Author's Note: Hey guys! It's just Foo writing the note today, Lu has an early class tomorrow so she needed to get to bed. On that topic, those of you who have been reading this for a while might have noticed that our updates have become more sporadic than they used to be, this is due to a few different reasons but I want to reassure you that we will still be updating as often as we possibly can. I know I speak for both of us when I say we love you all very much and are so grateful for your feedback and support! Hope you have a great week!

Review Responses:

Yukino76: ...yeaaah, there's definitely going to be blood...likely a lot of it too...as we write, we've found ourselves saying "oh, that's so mean..." more and more often...thanks for the review! :)

Shellina123: Thank you so much for your continued support and your lovely reviews! (really, you are far too kind and we love you very much!) :) We always look forward to learning what you have to say about our newest chapter and hope you enjoy this one as well. The surprise birthday party actually came out of a need to add some sort of cute family moment before well...the kidnapping...yeah, it's about to become quite chaotic haha. XD

Final Syai Lunar Generation: Glad you're back! Haha, well, we've made sure the kidnappers are characters that definitely deserve everything that's coming their way so the pain they'll be in might actually be a bit satisfying when all is said and done (not gonna lie, I kinda enjoy writing such things) Thanks for the review! XD

Guest: We are a bit mean to him in that way, aren't we? Him and Ace...and all the others. Thank you so much for the review!

akdjhs: Aww, thank you so much! That part always gets me too, lol. Smoker's really going to need Jimbe's chill personality in the coming chapters so it's a really good thing that we put him in! Australia, that's so awesome! (Neither of us can believe how many people read this from all over the world, I often find it both amazing and a bit overwhelming when I look at the stats!) It's really not going to be pretty for anyone that dares lay a hand on Luffy...especially with all those sadistic friends and relatives ;) Hope you continue enjoying the story as it progresses! We're pretty much onto phase two of this so, hopefully, we do the story justice with what we have planned. You're absolutely right about how Katakuri is going to take this lol. Thanks so much for the review!

Mangamolly1991: We were really excited when we managed to fit Brook in there since we wanted to include as much of the crew as made sense! Thanks so much for the review!

Warnings:

- Angst
- Mentions of nudity
- Mentions of excessive drinking
- Much anger
- Brief violence
- All of the stress
- Angry Kuri is angry
- Smoker needs a vacation. badly.
- Angry pupper

SMOKER'S POV

Smoker had a bad feeling about this. He was currently speeding down the highway trying to get to the scene of the suspected assault and kidnapping of a minor that had been called in only moments before. He'd thought it would be calming to go out on a normal patrol for once, give out a few tickets and the like, get his mind off of the epidemic. Of course, when he'd been given the rough description of the victim he may have...freaked out...a bit...not that he would ever admit that.

"Where the heck are his brothers?!" Smoker thought furiously, "you'd think they'd take better care of him having just gotten him back! ...Might need to put a tracker on that kid…"

He pulled up to the hotel, ready to jump out of his car and attempt to rescue the boy, only to watch in horror as a familiar figure was thrown into the back of a waiting van. Based on his limp body, Luffy was definitely unconscious.

Before he could even stop his car, the van was pulling away from the hotel, leaving a trail of exhaust in its wake. Smoker cursed and floored it, reaching for his radio to inform dispatch that he was in pursuit. As he pursued the kidnappers, he stayed on the line with dispatch, describing the assailants he had seen, since some of the idiots had decided to leave their faces bare.

An hour later, a fuming Smoker trudged up the steps to the floor where Mihawk was waiting.

"Alright, what happened here?" he asked tiredly, eyeing the large crater in one of the walls.

"Well, it would appear that Monkey D. Luffy has been successfully kidnapped by a group of currently unknown individuals. We are working on identifying the group based on the armband worn by the suspects left behind."

Smoker buried his face in his hands and sighed before straightening,

"Where are the idiots who were responsible for looking after him?"

