Yo.

Okay, first, I really want to apologize for my long absence. Believe me, it wasn't because I wanted to be away for so long. To keep a long story short, I'll just tell you that my internet was reeeaaaallly messed up, to the point that it was going out every other day. Literally. I eventually had to just get new cords and boxes, which took a while to come. After that, I was pretty sick for a few days, which I'm just recently getting over.

Anyway, I won't hold you guys up for much longer.Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 18: Straw Hats, Part 2

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hm?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

Not too long after leaving Whiskey Peak, the Straw Hats were back sailing on the open sea again, with Alabasta as their destination.

"The fog is starting to lift... It's almost morning." Nami said, looking up at the sky.

"Did the log pose lock on to the next island yet, Nami?" Luffy asked, sitting on the front of the ship, which he claimed was his 'special seat'. A distance away from the two, Zoro was lying on the deck, napping as usual, while Nojiko was talking to Vivi about something. Usopp was up in the crow's nest, and Sanji was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

With a sigh and shake of her head, Nami replied, "Unfortunately not. We did only stay on Whiskey Peak for a few hours, after all."

Hearing her response, Luffy couldn't help but sigh. If the log pose wasn't set, then that meant that they were essentially just sailing aimlessly, not really knowing where they were going.

"This sucks." He said, twirling his straw hat on his finger.

"It certainly does. However, I'll congratulate you on your escape."

Abruptly, Luffy stood and turned around, and frowned as he saw an unfamiliar woman sitting on one of the higher railings on the deck. The movement of their captain seemed to spur the others into action, as they all prepared themselves for a possible fight.

"Monkey D. Luffy... I must say, you're not as tall as I was expecting."

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, cursing internally at the fact that he hadn't sensed someone sneak onto his ship. His sensei would probably- no, he would definitely be scolding him right now if he were here.

Finally getting a good look at the woman as she looked up, Vivi gasped with wide eyes, drawing the attention of the others.

The woman had lightly tanned skin, stormy gray eyes, and long, light brown hair, reaching just past her shoulders. She was wearing a white, sleeveless turtleneck, which left her midriff exposed, a tight, white skirt that showed off her smooth legs, and a pair of white, high-heeled, open-toed shoes.

"I'm guessing you know who this woman is, Princess?" Zoro asked, ready to draw his swords at a moments notice.

Swallowing thickly, Vivi spoke up with a slightly shaky voice, "Th- That's Miss All Sunday."

"Miss Sunday?" Nojiko asked, standing productively next to the young princess. "Whose partner is she?"

"M- Mr. 0. She's the boss' partner!" Vivi responded, getting surprised expressions from the Straw Hats, while the female agent simply looked amused.

"What?! Are you sure?!" Usopp screamed all the way from his position up in the crow's nest.

"I'm positive! Igaram and I followed her back to the secret base, which was how we found out his identity!"

"Well, more like I let the two of you follow me, but whatever. And speaking of Mr. 8, it sure was unfortunate what happened to him." Miss All Sunday said, making Vivi glare at her with wide eyes, all her fear replaced by a burst of anger.

"You! It was you that blew up Igaram's ship, wasn't it?!" Vivi asked furiously, balling her fists tightly. "I'm sure you were also the one that told Crocodile that his identity had been leaked, despite letting us tail you. Just what is your objective?!"

"I just find it interesting how a single princess foolishy thinks that she can take on all of Baroque Works, and save an entire nation by herself." Sunday replied, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly.

"Stop underestimating me!" The young princess yelled, and it was at this point that Sanji came rushing out of the kitchen, before he, to the surprise and shock of all the Straw Hats, held a pistol to Miss All Sunday's head.

The woman was silent for a bit, before finally letting out a sigh.

"You know, there's no need for you all to be so on guard. I didn't come here on any orders, and I have no particular interest in fighting any of you." She said calmly, barely sparing Sanji or the gun he held a sideways glance.

"Then, why are you here? I doubt it's to have a friendly chat." Zoro asked with a frown, getting the woman to glance at him, before she turned her stormy gray eyes to Luffy.

