Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Kia approached the Merry, silent as they walked, though Nami was fuming.
"Why are you guys bleeding?" Usopp asked as he leaned over the railing as they approached.
Sanji came running, "Nami? Kia? Oh no, are you ladies okay?"
"Doctor!" Chopper yelled.
"That's you," Usopp said.
"Oh, yeah."
The four climbed aboard and settled down by the bow, and Kia silently helped Chopper by cleaning up Zoro's wounds. None of the wounds were serious though, so she told him she wouldn't put bandages on if he sat still for the cleaning.
"So what happened? It looks like you guys were attacked by wolves or something," Usopp asked.
"It was pirates," Luffy answered. "But we're okay."
"You might be okay, but I'm not!" Nami yelled as she began shaking her fists. "What's wrong with you two? When you get provoked, the logical response is to beat them to a bloody pulp! Or better yet, you should have blown up that entire annoying town!"
"So, did you find out anything about sky island?" Chopper asked Luffy.
"Sky…island…" Nami turned to them, her voice low and menacing.
"Nami, knock it off," Kia said. "You're scaring them." She looked pointedly to Usopp, who was lying on the deck pretending to be dead with ketchup all around him, and Chopper who had eaten a rumble ball, changing into the huge ball of fluff that was guard point.
"I don't care!" she yelled.
"It sounds like I missed all the excitement," Robin said as she walked up the gangplank.
"Robin my love!" Sanji yelled in happiness.
"Hey Robin, where have you been all day?" Luffy asked.
"I went to get some new clothes, and to find information on Skypiea" she answered.
At those words, Nami turned her anger on Robin, and Chopper- so frightened- went into jumping point and jumped away from her. Of course, that meant he jumped right over Zoro's head, and into the water.
"Man overboard!" Kia yelled as she pointed, and Zoro leaped over the side to save him.
"Here Captain," Robin said, a row of hands forming from Robin to Luffy, passing something hand to hand until she was handing Luffy a map, and she told him about a man who was banished because he spoke of his dreams too much. She headed down to the girls' room, and realizing how tired she was, Kia followed after her, wanting to rest.
Hearing the shouting from the crew on the deck, Robin gave Kia a little shake and Kia yawned as she followed the other woman to the deck, just as the ship was pulling to the shore, where Luffy was shouting about the huge looking house.
Having both Sanji and Zoro saying something about it not being real had Luffy upset, and rushing to see if it was true. The rest of the crew followed leisurely behind him as he walked into the house shouting out for the man that lived there.
Kia followed Sanji over to a table made from a tree stump. As Nami found the story of Noland the Liar, and began to read it to everyone Kia sat in the grass, stretching and laying down.
Luffy went exploring since he found no one home, and Zoro sat down nearby Kia where he could keep an eye on everyone. Robin continued to look around, and they all heard a yell as Luffy fell in the water.
"Who the hell are you? You've got nerve relaxing at someone's home without permission! I suggest you leave!" A man had climbed out of the water where Luffy fell in, crouching into a fighting stance as he faced the crew.
Sanji ran over, shouting at Usopp to get Luffy, and he squared off against the man.
"I know why you're here… you must be after my gold!" the man shouted, as Sanji came up to him. He gave a few kicks that Sanji easily dodged, and blocked Sanji's kick in return.
"Wait!" Kia called, "We're not here to steal anything, we just wanted to talk to you!"
The man pulled out a revolver, and began shooting at Sanji, who dodged, and Zoro came running over to help. But before he could get there, the man dropped the gun, and fell over, clutching at his chest.
Usopp helped Luffy out of the water, as Chopper and Kia ran over and directed the guys to carry the man into the house.
"I need more cold towels," Chopper said, and Sanji jumped up to help.
"And open that window there," Kia directed Luffy, who did as she asked.
"Do you know what's wrong?" Nami asked.
"The bends," Chopper said.
"What's that?" Zoro asked.
"Basically, it is something that affects divers, when they surface too quickly," Kia explained.
"Yes," Chopper agreed. "when surfacing, the nitrogen in the blood releases. If done too quickly, it causes gas bubbles to form in the circulatory system. When those bubbles expand, they can cause serious damage to muscles and joints, and decrease blood flow."
"So a mystery disease then," Luffy said. "Can you guys help him?"
