Emichii: Yeah! WHASSUP EVERYBODY! This is the 8th chapter! I repeat the 8th chapter! YAAYYY! And the plot grows thicker. It's really odd actually, the way I planned this story out, and then… well I guess it just completely changed. Heh heh. Oh well. Here you go… drumroll please… ta dah!

Chapter Eight- Waahhh! The boss is coming to get me!

Nami blinked at the brilliant light as she stared into the great huge hall she was in. She really didn't get it now. It was so big. Like the Olympic park! (Now that's really big! How'd they fit that into the building?)

But the thing that surprised her most was that it was mostly empty. She could see a few cartons and computers stacked neatly on the sides but there was this great big space in the middle! She crept to the middle of the room where there was this huge pillar-shaped glass container. She could see a huge block of ice- an ice cube the size of a microwave- with a bottle with purple liquid in it frozen inside.

And how was she supposed to get the antidote?

Zoro was dizzy.

The path he had taken went up and up and up and around and around, just like a very, very tall lighthouse. Groaning, he leant against the wall for a breath and felt a stab of pain in his stomach.

The poison.

How much longer have I got?

Sighing, he continued up the long flight of stairs and then he saw it. A huge door blocking the way. Zoro turned the doorknob but it wouldn't open.

Oh please, not NOW! I don't have enough time!

Zoro angrily bashed himself hard against the door but it wouldn't open. He knew that if he made a lot of noise, he'd get caught.

Exasperated, he grabbed his swords and quickly cut the door down.

When he had walked into the room, he was surprised at what he saw.

Nami pressed her hand against the ice and then quickly retracted it.

Oh, that was cold!

She looked around. Is there an axe around here?

"Nami?"

Zoro was standing on a balcony with no safety rail around it. It was metres and metres above the ground and he could see a huge, Olympic park-sized all underneath.

And he could see a small figure there, staring at a microwave-sized block of ice and frowning.

"Nami?"

"Zoro?"

Nami looked up hopefully, but didn't see anything. Where? I know that was Zoro's voice!

"Nami! I'm over here!" Zoro said loudly.

"Zoro!" She looked up and around but no, there was nothing there.

"NAMI! ARE YOU BLIND?"

"NO I AM NOT BLIND! I just can't see you!" she cried.

Zoro thought she was joking, just trying to annoy him but then he saw her look straight at him, their eyes locking. Zoro suddenly his face grow hot. He looked away.

"I still can't see you!" Nami yelled.

"Yeah, but I'm here! On the balcony, like 20 metres above you!"

"There is no balcony!" she yelled back.

He grimaced. There was a crazy, serious vibe here.

He looked around quickly, sure that Shale- the boss, would be here watching.

"Zoro? Are you still here?" she yelled.

"I'm here, Nami… but I think someone else is here too."

"EH?"

"Well… I am impressed…"

That smooth, dangerous voice alarmed Nami. Not again! And I still can't see anything! It's just the block of ice!

Suddenly, an invisible force grabbed Nami and started to choke her.

Nami spluttered. "Hey, let go of me, whoever you are!"

She started to squirm, "Zoro, this isn't funny! That boss is here!"

"I KNOW! Nami, I'm coming!"

Then a green blur passed as Zoro appeared, grabbing Nami and kicking away the invisible force away.

Nami panted, leaning against Zoro for support. "What happening? Zoro, where did you come from?"

"Up there."

Nami looked up. "Where?"

Zoro frowned. "Hey! I can't see it either!"

Just then, the invisible force changed and Shale appeared. "I really am impressed."

He laughed.

Nami spat in his face, "What did you do that for? You could've killed me!"

"Exactly what I was trying to do." Shale examined their faces carefully. "This is really surprising… that you two can work so well together… Are you two really just crewmates? Or is there something deeper here?"

Zoro suddenly felt defensive about the subject. He reached for his swords and charged at Shale. He slashed hard but did no damage. Furious, he slashed at Shale's feet, and his black shoes fell apart.

Shale laughed. "You'll never get me!"

He started walking through the wall and called back. "Because, Zoro, you're the next one to die!"

Zoro breathed in and out deeply in shock. Nami stared at the wall. "He just walked though the wall!"

He sighed, and then cried out loud as another horrible stab of pain hit him. How much longer?

Nami looked over to Zoro with a worried expression. "Are you okay? We better go after him; he knows how to get rid of the poison."

He clenched his fists angrily. "I'm not gonna die! Just stop talking about it!"