"I've always wanted to meet a 'D.' Such an interesting clan." Miss All Sunday responded, making Luffy blink in slight surprise. However, before he could reply, she stood up and walked over to one of the side railings.

"Well, as fun as this little chat has been, I suppose I should be getting back." And with that, she hopped over over the side of the ship, and the Straw Hats watched in surprise as she sailed away on a giant turtle.

This Straw Hats were all silent for a bit, before Luffy walked over to Vivi and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked, making her release a deep breath, before she gave a slow nod.

"Umm... Shouldn't we have captured her, Luffy?" Nami asked, getting the captain to turn to her.

"Yeah, that probably would've been a good idea. It's too late now, though, so there's nothing we can do. Plus, they already knew about us, anyway." He said with a shrug. "Anyway, let's continue on our path, for now. Whatever happens, we've still gotta get to Alabasta and kick Crocodile's ass!"

[ Two Hours Later ]

"Nami?" Vivi said as she approached the orange-haired navigator, who had been sitting at her desk and looking at some sea charts.

"Hm? What is it, Vivi?" The navigator responded, sporting a curious expression.

"Ah, well, since it'll be a while before we get to our destination, I figured I should use this time to get to know you all."

"Oh." Nami said, blinking as she fully turned to the Vivi, before gesturing for her to sit down in a chair on the side of the desk. "Sure."

The two then spent around twenty minutes making small talk and getting to know each other, before Vivi remembered something that she had been wanting to ask.

"Back on Whiskey Peak, I remember you saying you've known Luffy for years. So, does that mean that you and Nojiko were the first two to join?" The princess asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Hmm..." Nami began, tapping one of her index fingers against her chin. "I guess if you wanna get technical, you could say we were, since we agreed to join back when we were kids. Officially, though, Zoro was the first."

"Oh. Well, you and Luffy must be pretty close if you've known each other for that long." Vivi guessed with a smile.

With a faint blush, Nami brushed some hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Yeah. We're really close."

"That must be nice... With everything happening in my country, I haven't been able to see any of my childhood friends in years. Not even my closest friend, Koza. He's actually the one who's leading the rebels." Vivi said with a dejected sigh, and Nami couldn't help but feel sorry for her. On top of being stressed and worried all the time for her home, she was also probably very lonely.

"You're strong, Vivi." Nami began, getting the princess to look at her with surprised eyes. "If I was in your position, I don't know if I could be as brave as you."

"That's very kind of you, Nami... but I don't know if 'brave' is really the word I'd use. If I'm being honest, it'd probably more accurate to say I'm just determined and desperate."

"Well, that determination is what's gonna save your country." The navigator rebutted encouragingly, getting an appreciative smile and nod from the blue-haired princess.

"So, how did you and Nojiko meet Luffy? Did you all grow up on the same island?" Vivi asked, before blinking in confusion when Nami let out a nervous laugh.

"That's... not really something I can talk about. Not yet, at least. All I can really say is that it was thanks to a certain group of people." Nami said, making Vivi even more curious, but she decided not to push it. The two then moved on to other subjects, becoming fast friends as they learned more about each other.

[ Two Days Later ]

"Snow, again?" Zoro muttered, slightly annoyed at how random weather was in the Grand Line. He was currently on lookout duty. Below him, Luffy and Usopp were having fun in the snow, while the others were all inside.

As he was looking through the binoculars he was holding, Zoro had to blink a few times when his eyes met a strange sight.

"Hey, Luffy, Usopp!"

"What's up?" They shouted back up to him.

"You guys ever heard of someone being able to stand on water?"

"What the heck are you talking about, Zoro?" Usopp asked with half lidded eyes, wondering if the cold weather was messing with the swordsman's head. As for Luffy, he chose not to say anything, since he actually did know someone that could stand on water, and was pretty sure that he would not be here.

"That." Zoro said, pointing straight forward. Following his line of sight, Usopp and Luffy both saw that there was indeed someone standing on water.

"Hi." The strangely dressed man greeted them. He looked similar to a jester.

Luffy was about to say something in response, but stopped when his senses picked up on some other people below the man, making him frown in confusion, along with raising his guard slightly, discreetly preparing himself for a possible fight.

