Chapter 15: Submarines & Mermaids

"I can't believe it…!" Luffy whispered excitedly. "We…we made it!"

"Talk about nostalgia…" Nami exhaled with a sigh as she leaned against the railing, looking at the red feature that shot into the sky. "This land loops around the whole world, and is connected to the Reverse Mountain that we went through."

"That was one hell of a storm we went through, that day." Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke.

"We've all certainly grown a lot, since then, too." Zoro smirked at Jiru as she floated nearby. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

Fifty years… Brooke thought as he just stared upward with empty sockets. Fifty years since that fateful day. Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho! Then Brooke looked thoughtfully at the floating Golden Thief, thinking back on their sunrise, most private, discussion on the crow's nest of Thriller Bark. The girl wasn't what she appeared to be at all, if she was the same person as he had met that one time decades ago. That was another story, for another time.

"I can't believe we're only halfway done!" Luffy said. "The Twin Capes, where we met Laboon, are on the other side of this big world. I'm so glad we all made it this far!"

"It's…it's so huge…!" Chopper gasped, wide-eyes staring skyward. "I can't even see the top!" Usoppu was currently sobbing to himself; overwhelmed by the moment.

"I can't believe we're here…!" the sniper sniffled. "So much has happened since we crossed Reverse Mountain."

"You're darned right about that, Usoppu!" Jiru smiled as she floated nearby. "I was totally terrified back then. It seems like a lifetime ago for me."

"No kidding?" Chopper looked at the treasure hunter with wide eyes. "Why a lifetime?"

"It took me thirty years to find my way back to this world after fixing the tear in the Rainbow Fog." She continued, nonchalantly floating on an aura pad. "But what is time when you're with nakama?"

"Wow!" the reindeer gasped in awe. "You're so smart!"

"Why, thank you!"

"I came here from the West Blue only five years ago." Robin chuckled as the reindeer hung off the railing in awe at the floating female.

"As far back as I can remember…" Franky added his thoughts. "I went over the Reverse Mountain thirty years ago from the South Blue."

"I've been from the East Blue AND the Grand Line. Amazing, huh?" The treasure hunter laughed, getting odd looks from the others. "What? Doesn't it count if I came back from another dimension?"

"Sure it does, Jiru." Usoppu nodded sagely. "You did manage to find us at Water 7, didn't you?"

"You managed to find ME, Usoppu." The treasure hunter quipped hollowly. "I still don't regret coming back even though you said nasty things anyway, Sniper-stupid."

The memory that stood out the most - other than her unfortunate encounter with the red-haired CP9 version of Usoppu, Kaku - was the hateful things that Usoppu had said to her during the 'Losing the Merry-Gou' discussion that terrible evening. The Sniper had spoken words on how he felt on the leave of absence she had to take within the Rainbow Fog. She had been trying to offer comfort to ease the pain of having to replace their beloved Merry-gou.

The treasure hunter had no choice BUT to leave the Mugiwaras; having to fulfill her duty in reclaiming the part of her talisman and healing the tear in the time/space fabric. His words at her leaving that terrible evening had spurred the fight between him and Luffy – the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. Having lashed out and insulted her honor and dignity, Usoppu had sent her crying from the room; and Luffy into a rage that led to the midnight fight for the un-sail-worthy Going Merry-Gou.

"Geez, I said I was sorry, Jiru." Usoppu flinched at the bad memory.

"Let's go up, Jiru-chan! Make me a float-pad!" The pirate captain sang loudly, interrupting his two best friends and their sour memories. "I wanna go up!"

"Wait just a minute, Luffy." Zoro's nearby voice rang out. "Don't be an idiot. We all agreed that we would think of something when we arrived."

"I know!" Luffy grinned excitedly over his shoulder. "I just wanna touch the mountain."

"Luffy, you're just being silly. We need to find a way down, not up." Jiru said. "I'm not going to even try to lift the Sunny-Gou with my Aura-pads."

"So what, I still wanna touch the Red Line!" Luffy pled further, making puppy eyes at the Golden Thief. "Let's go."

"Now hang on, Luffy." Nami interrupted, cutting her excited captain off from any impulsive decisions. "We shouldn't let our guard down even here. Right above us is the Marine headquarters, and the Holy Land of the World Government, Mariejois, is right next door!"

"So what'll we do, Sis?" Franky inquired.

"The only way we can get past them," Nami began. "Is if we went under the Red Line…through Fishman Island. So here is the strategy…"

XXX

Half an hour later, Jiru was floating idly, safely above the salty doom that was the ocean. The 'Surprise-Pool' that Franky had finally unveiled from one of his 'Docks' was in the water below her, holding Usoppu and Chopper. The pair was thoroughly enjoying the Channel 4 of the Soldier Dock System.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Usoppu laughed, splashing around like a moron. The treasure hunter would have been in the water otherwise, had Usoppu not came racing out of the male dorm in his swim trunks. The sight had been rather unexpected, and made her change her mind in joining cute little Chopper in the water. Usoppu tended to be a grope in the water.

