I do not own Bleach nor One Piece. I am not going to say anything witty to that effect about what would be if I did for either or preferably both...because I'm greedy like that!With that said, this story is for entertainment purposes only and I hope you I hope you enjoy this whilst I brood.

A Reaper amongst Straw Hats

Chapter 4: The beginning of a chase!

Water Seven

Ultimately the office was lost, collapsed as the fires ate away at the supports and overall structure of the entire building despite the half-start to prevent it. Yet in the end everyone got out, even those who had to be carried out by fellow dockworkers who weren't fighting the orchestrated wildfire and the two foremen. Yet in the process of the evacuation it was discovered that the Straw Hats suffered a defeat at the hands of the conspirators, the true assassins and saboteurs whom put Nami through a wall, buried Chopper and sent their last heavy hitters flying in the direction of the city. It was thanks to Paulie's efforts that the culprits were never identified lest the morale of the dockworkers dropped through the floor, or so he quietly feared at least. Regardless, between Paulie's testimony and Iceburg's behest what animosity felt towards the Straw Hats was dropped like a hat and two ragtag teams were formed with the sole purpose of helping the Straw Hats in both reaching the still active sea train station and in finding the now missing Straw Hat members. Ichigo however was given a different mission: find Franky and protect him.

Between the directions given to him and the general ability to negate the terrain with empowered jumps and borderline flight he soon found himself at the utter edge of the city, heading towards an old broken bridge. Upon reaching its edge at the side and spotting the hints of a ladder he heaved himself over and let gravity take him for just a spell before willing the air to held him aloft as if he were standing on a platform, all the while scowling as he eyed the alien landscape that the ocean inhabited just minutes ago before ebbing away into the darkened horizon. Glancing to his side his scowl increased ever so slightly upon seeing a pair of colossal doors wide open, each tall enough to permit a ship inside, alongside a more regular door which was in a similar state. Without wasting time he ducked inside and frowned at what he saw inside a large room: a tossed table, a ruined wall towards the back of a large room and an empty channel capable of holding a ship, yet ultimately not a soul was in sight. The only evidence that someone had been there was the tea cups that lay shattered near the upturned table and their spilled contents forming puddles on the floor, not to mention of course that the overhead lights were still on.

Out of curiosity and to ensure he was indeed the only one there he made his way towards the back, where the hole awaited him. He peeked inside and found what appeared to be a shack underneath all the stonework: within it sat several work tables, cabinets and bookcases lined the walls and even old discard beds, all of which covered in dust... for the most part. Having to squint in the poor light he noticed footprints and finger prints had disturbed the dusty floor and blanketed tables, recently no less. He ducked out and once again looked to the room once more, his eyes drifting to a door he accidentally missed to the side of the room. Like before he made his way to it, opened it and peeked inside only to find no one there, just an apparent kitchen. Unlike the shack however it had seen recent use, a cleaning too to boot. Out of curiosity he stepped inside just to make sure there wasn't someone behind the inward swinging door. To his surprise and frustration he found a stairwell amidst an adjacent room to the kitchen roughly half the size and height of the very first room instead of someone in hiding. With no one in sight and given the approaching danger that was Aqua Laguna he dashed up the flight of stairs and kept going onto another, and another, and another in rapid succession, not stopping in the least to so much as admire the carefully crafted stone banister to the side which was tall enough to bar most people from outright falling to the side short of being plowed through it.

Without any interruptions of any kind he soon found the end of the stairwell after several flights in the form of a landing and a tall set of double doors at the end of which. Given that the only other option he had was to go back, he raced to it. The door itself had two sets of ring handles, one towards the middle of the top half of the door while the other was within his reach. Though he pondered why the door was designed as such he pulled it open all the same in time for a brisk wind and the first drops of rain to buffet him. He poked his head outside and scowled upon learning the door lead to one of the numerous alleys of Water Seven, a rather spacious one at that. Yet rather than failing to find someone his scowl was meant for something else, a deep rumbling sound... the roar of an approaching wave ready to crush all in its path. Aqua Laguna. Not wasting any time he dashed out into the open and hopped up into the air, barely noting the door shutting itself back into place as he jumped from platform to platform till he cleared the rooftops and confirmed what he quietly dread— the wave had finally come... miles higher and far greater than last year's initial onslaught, not to mention fast approaching. Between its speed and its height it was a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't be able to escape by climbing in the air high enough to avoid it.

In the same time it took to look away from the wave he had long since bolted, making it his top priority to reach the ship building island at the center of the city, Water Seven's one and only certifiable defense against the yearly monsoon. Yet for all his speed he was a third of the way at best through the city when the wave made its landfall, its thunderous roar putting any storm to shame as it inadvertently gave chase to him. Already he could tell that the first set of buildings to 'block' its advance were consumed by the wave if not outright destroyed. Even if they were destroyed, there was no telling till after the waves receded... With one of the bridges leading to the island in sight he pushed himself to his limits in hopes of escaping the encroaching wave, narrowly jumping over chimneys he wasn't able to clear and dodging what few towers his slowly rising altitude couldn't overcome. Despite his best efforts however the wave drew ever closer, inch by inch regardless of the free space Ichigo savored and the few obstacles that interrupted them. It didn't help matters either that his fullbring was slowly taking its toll on him either.

