I don't like you!

by BloodyMarryMe

By pure chance and unluckiness Miyako finds herself at the Sabaody auction house as a slave. And of all the people, the one interested just had to be the most smug, egoistical and sadistic pirate she has ever met. So at least she can give him as much trouble as possible, right? LawXOC

63. Chapter 63

'I don't like you!' by BloodyMarryMe

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters as it all belongs to Eiichiro Oda. I do own the OC Suzune Miyako. This story is rated T for blood, language and suggestive themes.

Hello, Minna-san! :D Sorry, for the wait, I have been busy and I will be again, but hopefully I will get out at least one more chapter before my exams start.

Also, I might be repeating myself, but I just want to tell you all how wonderful you are for having so much patience with me and keeping up with this story even after all this time. You're reviews are always so supportive, it really means a lot to me. Thank you very much. *hands everyone a cookie* ^^

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CHAPTER 63

Sigh

Siiiigh

Siiiiiiiiiiigh

"Would you stop sighing already!? You're making me depressed," Penguin shouted at the first mate who was now acting captain of the Heart Pirates while their real captain was away.

Bepo, Penguin and Shachi were in the control room, staring at the underwater terrain in front of them, while Jean Bart and Sai occupied their usual seats, navigating the submarine. The bear had been lying on the ground with his face down, limp and lifeless as a sea cucumber, only letting out long sighs every now and then. He had been doing so ever since they sailed from Punk Hazard, leaving their captain, his best friend, behind along with their samurai. The lack of Trafalgar Law caused the polar bear to fall even deeper in his state of depression than usual. He was still carrying out his everyday duties and was quite good at being the one in command, giving out orders when necessary, but whenever he started thinking about leaving Miyako and Law alone with the enemy, a gloomy cloud of anxiousness started weighing down on him.

"But what if something bad happened to Captain and Miya-chan? What if they were discovered and Caesar Clown did something to them!? And Captain is a devil fruit user so if he falls into the water, he's doomed!" The bear suddenly sat up as he started panicking from all the horrid thoughts swirling in his mind, grabbing his head and ruffling the fur with his claws there.

The dark-haired mechanic pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a second. He could feel a headache coming so he took a long pause to compose himself before he snaps at the polar bear again. "Snap out of it dammit! You've been like this ever since we left captain on Punk Hazard. We all miss him too, but we can't whine about it all day. You're the first mate, henceforth the captain now, so act like it," he reprimanded Bepo with a stern tone.

Bepo's ears lowered as he continued to sit on the metal floor of the submarine, looking like a giant stuffed toy left to wait in the room while its owner returns.

Shachi came over to the bear and gave him a firm squeeze on the shoulder in an attempt to cheer him up and get him out of his dark mood. "Ignore him Bepo, he's just upset because he's missing Miya-chan," the other mechanic grinned.

Suddenly, Penguin flailed his arms in the air before gripping his head, "Well of course I do dammit! What if Miya-chan is in dangeeer!?"

Shachi, Sai and Jean Bart all stayed quiet with their expressions unchanged, but a bead of sweat appeared on their foreheads as they all thought the same thing, *So aren't you just the same as Bepo?*

The younger navigator finally sighed, deciding to say something. Mostly it was because he wanted them to either shut up or leave the control room already since they kept being too noisy for him to concentrate. So maybe if he managed to reassure them, they would stop with all the yelling. "Captain and Miyako can take care of themselves. They aren't so weak to be defeated that easily. Besides…when did you ever see Captain Law's plan fail?"

The brunette mechanic nodded, "I agree with Sai. They won't be so easily defeated and they'll take care of each other. We can always relay on Law's plans after all," he smiled reassuringly at Bepo and Penguin.

Bepo nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right. I must be extra depressed because I have to share this small space with all you gruff guys," the bear sighed.

"Why you-" Penguin raised his hand to sock him, but Shachi managed to caught the other mechanic before that and restrain him by holding him by the forearms, while Penguin struggled.

"Ah, I know, let's go up for a while!" Shachi exclaimed, hoping to change the subject and lighten the mood. "Everyone's been cooped up in here for so long and we're all tense because of the whole situation. Some fresh air and sunlight might relax the crew," he suggested.

Sai and Jean Bart looked at each other, having a mental conversation between themselves to decide if it was alright to do so. The younger navigator glanced at his radars, deeming it safe enough since there wasn't anything moving around them. "Alright, we can do that. Besides, we'll be arriving at Zo soon anyway."

Bart simply nodded before he started pulling the helm towards himself carefully, slowly pointing the submarine's bow upwards and sailing towards the surface.

Meanwhile, Sai used the den den mushi to notify everyone that they'll be emerging soon which meant for everyone to prepare for the usual turbulence that it always created.

"How long until we reach Zo?" Penguin called out, glad that they'll get some fresh air which might be good for his slowly appearing headache.

"I'd say we'll reach the island tonight if we keep going with this speed and without any problems," Jean Bart answered curtly as usual before focusing back on getting the vessel out on the open.

"We were lucky, there weren't any sea creatures nor pirates getting in our way so it took less time than expected," Bepo added, back in his captain-mode already. The bear's mood swings were truly amazing; how fast he could jump from deep depression to his professional self.

"Idiot, don't say that or you'll jinx us," Penguin interrupted the bear, while trying to pry himself out of Shachi's vice-like grip.

"Sorry…," the polar bear instantly responded.

Sai rolled his eyes at that statement, "Don't tell me you believe in that nonsense, Penguin."

Shachi laughed, "He's the kind of guy who'll avoid black cats and never walk under a ladder."

"Hey, mock all you want but it's better to be safe than sorry! Now quickly Bepo, knock on some wood to unjinx us!"

"….But we're in a metal submarine…," Bepo whined.

"…R-right…," Penguin looked caught off guard as if that thought didn't even cross his mind until now.

"Dumbass," Shachi muttered.

~…..~

Cody took a deep breath of fresh air, basking in the sun as he stretched as far as he could go. "Aah, it's nice to finally be outside. And it's such a nice day, too."

The redheaded medic yawned beside him as he also stepped out on the deck, "I'll be even happier when we reach land," he muttered. "Ugh!" A sudden slap on his back made him gasp for breath and stumble forward.

"What kinda pirate be ya, ya landlubber," Munk laughed wholeheartedly as he winked at Josh.

The small medic just scowled at the rough treatment, but before he could complain, Garry interfered. "At least it's better than before. I remember when Josh first joined the crew, he was so sea sick he couldn't get out of bed for days," the other medic teased.

Sam laughed, "That's true! I also remember! Even the medicine didn't help him much so he had to walk around the submarine with a bucket all the time!"

The Hearts all laughed at that memory before the redhead got used to the constant motions of a sea vessel. Indeed, comparing to before, this nostalgia for land that would sometimes hit him when they were out at sea for a long time was nothing. Joshua's eyebrows furrowed at the laughter obviously aimed at him. His face turned red, both from anger and embarrassment from the memories, "Alright already! Don't get me started on you guys! The first time Sam saw a real-life sea king he almost pissed his pants!" He pointed accusingly at the mechanic. "And Mori, what about the time when you slipped while wiping the deck and managed to fall overboard," the medic continued in triumph now that the other's had to share his misery.

Mori, one of the chefs of the crew, cleared his throat and put the hat further down on his head to hide his embarrassed expression, "I-I don't remember that at all…"

"Don't worry, Mr. Two-left-feet, that's why we do," Penguin grinned devilishly at the helping chef, not letting him get away with it.

"Well in any case it seems you were wrong Penguin; nothing bad happened and we're still here. It's a wonderful day!" Shachi exclaimed, doing some light exercises under the sun. That is until the younger head mechanic jumped at him and clamped his mouth shut with his hand, almost toppling both of them over.

"Idiot! Are you doing this on purpose!? Are you trying to jinx us now?!" Penguin yelled in an angry panic.

"I...don't think that's a real thing…though," Zeek answered sheepishly, though he was left unnoticed and unheard as Penguin started arguing with Shachi, who in return, started mumbling and suffocating from Penguin's hand on his face.

"Nothing bad is going to happen just because you relax for a while, idiot," Joshua sighed and the taller head medic beside him nodded in approval.

Just as he said that, a loud rumbling noise ripped through the sky. All the Heart Pirates on the deck stared up just in time to see the bright blue sky darken in an instant, as rain started pouring down on them. For a while they all just stood there, dumbfounded and speechless, getting soaking wet by the sudden bad weather.

"Ah…" Sai was about to say what they were all thinking, but Joshua cut him off as he shouted in denial.

"This proves nothing! It's just a coincidence!" The redhead had to shout loudly to overpower the sounds of thunder.

Just then, a lightning bolt crashed down into the sea, only a few paces from the submarine. The loud electrical sound that hit the water made the crew jump in surprise. It was as if heaven itself has turned against them.

"I told you!" Penguin shouted in frustration.

"Aah~ Now my jumpsuit feels ever heavier," Bepo complained in irritation as he got soaked. Water was dripping in puddles from his white fur.

"That's the New World for you…better head back inside," Sam sighed in disappointment and everyone rushed back towards the entrance, away from the cold rain.

The younger navigator, however, stood still in his place as he stared before him. But he wasn't staring at the sky as usual when he was interested in a weather phenomenon. Instead, he was staring at the darkening sea below them. "Wait…Something's not right," he muttered, narrowing his purple eyes.

Cody noticed Sai's still form and jogged towards him. "Hey, what's wrong? Come back inside, you'll catch a cold," he warned. His normally spikey hair was falling down and framing his face now, creating an unusual sight.

"This rain was too sudden even for the New World's weather, don't you think?" Sai started and opened the palm to examine the droplets of water falling onto his hand.

Cody simply blinked at him, puzzled, not understand what the navigator meant. That's when a stray droplet slid down his cheek and onto his lips. Reflexively, the medic licked his lips with his tongue, but then his eyes widened in confusion. "Huh?" He turned his head up towards the sky and stuck his tongue out like a child playing in the rain. As he got another taste of the rain, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's…salty. Why is the rain salty?"

He turned with a questioning eye towards Sai again, only to stop in his tracks and pale considerably. It was because he recognized the expression that their navigator was currently wearing; an expression that he saw only a couple of times in all their years together. Sai's light purple eyes were wide, as he didn't even care that water was falling right onto his face. Perhaps he didn't even notice because the navigator was definitely in shock. It made the medic even more worried, knowing that the usually expressionless Sai only made those kinds of faces when he just made a huge realization.

Before Cody could ask what was the matter, he heard the navigator whisper, "Because that isn't rain…and that isn't the sky," the young man pointed at the dark blue surface above them.

Cody raised his head to look up as well just before he heard Sai finish.

"That's an ocean."

The crew stopped as they heard Sai's explanation, all of them staring at the sky together with the other two pirates. That's when they noticed the lightning bolts suddenly stopped, even as the thunder kept rumbling. The salty rain was still pouring down onto them.

"W-what's going on? Sai?" They all turned to the navigator who had the most experience with climate and its peculiar changes in the New World.

Suddenly, Sai's eyes opened even wider in realization and he turned towards the rest of the crew. It finally dawned on him what was going on. "We need to get out of here, quick! Everyone inside!"

Just as he said that, Jean Bart came rushing out onto the deck with gritted teeth. Even the large, usually stoic man, seemed worried. "There is something wrong with the log pose in the control room. All three needles are just spinning like crazy."

"What is going on!? Are we going to die?!" Bepo started running in circles, with panic and despair in his beady eyes.

"I knew it! I knew this will happen! We got hexed…twice!" Penguin stomped his foot with hopeless anger written all over his face.

"What's going on, Sai?" Joshua yelled as that thunder noise around them continued. But suddenly the medic realized the noises weren't coming above them anymore…they were coming from below. They were coming from the sea.

"There's no time to explain, we need to submerge and get out of here!" Sai yelled out just before a flashing light blinded them all. It was a lightning bolt just like before, only this time it didn't come from the sky above them, but instead rose like an electrical column from the water below them. Another came out next to the ship, melting into the blue sky above them and disappearing into the air. But could it really be called the sky anymore? Just as Sai foretold, the sky seemed like liquid now as it moved above them, the salty droplets still pouring down.

"Gyah! The thunderbolts are coming from the sea?"

Suddenly Bepo regained his composure as he realized how dangerous this strange phenomenon was, whatever it was. He strengthened his resolve and was suddenly a different person, better yet a bear, as he started shouting out orders. "I don't know what's going on, but for now everyone get inside. Everyone to your positions, we are entering a state 3 alert! Jean Bart, Sai, get to the control room and bring us down!"

The Hearts started running inside, some almost slipping onto the wet wooden floor of the deck as they rushed on.

Sai, however, gritted his teeth but stayed in place as he stared up above them at the strange ocean sky. "It might be too late," he muttered just before turning to leave and running after the others.

Bepo was the last to get in before slamming the metal doors of the submarine and tightening the wheel to hold them shut. He rushed down the stairs, catching up to Sai and the two head mechanics who were headed for the control room.

"We need to submerge as soon as possible," the navigator warned.

"What's going on, Sai?!" Shachi questioned as he noticed the navigator obviously knew something about this. "Do you know what this is?"

" I think so…but I'm still surprised. I've only read about it in books. After all, this occurrence happens so rarely navigators usually don't even get to see it in their lifetime of travels," the young man explained.

"Who cares about that, just tell us what's going on!" Penguin demanded.

"A reversible storm," Sai pointed out simply just as they entered the control room. Jean Bart was already waiting at the helm there. The younger navigator plopped into his chair hurriedly and started pushing buttons and pulling levers. With an annoyed click of his tongue, he noticed the warning lights on his control panel, "The machinery is going haywire." Red lights were flashing around the submarine now, warning everyone to stay alert and prepared.

"Take us down by force if you have to, Jean Bart," Bepo yelled an order, seeing they had no other choice.

"What the hell is this reversal storm?!" Shachi called out.

