A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while. I'm sorry for being MIA but things went nuts with school and the Halloween special I made for the story. I'm not going to do anything for Thanksgiving because that holiday isn't really fun, but I'm starting to work on a Christmas special. I might also consider doing something with the movies but no promises yet. The arc is going to continue going nuts from here and I hope you enjoy. :)

Shirahoshi's pet shark Megalo swims into Shirahoshi's room to see Rose flying in front of the princess and eagerly jotting down the answers to her questions about the island while Luffy is eating the giant food in front of him.

Shirahoshi grins as she sees Megalo. "Hi Megalo!"

He grins as he floats over to them while the princess turns her attention back to Rose. "I can't believe you guys were the ones that saved Megalo. Will your friends be ok?"

Rose nods. "I'm sure they can handle themselves." (They should have taken care of the guards by now.)

Luffy swallows a giant piece of meat then turns to the girls. "What exactly was with that giant axe?"

Shirahoshi sighs. "I believe I know the man responsible… His name's Vander Decken- sama. He seems to have a grudge against me because I refused his marriage proposals… From what I know, he's cursed with the mark mark power. It allows him to target me at anytime no matter where he is. As such, I'm not permitted to leave Shell Tower for it would be too dangerous for me to go outside. I've been living here for ten years."

Rose look at her softly. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

She shakes her head. "It's ok, I have Megalo with me. He's my only friend in the world."

Luffy nods as he keeps eating. "So that's why your dad wanted to throw a party for us. Too bad it won't happen now."

Rose shrugs "These things happen."

Shirahoshi looks at Luffy curiously. "Do all human boys eat that much?"

Rose giggles then shakes her head. "Luffy's appetite is greater than that of a hundred men."

She nods then turns to Rose. "What about you Rose-sama? How is it that you're able to fly?"

"I ate a devil fruit called the wind wind fruit, meaning that my body is pretty much wind now. Watch!" She turns her body into wind and flies around the room.

Shirahoshi and Megalo look around in confusion until the brunette rematerialized on top of Megalo's head and raises her arms in the air. "Ta-dah!"

Megalo and Shirahoshi look at her in shock as she flies off of Megalo's head.

Shirahoshi's shock fades away into excitement as she applauds her. "That was amazing! Since you're a pirate does that means you go on things called adventures? Have you ever seen the sun? Also, did you ever see the flowers and animals? Oh wait, have you even been to a green place called the forest?"

Rose giggles before raising her hands defensively. "Easy, easy, one question at a time. First, we go on a lot of adventures, most of them are really fun but they can also be dangerous. We've also seen the sun, flowers and animals. We haven't been to a forest in a while but we've been there before. It's a really nice place."

She nods then noticed Luffy's cheeks growing as he's eating. "Did Luffy-sama eat a devil fruit too? His cheeks are so large."

She goes to poke his cheeks causing Roses eyes to widen. "Wait Shirahoshi, don't-"

It was too late as Shirahoshi pokes Luffy's cheek causing him to spit the food he was eating.

"DON'T DO THAT! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

Shirahoshi freezes as tears start forming in her eyes. "I… I am sorry… Please don't shout at me… You're a really scary person Luffy-sama…"

Luffy looks at her in shock. "Whoa! Whoa! I wasn't trying to make you cry! Stop it!"

She keeps crying while Rose looks at them frantically. (Damnit, what the hell do I do here?!) She flies over to Shirahoshi. "Hey, it's ok. There's no need to cry."

Luffy sighs as he starts finishing the food. "Man, for someone so big you're a real crybaby. I don't think I like you very much."

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation before flying over to Luffy. "Luffy! You didn't need to say that!"

He shrugs as he keeps eating. "It's the truth though."

Megalo swims up to them angrily while Shirahoshi starts crying. "Th-that was so mean… You really are a bad person Luffy-sama… Please leave, both of you… WAAH!"

Luffy ignores the tension as he finishes the last of the food then grins at Shirahoshi. "Phew, that was good. Thanks for the food. Still, I'd hate to stay here for ten years. Hey crybaby, is there any place you want to go?"

The princess keeps tearing up as she looks down at them. "W-well, of course… There are many places I want to go, but…"

Luffy nods. "Let's go somewhere then. If anything comes flying at you I'll send it flying right back, so come on!"

She looks at him in shock. "Eh?! I-I couldn't possibly do that!"

