold back. "Again, all he's doing is jumping around—he's all bark and no bite," Zoro said dully, feeling that it just might be worth another nap if this kept going.

Nami was frowning slightly, but in a different way from before. She knew that this guy truly was no match for Luffy—maybe it was because she never learned this so called 'Warrior's Code' but she was now starting to feel a little embarrassed for doubting Luffy like she had.

The fight went on, Bellamy making them all angry as he kept yelling things out like he was pathetic for believing in dreams or that he was a disgrace to 'real' pirates. Finally, Luffy was knocked off the roofs and landed on the ground, and they jumped down to join him as Bellamy continued to jump around him, laughing insanely that he couldn't beat him no matter what thanks to his Devil Fruit.

"Funny, because you're not that awesome!" Sanji called.

"It's not just Logia's," Robin answered calmly, "But anyone who's eaten a Devil Fruit and thinks they're invincible often die young."

"And we know why," Franky muttered as 'Big Knife' Sarquiss laughed, egging his captain on as the other crew members mocked Luffy as well.

"And when Luffy's done with him, I hope he beats them all as well," Nami whispered.

"It's not worth it all," Zoro reminded her. "Besides, we were on a short schedule… Luffy wasted enough time on this loser as it is."

Luffy stood up from where he fell to the ground, completely unharmed, his expression cold as the rest of Bellamy's crew seemed shocked that he was getting up. But Bellamy's face was smiling at the thought of crushing Luffy as he then launched himself at the nearest building. Using the buildings in the square, he bounced from one spot to the next, increasing in speed with each successive spring.

"Clever…" Robin admitted, "Not only is every spring making him faster, it can disorientate opponents as well."

"It looks like he's disappearing," Nami said, trying to keep him in her sights, but every time she got him in her sights he jumped somewhere else.

"Maybe, but that's all he's got going for him," Zoro said, still not impressed. "It's weak…"

Apparently Luffy felt the same way as he just stared ahead of him as Bellamy continued to rant on. "So, you want the gold back, huh!?" he yelled, his voice seemed to come from all around them. "Because Old Man Cricket is you're friend!? Wake up! He's nothing but a decrepit fool who spends all his time chasing after a four-hundred year old lie!"

"Watch your mouth!" Franky yelled.

"He's a good man!" Chopper added furiously.

"But that's probably what you like about him, right!?" Bellamy went on as Luffy's eyes turned into slits, filled with anger and his face darkened even more so that he looked like some kind of beast ready to kill. "You like to call yourselves pirates, but you know nothing! There's no City of Gold! No island in the sky! Just oceans and ships and the men who sail them!"

"You're the one here who doesn't know anything!" Brook hollered, wishing he could give this guy a piece of his mind. Meanwhile, Luffy's anger had grown to such a point that they could almost feel it radiating in the air around them.

It reminded them greatly of the look of rage on their captain's face when Hordy claimed that he would be the next Pirate King… here, they all knew that Luffy wasn't going to show him any mercy… Zoro was right, this had nothing to do with the gold, but merely for the fact that Cricket was his friend—even if they hardly knew each other.

"Show him, Luffy," Nami whispered firmly as he held his fist up, they could hear the cracking of his knuckles even through the noise that Bellamy was making. "You asked if I know how to throw a punch," he called out even as Sarquiss laughed, asking that he hurry up and beat him so that he could drink.

"This is it…" Usopp said darkly as Bellamy was finally tired of playing around, screaming out, "So long, Straw-Hat!"

It all happened so quickly that most of them missed it. With a single punch, Luffy slammed Bellamy right into the ground, his head breaking through the wooden walkway, leaving a large crater all around them. Bellamy's eyes rolled into the back of his head, blood spurting from his mouth and the imprint of Luffy's fist embedded into his face.

Chopper yelled out in shock as Bellamy was out cold before his head cracked the wood beneath him.

"Now that… had to hurt," Franky said softly. All of them were a little taken aback by that… even more so when they saw that Luffy's knuckles were covered in blood. He didn't respond at all however as he slowly put his hat back on his head, his eyes still darkened so that they couldn't see anything.

