The Null Void

Six Months Ago...

One building within the dimension known as the Null Void where the galaxy's worst of the worst are imprisoned for eternity, in what was formerly known as Incarcecon, had been reconstructed to hold only one prisoner after the warden known as Morgg was exposed and arrested for corruption, with the other prisoners having been transferred to a whole other prison. He was one of the most dangerous, sadistic, and downright evil beings in the entire universe; his prison-within-a-prison was built accordingly. Nothing short of an army could get through, and even that was debatable.

Still, it had one weakness, overlooked due to the prison having previously been a front for illegal activity by its former warden; if someone could actually get inside, it was possible that they could shut off the security and simply walk out with the prisoner.

Which, of course, is exactly what was about to happen. A swirling vortex appeared deep within the prison, and a figure clad in purple stepped through. The person looked around, as if to get their bearings, before walking towards an energy-cage, projected by a half-dome below.

"Depressing, isn't it?" the figure spoke.

The massive being within the cage glared at the figure with glowing red eyes.

"Did you come here just to mock me, worm?" The prisoner did not let the accusation go unspoken.

The figure spoke again, "Nothing of the sort, I'm here for you Vilgax; Now listen closely, I don't like repeating myself. You have no idea how often I have to do that."

"Are you asking for my help?"

"It pains me to say, but I need it. In return I will offer you strength."

"And what exactly can you offer me? I once held the powers of a god before they were wrongly stripped away from me! I doubt what you can offer would even compare."

"I am what some refer to as a Time Walker. The bounds of time and space to me are nothing more than assets for me to control. However, there is a cost. A cost in which I am tired of paying. And you, Vilgax, are the perfect pawn that I need. If I succeed, I can give you the entire universe to rule. There would be no one left to stand against you.

Vilgax could only snarl in response, "I remain unconvinced."

"Even if you had a chance at revenge against a certain...Tennyson?"

After a moment, the prisoner nodded, satisfied with the reply.

"Very well; release me."

The figure nodded, before waving his hand near the projector before it was enveloped in purple energy. After a moment, the energy had overloaded and then destroyed the projector. The prisoner fell to the ground, landing on his feet.

"Come, Time Walker; we have much to prepare for."

With a dark laugh, the prisoner and his new ally strode through the vortex, their minds focused on one thing.

Their revenge on one Ben Tennyson.


Present

"So, why do you want to join my crew?" Luffy questioned the stowaway as he ate his meal. "Is what Ben said really your real name?"

"My name is Nico Robin." Robin finally told him with a small laugh. "I was a part of Baroque Works for the protection that being under Sir Crocodile's banner afforded me. It also coincided with my own goals and my dream."

"Your dream?" Ben questioned.

"Oh no…" Nami facepalmed when she saw Luffy's eyes light up and a large smile form on his face.

"Ah damn it…" Zoro exhaled heavily as soon as the words left the woman's mouth. He knew how this song and dance would go.

"Dream?" Luffy leaned forward with interest. "What's your dream, Robin?"

"I seek the Rio Poneglyph." Robin answered with an almost professional tone. "Of the many Poneglyphs in the world, only that one has the true history inscribed upon it. I seek to find and read it, to uncover the lost history of the Void Century. I've been chasing that dream for the last twenty years. Alabasta was my final lead, but the Poneglyph wasn't the right one." Her eyes became sad, though she hid it well. "There are too many obstacles standing between me and my dream."

"Nope!" Luffy shook his head.

"Huh?" Robin blinked at the younger man.

"Nope!" Luffy repeated with his signature wide grin. "Never give up on your dream, Robin!" The Flower Flower Fruit user couldn't help the small smile that formed on her lips. He was an enthusiastic one when it came to dreams, it seemed.

"So, does that mean I can join?" Robin asked the captain for clarification.

"Sure!" Luffy agreed instantly.

"LUFFY!" Nami, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Usopp all exclaimed at the same time. Zoro facepalmed at the simpleness his Captain was showing. Sanji was noodling around with heart-shaped eyes in joy of another woman on the crew. Chopper looked between his nakama and their different reactions with some confusion.

"Don't worry!" Luffy smiled at his nakama. The same smile that always reassured them that everything was fine. "She's not a bad person." He chuckled and Robin gave him another easy smile for his words.

Later, Usopp was asking Robin questions while using her powers to play with Luffy and Chopper.

Chopper noticed she was staring at him and hid behind Luffy. Backwards as he put his hooves on Luffy and stayed in sight. Sanji with hearts in his eyes had already brought Robin a cup of tea.

"She's already won them over…" Nami sighed and shook her head. Luffy was too easy going sometimes. "A few days ago, she was the vice-president of Baroque Works. That woman was Crocodile's partner! I trust Luffy, but if you make one wrong move, I'll throw you out myself." The navigator stared down at Robin. Gwen was glaring at Robin beside Nami.