Rose grins as she flies up. "Why not? We promise to bring you back safely, and since your dad wants Luffy and I arrested anyway we'll take the blame. Is there someplace you wanna go?"

Shirahoshi looks down nervously before facing them. "I… I would like to go to the Sea Forest…"

Rose looks at her softly. (Right, she wants to see her mom…) She softly grins at the princess before nodding. "In that case we should get going before any guards show up."

Shirahoshi shakes her head before tearing up. "Ah, no! It-it's just a dream. I can't possibly do something so selfish as leaving the tower…"

Luffy groans in frustration. "Why does saying where you want to go make you cry?!"

Shirahoshi starts crying again while Rose lands next to him. "Luffy, please take it easy on her."

He sighs in frustration. "Fine… So Rose, what's supposed to happen-" He was cut off to the sound of tremors.

Shirahoshi cowers in fear while Luffy, Rose and Megalo look around in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" Luffy asks.

Rose looks at the door in thought. "I'm not sure." (Didn't Decken throw something else at the tower? Damnit, what was it again? Maybe I should help out before Hody arrives.)

She starts flying to the door. "I'm gonna go make sure the others are ok."

"Wait!" Rose and Luffy turn to Shirahoshi's voice who's looking at them nervously. "… I've always longed to go to the Sea Forest, but everyone tells me that it's too dangerous for me to leave… But, if you both come with me I'll feel safe. Luffy-sama, Rose-sama, will you both please take me out of here and protect me?"

Luffy nods. "Yea, leave it to me!" He turns to Rose with a carefree grin. "The others are gonna be fine right Rose? So just come with us."

Rose runs a hand through her hair in thought. "They do manage to escape in the end, but-"

"Please come as well Rose-sama. I feel a lot less scared with you." Shirahoshi stares at Rose with big teary eyes causing her to sweat drop before sighing.

(Damnit, I can't say no to puppy dog eyes like that…) She raises her hands in defeat. "Alright, I'll head out with you guys."

Shirahoshi brightens up at this while Rose looks at the door. (Everyone does escape in the end, so I guess it'll be fine. If the place is gonna flood then I can't do much as a devil fruit user anyway.)

Luffy nods as he looks up at Shirahoshi. "It's gonna be tough to leave the tower without going unnoticed since you're so big."

Shirahoshi looks at him nervously. "I-indeed, I'm sorry…"

He chuckles. "Don't worry; I got a really good idea to get us out of here! Shishishi!"

Rose blinks in surprise before chuckling. "I know exactly what you're thinking Luffy and it's a brilliant idea. We should do it now before anyone tries to open the door."

Shirahoshi and Megalo look at them in confusion before the two pirates turn to them and discuss the plan.

Ten minutes earlier in the main hall of the palace Camie and Pappag watch in utter shock as Nami, Usopp, Brook and Zoro defeated Neptune and the royal guard and tied them up.

"W-what did you guys do?" Camie asks.

Pappagg looks at them in horror. (There's no way we're getting out of this alive!)

Usopp turns to Zoro in irritation. "I don't care what you say! This is too far!"

Brook nods. "I agree! You should show a little penitence!"

"You guys were the ones the ones that started the fight! We're all guilty here!"

"I was planning for us to run!" Usopp says.

Zoro groans in irritation. "There's nothing we can do about it now, so quit complaining!"

"What kind of excuse is that?! I kept telling you that we needed to run!"

"How do we run from an underwater palace?! Besides, Luffy and Rose were with you guys right?! Where are they?!"

Brook widens his eye holes in realization. "That's a good point, where did they run off to?"

Nami sighs as she runs a hand through her red hair. "How did a simple day of shopping turn out like this?"

She walks up to one of the tied up guards who's looking away from her so she grabs his face to look him in the eye. "We're in a real hurry, so will you please tell us where the treasure is stored?"

Usopp turns to her in irritation. "Will you stop that?!"

Nami turns to him innocently. "Huh? Why?"

"QUIT THE INNOCENT ACT! IF YOU'RE GOING TO ASK THEM SOMETHING ASK THEM WHERE LUFFY AND ROSE ARE!"

Zoro huffs as he sheathes his swords and crosses his arms over his chest. "At any rate, we can't stay on the island now. Where's the Sunny? We need to round everyone up and get out of here."

Usopp shakes his head. "The coating was torn off when we entered the island. We have to get a new one."