"One hit… that was all it took," Brook said, feeling a little cold at how harsh that had been. But he fully backed his captain up on this. Bellamy was the one who started this fight and now it was, hopefully, over for good. No one said anything as they heard Bellamy croak a little from where he lay, showing that he was still alive, but the crowd around them were suddenly as silent as the grave.

Sarquiss stepped forward, stuttering out in a shocked tone, but sure that this had to be some kind of bad joke, "Hey… quit messing around, Bellamy and get up, the jokes over. We know that runt couldn't beat you. Come on, get up!"

"It's not a joke," Nami said darkly, her anger also disappearing as well. Seeing how badly beaten that these guy were seemed to suck all the hatred out of her. Most of them looked ready to turn tail and run when Bellamy just continued to lay there.

"If he knew what was good for him, he'd learn from this and leave before they did something that made them look more pathetic," Sanji muttered. "And to hopefully teach them to be more careful who they try to bully in the future."

Sarquiss seemed to grow angrier with ever second that his captain remained on the ground and soon he was shouting, "This really isn't funny anymore, now snap out of it! You have to get up and show that kid who you are! You're a real pirate, not like him!"

"Right… he's nothing like him at all," Brook said proudly as Sarquiss continued to scream out that his bounty was up to fifty-five million and that he couldn't lose. Just then, a few scraps of paper flew out of one guy's hand and hit his face. When he pulled it away he turned blue as he stared at the paper, dropping it as if it was something dangerous.

Looking a little closer, Robin saw that it was Luffy's bounty, showing that one hundred-million bounty. "Now that they know that his bounty was almost twice as much, they aren't so tough are they?" Nami asked.

"Sad," Franky muttered as Luffy turned towards Bellamy's crew and gave them a cold glare. "And now, Cricket's gold. Give it back!" he demanded, in a tone that showed that he wasn't kidding around here anymore. Almost everyone turned and ran away, scattering around them into the alleyways and houses as if hoping that they would protect them from Luffy's wrath. But Luffy no longer had any reason to go after them as he stood there, waiting for an answer.

The main part of Bellamy's crew, the ones who had been there that afternoon, were so startled, that some of them pointed fearfully to the bar behind them and Luffy marched over. As he went inside, they went over to Bellamy, trying to get him up and on his feet again.

"Is it bad?" Zoro asked Chopper, not caring if it was or not.

"Bad enough," Chopper said, his voice cold. "He needs a doctor alright, but I don't think that it's anything life-threatening."

"Could've fooled me," Usopp muttered, waiting outside for Luffy to find the gold so that they could get back to the others.

"Luffy's not a killer," Robin answered, "And this was a hard lesson that someone had to teach Bellamy one day. Better now with Luffy, than someone in the future who isn't as merciful."

"He should be grateful that he's still alive," Sanji agreed.

"Either way, I don't think that we need to worry about anyone else going after Cricket or the monkey brothers again," Zoro stated as Luffy came back out, with a large sack on his back, smiling as he calmly exited the bar as if he had just done some grocery shopping. He was even chuckling a little to himself as he headed off down the boardwalk. "That wasn't too hard to find," he said as the remaining Bellamy Pirates were with Bellamy, who only continued to lay there helpless. Sarquiss was on his knees, shaking as he looked after him. Suddenly he got to his feet and began to yell, "HEY YOU COME BACK HERE! YOU HEAR ME? YOU STUPID RUNT? I'M TALKING TO YOU! I'LL GET HIM! WE WON'T BE BEATEN BY SOME PRETEND PIRATE!"

"He's kidding right?" Usopp asked. "Didn't he see what just happened?"

"I guess he does care somewhat for his captain?" Franky asked.

"More like he had so much faith in Bellamy's skills that he couldn't believe that he would ever lose," Robin answered, recognizing that look in Sarquiss's eyes as his other crewmates tried to hold him back.

"Too bad he picked a weakling to follow," Zoro stated, "But that's his fault."

"I'LL SHOW YOU A REAL PUNCH!" Sarquiss continued to yell after Luffy, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

When Luffy did stop, his words died on his tongue and they froze, looking ready to run back if they had to. Luffy merely held up the bloody fist as he asked, "Where am I going?"

Sarquiss fell back, looking ready to wet his pants. Luffy didn't threaten him, or say anything else to show that he won, it was as if the fight never happened… but instead, he slowly looked back before he held up his finger to the sky. "Up there!"

