Alright... I was going to write one chapter for each of the Straw Hats (including Vivi and Carue), but I can't seem to be able towrite anything decent about Vivi... I've already tried twice, but the words just wouldn't flow in the right way... Same thing for Chopper. Therefore, I present to you this utterly lame chapter... I don't like it, but it's the best of everything I've been writing this week. I'll do better with the next chapters, I promise. I really apologize if it's really bad.

"Where are you!" Luffy roared, his hands clawing through the thick darkness that surrounded him. "Damn you! Give me back my nakama or I'll kick your ass back to the Mystery Mountain!"

He couldn't even see his hands if he held up them in front of him, but he couldn't care less about such a petty detail. Not when that stranger was letting his nakama die while laughing at the whole thing.

"I know that you're here!" he shouted into the darkness, not even aware of the fact that his voice didn't cast an echo anymore. "I know that you're here, so show yourself!"

He was once again holding one of his hands tightly clutched around the red cloth of his vest over his chest, where a heavy, painful, empty feeling had appeared. It was worse than the pain he had felt when he had seen Zoro die, and far heavier than anything he had ever carried before. Not even the knowledge that Shanks had lost his arm for him had felt as bad as this.

"I'm just here to show you the truth, so deal with it."

"What truth!" Luffy shouted at the voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He let his voice drop to a whisper, feeling his anger rushing through him in white-hot waves. "You're just showing me lies…"

He clenched his teeth so hard that he could feel his pulse in his jaw. His body was trembling with rage, and he longed for the man in the cloak to appear so that he could kick his ass to the moon. No, even farther than that. The Moon Hare hadn't done anything to deserve having such a person on his moon.

"OOI!" he cried out, all his anger rushing even faster through his veins. "OOI! I know you're there! Oi! Answer me! Oiii!"

"What is it?"

Luffy flinched as the cold, hard voice appeared from the darkness behind him. He turned around, only to stare straight into the folds of thick white cloth wrapped around a figure that was far too familiar. For a moment, Luffy couldn't do anything but glare at the man in front of him. He wasn't sure if his glare pierced through the shadows of the hood, but he sure hoped that they did. In some way, he would let this sadist know just exactly who he was dealing with.

If only his body would obey… As soon as this man appeared, it was like he completely lost the control over himself. He was trembling from the effort it took to force the hand that wasn't clutched by his aching chest to move and bring it up to grab hold of the white cloak in front of him. What ever the man was doing to him to make him feel like this, he had to be stronger. What kind of King would he be if he wasn't strong enough to get his nakama back?

"Give… them… back…" he forced his lips and tongue to move as he pulled himself closer to the other man. Despite all his efforts, the man in front of him only laughed in that hollow, supposedly cheerful way.

"You're amazingly slow, do you know that?" he said calmly, and Luffy could feel their eyes meet. "I keep telling you that I don't have anything to do with this--"

"No more lies!" Luffy roared, his eyes blazing furiously. "You killed Zoro, you killed Usopp, and you hurt Nami! What have you done to the others? Where are Sanji, Chopper, Vivi and Ca--?"

"I killed no one!" the cloaked man roared in return, for the first time showing some real emotions. He tore free from Luffy's tight grip and backed away from him. "I had nothing to do with their deaths, and I don't need anyone to blame me for that!"

"You lie!" Luffy shouted, hardly fazed by the statement the other man had made. "You're a liar, and I know it! Now give them back!"

There was no reply. Luffy felt his body trembling with rage that was rising to the point where he no longer could hold it back. Without warning, he lashed out at the other man, pulling back one arm to perform his oldest move.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

He hadn't even finished calling out the name of his attack before it was blocked. The man in the cloak moved faster than he could see, and all of a sudden, he felt a tug in his arm and a tingling feeling in his stomach as he was pulled forward through the air. He was slammed against the black floor so hard that he got the wind knocked out of him. Gasping for air like a stranded fish, he barely registered the weight that was pressing him down against the floor. How could he have been defeated that easily? No one should have been able to see that move coming, even with the forewarning name of the attack.

"I can't!" growled the man in the cloak, his shadowed face only centimeters from Luffy's own. Deep inside the shadows, Luffy thought he could see his own reflection in a pair of eyes, but he wasn't sure. The darkness was far too deep for him to be certain.

"You just don't get it, do you? I don't lie. I never lie. I'm just here to show you the truth, and that's what I've been doing." The voice was low and hissing, like the sound of an enraged snake. Luffy didn't know what to say, and he couldn't move because of the weight the other man was putting over him. At least he thought that was why he couldn't move.