Nami nods then looks at the log pose and sees the needle spinning. "The log pose has been acting strangely ever since we got here. It hasn't shown any signs of setting."

The tied up advisor widens his eyes. "You hope to travel with a simple pose such as that one?! You pirates truly are ignorant."

Nami turns to him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you if you untie me."

She turns away from his when the door bell to the palace started ringing.

The guards smile in excitement. "That must be the princes!"

Meanwhile outside the palace Prince Fuukaboshi looks at the closed door curiously. "That's odd. What are the guards doing?"

"YOUR HIGHNESSES!" The three princes turn to Cato's voice as he's riding up to them on a fish taxi.

Fukaboshi looks at him in confusion. "It's been a while old friend. What's the matter?"

"The Straw Hats are innocent. They didn't kidnap the mermaids. My friend and I fought the man responsible and rescued the girls, but we lost the perpetrator. The girls are recovering in Coral Town right now."

Ryuuboshi looks at him in shock. "The Straw Hats didn't kidnap the mermaids?!"

Mamboshi grins at this. "This is great! Now we can party with them like we planned right-"

"Who's there?" The group freezes to the sound of Zoro's voice on the intercom then the voices changes to the guards.

"PRINCE FUKABOSHI! PRINCE RYUUBOSHI! PRINCE MAMBOSHI! HELP US!"

The group freezes in horror when the intercom changed back to Zoro. "Shut up!"

Cato looks at the gate in utter shock before running his green hand through his black hair in frustration. (What the hell did these pirates do?! Just when we had their names cleared!)

Fukaboshi swims up to the intercom. "This is Fukaboshi! What is happening in the palace?! I request that the connecting way be lowered."

"Sorry, but we can't do that."

"Am I speaking to a member of the Straw Hats?"

The voice on the intercom immediately changed to Neptune's voice. "Fukaboshi! That man is the three sword wielding warrior of the Straw Hats! The Pirate Hunter Zori!"

"IT'S ZORO!" Zoro clears his throat before continuing. "You heard that right? We have a large number of hostages including your father. If you want them back unharmed you better prepare us a way out of here. Our demands are simple. We want you to bring our ship The Sunny here, fully coated, along with the rest of our friends. They consist of a creepy woman, a robot, a raccoon dog, a talking bird, a blonde pervert and a freckled pyro."

Fukaboshi clenches his fists before speaking. "Very well, we will meet your demands and arrange it so that your crew leaves as quickly as possible. In return, every hostage must be left unharmed."

Mamboshi turns to him in shock. "But brother!"

He shakes his head. "There is no other way around it. If they leave quickly then we won't have to worry about Madame Shirley's vision."

Cato sighs. "I know where to find the 'talking bird and freckled pyro'. I'll go get them right now."

The three princes nod as the fish taxi drives off to the Sea Forest while Fukaboshi turns his attention back to the intercom

"May I say one thing Zoro?"

He hums a response causing Fukaboshi to continue. "It saddens me that I must do this in a situation such as this, but I cannot allow my debt to Jimbei to go unpaid. I have a message for Straw Hat Luffy from former Shichibukai Jimbei. I was instructed to pass it on upon arrival on this island. The message consists of 2 parts."

"… Luffy isn't here right now, but we'll pass the message on. Let's hear it."

"The first part is 'do not get into a fight with Hody.' The second part is 'I await you in the Sea Forest.'"

"I'll make sure he gets both parts."

"Then we will return with your demands as soon as possible." Fuukaboshi turns to his brothers and the army. "Let's go. We need to find the Straw Hats and their ship as quickly as possible."

They nod as they drive away to search for the crewmembers while back in the main hall of the palace the crew and the hostages are starting to hear noises up at Shell Tower.

Neptune widens his eyes in horror. "What the?! Decken's spears?! Are there any guards with Shirahoshi?!"

One of the guards shakes his head. "No, all the guards have been captured!"

Neptune turns to the group. "Pirates! Go check on the princess' safety!"

Zoro quirks an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"My daughter is at Shell Tower at the northeastern edge of the palace! You must hurry!"

Zoro huffs. "Why do I have to take orders from my hostages?"

"SILENCE!"

Usopp, Camie, Pappagg and Nami jolt at Neptune's yelling as he continued. "Shirahoshi is my only daughter and under unfortunate circumstances her life is under constant threat! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER BECAUSE OF YOU I WILL HUNT YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE OCEAN!"