"Probably," Chopper answered, as Kia said, "yes."
They looked at each other, and Kia smiled. "He'd have to not dive for a little while, and give his body a chance to recover. And even then, he should take greater care when diving, if he continues to dive at all."
"That's true," Chopper agreed. "He passed out during the fight, but he could have died, and since he didn't, he'll probably be all right."
Suddenly the doorway was filled with Masira and Shoujou, the two large monkeys that the crew ran into before.
"Hey, what are you doing?" they yelled at the Straw Hats.
Usopp and Chopper screamed and started running around the room, while Luffy just looked over at them seriously. "We're trying to help him. So if you're not going to help, then go bother someone else."
They stared at Luffy, and started crying. "Thank you!" they cried through their tears.
Chopper sent everyone else outside, so it was just Chopper, Kia and Cricket in the house. "It's a lot quieter now," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, now he can rest," Chopper added.
It didn't take long however, before Cricket awoke. The first thing he did was light a cigarette. "You know you'd have better lung capacity while diving if you didn't smoke," Kia told him, and he smiled ruefully.
Chopper called to Luffy, and he entered the house followed by most of the crew. "Hey chestnut head, I need to ask you something," Luffy began, but Cricket interrupted.
"I'm sorry I attacked you," he said. "I thought you had come to steal my gold. What did you want to ask?"
"We're searching for sky island, and we were told you were the one to ask."
Cricket started laughing, and Nami tried to hit him, but Usopp held her back. "You actually believe that place exists?" Cricket asked.
"You mean there isn't one? Are you sure?" Luffy asked.
"Hmm… I'm not sure." Cricket said, calming down again. "No one is certain if it exists or not. You see, the only man who claimed to see it, was known as a liar of epic proportions."
Luffy turned to gape at Usopp, and Usopp yelled, "What are you looking at?!"
Cricket then explained to us about Noland, how the story Nami had read was not the whole story, and told of how he had left home, to become someone different than his family name had made him. How he had somehow come to be on Jaya, and felt that he was destined to come here, and facing the fear that he had his entire life.
He told us how he didn't care if he found the city of gold, or whether Noland was honest or not.
"Are you done telling us your life story? All I care about is sky island!" Luffy shouted.
Cricket smirked, and handed Nami a log book, and she started reading from it, telling about Noland finding a waver, and about a skyfish, which had Sanji perking up.
Luffy had a grin on his face, and asked, "Do you know what this means?"
"Sky island is real!" Usopp and Chopper shouted. Cricket walked out of the house, as everyone became more and more excited, dancing and yelling and making plans. And then, Luffy shouted something to Sanji about having a party.
"And that's how we ended up sitting here," Kia explained to Robin later, who was seated next to her, and had asked why they were having a party.
"I see," she said with a smile. "It may be your last chance to get any sleep before we leave in the morning," she told Kia, seeing how she was struggling to stay awake.
"You can use the bed inside," Cricket offered. Kia couldn't tell if he was blushing, or just red from the alcohol he was drinking, but sleeping on a bed sounded much better than outside, so she nodded, stood up and walked into the house like a zombie. She had been up for almost two days, with a few small naps in between, and couldn't even remember her head hitting the pillow before she was fast asleep.
Hearing a loud crashing noise, Kia was startled awake, wondering where she was and what was happening. The first sensation was that the boat's rocking was pretty harsh, but as her brain and eyes focused, she gasped. She was actually being carried over someone's shoulder, and she didn't know who it was.
Looking around, she saw that Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou were sitting on the ground, looking at me in shock and anger. Before she could say anything, she was dropped to the ground next to a bag. Kia looked up, annoyed at being dropped so roughly, but stopped to gape as she recognized Bellamy and Sarquiss standing above her.
Bellamy looked at Sarquiss, "Well?" he asked.
"Booty, both kinds," Sarquiss answered, and laughed hysterically at his own joke.
"Seems she still doesn't think much of you," Bellamy said with a grin, as he continued to look at Kia. He reached down, and she flinched, but he grabbed the sack next to her instead. She could see by his smile that he enjoyed scaring her.
He pulled out a small statue of a south bird, made entirely of gold, and she goggled at it. "Look at that…" Bellamy said. "It's beautiful."
"It's not yours!" she said hotly, trying to move to stand and fight.