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind." Robin softly giggled before pulling out a small bag and setting it on the table. "By the way, I brought most of Crocodile's liquid assets with me. This is only a small portion."

"Really?!" Nami seemingly teleported to Robin's side with sparkles in her eyes. "I love you, sister!" Before she could grab the treasure, Kevin then yanked Nami by her collar as he gave her an unimpressed look much to her embarrassment. She at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"This is nice." Robin stood up from her chair and walked up the stairs. "Is it always like this?" She questioned Zoro with a grin.

"Pretty much." Zoro sighed while keeping his eyes on her.

"I see." Robin giggled with a smile as the breeze blew through her hair.

Gwen continued to glare at Robin. She couldn't just forgive and forget that the archaeologist helped Crocodile nearly destroy Alabasta and kill so many innocent people.

"You want to know why I did it, yes?" Robin turned to look at Gwen with a mostly blank expression. Gwen's eyes narrowed, but she nodded slightly. "Let's talk, Ms. Sorceress." Robin offered and made it clear that she'd follow wherever Gwen led her to have this conversation. The Anodite had already marched towards the women's quarters with Robin followed behind.

"Alright, talk." Gwen all but demanded once the door was closed behind them. She sat on a bed with an angry scowl while Robin sat across from her.

"It's true that I aided Crocodile in several of his schemes against Alabasta." Robin admitted just to get it out of the way. "I helped spread the various rumors that stirred up dissent. I spied and stole information. I hurt many innocents. I even made sure some operations were carried out successfully." Seeing Gwen clenching the bedding beneath her, Robin moved on. "But…it's also true that I prevented almost all of Crocodile's more violent schemes from succeeding."

"Wait, what?" Gwen blinked at her words. "Explain."

"Crocodile had many ideas to breed dissent and collapse the faith in the king." Robin informed the magic user factually. "Several of those plans involved sending Baroque Works agents masquerading as Royal Soldiers to raid and destroy various small villages throughout the kingdom." Gwen's eyes widened at the information. "I made sure that said plans always failed. A broken wheel here, sick horses there, or I'd simply give them the wrong directions and they'd come back days later after wandering aimlessly in the desert."

"How do I know you're really telling the truth?" Gwen inquired, unwilling to believe the woman. Even if it sounded exactly like something that Crocodile would do.

"Because I know I'm not." Robin looked into Gwen's eyes. "I did what I could to avert the worst of Crocodile's plans. I couldn't stop him from prolonging the drought, nor could I save all of the villages that died from the lack of water. But I did everything I could to prevent mass slaughter. Even in the pursuit of my goals, even I have lines that I refuse to cross. Crocodile did not have the same restraint."

"What exactly was Crocodile's endgame here?" Gwen had to know why Vivi's country had nearly been destroyed.

"Pluton." Robin spoke the name. "Crocodile was after the Ancient Weapon, Pluton. He needed me to read the Poneglyph hidden within the Royal Tombs to tell him where it was." She shook her head. "I had hoped that the Poneglyph the king's bloodline had been protecting would actually be the Rio Poneglyph, since the royal family was one from the original 20 Kingdoms. But alas…it was merely the location of Pluton. I would never have told Crocodile that, of course. I'd sooner die than let a man like him obtain one of those ancient weapons of mass destruction."

Gwen looked into the archaeologist's eyes. "What was Crocodile going to do to the king, if the plan had succeeded?"

"If Crocodile had made it to Alubarna, he was going to kill the king after he had the location of Pluton." Robin informed in a flat tone, even as Gwen had a look of horror on her face. "Alabasta was going to be the first island he 'tested' Pluton on once he had it."

"No…" Gwen nearly collapsed at the mere thought of such a tragedy befalling Vivi's own people and kingdom. It would've been flat out genocide!

"I couldn't allow such a thing." Robin shook her head. "I memorized a large amount of Alabasta's history to 'read' off of the Poneglyph in Crocodile's presence to fool him. With his zero tolerance for failure, I'm sure it would've ended badly, but at least he'd never get his hands on the ancient weapon."

"I…don't know what to say…" Gwen shook her head.

"It's fine." Robin spoke in a cool, flat tone. "I did many things to Alabasta and hurt many people that you care for in pursuit of my own goals. I'm not asking for your forgiveness." Gwen looked up at the older woman. "Keep your resentment, your hatred, and your anger for me. I deserve all of it and more. You aren't wrong to blame me, nor is it wrong for you to hold a grudge against me. I'm perfectly fine being the one crewmate that you despise. I've done more than enough to earn a lifetime of enmity from you."

"Gwen," Gwen spoke, "Call me Gwen." She sniffled a little as she got herself together. "I can't forget what you did. I can't forgive you for everything, not right away." The younger woman shook her head. "But if we're going to be crewmates, we need to learn to be civil with each other. Being angry and holding on to grudges, it's not who I am."

