Goodness, Kaidou...did he eat a Zoan Devil Fruit that made him nearly indestructible? That'd be...well. I'm not sure which one would do that.

Tsukino Aisuru - A - The "getting warm when it's cold" ability is a part of her fiery abilities! :) And this is the anime filler arc between Water 7 and Thriller Bark - I decided to stick it in because I saw opportunity for Maria. :) *snickers* I kinda wanna see Maria go all bonkers over Franky's stuff, too...

pizzafan123 - It's not so much that Maria has arm muscles as she has something else...I'm not giving anything away, though. Not yet. And I only post three a week because I have other stuff to do - true, posting only takes a few minutes out of my time, but I'd like to go through the day sometimes without thinking I absolutely have to get on the Internet. Plus, this arc is nearly done, which means for me that this story is going to end and the next one is going to need to be put up. (I'm doing the different story arcs like they're different books in a series. Hope you don't mind.)

chaosrin - Ah. Well, the anime-only arcs are pretty good, I think - for example they added more to the Davy-Back fight in the anime. And I've got a couple original arcs planned that's really going to turn what they know about Maria on its head. XD You'll have to wait until the New World to see it, though.

Chapter 53 - The Iceberg Wastes (or, what Maria would call the Frozen Highway if it were a Mystery Dungeon)

Maria woke up abruptly the next morning when she heard something that sounded like a collision.

"What in the name of the Grand Line?" Maria demanded, getting out of bed and scrambling around her orange satchel - which held the small number of Berries she had taken from the brown backpack the day before.

Robin sat up in her bed, frowning slightly. "It sounds like an attack of some kind," she noted. The woman stepped out of bed and walked across the room to her closet, which was marked with the painting of a book that had what looked like a strange rune on it; Maria suspected that Robin must have had some experience with painting, otherwise that would never have come out as well as it had.

And the painting on Maria's closet door? She hadn't been able to come up with anything yet, so she had left her closet bare. Besides, she hadn't put anything in it yet.

"I hope that whatever it is isn't attacking us," Maria commented, starting towards the door that led out of the girls' quarters.

"Sanji, look out!" Nami's voice yelled as Maria stepped out into the morning air. "Hard to port!"

Maria let out a yelp in surprise as the ship suddenly shifted under her feet, and she looked up in order to see what was forcing the Sunny to change course.

"Where did all of these icebergs come from?" Maria called out in surprise as two icebergs slammed together in front of the ship. She dashed across the lawn and over to the helm, where Nami and Sanji were standing.

"They've been here since last night," Nami responded, looking over at Maria as she came over. "And it looks like they're moving in ways that should be impossible."

"There's no way that they should be able to move so fast," Sanji agreed. "That was a close call back there."

"Something fishy's going on here," Maria commented, frowning. "Icebergs shouldn't be able to move that fast."

"It's almost as though they have a mind of their own," Nami muttered. "We should get the rest of the crew up so that they can see this. Do you think you can get them up, Maria?"

"Me?" Maria pointed at herself in surprise. "Why not Robin? Or Sanji?"

"Sanji's at the wheel, as you can plainly see," Nami replied in an irritated manner. "As for Robin..." The navigator shrugged. "You're the one who came out here."

Maria turned her head and looked around the deck, only for a frown to come over her face. "Well, all right. I'll give it a try, I guess."

The amnesiac turned and started back to the sleeping quarters and dashed up the stairs as Robin was stepping out into the cold morning air, wearing purple-themed clothes.

"Nami's sending me to wake up the boys," Maria stated dutifully, scowling.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Robin replied with a slight smile. "Just be careful of Zoro. He can be a bit...defensive, at times."

Maria blinked a couple times. "Do you say this from experience?"

"Perhaps." Robin looked somewhat amused. "Good luck."

Maria gave a slight nod, then turned and walked toward the entrance to the boys' cabin. She opened the door slightly and peered in, wondering with a hesitant expression what exactly it was going to look like inside.

It was actually relatively neat, surprising Maria somewhat for some strange reason. Another thing that left her somewhat curious was also the fact that all the boys had hammocks to sleep in instead of actual beds.

"Huh." Maria stepped carefully into the room, making sure to leave the door open behind her for a quick escape if she needed one. "Which one could I wake up without getting anybody mad...?"

Her gaze slipped over Zoro, Franky, and Usopp, and she bit her lower lip in thought.