"Oh no?" he asked. "You should know, that's what pirates do," he said as Sarquiss pushed Kia back down.
"Ha!" Cricket said, and the three turned to look at him. Kia's face fell as she took in his bleeding face, and beaten body. "You're not worthy to touch that," he said.
"Worthy?" Sarquiss said in a menacing voice. He ran forward, brandishing his large scythe, and bringing it over his head to slash at Cricket. "How about now?!"
At the last moment, Masira moved to stand over Cricket, taking the blow for him, which cut deeply into his back, and he fell over.
"Masira!" Cricket yelled.
"Ha ha ha!" Sarquiss laughed snidely. "Seems we're stronger than you are, which makes us worthy to take anything from you."
"Stand back boss!" Shoujou jumped up and inhaled a great breath in order to use his sonar voice against them, and Kia quickly covered her ears.
"No, Shoujou, the girl's in the way!" Cricket yelled, his arm reached out.
Shoujou deflated, the breath whooshing from his lungs as he looked over at her. Then, in the next moment, he was hit directly in the stomach by Bellamy, and sent flying into the water.
"No!" Cricket and Kia yelled at the same time. She stood up, wanting to run over to the water, but was stopped by Sarquiss. She struggled against him, until he pushed her down again.
"Let's go,"Bellamy said as he came back to his group. The men all came back to his side, as they had been trashing Cricket's home, and the Merry. One man who had graffitied Bellamy's pirate mark on the side of the house threw the paint can into the water. "Load up the gold," Bellamy called and they all started walking down to the ship.
Kia struggled as best as she could as Sarquiss picked her up again. She was hitting and kicking him- to no avail, and she started yelling as loudly as she could, until he threatened to cut off a piece of her if she didn't stop. She didn't want to stop, but realized that Luffy would come after Bellamy anyway. She could handle being with them for a little while, and then enjoy watching Luffy slaughter them.
"Grow up old man!" Bellamy called out as the others boarded their ship. "The city of gold is a fantasy! If you want to remain a pirate in this new age, you'd best realize that dreams never come true!"
The crew laughed, and Kia looked around at the destruction they caused, feeling pity for Cricket, and yet so much anger.
Cricket stood, calling out to Bellamy. "Hold on there, pup." Bellamy looked back over his shoulder, but didn't turn around. "A spineless whelp who beats people's dreams out of them, has no business calling himself a pirate," Cricket said angrily. "Let the girl go," he said as a threat, and Bellamy's grin widened.
"Seems like you didn't learn well enough the first time," he said, throwing off his coat, and heading towards Cricket.
"No!" Kia yelled, not caring what Sarquiss did. "Leave him alone!" Kia was put down on the ground, and a gloved hand covered her mouth, as she was faced toward the fight and forced to watch as Cricket was beaten until he was unconscious.
"It's too quiet," Usopp said. The others glanced at him, then around them. They were almost back to Cricket's house. "Shouldn't we be hearing them working on the Merry?" he asked.
"I smell blood!" Chopper yelled as he turned into his reindeer form and galloped ahead, everyone running behind him.
What they found shocked them all. The house was halfway torn down, the Merry had pieces missing from her, and the monkeys…
"Diamond-head guy!" Luffy shouted, running over to the prone figure.
"Masira! Shoujou!" the others yelled out as they saw the state of their new friends.
"Hey, help me!" Sanji called, as he started pulling Shoujou from the water.
"Right!" Chopper answered, turning into heavy point to assist.
"Who did this to them?" Usopp asked as he looked around. His eyes landed on the Merry, and he screamed, "Who would do any of this?!"
"Sorry…"
The voice was very weak, and Robin and Luffy helped Cricket to sit up. "Hey, are you okay?" Luffy asked.
"I'm so sorry…" he said slowly, having a hard time speaking. "We tried… to … stop them."
"Easy mister," Luffy said. "Just tell us what happened here."
"Joh!" The south bird in Zoro's hand called loudly, and Cricket looked up.
"You got one… good," he said, holding his head in his hand. "I'm so sorry!" he cried to Luffy, who looked confused.
"THE GOLD!" Nami yelled, interrupting them as she came out of the house. "IT'S GONE!"
