Hi, guys! The wi-fi went wonky on me this morning, but now it's back on. If it hadn't come back, I would have just posted two chapters tomorrow to make up for it.

Thanks to vete, Supra18, and MoonlightWolf16 for the Favs and Follows!

Son of Whitebeard - yeah. :)

Cyannel - I know how you feel with the whole exam thing. Although, I got mine done before June, so I can't say that I know what going into this month with school feels like... Yes, Maria knows how to use different elements - but only Ice and Electric. And good catch on the level bit! Yes, Maria's powers have different "levels" like Luffy has different "gears." I'm not telling you how many she's got, but I can say for certain that Level 2 is not where it's going to stop. And good ideas for Maria's title, but neither one of them are it. ;) You're just going to have to wait and see on that.

And now...onto the chapter!

Chapter 36 - Get Away With Style!

When Maria ended up colliding with the waves around the ship, it took her a moment to actually get her bearings and start swimming upwards, holding her breath as best she could while her staff disappeared. The impact this time with the sea didn't cause her to lose her breath, like it did in the tunnel, so that was a major lifesaver in the amnesiac's opinion.

Still, she did end up getting pushed pretty far down into the sea - Maria could see the bottom of the Straw Hats' ship, and the metal platings that covered a good portion of it. As she swam up, the conversation that Luffy and Nami had had with Paulie and the other shipwrights drifted back into her mind.

Maria bit her lower lip, losing a small number of air bubbles as she got closer to the ship. A broken keel...was it going to fall apart on them here?

Maria soon reached the surface of the water, breaking through and taking in a big gulp of air before looking over at the ship and swimming towards it. Looks like there's a rope ladder I can use in order to get up.

The amnesiac was pretty sure that others had already climbed up, because she saw one of Zoro's boots disappear over the edge of the white deck railing. Gripping the ropes herself, Maria managed to climb up the ladder and slide onto the deck out of relief.

Usopp let out a yell as he suddenly came flying over Maria and landed on the wood next to her, surprising the amnesiac enough for her to remember to actually get to her feet. Once she was up, she helped Usopp get up from the deck.

"Seriously, can't you swim on your own, brother?" Franky demanded as he climbed up and onto the deck of the Merry.

Maria blinked in couple times in surprise upon hearing this from the cyborg before looking at Usopp in confusion. "What kind of pirate can't swim?"

"Usually the Devil Fruit kind," Franky replied dryly as he walked over to Maria and the sniper.

"All right, you three - up you go!" Kokoro called from below.

"Speaking of which..." Franky took a step or two away from Maria and Usopp as Luffy's momentarily unconscious form suddenly bounced onto the deck - literally.

"Yoo-hoo! Robin! Leap into my arms my darling! Over here!" Sanji stopped talking and stared in shock as Franky caught Robin easily and put her down gently onto the deck.

The sight of the cook stumbling into a pouting position earned a giggle of amusement from the amnesiac below.

Chopper landed on the deck as Franky put Robin down. A second later, the little reindeer broke down in tears and started flopping on deck, exclaiming, "We're on the Merry! Guys, we're on the Merry! I love you, Merry! I love you so much! Thank you!"

Usopp slipped away from Maria - who had been giving him support to stand again - and he stumbled over to the only mast on the little ship, which was covered in iron plating. The sniper put a hand on the metal and cried, "Merry...My sweet Merry is still alive! That being said...how did she make it here?"

"I wish...I wish I could give you a hug, Merry!" Chopper wailed.

Maria frowned in complete and utter befuddlement at their actions, and decided to ignore it in favor of looking around at the ship herself. From what she could tell...it almost looked like it was falling apart - some of the windows on the cabin were broken, there were parts of the deck that had splinters sticking up all over the place, and then there were the obvious patches that had been made to it.

"So, this is the Merry..." Maria murmured quietly. She walked over to the deck railing and placed a hand down on it, looking at the wood in wonder. "Looks like it's been through a lot."

"It sure has," came Sanji's response from nearby. Maria looked up to see the cook standing on an upper deck of some kind. "This is the ship we used in order to get to the Grand Line. It's been to every single island that we've been to."

"Including the one in the sky, right?"