"A reversible storm. Or Reverse Storm as some call it. It is an occurrence where nature itself is changing and completely reversing…laws of physics, magnetic fields, even the gravity…That's also why our log poses and machinery isn't working. The up is down and the down is up," the navigator explained.

"You mean…the sky is actually turning into an ocean and vice versa!? No wonder there are thunderbolts coming from the sea," Bepo exclaimed in panic.

"Scary…" Penguin whined.

"The thunderbolts are the least of our problems," Sai continued.

"What do you mean?" Everyone gulped, completely tense.

"As I said…if up is down and down is up….that means we are on the wrong side right now," the navigator told them.

Everyone paled. "You don't mean…" The whole submarine suddenly shook, lightly at first but then it became stronger with every next shake.

"G-guys…Look!" Shachi pointed out the window with wide eyes behind his sunglasses. They all stared at large columns of water rising around them. It was as if gravity was suddenly shifted and everything was starting to float upwards.

"What the hell is going on with all this shaking?!" Josh burst out into the control room, Cody following close behind with a worried expression. Just then everyone felt a strange feeling of lightness, as if they were losing weight rapidly and becoming light as feathers. But when they started flying slowly upwards they realized they weren't really losing weight…they were simply falling to the other side…along with their entire ship!

"Everyone, grab onto something!" Jean Bart yelled as a warning before clutching onto the helm. The other Heart Pirates did the same, grabbing whatever they could find that was nailed to the floor.

Sai luckily had a seatbelt attached to his chair and quickly put it on before shouting a warning to all the crewmembers via den den mushi for everyone to hold onto tight to something stabile.

"We're flying!"

"No…We're falling!"

The entire vessel started shrieking as it got pulled out of the water below them and started rising upwards towards the sky. At first it was slow, but it started picking up speed as it went on, much to everyone's disdain. All the pirates could do was watch in horror as they appeared to be flying in a straight like towards the sky, gaining speed as they went.

"Amazing…," Cody mumbled, rubbing his slightly unshaved chin in thought. He watched with wondrous eyes as they lifted up into the blue sky.

Josh slapped the medic on his back in irritation. "What are you getting excited about right now, idiot!?"

"So…what happens once we reach the sky…or the ocean, or whatever the hell is up there right now?" Shachi asked.

"I don't know…" Sai muttered, his thin eyebrows only slightly furrowed, showing that he was also considering the possibilities and was obviously troubled by them.

"I'd be more concerned what happens once this whole strange storm passes," Jean Bart muttered darkly.

Bepo tilted his head, puzzled by the statement. "Why? Isn't that a good thing? Then everything will return back to normal."

"Yeah, back to normal…and imagine what would happen to us if we're who-knows-how-high in the air at that moment," Josh grumbled at the polar bear.

Bepo suddenly understood their predicament and gulped before deadpanning, "We're going to die."

"I don't know how long we'll keep rising like this, it could go on for miles. But falling from such a height would be like falling onto cement; splat!" Shachi added with a few creative sound effects for a better picture.

"Sorry," Bepo winced again but was completely ignored.

"But I'm more interested what will happen when we reach this sky-ocean above us," Cody pointed at the blue liquid sky that slowly rippled above them. It was as if looking into a large mirror that reflected the ocean underneath them. Suddenly, both the sea and the sky looked exactly the same. Every once in a while, a column of light would pass them by from below as the thunderbolts still rose from the water beneath them, yet the rain fell from above. But there was water dripping from both sides now, some droplets colliding into each other, as this strange anomaly made the ocean beneath them rise in drops while salty water also fell from the sky.

They all continued to clutch at anything beside them since the rising submarine and lack of normal gravity made them all fly and float above the floor.

Penguin dared to let go for a while, pushing himself off the railing and landing on the sideway wall, though he was instantly pulled up to stand on the roof of the room. He crouched while in an upside-down position, staring down at the others who were now all reversed in his eyes. He chuckled in amusement at the floating feeling. "So this is what it feels like to defy laws of gravity and nature itself, huh?"

"Stop that and grab onto something before you fall and break your neck," Joshua warned.

"Heh, I'm the king of Nature right now!" Penguin retorted, puffing out his chest in pride.

"More like the king of morons," Shachi muttered.

"Well enjoy it while it lasts because, remember….Splat," Sai reminded the mechanics in an eerily calm tone.

The Hearts gulped. "Right…," they winced. They were all so mesmerized by the flying feeling that they forgot what could come next; impending doom.

As their light bickering continued, all they could do was watch as the vessel finally approached the strange sky.

"Everyone, hold on tight, we don't know what will happen next," Jean Bart warned, clutching onto the helm just in case.

"We're going to collide with it!" Bepo shrieked in panic.

The first level of the submarine slowly touched the sky which started to ripple and sway even more now, just like water being disturbed. There was no resistance as it opened up and the vessel slowly started entering the liquid sky. Slowly it was being submerged even as it still rose up in a completely horizontal position.

"W-we're going in!" Bepo gulped, feeling relived that they didn't crash into it yet equally freaked out by this new development.

The water started enveloping the submarine until the sky swallowed them whole and the yellow vessel completely disappeared into the dark blue, leaving no evidence behind of its existence.

"We're…sailing inside…just like in a normal sea," Sai muttered with a sigh, relieved by this. They didn't know how long this reassurance will last once the effects of the 'Reverse Storm' stop working, but at least for now things were still going their way. "The radars and other devices on the control panel still aren't working, though," he added with the same seemingly blank expression as usual.

"At least we can steer with the helm. This is just like sailing a ship, the old-fashioned way," the older navigator commented.

Sai hummed in response to that, though he didn't sound pleased by it, even as nothing on his expression showed so. Then again, his expressions were always so subtle they were barely visible to other people. Only those who knew him well and spent time with him, like the Heart Pirates, learned how to read his emotions from his features and came to understand this guy whose thoughts seem to be unfathomable to others. Still, the younger navigator preferred to have control, especially when it came to navigation. He didn't like this feeling of powerlessness since he was unused to it when it came to sailing.

"Wow, we're actually sailing through the sky," Bepo's black eyes blinked in utter bewilderment. "Just don't crash you guys!" He suddenly warned, realizing they couldn't see anything but the blue before them. Yet unlike the clear water of the Four Blues, this sky sea appeared foamy and misty, making their vision limited.

"What would we crash into, a cloud?" Josh muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe a bird?" Penguin tilted his head and scratched its side.

A bird in water?" Cody stared at him funny with a questioning but also skeptical expression.

"Maybe a giant fish?" Shachi asked in wonder, rubbing his chin.

"A fish!?" Bepo's eyes gleamed in excitement as he heard that word, his thin black lips already salivating slightly.

"Shut up Bepo!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"Sorry," the bear bowed his head in depression.

"Aaah, this sea-sky makes no sense! And we can hardly see anywhere we're sailing…flying? Gaah, this hurts my brain!" Penguin ruffled the hair along with his hat as he yelled in frustration from all these confusing happenings.

"Right now we're just going in circles, because if we accidentally sail out of the sea storm, we'll start falling from the sky," Jean Bart explained to them. There was slight worry even in his gruff voice.

"Ah, but while we're in the storm it's ok right?" Shachi asked.

"Yeah…," Sai answered though his tone seemed unsure.

Penguin's eyes widened as he grabbed the other head mechanic by the collar. "Don't you dare say any more than this! You'll jinx us again, you're awfully close as it is!" He started shaking the other man to get his full attention as he warned.

Joshua sighed, "Still with the superstitions."

"Then how do you explain that just after he said how everything is perfect we end up in the eye of a once-in-a-life-time-seen killer storm!? Of all the places to form in the New World, it forms just above us!"

"Coincidence? It happens in the New World…" Cody shrugged not overthinking it as Penguin was.

"Would you all just shut up and think of a solution rather than arguing," Joshua yelled. "We'll die if we just do nothing here!"

"He's right, we need to find a safe way to get back into the real sea again," Bepo called out before letting out another long sigh. "I wish Captain was here! He would know what to do…and he would use his powers to bring us down," he whined.

"But he's not here so we need to find a solution ourselves," Jean Bart reminded them.

"Oy, Jean Bart, don't tell me what to do, I am the acting captain here," the bear complained.

"Then act as captain and help out!" Joshua yelled back at the bear.

"Sorry…" The polar bear bowed his head in sudden dejection.

Everyone sighed.

However, Bepo suddenly clenched his fists and raised his head with a fierce look in his black eyes. "No…you're right! Captain isn't here now so we need to take care of it ourselves, we can't always rely on him. And we can't let this stupid storm beat us! We have to survive and tell captain and Miya-chan all about it when they get back."

The Hearts smirked, "That's the spirit!"

However, luck was truly cruel to them this day. Just as Bepo finally found his resolve and everyone started making a plan, the submarine started shaking just as it did previously. The tremors grew stronger, making the pirates stumble around and almost lose their balance.

"Whoa, what's going on!?"

Everyone's hearts sank as they started to realize what was happening. The storm must have passed or disappeared just as quickly as it appeared because the state around them was returning to normal. Even the needles on the log pose calmed down. Yet, that was far from good news for our friends, for they could feel the force of gravity pulling them back down. They slowly started to slip out of the sky-sea. They were falling.

"No, no, no!" Shachi and Penguin held onto each other for dear life as they were tumbling around the control room, while the vessel started falling from the sky vertically.

"How far are we from the ocean?!"

"Too far, we'll never make it!

Cody gritted his teeth and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, putting one into his mouth. "Sorry Captain, but allow me this last one," he muttered, remembering Law usually forbid him to smoke inside the vessel, even though the captain wasn't here now. Still, the medic at least hoped for one last cigarette before he was splattered and forgotten somewhere in the depths of Davy Jones Locker.

However, Bepo wasn't about to give up and let them all die in the middle of nowhere. "Shachi, Penguin, you know those ventilation shafts at the bottom to let the hot air out from the engines?"

The two mechanics nodded in silence, still not letting go of each other but at least they calmed down enough while they focused on the first mate.

"Can you let out as much air from them as possible when I give you the signal?"

"Of course!" Shachi bumped his fist into his open palm as he realized Bepo's plan. If they can let out enough hot air, they could make the shafts into make-shift thrusters and slow their fall enough to not break into pieces when they hit the ocean again. "Penguin, let's go!" The dark mechanic followed suit as Shachi ran out of the control room and both pirates rushed towards the lowest floor to work on opening and redirect the ventilation system.

Meanwhile, the submarine kept gaining speed as it fell from the sky. It was completely out of the liquid sea-sky now that turned back into simple greyish clouds, as if the whole Reverse Storm never happened. The area calmed down as even the columns of thunderbolts stopped rising upwards from the ocean.

As the Hearts looked through the main window, they could see the vast blue below them as the ocean stretched in all directions. As magnificent as the sight from the sky was, it will soon become their grave if they don't succeed in stopping their fall.

While the vessel shook, Sai once again warned for every pirate to hold on tight so they wouldn't get additional injuries from falling around the submarine.

"5000 meters above the sea, Bepo," Sai called out, his machinery on the control panel finally starting to work properly again and could now be read.

"3000 meters."

"2000 meters."

"1000 meters!"

"500 meters!"

Bepo gritted his sharp teeth. The problem was that they didn't have an infinite amount of air to release from the ventilation so they had to be careful when to release it. If they do it too early, they'll lose it all and start falling again. Yet if they let it out too late, they won't be able to slow down the whole ship in time. It was a matter of perfect timing. With that in mind, the bear gripped a den den mushi and called out to the mechanics with it, "Now!"

They heard a hissing sound from somewhere below as hot air started coming out from all the ventilation openings that were leading outwards. The shafts were on both sides of the submarine and below on its bilge.

"We're going to crash!" Josh exclaimed since they weren't slowing down at all and they were still quickly approaching the sea below.

"Give it time," Cody muttered, gripping the railing in the control room with so much force, his knuckles turned white. He was so focused on the situation that he completely forgot to light his cigarette which was still hanging between his teeth.

Indeed, slowly but surely, the vessel in the air started slowing down while it fell.

Joshua was so relieved; he started laughing in shock, still feeling his heart thumping loudly all the way in his throat. "Haha…we did it! It worked!"

"Bepo, is it working?!" Penguin's voice yelled from the den den mushi.

"It is! It is!" Bepo answered in joy, huffing in relief with his ears dropping in relaxation.

Cody and Joshua just laughed at each other in respite, feeling all their muscles suddenly turn to jelly as they relaxed from all the tension.

"Don't celebrate just yet. The air is slowing us down, but it will still be a hard fall. Brace yourselves," the large navigator called out to warn the others. Just as he said that, staring down into the ocean below them, he noticed foam gathering on the rippling water at the surface while waves started appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "Uh…," he started to say, but wasn't even heard from everyone's cheering voices.

"We're going to survive this!" Bepo grinned widely, showing rows of his sharp white teeth.

Just as they were about to fall down, the scenery before them completely changed. All they could see in the window was a black and red crevice of some sort as everything went completely dark.

"Huh?" Cody only had time to say before the submarine was jerked violently. The air stopped coming from the ventilation shafts, completely spent, and the ship started falling into pitch black nothingness.

"Whaaa!" The Heart Pirates yelled as they were tossed from one side of the strange and large dark tunnel to the other. Just like the submarine crashed into the black walls outside, so did the men in the control room.

~…..~

Joshua moaned in pain as his consciousness started returning to him. Even before he opened his eyes, he could feel a light headache and a sharp pain in his back and shoulders. The blackness from his closed gaze was actually comforting as it soothed his pained eyes. A bit reluctantly, he slowly opened one eye, trying to focus his vision on his surroundings. He expected the light in the control room to blind him and irritate his eyesight, but was surprised when he noticed everything was dark. The power in the submarine seemed to have shut down from the crash. *Crash? Now that I think about it, what exactly happened?*

"Mnn, what happened?" Another voice called out the exact same question in a confused mumble. It was Cody, who begun to stir awake, groaning in pain.