Everyone looked to Nami, then back to Cricket, who was very upset. "Yes, it's gone," he said. "But that doesn't matter! You have-"
"How can you say that?!" Usopp yelled. "You dove for ten years to find that gold! You almost killed yourself for it!"
"Shut up!" Cricket yelled back, and the others stopped, looking at him in surprise. "I told you, it doesn't matter!" He stopped there, as he was racked with a coughing fit.
Zoro stepped away, continuing to search through the wreckage around him. He moved aside a board, noticing the dripping paint at the bottom. When he saw what was under it, he flung the board away.
"Your friend…" Cricket finally managed to choke out.
"Yeah, where is Kia?" Chopper asked. "Can you wake her up, Nami? I could use her help with them," he said, pointing to where Masira and Shoujou were laid.
"She's gone!" Cricket yelled. "Taken!"
"WHAAAATT?!" most of the crew yelled in response.
"Where? Who? Why? How?" the questions from each flowed on top of each other, and Cricket didn't know where to start.
"I'm sorry! I tried to stop them," he said again to Luffy dejectedly.
"Luffy," Zoro called, and gestured to the painted mark on the wall of the house.
"That's Bellamy's mark!" Nami said.
"I'll help," Zoro offered, just as Sanji said, "I'm going!" but Luffy shook his head.
"I can do this alone," he said.
"Luffy," Nami said, getting his attention. "I don't see how we can do this. We have to sail in three hours if we want to make it to sky island," she said sadly. "We can't leave without Kia."
Luffy turned to Robin, "If I follow the coast, I'll make it back to the town?" he asked her, and she nodded. He turned back to Zoro and Sanji, "Get everything ready, I'll be back in time," he said, and they nodded as well.
"Don't go alone!" Cricket yelled. "You don't know what you're getting in to!"
Luffy turned back to the group. "I'll be back by sunrise," he said, and took off running.
Kia continued to struggle, and Sarquiss pushed her forward. She tripped on the steps and banged her knee, then fell forward through the doors and into the tavern, scraping her arms on the rough boards. She lay there, hurt and upset, but was picked up and basically dropped into a chair.
"Cheer up sweetheart," Sarquiss said as he plopped into a chair across from her, the other members of the crew joining him. "We saved you from a weak crew, you should be thanking us."
"Thank you so much for kidnapping me, and forcing me to watch your pathetic grasp for power on this tiny nowhere island," Kia replied in monotone. Most of the crew bristled at that, but Bellamy just laughed, and went to the bar to get a drink.
"We'll break you of that spirit soon enough," Sarquiss hissed at her, and she rolled her eyes as she moved to the next table, away from him. She braided her hair to keep it out of her face, using a rubber band on her wrist to tie it off, the simple task helping to keep her calm.
She remained quiet for some time, and after awhile of being ignored, decided to try another escape attempt. She had had two unsuccessful attempts thus far, once when she tried to jump in the water while the ship was leaving Cricket's, and the other as they docked back in Mock town. Both times, Bellamy was the only reason she hadn't gotten away. She didn't think he had haki, so he must have been watching, waiting for her to try.
She glanced around slowly, trying not to move much, so as not bring attention to herself. Everyone was laughing and drinking. Kia noticed that Bellamy's back was to her, and the others were ignoring her so the next time one of the men gave a toast and caused a ruckus, she took the chance to slip outside.
Kia hid just outside the door, listening for any indication that someone had seen her leave, and hearing nothing, she grinned and stepped away from the wall. The swinging door was blasted open, catching her in the back, and sending her tumbling from the porch onto the wooden planks of the boardwalk below.
She groaned as she pushed herself up, noting the newest scrapes and splinters added in her arms and legs. It also hurt to put weight on her ankle, and as she was grabbed and hauled back inside, she could only limp along.
Kia was thrown back into the chair, as Bellamy growled at Sarquiss. "You took her, so keep an eye on her!" he said harshly, heading back to the bar. Sarquiss scowled at her, and stood up, stalking over to where she was sitting. She couldn't do anything as he reared back and backhanded her across the face.
"Learn your place!" he yelled, reaching back to strike again.
"Sarquiss, that's not how you do it," one of the women said. Kia glared at her, furious that these women would actually enjoy being part of this crew.
"It's more like this!" she said as she pushed Kia, causing the chair to tip over, and she hit the floor again, hard on her shoulder.