Robin said I should be careful of Zoro because he can get to be defensive sometimes. Does that mean, if he doesn't recognize someone, he lashes out in his sleep? And I don't know how Franky's going to react, either...Usopp would probably be easiest to wake up...

Maria wove her way through the hammocks and towards Usopp, who was the furthest back. When the amnesiac got there, she made a face of disgust when she saw the bubble of snot that was somehow coming out of Usopp's nose.

Did the cold affect him more than he thought?

"Hey, Usopp," Maria stated quietly, grabbing the fabric of the hammock and shaking it a little. "You've gotta get up."

Usopp merely let out a snort in his sleep and moved like he was attempting to turn over. That movement gave Maria an idea that caused her to smirk.

"All right, then." Maria grabbed the hammock's fabric and started moving backwards, pulling the hammock up with her with surprising ease considering that there was a pretty heavy teenager lying in it.

Maria wasn't pulling on it for long, though - when she managed to get the hammock pretty much at a ninety degree angle from where it had been, Usopp rolled out of it and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Usopp let out a yelp of surprise as soon as he hit the deck, and he scrambled up to his feet. "Ow! My nose!"

Maria's smirk morphed into a nervous smile, and she rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry about that. I wasn't exactly sure how to get you up."

The sniper turned to look at Maria, then his gaze went back and forth between the amnesiac and the hammock. "You actually managed to push me out?"

"Yeah. I was kinda hoping that was gonna happen, though." Maria gave a sheepish grin. "Anyway, Nami wants everybody out on deck, and you guys are the only ones that are still sleeping in."

"Not anymore," came a familiar growl from behind Maria.

The amnesiac turned, and she caught sight of Zoro with an unhappy scowl on his face as he finished putting on his coat. Nearby, Franky was putting on his aviator's jacket, muttering something under his breath that Maria couldn't quite catch.

"I guess Usopp's yell kinda woke you guys up?" Maria guessed, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You could say that," Zoro responded, scowling at the amnesiac. "So, the witch wants us out on deck?"

"Yup." Maria started for the door, but the swordsman moved in the way, shutting it behind him before Maria could so much as step out into the cold morning air.

"The next time she sends you in here," Zoro growled, "make sure to wake me up first."

"Uh..." Maria blinked a couple times when she saw the intense frown that was on Zoro's face. "S-sure, I guess."

"Not 'I guess'." Zoro turned anyway and opened up the door that led out of the boys' quarters, letting in a blast of cold air that affected Maria for only a moment before the cold seemed to fade somewhat.

The swordsman stepped out and started making his way across the deck, Maria and the other two following after him. The group soon joined Sanji, Nami, and Robin.

"How'd you manage to get them up so fast?" Nami asked, looking at Maria in surprise.

"She made Usopp squeal," Zoro replied, scowling at the amnesiac.

"It's not my fault his nose is so sensitive!" Maria responded quickly looking at the swordsman. "I just pushed him out of his hammock, that's all."

Usopp glared at the amnesiac, rubbing his nose.

"So, what's going on?" Franky asked.

"There's something going on," Nami responded. She motioned to the ice around them. "These icebergs are moving on their own."

"The icebergs are moving on their own?" Usopp repeated in confusion, frowning.

"Come on, don't be ridiculous," Zoro responded. "There's no way that could happen."

"Ridiculous or not, something strange going on," Robin commented in reply.

Usopp let out a loud sneeze.

"Gesundheit," Maria stated automatically. She blinked after she said it, wondering where exactly it was that the word had come from, but then she shook it off.

"She's right, they are moving, and not in the same direction as the sea current," Nami added, Sanji nodding from where he stood next to her. "What's making it happen isn't natural."

"How is it possible?" Usopp asked.

"Come on," Franky complained. "You don't really expect us to believe this crap?"

"Fine," Nami responded shortly. "I'll prove it." She turned and looked at the cook. "Sanji, demonstrate."

"Aye aye!" Sanji saluted, his eye being replaced by a heart for a moment seconds before he turned and dashed for the helm. The ship started to shift to the left, and everyone else moved up to the figurehead in order to get a look at what was going on with the icebergs.

The open sea that was in front of them was suddenly closed off by two icebergs moving in front of each other.

"Wh-what's going on here?" Usopp asked in a squeak of surprise.

Maria's eyes widened when she caught sight of the ice slamming into each other. "Those two icebergs are moving in opposite directions!"

