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I felt my stomach drop to my toes again, but it wasn't as bad as we fell from the first floor. Maybe I am getting used to it.

I landed on something like an enormous cushion. It didn't take much imagination to realize it was Luffy's Gum Gum Balloon. I bounced to my feet, gripping my quarterstaff in case there were any beasts around. After making sure there weren't any, I relaxed and turned back to the group. Nami had already smacked Luffy for his abrupt leap into the chasm and had turned with a flick of her hair.

"All right, now that that is over."

She glared at Luffy, who just grinned back at her.

"What do we do now?"

I shrug.

"I guess we just keep going until we find the steps to the third floor."

Zoro's hands rested easily on his katana hilts, a fired up look in his eyes.

"So will there be guards here?"

I smile at him.

"I doubt it. They want to avoid these wild beasts as much as we do."

He looked a little disappointed but not too much. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of green. Crap, already? I grab the closest person to me, who just happened to be Usopp and start to run, yelling behind me.

"Heads up, basilisk!"

I don't even turn to see if they heard me or not, but Nami's scream, Luffy's laugh, and Robin's interested murmur followed by sprinting footsteps behind me let me guess they heard me.

"What is that?"

Chopper yells and I hear a lot of bird squawking and something slithering after us. I yell back.

"Basilisk."

I hear somebody skid to a halt and suddenly the bird squawking stopped abruptly. I turn to see Sanji calmly standing on the green monster's body. I stop, grinning.

"Thanks Sanji."

He nodded seriously, hopping off the body. He has the right idea. This floor is basically a huge joke to these guys. I just can't wait until we get to the lower levels. Those are going to be super fun, not really.

Luffy leads the way this time and I stay near Chopper and Nami, hoping I can protect them.

"Hey what else is down here?"

I glance at Robin, but keep my eyes peeled for more beasts.

"Well you just met the basilisk. There is a sphinx, manticores, and these scorpion things that can piece together, and Blugoris. That's about it, and there's this weird hippo thing,, and a praying swordsmantis, and the demon guards."

Zoro had that glint in his eye.

"Demon Guards? Are they strong?"

Luffy shrugged.

"Not really. They are tough, and can hit pretty hard, but they aren't that bad."

I nodded in agreement. The only problem with the demon guards is that they just kept getting back up. We turned the corner and suddenly, we were faced to face with that miniature hippo. Luffy and I, knowing what was coming, backed up slowly. Nami smiled at it, completely oblivious.

"Aw, it's so cute."

Robin looked at it curiously, her head cocked to one side.

"That doesn't look like a wild beast from hell."

I grab Nami's wrist, keeping her from going toward it.

"Let's keep our distance, shall we?"

Nami looked at me incredulously.

"You can't expect me to think that this cute little—"

I see the giant mouth looming over her and I yank her out of the way from getting eaten alive. She gave a slight shriek as the hippo chomped where she had been a few seconds ago. I smile grimly at her.

"Don't feel too bad, Luffy underestimated it too."

Usopp ended the chomping by shooting a fire star down the poor animal's throat. I sigh, glancing around at my nakama. They were way more prepared then I anticipated. Of course they were, but I would rather overestimate the prison then underestimate and get into trouble for it. Besides, we are only on the second floor. So many things can happen.

Shut up Rose, you don't know when to stop talking. These are the Straw-hats. You need to relax. I feel the crew around me and my shoulders drop from their tense positions. I can do this. We can do this.

We continue through the second floor in a circular formation, keeping our eyes looking for the beasts. We encountered the manticores, and we ran from them despite Zoro's and Sanji's protests to beat the crap out of them. We can recover better from running then wounds in a battle, and we need our stamina. The less injuries the better.

I am so thankful I run cross country. This seems like a piece of cake compared to some of the workouts I have done, and I know I can run forever if I really wanted, and I can outsprint any enemies that come after me.

The manticores chased us right into a trap by those puzzle scorpions. I skidded to a stop in the hallway, almost letting Brook to run into me. I glance from one side to another as the crew readies themselves to fight. What could we do?

Idiot, remember where we are going. Don't look side to side. I look down, realizing. We don't need to find the door to the third floor. We can just go right now.

I look up and meet eyes with the first person I see, which just happens to be Sanji. He has his foot raised, ready to fight the scorpions on one side.

"Sanji!"

I say urgently. He cocks his head to one side.

"What is it Rose-swan?"

I point to the floor.

"Break it."

He raises his curly eyebrow, but complies, raising his foot straight above his head, and bringing it down hard enough to crack the floor beneath us, but it isn't enough. It took the sphinx at least ten stomps to collapse the floor.

"Zoro, Luffy, aim for the floor."

I call over to the swordsman and captain. They look at Sanji, stomping away at the concrete, and get the message. Zoro starts slicing away with his swords and Luffy doing a full on Gatling gun on the ground. More cracks were appearing in the floor as the animals closed in on their prey. Usopp started freaking out.

"Rose, what are you telling them to do?"

I grin at him; this is going to be fun.

"We want to go to the third floor right? What do you think is right below us?"

Usopp glanced down, and a look of terror and something like 'again, seriously?' crossed his face. I laugh and started stomping myself. I was at least going to help, even if it was a little bit. It was either get eaten and stung by manticores and scorpions, or we can fall to the next level.

Nami and Chopper started helping too, banging their climatact and hooves against the hard ground. Usopp started to shoot at the manticores and scorpions with Franky, providing a guard. Brook started slicing the floor, yelling.

"Floor, give in."

I mutter myself.

"Come on floor, there is no way you can hold out on us. We will win."

I felt it caving beneath my feet, but it wasn't going fast enough. I frustratedly stomped again, and this time I felt it shift and slide. I manage to yell a warning.

"Guys!"

Then the ground dropped out from underneath us, plummeting us down to the level below.

I keep my eyes open and I widen them as I saw what was beneath us. The yellow sand of level three was covered with black, blue, and brown shapes. The guards were waiting for us, with the blugoris. I grip my staff tighter in my hands as I dive with my crew toward our first real fight in this prison.