Not too far behind, they land on Sabaody. Enjoy!

As a side-note, it's Summer Vacation, and I'm quite happy! What say we celebrate this joyous occasion with some reviews, eh?

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, I would be busy drawing instead of writing Fanfictions


29: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

"Get the hell outta you freak of nature!"

Splint's face appeared with comic anger as he kicked the musician out of his own room. The musician reeled at this and shot back, "Why would you call me such a name? Is there something on my face?"

It was silent for a few seconds, before the musician finished, "Oh wait, I have no—AGH!"

He was cut off as Splint threw a paperweight from his room at the musician's head. Letting out a grunt of pain, Brook fell on his back and held his skull. Splint closed the door with a modicum of anger left in his actions.

"Owowowow!" he said, rolling around. "I think he may have scarred my skin…"

"Give it up Brook," Franky interjected with a sigh—Taroimo sitting next to him with his tail wagging—hammering at the floor by Brook. "No one finds your jokes funny." Taroimo barked in seeming agreement with this statement.

Brook hopped up and walked over to Franky. Completely forgetting what happened, he leaned over Franky's shoulder and asked, "What are you doin'?"

Franky took a plank of wood sitting by him and put it into the ground, letting the hammer take care of the rest. "I already told you," he said, not looking at Brook, "these guys asked me to fix their floor that…somehow disappeared without surrounding damage."

"Oh yes, I suppose I forgot. Yohohohohoho!"

Franky was tempted to throw his hammer at the annoying Brook, but got control of his temper and asked kindly, "Look, Brook, I know you don't have much to do, but do you think you could—"

"Excuse me miss, but may I see your panties?" he asked a female crewmate, several feet away from Franky.

This time, he did throw the hammer at Brook; he reeled in pain yet again.

A voice from a little bit off called to Franky. "You should control your temper better Franky."

"Ah, with him, it's hard to do that Robin," he replied, going back to his work yet again.

Nico Robin put her book down and looked up at the sky. "I suppose you're right," she said. She went back to reading.

Brook and Franky hadn't been with Robin and Chopper for long (the fact that Robin and Chopper had an eternal pose while Brook and Franky didn't helped them catch up to the two), but it was long enough for Brook to annoy everyone (mostly Splint) on the ship…

— — —

Splint, Inazuma, Chopper, and Robin had just about finished all of the damage control caused by the massive Captain Buzzsaw and his crew. There were no fatalities and almost no injuries; the few that were injured got theirs when Buzzsaw was taking them hostage and his crew was being less than courteous.

The biggest problem they had, however, was the massive hole on the deck Splint and Inazuma while making their sneak attack.

"I suppose I used my Blank-Blank Powers a bit too much on that one," said Splint, claiming that it was his fault. "But you gotta admit it was a cool entrance."

Everyone seemed to agree with that statement, but the problem still remained. Some of the less-skilled revolutionaries went to work on it, but progress was slow to say the least; everyone was just going to have to walk around it for the time being.

A few hours after the attack, the ship was going smoothly and was correctly on course.

The sun was setting now, and Splint stood on the nearly deck, staring at the sea without much thought, his cigarette hanging loosely in his mouth. After seconds of silence, he said, "Pretty nice…don't you think, Nico Robin?"

He looked to the railing on the ship and saw an ear laying there. "Why don't you stop with your eavesdropping and come on out. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

With that, the ear disappeared and Robin stepped out of the shadows. "How did you know?" she simply asked.

Splint tipped his bucket hat slightly lower and replied with a grin, "Never underestimate an experienced revolutionary."

"I see," she closed her eyes, nodded, and walked forward.

Splint turned his back to the view and leaned on the railing, his cigarette about half done. "So tell me," he started, "why would you wish to spy on poor old me?"

"I did it to learn more about your intentions, but I guess it wasn't good enough," she said, deciding not to lie.

Splint tilted his head back and blew smoke out of his mouth. "Such a mistrusting person," he said with a smirk. "Is it so hard to believe that our intentions are pure?"

"Quite frankly, it is," she replied. "I was talking to Chopper, and he even told me Inazuma said that Dragon had enough faith in us to get back to Luffy on our own, so why is it that he ordered you to come and pick us up?"

"We didn't pick all of you up," Splint corrected. "In fact, you two are the only ones we were ordered to look for. I guess it was because you were brought back to the four Blues and it would take forever for you to make it to Sabaody on your own."

Robin didn't react to this. "Even so," she replied, "why would he even order you to find us at all if he believed in us? What's his hurry?"

Splint smiled mysteriously at Robin. "Who knows?"

"This is why I was trying to eavesdrop," she replied with a sigh.

Splint finished his cigarette, put it out on the rail, and almost immediately lit another one. "I can tell you with absolute certainty," he said, "that our direct orders right now are to take you to Sabaody Archipelago unharmed."

Robin knew she wouldn't get anything out of Splint on this subject, so she changed it. "Just how much does Dragon know?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean," she faltered. "You knew about Tequila Wolf, and that the World Government has been building bridges there for 700 years, the beginning of the Void Century. So how much of history does Dragon actually know?"