And that was when it faded once again.

"Boy, that was tough to watch," Usopp whispered as he sat down on the grass, Chopper collapsing with him. "I forget how scary Luffy is when he wants to be."

"It's easy to forget that," Robin answered, "I'm glad that he's on our side… that look alone is enough to scare me."

They stayed quiet, soon the next memory popped up. The sun was already high in the sky, Luffy was there with the rest of the crew and staring at the Merry—though the ship looked to have proper patches and work done to her, she still looked a bit worse for the wear. But also, she was now looking more like a rooster than a sheep.

"What happened to her?" Brook asked startled. The Merry was now sporting wings attached to her sides, and a curved tail at the back, as well as even sporting a wattle and a comb.

"She looks like… a chicken?" Franky said, feeling sweat-drop around his head again. "Why?"

Luffy however was looking at it with glowing eyes as memory Usopp walked proudly over to it. "Introducing the Going Merry, Flying addition!" he cried out.

"It can fly?!" he cried out.

"But… chickens can't fly…" Franky pointed out as memory Usopp pointed happily to the Saruyama Alliance and told him that they built it just for them and past Nami was whispering that she had a bad feeling about it. Zoro seemed to be thinking along the same thing as Franky as he agreed, stating that chickens couldn't fly and that a pigeon would've been a better choice.

"Well, that wasn't what I meant…" Franky stated, now completely lost here.

"What's that got to do with anything? You dope?!" memory Nami snapped at him.

"It's time to set sail!" past Usopp cried out, "Come on, if you're with me let me hear it!"

They all cheered and were all quickly getting on their ships and raising anchor. But they all stayed on land a little longer as they watched Luffy putting the sack of gold on the stump in front of Cricket. Though heavily bandaged and bruised, he looked a hundred times better than the last time they saw him. Cricket didn't say anything, didn't say thank you or asked if he was alright, he didn't even acknowledge what he did. But Luffy didn't seem to have been looking for a thank you.

After breathing out the smoke from his cigarette, Cricket said, "Well? What are you waiting for? Get on board. Unless you wanna miss your chance at the sky? Like a fool."

"We almost did thanks to him looking for that stupid bug," Nami whispered softly. They were lucky that they made it on time.

Luffy just smiled. That was probably the closest he was going to get to a thank you from the old man. "Thanks for the ship," he said gratefully. Cricket just put out his cigarette and jerked his thumb at the Saruyama Alliance, telling him that he should be thanking them for doing all the work. Luffy did just that, and even gave them his Hercules beetle as a way to say thanks.

Shoujou looked thrilled at the gift and ordered his crew to get a cage for their new pet.

"What's this about a bug?" Franky asked them curiously.

"He wasted a lot of time looking for that stupid beetle after he got the gold back," Usopp whispered in annoyance.

"But they all seem really happy about it," Chopper laughed happily.

Shoujou and Masira were both calling out that they would lead the way to where the Knock-Up Stream was going to erupt. And as they followed Luffy, they heard Cricket's voice calling out behind them, calling to the Saruyama crews.

When they all glanced back at him, he was standing tall as he gave them his orders. "I'm counting on you men!" he called. "I don't care what happens! You give our friends everything you've got!"

They all cheered on in agreement, soon pushing off from the shore and giving Cricket their goodbyes. With both ships on either side of the Merry like guards, taking them out to sea, Cricket appeared at the shoreline, calling to the Straw Hats, "Well, kid… looks like this is where we part ways!" Luffy looked over the tail end as he went on, "There's only one thing you gotta remember, above everything else!"

"What's that?" Brook asked, already missing this man and decided to take anything he had to say to heart—even if he didn't have one.

"Not one person, in history, has ever disproved the existence of Sky Island!" Cricket answered with a smile and they all nodded in understanding. "People may say I'm crazy and even laugh at me, but I don't care!" Cricket declared to them all, "I'm a romantic! Like you!"

"I guess that's why he took such a liking to us," Robin smiled as they headed off, the memory fading around them, but not before they heard Cricket's voice calling out, "Oh yeah… thanks for the gold! And hey, don't be falling from the sky you hear?!"

"That was so touching!" Brook said happily. "Truly inspiring! I wish I could've met him!"