"Quite cold today, isn't it?" The man asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Uh... Yeah. It's pretty cold." Usopp said, scratching his head with a dazed/confused expression. He then fell on his butt when a huge, spherical, metal object came up out of the water.

Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp then watched as the some of the metal began lowering like walls, which revealed a massive ship, easily dwarfing the size of their own. Its Jolly Roger was a skull that had a metal crown, and was wearing a king's crown.

Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi were all sitting at the table in the kitchen as they made small talk, while Sanji was about to start preparing lunch for the crew a short distance away from them. They were all interrupted when they felt the ship shake yet again, along with hearing loud voices outside.

"Just what are those idiots up to, now?" Sanji grumbled, pulling off his apron, before he began heading outside, with Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi quickly following.

"Luffy! What is-" Nami began once they made it outside, before almost instantly cutting herself off.

Beside her, Sanji pulled out a cigarette and stuck it between his lips, before lighting it up and taking a long drag of it. He then asked with a calm tone, "Well? What's going on, Luffy?"

"An ambush." Luffy said simply, doing a wide gesture with his arms at all the unfamiliar people standing on their ship.

"Hmm... That makes 7 of you in total." The man that was obviously the leader said. A whale of a man with violet hair, and a cylinder-shaped jaw that was made of metal.

As Vivi got a good look at the man, she gasped quietly, getting Nojiko to look at her.

"What's wrong?" Nojiko whispered, making sure none of the intruders could hear her. "You know this guy, too?"

Before Vivi could respond, the man began speaking again. "Let me ask you something." He began, with the Straw Hats and Vivi all cringing as they watched him chew threw a knife, before swallowing it down.

"We're trying to get back to Drum Kingdom. Tell me, do you have an eternal pose, or even just a regular log pose?" He asked after burping loudly.

"Does your crew not have a navigator?" Nami asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"No. Now, the log pose?" The man said, holding out his hand expectantly.

"Look, we don't know where this 'Drum Kingdom' is. In fact, we've never even heard of it." Sanji said, flicking some ash from the tip of his cigarette.

"I see. That's too bad. In that case, I guess I'll just have to take all of your belongings. Naturally, that includes your ship." The man declared, before his stomach rumbled. "Ah, guess I'm feeling a bit peckish." After saying this, his mouth opened inhumanly wide, before he took a big bite out of the side of the ship.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Luffy yelled in anger.

"Don't you dare move! Lord Wapol is enjoying his meal!" One of the many underlings shouted, aiming his rifle right at Luffy's face.

"Shut up!" The rubbery young man yelled, sending the underling flying with a punch to his face.

"About time." Zoro said, smirking as he unsheathed his swords, before quickly slicing down a few henchmen.

"They're resisting! Shoot them!"

Moving quickly, Sanji delivered a series of strong kicks to a small group of Wapol's underlings that had surrounded him.

Cursing, Usopp began releasing shot after shot from his slingshot, using everything in his arsenal.

As for the ladies of the crew, Nami had taken out a metal, three-section staff, which she was using to swiftly take out enemies, in perfect tandem with Nojiko, who was simply using her bare hands to knock them out.

"Huh. This ship isn't half bad." Wapol said, taking another bite out of the ship.

"Stop eating my ship!" Luffy yelled, stretching both of his arms far behind him, while Wapol turned to him with his mouth opened wide.

"Wait, Luffy!" Vivi shouted with wide eyes.

It was too late, for Wapol was sent flying off into the distance, eventually appearing as little more than a speck.

"Lord Wapol!"

"This is terrible! If His Majesty falls into the water, he's done for!" The jester-looking man exclaimed with concern. "Back to the ship, everyone! If we don't go rescue him quickly, he'll drown for sure!"

"You scum had better remember this! We'll get you for this! Remember that!" A man with an afro and a strange beard yelled, running away with all of the other underlings, with many of them having to drag/carry their unconscious comrades. "Please remember us!"

As the enemy ship sailed away, Luffy sighed and put his straw hat back on his head.

"Luffy! Why did you do that?!" Vivi yelled, getting confused looks from all of the Straw Hats.