Eyes widening slightly, Robin murmured, "You…" She could admit that this wasn't how she expected this conversation to go.

"I'll remember the good you've done, for now." Gwen stated. "If you want my forgiveness, then earn it with your actions. Do everything you can to earn our trust. If you can do that, then I can forgive you, one day. I can eventually come to call you a friend." She smiled at the archaeologist slightly.

"I will endeavor to do so…Gwen." Robin replied, giving the Flower Flower Fruit user a small smile. Internally, Robin wondered how long this would last. If she'd even come close to making up for what she'd done in Alabasta before she was forced to move on once more. 'I can only wait and see, I guess.'

"One more thing," Gwen said as her eyes glowed pink, "If you even think of trying to betray us or hurt my friends, I will peel you like a grape."

Robin actually sweated a bit in response to that threat knowing full well that the girl would have defeated her during their fight had she not let her guard down.

"Yes of course."


A little later Robin was met with a surprise. Sanji had made quite a lot of food and a celebration was being thrown for her. The archaeologist would admit to being very surprised. She'd never had any kind of welcome party thrown for her before. She'd joined plenty of criminal organizations in the past, and such things simply didn't happen. But it seemed that the Straw Hat Pirates didn't follow any of the standards for outlaws of any kind.

"Robin!" Luffy called out with a huge smile. "Welcome to the Straw Hat Pirates! Let's celebrate our new crewmate!"

"Yeah!" The rest of the crew chorused as they raised their flagons high. Even Zoro as well as the rest of Ben's team, suspicious and distrustful as they were about her, raised their drinks in welcome.

"Thank you…" Robin hid her surprise and confusion behind a gentle smile. She should probably expect things to keep being unusual with this crew.


Next Day...

"Lunch is ready," Sanji announced as he came out of the cabin, "and Luffy, if I have to tell you one more time to let the women take theirs first, I swear to God I'll-!"

Sanji was interrupted as he felt something land on him, the cook looked up to check the sky, but he saw nothing save for what seemed to be a dark cloud. Apparently, Ben felt it, too.

"Rain?" the Omnitrix wielder asked.

"No," Nami frowned. "It's… wood?" She looked up and noticed that the "cloud" Sanji had seen was not a cloud at all. "Holy shit! Turn the ship! Turn the ship now! There's a ship falling from the sky!" Reacting to their navigator's sudden demand, the crew scurried about to do as she ordered.

"This is just a dream," Usopp whispered to himself from where he had curled up against the mast. "Just a dream. If I count to three and open my eyes, I'll wake up. One, two, three!" But he didn't wake up. Instead, the sniper found a skeleton falling toward him. With a scream, the teen scrambled away as the remains' skull shattered on the deck.

The Going Merry only had a minute, just barely enough time for the little caravel to get out from under the looming shadow of the galleon above her. The massive, ancient ship, colored a faded red and with a tiki-mask-like figurehead, crashed into the sea off the starboard bow, kicking up giant waves that threatened to capsize the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Okay, is it just me or did that really just happen?" A bewildered Kevin pointed out.

"No Kevin, I do believe that was not just you," said an equally shocked Rook.

"Wow!" Luffy marveled as the ocean settled. "Come on, Usopp! Let's go exploring!"

"No!" the terrified sniper tried to protest. The captain would have none of it, however, and grabbed him before jumping to the sinking ship.

"Wait Luffy, no!" Ben tried to shout but it was too late there were now two flailing pirates both trying not to drown. With a sigh, Ben activated the Omnitrix.

"Okay Ripjaws, do your thing!" Ben pressed the dial and transformed, but instead of Ripjaws it was a certain blue jellyfish.

"AMPFIBIAN! Not what I was going for, but I can work with this," Ampfibian spoke as he dived into the water.

After returning, the Amperi dropped the sniper and the Devil Fruit user on the deck, the captain with something clutched in his hand. Several seconds later, said captain jumped up and began talking about how cool the stuff on the ship was.

"...And there was this thing with a handle! I don't know what it was, but I want it. And I found this!" With a flourish, Luffy revealed that the thing in his hand was a map. It was old and yellowed, but the pirates could still make out the picture of the almost-skull-like island and the name "Skypia" written in fancy writing in the bottom right-hand corner.

"Ms. Navigator," Robin commented, reminded of something my seeing the map. "When did you last check the Log Pose?"

"I haven't checked it since I woke up this morning. I- Ahh!" Nami screamed after glancing at the pose. "The Log Pose is broken!"

"What?!" the rest of the crew cried.

"It's pointing straight up!"

"You're sure it's not broken or anything?" asked Julie.

"It's not broken," Robin waved off. "It has just registered Sky Island."

"That sounds fun!" Luffy yelled. "Let's go there!"