"How do you know I just knew about it and the Boss didn't?" he responded coolly.

Robin gave a small chuckle at this. "No offense, but you don't seem like the kind of man to know your complex history, especially on the subject of the Void Century."

Splint feigned hurt and said, "I guess that's true enough. Don't worry though Ms. Robin; the Boss knows enough to know what's going on…and what's going to happen."

Robin remained silent, taking in what Splint just said.

"Anyways," Splint said, stretching his arms, "we're not that far off. I'd say we'll arrive at Sabaody at noon tomorrow."

"Sir! Ship spotted on the Northeast!" a man in the crows-nest yelled down.

Splint and Robin immediately looked around and saw a galleon going towards them. Splint took out binoculars and looked at the flag. With somewhat of a grimace, he said:

"I'd recognize that flag anywhere. It's the On Air Pirates!"

"You mean one of the Eleven Supernovas?" Robin questioned.

Splint put away the binoculars. "I'm afraid so." He looked at a man patrolling the ship and ordered, "Go and get below deck and tell them to get armed! Looks like we're gonna have some trouble."

Before the man could answer, a strange noise began to emanate from the On Air Pirate's ships. They all looked and soon enough, they recognized it as a steady, and then, they realized music was coming from it.

Splint took out his binoculars again and saw that the crew was rowing the ship below deck to make it go faster. "It seems like someone's playing music to keep the crew rowing," he said, his cigarette falling out of his mouth.

Something clicked within Robin at that second as she asked, "Can you see who's making the music?"

Splint nodded and looked closer. "It appears that there's someone on deck playing a variety of instruments." After a few seconds, "I know this is gonna sound crazy…but the one playing seems to be a skeleton with an afro."

That was it! It could be no one other than Brook!

"Don't worry," Robin said, turning towards the man supposed to carry out the orders. "They're friends; there's no need for violence. Although if you could go get Chopper…"

"And Inazuma," Splint added hastily.

The man nodded and trotted off.

Not before long, Brook's ship noticed Robin's, and they both came up along side each other. Robin made a bridge between the ships out of arms and walked across. Not before long, everyone on Splint's ship could hear laughter and what sounded like a skeleton joke. A few seconds later, Robin, Brook, and Franky (with a barking Taroimo), came back to Splint's ship.

Introductions were made as Brook shook hands with Inazuma, and then Splint, who seemed to mumble something about Brook being the freakiest thing he'd ever seen. They talked for a bit, and obviously decided to go on together.

"By the way, did you happen to see a female on a small ship come this way?" Brook asked, thinking immediately of Aliyyah.

Everyone shook their heads. "Sorry, if you met up with her before, she must have gone a different route than the one we're taking; we're just following the eternal pose."

"I see…" he replied, but almost immediately went back to good spirits.

Unwilling to abandon the On Air Pirates, they created an alliance and Inazuma went over to their ship to captain (and navigate) it, while Brook and Franky (and Taroimo) stayed with Chopper, Robin, and Splint.

With that, the sun set almost completely, but the two ships went on, determined to get to their destination as soon as possible.

— — —

Splint's prediction turned out to be true.

Both crew spent the night speeding along towards Sabaody Archipelago, and they spent the morning doing various activities (with Franky being recruited to fix the hole in the floor).

Around noon, however, an island came into view, and the man in the crows-nest happily cried that it was Sabaody Archipelago. Cheers could be heard from both ships as they happily sped towards their destination; they were there within a half hour.

They immediately docked both ships and everyone happily ran off, glad to be on solid ground again. Robin, Brook, Franky (with Taroimo of course), Chopper, Splint, and Inazuma went over to where they remembered the Thousand Sunny had been before they got separated; Splint and Inazuma insisted on going since the mission won't be successful until they confirmed that they were back in the Straw Hat Crew.

When they reached the docking bay, a mixture of confusion and sadness struck their face when they saw that where the Thousand Sunny once was, there was now another ship completely foreign to them.

"They left without us…?" Chopper asked, looking like he was about to cry.

"Let's go check with Silvers Rayleigh," Robin suggested.

Everyone agreed as they went over to Shakky's bar.

— — —

Shakky's "Rip-Off Bar" looked to be closed, but that didn't stop the motley crew from jimmying the lock (which Splint insisted he could erase the entire door, despite their protests) and getting in. There they saw Shakky attending the bar with Rayleigh sitting there, his back turned to the group.

"Well, well, well," Shakky said, noticing them immediately. "Look who finally showed up Silvers."

Rayleigh turned around to see them, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. "Hey!" he said with a booming voice. "We were wondering when you were gonna show up!"

"What do you mean?" Brook asked, confused at the way Rayleigh said that last sentence.

"And where's our ship?" Franky demanded. "Don't tell me you messed it up while you were coating it!"

"No, don't worry," Rayleigh said, putting his hands up innocently. "Come sit down and we'll discuss it all."