Kia knew anything she did to fight back would just make things worse, so she righted the chair, and tried to use it to get back up. The other woman stretched out, shoving with her foot, sending her sprawling once more, and the entire place laughed.
Bellamy laughed as he walked back over. He moved the chair and sat on it, looking down at her as she sat on the floor. Kia was disgusted, for she had landed on some type of liquid, and didn't know what it was, though she was hoping it was just alcohol.
"So then, what are you going to add to our crew?" he asked her with a grin. "Everyone helps, or else," he threatened.
"Not joining your crew," she grit out. "Eventually, I'll get back to mine."
"Why would you loyally follow such a weakling?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"Why would you loyally follow a psychopath?" she retorted, and his brow went up. "Yes, I recognized your mark," she added.
"Ha!" he crowed. "Then you know what a great man he is-"
"I know how deranged he is," she interrupted. "He doesn't care for anyone, not even those who work for him. When he finds out my captain beat you-"
"Beat me?" he interrupted, laughing, and the rest of the room followed suit.
"That's right," Kia said with a nod. "Since I haven't been able to get away, he'll just come get me."
"What makes you so sure?" he asked, mocking her.
"He's my captain, he'd never leave one of his crew behind," she answered, looking up in his eyes. "not to mention you stole from his friends, so he'll stop you. He's much stronger than you know."
"BAD NEWS!" A man yelled as he ran into the bar. "THOSE GUYS FROM EARLIER-" He looked shocked as he saw Sarquiss, and gasped as he saw Bellamy. "Bellamy? You're still here? You gotta hide, quick! THEY'LL KILL YOU!" he panted, as he yelled.
Bellamy glanced over to the man, asking "Who's going to kill me? What are you talking about?"
Kia smirked as the man looked like he was going to wet himself, in the face of Bellamy's anger. He held out his hand, showing two wanted posters for the entire room to see, and the room went as silent as a grave.
"Oh!" Kia said with a smile. "Zoro will be so happy that he finally got a wanted poster! Though, it's not a great picture," she added happily.
The people in the room started murmuring to each other, afraid of what would happen to them, since they had treated Luffy and Zoro so badly.
"Ah, don't worry, Luffy won't hold it against you," Kia said loudly, but that seemed to make them all more agitated instead of less, though she really didn't care. Perhaps they thought she was threatening them, but she just couldn't get her smile off her face.
Bellamy started laughing, just like the hyena he was named for. "You fools!" he yelled to everyone in the room. "You saw them with your own eyes, and now you want to run scared?!" He laughed at them all, and they started looking uncertain. "Weak pirates like these will do anything to look tough, even print fake wanted posters," he explained. "Idiots like you take one look and back down, without a fight, just like they hoped."
"Dream on Bellamy," Kia said loudly, as painfully got up. "You're just telling yourself that because you're scared!"
Bellamy kicked out, catching her in the stomach, which flung her into a table, crashing into several men and their glasses of booze. She was on the ground again, covered in broken glass and booze, and she was pretty sure she had several new gashes in her skin, but sat up anyway. "He's coming!" she tried to yell, but it came out on a groan instead.
The men still seated around the broken table heard what she said, and looked nervously at the door, but the rest of the room seemed to take Bellamy's explanation to heart, giving each other explanations of why Luffy couldn't possibly be worth 100 million beri. "Pirates worth that much do horrible things, so why haven't they been in the newspaper?" one man said to his friend.
"I ain't never heard of a straw hat gang," another said.
"It's gotta be fake," someone else yelled.
"Curse them for tricking us!" and other shouts continued to ring out.
"BELLAMY! WHERE ARE YOU?"
The shout from outside overpowered all the chatter inside the bar, and several people spit out whatever they had been drinking, including Sarquiss, which make Kia smirk.
"Can you help me outside?" she asked the men who were still sitting around her. A couple of them nodded, looking scared. "Really, he won't hurt anyone but Bellamy or his gang," she said softly, and that seemed to help.
Bellamy stood and strode to the door, looking back to smirk at his crew. They took this as a good sign, and stood up to follow. Sarquiss stopped to pull Kia from the men helping her and dragged her out the door as well. She looked around the moonlit dock, and followed the gazes of the others up to the roof of a nearby building, where Luffy stood.
"Well well," Bellamy said. "We were just talking about you. You got business with me?"