The last thing the redhead remembered was that suddenly everything became dark as they entered a tunnel with pitch black walls and a long red road. The submarine hit one of the walls and bounced off of them, making everyone fall. The last thing he remembered was flying into the wall of the room and hitting his back before blacking out. He could tell nothing was broken as he could still move his sore shoulders, but even the tiniest movement brought sharp pain into his muscles there.

"Did we hit something?" The bear asked as he peered through the darkness. With his animal vision and heightened senses, it wasn't hard for him to orientate even in the dark.

"But weren't we just falling into the sea? This makes no sense," Sai grumbled. He was on the floor, beside his navigational chair where he ended up from all the tossing and turning of the vessel. His shoulder-length white hair was falling in disarray around his face as he lost his beanie hat from the fall. He felt the cold floor around him until he came to a soft material, putting the hat back on his head.

"I think I know what happened." Jean Bart's baritone voice sounded even deeper as it bounced off the walls in the dark room. They couldn't see the owner of it, only his large shape moving in the darkness. "It was already too late when I noticed…I think something came out of the sea," he explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Josh's eyebrows furrowed. He suddenly got a bad feeling about all of this.

"Maybe it thought we were a bird or some other animal in the sky, so it went after us just before we hit the water," Jean Bart continued. There was complete silence in the control room as they all listened to the older navigator. "I think we were swallowed by a sea monster," he finally concluded.

"Whaaat!?" Cody, Joshua and Bepo all yelled in unison with shocked expressions. Even though they couldn't see each other in the darkness, the faces they surely wore were obvious from the startled tone in their voices.

"F-for now let's just try to get the power back on and restart the engines," Bepo suggested to which everyone agreed.

That's when the bear suddenly heard another voice, as fuzzy as the sound was. His ears perked up and he glanced around to focus on where the noise was coming from. He saw the outline of his den den mushi on the ground, as it probably fell from his jumpsuit when he stumbled.

"He…Any….ne…lp….help!" The familiar voice shouted from the den den mushi in panic. The sound was choppy as the communicator got damaged from the transponder snail's fall.

The bear quickly scrambled towards it, still crawling on his hands and knees on the ground. "Hello!? Shachi, is that you!?" He shook the den den mushi in hopes of getting a better sound.

"Bepo? Bepo! Quick, send a medic down here to the boiler room!" The sound got a big better and Shachi's frantic tone could be heard. "Penguin hit his head in the fall and he's not waking up!"

Bepo could feel his entire gut sink and tighten at the statement, before he desperately glanced at where Joshua and Cody were still sitting on the floor. An eerie stillness enveloped the room as everyone stayed silent for one second more before both medics were hastily scrambling to their feet.

"Sai, get the power going!" The blue-haired medic called back while he was already exiting the room, Joshua right behind him.

"But what if you get hurt in the dark while running there," Bepo winced, unsure about it all of a sudden. He knew something had to be done, though. A cold ominous shiver traveled down his spine.

"It's fine, we already know this submarine like the back of our hand! We'll be fine, so you guys take care of the rest," the redhead called and both medics rushed out. Their work boots echoed through the dark corridors, sounding more distant as they went.

Bepo sighed and shook his head in worry, while Sai and Jean Bart finally got up and searched for the right buttons on the control panel. The younger navigator clicked a button and slowly pulled up a lever, which created a buzzing sound of rebooting the power. The lights flickered before they kept steady again, the energy returning to the submarine.

Just then a large hand slammed on the doors as an angry head chef entered the room. "Wha in tha blazes's goin on here!?" Munk stared at the navigators, waiting for an explanation of what the hell happened and why weren't they back in the water yet. "The sub's been moanin' and groanin and shakin' for so long, two of me chefs got bruises from fallin' in me galley!"

"We got swallowed by something big," the older navigator explained darkly.

"Laddie, ya be jerkin' me tail?" Munk's angry expression changed into a worried one as he heard Jean Bart speak. The pirate chef ran through his thick hair with his fingers and his face turned one shade paler.

"I'm afraid he's right, Munk," Bepo added as he walked over to the control panel and took the den den mushi resting there. "Everyone, we are still on high alert since it seems we were swallowed by a sea monster. Everyone who is injured from the fall, go to the infirmary and get treated. Others, help the ones beside you who are injured. All men from the medical team, stay prepared in the sickbay!" The first mate voiced out orders through the den den mushi to the rest of the Heart Pirates in the vessel. He doubted Penguin and Munk's two chefs were the only injured ones since nobody was prepared for such a hard crash, but at least he hoped nobody's life was in danger. *How will I explain this to Captain if something happens to the crew…,* the bear mentally scowled at the thought before continuing with his orders via den den mushi. "The mechanic team, check for any damage on the submarine. Start with the engine room," he ended, hanging up the den den mushi. "We need to find a way out of here as soon as possible. Sai, the lights," he ordered.

At that, the navigator switched on the headlights of the submarine, giving them a better visual of what was around them. Even with all the lights surrounding the vessel, it was hard to tell what they were looking at. Everything around them was red and gooey from the monster's flesh in the stomach. Some kind of fleshy strings entangled around the upper part of the stomach, while a few bones could be seen every now and then; their white surface in contrast with the rest of the body tissue. Clear slime fell from the roof of the abdomen, dripping into the stomach acid the vessel was currently sailing on. At least they were above on the surface now.

"When the creature swallowed us, we must've fallen through all the way to the stomach," Jean Bart muttered.

"I'll be takin' a better look outside," Munk concluded, turning to leave for the deck.

"Eh!? You can't! It's too dangerous!" Bepo protested but was completely ignored as the pirate chef moved on. The polar bear quickly followed, trying to deter Munk from his plan but with no avail.

"Hey, I'm the acting captain here so you have to listen to me," Bepo exclaimed angrily just as Munk opened the entrance doors of the ship. As they walked out onto the deck, a sour, eye-watering stench almost knocked them off their feet. It was the smell of rotten, half-digested food which probably soaked in the stomach acid for a long time as it slowly dissolved. Poor Bepo, with his sharp nose, almost fell onto his behind as the scent hit.

"Ugh, disgustin," the chef scrunched up his nose in disgust as he scratched his chin in thought. "How da we get out of this bilge place? Should we sail on to tha rear end?" He didn't seem very pleased with his own idea, and by the looks of it, Bepo was even less.

"So it's true, we were really swallowed up by some sea creature," a new voice exclaimed and both pirates turned in wonder to see Louis leaning over the railing and staring at the yellowish-green stomach acid of whatever ate them.

"What! Louis, what are you doing here?! Why aren't you at your post!?" Bepo called out angrily, stomping over to the mechanic and towering over him.

"Chill, Bepo. I wanted to see if it was really true and everyone's already examining the submarine from the inside to check for any damages. Anyway, if that's really stomach acid, we better get out of here quickly before it corrodes the metal and gets inside…if that happens, we'll sink," the blonde mechanic explained.

Suddenly, Bepo winced and bowed his head, "I'm so sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing?" Louis sweatdropped, even though he was already used to the first mate's strange mood swings.

"But this is all my fault…one time I am standing in for Captain and all of this happens…Maybe Penguin was right…maybe we are jinxed," the bear's eyes became moist with tears that swelled at the corners.

However, the mechanic simply waved off Bepo's words with his hand while the large chef shook his head in disagreement. "Nonsense. There's no such thing, and it's not like you could really control the weather or that a creature will eat us when we fall from the sky," Louis shrugged. Saying all that out loud made him realize exactly how ludicrous it all sounded, and yet it all happened to them in less than two hours. Still, Louis was a simple guy, never really overthinking things, so he wouldn't be someone to push the blame on anyone in this situation.

"Don't let it bring ya down, lad. Ya doin' yer best," Munk bumped Bepo's shoulder with his fist, almost making the bear topple to the side.

Just as Bepo felt a bit better about himself, a loud rumble came from the large cavern that was the creature's stomach.

Bepo sighed, "Guys, this is no time to be thinking of food."

"That not be us, bucko." The head chef carefully searched for the source of the loud noise with a suspicious eye.

"Uh…what was that?" Louis asked with uncertainty and worry in his gaze.

The stomach fluids started moving around, creating small waves and rocking the submarine.

"Guys, did you find a way out of here?" Sam's voice called out as he ran onto the deck, just as everything suddenly started to quake and rumble. As if the creature was hurriedly turning and moving in the water, its insides rolled to one side, sending the whole submarine flying to the right. Everyone exclaimed in surprise and fell onto the ground from the sudden shift.

The young mechanic lost his balance and started falling overboard, desperately trying to grab onto thin air as he flailed his hands around him. "Waah!"

"Sam!" Louis yelled after the falling mechanic who was already disappearing overboard.

The brunette shut his eyes tightly, certain that he was about to fall into the monster's stomach acid and get disintegrated. He didn't know how strong the substance was, but there was a good chance the fall would be equal to that of falling into a highly concentrated dissolvent in which case his death would be instant. Just as he was about to say his last goodbyes in his mind, a strong furry arm grabbed his one wrist, holding his tightly. Sam opened one eye unsurely to see the first mate hanging over the rail, holding onto his extended hand. Behind the bear was Munk, holding onto Bepo's waist and keeping him from toppling over the railing. The bear sighed in relief, "Got ya!"

The mechanic's eyes almost filed with tears as he was saved, "Bepo! I thought I was a goner," Sam whined, as the large chef pulled both pirates back onto the deck.

However, there wasn't time to celebrate as the waves started up again, making the vessel rock harshly. "Everyone, back inside," Bepo ordered, opening the deck's doors for them.

That rumbling and wailing continued as the creature moved around, making everything spin. The Hearts rushed back inside, grabbing onto whatever they could as the submarine was once again tossed around like a toy, falling back into the fluids and submerging under. As if the creature was trashing wildly, its stomach turned and twisted around, creating swirls and waves of green liquid. Inside, the Heart Pirates were holding onto anything they could find, their knuckles turning white from tight grasps, as they held on for dear life. Then suddenly everything stopped. The loud noises, the splashing of the waves inside the stomach and all the movements…everything was suddenly eerily quiet.

"I-is it over?" With a gulp, Bepo asked quietly as they returned to the control room. He spoke softly, fearing his voice might start up the wild rocking again. He opened his mouth to speak, just to close it again when they felt another strange sensation.

"What now," Sai grumbled. Even the stone calm navigator was losing his patience from all their troubles today.

The stomach started turning and the gravity shifted, suddenly pulling them down along with all the acid. They once again found themselves falling vertically, unable to understand what was happening around them. They could only see everything moving quickly in the main window while the submarine started rushing down through the same dark tunnel it entered.

"What's going on!?" Louis shrieked to overpower the loud rattling of the metal submarine that was already straining from the harsh treatment.

"If we don't do something, we'll crash!" Jean Bart warned as they appeared to have been flushed together with the stomach acid through the creature's insides. The ship was scrapping along the soft inner walls of the creature, and the only light they had was from their headlights that shone the way through.

"We should prepare the torpedoes just in case," Sam exclaimed towards Sai who gave Bepo a questioning glance just to make sure it was alright to proceed. As the bear silently nodded to him, the navigator started typing quickly on the control panel, preparing the two front torpedoes on the submarine. It has been a while since they last used the ship's weapons.

Sai picked up his den den mushi and gave their master gunner, Eli, a call.

"Was' the matt'r!?" Eli answered in his thick accent that was even heavier than usual as the pirate was too involved in everything to watch how he speaks, making the accent of his home island in the South Blue even more prominent.

"Take Cal and load two torpedoes for us, we might have to use them. Be on standby if we need anymore," the navigator explained quickly.

"Aye, no prol'm, control room," Eli exclaimed, while Cal also confirmed in the background.

The ship continued to vertically fall forward with its bow in front, gaining speed from the long fall. The creature must've been huge as it felt like they kept falling forever in its insides. The Heart Pirates, however, didn't relax even for a second as they knew this fall will end eventually, probably with them crashing into something if they weren't on guard. As the ship was swept away, falling through, any steering was impossible so they only had their torpedoes and one chance to rely on.

Finally they reached the gullet as a long, blood red tongue came into view, following beneath them now as it kept going for what seemed like forever.

"Shoot on my mark," Bepo ordered, clutching onto the captain's seat but unable to even sit on it as they were all hanging from the railing or from whatever they could grab.

Finally, the headlights illuminated a white cage before them. It didn't take them long to realize it was actually rows of long teeth, blocking their way to the outside. It was strange that the mound was beneath them as the ship fell bow first into them, like the whole creature was hanging vertically. Bepo only had a split second to wonder what could have caused that before he shouted his order, "Fire!"

Sai launched both torpedoes, hoping the blast will be powerful enough to shatter the sea monster's teeth and release them into the open. Otherwise, the whole submarine will crash right into them and the maws will crush the metal vessel. They in the control room would be the first to feel the blast of the crash and would surely die from it.

The two weapons flew into the rows of teeth, hitting the mark and blasting large pieces of teeth around them. One sharp piece flew right into the submarine, lodging itself into the outside wall of the control room. Even if it was only a part of a tooth, it was from such a big creature that the whole piece was as big as a human being. The piece luckily stopped inside the metal wall, for if it had continued through it would have pierced right into the young navigator of the crew, killing him on the spot. Even Sai couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the piece of the tooth stopped in time.

Luckily, the blast of the two torpedoes was enough to create a hole in the monster's teeth, freeing them from the dark cavern. Finally, the submarine rushed out of the creature and was once again met with the bright light of the day.

"Haha, we're out!" Sam called out in a cheer.

The Hearts' happiness from being freed didn't last long, however, as they realized they were once again in the air and falling bow first into the ocean bellow. "Eh?" Everyone's smiles froze on their face as they started falling vertically into the sea. "Kyaaaaaah!" The pirates yelled out as they noticed through the window the blue water seemingly drawing nearer in haste. Luckily, the fall wasn't so high this time around and the submarine simply plunged back into the sea, creating a large splash around it. However, as the pirates dropped, they noticed one more peculiar thing in the window; a face. A bearded face high in the air.

