Chapter 15: Hunters and Hunted
Team#1: Levy, Lily, Gajeel, Last Order, Accelerator, Hime, Megumi, Hibiki, Asuka, Tsuchimikado
"You're pretty cute, `Misaka Misaka said, hugging Panther Lily," Last Order chimed. Lily struggled to escape from her tight grip, without transforming into his muscular form.
"Get away from that cat brat," Accelerator scolded as he continued walking. "You have no idea where that shit has been."
"Oi, that my cat you're insulting, bastard," Gajeel growled back. "And it's your fault that your shrimp is crushing my cat!"
"You really got a death wish, scrap shit," Accelerator smirked glaring at Gajeel.
"I'm not like that pyromaniac," Gajeel smirked back at him with an intense glare. "I'll beat the shit out of you."
"Would you two quit arguing for once?" Hime asked, a bit annoyed.
"Shut up!" Gajeel and Accelerator snapped in unison, causing Hime to freak out by their menacing glare.
"Be nice you two," Levy scolded.
"I don't do nice," Gajeel growled. "Especially to someone who insults my cat."
"You know those two may act all tough, but they are acting like tsundere," Tsuchimikado said.
"Do you wanna die?" Accelerator snapped at the boy.
"There's something I wanted to ask you, Accel," Hibiki said curiously. However her nickname caused the Gajeel, Hime and Tsuchamikado to snicker. "Does that black collar have something to do with your esper powers?"
"Somewhat…" He replied before being silent.
"He's not that talkative isn't he," Asuka said, eying him.
"What's up with him?" Hime asked, a bit annoyed at the Level 5's cold shoulder.
"Misaka Misaka doesn't know for sure, but Misaka thinks that he got that choker when he saved me," Last Order explained, sadly unsure.
"Saved you?" Hibiki repeated.
Last Order nodded. Accelerator and Gajeel walked up ahead as she spoke. "Misaka Misaka is the final of the 20001st clones of Misaka."
Asuka, Hibiki, Hime, Levy, and Megumi stared at Last Order, stunned. "2-20001 clones?!"
Team#2: Usopp, Sanji, Nami, Yuko, Shirabe, Kirika, Shervan, Misaka, Kuroko, Erza, Jackal, Lucy,
"Don't worry ladies," Sanji turned to the female members of his team. "Your knight in shining armor will protect you no matter what."
"Me too?" Usopp pleaded.
"Quit being such a baby!" Sanji scolded Usopp.
"The sooner we find that bird, the sooner we can get out of this creepy forest," Misaka added, a bit creeped out.
"Let's all settle down and try to listen for it," Erza suggested. Sanji's group stopped for a minute and listened to the bird's cry.
"...JOH!"
"I can hear it!" Kirika exclaimed.
"JOH!"
"Me too," Lucy concurred. "It must be nearby."
"JOH!" Everyone realized that Usopp was making the noise. Sanji angrily threw his net over the sniper's head. "Hey, why are you catching me?" Usopp angrily replied, but noticed something. "Hey, that is a nice accessory Nami. Where did you get that thing?"
"What thing?" Nami asked, confused. Everyone stared at her back, revealing a huge black hairy spider. "AHHH! SPIDER!"
Nami, along with Sanji, Shirabe and Lucy dashed behind a bush, while Yuko gently picked up the spider. "Aww~! It's so cute."
Kirika and Shervan crowded around her to get a good look, both were in awed. "A-Amazing, this is the first time I've seen a tarantula up close." Shervan quietly said.
"I've always wanted one as a pet, but Marie and Shirabe wouldn't let me," Kirika said.
"I HATE SPIDERS THROWING IT AWAY!" Nami screamed in fear.
"N-no spider should be that big!" Shirabe added.
"Get rid of it Yuko!" Lucy yelled.
"What is their problem?" Jackal asked, staring at the four hiding behind the bush.
"They're a bunch of babies," Kuroko scoffed. "At least you're not scared of spiders, right sissy?"
"..."
"...Sissy?" Kuroko began to turn only to see Misaka's dotted outline. She facefaulted when she notices her role model hiding behind the bushes with the others.