"Yeah," Luffy replied, his huge grin gone and eyes narrowed as they found Kia. "Give me my sister and the old guy's gold back."
Bellamy smirked. "Sister?" he asked, as he looked back, then crouched down, using his devil fruit powers to turn his legs into springs. He shot himself up, over Luffy's head and landed on the room opposite him. "You mean what we rightfully took from old man Cricket's? Why would I return either? Both were taken as pirate loot. You may be a pirate too, but you're in no position to make demands."
"Sure I am," Luffy answered calmly. "They're my friends, and she's my crew… and I'm taking them back!"
Bellamy started laughing hysterically. "Can you even fight?! Do you even know how to throw a punch?!" He continued to laugh, and the group around Kia began muttering. Some tried to laugh and smile with Bellamy, especially though closest to her, but since Bellamy's crew was all around her, she thought that was more likely to avoid getting beaten, rather than actual faith in Bellamy.
"There's no mistake, that's him," a voice said quietly, and several turned to see the man with the wanted posters, looking from Luffy to his poster and back again.
"Why are you hanging on to that piece of trash?" Sarquiss growled at the man. "Tear it up and throw it away!"
"But… but what if it's real?" the man asked. "If he really is worth 100 million… then Bellamy…."
"Ridiculous!" Sarquiss stated firmly, as he watched Bellamy. "Look at him. Does that kid look dangerous to you? Thirty million was obviously a faked amount as well."
Kia looked over to the man, and smiled. "It's real all right," she said.
"If you fight like you did earlier today, you won't be taking anything from me," Bellamy shouted snidely to Luffy. "Coward!"
"That was different," Luffy stated.
"Oh? So you've changed? Ha!" Bellamy smirked, and crouched low. He sprung up in the air, and crashed back into the roof they were standing on, causing the top of the tower to crack and separate, falling down. "You won't live to forget what I'm about to teach you!" he shouted.
He landed on the side of another tower, using his leg springs to catapult himself at Luffy. "Spring Snipe!" He yelled as he came barreling towards him, hitting the building, as Luffy dodged, but it sent him crashing to the ground. Luffy was standing as the dust cleared, and Kia couldn't tell if he had landed on his feet, or simply gotten back up.
"Spring Hopper!" Bellamy yelled, and started bouncing back and forth between buildings and the ground so fast, that they could only see a blur. "Their friend? HA! It makes sense! You believe the 400 year old lies of his fool ancestor. What city of gold?!" Bellamy shouted, making it sound as if his voice was all around the area. "What sky island?! The age of dreaming is over!"
"So, you wanna see me land a punch?" Luffy asked, as he raised his fist, cracking his knuckles in preparation.
Next to Kia, Sarquiss and the rest of Bellamy's crew began laughing again, and shouting to him. "Get him Bellamy! Fools doesn't deserve to live in the real world!"
"You've got him Luffy," Kia said to herself, unable to tear her eyes away from where Luffy stood.
"SO LONG… STRAW HAT!" Bellamy crowed loudly as he headed straight for Luffy. It was all over in a second, a huge crashing sound that silenced the entire area.
Everyone stared, and in the silence they could hear the sound of blood dripping from Luffy's fist down onto the boardwalk. Everyone looked scared, except for Kia, who was grinning.
Sarquiss pushed her aside as he stepped forward. "Huh?!" he asked. "Bellamy this isn't the time for joking! Hey! Don't kid around! Say something!"
Bellamy didn't move, as he was out cold on the ground at Luffy's feet. His crew started to worry, and Kia looked up at Sarquiss with a smirk. He glanced down at her, getting even more angry and desperate.
"C'mon Bellamy, quite fooling around! Get up and do your thing!" When nothing happened, he shouted even louder, "BELLAMY! You can't be down! You're a heavyweight with a 55 million beri bounty on your head!"
Kia grabbed the wanted poster from the man next to her, and shoved it into Sarquiss' face. "That's nothing to 100 million," she said, and he grabbed her arm, trying to look tough, but his fear was palpable. "Just wait until your boss hears about this," she said cruelly.
"I want my sister, and the old man's gold!" Luffy said firmly to the group gathered. "Give it! Now!"