"...we're currently trying to wake them from their drunken stupor," Mihawk informed him. Smoker groaned and headed for the only open door on the floor.

Inside the hotel room, he was greeted by the angry growls and barks of Sanji the puppy who was apparently chewing out four obviously drunk men and Zoro, who was sporting a large bump on his head.

"As you can see, I have already disciplined my student," Mihawk commented dryly. Smoker's attention was drawn away from the green-haired man to a certain freckled individual as he burst into tears after a particularly vicious growl from the small puppy on the floor.

"Smokyyyyy…" Ace whined, "I don't know whyyy...but...but this puppy hates me! What...what did I d-do?"

Smoker ignored him and studied the others. He couldn't believe that even the ever calm and collected phoenix had drunk himself under the table...literally. He turned to Mihawk, exasperated, and growled,

"Get these idiots sober. Time is of the essence."

ACE'S POV

Ace was a failure as a big brother. After about four cups of strong coffee, he was finally able to begin to understand why his precious baby bro wasn't there.

"Marcooooo we just got him back! We just got him back and I let him get taken from right under my nose!" he cried, gripping the other man's arm tightly. Marco sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose,

"Ace...not so loud, please. It is not solely your fault that Luffy is gone," he said calmly, "the blame lies with all of us...yoi." Mihawk cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention instantly as he began speaking,

"Based on the suspects and the evidence left behind, the boy was taken by a group working under the mark on this band. Do any of you recognize it?" In the next second, it was quite obvious that they did indeed recognize that mark as the three Whitebeards paled and Thatch spun on his heels, cursing as he searched for his phone,

"I've gotta call Pops," he said over his shoulder and Mihawk's questioning eyes turned to Marco expectantly,

"That mark belongs to Marshall D. Teach, who's taken to calling himself, Blackbeard." Marco said seriously, "There's a strong possibility that Luffy's kidnapping has to do with his brother's position as a commander."

Hearing this, Ace immediately curled in on himself and started sobbing.

"S-so it is my fault!" he cried, hardly able to breathe, not wanting to believe that he'd put his baby brother in so much danger but unable to escape the facts. In an instant, Sabo was there, putting a comforting arm around his brother's shoulders.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he said soothingly, "We overreacted to a similar situation only a few weeks ago, I'm sure he'll be okay this time too."

"Speaking of similar situations," Marco said, "we need to contact Dogtooth…"

"Oh no!" Smoker protested, "We don't need to get gangs involved in this! We will handle this legally and-"

"Alright guys," Thatch interrupted, reentering the room, "Pops is sending backup, all of the other commanders should be here in the morning."

"Good." Marco replied, "We need to go tell Dogtooth what happened...this is his city after all and...well...he's kind of attached to the kid."

"NONE OF YOU WILL BE GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL!" Smoker bit out, glaring at the group...only to be surprised when Marco threw him a set of keys.

"Then you're driving," he informed him.

Unfortunately, Smoker did not end up driving them to Dogtooth's place and Ace was sure Mihawk was driving slowly on purpose. After what felt like an eternity (but was actually only twenty minutes), they finally pulled up in front of the Charlottes' base.

They all exited the car and nervously approached the large house. Wasting no time Ace banged on the door repeatedly, not stopping until it swung open to reveal a very annoyed looking Cracker in a sleeping cap.

"Y'know, when my brother told you you could come back, he meant with Luffy and definitely not at three in the morning." the man growled. Ace took a stabilizing breath before saying,

"We need to talk to Dogtooth immediately."

KATAKURI'S POV

Katakuri was woken by incessant banging on his bedroom door before it was flung open by a disheveled Brulee.

"Brother you need to come to the parlor right now," she said quickly, though her voice remained deceptively calm. Katakuri frowned,

"Brulee, it's three in the morning…" he protested.

"It's...it has to do with Luffy." Brulee informed him and Katakuri felt his stomach drop.