"Don't worry you guys, it's just a tarantula," Usopp said while gently petting the tarantula. "As long as you don't make it angry or frightened, it won't bite. While I was a little kid, I used to play with them often."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Misaka blurted out. "Giant hairy spiders are scary!"
"Just throw it away, I don't want to even get near it!" Nami yelled.
"What about the moths and centipedes behind you?" Jackal asked. The five shook in fear as they noticed millions of centipedes and moths behind them.
"AHHHHH!"
Team#3: Zoro, Robin, Natsu, Happy, Gray, Wannai, Awatsuki, Chris, Minori, Tsubasa, Iona, and Juvia.
"What was that!?" Awatsuki asked. She and others were a bit startled by the screams.
"It sounds like Nami's group have encountered some monsters," Robin replied calmly.
"They must've come across something big out there," Natsu grumbled looking bored, " I wanna fight something, COME OUT YOU STUPID MONSTERS!"
"Would you shut up!" Gray snapped annoyed, "Your big fat mouth will scare off the South Bird,"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BIG FAT LOUD MOUTH!" Natsu yelled at Gray. Before a fight broke out, Iona smacked both of them upside the head. "What the hell Iona!?"
"We don't have time to deal with your childish argument with Gray," Iona lectured.
Suddenly, Zoro unsheathed his sword and swung it behind him. Everyone except Robin was startled. Before anyone could ask, a giant centipede fell right in front of him. It squirmed a bit before it went stiff.
"H-Huge!" Happy yelled in shock.
"What quick reflexes," Tsubasa said, stunned.
"You really shouldn't be killing every creature we come across," Robin said to the swordsman.
"Well, It's his fault for coming after me," Zoro shot back as he continued walking.
"Where the hell are you going?!" Chris snapped, noticing the swordsman walking back to where they just came from. "That's where we just came from!"
"GHK~!" Zoro twitched in annoyance.
"JOH!"
"There it is again," Minori declared, looking up at the tall trees. "This time it's much closer."
"Alright let's go beat up that bird!" Natsu announced. Before anyone could react, Natsu already ran ahead leaving a dust trail.
"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed, using his Max Speed magic to catch up to him.
"I'm not gonna lose to a hot-headed loser. I'm going to freeze that bird," Gray growled in annoyance. He took out his shirt and charged after him.
"WE'RE TRYING TO CATCH IT NOT KILL IT!" Iona yelled with shark teeth.
"Seriously, why can't this ice pervert keep his clothes on!?" Chris growled while hiding her blush.
"He's so dreamy when he runs in the forest naked," Juvia swooned.
"You need serious help," Chris muttered with a sweatdrop.
"This way Mr. Swordsman, and be careful, the ground is slippery," Robin warned.
"What are yo-!" Zoro began but stepped on the slippery area. Had Tsubasa not grabbed his hands and pulled him up, he would have gotten stuck in the quicksand.
Team#4: Luffy, Chopper, Sango, Marie, Manatsu, Laura, Wendy, Cynthia, Charla, Touma, and Index,
"GOTCHA!" Luffy suddenly shouted.
"Did you find the South Bird?" Cynthia asked eagerly.
"Nope I found an Atlas," Luffy picked up a stag beetle from behind a bush.
"EEK~!" Marie screamed comically at the size of the beetle. "A-A bug?!"
"Not just any bug," Manatsu said, eying it. "An Atlas Beetle is one of the rarest insects, next to the Hercules and Rhinoceros Beetle."
"What makes this bug so rare?" Laura asked curiously.
"People catch them and sell them for high prices," Luffy explained. "But they're really hard to catch though."
"Which is greater? The One Piece or the Atlas Beetle?" Manatsu asked curiously.
Luffy thought a bit, but it looked like he was in pain. "Eh, It's hard to decide!"
""Hey! I found another one," Chopper announced, pointing to another beetle on a tree.
"We don't have time to be looking for beetles!" Charla barked. "Don't you guys want to get to Skypiea or not?"
"AH~! It's flying away~!" Cynthia acknowledged. She, along with Manatsu, Chopper, and Luffy, began to chase it.
"Honestly," Charla sighed, rolling her eyes. "I still don't understand how he's the captain."
"I wonder about that myself," Marie nodded in agreement.