"Impossible!" Nami denied. "This may be the Grand Line, but there's no way there are islands in the sky."

"There must be," Robin countered. "When on the sea, the only thing you can trust in is the Log Pose."

"Even if it does exist," Nami argued, "How are we supposed to get there?"

"I don't know," Robin conceded. "Maybe we can learn something from that ship."

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed. "Salvage that ship!"


"This is Zoro," the swordsman's voice said from the tubes.

"This is Sanji, checking in."

"This is Ben, same here."

"This is Luffy. There are a lot of monsters down here." The so-called Monster Quartet had descended into the water with the use of some barrel suits Luffy had Kevin and Usopp rig up, Luffy's covering his whole body to protect him from the sea. Ben was the only exception since as Ampfibian he could breathe underwater while each of the other three Strawhats were connected to the ship by a breathing tube which doubled as a communication method. The four continued to descend, nearing the sunken ship.

"Salvage~!" several off-key voices sang, accompanied by drums and cymbals. "Salvage the sea~!" A boat appeared on the horizon, the lower deck a literal jungle. Standing on the bow, over the decorative full-body monkey figurehead with cymbals, was a man that looked like a monkey. He was dressed in burnt-orange overalls with the word 'Masira' written in a yellow box on his chest.

"Halt!" he ordered, the ship slowing immediately after. "Is this where that ship sank?"

"Yes, sir!" the men answered.

"Then get the first dive team down there right away!" The monkey-man turned, finally noticing the much smaller ship bobbing in the water. "Who are you? Are you trying to steal my salvage?"

"U-Us?" Nami stuttered. "We're nobodies! And we aren't trying to steal anything! That ship that fell almost crushed us! We were curious is all."

"So, you're not here to salvage that ship?"

"No, sir!" the woman lied. "But who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?" Monkey-Man gasped. "I'm Masira, the Salvage King! Every ship that goes down in this area belongs to me!"

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy's voice called through the speakers. "We've got everything and are ready to come up!" The navigator quickly muffled it, hoping that the other captain hadn't heard.

"Now that I think about it, why are you guys still here?" Masira questioned

"We just want to see how the professionals salvage a ship!" The orange-haired girl kept her hand over the speaker as she sent a glance at the rest of the crew. Kevin, Gwen, and Robin picked up on her silent plea and took it upon themselves to distract Masira by getting him to boast of his own accomplishments.

"Luffy," she whispered into the horn, hoping he could hear her. "You gotta be quiet. We've got company up here."

"Oh," the rubber-man whispered back. "Are those the guys we just beat up?"

"Sir!" one of Masira's men reported. "The men we sent down have returned heavily wounded and unconscious!"

"What happened to them?" Masira demanded, his attention being torn away from the Going Merry and her crew.

"We aren't sure," the crewman answered. "But we did find evidence of a nest of sea-snakes below us."

"Damn. Get the cleaning team down there and wipe them out!"

"Yes, Sir!" A few minutes later, a group of men jumped into the water from the salvaging ship, this time armed with weapons for hunting.

"Hey, Nami," Luffy whispered through the speaker. "We found a little bit more. We're coming back up."

"Not so fast," she warned. "There are some guys clearing out those snakes you mentioned earlier."

"Ugh. Fine." Several more minutes passed, those above the water making idle chit-chat to pass the time. Finally, the squad Masira had sent down returned, carrying the bodies of a multitude of giant sea-snakes. Usopp gave the Monster Quartet the go-ahead to surface, and they returned while the other crew was hoisting their catch into their boat. They'd each come up with a large bag, but there was nothing of value in any of it. The only interesting things were a broken wooden thing with a handle and some empty chests for organizing the treasure in their hold. The ape-man didn't even notice their return; he was too focused on trying to show off.

Masira's salvage when off without a hitch, minus the fact that a giant turtle ate the ship as they were hoisting it to the surface. There was nothing worth salvaging in it, but Masira didn't know that. Either way, he and Luffy became fast friends, and he gave the Straw Hats an Eternal Pose as a gift that was permanently set to the next island: Jaya.

But just as it seemed things were looking up, all the light in the surrounding area vanished. Clouds covered the sky, leaving nothing but a dark afterthought of the what the day had been. The turtle with the ship in its maw beat a hasty retreat. The crews of the two ships could only stare in horror as silhouettes fading into view from the edges of their vision.

"What the heck is that?!" Ben exclaimed.

Everyone screamed. There, on the bleak horizon, were what seemed to be five gigantic humanoids with small wings, each wielding a spear. As they watched, the figure in the middle raised its weapon, preparing to stab them. Every man grabbed an oar and paddled as if their lives depended on it, rocketing the Merry toward the only bit of light in the distance.