"I'm sure that we'll run into him and the others again someday," Nami laughed a little. "And I really can't wait to tell him everything."

"Me too!" Chopper yelled. "Who knows? Maybe they went to Sky Island as well! To see the City for themselves!"

"I doubt it, but hey, you never know," Sanji chuckled. Next up, they were still on the Merry, however they could see dark clouds in the distance and memory Nami was calling for everyone to come out at once.

"Now what?" Franky asked.

"Trouble, that's what," Nami sighed as her past self screamed to the others, "The Cumuloregalis cloud appeared a lot sooner than expected and now everyone's scrambling to find a current!" Shoujou let out another loud wailing with his voice to use for sonar and after a few minutes, the divers came up, finding the place where the whirlpool was sure to form. Masira then called that they were to head right for that spot. The waves around them were growing higher and more violent as they struggled to get through.

"This is looking really dangerous!" Brook said nervously.

"Believe me, this is smooth sailing compared to what we're about to see next!" Sanji called as memory Robin called to Nami as to where the Log Pose was pointing.

Past Nami did a quick check and answered, "It's pointing right at those clouds!" she was staring above them at it as Usopp gasped, "The Sky Island is right above that?!"

"So it really is up there!" Franky said, his own eyes wide at the thought of seeing a floating island. This was going to be freaking sweet.

"This is scaring me already!" Chopper said, though he already rode this thing once, the idea of riding it once again was a ghastly thought. Just then, Masira's ship threw a few hooks behind them and hooked onto the Merry as they began towing it.

"What's this?!" Luffy asked.

"We'll lead you to the inner edge!" he answered as Nami asked what they were supposed to do once they got there. "Position yourself on the flow and head to the center! Then you'll be fine!"

But that was when they spotted the whirlpool, and Franky and Brook screamed at that. To say it was huge would be the usual understatement. It looked like a large, dark drain… one large enough to have easily swallowed a fleet of Marine ships.

"YOU MEAN YOU'RE GOING INTO THAT THING?!" Brook screamed out.

"YOU'LL BE KILLED!" Franky yelled in shock, his eyes almost budging from his head.

"HE WANTS US TO GO TO THE CENTER?!" memory Nami screamed as they headed straight for it, the ships sticking just on the outer rim, just far enough away to avoid the current and getting sucked into the dark pit.

"But I don't want to get sucked in!" memory Usopp screamed in fear, all of them clinging to the ship as the ropes connecting them to Masira's ship let go and they were set adrift.

"I don't remember signing up for all this!" memory Nami screamed out, looking like she was about to have a heart attack.

"Nami-swan! Don't worry! I'm always here for you!" current Sanji yelled as his past self proclaimed that he'll make sure nothing happened to her.

"A fat lot of good that does if you get pulled into that!" Franky yelled.

"Just be glad that it turned out in the end," Zoro told him.

Their past selves were all staring at the whirlpool, and even Robin sounded uneasy as she commented on how she had never seen a whirlpool as big as this one before. Memory Chopper however had his face shining with excitement at the thought of flying while Usopp screamed, tears falling from his eyes, that he changed his mind and wanted to go back.

"Sorry, Usopp, too late for that," memory Zoro told him in his usual bored tones as he jerked his thumb to Luffy, who was already looking like he was about to fall over from happiness. "You know who is already excited."

"It was already far too late to turn around by this point," present-day Zoro shrugged.

"No! There was still time!" Usopp yelled.

"What are you complaining about? We lived didn't we?" Sanji asked in annoyance.

"I still find it hard to believe," Brook said, staring at the whirlpool as Luffy screamed out that they were going to the sky. But just then, something burst out through the water in front of them. It was a Sea King, a large and bright yellow one that looked like a giant, fat salamander. It apparently got to close to the whirlpool's edge and was now being pulled in, down into the darkness until it disappeared.

The past Straw Hats all froze at that, staring at it with a mixture of expressions from calm all the way to freaking out.

"Now… is this really such a good idea?" Usopp whispered. "I still don't get what we were thinking."

"And it's hard to beat Sea Kings since that have all that brute strength and size," Robin answered. "To think that could've been us?"

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS TALKING SO CALM LIKE THAT?!" Usopp screamed at her as the Merry was now drifting on the current, slowly being pulled to the center. "It's time for us to go!" Masira called to them. "The rest is up to you now! Good luck!"