"AHH~!" They all turned their heads to find the five zipping past them. As soon as anyone could react, they heard buzzing and turned to see a swarm of hornets approaching them.
"RUN!" Cynthia shouted as they ran away from the swarm of hornets. Unfortunately the hornets were able to catch up with them, showing no mercy to the group.
"H-How horrible," Levy could only say. She along with Asuka, Megumi, Hime, Lily, and Hibiki were stunned when the young girl told them about the Level 6 experiment.
Last Order told them how scientists in Academy City use Mikoto Misaka's DNA to create millions of clones of her. Last Order is the 20001st clone and the command station for the Misaka Network. She also explains to them how Accelerator was a part of the project since he was 1st rank Level 5 in Academy. Researchers thought that if Accelerator killed 20,000 Misaka Clones, then he would be able to reach Level 6 faster than if he did the current curriculum. She also mentioned how Misaka found out about it, and her many attempts to stop the experiment by any means necessary.
Even sacrificing herself.
"That's just awful…" Megumi gasped, shuddering a bit.
"I know he was a monster, but to kill so many clones," Asuka growled.
Last Order frowns. "Accelerator didn't want to kill them! 'Misaka Misaka yelled defending him.' Misaka has the memories of all the clones in the Misaka Network, including the ones who died. When Misaka first met Accelerator after the savior defeated him. He was living alone in an apartment. It seems that he didn't have any friends throughout his childhood."
"He was alone…?" Hime asked, looking down. She can relate since she didn't have any friends before she met Megumi. Iona didn't trust her because she found out that Hime was the one that caused the Phantom Empire to take over the Blue Sky Kingdom.
"Being the most powerful level five must've been rough for him," Hibiki said sadly.
"I'm guessing that the savior who stopped Misaka from killing herself was Touma, right?" Lily asked.
Last Order nodded happily. "Not only does the savior save our remaining sisters and the original, but Accelerator as well! 'Misaka answered happily.' Since they heard that Accelerator was defeated, they had to cancel the project."
"That's a relief," Levy sighed a bit relieved.
"Hey, slowpokes!" Gajeel called out in a distance, stopping their conversation. All of them minus Tsuchimikado, had their jaws dropped in disbelief at what they saw. Accelerator and Gajeel were standing on piles of unconscious giant snakes.
"What happened here?" Hime asked in shock.
"While you were enjoying the scenery, these serpents foolishly ambushed us," Accelerator replied. "Luckily I was able to crush more skulls than Tin Can over there."
"In your dreams," Gajeel shot back, smirking. "I took more since you reflected some of them back to me!"
Although Luffy's team managed to escape the swarms of hornets, they were stung multiple times. They stopped running to catch their breath.
"Finally they're gone," Chopper gasped while leaning against a tree.
"I think my stupid luck has affected you too," Touma groaned.
"Your luck has nothing to do with it," Charla replied, glaring at the five suspects. "What gave you the foolish reason to just attack the hive like that?"
"We didn't! The hive fell off the tree right in front of us!" Manatsu defended.
"You expect us to belie-," Charla couldn't finish as another hive landed right in front of them. They were attacked instantly by the swarm of hornets that emerged from it.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS FOREST!?" Cynthia yelled.
"It's the bird!" Chopper said suddenly, running in his Walking Form.
"A bird?" Index asked.
"The South Bird is the one who has been dropping hives on us," Chopper answered. "He said that he'll kill anyone who enters this forest!"
Back on the mainland. Cricket, Shoujou, and Masira were facing up against Bellamy's crew.
"Now now little boy, you don't want us to get angry do you?" Shoujou questioned.
"Yeah you can't just waltz in here and demand gold," Masira said, cracking his knuckles. "Now beat it! We don't have time to deal with your creeps."
"BAHAHAHA!" Bellamy laughed. "You must be his bodyguards and the ex-pirate Mont Cricket. I heard your ancestor's sad story back at the tavern, it moved me to tears. Anyway, I came here to take your gold considering I'm a pirate!"
He took off his cape, revealing his muscular body. "Before we begin Cricket, It's time I told what they call me before I steal all your lifetime gold. Bellamy The Hyena!"