"I'll be there in a moment," he replied, throwing off his blankets. She nodded and left, closing the door behind her. He quickly found a shirt and pulled it on, followed closely by his scarf, before he was out of his room, stalking down the hall to the parlor where he found a familiar group of people...minus the only one of them he would have been glad to see.

Fire Fist stopped his pacing when he saw Katakuri enter the room but didn't seem to be able to meet his gaze.

"To what-"

"Luffy's gone." Fire Fist interrupted before Katakuri could get his question out, "He's been kidnapped and we need your help."

Katakuri leaned back against the closest wall,

"Who took him?" he asked, deceptively calm.

"His name's Marshall D. Teach...Blackbeard…" Fire Fist replied, spitting the words out as anger flashed across his face.

"How did they manage to even get close to Luffy?" Katakuri asked, "I thought you said you were going to protect him." He watched as the group flinched and then physically deflated at that,

"...w-well...you see…" Fire Fist began before Katakuri cut him off,

"Does it have anything to do with all of you reeking of alcohol?" None of them were able to meet his gaze, their eyes staring down at the floor in shame. Even the puppy looked a bit distraught. Katakuri felt his anger rising but felt no need to reign in his temper in the face of such blatant stupidity.

"HOW COULD YOU ALL BE SO STUPID?!" he shouted, "I ALLOWED LUFFY TO RETURN HOME WITH YOU BECAUSE I TRUSTED THAT YOU, AS HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, WOULD BE ABLE TO PROTECT HIM! I TRUSTED YOU TO KEEP HIM SAFE AND YOU COULDN'T DO THAT FOR EVEN A FULL DAY! IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN TWELVE HOURS SINCE HE LEFT!" he took a breath, glaring angrily at all of them before continuing, "I expected something like this from the younger ones but from you, Phoenix? I thought you were more responsible than that! You've known...we've all known since the beginning that he was targeted specifically! That you would forget that or even assume that the danger had passed...I cannot even begin to comprehend such, such idiocy!" Katakuri took a few moments to breathe and calm himself, moving to his chair before speaking again, "I'm assuming you have at least thought to contact Whitebeard?"

"Yes, as soon as we knew who'd taken Luffy." the Phoenix confirmed quietly, "Backup is due to arrive in a few hours." Katakuri nodded pushed himself up out of his chair, looking down at his...guests...as he said,

"Make sure Whitebeard knows that I'm taking command of this operation. There will be no negotiating." dismissing them, he turned to Cracker and Brulee, "Get everyone up, inform them of what's happened and have them prepare their squads. We move out as soon as reinforcements arrive."

"...but...wait…" Blondie spoke up from the couch, "we don't know where to even begin looking!" Katakuri glanced back at him,

"Oh, I do."

CROCODILE'S POV

Crocodile had been dozing in the exhibit with the rest of his now subordinates when he was awoken rather abruptly by intense pain shooting through his body. Being the man that he was, he just sat still and let it pass. It wouldn't do to show pain or any sign of weakness to the underlings.

When he opened his eyes the world was dimmer than before and he certainly couldn't see very far in the darkness. He could see well enough to notice that he had finally returned to his old self..though it was a little unfortunate to see his arm without a hook attached.

Standing up and stretching his stiff back, Crocodile completely ignored the animals in the enclosure with him as he took stock of his well sculpted and completely naked body. He made his way over to the fence and agilely lept over it, somewhat surprised by his newfound strength. Following the signs, he headed for what he hoped was the entrance of the zoo thinking,

"I really need a cigar."

KIDD'S POV

Kidd woke to the strange and unfortunate feeling of being cold, something he hadn't felt in a few weeks due to all of the fur. He groaned and opened his eyes, sitting up before noticing that enclosure felt...larger than usual. Glancing down, he realized he was back! And he looked great!

Leaping to his feet, Kidd waved goodbye to his fellow bears who were looking at him in confusion.