"This Surprise Pool is so much fun!" Chopper laughed loudly as he floated upon the water with the aid of a floatation ring. "How come you aren't in the water, Jiru?"

"Oh, I just thought I would watch you two have fun and stuff." She smiled brightly as she answered the doctor.

"Liar!" Usoppu needled her. "You just don't want to wear your swimsuit while Luffy and Zoro aren't around to tease."

The crew all knew of her relationship with the green-haired swordsman since the 'incident' came to light for Luffy. Now, since it was out in the open, Usoppu was able to tease the girl back. They all knew the Golden Thief loved to tease the first mate with light innuendo. They all also knew Luffy liked Jiru like she liked Zoro. It was a love triangle alright, and it was funny as hell to poke fun at.

"That's not true!" the dark-haired woman denied uselessly. "I have a broken foot, in case you forgot, Usoppu. I have to keep it wrapped like the doctor says!"

"Pffft." Came Usoppu's disbelief. "Did you say that, Chopper?"

"Nope, I didn't."

"SHUT UP!" Jiru hissed as her façade was broken. "I'm not getting in and that's final!"

The two males chuckled at her; looking at each other with ideas.

Above, on the deck of the Sunny-gou, Nami was speaking into the receiver of a Den-Mushi with a blue shell and a mini straw hat on its head. Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Brooke had all chosen to use the Shark Submerge III to see if they could find the Fishman Island entrance below.

"Robin? Luffy? Zoro? Brooke?" Nami asked into the speaker. "How's it going down there?"

~Well, Miss Navigator-san, for one thing, I think Luffy-san might be a little sick.~ Brooke's baritone voice came.

"What makes you say that?" Nami asked, concerned.

~BLEEEEEEEEGH!~

~SHIT! DAMN IT, Luffy, I'm going to kill you!~

~He just threw up in Zoro-san's lap.~

~WHO THE HELL GAVE LUFFY WHATEVER THIS SHIT IS BEFORE HE GOT IN?~

~I believe Collector-san found it in her heart to gift her captain with carrots.~ Robin's soft voice was heard.

~Carrots! THAT CHIBI-BRAT, I'LL KILL HER TOO!~

~BLEEEEEEEEGH!~

~HOLY CRAP, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSE TO BE! LUFFY STOP PUTTING WEIRD SHIT IN YOUR MOUTH!~

"What else is new?" Nami muttered darkly as Franky laughed next to her. The navigator gave the evil eye to the half-focused floating female below her. The girl had an ear cocked to listen to the conversation, pretending to not hear. It was a shame that the treasure hunter wore her emotions on her face, since the smirking grin on those lips gave her knowledge of Zoro's mishap away.

~It's way too dark down here! We can't see a thing! WHOA!~ Luffy's voice finally was heard.

"What?" Nami asked. "What is it?"

~I saw something pass us, just now!~

Below the railing, Jiru was too busy listening to the Den-Mushi conversation and was caught off guard by Chopper and Usoppu. Lunging upward to grab a hold of her waist, the Sniper yelled in triumph as he managed to drag the treasure hunter off her floating aura pad and into the water. He would never allow her to sink into the depths; since she'd sink like a rock thanks to eating a Devil Fruit, so he kept his hands firmly around her torso; grinning his victory.

The now soaked Golden Thief squeaked in surprise; being shocked at being dumped into the drink.

"USOPPU!" She squealed. "NOOO, I'm all wet!"

~AAAAAAAH! It's the eye of a giant sea beast! We'll get eaten alive! I'M GOING TO DIE!" Brooke's panicky voice yelped. "Even though I'm already dead. Yo-ho-ho-ho! Oh, one more thing; Nami-san, what kind of panties are you wearing today?~

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, YOU IDIOTS!" Nami snapped at both Brooke's perverted question and Usoppu's antics.

"So scary…!" Chopper whimpered, cringing away from Nami above. Next to him, Jiru was attempting to pay Usoppu back for pulling her into the water. It was getting rather splashy and Chopper started laughing.

"Hey, you guys!" Franky called as he took the Den-Mushi from Nami's enraged hand. "The Shark Submerge can only go down to five-thousand meters! Be SUPER careful down there, you hear me?"

XXX

Deep below the water line, cruising at five thousand and one feet depth within the Shark Submerge III, Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Brooke were exploring the dark currents of the sea. A strange creaking noise echoed through the small craft inwards, sending half the occupants into a flurry of frantic nervousness.

"What was that?" Brooke asked. "It sounds like the hull is creaking."