He walked over to the block of ice and gestured to it. "Is this it? The antidote?"

Nami nodded.

Zoro slashed at the ice but hardly even chipped it. "Let's try melting it. Drag it out into the sun."

"Okay…"

Nami went to the wall and tried sticking her hand through it. "Hey! It works! Out here, Zoro! We can walk though the wall too!"

Zoro picked up the block of ice, ran outside and dumped it on the ground. Then he did a dance of agony, waving his hands around. "ARGH! MY HANDS! SO COLD! ARGH!"

Nami couldn't help giggling, even in their hopeless position. Zoro glared at her, and when she wasn't looking, just gazed at her dreamily.

But Nami was thinking about different matters.

"Zoro…" she said softly, staring at the ground. "You've saved my life so many times, is it… is it… just cuz I'm a crewmate?"

Zoro said quickly, "Yeah, well, you're a girl- um, a woman."

"So I'm just a girl?"

"Uh-huh."

"YOU MEAN YOU SAVED ME ALL THOSE TIME JUST CUZ I'M A GIRL? THAT'S ALL? DOES THAT MEAN YOU DON'T –" Nami stopped herself and put her hands over her mouth, "Er… pretend I didn't say anything…"

Nami knew that she was falling in love with Zoro but she knew he didn't feel anything for her. Stiffly, she looked away from Zoro and said, "When that ice thaws away we have to get it to the others and wake up Chopper so that he can take away the poison you have."

"Yeah." Zoro replied.

Awkward silence.

Suddenly, without warning, Zoro drew his swords quick as and struck something behind him. His senses had showed him that Shale had been behind him, about to strike, but Zoro caught him first.

Shale leapt up a nearby building, laughed and shook his head, rubbing his chin. "My, my, I really am surprised! You two must be the brains of the entire crew, heh heh… the others are the dumb ones, right?"

Zoro glared at him and leapt up after him, grunting.

Shale smiled an evil grin at them, "How 'bout this, then? With you two, we can all team up and rule the world together- as equals! How does that sound?"

"NEVER!" Zoro said his words with the sword in his mouth. "You'll die first!"

He jumped up above Shale then plummeted down fast, his swords spinning away.

Shale laughed again. "I'm afraid it's too late. It's also sad that you didn't accept my offer. But it seems that your death is coming soon-"

"I'M NOT GONNA DIE!" Zoro yelled.

Just then a huge stab of pain hit him so hard that he gasped out and stumbled.

Shale said, "but I can't be a good guy, you know, I'll spare you the pain… DIE NOW! BE KILLED BY YOUR OWN CREW!"

Right on cue, Luffy, Sanji and Ussop appeared, growling.

Nami shrieked.

Zoro glared at Shale, who laughed.

C'mon, melt, MELT! Nami thought desperately as she watched the block of ice in the sun.

It was really taking its time, thought its size had certainly gotten smaller; there was still a long way to go before the antidote was thawed out.

Meanwhile, she had other things to worry about, Sanji running at her with a carving knife.

"WAAAHH!" she screamed and ran.

Zoro clenched his swords tighter. He couldn't save Nami all the time; he had other things to do. Fighting both Ussop and Luffy at the same time, he pushed his way towards Shale, trying to get in closer range so that he could actually hit him.

"Argh!"

Nami looked up as Zoro fell, clutching his side.

"ZORO!" she cried, running up a flight of stairs to get up to where Zoro was.

Shale looked down at Zoro and said, "I can see the poison is getting to you. And that just makes my job easier."

Luffy, Ussop, Sanji and Shale all charged at the fallen Zoro.

"ZORO!" Nami screamed.

Without thinking, she ran back to the ice, which had melted and the antidote was lying in a cold puddle of water. She grabbed it, ripped open the lid and sprayed it all over Luffy, Sanji and Ussop.

Luffy shook his head out and said loudly, "Oh my head hurts!"

"What was I doing just now?" wondered Ussop.

"Oh Nami! Your radiant beauty brightens my day…" Sanji started.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "CAN'T YOU SEE THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO DIE?"

Shale clicked his fingers and evil businessmen popped up all over the place. They had a huge lead net and dropped it onto Zoro and the others.

Nami wasn't caught in the net but she was every bit as hysterical.

Shale said, "And now, you will all DIE!"

Emichii: No, I won't make 'em all die! DER NO! What would I do if the main characters die?

Anyway, Chopper makes his appearance right about now so its gonna be way cool when that happens! READ AND REVIEW!