Brook widens his eyeholes at this before grinning in excitement. "So you want us to check on the mermaid princess?!" He starts running out of the hall in excitement. "Allow me to be of service your majesty! Yohohoho!"

The minister looks at him in horror. "Did we just put the princess in even more danger?!"

"WAIT A MOMENT SKELETON!"

Brook stops to one a sea horse fishman guard's voice. "I won't ask you to untie me, but please take me with you! The tower is my responsibility! If anything were to happen to the princess I would soon die a thousand deaths!"

Brook looks at him in thought for a moment before picking him up over his shoulder and running. "You like her don't you!"

He blushes as he looks at him in shock. "T-that's preposterous!"

"WAIT BROOK!" The musician ignores Usopp's yelling as he leaves the room and headed towards the tower.

"Mermaid Princess! Are you alright?!" Brook calls out when they stop in horror at the doors to see various dead and half dead human pirates that were thrown at the door.

The guard looks at them in horror. "Vander Decken went from throwing axes to throwing human pirates at her?!"

Brook turns to him in shock. "Vander Decken did this?! Wait, some of them are recovering!"

The guard widens his eyes as half of the pirates start to regain consciousness. "This is bad! The princess and king are in danger!"

"FULL SPEED AHEAD SHARK! TO THE SEA FOREST!" Everyone widens their eyes at Luffy's voice when the doors open to Luffy and Rose riding on an overstuffed Megalo's head.

Rose grins in excitement as she pets Megalo's head. "You're doing great Megalo. Shirahoshi, just hang on until we leave the palace."

Shirahoshi keeps quiet as she stays in Megalo's mouth while he swims out of the palace as fast as he can causing them to be too far to hear Brook's call.

"LUFFY-SAN! ROSE-SAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

The guard yells out in shock. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MEGALO!? HOW CAN YOU LEAVE THE TOWER DOORS OPEN? Wait, the princess! Skeleton, go into that room and see if the princess is ok!"

Brook nods as he runs into the room but freezes when he goes in to see the room completely empty.

"AAAH! SHIRAHOSHI'S GONE! THIS IS TERRIBLE! IT MUST BE A KIDNAPPING!"

"My friends wouldn't have-" Brook quickly turned around and unsheathed his sword to block the surrounding pirates attack.

"Just tell us where the switch is and we won't hurt you." One of the pirates say causing Brook to look at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

The guard looks down at him. "Just run back to the hall skeleton! We need to report this to the king right away! I have a bad feeling something worse is coming."

Brook sighs as he gets ready in a stance. "What can be worse than this?" He charges through the crowd to make it back to the others in order to tell them what happened.

Ace and Zira were following the direction the vivre card was pointing to in the middle of the Sea Forest when they saw a familiar ship straight ahead.

"Is that the Sunny?!" Zira flies ahead to confirm her suspicions as she lands on the deck next to Franky. "Glad to see you found the ship Franky."

He lifts his sunglasses and grins at Zira. "Hey there Zira. Did you come here alone?"

She shakes her head. "Ace came here with me." She points her wing to Ace who's approaching the ship and waving at them.

"Hey Franky, how's the ship?"

"It doesn't look too damaged from the current, but we're gonna need a new coating. Thankfully I found my old teacher's brother who can help us."

A red white haired merman floated toward him and waved his webbed hand for him. "Hey there, the name's Den."

Ace waves then looks down at his vivre card. "Have you guys seen Jimbei around here?"

"He's over there bro." Franky points to a clearing right next to him where Jimbei is sitting in front of a big beautiful grave and completely focused on the grave.

Ace widens his eyes at the grave causing Den to explain.

"That's the resting spot of our late queen Otohime. You can go see Jimbei if you want."

He nods as he approaches Jimbei from behind. "Long time no see Jimbei."

Jimbei snaps out of his thoughts to turn to Ace then smiles in joy. "Ace! You made it! How was training with Rayleigh and Luffy?"

"It was great, I've gotten a lot stronger and so has Luffy."

"Has Luffy come here with you?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, I came here with another member of his crew."

Zira nods in satisfaction of the recognition then helps Franky with some of the ship work.

Jimbei sighs. "I see I just hope he got my message."

Ace quirks an eyebrow as he sits next to him. "What message?"