It took nearly thirty minutes for the story to be told…

"So you're saying that Luffy left without us because he had no choice?" Chopper asked.

Rayleigh nodded.

"They left yesterday afternoon, yes," Rayleigh said.

"I guess that makes sense," Robin said. "It seems like this Victor guy is a real threat."

"Could he be working with the woman that stole Apoo?" Brook asked.

Rayleigh nodded again. "Probably. He's been using his crew to collect Devil Fruit Users for a while now. I wouldn't be surprised if he stole Apoo for his powers. And I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but if Apoo was stolen a few days ago, it's most likely that he's dead now."

Brook slumped back down, knowing he would have to break the news to the On Air Pirates soon.

Rayleigh suddenly perked up. "Fortunately, Luffy left us with specific instructions before he left. He even made me coat up a ship just so you can go as soon as possible."

Everyone listened silently.

"Oh and before I forget…" Rayleigh said, turning towards Splint and Inazuma, "there was one more person who's wai—"

The door suddenly burst open and in walked Ivankov. "I'm back Candy Boys and Girls, and I've got vhat you nee—"

"Oh…" Splint said, putting his hand to his forehead. "Great…"

"Inazuma!" Ivankov said, sprinting over to the table to see an equally-elated Inazuma. He turned to see Splint and said, "Oh…long time no see Splint-Boy."

"You people know each other?" Robin asked.

"Unfortunately…" Splint said, putting his cigarette out. "The Boss for some reason decided to let a guy like Ivankov into our cause."

"Vhy you insignificant little…" Ivankov started. "You know, and Dragon knows that I'm much more valuable than you!"

Splint seemed to take this as a challenge as he stood up. "You wanna test that theory?" he asked.

"Let's just calm down!" Rayleigh said, standing between them. "We can't be having in-fighting; we need cooperation."

"How about some soothing music?" Brook suggested half-heartedly in an attempt to calm things down. "Yohoho…" he stopped when he saw it wasn't working.

Then Splint acted like he was hit by a ton of bricks. "Oh, that reminds me." He took off his bucket hat and produced a note from it and put it back on. "The Boss wanted me to give this to you, and you only."

Rayleigh took the note and opened it up, reading intently.

"Vhat vas so important that Dragon couldn't give me?" Ivankov asked, slightly offended.

"None of your business Drag Queen," Splint replied with indifference.

Ivankov reacted with anger as he said, "Say that to me again and I'll turn you into a woman!"

Splint turned back to Ivankov and replied, "I'd like to see you try!"

That seemed to spark a fight as both of them struck up fighting positions and appeared about to attack.

"Newkama Kenpo…"

"Revolutionary Style…"

"Is this true?" Rayleigh said, looking up at Splint with a strange look on his face.

They both stopped as Splint looked back and nodded. "If it's what the Boss says, then it's probably true, although I'm sure that's not much of a comfort."

"What's on the note?" Franky asked.

"Nothing," Rayleigh hastily responded. "Now come on, I'll show you all to the ship I coated."

With that, all of them left the bar.

— — —

Their ship was in the docking bay close to where they originally docked their ship. There, the On Air Pirates waited eagerly on their ship for Brook to bring back news. He knew what he had to do, as he dismissed himself and went to their ship. While he was gone, Rayleigh showed them a rather large galleon.

"It's fully stocked and completely prepared to ride," he said. "Luffy made me promise that."

Everyone went on the ship and inspected it.

"It's nice!" Franky commented, with Taroimo on his shoulder, barking and wagging his tail in excitement.

"Well we stole the nicest one on the island, so it better be," Rayleigh said with a laugh.

Brook then appeared on the ship with a solemn look on his face. "How'd it go?" Franky asked.

"I offered them to join the crew," he said, "but they refused, saying they were going to stay on Sabaody for a while and try and celebrate their Captain's life."

"I see," Robin said. "Well unfortunately, we don't have a few days. In fact, we need to leave as soon as possible."

"Of course," Rayleigh said. "Just let me tell you how this ship works…"

It took a few minutes for him to explain it to Inazuma, Splint, and Ivankov (as everyone else was worthless when it came to knowing how to run and navigate a ship), and when he was done, he waved them goodbye, wished them good luck, and stepped off.

"So you're really coming with us then?" Splint asked Ivankov unenthusiastically.

"Of course!" he responded. "I'm sticking vith you until the bitter end!"

"Oh, it'll be bitter all right…" he responded, walking away.

Soon enough, after getting the Revolutionaries and Newkama Crew on board (which made for a tight squeeze, despite the ships size), Inazuma sent the ship off towards Fishman Island, where they hoped to catch up with Luffy and the rest of the crew.

Silvers Rayleigh stood there, watching the ship go with a mix of indifference and determination. "Just what are you and Victor planning, Dragon?" he asked himself as the ship became a shadow in the distance.

Knowing he wouldn't get an answer, he turned around, and went back to Shakky's bar.


Still so much that is undone...

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