"Bye guys!" Luffy called, waving happily, "And thanks a lot for everything!"

But not everyone agreed with that. Three members broke down completely and began to scream at them. Usopp especially freaked out. "Don't go! Don't go I don't wanna die! Please take me with you! Give me a break I'm scared! Oh, please don't make me…" and he ended by breaking down with Chopper wailing by his side.

Memory Nami was just as freaked out as she finished for Usopp, "No one said anything about diving head first into a giant whirlpool!"

"Plus it's getting dark…" Usopp said tearfully.

"Oh, cry us a river," Zoro yawned out. "Just hang on and hope for the best."

"WELL EXCUSE US FOR BEING SCARED!" the 'Weakling Trio screamed at him as memory Chopper screamed that they were being sucked in.

"Don't be so unreasonable, Luffy! Let's go back while we still have time!" past Usopp hollered at him, now looking close to passing out. "Don't you understand that this Sky Island stuff is just a bunch of make believe? It's not worth getting us killed!"

"You sure seemed to believe it before," Robin pointed out with a knowing smile.

"At this point I didn't care!" he cried back, "I just wanted to live!"

"It's all make-believe? Is that what you think?" Luffy asked him, his voice almost annoyed, and he didn't bother looking at him. But Nami was on Usopp's side, also crying and looked ready to start begging if she had to as she cried out, "Usopp's right! I think this is a really bad idea!"

"It may be a stupid dream, but I have to try," Luffy said, still staring ahead before he looked back at them all with his eyes glowing with excitement. "It could be our greatest adventure."

"Well, it was one heck of a journey I'm never gonna forget," present-day Usopp stated and the other five nodded with him.

"Yohohoho, I can't wait to see it!" Brook cried out. "Though I haven't gone on the same adventure with all of you, it's going to be wondrous to see!"

Memory Chopper seemed to have been put at ease at his words, but Usopp and Nami were both still crying as they realized that it was too late. Meanwhile, the Merry was continuing to get pulled closer to the center, something that memory Zoro seemed to have noticed as well. "Instead of wasting your time bickering, you all may want to take a look," he said, not even looking at Usopp, who was asking what he was talking about.

"What did you think he meant?" Franky asked as Zoro merely pointed and told them that they were now being sucked in. That was all it took for them all to start screaming as the Merry suddenly took off and fell towards the darkness below them, it seemed to fly for just a moment above the hole and began to fall.

Straw Hats from both time periods screamed out in shock just as the Merry fell, but as quickly as the whirlpool appeared… it was gone.

"What… what's going on?!" Brook cried out, now sure that he was seeing things. "There was a whirlpool here for a moment right?! Right?!"

He was right… however, at the moment, where the whirlpool had been, it was now calm and smooth as glass. They were directly underneath the Cumuloregalis cloud… waiting…

"Didn't see that coming…" Franky muttered anxiously, wondering just what was going to happen now. "Just what's going on here?"

He wasn't the only one asking that question. All the memory Straw Hats were staring around them, just as lost as Franky was. But then, deep below the surface of the water, they could feel it…

Memory Nami gasped as she cried out that it was starting. When they looked to her she cried out in fear that the Whirlpool had sunk beneath the surface.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Franky grinned, rubbing his metal hands together, looking forward to seeing how this turned out. But then…

"Hold it right there!"

All the Straw Hats turned to look behind them at once to see, what could be described more as a giant raft than an actual ship, coming towards them. It looked as if someone had just stuck several large tree trunks together with some rope—the only signs of it being a pirate ship was the black sail which bore three sinister looking skulls on it.

"What a pathetic ship," Franky whispered.

"It's Blackbeard again!" Usopp cried, pointing wildly. And he was right, but besides Blackbeard… there were others with him. The old man and his horse with the exploding apples, the large man who wanted to be the fighting champion from earlier, and another man who they hadn't seen before. A rather tall, and thin guy with a very sad/calm expression. He wore glasses, but one of the lenses looked to be some kind of cross hair. Over his shoulder, he was carrying a large rifle, and he seemed to be sighing forlornly, as if thinking of something sad.

"I'm guessing that these guys are the Blackbeard Pirates?" Franky asked, not sounding impressed here.