"I sent a message for him to meet me here and to not get in a fight with one of the pirates here. You guys didn't happen to meet Hody did you?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I think we met some of his crew. We didn't fight them though… I have some questions for you though. Cato filled me in about Teach and Big Mom so you don't need to talk about them, but do you have any knowledge about what happened to the Whitebeard commanders?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry Ace, I haven't heard anything of their whereabouts for about a year…"

Ace widens his eyes at this. "A year?!"

He nods. "A lot has happened since you and Luffy were training these past 2 years. With your permission I'd like to wait until Luffy is here as well so you both know what's been going on."

He sighs before nodding. "That's fine. While we're waiting can you tell me why we can't fight Hody?"

"That I can tell you." He stares at the grave while telling him about Hody's crew.

Luffy grins as they ride on Megalo's head and sees the coast of Coral Town in their sights before looking down. "It should be ok for you to come out of his mouth now crybaby."

Shirahoshi nervously jolts as she stays in Megalo's mouth. "N-no, that's ok. I'm fine in here."

Megalo almost gags but does his best not to spit her out.

Rose gently pats the shark's head. "Just hang on a little longer Megalo, you're doing great."

He slowly nods while Luffy turns his attention to Shirahoshi.

"So how is it? Your first time outside in ten years!"

Shirahoshi looks outside nervously. "M-my heart is beating really fast. Is this what you call an adventure?"

He chuckles. "Shishishi. Yup, if your heart's beating fast then it's an adventure. You said you wanted to go to the Sea Forest right? What's over there?"

"A grave! There's a grave that I've never seen since it was built ten years ago. I've always wanted to go there."

Rose softly grins down at her. "I can imagine you're eager to go there, we should be there soon." She freezes then turns to Luffy. "Oh yea, I think Franky's at the Sea Forest too."

Luffy grins at that as they get closer to the coastal town. "Really?! Great!"

Shirahoshi looks up in confusion. "How do you know he'll be there Rose-sama?"

She rubs the back of her head sheepishly while looking at the town. "It's kind of a long- Hey wait, isn't that Chopper and Sanji down there?" (That's right, we pick them up here! Hacchi's there too! Damnit, Decken already injured him!)

The others follow her gaze to see Sanji and Chopper surrounded by a mob of angry fishmen while Hacchi is lying on the ground in pain as Chopper treats his injuries.

"Even though you're innocent for taking the mermaids we won't forgive you for taking over the palace! Just get out of our island!"

Sanji looks at them in confusion. "What are you talking about?! We've been in town the whole time!"

Luffy waves his arms as they get closer to the crowd. "HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!"

Sanji and Chopper look up to see them coming closer.

Chopper happily waves over to them. "LUFFY! ROSE!"

Sanji looks at Megalo in confusion. "Is that a puffer fish?"

Shirahoshi looks at them curiously. "Are they friends of yours?"

"Yea, they're our crewmates." Rose says while the townspeople glare up at them.

"There are more of them?! That guy must be their boss!"

Shirahoshi looks at the crowd nervously. "I can't be seen by all these people. Megalo, can you close your mouth a little more?"

The shark tries his best to keep his mouth shut while Luffy and Rose jump off of Megalo.

"Wait right there, we'll be right back." Luffy says as Rose eases the landing with her wind.

Rose looks around the angry crowd before turning to Sanji. "How you feeling Sanji?"

"Much better thank you, but why is everyone so mad at us?"

"They think we kidnapped some mermaids."

He quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "But they said we were innocent of that."

She widens her eyes in shock. "Huh?! They know we're innocent?! In that case, it might be because some of the others took over the palace while we were still being accused." (Did Ace have something to do with the mermaids?)

Sanji groans in frustration as he lights his cigarette. "That shitty marimo is always causing trouble. How do we get out of this one?"

She sighs in exasperation. "We just have to play things out."

Luffy sees Hacchi and runs towards him. "Hacchi, is that you?! What happened?!"

Hacchi groans in pain. "… Straw Hat, you guys have to get out of here…"

Chopper turns to him after treating Hacchi's injuries. "He won't tell us anything! He just keeps saying to get off the island!"

Rose looks at him softly while clenching her fists. (Hacchi…)

The fishmen keep their guard up while talking among themselves.

"Wait, wasn't Straw Hat occupying the palace?!"

"What if they left after stealing the treasure and kidnapping the princess?!"