Jaya

Jaya was pretty much a cesspool of pirates and all sorts of scum. Mock Town especially was almost completely inhabited by pirates. Leaving the ship were Luffy, Nami, Ben, Julie, and Rook. Everyone else, minus Kevin, Gwen, Zoro, Tetrax, and Robin, were staying behind while the former two were going to get some supplies for the ship while the archeologist was going out to learn the history of the island and both the swordsman and mercenary had been ordered to be her bodyguards. Partly because Team Ben wanted to keep an eye on her if she tried anything.

The group of five wandered through the town, careful as to not cause trouble lest Nami tear them a new one. She'd even gone so far as to make Luffy and the others promise not to fight anyone. Eventually, they made their way to a hotel that looked like it belonged in a capital city rather than the pirate-infested Mock Town.

"This place looks pretty fancy," Ben awed.

"I wouldn't mind staying here for a couple of days," Julie agreed. Around a corner came a very shaky man who wobbled over to them.

"I-I-I'm sorry," the man stuttered through his shaking, "b-but I'm g-g-going t-to have t-to ask y-you to l-l-leave."

"Why?" Nami demanded.

"Th-this entire hotel w-was r-rented b-by Bel-Bel-Bellamy the Hy-Hyena f-for hims-self a-and his c-crew. I-if he s-saw you h-here, he-he'd s-s-separate my h-head fro-from my b-body. So p-please leave, f-for my s-sake."

Well, that explained all the stuttering.

"What is going on here?" a new voice asked. The pirates and proprietor turned to the entrance to see a silver-haired man with a purple visor stroll in with his arm around a dirty-blonde. The newcomer wore a pair of dark pants and a fur-lined coat which he left open to show off his muscular torso and the tattoo thereupon, a smiley face with a diagonal slash.

"M-M-M-Mr. Sarkies, Sir," the hotel owner sputtered. "I t-told them to g-get out, b-but they w-wouldn't listen."

"Here," the man smiled, tossing a handful of Beris to the ground in front of Luffy. "Leave and get yourself something better than those rags you're wearing. I can't stand the sight of them."

"Oh, Dear," the woman on his arm sighed. "You're wasting your money on rabble like this."

"They're rabble; they need all the charity they can get!" Sarkies responded, him and the woman laughing at his words.

"No worries," Ben stated, only his crewmates hearing the anger in his tone. This man reminded him of some of his own bad guys in the way he spoke. "We were just leaving."

"Pahahaha!" they heard the man, Sarkies, laugh as they left. "What a bunch of weaklings!"

"What a jerk," Ben muttered, the others silently agreeing. Annoyed, the band of pirates stepped back into Mock Town.


Elsewhere

"You know, for such a small town, this place is pretty busy." Kevin observed as he and Gwen walked from shop to shop. They had asked a few people on anything they know about the Sky Island, but most either had no idea, or just thought they were crazy.

"It seems so, but where should we start?" Gwen looked on.

"Maybe we should've went with Ben and Luffy, those guys seem to have gone to all the cooler places first." Kevin replied.

"Of course, a good suggestion would also be that you'd help me look for a place to shop for supplies instead of trying to find a way to earn a quick buck…"

"Hey, you know I can multitask just fine," Kevin answered back with a smirk.

They continued walking for a bit, still on the lookout for any source of information. Along the trip the couple managed to buy what they needed to restock the ship.

It was here that Kevin suddenly noticed something was up. Standing in the middle of a square was a rather tall man with a pair of strange glasses; one of the lenses were normal, while the other was circular and shaped like a reticle. Kevin was perplexed for a while, until he saw the man lift up a long, wide-barreled rifle.

Before he could do anything, the towns people had to duck as the man shot upwards twice. A few seconds later, two seagulls fell onto the stone ground, twitching for a while before falling still.

"Whoa, nice shot there buddy!" Kevin exclaimed. The man only raised an eyebrow at him before responding calmly.

"I was indulging in a game of fate. I wanted to see whether these birds will die instantly when they are shot out of the sky, or whether they will bear the agony before passing on. It seems like fate has granted them a swift death."

"Well, that's not creepy or anything. Ever tried gambling instead?" Kevin suggested, a bit put off by the stranger's behavior.

"Nothing like that, this was merely a test." The man shrugged, clearly unfazed by what he just did. "Fate is something that is rather fascinating, you never know what might happen with it affecting the world." Before Kevin could respond the man hoisted the rifle onto his shoulders and walked away.

"What a weirdo," Kevin remarked before Gwen had to remind him that they had things to do.

It wasn't the only strange thing they saw. As they continued strolling the loud declarations of a large man with a Luchador mask asking for anyone to challenge him to a feat of strength could be heard. It seems like this town had some quirky characters in it. And yet, still no information on any Sky Island.