"I guess," Zoro said, frowning at each of them. He wasn't sure why, but once again he was growing angry with each second. Blackbeard was laughing, looking at Luffy with a great deal more interest than he had when they first met him. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Straw-Hat Luffy."

Memory Nami recognized him at once, telling the others that it was that 'Mock Town' guy from before. As Sanji asked what she was talking about, Blackbeard declared that he had come all this way to collect Luffy's one-hundred million bounty.

"Wait, why did he want Luffy's bounty?" Chopper asked.

"You were there, so you would know," Franky pointed out.

"But I mean, why? Isn't he a pirate? Not a bounty hunter?" Chopper pointed out.

"Don't know, don't care… we got away didn't we?" Sanji shrugged. But Robin was frowning very slightly at that… suddenly having a bad feeling about this whole thing.

"Hundred million!?" Luffy shouted back in confusion. "What are you talking about!?"

"Right… we still didn't know about the bounty increase," Nami sighed as Blackbeard laughed again.

"Don't play dumb with me, kid!" he called as he held up two bounty posters. Luffy's bounty had gone up more than three times… now up to the one-hundred million that Blackbeard had said. He also held up another poster that showed Zoro with his starting bounty of sixty-million.

"Once again, amazing!" Brook called truly impressed. "Sixty-million for your first bounty?"

"Yeah, and it doubled since then," Zoro smirked, unable to stop himself from suffering the sin of pride.

"It's true!" memory Usopp called, looking at the posters through binoculars at them. "He's got a different poster for each of you! Hey, Zoro congratulations on your new bounty!"

"Good times," Zoro laughed darkly, giving Sanji a smug look, whose eye seemed to twitch horribly, as if imagining doing something horrible to him. It was only made worse with past Sanji went running over to Usopp and asked if he could see one for him as well, which Usopp denied.

Memory Luffy and Zoro however were celebrating the news of their bounties. "This is great!" Luffy yelled out practically jumping for joy, "Hear that?! My bounty went up big time!"

"Sixty million's not too bad either!" memory Zoro laughed proudly.

"It's not a good thing!" past Nami snapped at them.

"I still don't get why you guys are so happy for that!" Nami told them darkly.

"Because the greater the bigger the bounty, the more of a threat the world sees you as," Zoro answered. "High bounties mean that the World Government and the Marines see you as a threat."

"And that's good because…?" she responded angrily just as there were shouts around them. It was here that they all finally noticed that the water around them was slowly bubbling and rising up. The Merry was sitting right on top as the water was continuing to go up like how a cake would start to rise…

"This doesn't look safe!" Brook called as memory Usopp screamed out, "OH NO! THE SHIP! IT'S BEING LIFTED UP!"

"Everyone better think of the last words you wanna say to each other!" Franky called. The memory seemed to freeze in time for just a brief moment… and then… with an almighty explosion beneath them… with the force of an exploding volcano, they were sent flying as a great canal of water suddenly rose up into the air. It was a giant pillar of water that shook them all, almost shattering the ship on impact as they were sent flying up, sailing right up its side…

"THIS IS TERRIFYING!" Brook screamed as they were now standing on the wall of the cabin as the memory Straw Hats hung on for dear life as they were shot up.

"That's what was going through my head!" Nami cried out as memory Chopper was crying as he hung to the mast.

"I can't believe that we're riding this beast!" Franky yelled as they went were now completely vertical.

"A beast is right!" Sanji called with a strangled laugh.

Luffy was ecstatic as he hung onto the Merry's new comb, screaming out to make his voice heard over the noise, "ALRIGHT! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING! LET'S GO TO SKYPIEA!"

"Why do I get the feeling it's not that easy?!" Franky called to them all, knowing that things were never that easy for them.

"Because we ran into a hitch before we got to the sky!" Zoro called as memory Sanji pointed it out. The hull was starting to float, in other words, it was slowly tipping back away from the stream of water. And unless they did something about it, they were going to fall back to the ocean below them.

"WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO ABOUT IT?!" Usopp screamed, hanging on to the railing like a flag flapping in the wind, "WE'RE HAVING A HARD ENOUGH TIME HOLDING ON AS IT IS! OR HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED?!"

"This isn't good!" Brook called, "How could you all do anything like this?!"