"And again," Sanji grunted, turning the wheel in the opposite direction. The boat started to shift.

Maria watched as an iceberg once again moved in front of them. "That's impossible, but...how?" She scratched her head in confusion. "And what are we going to be able to do in order to get around it?"

"Well would you look at that?" Franky smirked. "Cheeky little bastards."

Zoro jumped forward off the figurehead and into the air, bringing out one of his swords and throwing an air blast forward from the blade. He landed easily on the iceberg, high above the Sunny, just seconds before the entire iceberg split in half easily, sending waves of water all over the place for a moment.

"Nothing but ice from top to bottom," Zoro noted as the ship started towards the split iceberg.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself," Usopp commented as he walked away from the figurehead. "It's almost like they're making a path!"

"A path?" Maria repeated in confusion.

"But they're normal icebergs," Robin commented. "Very strange indeed."

"It's like that run-in with the Marines," Nami commented. "It feels like there's something leading us forward to a specific place."

Maria looked back and forth between Robin and Nami, frowning. "Yeah, it was kind of weird that there was a gap right in the middle of that circle...or that there was music playing right before they revealed themselves. That definitely doesn't sound like anything that I know about the Marines - which is little to nothing, by the way."

Nami nodded in agreement. "Marines don't normally do things like that. And the icebergs moving around makes me even more nervous about what's going on."

"I don't know who's responsible for this crap, but they've got some nerve," Franky growled. "Whoever it is, I'm not scared of 'em! Bring it!"

"Well, first, before we fight them, we have to figure out who 'they' are," Nami responded.

There came a rumbling noise behind the ship, and Maria turned her head to look back as two icebergs slammed into each other behind them.

The amnesiac brought out her phoenix-topped staff in a shower of sparks. "I don't like this."

"Why? You scared?" Franky looked over at Maria, who shook her head.

"Just being cautious." She rubbed her staff. "In the past, I've been to certain places that have had environments reacting like this. Pokemon call them 'Mystery Dungeons', because every time you enter them, they're completely changed from when you were in them last. An ever-changing maze..." Maria shook her head. "Sometimes Pokemon have caused those kinds of things to happen on their own, too - either for fun or otherwise."

"Pokemon cause-" Nami paused, frowning in thought.

At the same time, Maria flinched somewhat when a headache hit her. She caught sight of something: Chopper, Giro, and Luffy all looking at a man with spiky red hair and bandages covering his upper half.

Maria shook her head and cleared her vision for a moment before looking around the deck, her staff disappearing from sight. "I'm going to walk over to the back of the ship for a bit."

Nami nodded absently for a moment, then waved Maria off as she started walking towards the front of the ship; the amnesiac then turned and started towards the back of the ship, moving at a jog in order to cross the lawn and get up and down the stairs that led to the various decks.

Before reaching the very back of the ship, Maria dashed up to check on her Berry trees. Much to her surprise, the amnesiac found that there were a number of sacks that had been left sitting around the dirt plot, each one with a specific Berry sown onto it.

"Who did this?" Maria asked quietly, frowning to herself. A moment later, she gave a slight shrug, then started picking Berries and putting them into their respective bags. Then she checked over the trees again, wondering what exactly was going on with them so far. When she reached the trees that had taken a day to grow, Maria paused.

"It looks like these haven't died yet," the amnesiac murmured quietly, frowning. She fingered one of the leaves of the Oran Berry tree, eyeing the slight yellow coloring that was appearing at the edge. "They're probably going into Fall...and if they are dying, I've always got the other Berries."

That finished, Maria gave the dirt plot a major sprinkling of water, then moved to the back of the ship to look out over the space of sea between the Sunny and the phoenix-headed ship.

"What's going on over there...?" Maria asked quietly, frowning. She could hear what sounded like cheers coming from the other ship, among which were the words "Captain Puzzle."

"Captain Puzzle?" Maria tried to look out over the ship, but she wasn't able to see anyone standing near the figurehead. "Wait...Stansen said that he was acting as captain the other night...is Puzzle the name of their real captain?"

The amnesiac leaned out over the deck railing, straining her ears to see if she could catch anything that might be going on over on the other ship. However, what she managed to catch mostly sounded like murmurs.

Except for one statement from an unfamiliar voice.

"Listen to me. We're not...we're not going back to the New World."

"What?" Maria asked in confusion. "Who said that? And the New World...they said that they hadn't been there before, but...what does this mean?"