Another Fish man shakes his head. "Kidnapping the princess is impossible. Princess Shirahoshi is a giant mermaid and Neptune's daughter. Nobody can hope to-"

He was cut off to the sound of Megalo gagging and accidentally coughing up Shirahoshi before he passed out. The citizens stare in utter shock as their princess sits up and looks at them nervously.

"PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI?!"

Luffy and Rose widen their eyes while Sanji's back was turned to her and didn't listen to the crowd.

Chopper looks up at her in utter shock. "She's huge! And did they just say princess?!" (That's the mermaid princess?!)

Sanji quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Is there someone behind me?"

Chopper jolts as he raises his arms up. "NO SANJI! WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T TURN AROUND!"

The fish men recover from their shock to glare at the pirates. "THEY KIDNAPPED THE MERMAID PRINCESS!"

Rose raises her hands defensively. "Hang on everyone! This isn't what it looks like!"

One of them turns to her and throws a can at her but she dodges. "Shut up! As if we'll believe what you pirates say!"

Luffy groans in frustration as he turns to Shirahoshi. "Why did you get out of the shark?"

Shirahoshi starts tearing up. "I-I'm so sorry Luffy-sama! Please don't be angry… Waah!"

The fish men look at him in shock. "HE MADE THE PRINCESS CRY!"

Sanji widens his eyes as his back is still towards Shirahoshi. "Everyone keeps saying princess, wait… Y-you don't mean…"

Chopper waves his arms frantically. "DON'T TURN AROUND SANJI!"

"Are you telling the mermaid princess is standing right behind me?!"

He starts tearing up while shouting. "THAT'S RIGHT! SHE'S BEHIND YOU, SO DON'T TURN AROUND NO MATTER WHAT SANJI! AN ORDINARY MERMAID WAS ENOUGH TO NEARLY KILL YOU! IF YOU SEE THE PRINCESS YOU'LL BE DEAD FOR SURE!"

Sanji smokes his cigarette while staying silent. (The mermaid princess, the most beautiful of all mermaids that's said to rival even the pirate empress is right behind me?! How could I live knowing that I let this chance slip by?!)

He puffs a smoke while showing a look of determination. "Chopper, I'm sorry but I choose to fulfill my dream and go to my death gracefully."

Chopper jolts. "I thought your dream was to find the All Blue! WAIT, DON'T DO IT!" He jumps to stop him but it's too late as Sanji turns around and freezes at the sight of the crying mermaid princess.

(Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that she is… SUCH A BEAUTY!) Sanji practically felt his heart leap out of his chest as he turned to stone out of happiness.

Chopper looks at him in utter shock. "He turned to stone?!"

Luffy ignored the scene and ran towards Hacchi while Rose looks at Sanji in shock.

(Wow, he really did turn to stone… At least he won't nosebleed any-) She snaps out of her thoughts when she sensed a bottle flying at her from behind and caught it before it could hit her then turned to see the citizens ambushing the group and tied their arms and legs up.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Luffy struggles with the ropes while the crowd cheers.

"We got the pirates!"

"Don't take the people of Fishman island lightly!"

One of them goes over to Hacchi and glares at him. "I remember you! You're one of Arlong's crew! You'll pay along with the pirates!"

Hacchi stays silent while Shirahoshi looks at them nervously. "E-excuse me, it isn't like that… Luffy-sama and Rose-sama were-"

"It's ok princess, you don't need to fear! We'll make sure these criminals are executed!"

Rose sighs as she sits quietly while staying tied up. (I could get out of the ropes right now, but that might just make them angrier. I'll wait until we're dealing with Decken.)

Luffy senses something off then turns to the fishmen. "Hey guys, something's flying this way."

One of the fish men glare at him. "There's no point in trying to distract us with lies."

Another fish man looks up and widens his eyes. "Wait, there really is something coming this way!"

The rest of the crowd follows his gaze to see a giant piece of coral flying towards them with Decken on board.

Vander Decken laughs as he's flying on the coral. "I've found you now Shirahoshi! Bahohohoh!"

Shirahoshi tears up nervously at the sight of him while he starts shouting.

"ANSWER ME SHIRAHOSHI! SAY YES AND YOU WON'T DIE! MY DEAR PRINCESS, MARRY ME!"

The crowd glares at him while Shirahoshi shakes her head. "You're not my type!"

Everyone looks at her in utter shock. (That's why you reject him?!)

Decken looks at her in distraught before glaring at her and grabbing his axes. "How dare you trample on my ten years of longing?! If you won't love me then die!"