"HOLD IT!" Kinoko shouted as she came out of the forest and slid in between the two sides facing Bellamy's crew. "If you think that you can just attack us like that then you got another thing comin-!"
Kinoko froze when he noticed Bellamy. Her body was shaken, and sweaty. Bellamy noticed this and laughed. "What wrong little runt, cat caught your tongue?"
"Kinoko, if you can't fight then stay out of our way," Cricket ordered.
"S-sorry," Kinoko shook her head and got into her maker stance. 'Gotta stay focused...It can't be him.'
Luffy's team were now being chased by a swarm of praying mantises.
"DUCK!" Touma shouted as he, Luffy and Wendy's bent down just in time as one of the mantis did a horizontal slice, which was sharp enough to cut a tree beside it clear off.
"These creatures aren't normal!?" Cynthia was shocked when she noticed the tree being cut.
"Since when do birds control bugs?!" Marie asked while running.
"Nothing in this world makes any sense~!" Touma yelled.
"Do you guys hear something?" Erza asked suddenly as he and the others suddenly heard an odd noise.
"I don't know, but it's not a bird," Sanji answered.
"Um, guys look?" Shirabe shouted. Above them, they noticed a bunch of round bug figures tumbling down towards them.
"Is that a rock slide?" Lucy asked.
"No, their ladybugs," Nami yelled as red spotted ladybugs were tumbling down the hill.
"Huge ladybugs~!" Kirika yelled out. She quickly jumped out of the way from an incoming one. Some of them hit Jackal and Usopp while Sanji and Erza were the ones to knock out incoming ones rolling towards them. Shervan lured some away from the others and used his devil fruit to let the ladybugs roll past them, being phased by them.
On top of a tree, multiple Birds that were similar to the South Bird, began to mock them.
"Ha! I took down more of those cricket things than you did!" Natsu laughed victoriously. He along with Gray were on top of piles of human-sized crickets. While Natsu's pile was covered in ashes, Gray's pile had frostbite.
"So what? I took them down faster than you," Gray yelled back.
"How do you know?" Natsu asked.
"Stupid crickets!" Zoro yelled as he whacked one of them with the hilt of his sword. "Do you really think you can beat me? Do yah?"
"I think they get it now," Wannai sweatdropped by how violent Natsu, Zoro, and Gray were with the monsters.
"It would be better to see the birds instead of hearing them," Robin said.
"Aye," Happy agreed.
"Hand over the gold geezer, and I'll promise to let you live," Sawkie ordered. He delivered barrels of punches to Cricket, who was able to block all of them with ease.
"You didn't say please!" Cricket answered. He delivered a kick on Sawkie's chin, causing his body to flip over landing on his stomach.
"You damn bastard," Sawkie cursed. He slowly stood up, twirling his big knife. Cricket got in a fighting stance waiting for Sawkie to make his move.
When Sawkie lunged at Cricket, the latter with great timing kicked the sword off of his hand, shocking the man. "A kid like you shouldn't be playing with knives like that."
"Monkey Punch!" Shoujou and Masira took down Bellamy's lackeys using a union punch.
"Pixel-Make: Twin Blades!" Kinoko summoned two-pixel swords while dodging bullets coming from two of Bellamy's men. With quick speed, she slash the two leaving medium size gashes on their chest. Not enough to kill them, but enough to knock them out.
Watching the battle with an amusing look on his face, Bellamy licked his lips. "Looks like the boys need a hand. Time for me to show them how it's done."
The Captain knelt down, causing his lower legs to morph into springs. "Spring...Sniper!"
Bellamy launched himself towards the unexpected Masira, landing a powerful punch to his guts.
"GAH!" Masira coughs up some blood. Bellamy used Masira's head to bounce himself towards Shoujou, hitting him with a hard haymaker. The impact sent the orangutan tumbling, leaving a small amount of blood behind.
"What the..!" Cricket quickly sidesteps to evade the spring man as he lands on the Straw hat ship, and uses it to launch himself, causing part of the ship to break off.
Knowing he is aiming at Cricket, Kinoko appeared in front of Cricket in a Mold-Making stance. "Oh no you don't, Pixel-Mak-."