"Captain Puzzle, have you lost your mind?" someone else demanded. "We're ready to lay down our lives for you - just like Vigiro did!"

"We were waiting all this time - for the phoenix to rise from the ashes!" a third voice spoke up.

"Where is our fearless Captain Puzzle?!" a fourth demanded.

Other voices ended up calling out in anger and argued against the first voice's decision.

Maria frowned slightly. "The guy who just spoke...was that Captain Puzzle, then?"

"How can you just throw away your pride like that?!" Giro demanded.

Maria frowned slightly, then let out an unhappy sigh. "It...it almost sounds like there's something going on with their captain."

The amnesiac caught sight of a familiar straw hat coming up from the lower deck and onto the figurehead.

"I would thank you by giving you something, but the New World took everything that I have," Puzzle spoke as Chopper jumped onto the upper deck behind the phoenix figurehead.. "You might want to rethink going there - it's extremely dangerous out there."

"It's fine, we can handle it," Luffy responded with a confident grin. He glanced back at the figures below. "See, we're really strong."

"...I see. The best of luck, then."

Maria frowned.

"Let's get moving," Luffy spoke up. "The captain's given up on their flag. There's no hope for them. They're no longer pirates."

Maria's frown deepened. "This isn't good. No longer pirates..." A minor headache came and went, and she shook her head. It kinda felt like something was trying to come back, but it wasn't quite able to come through.

The amnesiac wasn't able to figure out what exactly was going on, however, because a large column of what looked like ice suddenly burst up from under the water, causing Maria to reel back in surprise when the rope that had been between the two ships was cut neatly.

"Articuno's tailfeathers!" Maria yelped in surprise. She looked around in confusion as more ice pillars started to come popping up out of the sea in random locations all around the ship, causing the Sunny to start bobbing around from the resulting waves. "Where are these things coming from?!"

"Luffy! Chopper!" Sanji yelled from the helm over Usopp's screams of terror.

"They'll be find on their own!" Nami called back. "For now, concentrate on steering the ship!"

"Leave it to me!"

Maria started to make her way away from the back of the deck and started towards the helm while Nami called out again.

"We're being surrounded by them! Steer to starboard, now!"

"Aye aye!" Sanji responded as Maria reached the main deck.

"There's no way that this is natural," Maria commented, gripping at the railing along the side of the ship as it rocked. "Ice only breaks apart if it's in a warmer climate or if there's ice being slammed together. The water around here definitely isn't warm and the ice has already proved itself to be unpredictable!"

"How wise of you to notice that, Maria," Robin called out from the upper deck. "How were you able to figure that out so quickly?"

Maria frowned and opened her mouth to respond, only to pause for a moment as her frown deepened. "I...I don't know. It just came to me, I guess."

"You must have a lot of knowledge hidden by your amnesia then."

"Maybe." Maria scowled at the thought. "But if I can't remember everything now, then it's not going to be of much help."

"It's no use! They're still coming! Hard to port!" Nami yelled.

Maria started to make her way up to the upper deck as the mast of the ship rammed itself into an iceberg on one side.

"Careful!" Usopp yelled in warning.

"They're all gathering together!" Robin noted as Maria came up to stand next to her.

"Sanji, watch where you're going!" Usopp barked.

"Crap, the rudder's not responding," Sanji muttered.

Maria looked around at the walls of icebergs and brought her phoenix staff out, twirling it a couple times as she wondered what exactly she could do to help. So far, she hadn't really done any powerful attacks...

The amnesiac bit her lower lip. There was something about all this that felt strangely familiar for some reason, but she wasn't exactly sure why.

"Forget the rudder," Nami responded, pointing forward. "Take a look over there! Since the icebergs have blocked the current, they're causing whirlpools to form!"

Maria turned her head when she heard that, and the amnesiac caught sight of a wall of ice directly in front of them. She could hear the water rushing and took it to mean that the sea was swirling in front of them.

"Whirlpools, too?!" Usopp yelped from where he was lying on the deck. "What the hell is wrong with this sea?!"

"It's like a literal Mystery Dungeon," Maria commented, frowning. She scowled at the icebergs around them. "Except for time and space warping, that is."

A twinge hit her at the back of the head, and the amnesiac shook her head while a statement slipped into her mind.

"This is the Frozen Highway. Once a ship loses its way in here, it will never return to the open sea."