"Don't forget everything I taught you guys." he said, "I'll come visit sometime."

With that, he was off, headed for the entrance of the zoo.

DOFLAMINGO'S POV

Finally, after weeks of torture, Doflamingo found himself in his own body once again. His first order of business was to completely shatter the mirror he'd been forced to look at for so long. Once that was taken care of, he turned and somewhat surprised himself when he found he was able to rip the door to his prison completely off its hinges...not that he stayed to think about this. He stalked out of the building feeling both rejuvenated and homicidal.

LAW'S POV

"For the last time, Alexa!" Law roared, "I am not interested!" he glared down at the female snow leopard that had been put in his enclosure with him. He wasn't so ignorant as to not know why they had put a female snow leopard in with him but he was most certainly not interested in even entertaining the thought of such activities!

"But, but darling!" Alexa protested, "we're perfect for each other! Please, just give it a chance!"

Law growled and, just as he was about to reply with a scathing retort, his body was wracked with pain, keeping him from speaking for a few moments. He could guess what was happening and he found himself relieved. Standing up for the first time in many weeks, he shot a glare down at Alexa,

"Well now you've got no choice!" he said triumphantly, "Find yourself someone else!" Law ignored her near frantic protests as he assessed his situation. He wasn't stupid enough to even consider getting off of the tall rock formation he had claimed while Alexa was pacing around below him. He thought there was a possibility that he might be able to reach the fence if he ran and jumped in an attempt to bypass the mote but he certainly didn't expect to be able to leap over both the mote and the fence, which made it even more shocking when he found himself staring back at the leopard enclosure in disbelief.

Law shrugged and carefully made his way to the zoo's entrance, where he encountered a strangely dressed Kidd outside the gift shop.

"Eustass-ya?" he asked, "What's with the outfit?"

"Well, it's better than running around naked, Trafalgar." Kidd pointed out, "So you might as well go and get your own while you can."

Nodding in understanding, Law entered the gift shop...and subsequently screamed in horror. He did not need to see Doffy naked...ever. He was quite certain he'd just been scarred for life.

After a few minutes of shopping, all four of them were able to find something that would at least cover their private parts. Most of the pants and shirts they'd managed to find were much too small but at least they got the job done for the moment.

As they were walking out of the zoo, Law examined his companions' somewhat different physiques. Kidd had extremely large muscles that he hadn't had before and just seemed...larger overall. Crocodile's skin looked a bit...strange...both in color and texture and Doffy...Doffy was definitely taller and more muscular. Of course, all of these changes were just exacerbated by the odd and ill-fitting clothes and Law couldn't help but tease his uncle concerning his panda shirt and colorfully striped sunglasses.

"The style suits you, Doffy." he chuckled and instead of the annoyed but still joking reply he expected was met with open hostility as his uncle shot back a murderous glare.

"...something's definitely wrong with him…"

UNKNOWN POV

He didn't know how long he'd been trapped in the cold, dark cell, only that he would be taken from there every day and he wished they'd let him be. The things that happened when he left his cold, dark cell left him shaking and sick.

He wasn't sure where he was exactly, only that he longed to leave and search for his family. He wondered sometimes if they thought he was dead.

He glared hatefully at the figure that approached his cell as he always did no matter who came to fetch him. His glare was ignored, as it always was.

"Hello Subject-53," the man said, "time for testing."

He knew right away that this man was new and incompetent. He'd closed the door to his cell behind him and was moving to pull him up from the floor with shaky, unprotected hands.

It was little effort on his part to seize the man's hand and wrist and pull. It was satisfying to see the man's lower arm separate from the rest of his body as he pulled back in shock and pain and even more satisfying to watch him trip over himself as he flung himself out of Subject-53's cell.

He knew the testing, when they finally got him out of his cell, would be more painful that day in retaliation for the injury but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Flinging the bloody forearm away from him, he settled down to dream of open spaces and the stars twinkling far above.