The yellow submarine rocked lightly on the calm sea as everything finally simmered down. They were finally back, floating on the sea, but every pirate in the control room was still completely tense.

"Um…guys…I think I just hallucinated…," Louis called out.

"Was it a bearded guy?" Sam muttered, half in fear-half in hope; he didn't want to confirm his suspicions, but he also didn't want to be crazy.

"Yeah," Bepo answered instead of the other mechanic.

With a bad feeling in their guts, the Heart Pirates stood up on shaky legs as they were finally back on steady ground, and gazed out of the submarine's windows. Simultaneously everyone gasped as their eyes went wide.

Outside their windows, right next to them, was a colossal ship the size of a small island swaying on the calm waters. Onboard stood men of grand stature, at least 15 meters tall. Even though their heights slightly varied, they all would have no problem taking the whole vessel of the Heart Pirates in one hand. That was especially true for the one standing at the bow of their ship, gripping what appeared to be a large sea creature by its tail with his two bulky arms. At least by that scene the Hearts could understand what happened to them. The huge man was holding the long creature with its head hung downwards, which was probably why the submarine fell through the monster and back into the open sea. The green scaly sea monster had a part of its body pierced with a long harpoon with jagged teeth that lodged itself securely in the creature's flesh.

The man holding the sea monster blinked in surprise as he stared at the small yellow vessel next to their large ship. "Capn,' somethin' fell from the fish's mouth!" The man's voice roared loudly, sounding as if a rumble of thunder echoed through the air.

All the Heart Pirates could do was stare back in wonder before Sam finally spoke up with a single word. "Giants!"

~…..~

Shachi opened the doors of the infirmary and quietly walked inside, closing the metal doors behind him. Even with his sunglasses and the rim of his casquette hat shielding his face, the grim features he was showing were clear on his expression. He walked over to one of the sickbay beds where he saw Cody towering over his friend's silent form, setting up a new IV bag for him. Penguin was lying on his back with his eyes still closed, breathing heavily in his sleep. His hat was on the bedside next to him, so the man's black short hair that was usually hidden under the cap was now visible. It made his pale frame appear even sicklier as the contrast was now even more prominent.

The submarine was finally steady and safe again as they made their way out of the sea monster. Currently Bepo and some others were meeting the crew of giants that consequently helped them as they were fishing here in these parts. It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the incident; the Heart Pirates who were accidentally saved by a ship of giants or the giants who watched a small submarine fall out of their catch's maws. In any case, at least the giants seemed friendly as they didn't attack the Hearts even after seeing the pirate Jolly Roger on their flag.

Right now, the mechanics' team was making repairs on the submarine while the medics took care of the ones injured. They were all still assessing the damage, though they were lucky enough since there weren't any big holes nor leakages, and most of the men only had bruises to deal with. Still, Shachi couldn't say they were all so lucky, since he was currently watching his best friend sleep in the hospital bed, still unconscious. Penguin didn't wake up ever since receiving his head injury in the boiler room. Truthfully, Shachi should either be with Bepo greeting the giants since he was one of the oldest crew members of the Hearts, or overseeing the submarine's repairs, but he couldn't bring himself to worry about either as he wanted to check on Penguin's condition. So instead he headed for the infirmary as soon as things calmed down enough for him not to be needed urgently anywhere.

"How is he?" Shachi asked the blue haired medic who just finished changing Penguin's head bandage. At least the mechanic stopped bleeding from the injury on the side of his head.

Cody sighed, crossing the arms on his chest and shook his head. "No changes. He stopped bleeding, but we won't know the damage until he wakes up," he explained with a sour expression.

"But…he'll be alright…won't he?" The brunette gulped, giving Cody a hopeful stare.

However, the other could only look to the side guiltily, avoiding Shachi's hard gaze.

"Cody?! He'll be alright!?" The mechanic was slightly panicking now as he walked to the medic in quick strides and grabbed the collar of his overall with both hands. He shook him demandingly, wanting to hear a positive answer that they both already knew Cody couldn't give him. "You're Law's right hand medic, right?! You can do something! You have to!" The mechanic was getting angry now, even though he couldn't even tell at who or what; perhaps at himself for being unable to do anything for his friend, even though he was the one with him at the time of the incident. Right now the only one in front of him was Cody, who became the target of that misplaced anger.

"I told you, I don't know! There's nothing more we can do right now!" Cody gritted his teeth, equally annoyed by his inability to do anymore.

"Hey, guys, break it off!" Ben, who was helping Soujiro, the crew's treasurer, with his dislocated shoulder, trotted towards the two and tried to peel Shachi off of the medic. It wasn't hard since Ben was one of the largest crewmembers, almost as big as Bepo.

The head mechanic showed no resistance as he let Ben pull him away from Cody. Instead he weakly plopped into a seat next to Penguin's bed, bowing his head down with a pained expression.

Ben put a hand on Shachi's shoulder, squeezing it in comfort. "I'm sorry, but as you said; Cody is one of the best medics, you also know that…I'm sure Penguin will be alright in his care," he tried to persuade the mechanic. "For now, maybe you should go back to work with Sam and the others. Keeping your mind busy will be better than fretting over it constantly. There's nothing more you can do here," he added.

Shachi nodded weakly, not having the strength nor the will to argue against that. He knew Ben was right anyway. It was better to keep his mind occupied and help the crew out than get in everyone's way here. "Yeah…Sorry, Cody, I was being an ass," he sighed.

The blue haired medic shook his head. "Forget it. I know how you feel," he muttered darkly, gripping the edge of Penguin's bed.

"There was just so much blood," the brunette muttered as he remembered when he saw Penguin lying on the ground. The side of his head was soaked in his own blood which was gushing from the side, sticking his dark hair onto his face. Biting the inside of his cheek, Shachi forced himself to get the image out of his mind as he stood up. "I'm gonna come back again later." He glanced one more time at Penguin's sleeping form and squeezed his friend's forearm as if trying to give him some of his strength. "Hang in there, buddy," Shachi muttered to his best friend before turning to leave.

The medics watched the doors close after him before they gave each other somber stares.

"You shouldn't give him so much hope. The truth is; we have no idea if Penguin will even wake up." Joshua's dark voice made them turn towards the redhead. Some of the patients in the room glanced at the medic with the corner of their eyes, drops of cold sweat on their foreheads from just the thought.

Cody glared at the smaller medic who was picking up pieces of broken vials and other items on the ground, throwing them into the trashcan. A lot of supplies and medicine fell out of the cabinets during all their falls, shattering on the ground. They will need to resupply as soon as possible, but nobody knew when they'll get the chance for it. Was there even an inhabited place in Zo where they could restock? Nobody really knew much about the island where they were headed. "Don't say that!" The medic clutched his fist. "Penguin will be fine!" Even as he said that, he knew Josh was right and he was only being optimistic without any realistic grounds for it.

"You don't know that! You know that the longer he is asleep the larger the chance he goes into coma and never wakes up! Not to mention he could have brain damage even if he wakes up! And that's only two of many possibilities of what can happen after sustaining a head injury! I'm just saying what everybody's thinking!" Joshua yelled back angrily. He didn't even realize he crushed a medicine bottle in his hand until the glass stuck into his palm, making small but deep cuts. "

"I know that! You don't have to tell me that, dammit!" Cody screamed back, clenching his own fists in rage.

"Guys, stop it! Fighting won't solve anything!" Mori, who was getting his wrist threated, tried to intervene to calm the two medics. "If Penguin was awake listening to this, he would whack you both upside the heads right now!"

They all fell quiet from Mori's words, remembering their sleeping friend who didn't wake up even after all this commotion.

"But he's not awake…," Joshua murmured quietly before he grimaced. His expression twisted in anger, pain and sorrow. "Shit!" He suddenly punched the metal wall with his bloodied fist, not caring about the pain it caused to his already injured hand.

The sound echoed through the infirmary which stayed quiet even with all the people inside. They all had the same dark expression on their faces, not daring to break the tense atmosphere in the room with a single sound.

~…..~

"Harharharhar!" A bellowing sound rose in the air as the giant laughed wholeheartedly at Bepo's story. They were currently on the giants' huge ship with Bepo, Jean Bart, Sai and Munk in front of the captain of the giants and his crew. The captain had a bushy red beard and curly dark red hair sticking from out of a large triangle black hat with a single red feather on it. His muscly chest and arms were visible even under his light tunic. On his back was a great axe that could easily split their entire submarine in two. Even while sitting on the deck, the giants were still incomparable to size with the Heart Pirates. Meanwhile, the Hearts were standing in front of the captain as Bepo told them about the Reverse Storm and getting swallowed by the sea creature as they were falling down. "I not know whether to call that good or bad luck! Ya sure have been through hella lot yet ya survived all of that! To think ya would just fall out of the monster's mouth, ya must've given poor Tiny here a hallova freight! Harharhar," the captain laughed again as he pointed with his thumb towards one of his crewmembers. Tiny was the nickname of the giant who fished out the creature and the submarine with it. Even though he was given the nickname because he was the smallest in the crew, the Hearts found nothing tiny about the giant as he was still at least five times bigger than their entire submarine.

"Indeed capn' Morrow! The lot just fell right out of tha beast, sir!" Tiny commented, his eyes wide as if he was still reliving the surprise from earlier.

"We be gratefa for ya help ev'n if it be justa lucky coincidence, Capn' Morrow," Munk grinned and nodded his thanks to the giant.

"Aye. Indeed it was. Ya be lucky we were fishing here," Morrow answered. It was hard for the Hearts to combine the word fishing with giant sea monsters, but for these men it was obviously no problem since they were even bigger than their catch. To them, catching normal-sized fish was probably considered strange and fruitless since they would need a few tones to feed the entire crew.

"So you are fishermen?" Bepo answered, tilting his fuzzy head in interest.

"Nay, lad. We are a merchant ship, returning back to our island of giants, Selber, from our usual route. But my men gotta eat too," the captain grinned. Then he examined the Heart pirates before him. "But ya have some interesting crew here. A bear even! And some of ya are quite large for humans," he commented, slightly impressed.

As if on cue after hearing his species mentioned, the polar bear bowed his head low with a gloomy cloud hanging over him. "I'm sorry…"

Sai and the rest sighed at the sight, "Not now, Bepo."

"Harharharhar!" The giant laughed again. "What an interesting crew of pirates!"

"You don't mind us being pirates?" Sai asked with interest, though he glanced at the giants a bit suspiciously.

"Heh, we don't have anything against pirates unless they are to attack us. Besides…ya all be so tiny, what possible harm could ya be to us?" Captain Morrow shrugged leisurely with a bright smile on his bearded face. He didn't mean it as an insult even though his confident words stabbed the Hearts in their pride just a little bit.

"It's good that our captain isn't here to hear you…he would consider it a challenge," Sai muttered, though the giants didn't seem to hear him, which was probably for the best.

"And where ya be headed, pirates?" Morrow then asked, glancing at their yellow submarine slowly rocking on the water, beside their large merchant ship.

"We're going to Zo," Jean Bart answered, speaking for the first time since they got onboard the giants' ship.

"Hooh, Zo is it? It's less than a day away," another voice called out, somewhere from behind the giants. A large man with a bulky form came forward. He had a thick beard just like most of them, though his was completely grey from age. He had thick grey eyebrows above dark piercing eyes that held a knowing look of wisdom. On his head was a helmet and there was a large sword tied to his waist.

"Ah, this is Yandir, our navigator," captain of the giants introduced the older man who simply nodded his head in a greeting.

Sai sighed in slight relief. "Oh good. I worried we went completely off course because of everything," he explained. Even as he said that, it was head to read any worry or relief from his blank expression, which left the giants rather puzzled.

"Nay. Only a bit, but if you head South-West from here, you should be back on course, laddie," the old giant answered.

"But yer ship looks somewhat beaten up, ey? Since it be on tha way, we can sail with ya for a while until ya make repairs," the captain offered, taking a liking to this small yellow submarine and its peculiar crew.

The bear's face lit up for the first time in a while," Really?! That would be great! Thank you!"

"Indeed, we appreciate your help," Jean Bart added and the other Hearts nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, the captain slapped his large hand against his knee while he was still siting with his legs crossed. "Then it be settled! Mint, take out tha ale!"

The Heart Pirates blinked in wonder as they repeated, "Ale?"

"Of course, laddie!" Captain's cheerful voice rumbled loudly as he exclaimed. "We have tha make this greeting proper an' what better way to make a friendship than through drinking! Harharharharhar!" The captain laughed and his crew of giants joined in, making tremors pass through the small pirates' bodies from the bellowing noise their joint laughter created.

~…~

After everything the Hearts went through today, they didn't need to be invited twice to sit back, relax and party with the giants, enjoying some good quality ale from the Selber island. The barrels of ale were large enough for them to bathe in, though they were satisfied with simply scooping the drink with their mugs and pitchers which were filed with the dark, rich and very heavy liquor. In no time, the deck of the merchant ship echoed with laughter and music as red, smiling faces chatted or and even sang together.

Jean Bart and Sai were talking to Yandir about the fastest route to Zo from here while they all held drinks in their hands. Sai was already a bit flushed in the face, while the larger navigator didn't even seem effected by the alcohol. On the other hand, some of the Hearts were already laughing in a cheerful mood, tipsy from the ale.

Sam was currently sitting high on the ship's railing, surrounded by giants as he told them of many adventures they had throughout the years of pirating with their currently absent captain. Every now and then the giants would bellow in laughter when he came to some whimsical part of the story.

Meanwhile, Louis and a few other pirates were debating fishing strategies with Tiny as they examined the sea creature the giant just caught; a large sea serpent with green and blue scales and two large red horns on its head.

"So ya be only acting capn' till your capn' comes back, ey?" Captain Morrow repeated as Bepo told him of their circumstances. He didn't say anything about Law and his plans though and he was thankful that Morrow didn't pry either.