"Yup."

"The question is, who sailed it here?" Nami asked, causing Maria and Sanji to look over in her direction.

"Figure it out later," Zoro responded quickly. "Just get us out of here!"

"Right. Let me think..."

"Everyone ready?" Zoro barked, starting to move around the deck.

"I guess so," Maria responded, shrugging helplessly.

"Whoo, that was a close one."

The amnesiac turned her head upon hearing Luffy's voice, and she caught sight of him lying on the deck.

"I thought those battleships were going to get me for sure," the black-haired boy continued. "Robin, you saved me. Thank -"

It was at this point that an arm suddenly grew up from the deck and slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth, preventing him from saying anything further.

Maria blinked in surprise. "Where did that come from?"

"Robin?" Nami asked from nearby, frowning curiously.

Robin? Maria turned her head to look over at the dark-haired, blue-eyed woman that they had just rescued. She was standing near where Luffy was lying, a soft smile playing on her face as she looked around at those standing on the deck.

"Luffy...everyone...thank you."

There was a lot of emotion in those words. The Straw Hats gave soft smiles in response - Usopp gave a thumbs-up and said "Sure" along with his, and Luffy proclaimed, "Don't worry about it!" before letting out a "shishishishi."

Maria gave a soft smile in response to the woman's statement. "I'm glad I was able to meet you guys so that I could help."

"That's nice, but save the sappy stuff until after we get out of here, okay?" Zoro asked in an annoyed tone.

In an instant, Sanji and Chopper were attacking the swordsman, leaving Zoro kicking out one leg in order to get the reindeer to stop biting him while he fended off Sanji's feet with one of his sheathed swords.

"Take that back, you heartless bastard!" Sanji roared.

"Yeah!" Chopper agreed. "You bastard!"

"I said 'when we're out'! That doesn't mean when we're dead, stupid!" Zoro barked.

"Then maybe you should stop fighting so we can get out?" Maria asked pointedly.

"Apologize to Robin!" Sanji yelled, not having heard Maria's question.

"Yeah!" Chopper agreed again.

"That's enough! Both of you, stop!" Zoro looked down at the reindeer on his leg, only for his eyes to widen a moment later. "Hey, wait...Chopper. You're moving again."

Chopper let go of Zoro's leg and looked himself over. "Now that you mention it...I guess I am moving. I was afraid I'd never get better." A delighted look crossed the little reindeer's face.

A moment later, Chopper was sitting on Zoro's back in Heavy Point and pulled up on the swordsman's legs, producing a loud cracking noise that made Maria flinch back. "Now apologize to Robin!"

"Give up yet?" Sanji asked cheekily, grinning at Zoro.

"No! Never!"

Maria blinked a couple times upon seeing what was being done to Zoro. It's almost like...they're acting as though the fights never happened. I'm pretty sure Zoro hasn't healed all of his wounds from his fight with Kaku yet.

Nearby, the amnesiac could see that Robin was smiling and chuckling to herself, making Maria wonder if these actions were considered normal in the pirate crew.

"Okay, let's go!" Nami called out. "You guys ready to move?"

"Yeah!" came the unanimous cry.

Maria watched in amazement as everyone except for Luffy, Kokoro, Franky, Chimney, and the meowing rabbit started to scramble around the deck, making sure that everything was in order. Chopper left Zoro lying on the ground, dashing up into the cabin's second floor. The swordsman got up seconds later, however, looking completely fine.

"All ships: prepare to fire! Repeat: prepare to fire!"

"Uh oh!" Maria's eyes widened, and she looked up as the cannons on the battleships around them started aim down at the Going Merry.

"Can't you load those cannon balls any faster?! Do you want them to get away?!"

That voice... Maria frowned, only for her eyes to narrow a moment later when she realized who it was that was yelling.

"Span-dumb!" the amnesiac identified.

"So that idiot's still alive," Franky commented, frowning up at one of the battleships. "That sucks."

"There's gonna fire!" Usopp yelped.

"Catch the wind from starboard and head east!" Nami suddenly ordered.

Maria felt the deck shift underneath her and watched as the Merry started to turn and move forward. "So this is what being on a ship is like?"