"That's because we just went over the five-thousand meter limit." Robin informed them.

"Ah!" Brook exclaimed, pounding a fist in his bony palm. "Then that means…WAIT! WE'LL GET CRUSHED BY THE WATER PRESSURE!"

Luffy, having finished clearing his mouth of the vomit-aftertaste, looked outside the porthole window. There, the boy swore he saw a huge red eye about his size glaring back at him.

"AH!" he yelped. "It's that monster, again! It came back!"

"It has a pretty huge mouth, doesn't it?" Robin quietly said.

"Quick! Let's get outta here!" Luffy ordered. "Turn Right, TURN RIGHT, ZORO!" The pirate captain tried to commandeer the steering wheel from the firstmate. "It's going to eat us!"

"Shut the hell up, you idiot!" Zoro growled back testily, as he tried to focus on driving the submarine and not touching the vomit on his pants. Then Luffy was in his space, trying to wrest control of the steering device from him. "What the hell? Get away, Luffy, I'm trying to steer!"

The shadowy figure of the monster tried to bite down on the Shark Submerge III, which managed to get away just in time as Zoro wrenched the steering rod to a hard right.

"Phew!" the rubber-man sighed. "That was a close one!"

"No thanks to you, Luffy." Zoro growled back. "I'm going to kick her ass for feeding you carrots."

"AAAAAAH!" Brook screamed. "RORONOA'S FACE IS SO SCARY, WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE SLICED AND DICED! SAVE ME!"

XXX

Above the water, the Mugiwaras all listened to the makeshift conversation through the Den-Mushi. Nami looked exasperated, Jiru was laughing her face off, Usoppu was sneaking a peek at the Golden Thief's wet panties as he pretended to help her climb up the side of the Sunny-gou to the deck and Chopper was stunned, looking fearfully in the water below him.

"I decided that I never wanna ride on the Shark Submerge." Chopper stammered as Usoppu lifted the small doctor out of the mini-pool. "Never."

"Welcome to the club, Chopper." Usoppu muttered back as he got a face-full of foot from the Golden Thief above him. She had caught him oogling at her panties. "Welcome to the club."

"This is just hopeless…" Franky growled as he lifted the trio over the railing. "Why I didn't decide to drive the Shark Submerge is beyond me now."

"You're telling me, Franiki." Jiru smiled politely at the shipwright and managed to nail Usoppu in the stomach with a light; backwards arm blow – further revenge for his panty peeking. The Sniper coughed once, and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Nami-swaaaaaann! Jiru-chwaaaaann!" Sanji swooned as he pranced out from the galley and down the steps towards them. In his hand he carried a silver platter with artfully arranged sweets. Coming to a stop in front of the two females, the cook bowed low and offered theirs to them first, using a leg to keep the reindeer and sniper from ruining his serving technique.

"Your afternoon treats are ready! I made a delicious Thriller Bark Tart without the horror!"

The sweets looked absolutely delectable; each made up in cute little 'halloween' faces – such as bats, cats, pumpkins and skull-faces.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun." Nami thanked the cook as she took the tart. "This is so troublesome." She took a bite out of the tart. "But man, this is so good."

"Nami is soooo beautiful when she compliments me!" Sanji fell into his normal love-struck self.

"SO GOOD!" Usoppu, Chopper, and Franky as they each took a bite of their own tarts.

"I guess what you're saying is that it's just like when you all went up to the Sky Island, right?" a still soaking Jiru asked; ignoring the over-acting Sniper as he enjoyed his tart.

She had managed to finish hers with two bites – a shame really, she couldn't tiny-bite anything sweet from the cook; his concoctions were just too irresistible. The thief was now hanging off the love-struck Cook, trying to butter the sap into giving her another. He was in no condition to do anything thing much but breath and bask in the attention the woman was giving him.

"Yeah." Nami answered as she looked away from Sanji and down at the Log Pose, which had the needle pointing straight down. "Even if we know the heading, we have no idea to get down there! How are we going to get to Fishman Island?"

The Shark Submerge III picked that moment to emerge from the depths below. Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Brooke emerged from the submarine's hatch.

"Where is SHE!" Zoro shouted as he leapt up from the hatch and onto the deck, looking around just once to register his prey. Having spotted her, Zoro crossed over the deck in two strides; a furious, angry mask on his face.

"Oops, times, up, gotta go!" Jiru peeled herself off Sanji and retreated upward on an aura pad. "I only gave him three carrots! I swear!" Jiru couldn't stop herself from laughing as Zoro stalked her, so very angry about the Luffy-vomit now falling off his pants.

"GET DOWN HERE AND TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN, WOMAN!"

"No way, you'd enjoy it too much!" came her retort. "WAY too much."