The bear nodded, swaying a little. He was never very good with alcohol so he didn't usually drink, but the giant insisted saying how it was for creating the bond of friendship for the sea dwellers. Bepo didn't really understand but he didn't want to offend their saviors, so he had to at least take a few gulps of the bitter, dark liquid. "Yes, I am in charge of bringing them to Zo but…it's been smooth sailing until now. Though I feel like I've let everybody down today," Bepo sighed sadly, bowing his head with a scowl for the nth time that day. As always he was being hard on himself.

"What ya talk, little bear!?" Morrow exclaimed in utter surprise. "You kept everyone alive today have ya not? An ya be rare ship who survived the Reverse Storm, an' that be with yer capnship, my friend. Ya've done well, lad. S'not easy bein' capn,' take it from me cause I know," the giant nodded.

"Bepo, the sub's almost done. We can start sailing again," Cal called out as he had a part of his team finish the last repairs and do finishing touches on the submarine. They didn't want to risk leaving any damage that could hinder them later, if the sailing conditions worsen again.

The bear nodded, calling the two navigators over to take their places at the helm in the control room again as they were ready to go.

"As promised, we'll sail with ya for a while, until our paths separate," Morrow nodded with a bright smile.

"Thank you again, captain Morrow," the polar bear returned a smile, showing a row of sharp bright teeth.

~…..~

Shachi was once again in the sickbay, grumbling at the noises he could hear outside the submarine. They were on the move again, sailing slowly through the sea but some of the Heart pirates still stayed on the other ship, singing to the music and partying cheerfully. The mechanic couldn't bring himself to join them as he could only worry about his friend's wellbeing right now. "Still no changes?" The constant steady beeping sound of Penguin's vitals pierced the silent room every once in a while as he was hooked up on the monitoring machine.

Cody shook his head. He took double shifts, staying in the infirmary to keep an eye on Penguin along with Garry, Josh and Ben who were on duty right now. "You'll be the first to know when he wakes up," the medic promised.

"Tch, I ain't leaving here," the mechanic clicked his tongue. He was obviously exhausted as he worked on the submarine all day while worrying for his friend, but the sunglasses hid his tired eyes from view.

The bluehead didn't try to persuade him even as he could see from Shachi's demeanor that he needed rest. His whole body seemed sluggish and heavy as the mechanic sat by Penguin's bedside, slumped forward. He knew it was useless though, since the brunette could be quite stubborn about certain things, this definitely being one of them.

"I don't know how they can celebrate while Penguin is in here," Shachi grumbled disapprovingly, shaking his head.

"They're all worried Shachi, but they just need to let off some steam after everything that happened today. We all almost died," Garry tried to reassure him.

Shachi groaned in response but didn't say anything else as he knew Garry was right. Still, he couldn't help but be irritated by the whole situation, especially since they could all do nothing but wait and see what happens to the other head mechanic.

The medic was about to say something else, when a loud noise interrupted him. It came from the outside, sounding like cannon fire after which a splashing sound was heard. A cannonball falling in the water near them.

"What the-" Shachi begun only to stop when he heard Sam's voice from far away shouting, "Marines!" The mechanic and the medics exchanged a questioning glances before Shachi stood up and headed for the doors. Joshua and Garry were right behind him while Ben and Cody stayed behind to watch over Penguin.

~…..~

Shachi stumbled onto the deck of the submarine only to be met with five large marine warships sailing right on their tail and shooting cannonballs at them. They weren't only firing at the submarine, but also at the giants. One of the marine ships was sailing ahead of the others, with two men standing on its bow. One was a tall marine officer, his white coat fluttering behind him in the wind, and a hat hiding most of his face. The other, however, didn't even look like a marine soldier. He was a short, fat man, wearing a grey suit. He was bolding at the top of his head, with only a few dark strands of hair left in the back, and small thin mustache on his upper lip. His numerous golden rings on his thick fingers shone in the setting sun. He looked more like a noble than a marine.

Even though the Hearts never saw the wealthy man before, he must've known exactly who they were as he yelled from the top of his lungs in rage, "I finally found you, damned Heart pirates! I will make you pay!"

Another cannonball was fired, aimed at the merchant ship's mast, but captain Morrow quickly took the large axe from his back and made a single slash with it. The force of the slash sent a gust of wind from the axe as it sliced the cannonball in two, letting the two pieces fall into the water beside the ship.

"Who's that man, Bepo?" Morrow asked with narrowed eyes.

Yet the bear could only shrug, completely confused. "I have no idea, I've never met him before."

"Well he sure knows you," Yandir commented as he sliced another cannonball with his long sword. Beside him, Louis put on a pair of gloves with metal spikes on the knuckles and smashed another incoming cannonball with his fist.

"Maybe someone having a grudge against Captain?" Garry called out before kicking an incoming cannonball, aimed at their submarine.

"Yeah, well he should stand in line then," Shachi muttered darkly, not in the mood for a fight right now. He wanted to end this as quickly as possible.

"Who the hell are you?!" Ari called out to the fat man, glaring at him.

"Don't you dare say you forgot," the man shouted back in sheer rage.

The Hearts were silent for a while before they all admitted in unison, "I guess we forgot…"

The comment only enraged the man further as his face flushed red as a tomato, his collar getting too tight on his thick neck from all the strain. "Fine! Then I shall tell you!"

"We really don't care though," Joshua interrupted, not giving a damn what this man had against them. They all had more important business to attend to than to listen to his sob story.

The redhead was completely ignored, as the short man steamrolled on with his own speech, "I have been pulling out all of my resources to find out what happened to my daughter after she was kidnapped by those wretched Lynx Pirates! And after a lot of investigating and finding the wreckage of their blown up ship I finally found the perpetrators…you! You, bloody Heart pirates, killed my daughter Laura!" The man finished, shouting in rage so loud that spit came out with his words.

"Talliage-sama, we have confirmed these are the Heart Pirates. We can attack any time," the tall marine officer standing next to the fat man spoke.

The Hearts stared at the marine ships in wonder for a few more seconds before Ari suddenly raised his index finger in the air, remembering something, "Now I remember! He must be the father of that noble snotty brat we met on the ship after battling The One-Eyed Lynx Pirates."

The master gunner of the crew sighed beside his friend as he also remembered, "I knew that one will proba'ly bite us in tha ass. Tis guy must be that textile industry tycoon and nobleman, Taijirou Talliage," he scowled.

"But how did he find out it was us?" Sam rubbed his head in wonder.

"Heh..I have my sources. I sent spies and informants to investigate in all corners of the New World and the Underground. And finally they found one small piece of information; that a drunken guy was talking with other pirates in a tavern and mentioned meeting some noblewoman that wouldn't shut up and kept ordering them around…so they tied her to the mast before the blew the whole ship up!" As Talliage went on with the story, his voice rose in anger and his face turned from red to purple. "And he was wearing a Heart Pirate Jolly Roger on his clothes!"

Slowly, all the Heart Pirates stopped and turned towards Garry with a blank expression. There was clear accusation in their eyes.

The medic took a step back in surprise. "Wait, why are you all looking at me!? You don't know that it was me," he tried to defend, but a drop of cold sweat was already rolling down his forehead.

"Because you always talk too much when you get drunk," Joshua burst out, pointing an accusing finger in the other medic's direction.

Garry gulped, but was unable to argue as it was completely true. "S-still…"

Cal sighed next to his friend, whispering in his ear, "Idiot…If this guy found out about us that means so can Kaido because of your stupid slip up. Don't you remember who the Lynx Pirates worked for and why exactly we attacked them? If that beast of a Yonkou finds out…" The mechanic left the statement unfinished since everything was already clear from the shiver that ran down his spine.

Garry winced at the sheer thought of it.

"Don't ignore me, you bastards!" The noble stomped his foot on the deck of the warship angrily before he pointed a hand at them. "I will make you pay for what you did to my dear daughter. It took me a long time till I was able to track you down, and I even spend a fortune bribing a nearby marine base to give me five of their warships…but all the money spent will be worth it when I obliterate you! Fire all the cannons!"

"But Talliage-sama, what about this giant merchant ship next to them," the marine officer asked, uncertain about the idea of shooting at civilians. Still, he got direct orders from his superior to listen to Talliage's orders, probably because that superior got a load of money from the noble. Yet orders were still orders.

"I don't care! They are fraternizing with the pirates so kill them too! Destroy them all!" Taijirou shouted in anger.

"But sir…," one of the marines behind him started.

"Do it!" The tycoon wasn't about to be deterred from his plans by anyone.

Finally the marine officer next to him sighed and nodded to his men to follow his orders. "Men, get ready! All ships fire!"

Five marine warships aimed at the two ships ahead. Every large marine ship had two long cannons at the bow, which meant ten cannons were simultaneously shooting at them. The cannons all fired together, the cannonballs making whistling sounds as they ripped through the air and towards the two ships.

"There be too many of them!" Captain Morrow shouted before he hit two cannonballs with his axe. The rest of his giant crew fought on, but even though they were all large, there were only six of them altogether.

"I'm sorry, we got you into this mess, but we will help you fight!" Bepo told the captain before he jumped into the air, using a mast as a stepping point before leaping off of it and higher into the air to meet a flying cannonball that was shot towards the giants' main sail. The bear kicked the ball as if playing soccer, sending it right back at one of the warships with great speed, where it crashed into their mast. The said mast broke off and toppled onto the deck, generating screams and shouts of shock from the marines below.

Sai, Eli and Cal rushed from the merchant ship's deck, jumping over the railing and landing on the deck of their submarine. They hurried inside to prepare the torpedoes. The master gunner and Cal headed inside to the lowest level of their ship, setting the large, heavy weapons inside the tubes for use. Meanwhile, the younger navigator was already aiming and locking onto one of the marine warships in front of them.

Jean Bart was still outside on the deck of their submarine, as he caught first one cannonball in his one large hand and another in his other. The forces of the two iron weapons made even his large body slide backwards on the wooden boards. The man only strained his muscles more, gritting his teeth before he let out a loud cry, "Haaaaa!" He used the force to turn on his heel and got even more power as he swirled around his body like a disk thrower, before he let go of both cannonballs, throwing them back into the warship. One hit their sail, ripping a hole in the middle, while the other smashed into the ship's bow and went straight through to the other side. The warship started toppling over as water came flooding in, crashing into the other marine ship next to it.

The yellow submarine shook lightly as two torpedoes flew from the front, traveling below the sea and finding their target in one of the warships. The torpedoes blasted into the huge marine ship, creating two large holes in the hull that quickly started taking in water, making the ship slowly sink.

The marines shouted in panic, jumping into the sea or onto other marine ships that were still whole and undamaged. However, the number of those was quickly decreasing with the Heart Pirates fending off all their attacks easily.

"Talliage-sama, we're losing! We need to pull back!" The marine officer warned, but the other man didn't even want to hear of it.

"Nonsense!" Taijirou gripped the taller man's coat in anger as he spat words along with actual spit in his face. "I will not pull back now that I finally found and cornered those rats! Send your men in! If cannons can't defeat them, the men will!

On the officer's orders, the marines started shooting hooks with ropes on them as they got close enough to get onboard the giants' ship and the submarine. They started flooding the decks, rushing over the railing and attacking with guns and swords.

"Harharhar! What ya think ya can do, tiny humans!?" Captain Morrow laughed as he kicked three marine soldiers with his foot easily, sending the shrieking men overboard. He swung with his axe, obliterating a few more marines. "They are like ants!"

"Tch, but there are so many of them," Tiny shouted back as he used his fists to attack the marines on their ship, scooping them on the way and sending them all into the ocean.

That's when a man in white robes stepped in front of captain Morrow. He was completely cloaked, his face hidden from view, as only a pair of piercing eyes observed the giant before him. "Even ants can take down larger enemies, giant," the man spoke in a low tone.

"And who might you be, laddie?" Morrow grinned, preparing his giant axe.

"My name and rank in unimportant. Only my mission matters," the man answered blankly.

The captain's grin fell as suddenly a bad feeling washed over him. Something was different about this man, something that separated him from the rest of these marine soldiers. "Well no matter for if ya want to get me crew or me friends…ya'll have to do so through me first, little human!" Morrow swung his axe down at the man, trying to hit him from the side to split his smaller body in two.

In an instant the man disappeared from the giant's view, only to appear in the air before him. "Geppo," the man in white robes simply said before he started jumping on the air itself, heading for Morrow's head.

The giant was surprised at first but soon got out of his haze, stepping behind to get more room between him and this new enemy. He swung his axe again, shouting a war cry, aiming right at the human before him.

The man in white didn't even twitch in worry as he put one arm in front of him as protection while he was still in the air. It seemed ridiculous to anyone seeing this fight; for a human to try and defend a giant's heavy axe with one forearm. Yet as the axe reached his arm, it stopped.

Morrow gritted his teeth as if straining to keep the weapon steady in his attack, but soon his grip loosened and lines started spreading through the metal blade. In the next instant, the axe shattered into pieces which fell at the giant's feet.

"Tekkai," the mysterious man called out as his attack finished.

"Youuuu!" Frustrated, the giant pulled his arm back to punch the man who was exchanging legs as he jumped in the air from one leg to the other, keeping himself in place while in the air. As soon as Morrow went for the attack, the man moved closer so fast the giant could hardly follow him, putting two fingers together.

The human leaped forward, stabbing his two fingers harshly into Morrow's chest right where his heart was, before the giant could even finish his attack. "Shigan!" The man called out, as the giant before him stumbled backwards and coughed up blood.

Morrow's eyes went wide from surprise and pain he felt in his chest. How could something so small as two human's fingers cause so much damage to his body? Yet here he was, barely able to breathe from the pain in his chest.

"Captain!" Yandir and the other giant, Narnir, called out as they saw their captain cough blood before stumbling backwards. The giant hit the ground heavily, making the whole ship tremble from the force as he fell onto his back.