Kinoko froze again when staring at Bellamy, flashing back to another guy that was similar to him. '...Brother?'
Before she knew it, Bellamy connected his fist into Kinoko's stomach. It was powerful enough to hit Cricket too, sending them both crashing to the ground.
"So what do you think of our captain's Spring Spring fruit powers old man?" Sawkie mocked. He walked over and kicked Cricket. He only responded with a grunt. "Aw, he's speechless."
"Clean up this trash now, and be quick about it," Bellamy ordered. Before anyone could head to the house, Kinoko stood up and ran in front of the house with her arms extended out.
"I'm not letting you get Cricket's Gold!" Kinoko said, determined with her eyes covering her hair. 'Damn it! I still haven't recovered from my fight with Cynthia and Wendy.'
Bellamy just laughed at her words. It's amusing, but you'd better stand down unless you want to get hurt."
"Didn't you hear me?" Kinoko growled. "I said you aren't getting that gold! It belongs to Cricket!"
"Well then, it seems that you need a lesson on respecting your elders little girl," Bellamy chuckled.
"I can't take this forest anymore!" Hime yelled as she leaned behind a tree tired. The group reunited back in where they split up, looking tired from coming across animals and bugs in the forest.
"Why are you complaining?" Accelerator asked. "We took care of them right?"
"Shut up~! You two have been flinging the monsters randomly?" Hime angrily shot back at Accelerator and Gajeel. "You almost crushed us with that giant adult snake~!"
"It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Zoro acknowledged "We didn't even see one of them."
"Only because you wound up wandering in the wrong direction," Tsubasa pointed out.
"Shut up!" Zoro comedically snapped.
"Well, we saw the South Bird," Index explained. "But that stupid bird kept sending animals after us."
"So forty-five people can't even catch one bird? That's pathetic," Usopp scolded.
"You have no room to talk," Jackal mumbled. "You were screaming like a maniac every time we came across an insect."
"We've been doing this for hours," Lucy whined as she collapsed on her knees. "I don't think I can run anymore."
"JAW!"
They all turned to find the South Bird landing on the branch. With a sly grin on his face. He then chirped at them.
"Hahaha! You think you morons can capture me? Pathetic," Chopper translated.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING PATHETIC?!" Natsu, Hime, Chris and Gajeel yelled at Chopper.
"W-Wait that's what the South Bird said, not me!" Chopper defended.
"Wait, you can understand what it's saying?" Marie asked.
"Yeah, since I was usually an animal once," Chopper replied.
"Do we have to take this thing alive to get to the Knock-Up Stream?" Misaka asked ready to launch her electricity at it.
"Well Cricket didn't say we have to bring it in perfect condition," Accelerator grinned, ready to grab the tree.
The South Bird continued to mock them, until two arms sprouted on the branch, blinding the bird by wrapping around his eyes, and another one flinging it down to the ground. They all slowly turned to Robin who had her arms crossed. "If I can see it, I can grab it."
After blocking Lenora's kick, Ray slipped back. The fight between Ray and Lenora looked kinda even since both opponents received a few blows from each. However Ray still didn't recover from transferring Wendy and Cynthia's pain from their fight, so he was at a slight disadvantage.
"Hey, aren't you going to your demon-like form, like before?" Lenora asked, mocking him.
Ray just smirked. "I don't think I need it to take you down, and what about you? I think you've been going easy on me."
"Am I?" Lenora asked innocently. "Well, why don't I step up my game."
Lenora took a deep breath as she began as sparks began surrounding her. "Screech of the…"
'Here it comes,' Ray thought. He wasted no time forming his skin into metal and crossed his arms.
At the same time, Loni was being pushed back by George and noticed Lenora preparing her attack. "Lenora no!"
"Storm Phoenix!" Lenora released a large funnel of blue lightning towards Ray. The attack hit him, causing a massive explosion. Lenora smirked, staring at the dust cloud. "How do you like that?"
"...Not bad…" Lenora's eyes widened when she saw Ray was still standing. He was hunching back a bit while still in his Metal Rash form, breathing heavily. "...You've approved from last time...Lenora."
"Really?" Lenora asked like she was getting praised.
