"Hmm... it doesn't look too good," Usopp said, looking through his telescope.
Indeed, the island they were about to reach had a slightly creepy aspect. Surrounded by thick fog that didn't allow much for view, apart from a vast dark forest, it looked like something out of a horror story.
"Good or not, I don't care. That madman is here. So now let's disembark and go get our clothes back!" Nami declared resolutely.
The others nodded. Usopp continued to scan the island for a place to dock.
"There, it would be perfect..." the sniper began to say, but stopped when he noticed a gurgling in the water, a few meters from the ship. "And now what is that?"
He got his answer a few seconds later, when a gigantic shape emerged from the waves, closely followed by two others.
"SEA KINGS!" Usopp screamed in panic.
Like all other members of their kind, the three sea kings who appeared before the Going Merry occasionally ate humans. And those three in particular had a thing for human flesh. So, having all those succulent morsels at their disposal, they opened their jaws and began to advance.
"AAAAHHHH! DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOTS!" Nami yelled, hiding behind Usopp, who in turn hid behind Robin, who didn't even flinch. Chopper decided it would be safer below decks.
Zoro drew his swords. "Do you think you can do it, shitty cook?"
"You take care of yours, moss head. I'll take care of mine."
Luffy looked at the approaching sea kings and licked his lips. "Hmm... they look tasty. Sanji, will you make a sea king lunch later?"
"As soon as this whole thing is over, yes." The blond aimed at the second of the three sea monsters. "Collier Shot!" He jumped up in the air and kicked the creature in the neck, doing it again as the monster roared in pain.
"Hmpf." Zoro chose another one of the three creatures and set off to attack. "Three-sword style... Dragon Tornado!" He began to spin, generating a current that hurled the sea king into the sky. The poor creature didn't even have time to counterattack.
Of course, the last remaining sea king fell to Luffy. The boy clenched his fists and smiled. "Gomu Gomu no... Gatling Gun!" His arms reached out and a devastating barrage of punches shot towards the sea monster. Unfortunately, the latter was much smarter than its companions, and just before Luffy's fists could hit their target, the beast moved to the side and dodged the blow, then bit the boy's arms.
"Ouch! Hey, let go of my arms, you ugly monster!" He tried to free himself, but the sea king had a steel grip.
Then Luffy jumped and landed on the monster's head, savagely kicking it. The sea creature let go.
"Now take this. Gomu Gomu no... Bullett!" He reached back and struck the opponent in the forehead. The blow was so strong that the sea king passed out. Luffy was so happy with his victory that he forgot to jump off before the monster began to fall, thus ending up in the water.
"LUFFY!" Sanji yelled, after delivering the coup de grace to his monster and perched on its neck, considering what might be the best cuts of meat for a roast. He dived into the water, and, with a couple of quick strokes, caught up with his captain and carried him on his shoulder. He surfaced and began to swim towards the ship. Almost simultaneously, Zoro returned aboard with a large chunk of his opponent's body and a satisfied look.
Back on the ship, Sanji laid Luffy on the deck and made him spit out all the water he had swallowed. The boy sat up slowly and looked around. "Did we... did we win?"
"Yes. But next time try to remember to jump away." said the cook.
"Okay." He saw the piece of sea king brought by Zoro and his stomach chose that moment to grumble. "All that movement made me hungry. Sanji, could you prepare the roast now?"
"How can you always think about eating?" yelled the cook. "And anyway, this is not the time. We'll think about it after we get our clothes back. We will celebrate with a nice sea king based banquet, happy?"
"Hurray!" Luffy was back on his feet in an instant, excited by the prospect of the future meal. "What are we waiting for? Let's go get the clothes thief!"
The rest of the crew just nodded.
Having placed the ship in the spot previously identified by Usopp, the pirates landed. The sniper decided to stay on board, partly because someone had to guard the ship, and partly because he had been hit by a sudden attack of "I-can't-go-to-that-island-itis", a mysterious disease that seemed to afflict him sporadically.
Of course, the only one who believed him was Chopper.
The six pirates entered the forest, in a formation decided by Nami: Zoro first, immediately followed by Sanji and Luffy (to make sure the swordsman didn't get lost), then Chopper in Heavy Point form, and behind him Nami and Robin (so that he could hide them with his bulk in case there was any accident with the towels. It goes without saying that, considering this eventuality, the redhead had threatened the four men with heavy retaliation if they dared to peek. Nami would have preferred Guard Point, but Chopper had pointed out that he could only hold that form for three minutes, and they didn't know how long it would take for them to cross the forest). The forest confirmed Usopp's initial impressions. It was a ghastly place, full of shadows and sounds of who knows what animals. Nami held the Clima Takt cane close to her. Even if it wasn't a perfect weapon, its presence reassured her (and besides, if anything happened, she could always count on the strength of her companions).
"This forest doesn't look too bad." Robin said.
Nami glared at her. "What the hell are you saying, Robin?"
"It seems to be a nice place. I like it."
The navigator blinked a couple times and then just shook her head. "Forget it. What do you think about the guy who stole our clothes?"
"I don't know, Miss Navigator. From what little I managed to learn from the contents of the letter, I can only speculate that he is not a sane individual and that he has filled this forest with traps. We will have to be very careful."
Hearing Robin's words, Chopper began to tremble.