The old navigator was about to go help his captain before feeling a burning, piercing sensations in his feet, as if numerous ants were biting him. He gazed down to see marines stabbing him with their swords. He tried to kick them away, but they entangled ropes around his feet and pulled on them, making him lose balance and fall down onto the deck.

Next to him, Narnir also had problems as the marines kept throwing hooks with ropes attached to them at him, to try and bring him down. They started pulling onto the entangled ropes in hopes of bringing him down, but the giant kept his balance by grabbing onto the mast for support. "Grrrrah!" He grabbed a few ropes, appearing as only strings of thread in his giant palms, and pulled on them before swinging both them and the marines above his head. He slammed them onto the ground, squashing the marines, while using his one foot to stomp on the ones still attacking him on the ground. Letting go of the ropes, the marines went flying with screams towards the sea where they disappeared below the water. "Gah!" A sharp pain hit the back of knee and the giant looked at it to see a spear lodged deep into his flesh. It made his one knee buckle, giving the marines enough time to hook new ropes onto him and pull.

Meanwhile, Morrow was still lying on the ground, trying to get up when he saw the man in white robes appear in the air before him. The two stared at each other; Morrow's enraged and confused eyes against the other man's dead gaze. The man raised his arm and opened his palm before putting all his fingers together for a stabbing attack. He was about to pierce the giant's heart and finish it, when a kick from the side got in his way. The man used Tekkai to harden his muscles, blocking the heavy kick to his side that still sent him flying into the mast. The man used his legs to land on the mast horizontally before leaping from it and doing a summersault, landing back onto the deck.

Before him stood a polar bear in an orange jumpsuit, standing on two hind legs that had working boots on them. "Don't touch our friends!" The bear shouted, snarling at the human before him.

"You are Bepo…the first mate of the Heart Pirates," the man simply stated without any emotion behind his words.

"And you…I know those techniques; you are one of those Cipher Pol guys who work for the Government. But our captain is a Shichibukai, so why are you attacking us?" The bear never stopped glaring at the cloaked man as he spoke.

"I was…," the man started. "But I went rogue and now I work on my own…right now I am employed by Taijirou Talliage," he answered.

"Hn, so you're just a sell-sword," Bepo commented, not even trying to hide his distaste.

"I do not mind being called that if I can live under my own rules and power," the robed man answered before suddenly rushing towards Bepo.

The bear wasn't taken off guard, however, as he instantly blocked a hard punch with his forearm. The man's muscles were still hardened with Tekkai, but the bear didn't even wince in pain or stumble back as he easily blocked the attack.

~…..~

Joshua jumped in the air and kicked another marine in the head just before he turned, still in the air, and threw two of his scalpels at two more attackers. One weapon lodged itself in the marine's eye while the other hit another man's neck. The redhead finally landed on his feet, only to stay down and avoid a bullet from the front.

Before the marine had the time to shoot out of his rifle again, Garry slammed a fist into the back of his neck, making the soldier's eyes roll back so only whites were visible before the man fell face first onto the ground.

Two more shooters aimed at Shachi who was simultaneously fighting three marines without a problem, but they never had time to use their weapons as they suddenly noticed a dark shadow looming over them. Before they could turn behind them in horror, the large navigator of the Heart Pirates grabbed both of their heads with each hand and squeezed harshly. Screams of terror and pain echoed throughout the deck of the yellow submarine which was currently a small battle zone, as the marines' skulls got crushed in Jean Bart's strong hands.

The marines kept coming but the Heart Pirates easily kept them at bay, not letting them inside the submarine. Shachi glanced at the five warships ahead. Most of the marine ships were destroyed and in tatters. Only one warship, with Talliage and the marine officer, remained as the nobleman still shouted orders at the marines to kill the Hearts. Unfortunately for the textile tycoon, the mechanic wasn't in the mood for games today after everything he's been through. He wanted to finish quickly, and he also wanted to shut that fat man's trap once and for all. The mechanic narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses as he got an idea. He noticed one of the roped hooks on the mast of the giant's ship and quickly ran towards the other ship, jumping from the metal riling of the submarine onto the merchant ship.

"Shachi, where are you going?" Joshua had a bad feeling about his crewmate's sudden movement.

The mechanic turned back to the medic. "I'm finishing this! I'm going over there to destroy their last ship and sink that fat bastard," he answered.

Joshua's green eyes widened from Shachi's statement. "Are you crazy, you can't go in there alone! You don't know what could happen!"

However, the mechanic was too angry and bothered to think straight at the moment. It could be seen in his erratic movements throughout the whole fight. He was different than usual and Joshua could tell. He wasn't the same collected Shachi he usually was during a battle with the enemy and that fact could easily get him killed.

"I got this, Josh!" Shachi cut him off, his tone conveying that this discussion was over.

"Shachi!" Joshua yelled after the mechanic who disappeared on the other ship, already jumping and easily climbing onto the gigantic mast. "Dammit," the medic cursed, knowing he had to follow his friend before Shachi gets himself killed by his hotheadedness. As much as Joshua had a bad temper in life, during a fight he could stay collected and think carefully about each movement if necessary. That's what being a good warrior meant; think with a cool head in a fight, but let your body move naturally. After all the training, his body and reflexes already remembered all the counter moves without him having to think about it as he battled. That's something he learnt from Shachi and Penguin who often sparred with him when he first arrived at the submarine, making a true combatant out of him instead of a street fighter who couldn't even match them at first. Yet now, Shachi was acting almost as bad as Joshua when he first started practicing combat on the submarine; getting angry and rushing forward without thinking through first.

~…..~

Shachi climbed onto the mast, taking the rope in his hands. He examined the metal hook at the end before swinging the rope above his head in circles to get more force in the throw. Luckily, the warship wasn't so far away, so it was all in the wrist and the throw's accuracy now. The mechanic concentrated as he ignored the battling noises coming from below. He threw the rope towards the warship's mast, grinning with glee when the hook latched onto the wooden board there on the first try. He pulled on the rope a few times to make sure it was steady before he jumped from the mast and flew towards the enemy's ship. Everyone were so busy fighting, they didn't even notice the flying pirate who landed on his feet onto the other ship's mast, flailing his arms as he tried to catch his balance there. As he did, he heard the first shouts as the marines noticed him and started shooting at him. He jumped onto the white sail, using the fabric to slow his fall as he slid down right on top of two marines with guns, feet first.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Shachi smirked, leaping into the group of marines as he kicked and punched at them before they even had time to move. It didn't matter to Shachi how many came at him; a few, a dozen, hundreds…he didn't even seem out of breath as he fended off all their attacks. He jumped to avoid a sabre, stepping onto the blunt side of the weapon to keep the marine from lifting it again, before kicking the said man in the face. Moving to the side, he dodged a kick, blocking another with the shin of his foot and stepping on the man's foot to stop him from moving before he punched the marine in the face. The soldier's teeth scattered on the ground as he fell onto the deck, unconscious. With a fluid motion, Shachi then leaned forward to avoid a bullet before clenching his fist and glaring at the five marines who created a small shooting squad, aimed at him. Summoning his inner power, the mechanic punched the air in front of them, sending the blast of his punch towards them and blasting them all away. A large marine grabbed him from behind while another tried to slash him with a sword, but Shachi seemingly disappeared right in front of him as he slipped downwards to avoid the attack. Instead, the sword hit the large marine behind the pirate, slashing him across the chest and stomach.

In a few minutes, the whole deck was filled with marines lying there and groaning in pain. At least the luckier ones who weren't already dead.

"Eeek! Why can't anyone stop him, you useless marines!? Do something!" Talliage ran back, hiding behind the marine officer who stepped before Shachi.

"You fought well, but it ends here," the man spoke calmly, taking off his coat to show a crimson suit underneath, with a purple handkerchief in the pocket.

"That's right, Jann-san, kill him! Kill that filthy Heart Pirate!" Talliage yelled, still hiding behind the other man.

The mechanic narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Our captain is a part of the Shichibukai. What right do the marines have to attack us, anyway?" He didn't really care about their title since he would fight and kill this man either way, but he was interested how will the marines explain this violation to their Government. He could tell Talliage invested a lot of money to bribe someone high up who provided him with five warships and enough men. Besides, corruption in the Marines and the Government wasn't really a surprise for Shachi as it happened quite often, but sooner or later the Gorosei will learn about this.

The marine officer was silent for a while, only staring at Shachi with knowing eyes, before he spoke up, "Well, as long as the Gorosei doesn't find out how your ship got destroyed, it doesn't matter. I personally think the Shichibukai shouldn't even exist as all pirates should simply be exterminated. Besides, there is another thing…," he trailed off.

Shachi gave him a questioning look even as he stayed quiet.

Jann took off his hat, showing dark blonde hair pulled back into a pony-tail. His eyes were dark brown and piercing as they stared back at Shachi with a knowing gaze. He had an unshaved patch of skin going around his mustache and beard area, in the same dirty-blonde shade. With a snap of his fingers he signaled for one of his men to step forward, who gave him today's newspapers. "It seems you haven't read the papers for a while," the man said, tossing the papers before Shachi's feet.

The pirate picked them up, but he didn't have to search for long before he realized what Jann was talking about. The reason was right there on the first page, staring at him with those piercing grey eyes. He saw two pictures, both from the pirates' wanted posters. One was a grinning face of Monkey D. Luffy while the other was of his own captain, Trafalgar Law. Above the pictures was a large headline; "Warlord Trafalgar Law is in an unprecedented alliance with the Strawhat crew. There has been no reaction from the Government yet!" Shachi's eye widened at the title. *What the hell is this? Strawhats?! Why? Didn't Miyako and Law go to Punk Hazard for Caesar?!*

"So as you see, if that is indeed the truth, Trafalgar will be kicked out of the Shichibukai soon and go back to being a simple, no-good pirate. His status will be over. And what's more…his status doesn't necessarily protect you, does it?" Jann answered, already crunching his knuckles while preparing for a fight.

"Heh," the pirate snorted suddenly. He could see Jann's glare, silently asking what was so amusing, but the mechanic ignored him. "You're right, our status doesn't matter right now anyway. Even this alliance doesn't matter right now, because it doesn't change anything. We all knew how this will end as soon as you attacked us. And after you lose, you can't go back crying to the Gorosei since you are the one bending the rules," the Heart pirate concluded. Just like Jann, Shachi cracked his knuckles, lowering his body into a fighting stance.

"You will regret those words," the marine spoke bluntly as he stepped forward just before leaping towards Shachi. The man was taller than the brunette, easily towering over him, yet he moved incredibly fast as he attacked the pirate with a series of punches.

Shachi dodged each punch while moving backwards, but the attack started to get even faster, making him use first one and then both arms to block the punches. He gritted his teeth in annoyance from the continuous attacks which prevented him from shifting into his attack mode. Instead, he had to wait for an opening to move from defense to offense.

Finally, Jann ended the attack with a sideways kick which Shachi dodged by jumping in the air and flipping forward, landing behind the marine and trying to hit him with a sideways kick of his own. However, the other man quickly turned around and blocked with a roundhouse kick. Still, Shachi had no intention of giving up his newly-given chance for offense as he continued with a series of fast kicks towards Jann's torso and head. Lastly he crouched, trying to trip Jann, making the other jump backwards. The pirate quickly leaped forward to use that chance and punch the marine, shouting a cry of anger.

However, the marine dodged one punch and grabbed Shachi's forearm when he tried to attack with another, lifting the smaller man into the air and slamming him into the ground on his back. Still holding onto Shachi's hand tightly, the marine slammed the palm of his hand right into the pirate's torso, sending a powerful blast of energy that ripped through the other and shook his entire body. Behind Shachi, the ground dented as the wood boards cracked from the powerful blow. The pirate gasped and spat out blood, staining his snow white overall. He could feel the pressure in his chest from the attack, but still managed to gather enough strength to kick Jann in the face and get him off of him, giving himself enough time to leap into the air from his arms and land back onto his feet. As he landed back, the brunette stumbled, almost falling onto his knees as he felt the pain from Jann's last attack. He didn't think that anything was broken, but there was a good chance he had internal damage from that blow. Another coughing fit hit him and Shachi spat more blood onto the deck.

Jann only stood there calmly, ignoring Talliage's gleeful cheers and remarks. "You fight well, but your form is off. You are restless," the marine noted emotionlessly. It was simple observation, probably trying to anger the pirate further which will in return make him lose focus. The marine was trying to provoke Shachi so he would mess up on his technique and leave himself open because of his temper. Usually that would never work on someone like Shachi, but today was different.

"Shut up!" The mechanic yelled back in anger, clenching his fists. *Shit, I can't believe I let him get a hit on me. I messed up once, but it won't happen again!* The brunette ran towards Jann with another cry of anger, ignoring the sharp pain in his abdomen from every move he made.

~…..~

"Haa-ya! I-ya, ha-ya!" Bepo shouted with every punch and kick he made, trying to hit his constantly-moving target. However, every punch that aimed right at the man in white missed its mark. The ex-Cipher Pol member appeared to have gone completely numb as his body danced like a leaf on the wind, avoiding each of Bepo's strikes. Just after calling out, "Kami-e," the man's form completely changed as it became fluid and changed like water, dancing around Bepo and dodging each attack.

"Tekkai," he suddenly yelled, regaining his rigid form as his muscles hardened like iron, going after Bepo's stomach with a kick. However, that technique wasn't lost on Bepo either. He might have never given it a fancy name, but he trained hard until he learnt to strengthen his muscles like iron, as well. That's why, as soon as the white cloaked man hardened his leg, Bepo did the same with his arm.

The bear blocked the foot, both of their bodies clashing and coming to a stop. Yet the bear could move surprisingly fast for his size. He narrowed his beady eyes and turned his body to the side slightly as he still held his forearm up, blocking the man's foot. He stepped forward so that he was next to the man while moving his raised forearm towards the human's neck for a hit. His stretched out arm swiftly came towards the man's neck and for a second it appeared as if the bear would surely hit. Only at the last second did the man lean backwards so quickly it looked as if he simply disappeared for a moment, avoiding the strike. He landed backwards on his hands and pulled his legs up for a kick to the pirate's chin. The foot made contact this time as Bepo was taken by surprise and the bear was sent on his back with a loud grunt.