The fish men turn to her in distraught. "Shirahoshi please flee!"

Luffy stands up while some of the fish men hold him back. "DON'T RUN AWAY CRYBABY! STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!"

"What are you talking about?! Are you telling her to die?!"

He shakes his head as he looks at Shirahoshi. "If you go too far I can't protect you!"

Shirahoshi looks at him in shock before nodding. "Ok, I won't run!"

The crowd gets ready to attack Luffy. "How dare you threaten the princess?!"

"Sorry guys, I don't have anything against you but you're in the way!" Luffy uses his conqueror's haki to knock out the surrounding fishmen then jumped towards Deckens coral and destroyed it.

The fishmen who are still standing looks at him in shock. "Wh-whoa, he's not even breaking the ropes…"

While the crowd was distracted by Luffy and Decken's fight Rose used her logia abilities to phase out of the ropes and looks at Luffy's fight. (Wow, Luffy's training really paid off. He's more badass than ever!)

She grins as she quietly unties Hacchi, Chopper and Sanji's ropes and starts whispering. "As soon as Luffy takes down the creep we're bolting it."

Chopper and Hacchi nod while Sanji got out of his stone phase but is still drunk on happiness from seeing Shirahoshi. Rose lightly slaps Megalo to wake him up while Luffy is fighting Decken while still tied up.

"GUM GUM JET HAMMER!" They look to see Luffy using his legs to throw Decken head first to the ground while the fishmen stare at him in shock.

"He just took down Vander Decken!"

"Let's capture him before he can hurt the princess!"

While they were focused on Decken Luffy hopped over to the group and saw Sanji's state. "What happened to Sanji?!"

"He turned to stone and now he's drowning in happiness but he's still alive." Chopper says as Megalo starts floating causing Rose to use her wind to get the group on the shark's head.

Shirahoshi goes behind Luffy to untie him as they start leaving.

The crowd looks at them in shock as they're leaving. "Princess, why are you helping him?!"

She turns to her people nervously while holding onto Megalo. "I'm sorry everyone! I'll be back in time for dinner!"

The crowd looks at her in confusion as they swim away on Megalo.

Rose flies ahead of Megalo causing the others to look at her in confusion.

"Where are you going Rose?!" Luffy asks.

Rose smirks as she readies her wind. "I can't let you have all the fun today."

The group looks at her in confusion while Decken is fighting off the crowd. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE! WADATSUMI, TAKE THEM DOWN!"

Wadatsumi surfaces from the towns coast line right in front of the group while Rose focuses her wind in her hands to create a wind orb rotating fast enough to cause it to look like a shuriken. "Rasen Shuriken!"

Before Wadatsumi an attack she throws the shuriken at the giant fish man's teeth and sliced one of them in half causing him to clench his teeth in pain before running away. "OW! MY TOOF!"

Sanji was still lying on the shark passed out while Luffy and Chopper look at her with stars in their eyes. "That was awesome!"

Hacchi looks at her in shock. "Wow, you guys have really gotten stronger…"

Decken grits his teeth as he fights off the mob. (Useless fool! I'll get you Shirahoshi!)

Rose lands on Megalo's head then turns to Hacchi. "How are you feeling Hacchi?"

He sighs. "I'd feel a lot better if you guys heed my warnings."

Chopper turns to Rose. "Do you know who did this to him?"

Rose looks at Hacchi for a moment before sighing. "Sorry doc, but if he doesn't want to reveal the culprit then it's his call. As for you Hacchi, we can't leave because our ship lost its coating so you're stuck with us. If it can ease your worries though, I know Hody and Decken's plans won't work."

Hacchi widens his eyes at this. (She knows what happened to me, but she won't tell them?! And she knows what Hody's planning?! Wait a minute…) His jaw hits his feet as he looks at her in utter shock. "YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

Her purple eyes widen as she looks at him in disbelief. "YOU JUST NOTICED THAT?!"

Luffy laughs at that while Shirahoshi looks at them in confusion. "Why wouldn't you be alive Rose-sama?"

Rose jolts before sighing. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Ready for the Sea Forest Shirahoshi?"

She nods in excitement while Luffy looks ahead. "Let's go to the Sea Forest shark!"

Megalo nods as he takes the group to the Sea Forest while chaos continues to erupt on the island.

TO BE CONTINUED