Bars were a good place to get information. Plus, they could be found in every village with any form of economy. Thus, Luffy, Nami, Ben, Julie, and Rook found themselves inside of one of the many situated in Mock Town. The bar was an average place with no name, only a crudely painted sign reading "BAR, and pies" hanging over the door. Nevertheless, the place was nearly full, pirates of all shapes and sizes laughing together at each table.

"This whole trip has been pointless!" Nami complained, an empty glass sitting on front of her. Luffy sat to her right, his second mug of whatever he was drinking empty as well. The other three were stretched out on the navigator's left, their own various drinks sitting before them. "This town is filled with nothing but arrogant or stupid pirates."

"I'm sorry about that," the bartender apologized, replacing her empty drink with another. "This town's only real economy is from pirates, so level-headed people like yourself are hard to come by. Here. This one's on the house." The man shuffled away, only stopping to place a cherry pie in front of Luffy and another in front of the large man to the teen's right. He then moved backwards to start cleaning dishes.

The man next to Luffy looked to be the personification of the pirate stereotype, the only things missing being an eyepatch and a hook for a hand. The man was missing several teeth and those that he had were grey. Black, curly hair tumbled to his shoulders from his captain's hat and his brown eyes showed that held a cheery demeanor. His dirty clothes consisted of a torn white shirt that showed his hairy chest and stretched at his gut, green pants held up with a belt, and black boots sized to his extra-large feet.

"Hey, Bartender!" both Luffy and the large man yelled, the younger with a disgusted look on his face. "This pie is the worst/best pie I've ever had!" The two stared at each other, lighting all but clashing from their glares before Nami yanked on Luffy's ear and the man behind the counter sighed.

"I don't work in the kitchen, so I really don't care what you think of the food. Now break it up. The most important rule in here is no fighting." Luffy grumbled as the man ordered a whopping fifty pies, paid, and left.

As he made his exit, another man strode in with his crew behind him. He was a tall man with a deep tan and medium-length blond hair. Cream-colored pants and dark shoes covered his lower body while his upper had a pink shirt and a blue captain's coat draped over his shoulders. His black eyes scanned the bar as he spoke, getting the attention of everyone there.

"I'm looking for a pirate who wears a straw hat!" Whispers broke out, eyes shifting from the man at the door and Luffy at the counter.

"That's Bellamy the Hyena."

"He's got a 55 million Beri bounty."

"They say he's faster than any other man alive."

"He's the man who killed Roshio the Executioner earlier."

Bellamy cared not for the whispers as he stepped forward, the rest of his crew entering behind him and forcing several pirates to abandon their seats. Their leader, however, made his way to the recently vacated seat next to Luffy and sat down, eyeing the teen.

"So, you're the kid with a 30 million bounty," he stated.

"Nope," Luffy denied. "I've got a 100 million Beri bounty." A laugh tore from the throats of Bellamy and his crew, the other patrons of the bar soon following in their example.

"That's a good one, kid," the man chuckled. "Bartender, get me a bottle from the top shelf and one of whatever this guy wants."

"No thanks," Luffy declined, "but if you could tell me anything you know about how to get to Sky Island, that'd be great." Bellamy twisted around in his seat and grabbed the back of Luffy's head before slamming his face into the counter, smashing the wood into kindling. Both Ben and Rook were incensed by this display of violence as they got ready to fight back, if need be, with Ben standing protectively in front of Julie.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled, kneeling beside the rubber captain. Her cry was lost in the laughter of Bellamy's men.

"Listen up," Bellamy stated, "if your captain had passed my test, I'd have let you all join my crew, but I don't have room for daydreaming fools like you guys. Hundreds of people set out to sea, dreaming of cities of gold, or islands in the sky, or the great One Piece." He spread his arms, raising his voice. "There's a new era coming! One where those stupid dreamers are no more! The City of Gold is gone! There are no islands in the sky! And the fabled One Piece is fake! The sooner you accept that, the better your life will be."

"Then how do you explain ships falling out of the sky?" Julie demanded. "We were almost crushed by one on the way here. Explain that."

"I guess you don't know about the Knockup Stream, do you?" Bellamy answered with a sneer. "A natural occurrence that blasts anything caught in it impossibly high. Years ago, sailors saw boats falling from the sky and made-up fantasies about an island in the clouds. They didn't know about the knockup stream, but we do. What do you think of that?!" The blond threw the rest of his drink down, the glass shattering next to Luffy's head and the remaining liquid covering his face. This spurred the rest of the bar to throw their own drinks at the fallen teen.

"I take back what I said about being passive," Nami told her captain. "Fight them."

"Guys," Luffy muttered, picking up his hat and dropping it on Nami's head. "Whatever they do, don't fight back. The bar's rules say no fighting. And we promised we wouldn't."

"I don't think they're giving us any choice, Luffy," Ben pointed out as he activated the Omnitrix and Rook having taken out his Proto-Tool.

