"Give me your best shot, Serenity", Kalifa said as she braced for impact. The group decided it would be best to train whilst they headed for their destination. They would have to get as strong as they had enough time to get whilst travelling.

"Alright Kalifa! Get ready for the angry tree", Serenity said as she used her tree warped arm to smash into Kalifa. Kalifa hardened her body as much as she could to endure the attack. "These people are going to be able to hit hard! We must make sure we can endure strong attacks!"

"Right! But can you figure your way out of this?" Kalifa created a wave of bubbles. But the bubbles began to twist into an actual sheep! They mass of bubbles took the form of a sheep, and ran forward.

"A lovely new attack, Kalifa, but Its not enough to stop me!" Serenity formed a mass of plants in front of her and allowed the sheep to ram into it. Little dis she realize, that some of the bubbles managed to sneak through, and attached to her clothes. "Oh? Tricky move, in hindsight!"

"Alright Jabra, hit me", Raymond yelled.

"Alright! Here goes. Jabra took a running start, as Raymond hardened his body. Jabra shoved his fist into Raymond's chest as hard as he could! "You ok?"

"Ack! It doesn't matter! As long as I can still stand", he replied.

"Alright, your turn! Hit me as hard as you can", Jabra said as he too used iron body."

"Ok! Asteroid shot!" Instead of loading his usual roman candle, he used the pipe he acquired from his father. It would allow him to fire not only more accurately, but also increase the effectiveness of his attacks. This time, a gray like sphere of light came out the pipe, and crashed into Jabra.

"Ugh! Not bad, but I'm still standing too!"

"Alright then! Lets keep at it! First one to fall buy lunch", Raymond replied.

"You're on! Better move fast or I'll knock you out when you blink", Jabra said as he smiled.

"Yeah, and if you're not quick enough I'll incinerate you before you see it coming", he replied.

"You must Move faster Gurin. They strike with the intent to kill! We must be able to dodge their attacks", Kumadori shouted. He was attempting to gently perforate Gurin with his hair shigan. She managed to dodge most of them.

"I've gotten much faster! I can see your attacks from a mile away kumadori –San! Let's see if YOU got any faster!" Gurin flapped her wings and released two scythes like air lances. They flew fast, but Kumadori had also gotten faster and narrowly avoided the two attacks. Well done! But we're far from finished. Let us continue training!

"Your boxing skills are good, but I'm no stranger to it either", Fukurou said as she sparred with Borya. I've learned to box when I was a small agent."

Borya continued boxing with Fukurou. I've been boxing all my life too. Upon other forms of combat, I still have the advantage. But I have no problem teaching you a few tricks!"

"Wow, look at everyone go! I haven't seen them this motivated since...we were first in training", Kaku said.

"Yeah...its...interesting", Lucci said. He really did mean it. He felt something welling up inside as he watched everyone go hand to hand. It seemed to be anxiousness. Not from the unknown...but from his lust for battle.

"Battles also involve a calm mind. Thus, meditation is also important for the body. Relax your mind, and concentrate your psyche", Moira said. She and Blueno were meditating close by the edged of the ship. Managing to even drown out most of the sounds of battle nearby.

"Thats correct. The connection between mind, body and soul is imperative. Especially when facing an enemy whose strength cannot be gauged", Blueno replied.

"What's that look for, Lucci", Kaku asked. He didn't reply. He simply stepped forward onto the battlefield.

"Well, looks like Lucci wants to play too. I'll finally get to show you how much stronger I got since we last met. Stay back for a moment Raymond, I'm going to...", Jabra began to say.

"While I don't doubt you've all gotten much stronger, I am here to perform a test", Lucci said. Everyone stared at him expectantly. "Specifically, you and you", Lucci said as he looked at Raymond and Gurin respectively.

"What do you mean? They're already pat of the group. Plus, they're reliable", Serenity said.

"I'm already aware of your power Serenity. I'm also aware of Borya's strength. And I've seen for myself what Moira is capable of. But you two...i'm still not convinced you belong here.

Raymond shook his head and sighed. "Whats it gonna take then? Do we have to beat you up or something?"

"Something along those lines perhaps", Blueno replied. My guess is that he wants to fight you.

"Why? Did we do something wrong", Gurin asked. "Whats he got against us?"

"I already told you. For the sake of proving a point. If you can't stand some form of chance against me, then I don't see the point in you fighting Cannibal and his crew."

"Getting a bit frustrated with this attitude of your you know. You might have been the leader of them, but you have no weight over us", Borya replied.

"No, it's ok Borya. This clearly won't be settled until we've proven something to him. I'll fight you", Raymond said. He sounded more bothered than angry."

"Well...i'll help too then", Gurin added.

"Good! I was hoping you would both come at me at once."

"As cocky as ever I see. Be careful you two, he was the strongest of cipher pol for a reason. And It's a safe bet he hasn't been slouching these past two years either", Kalifa said.

"Damn it, he cant just let go can he? As sickening as ever", Jabra said, before being tapped on the shoulder by Blueno.

"Wait. I think there's more to it than just a test of power."

"Alright, but I get the feeling we should do this somewhere the ship cant get hurt. How about a nearby island", Moira said quickly.

"Moira this shoip isn't a person", Jabra replied.

"Its an iconic member of this crew and anyone who break it will pay the price!"

"Alright, whatever. Lets just land on that island. Looks uninhabited." Lucci seemed to just want to commence with the fight.

"Just so you know, death will not be tolerated this time", Kumadori said. He had quite the serious look on his face.

"Hmhmhmhm! Whenever you're ready. Try not to die", Lucci said as he hopped over to the island.