"Don't take it as a compliment!" Loni yelled. Before she could react, George found an opening and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick into Loni's side. Due to George's physical buff, Loni was launched right into Lenora slamming into her. The two landed hard on the ground, both of them KO'd as a flash of light returned them back to normal.
"That was close," George sighed. "If we fought much longer, the whole island would've been in danger if Loni uses her esper ability."
George snapped his fingers, summoning a portal underneath the two girls. Ray and George watched as Loni and Lenora sank into the portal. "I sent them back to their bo-."
George collapsed on his knees, which got Ray's attention. "You okay George?"
"I guess Loni got a lot stronger last time we fought," George replied. He held his chest a bit, wincing in pain.
"We better get back to aid Kinoko, and the others," Ray said as he helped George up. The two boys limped back into the forest.
'I hope Kinoko's doesn't do anything reckless,' George said in his mind, looking a bit worried.
"Amazing, this is a fine piece of gold," Bellamy stated, intrigued by the gold they found in the house. Kinoko, Cricket, Shoujou, and Masira were sprawled out on the ground, beaten badly by Bellamy and his crew members.
"And now it all belongs to us," Sawkie said.
Cricket slowly sat up cross-legged, panting from all the injuries. "No way…you scumbags have no right to touch that gold."
"No right?" Sawkie growled at Cricket. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT GIVES US RIGHT?!" He charged towards Cricket while twirling his swords. The man wasn't able to move due to being too injured.
SLASH!
Cricket eyes widened in shock as Masira appeared in front of him in a split second. Masira grunted as his eyes rolled back, blood squirting behind his back where Sawkie cut him. "Y-You damn fool," Cricket whispered in shock as Masira collapsed unconscious.
"YAHAHA!" Sawkie laughed. "We are way stronger than you old man! That means we can take what we want when we want!"
Kinoko slowly stood up, growling at Bellamy. "I'll kill you…"
Bellamy and his crew noticed Kinoko's left arm was glowing with a dark purple aura. The color of her eyes was purplish as well. Before she could make one step, a guy grabbed her hand. "Look brat, you should just stay down. You're no match for Bell-What?"
Everyone minus Bellamy stared disbelief as the guy's hand was slowly dissolving into pixels. Shocked, he let go of Kinoko, but that didn't stop the plague that he had. "W-What's going on!? Someone help me!"
Sawkie's eyes widened in horror as the guy's entire body turned into pixels, and disappeared like dust. "S-She killed him...Who the hell is she?"
"BWAHAHA!" Bellamy laughed crazily. "Well boys, we've found a big treat tonight! First some fine gold, and one of the prisoners of Crimson Blood: The Dissolver! I heard rumors that she has the ability to dissolve anything she touches with that left arm."
"RAH! DROP DEAD!" Kinoko roared as she dashed at Bellamy. At the same time, Bellamy's legs turned into springs.
"If you think that I'll be intimidating by your Devil Fruit, then you've got another thing coming Kid," He replied as he knelt down,
"Kinoko stop!" Cricket shouted, but Kinoko continued running blindly. Her head was filled with rage.
"Spring Snipe!" Bellamy rockets himself at Kinoko with his right arm pulled back, also turning into springs.
"NO KARINE!" Cricket yelled, but it was too late. Kinoko missed touching Bellamy as the Spring user slammed his fist into Kinoko's side. The impact from his springs arms knocked the wind out of her, with her eyes rolled back into her head. Cricket could just watch as Kinoko was sent crashing right into the house and into the ocean leaving a trail of dust behind.
Cricket could just watch in anger. His mind flashbacks to when he met George, Ray and Kinoko, Shoujou and Masira found gold, and how they found out that his great-grandfather was telling the truth about Skypiea.
"We're done here, let's go and bring the gold," Bellamy ordered.
His crewmates went back to the ship with Cricket's gold. Bellamy then turned to Cricket. "Grow up old man! This is a new era. Stories like what your grandfather mentioned are just fairy tales. You gotta act smart if you want to be a pirate! Your dreams will never come true!"
Despite the beating, Cricket stood up causing Bellamy to stop midway between Cricket and his ship. "You know what junior?" He took out a cigar and puffed a few before he continued. "...Some punks who call dreams worthless...don't deserve the right to call themselves a pirate."