That was all it took for the entire group to run, except for Sarquiss. He held onto Kia's arm as if she was a barrier that could block him from evil. Luffy walked towards the pair, and Kia could feel Sarquiss trembling. Two of Bellamy's men came running back outside from the bar, handing over the bag of gold, and standing behind Sarquiss.
Luffy stopped in front of them, looking at Kia, up and down. Sarquiss chose that moment to be brave, as his anger took over. "That brat just got lucky!" he said under his breath, and that seemed to convince him that he could speak to Luffy. "Bellamy isn't the only one you have to deal with!" he yelled. "I'm still here, and no starry eyed fool is going to beat the both of us!"
Luffy adjusted the bag over his shoulder, holding out his hand for Kia's, completely ignoring Sarquiss. She stepped forward, limping on her bad ankle and hissing at the pain of moving.
"Straw Hat!" Sarquiss yelled, even as the others tried to hold him back and shut him up. "Where do you think you're going?! We're not done!"
"Where?" Luffy asked, looking over at him finally, and Sarquiss stumbled back in fear. "The sky," Luffy answered as he pointed up. He reared back, and sent a kick at Sarquiss, causing him to fall, and he didn't even move once on the ground. He could have been knocked out, or he could have been pretending, but Kia didn't care enough to check. "That's for hurting my sister," Luffy said, as he helped her walk away.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, worried.
"Yeah, I will be," she answered. "I'll need to let Chopper check me over."
"We don't have time to walk," Luffy said as he pulled her to a stop once they were a ways away from the other people. Can you carry this?" he asked, hanging her the bag of gold. She nodded, taking it and tying it around her shoulders like a strange backpack. He then turned his back to her, and said, "Hop on, we'll have to run to make it in time."
Luffy wanted to ask what the men had done to her, but Kia didn't want to talk, he could tell. Once she climbed on his back, he started running back the way he came, looking up at the way the sky was getting lighter, and thinking he may not make it as he planned.
He even saw an hercules beetle, and stopped to catch it, but then he felt rain. He looked back up at the sky, noticing there were no rain clouds. Oh, and the rain was only hitting his neck…
It took a bit, but once he realized Kia was crying on him, he was at a loss. Should he stop? Was he hurting her? She looked like she had been beaten up, and she was probably hurting. He'd better get her to Chopper, really fast. Chopper could help her feel better. He went back to running, picked up his speed, running as fast as he could, and forgetting all about the beetle.
After running for a long time, he finally saw the ship, which gave him the energy boost to keep going faster. He could hear the crew, excited to see him, but he didn't waste a second. "Chopper!" he yelled, which brought Chopper running, and had the rest of the crew stopping in their tracks.
He watched in confusion, as Kia stood, acting as if she wasn't hurt badly. She handed Usopp the bag, and calmed Sanji down, telling him that she was fine, and Luffy had beaten up the guys who took her. The old man came forward also, apologizing to her, and she just smiled and said, "no problem!"
His attention was grabbed as the others started running around to get to their ships, so that he could get to sky island, but he looked back in concern, to see Zoro pick her up for Chopper and take her to the ship, Sanji behind him yelling something. He grinned, knowing his crew was taking care of each other, and gave the old man a slap on the back.
"Thanks for fixing up our ship!" he told him with a grin.
"Thank them," the man said, still looking at the bag that had been placed in front of him, and pointing behind him to Masira and Shoujou's crews.
"Everybody aboard! We're running out of time!" they yelled at Luffy from their ships, and he ran for the Merry, stretching his arms to grab on and climb aboard.
"Hey Boy!" he heard, and turned back to the old man. "People may laugh and call them silly legends, but let them laugh! No one has ever proved that the golden city or sky island doesn't exist! That what makes it a great adventure!"
"Right!" Luffy called back. "Shi shi shi!" he laughed at the thought of a great adventure.
"Thanks… for retrieving my gold! Don't fall out of the sky now!"
Everyone joined him in calling goodbye to the old man- even Kia, though she looked really pale.
Kia stood at the railing, ignoring the requests of the others to go lie down. All that would happen was I'd get thrown out of bed, and that was pointless.
"Chopper?" she asked, and he stopped complaining about her standing up in order to answer.
"Yes, Kia?"
"I promise, I'll go lay down once we see the knock up stream, okay? I don't want to miss it."