"Damn, we're completely surrounded!" Zoro cursed.

"All those big, scary cannons, and they're aimed straight at us!" Usopp yelped.

Maria looked up and swallowed when she saw the battleship that was right in front of them. "Oh, no."

"Fire!"

Maria watched with no small amount of alarm as nine cannons on the ships above and around them fired. She tightened her grip on the white deck railing of the ship and shut her eyes tightly while Usopp screamed somewhere in the background.

I don't want to die without getting my memories back!

The amnesiac heard several loud splashes of water and felt herself get soaked again as water sprayed up from the side of the ship. This was followed closely by a loud explosion, but Maria wasn't sent flying.

She cracked one eye open, then the other when she realized that the ship hadn't been blown to pieces. Instead, there was smoke rising from a nearby battleship that had been hit.

"Why are they hitting each other?" Maria asked in confusion.

"What was that? Where the hell were you aiming?" came a snarling voice over the loudspeaker.

Almost immediately afterward, one of the battleships near the Straw Hats started to drift a little bit. Maria's eyes widened in shock when she saw that the battleships had started ramming into each other and causing explosions all over the place!

"What's going on?" Maria yelped, watching as yells of panic came up from the Marines ships

"That turned out better than I thought!" Sanji praised from where he was standing nearby, clearly sounding delighted as he watched the destruction.

"Sanji, is that what you did while you were gone?" Usopp asked, stumbling over and looking at the cook in amazement.

"What did you do?" Maria spoke up, coming over across the deck. It was a bit difficult, as she wasn't used to walking on something that was rocking under her feet, but the amnesiac managed.

Sanjii turned to look back at the two of them and tapped one side of his head, grinning around a cigarette in his mouth. "I figured it would take more than just guts to get out of her alive. So I went and found the lever that worked the Gates of Justice and I shut 'em."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Usopp was clearly amazed. "You're incredible, Sanji!"

"Yeah!" Maria agreed, grinning. "You're awesome!"

"Are you a genius or what?" Luffy called out in agreement.

"It's a little early to be kissing his ass," Zoro snapped from the upper deck, causing Maria to jump. "These whirlpools are a problem for us, too!"

Maria sent a sour look up at the swordsman. "'Kissing his ass'? Really? Couldn't you have thought up something a little nicer to say?"

"Aw, great! Thanks a lot, Sanji," Usopp scowled and threw his hands in the air.

"Would you shut up?" Nami called. Maria turned her attention to the orange-haired navigator as Chopper stuck his head out the door of the cabin's second level. "It's not a problem. Just so long as we're together, there's no sea that the Going Merry can't cross. Right?"

"You're so cool, Nami-swan!" Sanji cooed.

"Right!" Usopp called back. "You go for it, Navigator!"

"Let's get out of here!" Maria agreed, clenching her left fist and throwing it high.

"Just hold them off while I find a path for us!" Nami ordered.

"No problem!" came the response from Chopper, Zoro, and Sanji. The reindeer promptly retreated back into the cabin while Zoro and Sanji disappeared around the side of it, Usopp scrambling after them.

"Wait up!" Maria scrambled up the stairs after them, her staff appearing in her right hand as she went. "I may be more tired and probably weaker than all of you at this point, but that doesn't mean I can't and don't want to help!"

"The more the merrier," Usopp replied, offering Maria a smirk as she took up a position to his right.

Cannonballs landed in the water to the ship's right and left while the Merry rushed forward. Maria was starting to feel like she was running on adrenaline again - being on an actual ship and working side by side with her crewmates made her feel like she could jump onto one of the battleships and take out every single Marine that happened to be on them.

Five cannonballs were launched into the air and started coming down towards the ship; Maria wondered if they were actually going to hit or not.

Fortunately, she never got the chance to find out.

"One-Sword Style: 36 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro threw his sword around in a quick slash sending a blast of air out at the cannonballs and causing them to explode before they could even hit their target.

"Whoa!" Maria looked at the green-haired swordsman in amazement, and he looked back at her with his usual guarded, serious expression before glaring back at the battleships to see if there were more cannonballs coming.