Bellamy slowly turned with a menacing grin on his face. "What was that?"
After they dealt with Loni and Lenora, George and Ray rushed back only to find three bloodied bodies, a destroyed house, and the Going Merry's broken into two.
"C-Cricket?" George rushed to the old man's aid. "Are you okay? Speak to me!"
"S-Sorry old friend," Cricket weakly responded. "W-We tried our best...but they beat us good."
"Kinoko!" Ray called out as he noticed Kinoko floating on the surface.
"HEY POPS~! WE CAUGHT ONE OF THOSE BIRDS!" Luffy yelled as the group came out of the forest, but half of them were frozen and shocked by the carnage.
"Cricket!" Manatsu gasped in horror. Chopper and Wendy rushed to Cricket's aid right away. Sanji noticed Kinoko and wasted no time swimming towards her and carrying her back to shore.
"Masira...Shoujou..." Marie gasped by how injured and bruised the two were.
"What happened to them?" Hibiki asked in horror.
"Better question is who caused all of this?" Misaka asked, with a fit of anger.
"Kinoko…" Ray called out to her, once Sanji set her down. "Kinoko, speak to me!"
Kinoko slowly opened her eyes. "R-Ray...George...everyone…"
"AHH!" Usopp yelled once he saw the Going Merry. "W-What happened to her? Whoever did this will pay!"
"Damn it, we're too late," George growled. He clenched his left fist while still holding his chest. "If I had beat Loni sooner, then none of this would've happened."
"I'm sorry…" Kinoko sobbed. "I let them down...It's my fault... I let my emotions get the better of me...None of this would've happened if I didn't get distracted."
"Don't worry about it," Cricket mumbled weakly.
"He's alive," Luffy stated. Cricket coughed violently, a bit of blood. "Don't try to move okay. Just take it easy."
"Sorry, we did as much as we could to stop them, but it wasn't enough," Cricket wheezed. He slowly stood up. "I gotta get moving, the ship isn't going to patch itself."
"Wait Cricket," Yuko said, looking worried. "You're still injured."
"Calm down," Cricket sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. Did you get a South Bird like I told you?" He noticed the bird held by Erza and smirked. "Well what do you know, you caught one."
"Never mind that," Iona said with a serious yet worried look. "Who did this to you?"
"This is bad!" Kirika yelled in shock, she noticed the small house had been wrecked. "Cricket's gold is all gone!"
"W-What?!" Megumi choked in shock.
"That doesn't matter," Cricket said. "Your dreams are more important than the gold, we have to get-,"
"How can you say that!?" Usopp yelled. "It took ten years to get that gold, diving in the bottom of the ocea-!"
"Shut up!" Cricket snapped coldly. "What happens to the gold is our business alone. Right, all that matters is getting you guys up to the sky! With the Monkey Alliance, we'll get your ship fixed by dawn! I promise you that!"
"Cricket…" Misaka awed. Half of them felt a pain of guilt in their mind, feeling that they couldn't do anything to help Cricket, find their gold. Zoro noticed a familiar symbol on the broken part of the Going Merry.
"Hey Luffy, take a look at this," Zoro called out. He pointed to the symbol which was a Smiley with an eyepatch on its left side.
"No way," Lucy said in disbelief. "T-That's-"
"Bellamy," Natsu growled, feeling body burning in anger.
"The guy who caused the carnage back at Mock Town?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah we came across him at the bar," Happy added.
Gazing at the logo on the ship, Megumi felt anger within her. The memory of watching him beat up Luffy, Natsu, and Zoro at the bar still haunts her mind.
"Do you need any help?" Zoro asked as Luffy walked past him.
"No," Luffy answered with a serious tone. "I can handle this myself."
"Wow, he looks so cool!" Kinoko awed with stars in her eyes.
"No way Luffy!" Nami called out. She understands what Luffy was planning. "We don't have enough time for you to get to Mock Town and back!"
"She's right," Asuka added. "We only have less than three hours until dawn!"
"Hey Robin," Luffy ignored them and turned to Robin. "If I run by the beach area, I can get there quicker right?"