Jabra growled, and Moira scowled. He clearly wasn't getting any friendship points with the group.

Raymond hopped over towards the island as well. "Gurin are you sure you want to..."

"Dont worry. I'm ok with this. Whatever it takes to get him off our backs."

"Ok. Here we co...", before he could finish, a wave of air was thrown at the two. They both managed to get out of the way. "Oh, he's fast!"

"I didn't even see him move! They were't kidding. He must have given that straw hat guy a lot of trouble."

"Focus on the battle! Lest you want to be blown off the ship!" Lucci transformed and snapped both of his fingers. Multiple balls of fire shot out towards them!

"Check this out!" Gurin inhaled deeply, and managed to suck in the fire.

"Huh? What did you just do!?" He almost seemed to look over at Raymond when he said it. Raymond shrugged. This was new to him as well.

"I call this, 'FANning the flames!" She released the flames from her mouth, though even thoug they went in red, the came out green. And three times the size."

"HA! A pun if I've ever heard one."

Lucci narrowly avoided the flames and took to the skies, and dashed off towards her. His speed was still new to the two and he kicked her into a nearby palm tree." Not bad but you'll have to do better than that."

"Then how about I have a shot at you!" Raymond also took to the sky's and took out his bat. "You don't scare me! I won't lie, you give me an unsettling vibe."

"Good! You'll taste better when your cautious", Lucci said! "Finger pistol! Yellow Lotus!" He unleashed a flurry a shigans.

The speed at which he threw was impressive. They were quite hard to keep up with even. Raymond managed to dodge most of them, but he was hit in the shoulder by one. "Gah! Damn...he does hit hard!"

"Way to state the obvious", he said as he licked his claw."

"Take this!" Raymond brought the bat down, to which Lucci blocked. He seemed to have slight difficulty blocking it though. The bat was covered in a film of Haki.

"Oh, not bad. That's promising at least that you can use Haki. But if that's all you..., that's all he said before his tail was grabbed by Gurin.

"You can't get rid of me that easily! And also, I can do that to!" She used a finger Pistol attack into the back of his arm.

"Gah! Ok, now I'm mad."

"Then this is gonna piss you off even more!" Raymond used both arms and slammed the bat down onto Lucci", managing to send him onto the ground. "Great job Gurin!"

"No problem! We got this!"

"Alright...I can see you're both going to be pests about this", Lucci said as he appeared above both of them. They managed to see him a little bit sooner this time, which meant they were adjusting to his speed. His attack was still too fast however and he slammed his fists onto both of their heads. They both impacted the ground hard.

Raymond got up. "Alright, no more Mister nice scientist!" He drew his pipe weapon again and aimed carefully.

"You think that slow little toy of yours will be able to hit me?" Lucci zoomed around in the sky using his shave technique, seemingly disappearing from the battlefield.

Raymond closed his eyes and concentrated. He once again began to use his Haki, and he could see Lucci slowing down. Not only that, but he seemed to be moving in a pattern. He would simply just have to shoot where Lucci was going to appear next. "Alright, I got a lock on him!"

"Alright! Lets let him have it again!"

"Gotcha! Earth shot" A brown spark shot out of the pipe this time, and flew towards the spot where Lucci would end up. It hit him...and something strange happened. It didn't hurt...but he was unable to maintain his grasp of flight, and he was brought down towards the ground again.

"What is this!? What happened!?"

"The gravity of earth is now your enemy. Compacted molecules were in the shot and they..."

"Booooooring! Get back to the fight", Jabra yelled from the ship.

"Would it be too much to ask for the peanut gallery to shut their pieholes", Raymond yelled.

"So I'm on the ground? Big whoop! I can still finish you here!" Lucci zoomed over and prepared to stab Raymond again, but this time, his attack was stopped by Gurin's Iron body. The combination of the technique and her scales was enough to stop the attack. "You two are a pain in the ass when you two work together I see."

"Thats the point of teamwork!" He slammed some bang snaps down, and created a bright light."

"Ugh! What is this!?" His question was answered once he regained his sight, and saw both Gurin and Raymond in front of him. They both had their fists ready. And with a swift movement, they both threw a punch at him, and sent him backwards. HE got up, seemingly in pain.

"Hows THAT", Raymond said.

"He...hehe...hahahahah", Lucci started laughing as he turned back to normal.

"Whats so funny", Gurin asked as she also turned back to normal.

"Ha! I knew it. He just wanted to have some fun", Blueno said as he shook his head.

"I cant lie, he actually had me going for a second", Fukurou replied.

"Did I miss something", Moira asked.

"Well done you two! Not bad at all. Just as strong as I thought", Lucci said as he walked closer.

"If we're as strong as you thought, then why did you bother with this test then!?" Gurin crossed her arms and huffed.

"Oh please! You two took out silencers. Some of the top members of cipher pol branch. What more proof would I need to get to know your both strong?"

Raymond shook his head. "Then, what was the point of all this!?"

"Dont worry guys. It was just his way of being nice...sort of", Jabra shouted.

"Hey waitaminute! You all knew about this!? WHY didn't you say something?"

"Well, what would have been the fun in that? Alright, enough fooling around we got to get back to the next island", Kaku said. The newcomers were all just as lost as Raymond and Gurin. Then again, whatever happened has happened, and now they can move on without anymore fuss.

"Welcome aboard! I expect good things from you two. Now lets get back to training shall we", Lucci said as he smiled and hopped back towards the boat.

Raymond and Gurin seemed to be frozen in place. One could almost see the steam coming out of their ears. "Gurin...I think we should wake them up in the middle of the night for revenge?"

"I was thinking more like putting their hands in water while they sleep..."