"Since I lost one of my swords, I can't do a full 108 Phoenix," Zoro muttered, glaring up at the smoke-filled sky.

"Why don't you go cry about it?" Sanji teased.

"I'm gonna make you cry about it!" Zoro turned his head sharply so that he could glare at the cook.

"Uh, guys?" Maria asked, not taking her eyes of the sky.

"Here they come again!" Usopp yelped.

Sure enough, five more cannonballs were coming towards them.

Sanji leapt up high into the air and swung around with one of his legs, catching a cannon ball and kicking it back. "Collier Shoot!"

Maria's eyes widened when the cannonball was sent flying back easily and slammed into one of the cannons on a nearby battleship.

"Cien Fleur: Defense!"

Maria turned around and saw what looked like a giant net of arms and hands growing up around the main mast. It caught two cannonballs and sent them rolling down to the deck.

Moments later, Franky jumped up - seemingly from out of nowhere - and he threw the two cannonballs, yelling, "We don't want 'em! Take 'em back!"

Two more explosions happened on two different battleships when the cannonballs hit their mark. Maria snickered at Franky's statement as she watched the fireworks.

"It's my turn! Triple Flame Star!"

Maria returned her gaze to what was going on at the back of the ship right when three cannonballs exploded.

"Nice aim," Maria commented, turning and grinning at Usopp.

The long-nosed sniper gave a grin. "Thanks! You'd better be ready - it's your turn now."

Maria nodded in agreement, then turned to face the back of the boat while she started spinning her dragon staff. Fire coated its entire length as the amnesiac started to build up power.

When three more cannonballs started to make their way towards them, Maria moved forward and threw her staff out, yelling, "Fire Sphere Multi-Shot!"

Three glowing balls of fire zoomed towards their targets and caused them to explode in bright flashes of fire.

"Bullseye!" Maria exclaimed, grinning.

The group of four kept up this rotation easily, allowing Maria some time to charge up her fire a little before sending out as many Fire Spheres as she needed in order to take out the cannonballs that were coming towards them. Eventually, however, the four ended up separating across the back deck of the Merry, calling out whenever cannonballs were coming for the others or when the needed help on their side.

"Guys, save some for me! I want to fight 'em, too!"

Maria took down two cannonballs, then turned to look back at the stairs leading from the lower deck. She blinked a couple times in surprise when she saw that Luffy had somehow managed to crawl up the stairs.

"Are you sure you'd be able to do anything?" Maria asked, frowning.

"Really? Are you gonna squirm 'em to death?" Usopp asked, glancing back at the pirate captain as he pulled back on his slingshot.

"Hate to break it to ya, Captain, but this one's our battle," Sanji called back.

"Take a nap," Zoro added before unleashing another 36 Caliber Phoenix on a group of cannonballs. The sight snapped Maria back to charging up her dragon staff so that she could unleash another Fire Sphere.

"You go take a nap!" Luffy barked back as he started dragging himself across the deck by using his head.

Maria glared up at two cannonballs coming towards them and threw her staff forward, sending up two Fire Spheres to meet them head-on.

"Damnit, Luffy! Get out of the way!"

Maria turned her head upon hearing Zoro's voice, only to see that Luffy had managed to somehow get himself under the swordsman's feet.

"Fire!"

Multiple cannon shots went off at once, and Maria gritted her teeth when she saw how many were coming.

"Shut up, Zoro! You can't tell me what to do!"

"Maria! Usopp! Get back!"

Maria turned her head upon hearing her name called by Zoro, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the swordsman and the cook and both grabbed Luffy and had stretched him out across the back of the deck, holding him as wide as they could.

"What are you -" Maria was cut off when the cannonballs aimed at them were caught on Luffy's rubbery self.

"Ready?" Sanji asked.

"Let's go," Zoro replied.

The two then whipped Luffy forward, sending the cannonballs flying back at the battleships. The resulting explosions and screams of terror from the Marines were the only hints they got that the cannonballs had hit their marks.

"Never let us down, huh, Captain?" Zoro asked, grinning down at the now-stunned Luffy.

"Guess we needed you after all," Sanji agreed.

"You people are monsters!" Usopp yelled, glaring at the swordsman, the cook, and the captain.