Then suddenly without warning, everyone felt the ground shake. A giant hole in the wall opened up as a large, huge, rock-based creature with a crab-like body and a rhino-like face hissed in rage, its red eyes glaring as the device on its spiked red collar glowed a bit.

"What?! Who the hell are you?!" Bellamy shouted, "We were in the middle of something here!"

"Hey Bellamy! Why don't you teach this ugly thing a lesson?!" Sarkies encouraged as the rest of Bellamy's crew cheered on.

"That's right! I'm gonna teach you why it's rude to interrupt people while they're talking!" Bellamy growled, his legs morphing into springs. "Spring Death Knock!"

Bellamy jumped attempting kicking both legs into the creature's face, but it charged forward, it's horn meeting the Hyena's face mid-flight, redirecting him into an uncontrolled spiral that crashed into a side wall much to the shock of his crew.

A Crabdozer?! Here?" Rook shouted in surprise.

"A what?" You know what this thing is?" Ben asked.

"Never mind that!" Nami yelled out, "What are we going to do about it?!"

"Well, Luffy?" Ben said, "What do you got to say about this?"

"No, this is different," Luffy replied as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's kick its ass!"

"Now you're talking! Let's see how you handle Rath!" Ben said as he slammed down the Omnitrix dial, turning into a giant winged insect with dark green skin that had four flat legs with two arms, whose hands resembled human ones with three clawed fingers. It had four small eyes on long stalks connected to its large head, its wings were light green and very fragile with lines on them, and its limbs are a brown-greenish color, it had a large black stinger for a tail, and finally it had the Omnitrix symbol on its chest, "STINKFLY! What the?! That doesn't even sound like Rath!" said Stinkfly as he shot goo out of his eyes at Crabdozer's legs, sticking them to the floor. Crabdozer attempted to break free but is unable to. Stinkfly could only chuckle at this display, "Stick around for a while, why don't ya?"

The device on Crabdozer's collar glowed as it then transformed into a lizard like creature with a white, black, and red color scheme. It had a black head which donned a white patch on each side of its head. Located on these, it has four red eyes, two on one side, and two on the other. The creature also had sharp teeth and the gums protruding in its lower jaw. It had a row of red spikes running down its back, which also had a black stripe. It had four legs and black feet, each ending in three red claws, and a tail with a red-marked tip. The creature then breathed a yellow fog at the goo, causing it to melt away.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" Stinkfly exclaimed, now shocked.

"A Buglizard also?!" Rook said.

The Buglizard charged at Stinkfly and grabbed him in his mouth. Buglizard then began to shake Stinkfly vigorously.

"Ow! Ungh! Whoa!" Stinkfly screamed.

"Hang on Ben! Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy reared his fist back as he punched Buglizard in one of its eyes, making it release Stinkfly.

Rook narrowed his eyes as he fired his Proto-Tool as Luffy kept fighting the creature back with his fists, while Stinkfly got up with a groan. "Okay...I better take it out...time to go Humungosaur!" He said as he pressed down the Omnitrix dial...before turning into Wildmutt. It gave out a faint growl of annoyance before running at Buglizard, as it growled and bit Wildmutt's arm, making him roar out in pain before he tackled it through the wall, pinning it down as Buglizard struggled to break free.

Khyber who was watching the fight from a nearby rooftop frowned at this as he said, "How unsporting, better draw him away from his friends..." as Khyber then whistled, making Wildmutt roar out in pain as he covered his ears while Buglizard having turned back into its skeletal dog form before running off.

"Stop!" said Julie in her Ship armor as she and Rook began to fire at it, but the dog dodged all the blasts as it got away, making the Ravanagander groan a bit.

"I apologize Ben and Captain Luffy..." said Rook as Ben turned back to normal.

"Ben! Are you okay?" asked Julie, concerned.

"Yeah..." Ben replied, "It's just that back in Alabasta, I fought this giant worm that wore the same red collar."

"That can't be a coincidence can it?" said Julie.

"Those two creatures, I recognized them as predators not native to this planet," Rook spoke up.

"Wait a minute, when you say not from this planet you mean..." Nami trailed off as her eyes widened in realization.

"They were aliens!" Luffy shouted with stars in his eyes, "So cool!"

"Shh!" Not so loud Luffy!" Nami hissed, "It's supposed to be a secret remember!"

Ben looked back at the now wrecked bar, "Uh guys, I think we should leave. We already caused enough of a scene already."

As one, the group of five headed back to the ship. They soon found the black-haired man who had ordered the pies, eating them in the street and laughing.

"Got something you want to say?" Nami growled.

"ZEHAHAHA! Now what could you possibly be angry about.? I heard everything that happened back there. You'd have won that fight without throwing a punch. A new era is coming? That's a load of crap!" He raised his hands. "The age when pirates dreams will never die! ZEHAHAHAHA!"

The pirates walked away, their spirits slightly lifted and the man's jolly laughter in their ears.