"Why did I do what?" He asked, genuinely confused as to why she seemed so upset.

"You shouldn't have attacked that man, Luffy! He's a king! He could cause a lot of trouble for you all if he reports this to the World Government!"

"Why wouldn't I kick his ass? He was trying to eat my ship! And it doesn't matter that he's a king! We're already pirates, anyway!"

"Even so, you can't just solve everything with your fists!"

"What, so I should have nicely asked him to stop eating my ship? You seriously think that something like that would work?"

"Maybe not, but you never know! If you just use violence to solve everything, then you're not worthy of being a captain!"

Seeing that this was starting to get out of hand, Nojiko quickly got between the two, "Look, why don't we all calm down?" She said, getting the both to release deep sighs as they stepped away from each other. "Sanji, can you go finish lunch? I'm sure we're all pretty hungry."

"As you wish, my dear Nojiko." The cook replied, walking back to the kitchen.

'I should apologize.' Vivi thought, feeling guilty as she remembered her argument with the captain. Turning to him, she said, "I'm sorry, Luffy. I'm not even part of the crew, yet here I am trying to tell you how to run your ship. I just-"

"It's fine, Vivi." Luffy began, surprising Vivi when she saw him give her a smile. "I get it. You're under a lot of stress."

'He's... surprisingly understanding.' The princess thought with a slow blink, before a grateful smile bloomed on her face.

"I don't get it, though." Zoro began with a contemplative frown, getting the others to look at him. "If that guy was a king, then why was he all the way out here? Actually, if he was a king, then why did he need our help to get to this 'Drum Kingdom'? Shouldn't he have been able to get a good navigator?"

"I was thinking about that, too." Nami said, frowning slightly as she cupped her chin. "It doesn't make sense to be sailing anywhere, especially somewhere as dangerous and unpredictable as the Grand Line, with no navigator."

"Couldn't someone have just stolen all of their navigation tools?" Usopp asked.

While the others were still talking about Wapol, Luffy was sitting in his usual spot at the front of the ship. After a while, he spotted some tall, drum-shaped mountains off in the distance.

With a big smile, he took a deep breath and yelled.

"Land, ahead!"

Finally done.

Now, I know the end of this chapter was rather abrupt. That's because I really just wanted to get this out to you guys before Christmas.

I know the quality of this chapter wasn't the best, nor was it as long as I would have liked after such a long absence, but I hope it's enough to at least hold you all over, for now.

Side note, I've been considering starting to release chapters in bursts of 2-3 at a time. Let me know how you guys feel about this. If I do, then naturally the updates will take a little longer, but the flipside is that you guys would be getting more content with each update.

Now, with that stuff out of the way, let's talk about this chapter.

As you all saw, I have decided to skip over Little Garden. However, while I will not be writing that arc out, the Straw Hats will still be going there. This way, Usopp can still meet the Giants. As for when they'll be going there, I guess you could say it'll be just before reaching Jaya, meaning that Little Garden is a little further down the Grand Line than it was in canon.

I know some people might think that there's no need for the crew to go to Drum Kingdom now that Nami isn't sick; however, I'd remind you that they do still need to let their log pose set.Moving on, what'd you guys think about Luffy and Vivi's argument. I know when she said that Luffy was a bad captain/not worthy of being a captain in canon, it made a lot of people upset, while many even began to dislike her. As for me, it definitely annoyed me, which is why it tried to do it a bit differently here.

Aside from that, nothing else really happened in this chapter, which I want to apologize again for. However, I promise that the next chapter will definitely have action.

Speaking of action, I have a question for you guys. Do you think I should give Nami the Clima-Tact early, and say that Jeremiah made it for her, or would you all prefer that Usopp makes it, like he did in canon? Note that, if Jeremiah was the one to make it for her, then it will most likely be more powerful than its canon version.

One more thing I wanna tell you guys, is that I have something big planned for when we switch back to New Dawn, and something even bigger than that a little later in the story. I hope my writing can do my ideas justice.

With all of that said, I hope you guys found some enjoyment in the chapter, as lackluster as it may have been. And once again, I'd like to apologize for my long absence.

Til next time, guys.