"Time to finish this," the cloaked man muttered, walking slowly towards the bear that was still on the ground.

Bepo huffed as he rolled onto his side. "I agree," he answered. He glanced at the trail of floorboards between him and the approaching man, getting an idea. He suddenly slammed down onto a floorboard on his side, making the other side, where the man was standing, pop up suddenly. The force made the board spring into the air, sending the ex-Cipher Pol member flying upwards.

Even the mysterious man was surprised by the sudden development, as he flailed his arms in the air while going up, desperately trying to grab something on his way only to grasp at nothing but thin air. Before he had time to adjust and use his Geppo technique, Bepo stood up and jumped high into the air after the man.

The bear reappeared slightly above him, clutching his hands together to form a hammer with his fists. "Hii-ya!" With all his might, he brought the make-shift hammer down onto the man's back, sending him crashing back down into the deck of the ship.

The former Cipher Pol member groaned in pain as he rolled to his back. His rough fall even created a small crater under him. "Don't think…that's enough to beat me…," he mumbled under his robes, about to get up as the bear landed near him.

"What about this?" Another, deeper voice, sounded itself next to him and the white cloaked man turned his head to see the giant from before stirring.

Captain Morrow still had a hard time getting up, but his injuries weren't keeping him completely immobilized. As he took his chance, seeing the enemy man fall next to him, Morrow turned, using his elbow to slam down onto the lying opponent.

A giant shadow covered the human as he saw something huge flying towards him in high speed. He barely had time to comprehend it was the giant's elbow, widening his eyes in horror of realization, before the elbow came crashing down onto him.

Bepo sighed in relief when the fight was over, standing next to the giant captain who gave him a weak grin in return. "Nice teamwork," Morrow commented.

~….~

"Gah!" Shachi crashed into the wall behind him, creating a hole and ending up inside the ship.

All the remaining soldiers stood and watched at Jann's obvious upper hand against the pirate. The marine officer slowly walked towards the hole where Shachi fell only to stop when he felt the mechanic move inside. The pirate rushed out and leaped at the marine, hoping to catch the other man off guard, only to receive a blow in the stomach from Jann's fist. The pirate coughed up blood before he was punched forcefully to the face. The marine grabbed his neck and started delivering punches to Shachi one after the other. All the pirate could do was sag against his opponent and feel the painful blows on his body.

Finally, the marine officer stopped only to raise his arm and held out his palm like before. "You remember the first blow I gave you, do you not? It is a variation of Rokuogan, the ultimate technique of Rokushiki. It is not complete yet as I am still working to master it so it is not as powerful…that is why you could stand even as it hit you directly. But you are far too weak to withstand it again. This time, you won't get up again after I hit you with it," Jann stated coldly, still clutching onto Shachi's collar to keep him somewhat on his feet. The pirate glared through his sunglass at the marine before he spat blood right into Jann's face. A final show of defiance.

The marine's eyebrows furrowed as a deep line of anger appeared on his forehead. He wiped off the blood and spit from his face before slapping the mechanic across the face. He raised the same bloodied hand again to deliver a finishing blow to Shachi. "Die now pirate," he added.

Just as he was about to bring his attack down, a sudden force hit him from the side and sent the marine flying into the ship's wall. The wooden boards broke beneath him from the force of his landing.

"What the hell?!" Talliage screamed in surprise before he saw another person standing next to Shachi. Another pirate in the same white uniform, but a lot shorter and wearing a black hat with two mean eyes in the front. The pirate's eyes were green though, glaring at the marine officer where he fell.

"Josh?" The mechanic raised his head weakly to look at the new arrival in wonder.

"What the hell, Shachi!? I knew you were distressed today, but to lose to this guy? That's pathetic!" Despite Joshua's harsh words, the worry behind them was obvious as he quickly examined Shachi's condition with his trained eyes.

"Tch, shut up…I got this under control," the other pirate frowned, willing himself to get up on his trembling feet again.

"The fuck you do! Look at yourself!" The medic gestured in Shachi's direction as if to prove his point.

"More Hearts are coming! Quick men, kill him! Kill them both, before even more come!" Talliage yelled in panic, hiding behind a group of marines.

In the meantime, Jann slowly stood up, dusting himself off with one hand. "You took me by surprise little pirate. It won't happen again," he stated darkly.

"Who are you calling short, Ponytail!?" The redhead yelled back.

"Actually, he called you 'little,'" Shachi corrected in a matter-of-fact tone.

The medic glared at his friend. "Aren't you supposed to be busy dying?"

The mechanic just shrugged wordlessly in response, giving the other a 'What did I do?' stare.

As Jann returned, Shachi stepped forward, in front of Joshua. "Anyway, this is my fight Joshua, so don't get involved! You're in the way," the mechanic warned.

"Fuck you, if I hadn't come, you'd be dead by now," the medic growled at the ungrateful act his crewmate was putting on.

Shachi clenched his fists, but kept his focus and glare on the marine officer. "You just deal with those marines and I'll deal with this guy," he commanded.

Joshua sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head for a while. *I give up, this guy is too stuborn.* "Fine," he started. "One more thing. Penguin is going to be alright," Joshua told him.

Shachi's gaze was instantly torn from Jann as he stared at the redhead with wide, questioning eyes.

"He woke up," Joshua continued. "That's what I came here to tell you," he finished.

The mechanic was silent, but he clenched both his fists, taking a deep breath. He was shaking and panting from the pain, making even breathing a chore. Still, a switch was instantly turned on inside him as he heard the news. "Heh..I really was an idiot," he mumbled, more to himself.

"What are you mumbling about?" Jann scowled at the pirate. "Are you ready to die and finish it, then?"

However the mechanic didn't let himself be provoked by the marine's words this time. Instead, he remained completely calm, only rising one fist to his face. "Yeah…I'm ready," was all he said.

~….~

Joshua ran into the group of marines that attacked him, easily avoiding the bullets and even blocking them with two scalpels in his hands. Out of nowhere, the number of his scalpels between his fingers increased, before he threw them at the marines. Not one of the sharp weapons missed its target. He gave himself a moment to glance at Shachi's fight, who was still only standing there. The medic bit his lip with a troubled expression, but stayed quiet, before he turned his attention back to the marines, punching one in the gut before jumping over him and kicking another in the chin.

~…..~

"I will finish this in one attack," Jann stated confidently as he stepped forward.

"Just get on with it," Shachi murmured darkly, never taking his eyes off of his enemy.

"Soru," Jann shouted out before seemingly disappearing, only to reappear behind Shachi. But instead of attacking he disappeared again, reappearing a bit further away in the air while using Geppo. The marine officer started to move all around Shachi in high speed that only left his afterimage behind, trying to confuse the pirate with his movement. He moved faster and faster, until it was impossible to pinpoint his position by following him with the eyes.

Through it all, Shachi only kept in place. He took one more deep breath, closing his eyes behind his shades. No matter how close Jann moved to him, the mechanic didn't react, only feeling the air move around him instead. *I can feel it…that guy…even without seeing it, I can still feel even the air around me…* Suddenly the pirate moved, using his still clenched fist to punch beside him with his eyes closed. He could feel contact with soft flesh even before he opened his eyes. He slammed his fist into Jann's face, blasting the man down before his feet.

"Wh-what! How! You shouldn't have been able to catch me, I'm too fast for you!" The marine was out of his wits with shock and puzzlement, but Shachi completely ignored him as he wasn't done just yet. Before Jann even noticed it, the pirate was in the air above him, pulling his fist back against his side.

"I don't care about Rokushiki or whatever...but you weren't the only one training hard," Shachi started. "Hyaa!" With a punch in the air, Shachi let out a blast of pure energy that was sent flying in a straight line right into the marine. Not only did it hit the man still lying on the floor, but it went through and pierced the whole ship, all the way through the hull and the bilge. The force of the blow made the whole ship cave in, splitting into two halves that started rising vertically and sinking into the water.

Screams of panic sounded around as everyone started sliding down the deck and into the water, where the parts of the warship were slowly covering them and making the people drown. The marines tried to grasp at anything they could, from pieces of the ship to other people as they flailed their arms in the freezing sea.

"Whoa!" Joshua almost fell along with them before he managed to jump backwards and onto the mast that was still sinking. "Next time warn me before sinking a ship we're standing on," the medic complained angrily.

Shachi laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he stood on the other side of the same mizzen. "Sorry about that."

Josh grumbled for a while, but somehow managed to turn his frown into a smirk. "Well, that was a pretty nice move so I won't kick your ass this time," he commented.

"Tch watch your mouth scrawny kid, don't forget who thought you how to fight," the mechanic bickered bitterly.

"Who you calling short!?" The medic snapped back.

*I didn't though…,* the other pirate thought with a sweatdrop.

~….~

The giants watched the last of the marine warships disappear below the sea, as some surviving marines tried to save themselves from downing by finding anything that floats in the cold water.

Captain Morrow sat on the stairs at the deck of his ship, nodding at the sight. Instead of his blue tunic, he had bandages covering his chest now. The other giants also had a few injuries but they all got treated by the help of their doctor and the Heart Pirates. Most of the pirates were luckily unharmed or only had light injuries, cuts and bruises. Shachi was the most injured this time, which of course made his crewmates tease him constantly, though it was mostly by his own carelessness and fault as he was so distressed because of his friend the entire battle.

"Well, it all be over now," the captain of the giants took a big sip of his ale as he said it helped with the pain. "Aah, there be nothin' better than good quality ale after a rowdy fight, ey!? Harharharhar!" He laughed loudly, nudging at Bepo with his large pitcher.

"Ugh…sure…," the bear agreed out of politeness though he would rather at least prefer having fish than liquor now. His ears perked up at the sound of his nakama calling.

"Lookie what we dragged out of the sea," Eli snickered devilishly as him and Jean Bart pulled out a small piece of wood with a very fat man clutching onto it for dear life. The pirates wondered how he even managed to stay afloat with his weight and size, compared to the wooden plank.

"Taijirou Talliage, the textile tycoon, was it?" Kai sneered with a mocking expression.

"Y-you…You can't hurt me!" The nobleman shouted, cowering on the deck of the ship as he was surrounded by very angry pirates and even angrier giants.

"Let me just squash the bastard, captain!" Yandir already rose his foot in the air, awaiting his captain's orders, ignoring Talliage's screams for mercy.

"Wait," Bepo interrupted, gaining confused looks from the giants. "It's better if you don't get involved in this…We are already pirates so it's fine, but you aren't wanted by the government. It's better not to do anything to change that. We've already caused you enough trouble and further affiliation with us could be dangerous," the bear explained, having the other Hearts back him up with nods and words of agreement.

Captain Morrow didn't look pleased, but gave up with a sigh. "Very well, little bear. Ye be off with him, then."

"So what will we do with him?" Sam asked, putting his hands on his hips as he thought.

Everyone were silent and in thought, staring at the nobleman before them, until Ari got a devious idea. The others could tell by the wide evil grin that slowly spread on his face. "I have an idea," he chimed.

~…..~

A small scrappy raft made out of wooden remnants of the warships floated near the wreckages with only one passenger. Talliage was tied to a pole used as a make-shift mast, unable to escape or even move. Around him were barrels of concocted explosives made by gunpowder and other chemicals mixed together, placed by none other than the explosives expert of the Heart Pirates, Ari.

"You will pay for this! You will all die for this, bastards!" The nobleman screamed at the top of his lungs, perhaps not yet realizing his true position as no shouting, ordering or threatening would save his life now.

"He knows about the Lynx pirates, meaning what we did to Kaido's henchmen…Captain said there can be no witnesses so…," Bepo trailed off as it wasn't even necessary to finish that sentence. Instead, he gave a light nod to Sai who aimed his trusted rifle towards one of the barrels on the sailing raft. He waited for it to float further away, carried by the sea currents and light waves, before firing into the barrel. As soon as the precise shot hit, the whole raft exploded, going up in flames in an instant. Fire and smoke rose high into the night sky as if trying to reach the stars, glowing and casting shadows on the two remaining ships on the sea.

"There definitely won't be any witnesses now," the younger navigator muttered as he lowered his gun.

"Heh, it's ironic…he ended up just like his daughter," Ari commented.

"Well, we shoulda be on our way too," Captain Morrow stepped forward as he gazed back at the pirates. Carefully, he scooped up the remaining pirates on his ship and easily transferred them on the deck of the submarine bellow.

"I'm sorry we got you into trouble," the polar bear bowed his head in another apology. The Hearts stopped counting how many times he had already apologized to the giants.

"Nonsense boy! We drank together…we are mates now! An' if ya ever dock to Selber, give us a visit, ey?" The giant grinned, tipping his triangular hat and making the large feather dance on top from his movement.

"Next time, maybe we'll also meet your captain," Tiny added with a smile.

"You don't have long before reaching Zo, now. Good luck small pirates," Yandir added, as he stared at the night sky. "May the stars guide you well," he concluded with a firm nod. Even as his expression stayed serious, he gazed at the pirates with kind eyes.

"Thank you for everything!" The Heart Pirates yelled back, waving their hands, as they sailed away from the giant ship. "Goodbye!"

"You know…maaaybe we don't have to mention this day to Captain Law after all," Garry muttered, a shiver running down his spine as he thought what Law might do to them when he hears they almost destroyed the whole submarine, plus that someone found out about the Lynx Pirates incident.

"Eeh? We can't keep anything from captain!" Bepo argued angrily, not willing to compromise on that.

"Oh come ooon Bepo, he'll skin me alive if he hears I was the one to let it slip out," the medic whined, clutching onto the bear's back as he tried to persuade Bepo not to tell.

"Definitely not!"

"Have mercy!"

"No!"