"Uh-huh." The three grinned and held up the peace sign, causing Maria to burst out into loud laughter as she doubled over.

"You guys are awesome!" the amnesiac declared.

"Who cares?! Just shoot them! How hard could it be to sink that little ship?!"

Maria looked up at the battleships around them as the Merry's deck shifted underneath her feet; the amnesiac bent her knees so that she could stay as level as possible. "Sounds like Span-dumb is having a bad day."

"All the better for us," Sanji agreed, fingering the cigarette in his mouth.

"Let's go!" Luffy yelled from the deck. "Full speed ahead!"

It was at this point that Spandam's voice started to reach Maria's ears. Cannonballs landed to Maria's left and right, sending up spouts of water as they missed the ship, but it did nothing to hide the purple-haired man's whiny, complaining voice.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Spandam wailed.

"I wish he'd just shut up," Maria muttered, rubbing her left ear with her left hand. "That voice of his just grates."

A figure walked into Maria's vision, and Maria saw that Robin had come up onto the back deck with a calm, but dangerous look in her eyes. She crossed her arms in front of her, palms facing upward. At the same time, Spandam's voice was suddenly cut off.

Robin stood there for a moment, not saying anything, her eyes closed while a dark expression seemed to hang over her face. The woman opened her blue eyes, and stated grimly, "Clutch."

Maria wasn't exactly sure, but for a moment, she thought she could hear what sounded like a cracking noise from across the sea. She didn't know what "Clutch" did to a person, but she guessed that it couldn't have been pleasant.

"All right, Franky! It's time to do your thing!" Nami called out.

"Right!"

Franky suddenly jumped down in front of the group of CannonBall Destroyers, startling Maria with his sudden appearance.

"Get ready kids, cause this is gonna be wild." Franky raised his arms and aimed them straight at the battleship behind them.

"Intercept them! Don't let them get out of the whirlpool!"

"Just so you know, this might bang up your ship a bit," Franky warned. "Sorry about that." His arms started to inflate. "Coup de...VANT!"

The ship was suddenly blown forward when Franky released a large amount of air from his arms. Maria soon found herself sliding across the deck towards the back of the ship, and the amnesiac scrambled for the deck railing and wrapped her arms around it to prevent herself from flying off into the sea - or even onto the deck of a nearby battleship.

"If you think the Merry's an ordinary ship, then you're wrong," Usopp commented, pulling back on his slingshot as he stood in the middle of the deck. "She's flown through the air once and she can do it again, no problem. Special Attack, Super Smoke Star!"

The pellet that Usopp fired sent off a stream of smoke right before it hit against one of the ships, exploding and sending up a large amount of smoke.

The sniper was laughing as they landed back on the sea with a jolt, shaking Maria up and down with the resulting movement. She gritted her teeth as she tried to stay in place, but it really was hopeless. At least, until the boat settled onto the waves and Maria trusted herself to walk around the deck.

"Wow, what a wild ride!" Maria commented, getting away from the railing and letting her staff disappear. She looked over at Zoro. "But it's over now, right?"

The swordsman paused for a moment, glancing up from a giggling Luffy, and he gave a slight nod.

Maria let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Because I think I'm going to need a nap."

"Choose anywhere on deck!" Luffy suggested, grinning up at the amnesiac. "Zoro always does. Shishishishishiishi!"

"Yeah, and he gets underfoot," Sanji pointed out, scowling.

"Like you ever watch where you're going," Zoro shot back. "Pervert cook."

"Why you -!"

Sanji launched himself at Zoro, who easily defended himself with one of his sheathed swords. Their fight went across the back deck, both boys yelling insults at each other.

Robin, who was standing nearby, gave an amused chuckle and turned to look over at Maria. "I'm curious as to how you managed to gain that power of yours," she commented. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Not yet," Maria admitted, shrugging helplessly. "I kinda have amnesia at this point, so I don't know where my powers come from or how I can have them without having eaten a Devil Fruit - whatever those happen to look like. My memories are coming back, though."

An interested look came into Robin's blue eyes. "Amnesia? That seems to be pretty convenient."