"Very difficultly," Nami admitted with a smile, "But don't worry! We've got a secret weapon to get us through all this!"

"What weapon?!" Franky asked as bits of old ships and even the Sea King from before fell from the sky and past them all—the crew yelling in shock at what they were seeing.

"SEE?" memory Sanji screamed as they watched the monster fall to the ocean below them, "IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO THE MERRY!"

"I KNOW! BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?!" past Zoro called. He and Robin were standing quite calmly on the wall of the cabin with them, "WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO MOTHER NATURE! WE'RE AT HER MERCY!"

"There's not much else you all can do here!" Brook called as more ship parts fell around, causing Chopper to scream out in shock.

Memory Usopp lost it completely and began to yell, "WE'RE GONNA TAKE A NOSE DIVE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN ALL BECAUSE LUFFY HAD TO FOLLOW SOME STUPID DREAM!"

"Never heard you say that before," current Sanji laughed a little. "If I didn't know you better, I would say you were scared."

"Weren't you?!" Usopp hollered. "This had to be one of the most intense things I had to go through here!"

But memory Nami seemed to pull herself together, suddenly yelling at them to spread the sail. When they looked to her, she called what they had to do. Though a pillar of water, it was still part of the sea, and they could ride it. Since the wind from below was created from geothermal heat… though packaged differently it was still wind and water.

Everyone suddenly broke into smiles—knowing that their navigator had never led them astray before when it came to where to go.

"ALRIGHT GANG! NAMI'S LEADING THE WAY!" memory Sanji called and they were able to spread the sail and thanks to Nami's orders, they were able to align the ship with its current. The haul continued to rise higher and higher… and finally, the back end lifted up… that was when something miraculous happened…

They were flying…

"WE'RE FLYING!" Luffy screamed joyfully, punching the air, "YEAH! WE'RE HEADING TO THE SKY!"

"We made it," memory Usopp croaked out, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Franky cried out, his own eyes wide, "THIS SHIP TRULY IS INCREDIBLE!"

"What did you expect?!" current Usopp laughed out proudly, like how a parent would when their child had done something unbelievable. Everyone was cheering, they had actually conquered the Knock-Up Stream and the terror around them had turned into excitement, everyone from the past and present was laughing and enjoying the ride—as if they had left behind all their fear.

"IF THIS KEEPS UP WE CAN SAIL AS HIGH AS WE WANT!" memory Nami called over the noise.

"Hey Nami, are we almost to Skypiea!?" Luffy yelled back, and they shared a grin as she pointed up to the black clouds above them.

"If it exists, it's past those clouds!" she called as Luffy turned his full attention back above them.

"Past those clouds!" he repeated in joy. "I can't wait to find out what's up in the sky! Let's punch through them and find out!"

The memory then faded around them as they went bursting through the cloud coverage and they had wandered back to the edge of the forest. All the Straw Hats were still as amazed as they had been the day that they had experienced all that chaos. They were all thrilled at the idea of seeing more that they were already heading off, impatient for the next memory to show up.

But as the next memory showed up, Zoro was looking behind him for one last glimpse of the graves that he could just make out in the distance. His one eye couldn't help but go to the crate that was sitting in front of it… he didn't know if he was thinking about it too much, but his eye just couldn't help but notice all three cups glinting in the feeble moonlight.

(Looks like I was proven wrong. I would've had this up much sooner, however, I just read the last chapter of the manga… and I have to tell you I have a mix of intense emotions. Did you see that coming? I have to say that the Dressrosa arc has got to be the craziest arc yet. We've got Doflamingo… we've got Trafalgar Law… we've got Blackbeard, Kaido, and Big Mom attacking from all sides… a blind admiral that can control gravity… a tournament with Ace's Flame Flame Fruit as the big prize… and somehow, a friend is still alive. I guess a part of me always thought that he was alive… I mean, if Oda's gonna bring annoying characters like Bellamy back, I guess we shouldn't be surprised. I really don't know if Sabo's dead or alive… I never really liked that idea because I was afraid it would be like Oda's trying to replace Ace with Sabo. Now my story makes no sense… sigh… however, I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen, so I came up with several plot twists to change it around. I really wanted to make this story such a way that you could find it believable as part of the series you know? Hopefully, what I've got planned makes sense.)