"Okay, I guess that would be all right, but I want to wrap your ankle first, so sit down."
She nodded and did as he asked, then called out to Sanji.
"Yes Kia, my dear?" he asked, and she smiled happily at getting his charm directed to her again. "Anything you need, I will be delighted to get for you!"
"I need some rope please," she asked, and he excitedly turned to get it, coming back with a length of rope for her, but confused now that he thought about why she asked for it.
"Why the rope Kia?" he asked.
"Well, if the knock up stream lifts us into the sky, I'm not sure if the boat will just be lifted, or what. I think I might need to tie myself to the railing in order to hold on."
"That's smart," Nami said, as she walked forward. She yelled to the guys to secure everything down with ropes, and they jumped to do it.
There wasn't much chance to talk after that, as the sky grew dark, and the waves grew. The crew ran around, following orders as best as they could, and Nami freaked out as she realized how the knock up stream built its energy. The Merry was towed to the side of a giant whirlpool by the other ships, but before they were sucked down to their deaths, the water calmed.
"Hey it stopped!" Usopp called.
"Huh?!" Sanji shouted from the other end of the ship. "It's gone? How?!"
"No!" Nami called, her eyes wide with fright. "It's only just begun! It's building!"
"HOLD IT!" A voice shouted, and the crew all turned.
A laugh sounded that would probably haunt her dreams, and Kia looked out at the huge raft that was following the Merry, seeing Blackbeard and his crew paddling towards them.
"They're from Mocktown!" Nami said.
"Who are they?" Sanji asked.
"Hey Zoro," Luffy called, "Look!"
Zoro looked over, seeing who it was, and turned to Kia, who looked white.
"GIVE UP, STRAW HAT LUFFY! WE'RE GONNA TAKE THAT HUNDRED MILLION BERI HEAD OF YOURS!"
"Did he just say my head is worth a hundred million beri?" Luffy asked.
"Yes," Kia answered, shaking off the fear. Blackbeard won't be able to follow us now. "The new posters came out this morning. And Zoro is worth sixty million," she said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It went up after the stuff in Alabasta."
Kia smiled slightly, as she watched Luffy and Zoro celebrate, and Sanji pouting and insisting that Usopp keep looking through his binoculars to see his wanted poster.
Masira and Shoujou began yelling at them, and they all steadied themselves as the ship began rocking. Nami looked over the side, and began yelling as well. "EVERYONE GRAB ONTO SOMETHING SECURE, OR GO BELOW!" she bellowed, "THE SEA'S GONNA BLOW!"
Kia moved, checking the rope she had tied around her middle and the stair railing. The water shot up suddenly, and everyone screamed, though some were in excitement, and some were scared witless.
"This is impossible!" she heard Nami shout. "The ship is sailing vertically up the surface of the current!"
"Wait a minute!" Sanji yelled. "We're floating! If we tip back, we'll fall back down!"
"What? That can't happen!" Luffy yelled. "Nami! What can we do?!"
Chopper screamed as a huge sea king fell over the ship back towards the ocean surface. "See?!" Sanji yelled. "It's only a matter of time before we end up like that!"
"It's a little late to worry about that!" Zoro yelled.
"We're still being propelled upward by the force of the explosion," Robin added. "There's nothing we can do now."
"Why did we do this?!" Usopp and Chopper yelled.
"HOIST THE SAIL! NOW!" Nami yelled, causing everyone to look over at her. "This isn't just a wall of water, it's an ocean current, and we can sail on it!" She turned and gave her crew a smile. "If we're up against the ocean and wind, we can navigate it! And who is this ship's navigator?!"
"YOU ARE NAMI!" The boys yelled back, and Luffy cheered.
The sails billowed open as they unfurled them, catching the rising air, and lifting the ship even faster than the water had. It was a completely amazing experience, even for someone that had flown before. This was different than an airplane, feeling the warm wind all around her, and Kia wanted to just close her eyes and revel in it, but couldn't. She wanted to see everything.
"It's incredible!" Luffy shouted. "We're flying!"
Everyone joined in, shouts of amazement, of awe, of love for Nami… you name it.
"How far, Nami?" Luffy asked.
"If there really is a sky island, it's above those clouds!" she replied, pointing up above them, right where they were heading.
"Then let's go!" Luffy shouted.
"YEAH!" they all responded.