"Huh?" Maria blinked a couple times in confusion before turning her head and looking around.

"Is there something wrong?" Robin inquired.

"I don't know..." Maria frowned, then looked at the archeologist. "For a minute there, I could have sworn I heard Stansen saying something about this place being called the Frozen Highway. But...I don't see him anywhere in sight."

The icebergs around them suddenly shifted again, and Sanji was able to steer the ship without getting it stuck in any whirlpools, much to Maria's relief. As soon as the Sunny was relatively clear of that danger, however, Sanji instantly turned on Usopp and gave him a swift kick in the head.

"Sanji!" Maria exclaimed in alarm. "What do you think you're-"

"How dare you!" Sanji barked.

"How dare he what?" Maria asked in confusion.

Nami just let out a sigh and sat down on the bench behind the helm.

Sanji left Usopp sitting on the deck with a couple bumps to his head while he turned and started steering the ship again, turning on the paddles that had gotten the ship away from the Marines the night before.

"I can't believe you!" the cook snarled. "Sneaking a peek at Nami's butt during all the commotion!"

"You turned on the paddles," Franky noted, coming over. Maria looked over at the cyborg and noted with some surprise that he had come up from the main deck.

"Is something wrong?" Franky asked.

"Franky," Nami greeting, looking upside-down over the back of the bench at the shipwright. "Where have you been?"

"I was refilling a batch of cola in the engine room," Franky replied, jabbing a thumb back in the direction he had come from. "I've got a feeling. If I'm right, it'll definitely come in handy soon." He gave a knowing smirk.

Maria frowned slightly. "How would doing that help us out?"

"That's great and all," Usopp muttered, "but with all these moving icebergs, it doesn't matter! We're stuck here." He turned his beaten face to look at Franky. "We're gonna be trapped in this stupid place for the rest of our lives."

"Don't worry," Nami responded, still looking back at Franky. "We'll figure it out soon."

"All places have an exit or a stopping point somewhere," Maria added. "If we can find a gap in these icebergs where they can't go, maybe we'll be able to get our bearings and get out of here."

"Come on," Franky complained, "you make it sound like those icebergs are a big deal."

Usopp and Nami both got to their feet and looked at the shipwright. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah," Maria agreed, frowning. "I can't see how they're not a big deal, all things considered."

"We just need to get out of here, right?" Franky lifted up his sunglasses and smirked. "Doesn't matter how."

Maria blinked for a moment, wondering what it was that the cyborg meant. Then she remembered that they had been in something of a jam before - right when they were leaving Water 7. And the thing they had used to get out of the way...

"Oh, yeah!" Maria, Nami, and Usopp exclaimed together, the amnesiac lamming a fist into an open palm.

It was right at that point that an iceberg suddenly rammed into the boat from the right, sending Maria stumbling across the deck for a moment as a result of the impact. Somehow, she was able to keep her balance and watched with no small amount of alarm as Usopp and Franky went flying into a nearby wall and ended up with the cyborg lying on top of the sniper.

The rumbling came to a stop, and Maria heard something in the silence that followed. It sounded almost like something was scraping away at the ice.

The amnesiac looked over at the others. "Do you guys hear that?"

Nami nodded. "Yeah. It seems to be coming from over there." She motioned to the iceberg that had slammed into the ship, and Maria looked over in that direction, as did the others.

"Heh. Looks like we finally found you," stated one of the four figures standing on the iceberg.

Maria blinked in some confusion. "A hockey player, a girl, and two...figure ice skaters?"

The amnesiac's gaze went over each of the figures in turn, a frown of curiosity appearing on her face: a teenage boy wearing what looked like some kind of orange hockey uniform, a little girl with dark blue hair and a bored expression on her face, and a woman with dark blue hair and a man with light brown hair - the last two looking clearly like figure skaters of some kind.

Especially considering that the man was holding the woman so that she wouldn't end up falling over backwards from her leaning-back position.

"Going somewhere?" the woman with dark blue hair asked. "Don't you know that when a ship is lost in the Frozen Highway, it's destined to wander for all eternity?" She moved up into an upright position, the man holding her close in what looked like a loving embrace. "Just give up already!"

What happened next made Maria want to gag.

The man and the woman looked at each other, with hearts appearing in their eyes - much like when Sanji was looking at Robin, Nami, or Maria.

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" the man commented. He started to spin around, holding the woman out at arm's length so that she could spin with one leg out.