"I didn't ask for it. The furthest back I can really remember at this point is a storm around Water 7 a little over a week ago. Anything further back than that, and everything pretty much goes blank except for the memories that I've managed to recover so far." Maria shrugged again, then let out a yawn. "Sorry. I guess that fighting back there kinda took a lot out of me. I'm gonna go find somewhere to take a nap."

Maria turned and started around towards the front of the ship, looking around for a moment before settling down with her back against a wooden wall that separated the deck from the sea and kept people from falling off. Placing her arms behind her head, Maria let her head drop back and closed her eyes before settling into the darkness of sleep.

Memory Break

"Three cheers for Maria, the Champion of the Indigo League!"

Glasses of milk, juice, and soda were raised high as a resounding call came from the rest of the people standing around the picnic table.

The ten-year-old girl sitting at the seat meant for the guest of honor gained a sheepish expression and rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks, guys. You're making me feel embarrassed."

A man with silver hair spiking up in all directions grinned from where he stood at the head of the table. "It's the least we could do. To have a Champion from Pallet Town is one thing, but to have her be a ten-year-old? You, my dear, are a prodigy!"

Maria laughed. "You think so?"

"Quite. Your parents are quite lucky to have you for their daughter."

Maria gave a bright smile, then looked up at the man and woman next to her, both smiling brightly, as well. "Yeah."

Memory Break

"You sure you really want to sit on top of that sheep head?" Kokoro asked.

Maria cracked open one eye upon hearing the mermaid-woman ask such a question, and she caught sight of her standing at the base of the sheep head...and Luffy attempting to crawl up the neck towards a certain spot between the curled horns.

"Course I do," Luffy stated. "That's the captain's seat." The pirate slid back down the neck and made a frustrated noise, but then Kokoro picked him up and climbed up the neck herself.

Then Maria noticed the sky. The amnesiac blinked a couple times, looking up at the bright blue and the white, fluffy clouds.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

"About two hours," Robin replied from nearby. "When the smoke from the Buster Call cleared, the sky was just like this."

Maria turned her head and looked up at the upper deck at the woman. "You mean we were fighting all night?"

"Indeed." Robin came down onto the lower deck and motioned for Maria to get up as she walked towards where Luffy, Kokoro, and the others were. Curious, the amnesiac got up and followed after her.

"There you go," Kokoro said as she carefully placed Luffy on the sheep head. "Just be careful not to fall off."

"Thanks, Monster Granny! I owe you one!" Luffy called back as Maria and Robin reached their area of the ship. Maria was somewhat surprised to see that the other members of the crew were standing there, as well.

"And thank you, Merry," Luffy added. "We wouldn't have been able to make it out of there if it wasn't for you. I was pretty surprised when you showed up. When I think about it, you've always been there to protect us. We've always counted on you. Anyway, I'm just happy you've been part of the team, Merry. You're a good friend to have."

Maria blinked a couple times as she cocked her head to one side, feeling a little confused. Was the ship the friend that Usopp had been talking about? But how was that possible?

"I don't mean to spoil the mood," Franky spoke up from where he was sitting on a deck rail, "but damn, you guys did some crazy stuff back there. I don't think the government's gonna let you off that easy after you burned down their flag."

Luffy turned over onto his back, still managing to remain on the sheep head. "Well, whatever. It doesn't feel like a big deal to me." His voice came out in a lazy manner. "The only reason I did any of that was because they took our friend. And I wanted her back."

Maria looked over at Robin, and a slight smile played onto her face while the dark-haired woman smiled as well.

The amnesiac looked back at the Straw Hat captain, watching as he raised his head and looked at Franky. "And we couldn't have done what we did without your help, so thanks a lot."

"W-well, like you said, it really that wasn't big of a deal," Franky stated, scratching the back of his head and looking out over the sea with an embarrassed expression on his face. "I just did what I had to do."

Luffy glanced over at Maria and added with a grin, "You too. I'm glad you decided to join our crew."

Maria grinned and rubbed the back of her head. "I am too."

"Point is, we're all together, and we're going back together. And this fight was our victory!"

"YEAH!" everyone cried out in agreement, raising their fists. Maria made it a point to raise hers as high as she could.

There. You guys all know what's coming tomorrow...