"Yes you can," Robin answered.
Suddenly, a bright light engulfed the group for a second. Everyone turned to find Megumi...no Cure Lovely walking towards Luffy with a serious look. "You too Megumi!?" Hime asked, shocked.
Lovely nodded as pink wings sprouted behind her back. "We can get there faster if I fly you there. If that's okay with you Luffy."
"Not at all," Luffy answered.
"Wait! What are you guys doing!?" Cricket yelled once he noticed what was going on. "I told you this is my prob-"
"If you want to stop them, you have to use this," Zoro said, showing his katana shocking some of them.
"There's no stopping Luffy when he sets his mind on something," Sanji advised.
"Same goes for Megumi," Yuko added. "She's stubborn when it comes to helping someone in need."
"You two better kick his ass good!" Natsu yelled out to the two. "Because If you don't, I'm burning the whole town down!"
"Are you trying to make the whole town hate us?" Kuroko snapped.
"Remember you two!" Marie yelled. "We only got three hours. The rest of the time will be used to get to the Knock-Up Stream by the afternoon!"
"And if you're late, then the chances to get to Skypiea will be lost!" Nami added. "So get here exactly by dawn, got it?!"
"Got it!" Cure Lovely and Luffy nodded. The pink Pretty Cure grabbed Luffy by the waist and flew into the air.
"I can't believe we lost to those two again!" Loni shouted in anger. After they woke up on the boat, they sailed away from Jaya.
"I'm sorry," Lenora sobbed. "I forgot that he has that ability to turn into metal."
Loni pinched her nose with her fingers. "Lenora, it wasn't your fault. You did beat Ray a few times. I let my guard down."
"Oh…" Lenora said, a bit clueless. "Well, are we going to call the chief?"
"And told him that we've failed again to capture George and Ray?" Loni questioned Lenora's logic.
"Yeah?" Lenora answered with a puzzled look.
"Never mind," Loni sighed as she stomped downstairs. "I'm going to be alone for a minute, don't bother me."
"Aye eye Cap Loni!" Lenora saluted, accidentally poked her eyes with her hand. "Ow!"
"Idiot," Loni mumbled as she went down at the bottom of their boat. "Someday I'll beat you, George Sihara."
Cure Lovely and Luffy were soaring through the air, on the side of the beach. The trip was quiet as the two had a determined look on their faces, however, Cure Lovely looked conflicted.
"Luffy," Lovely broke the silence. "May I ask you something?"
"Sure," Luffy replied, cheerfully. "What's up?"
Cure Lovely took a deep breath before she began to speak. "P-Please let me fight Bellamy!"
Luffy was quiet for a bit, noticing how Lovely was hesitating to ask. "...Why?"
"Eh?" Cure Lovely looked down.
"Why do you want to fight him?" Luffy repeated. Lovely can tell he was sounding serious. "He hasn't harmed you in any way, and pirates tend to steal gold from other pirates."
"I know..." Lovely replied as she looked down a bit, but felt a bit confident in herself. "However, watching you, Zoro, and Natsu getting beaten by Bellamy at the bar, makes me feel useless. Before you ordered us not to fight him, I had an urge to punch Bellamy in the face!"
Luffy was quiet while Lovely continued. "The violence they committed against Cricket, Shoujou, Masira, and Kinoko back there, was the last straw. If I knew that Bellamy's crew were coming after Cricket's gold, then I would've stayed and fight him."
"..."
"Please Luffy," Cure Lovely pleaded strongly. Luffy can feel her fist tightened. "Let me be the one who kicks Bellamy's ass!"
The silence from Luffy made Lovely worry that she might have angered him. Luffy's grinning surprised her a little. "Sure!"
"Really?!" Lovely asked with a mix of shock and joy.
"Yup," Luffy nodded with his goofy grin. "This is my first time seeing a Pretty Cure fight! You better kick his ass hard, and I'll make sure his crewmates don't try anything to interfere with the fight."
"Thanks, Luffy," Lovely said as she blushed a bit with a soft smile. She then looked forward with a serious grin on her face. "You better be ready Bellamy, because I'm about to kick your ass."
Next Chapter: Cure Lovely vs Bellamy Hyena.