"Indeed, indeed, indeed!" she declared, coming into a spin. "You'll never get away from us!"

And then the figure-skating duo kissed on the lips right in front of everybody.

"That's rather tasteless," Robin commented while Franky's and Usopp's jaws dropped.

Maria made a gagging noise. "No kidding!" She raised her voice. "Get a room, you two! Sheesh!"

"I can't believe such a beautiful woman is with that man-troll," Sanji muttered, head bowed in disappointment.

The couple pulled their heads back at once, their lips staying together for a second longer before snapping away from each other like a cork coming out of a wine bottle. When they continued to stare at each other, Maria considered throwing a fireball in their direction, but Sanji ended up beating her to it.

"Hey, you!" the cook barked, pointing an accusing finger at the figure skaters. "I challenge you to a duel for her honor!"

Nami slammed a fist into Sanji's head, sending the blond down onto the deck.

"Unfortunately, we can't stick around for games," Nami commented, smirking at the group of four. She moved her gaze over to the cyborg. "Franky?"

Franky's jaw retracted, and he gave a hum of confirmation before turning and walking off the upper deck.

"Excuse me!" Nami called out. "But I'm afraid we'll be leaving now."

The woman in the figure-skating pair gained a disapproving expression. "Have you gone deaf? I already told you, escape from the Frozen Highway is impossible. Understand? Impossible!"

"Right," the man voiced in agreement. "Couldn't have said it better."

The two gave each other the goo-goo eyes again, then went through the same routine that they did a few seconds ago.

"Indeed, indeed, indeed! You'll never get away from us!"

Maria let out a growl as the two kissed again. "Seriously, I get that you're in love, but you don't have to show it every few seconds!" Small, almost unseen bits of fire started to lick at her shoulders as she seriously considered burning every single hair off of the kissers' heads.

"Whenever you're ready, Franky!" Nami called out.

A second later, the kissing couple still hadn't let go of their kiss, and Maria was starting to gather fire in her hands when the entire boat started to shake.

Franky's voice came from somewhere on the ship. "Coup de..."

The kissing couple came apart.

"...BURST!"

Maria forgot all about blasting the lovers with fire and instead gripped the railing as the ship was sent flying up into the air above the icebergs.

The amnesiac peered over the side of the ship at the icebergs below, grinning as she watched their obstacles pass by underneath them. Maria let her gaze move, and she caught sight of something that made her grin.

"Look, guys! The icebergs end up ahead!" Maria pointed ahead of the ship.

Above her head, there came the sound of a twittering noise, and the blue-eyed teen looked up in order to see where the sound was coming from.

"What a strange-looking bird," Robin commented from nearby.

"Yeah," Maria agreed, frowning at the strange bird that had flown over their ship.

The Sunny slammed into the water, sending up waves on either side as the ship started floating away from the Frozen Highway.

"Well, we're out of there, now," Maria commented, looking back at the icebergs. In the distance, she caught sight of something in the sky that was colored black and flapping, she gave a frown.

"Ahh, now I can finally relax." Usopp walked onto the main deck, and he flopped down onto the lawn, spreading his arms wide. "I could sure get used to this. Blue sky...white clouds...a big, beautiful sun shining behind the flapping pirate fla-"

When Usopp cut himself off and let out a yell of "What the hell?!", Maria turned sharply and looked back at the sniper with surprise before her gaze moved upward, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Our flag!" Nami yelled in surprise. "It's gone!"

Maria looked around deck for a moment. "Not only that, but we're missing Zoro, too! And Chopper and Luffy!"

"This isn't good," Usopp groaned.

Maria bit her lower lip, wondering what exactly it was that wasn't good about the situation. Then she remembered what it was that Luffy had said about Captain Puzzle and his pirate crew.

"The captain's given up on their flag. They're no longer pirates."

A shudder ran through the amnesiac when other things came popping into her head, mainly Luffy standing on top of a snow-covered castle, holding a flag with a skull-and-crossbones with what looked like flower petals going across the flag.

"Chaos and Master Emeralds," Maria muttered, running a hand through her hair in order to remove some of the knots brought on from the wind. "This is even worse than I thought. We're going to have to get that flag replaced."

"No," Robin responded. "We have to get it back."

Yup. All those of you who watched the anime, you know what's coming. For those of you who didn't...you can either hunt down the filler arc, or keep riding along with what I'm posting. XD

See you next week!