"You tyrant!"

Sai watched the two argue as Garry whined, clinging onto the large bear like a child. He shook his head with closed eyes, deciding to ignore them and not get involved in their rowdy mishaps any longer. The last thing he wanted was to somehow get sucked into some new scheme again, as the guys from the crew somehow always managed to find trouble. "Well, Jean Bart is already at the helm so I better take my position at the control panel too," Sai gave a light wave to the others before returning to the submarine, walking leisurely with his hands in the pockets of his overall as if he wasn't just fighting marines only a couple of hours ago.

"I want to go check on Penguin in the infirmary again," Bepo noted, peeling the wailing medic off of him. He also headed back inside, followed by the others.

Sam tried to reassure Garry, who had tears at the corners of his concealed eyes now, patting him on the back. That's when he remembered a scene after hearing Bepo's words. "Oh right, I just saw Shachi running towards the infirmary a while ago, and Josh yelling behind him," Sam tilted his head in thought at the memory as he also walked with Bepo and the others inside. "I wonder what that was all about," he added in a mumble.

~…..~

Shachi ran through the submarine, almost missing a corner and running into a wall as he headed for the infirmary.

"Shachi, wait!" The redheaded medic was right behind the grinning mechanic who burst into the sickbay, slamming the doors open in glee.

"Penguin!" The brunette called out, expecting to see his dark-haired friend in bed. The mechanic's smile instantly turned into a confused frown as he indeed saw Penguin in bed, but now as he was expecting. The scene was just the same as when he left, leaving the unconscious mechanic in bed, hooked on the vital machine and an IV.

Cody, who was tending to the mechanic's fresh bandage, blinked in wonder at the sudden intrusion. He gave Shachi a reprimanding look, cautioning him to be a little quieter in here.

"Shachi, I…," the redheaded medic started awkwardly, his tone dripping with guilt as he closed the doors behind them.

"I…I don't understand. You told me he woke up?" The mechanic turned towards Joshua, puzzlement still clear on his face.

The medic kept his gaze to the side, not daring to look at his friend out of guilt. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before speaking up, "If I didn't tell you that, you would have been too distracted and gotten yourself killed out there. I had to do something to calm you down!" He swung his arms in the air, desperately trying to explain his position.

"So…you lied about Penguin getting better!" Shachi raised his voice again, but this time out of sheer rage instead of happiness.

"I had to calm you down, you were a wreck out there! You would have lost that fight and di-" Josh never managed to finish that sentence as Shachi's fist came flying right into his chin. The medic stumbled backwards, hitting the wall behind him.

"Hey!" Cody yelled out and ran over to the two pirates, trying to split them up. "That's enough! Whatever this is, knock it off or take it outside! You're not fighting in here!"

However the redhead only put up his one hand to stop Cody from interfering. "It's ok…I deserved that, I know…" He turned back to an enraged Shachi who was already breathing hard from both anger and his injuries. "But I don't regret what I did, because it did calm you down and reminded you what was important…not to lose focus in a fight. You thought me that, remember?" He stared at Shachi hard, not backing down.

Neither of the pirates moved nor spoke, as they both simply stared at each other with hard gazes. A tense and awkward atmosphere was spreading throughout the whole room as Shachi and Josh continued to face each other.

"Um, guys…," Cody started.

"Not now Cody," Josh interrupted. "Look, I'm sorry I lied to you but there was no other way…I feel bad but I don't regret it...I would do it again," the redhead spoke up, never breaking his stare-down with the mechanic.

"Yeah, but, guys-" The bluehaired medic tried again, only to be cut off by Shachi this time.

"I wouldn't have lost! I had it under control," the mechanic argued.

"Guys, just shut up and look already!" This time it was Cody who yelled, finally capturing their attention.

Shachi and Joshua stared at him as he was standing over Penguin's bed where the dark-haired pirate was stirring and moaning. He was waking up.

Completely forgetting about their dispute, both Shachi and Joshua ran to the mechanic's side. "Penguin!"

Cody took his light and checked the man's pupils. "The eyes seem fine." He stared at the pirate, holding out four fingers in front of him. "How many fingers am I holding?"

"Uh…four..," the mechanic spoke in a hoarse voice, barely above a whisper.

"He's alright!" The two other pirates practically jumped onto the bed and the patient as they tackled their friend. They both instantly got a whack on their heads by Cody because of it, though.

"Oy, are you trying to make him worse!? He needs rest!" The blue-head reprimanded in annoyance, putting both hands on his hips.

However, the two pirates were too happy to care about the pain in their heads as they grinned at each other and at the very confused Penguin. As their gazes met, Shachi's smile faded and he sighed deeply, still looking at Josh. "You were right…I was a wreck out there and I was a danger to myself and others," the mechanic finally admitted.

The redhead smirked, but didn't say anything in return. There was no need as they both understood each other without any more words being spoken. They both knew they were alright now.

Only Penguin was left clueless as he sat between them, glancing from one pirate to the other with a puzzled stare.

Just then the doors of the sickbay opened again, as Bepo and Garry entered with Sam and Louis following behind. "We came to check on Peng-," they stopped as they saw the still-very-baffled mechanic sitting on his bed. "Penguin!" They all yelled out, rushing over to his side and glomping him much like Shachi and Josh did earlier.

Cody sighed in defeat. "Honestly, nobody listens to me…"

~…..~

Most of the Heart Pirates gathered around the patient's bed in the infirmary. They all sat on unoccupied beds, some tending to their latest wounds from the battle while others simply conversing with Penguin who got a brief recap of everything that happened in the meantime. Indeed it was brief as first Bepo tried to explain which sounded, "You went unconscious and then we met the giants who helped us defeat the marines and blow up the typhoon!" That explanation only left Penguin more confused and with a headache, especially before he realized the bear mixed the words typhoon and tycoon. Not that it would help him much even if the bear got it right. After that, Shachi took on the role of explaining, as he told the other mechanic everything that happened, gaining groans and sighs from Penguin as he regretted missing out on all the action.

What's more, the brunette showed everyone the newspapers, which they were all commenting on at the moment. "Warlord Trafalgar Law in an alliance with the Strawhats…what exactly happened on Punk Hazard?"

"And not just them, look at this," Zeek spoke up softly, turning a page to read another headline. "The Kid Pirates, the On-the-air Pirates and the Hawkins pirates also made an alliance."

"Wow, we really miss a lot when we travel underwater for so long, huh?" Penguin scratched his head as he slowly started to recuperate from his confusion.

"Whoa, that's not all!" Suddenly Josh exclaimed and grabbed the newspapers, ripping it from the tailor's hands.

"What's going on?"

"Look! It says Doflamingo is quitting the Shichibukai!" The redhead showed everyone the papers, pointing at yet another big news.

"Well Imma be damned…," Munk rubbed his beard in deep thoughts, while lightly shaking his head in disbelief.

"Seriously…what's going on with the world today," Shachi muttered.

"Land ahoy!" Sai's voice startled everyone as it came from the speakers. "Guys, we've reached the island! We've finally come to Zo!" The navigator's voice continued as he announced their arrival.

---

Heh, at first I thought this was going to be a pretty short chapter but somehow it ended up pretty long. :') I also thought I'd make a funny chapter with some of Hearts' adventures on their travels to Zo, but the story ended up darker than I expected. I didn't really plan for it, but oh well…maybe I was in that kind of writing mood. In any case I hope you liked it and in the next chapter we return to the Strawhats. :D Hopefully I will get the next one out soon, before my exams start up.

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments, I see there are a lot this time. :D

Emilyamazing: Thanks, I like that one too. And Law became a Shichibukai there, whoot! :D

Animelovwers: Aww, well thank you very much. ^^ About the 'how' well I'm not sure…I just write what comes to mind. :D I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this new chapter, though. Thank you for the wonderful review. :D

mintlover360: Hehe Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I try to mix a lot of genres so there's usually a little bit of everything; from humor to angst, depending on the chapter.

Amelie'sHuman: I'm glad to hear that, I do try to incorporate her in the cannon story as naturally as possible. I think my favorite interaction so far is also with the 'Three Kenshi,' they just fit together. :D And thanks, I'm glad the cover is good!

Volleys-chan: Yep, I had some free time so I went over the early chapters. ^^ I'm glad it helped, I was planning to go over all the chapter I've written so far to examine them again, I just need to find the time for it.

I'm just happy that you read and like my story, that's enough for me. ^^ I must admit I am also proud of Miyako, so of course we would be attached the most to our own OCs. I understand how much time and planning it must have taken to carefully develop your OC, so it's normal. :) Thank you for reviewing!

Skittles: , good questioning, I think it would depend on the situation. When she's with friends or messing around, I think it would be more like Nami, but while she is battling I think she would be calm and colder, like Robin. Though I always imagined her usual sound of voice somewhere in between; softer than Nami's but not as deep as Robin's.

2. There is affection, but it is purely platonic, or rather, brotherly. He sees her more as an annoying little sister that he just can't leave alone. :P

It's not a problem, and thank you very much. I don't plan on abandoning it so don't worry. Since I already spent so much time on it, it would just be a shame. Thank you for making the time to write this review and read my story! ^^

Hello: hehe Thank you and I will. :D

Orion's Left Arm: I'm happy you liked it, Miyako will finally have more female company to spend time with. Hehe No problem, but to be honest I haven't decided on the rooming arrangements yet. :3 I hope you weren't waiting for long, and hopefully the next chapter will come quicker. Thank you for reviewing!

Lucy Jacob: Eh, I hope it gets better. I know how you feel, though. ^^Hang in there!

Thank, I really had fun writing this Punk Hazard arc, even though the whole cannon story happened so quick, in only one day. :') Thank you for the review, and I hope your exams are going well!

Bloody Soffy: I'm glad you like her, I really tried to make her as cannon-like as possible. I'm surprised Law turned out to be much softer than expected, in the OP story. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Huny Bajer: Aw, I know what you mean. Well, in any case, I'm sure Law will survive which is what matters (I was worried what would I do if he died there o.o). I'll try to make it as bearable as possible, though.

is a flying cookie 22: I try for the cannon parts of my story to stay as close to the original as possible, which includes the cannon characters. It's not always easy, I admit, so I'm glad you think they are still cannon. ^^ I'm happy that you like Miyako and the other OCs as they are very important to me (hehe, I love Josh's fear of frogs too XD). I won't abandoned it, so don't worry. Sometimes it's hard to find time, but sooner or later I always upload.

Red knight 2004: Hehe You'll have to wait some more for that. ;)

SurgeonOfLove: Yeah, I hope Miyako and Tashigi can become friends; too bad they're on opposite sides. ^^' I think it's a bit too soon for him to see her as a sibling, but I do think he feels a connection to her, especially since she is also from Wano. They'll have more bonding time in the future. Hehe, you got your answer about the crew chapter. :D Thank you and Happy belated Easter to you too! I hope you had a fun one! I don't mind your reviews at all, I'm happy you take your time to write them! *here's another cookie for you!* ;D

MusicOfMadness: Yep, I can totally see Tashigi and Miyako in a distant future as friends even if they are a pirate and a marine. And the Strawhats are the only ones who can bring even enemies together to have fun (and apparently, they also make the best parties :D). Thank you for reviewing!

Bizzy: I can't even remember how Zoro laughs. I think the last time I heard it was in the earliest eps of OP, when they were still only with Nami. Oh wow, hm…I think my favorite is Brook's; Yohohoho! :D Hm, well there was a part in the earlier chapters when he was a bit jealous of Cody; but I think he would never admit it openly. :3 Hehe I also love the interactions with Miyako and Zoro, I think they will get along well. Thankfully, it seems Law will be fine (there was nothing to do but wait and see what happens). Thank you for the review!

TheCaramelSecrets: Haha, I'm glad you like. :D And it seems you got that little glimpse of the crew. ;)

geckogal077: Haha, I'm amused just thinking of all those scenes that are to come where Law will lose it in front of the Strawhats and Miyako. ("I don't like bread!") XD Yeah, I thought it would be a fun Oops moment for Law. Thank you for reading!

BatmanSwim2016: Thank you very much, I'm happy you've taken the time to read it. ^^ I hope I'll write the Dressrosa Arc so that it is interesting even if it is cannon and already seen.

Hitoshirezu Ryu: I agree, I believe the biggest influence on Miyako right now will come from Zoro and Kin'emon as they are both kenshi and therefore close to her when it comes to certain world views, yet completely different to her in others. Thanks, flashbacks are so useful as they help with post-explaining some parts of the story, especially of scenes from the cannon that we (unfortunately) find out about quite late in the game. I think they were lucky it was Robin who saw since she is discreet at least (remember the scene in the Water 7 Arc when she saw Zoro babysitting :D). The Dressrosa Arc will definitely be an interesting challenge since there is so much going on there, and especially since it is very connected to Law. I will do my best to make it an exciting read and incorporate Miyako in the arc as naturally as possible. As always, thank you for taking the time to read the story and leave a review every time. ^^

Guest: Indeed, there are many funny Law scenes to come. :D

Apple bloom: More chapters it is! XD I hope you like this new one too!

Wicken25: I examined Thousand Sunny's plans and it seems there are only two sleeping quarters; one for women and one for men. ;D

Guest: Me too. Unfortunately, as strong as Tashigi has become, Oda still made her lag after the others, like Law and Zoro. So I at least want to make Miyako a character who can stand up beside them as equally strong and dangerous. Haha, yes, Robin knows~ ;)

Zecrea: Whoot! Thank you! :D haha I meant it as a sound; "humph." But I changed it so it would make more sense. Thanks for the heads up. :') Hahaha, Now I keep imagining that scene. XD

Insanity294: Aw, hang in there! School can be evil, I know. :') Thank you for taking your time to read the story and review, though! ^^

Chocogirl24: Yep, yep, I was surprised I could write so much about just one day of cannon story. :') To be honest, hopefully, Dressrosa arc will finish before I start with it, but I doubt it. ^^' Thank you for reading!