"AND YOU WOULDN'T?" Zoro shouted back at her. He had forced her to retreat clear across the deck, over the railing and out above the water; where she floated defensively.

"MARIMO-BAKA!" Sanji's defensive voice finally entered the fight. "You leave her alone! Pick on somebody your own size, shit head!"

"SHIT-COOK! You stay out of this!"

"I'll kick your ass, Marimo!"

The other Mugiwaras all shook their heads in annoyance.

"Welcome back." Nami greeted, turning away from the trio's fight and towards Luffy. "So, what'd you find?"

"Nothing!" Luffy answered. "We can't go down, deep enough. Is Fishman Island really down there?"

"Yo-ho-ho-ho!" Brook chuckled; thoroughly focused on the three-way argument across the deck. "This is the first time I've ever ridden in a submarine!"

"We certainly would've died if we went any further." Robin chimed in. Nami sighed as she looked down at the Log Pose.

"The Log Pose's needle is still pointing downward." she said, continuing to ignore the loud words. "I should've asked Lola and her crew for help."

A loud, gurgling thrum was heard over the squabbling of the swordsman, cook and treasure hunter.

"Pardon me, Luffy-san?" Brooke inquired. "But was that your tummy grumbling?"

"No." Luffy answered as he was standing on the railing of the Sunny-gou, keeping an eye on the argument. "That was way too loud to be my tummy!"

"That sounded like it came from behind us…" Robin commented. The Mugiwaras turned to the rear of the ship and watched as bubbles formed on surface of the ocean, growing darker and larger. In the next moment, a huge, serpentine form shot up from the water and roared. The form had emerged right behind the floating Treasure Hunter.

"AAAAAAHH!" Usoppu screamed. "IT'S THE SEA MONSTER!"

"IT FOLLOWED US!" Brooke cried. The creature was revealed to be a huge sea-eel rabbit.

"JIRU LOOK OUT!" Luffy screamed at the stunned female.

She was clearly caught off guard, turning slowly to meet the maw of the monster. Those on the other side of the deck watched in horror as the gaping maw loomed over its prey. The Sea Eel-Rabbit prepared to swallow the overwhelmed Treasure hunter.

Several things happened at once. A blurring figure cut through the air as Zoro quickly jumped off-board the Sunny in a single bound and easily engulfed the immobile girl in his arms and repelling himself off the chest of the serpent back towards the deck. Sanji, also, had jumped to Jiru's defense, using his powerful kick to slam the offending monster's mouth shut – it wouldn't do if Zoro had saved Jiru only to have them both eaten. Using his momentum, Sanji back-flipped back onboard; leaving his captain the finishing blow.

Luffy had used the precious seconds to wind up for his Gomu Punch and when Sanji kicked the mouth shut, used it to send the offensive beast into a world of hurt. Slamming his powerful rubber fist into the thing's stomach, Luffy grinned merrily as the Sea-Eel rabbit crumpled in on itself; turning from threat to trash.

"What a pushover." Usoppu cheered as the Strong Trio finished their work. "The thing wasn't even that big!"

"Yeah." Chopper agreed. "That's because we fought with Oz, before! That Sea Bunny was nothing! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"You fools! You're not the ones that almost got turned into food!" Jiru was currently ensconced in Zoro's strong arms, wet and shivering.

"Sorry!" Usoppu and Chopper bowed in apology. The Mugiwaras all watched as the once towering eel now fell back into the water. It was Sanji, with his uncanny female-radar eyes that spotted something flying out of the Eel-Rabbit's mouth.

"Hey…" the cook pointed and asked. "What's that?"

The Sea-Eel Rabbit slid back underwater and away from sight. As whatever or whoever it was fell from the air, the Golden Thief used her Reiki-powers to read the energy from the falling object.

"Holy Crap!" the Reiki-User exclaimed. "I don't believe it!"

"What is it! A fish?" Luffy questioned, now excited by the treasure hunter's reaction.

"Aaaaaaaa!"

"A person?" Usoppu asked.

"Both!" Jiru answered obviously.

"You don't think…!" Nami looked sharply at the other female.

"Aaaaaaaaa!"

"No freaking way…" Zoro commented as next to him, Sanji looked up with a huge heart popping out of his eye.

"CAN IT BE?" The love-sick cook swooned.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"It is." Jiru laughed at herself.

That somebody collided with Sanji, being saved from a bone-breaking landing. Something else landed nearby on its feet. The smaller thing looked like a starfish with a fashionable cap.

"W…what is that?" Luffy questioned. The figure that landed on Sanji looked like a young woman with spiky, lime-green hair, magenta eyes, a beige shirt with a star on it, and, oddly…a beige-pink fishtail where human legs should be.

"It's…" Nami started, eyes wide in surprise and shock. The Mugiwaras were looking at a real deal treasure of the ocean.

"A MERMAID?"