"That place really does make a killer cherry pie! ZEHAHAHA!"


Later

"More boards, Usopp!" Kevin called. Usopp grumbled irritably to himself as he slammed the nail into the last board he was working with.

"How many times do I have to say it?" He demanded, "I'm not a carpenter, why do I get stuck doing the repairs?"

"Because you're the only one who wants to do it," Chopper informed him blankly. Usopp cursed the reindeer quietly under his breath as he moved to the next hole on Merry's hull, grabbing one he boards Kevin had grabbed him. Now that they'd made it to civilization they could do some repairs, but they weren't exactly very good. He wasn't a carpenter or a shipwright. He was basically just nailing planks over the holes.

"Why don't we just go shopping for a new ship?" Sanji asked from the balcony, "It'd be easier than just doing what amounts to a patchwork job."

"We can't sell Merry!" Usopp yelled, whirling on the cook. "Don't you know where we got her?! A dear friend from my hometown gave this to us! I'd rather die than sell the ship Kaya gave us!"

"Is that so?" Kevin commented from nearby, a sly smirk on his face. "Is this Kaya chick your girlfriend or something?"

"W-What?! N-No she isn't...She's just a friend!"

"Boy, ain't that a shame," Kevin remarked as he shook his head, "Sounds like she really likes you if she went as far as to give you a whole ship."

Usopp gulped in response, "Do you think?" He asked weakly.

"Sort of," Kevin agreed, "A gift like that must've been pretty expensive."

"W-Well...I-I don't know..."

"Enough Kevin," Gwen said, joining them from below deck, "Anymore and you'll probably break him." Usopp was glad for the distraction.

"How's it looking below deck?" Usopp asked her.

"Not great," Gwen answered as she crossed her arms. "The damage isn't as bad, but it still needs repairs. We can't exactly keep sailing in such a dangerous place without fixing it." Usopp sighed at this, hanging his head.

"Maybe we do need to find a shipwright," he muttered, "This is already hard enough as it is," As he continued hammering away, something caught his eye. Looking up, Usopp was greeted by the sight of their five comrades returning.

His captain covered in blood.

He spluttered as he got to his feet.

"What the hell happened to you Luffy?"

Those were the first words out of Usopp's mouth upon seeing the state his captain approaching the Merry.

"We were all attacked by some weird shapeshifting monster, but we managed to fight it off," Nami answered. She was still slightly miffed at the fact that Luffy hadn't retaliated for what that asshole Bellamy said about his dreams if that monster hadn't burst through that wall.

"What's going on?" Chopper questioned, walking over to the railing to join the conversation. "What the hell?! What happened to you Luffy?!" The little reindeer ran back to grab his medical bag before jumping to the dock to treat his captain.

Chopper was in the finishing stages of patching up his captain when Zoro, Tetrax, and Robin returned, the annoyed swordsman loaded down by multiple shopping bags while the Petrosapien only had to carry a few. Apparently, Robin had convinced Zoro that it would help improve his strength. Robin climbed aboard the ship first before using her powers to relieve Zoro of the bags one at a time.

As that was happening, the archeologist moved over to Nami and handed her a rolled-up paper with a smile. The navigator opened the paper to show that it was a map of Jaya, showing that the island looked like the mouth of a skull that was connected on the right side. Near the top of the map, on the opposite side of the island from Mock Town, was a red X.

"So, what'd you get up to Robin?" Ben asked.

"Quite a lot actually," The woman answered. "I spent the day looking for information on Sky Island, but I didn't find much. I did, however, hear tell of a man who may know how to get us there. His name is Montblanc Cricket, and he lives on the other side of the island. Apparently, he was banned from the town because he talked about his dreams too much."

"Sounds like we know our next destination," Luffy smiled. "Everyone, set sail! Let's go find this Cricket guy!"


AN: Done. Now, I would like to address some things, mainly Robin joining the crew and how the Ben 10 characters feel about it. If you watched the series, it is in character for Gwen to be willing to forgive villains for their wrongdoings (the most notable being Kevin) if she believes they've changed for the better, though what Gwen saw of Ohara from when she looked into Robin's memories back in chapter 11 may have played a part in her decision. But make no mistake, Robin will have to earn her trust as well as the rest of the Team Ben who will be keeping an eye on her in case, she tries anything, which will definitely come into play when we get to the Enies Lobby arc. I just wanted to make that clear.

On another note, we have Stinkfly's design. If you want to know what he looks like, go to Deviantart and look up "Stinkfly Redesign (UA Style)" by "Supersketch1220." I agree with the artist that the Original Series aliens needed redesigns that were more reflective of their species' culture, like Fourarms and Diamondhead for instance.

Any who, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as the next one will deal with the Strawhats finally confronting Khyber. Until then, stay safe and healthy and I'll see you all next time.