"Do you think I enjoy this?" the cloaked man continued and placed his hand over Luffy's chest, his bitten-down nails scratching his skin. "Do you think I want to see my nakama die over and over again? That I even for one moment would enjoy watching their last moments over and over again? You think this is bad, but try watching all of this over and over again until the truth finally breaks whatever hope and trust you have left. Then you will know what real pain is."

Luffy didn't reply. He wasn't sure how to understand all this. This guy was talking about his nakama as if he knew them, but that couldn't be right. Hadn't he said that his nakama were all dead?

"Now," the other man continued, a little calmer than before, but without letting Luffy get up from the floor. "Where do we go next?"

"What are you talking about?" Luffy managed to stay calm while he spoke, hoping for the other to let his guard down.

"We're not done yet. It's my job to show you the rest of your nakama and their fate without you, so where do we go next? Would you rather find out how many explosions is needed to take the life of a princess, or whether the King of Drum Island prefers venison medium or rare?"

Luffy's eyes widened beyond what normally would be possible, even for a rubber man. This, he had no problem understanding.

"Don't you touch them!" he cried, trying to twist out of the tight grip the other man was holding him in. "I told you, I don't want to see any more lies!"

"Fine. I'll just tell you then,"

Luffy felt how the other man gripped his wrists and held them together while pressing him against the floor, and he ended up unable to move a muscle. The other man continued, in an almost completely emotionless voice:

"It takes two explosive punches and a weight of 800 kilos to finish off a Spot-billed duck from Alabasta, and another five punches to take care of the same kingdom's little princess. I'm not done yet, so stop squirming! The Baroque Works dumped their bodies in the ocean, where no one will ever find them again.

"And the King of Drum wasn't pleased to find his castle occupied by a witch and her pet. Together with his two underlings, it took him only five minutes to seize the control over the castle again. Of course, your little doctor fought bravely to protect his mentor, but he was no match for the King's powers. Nasty way to go, really, being eaten alive. Wouldn't you agree?"

Luffy was paralyzed. Images were flooding his mind and flashing before his mind's eye faster than he could handle. Images of Vivi, Carue and Chopper, all in situations he knew weren't true. They couldn't be true, because he had been there. He had made sure that they were safe, because that was what nakama did. That was what he as a captain had to do, just because he was the captain.

"NO!" he cried out. "No, you're lying! I was there, and those things you said aren't true! Vivi isn't dead, and neither is Chopper! I saw them before I went to bed, Vivi is keeping watch and Chopper is sleeping--"

The man in the cloak started laughing and got up from the floor, letting go of Luffy's arms and setting him free.

"You still haven't got it, have you? So you don't even know why you're being put through this? You poor idiot…"

"How did your nakama die?" Luffy asked, slowly sitting up on the floor while rubbing his wrists lightly. "You said that they died, so what happened?"

There was a change in the other man's posture. His back was straightened in an unnatural way, and Luffy could feel strange emotions coming from him. Strong emotions of a kind he never had felt before. Guilt, sorrow and emptiness all mixed up together with a joy that Luffy couldn't describe as anything other than crazy.

"You said you're telling me the truth," Luffy said coldly. "So tell me another truth. How did they die?"

"I couldn't save them…" The reply was only a whisper, like the sound of a breeze blowing through Nami's tangerine trees. "Before it happened, I had a ship, and I had nakama. But it might just have been a dream… It feels like it was all a dream, because it happened such a long time ago… I don't remember what happened, just the blood… but maybe that also was a dream…"

He held out his arms in front of him, outside the cloak, as if he just realized that he had them. Luffy pulled back subconsciously by the sight of the thin, sinewy, scarred arms. Those deep, uneven scars sent cold chills down his spine, and he really didn't like them. The man in the cloak seemed to notice his discomfort, because he took a step closer to Luffy, still with his arms held out in front of him.

"It hurt so much. Being alone… It hurt much more than you can ever imagine. I wanted it to go away, but it kept coming back. I heal too fast, you know…"

Shivering from the very sound of the other's voice, Luffy stood up and walked up to the man in the cloak. He stared into the shadows under the hood for a moment before he said what had been gnawing at his brain ever since he had been released from the other man's grip.

"What about my cook? Where is Sanji?"

I think I'm losing him now... The cloaked one... I didn't intend for him to show that side just yet, but now he did... Oh well...

em182 - Ha ha, I know that look. I get it when I read fanfiction as well... I didn't know there could be too much drinking on your 18th birthday... Heh, I hope you're not disappointed over this chapter's lameness...

Phoenix Flare - Well, I think we'll find out who he is very soon... No Sanji in this chapter, unfortunately, but he'll show up in the next one, I think.

Digitaldreamer - Well, that's a truth, but it's not the one I'm going for. It's true though, a lot of people would be seriously screwed if Luffy hadn't been there... ): Your poor heart... -hands roll of softer duct tape- The normal one chafes...