"Yeah, that's... WHAT THE FUCK!"
The others turned to the navigator. "What happened, Nami?" Sanji asked, concerned.
The Cat Thief lifted her right leg slightly. Her foot and sandal were covered with some kind of dark slime. "I stepped on some animal's poop!"
"Did you really have to scream like that? Take a few leaves and clean yourself." Zoro said with a hint of irritation. He cared for Nami, but sometimes she really got on his nerves.
"Don't you dare talk to Nami like that, you two-bit swordsman! She has every right to complain!"
"When are you going to stop being such a doormat, ero-cook?"
"SILENCE!" Nami shouted. The two pirates fell silent instantly. The cook took some leaves from a nearby tree and began to carefully clean the girl's foot and shoe (for a moment he was tempted to peek up, but had the sense not to). As soon as he finished, they all resumed their march.
"When we get back to the ship I'll have to wash it properly or the stench will stick for who knows how long!" muttered the redhead to herself.
"Don't get so angry, Miss Navigator. It was nothing, after all. Something worse could also happen." said the brunette in an attempt to console her.
And like all the other times a human being had uttered something similar, the worst actually happened in this case as well.
As soon as the pirates stepped onto a carpet of harmless-looking leaves, a snap was heard and suddenly they all found themselves tightly wrapped up in a net that lifted them a few feet off the ground.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Nami managed to scream, almost suffocated by Chopper's fur.
"Must be one of the traps Robin was talking about earlier," Chopper said in a faint voice.
"And now what..." Luffy made to say, when the net started to move. It swayed for a moment and crashed into a tree. A moment later, it moved again and collided with another tree, only to repeat the operation. It goes without saying that for the pirates inside it was not at all pleasant. They barely had room to breathe, plus they were being tossed left and right like rag dolls.
"THIS MADMAN IS TRYING TO KILL US!" Chopper shouted.
"I don't think this trap is meant to kill us, Doctor." Robin said, trying to use her powers, without success. In those conditions she couldn't concentrate properly. "I think it's more of a way to stun people."
"Small consolation." replied the reindeer.
"Wait a minute, I had an idea!" Luffy intervened. He gritted his teeth and managed to slip an arm between the meshes of the net. He stretched it out a few meters and clung to a tree. The net immediately stopped moving.
"Finally! Bravo, Luffy!" said Nami.
"What now?" Sanji asked.
"Wait, I'll try to take one of the swords..." Zoro moved his hand in the little space he had available. He accidentally touched Sanji's "sword" and withdrew his hand in disgust. Eventually he found what he was looking for. He pulled out Yubashiri with difficulty and began to cut the net. "Get ready to fall."
Two seconds later, the net was completely ripped open by Zoro's blade, and the six pirates fell to the ground screaming. There was a thud and several curses, followed by Luffy's laughter. Being made of rubber, the captain had no problem with the crash, and had bounced happily a couple of times before stopping. The others weren't so lucky.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, moss head? Get off me immediately!"
Sanji had fallen onto his back, while Zoro had landed on top of him, his lips inches from the cook's. In the fall he had instinctively pushed his hands forward, and now it seemed that the two were engaged in the missionary position. The swordsman stood up, disgusted, and retrieved his swords. The blond sat up and rubbed his sore back.
Meanwhile, Chopper was checking on Nami and Robin. During the fall, the two women had been crushed by his bulk, and now they were breathing with some effort. "I'm so sorry, Robin, Nami..."
"Don't worry, Chopper." Nami said through teeth clenched in pain. "The fault lies with that deranged man who forced us to come here." She turned to the archaeologist. "Robin, are you okay?"
"A little bruised, but I'll be fine, Miss Navigator." She rubbed her back and got to her feet, then helped the redhead to get up. They fixed the towels before they could fall down.
"Everyone move carefully, you might have something broken. When we get back to the ship I will do a complete check-up." Chopper said.
Nami nodded. "And now let's get back on the road."
This time they proceeded with greater caution. Thanks to Robin's powers they avoided two other traps identical to the first one. Later, they had a close encounter with a bear (which the archaeologist took care of, breaking his neck), a swarm of owl-sized insects (which scared the hell out of poor Sanji and were driven away by Nami's Cyclone Tempo), and a river full of crocodiles (who ran away in fear of Luffy's ravenous gaze).
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached the edge of the forest.
"Finally, I couldn't take it anymore." Nami said in exasperation.
"We seem to have arrived at our destination." Robin said.
In front of them, a few hundred meters away, was a large old-looking villa.
"Is that the thief's house?" said Luffy.
"Probably, but we should..." Nami trailed off, hearing the sound of flapping wings. A moment later, a seagull approached her with a sheet of paper in its beak.
"It's the same one that was on the ship!" Chopper pointed out.
The bird handed the sheet to the navigator. She took it and watched the seagull go away. She unfolded the paper and read it.
Congratulations on making it this far, gentlemen and ladies. You really surprised me. But don't think it's over. You must first deal with the obstacles inside my mansion. If you can get through those too, then you will have the honor of meeting me. Good luck.
Sincerely yours, Erik.
Nami tore the paper to pieces and gritted her teeth. "As soon as we find this madman, I swear I'll make him regret being born!" She pointed her weapon in the direction of the building. "Let's go in and get this over with!"
The pirates entered the villa, ready for the worst.