Thought it wasn't a danger to him personally he couldn't help but spare some of his attention on a pair of towering buildings far to his left, both just short of the staggering height of the bridge's first landing over the lowest ring of the city, suddenly cracked and toppled over in half from between the narrow passage between them as someone or something yelled from both exhortation and fury. Likewise on the opposite side of the bridge a similar incident occurred, only marginally less destructive as an entire narrow tower was destroyed, a figure with a katana in his hand all but flying out of it. From the destruction the destruction the figures retreated, one whipping out what looked to be an arm whilst the other was saved by another figure whom Ichigo could barely discern at best. Like him however they were heading towards the bridge and by proxy the safety just beyond. As he drew closer to the bridge with the wave virtually nipping at his heels he was able to make out who it was that abruptly destroyed parts of the city without warning as they landed on the bridge moments before him: the Straw Hats, Nami and Chopper in the company of Luffy and Zoro respectively.

Not long after they landed in collapsed he landed on the bridge and skidded to a halt on the slippery stone, almost losing balance right off the bat throughout the short lived ordeal just as the wave met and failed to overcome the bridge by only a couple of feet. It was doing its damndest however to muscle up the stairs to reach them. Despite this and the din of the ocean's fury cheers rose up from the island behind them, from the dockworkers from Galley-La at the apparent survival of everyone below them.

And then in came. Disguised by the raging, all flooding sea behind him it was only their gaps of terror and their almost obscured warnings that caused him to snap his attention to Aqua Laguna once more to see a wave descending onto the bridge in an overarching arc. Like him the Straw Hats were too stunned to react in time as the wave crashed into him, burying all in its torrent and sucking them into the sea just beyond.

As he fought to gain his bearings in his new, chaotic world along with the submerged Straw Hats he felt something decisively tug at his ankle. He looked down, or rather the equivalent of down as far as he was concerned while his lungs burned for air, and found a piece of rope had tied itself around his leg and was pulled taut. On a hunch he squinted and peered out into the darkness of the rolling tide to see if he could find the other Straw Hats if they too were caught by a rope...

They were.

With herculean strength something pulled on the rope, snapping him back to his current predicament even though the Straw Hats were in the same scenario as himself. Before he knew it something ripped him out of the sea just as the wave finally receded and he was sent crashing down onto the bridge along with the Straw Hats nearby, all of whom including himself landing in front of an exhausted Paulie as he retrieved his rope with his now bloodied hands. His state of weariness however was short lived as both eyes widened to their limits as he stared at something behind them... something that was rumbling in an all too familiar manner.

"We're not safe yet! Run!"

Paulie, being the one still standing on his feet, already capitalized on his escape yet at least was courteous enough to look over his shoulder during his retreat. Likewise Ichigo scrambled onto his feet and looked over his own shoulder in his own retreat albeit more half heartedly, scowling as another wave indeed threatened to not only engulf them but submerge the bridge itself in its landing while the Straw Hats hightailed it to the safety of the island before them, Nami under Luffy's arm and Zoro carrying an unconscious Chopper in his base form with one hand. To his and everyone else's relief they all made it up the stairs without incident just in time for the wave to crash against the island, the resulting splash causing entire unified walls of water to tower over the already low walls surrounding the island. What cheers there were sounded were either lost or outright ignored altogether in shock as most stared out in shock of the fact the ocean got as high as it did... that and by the time the wave receded all but a crumbling stump of what used to be a bridge remained... even Ichigo couldn't help but stare in awe the moment he laid eyes on the ruined stonework while the dockworkers worriedly muttered about the unusual and abominable strength of Aqua Laguna...

"It definitely wasn't like this last year," he muttered to himself. By the time he refocused his attention on the Straw Hats, all of whom were still catching and now joined by a portly, aged woman with a seemingly permanent smile on her face. She was a blond haired woman whose hair was pulled into two pigtails. She had on a a purple vest with tan buttons, a white long sleeved shirt underneath of which in the company of a brown neck tie dotted with salmon colored dots, all of which however was covered by a pink overcoat worn on her shoulders with faded yellow epaulets. She also wore cream colored pants with a simplistic stitching of a rose on each leg from the hem of the pants leg to the bend of her knees. On both feet was a pointed boot where the toes of which abruptly jutted upward in an angle almost like a classic jester's shoe sans a bell to decorate them with. But most notably there was a hat on her head, a top hat with rounded, bulbous point with an ornamental metal band bearing the signature buckle often seen only on a sea train attendants' hat which were exactly like her own.

Next to her was a child whose green hair was also done up into two pigtails and yet stood upright like rabbit ears. She too had an odd toothy smile on her face, seemingly permanent like the woman next to her. As for herself she was garbed with a orange and maroon stripped dress that covered everything above her knees, short white shirt resided over which, and plain sandals on her feet. Sitting next to her however was a blue furred rabbit... or at least what he thought was a rabbit: like the other two it had a wide smile that ran from cheek to cheek, toothy too just like the girl's smile. Its eyes were definitely not normal in their human-like appearance...

Whatever was said was lost to him, most likely because he wasn't listening to them initially in favor of gawking at the damage done thus far by the tsunami. That and observing the two women... and their... 'rabbit' that he hadn't caught the reason why Luffy suddenly burst out laughing only to be cut short by Nami pinching his cheek and berating him for his false right to... whatever he was laughing about, eventually calling both Luffy and Zoro "clumsy" for reasons he could only assume had something to do with them destroying parts of the town long before the initial wave did. As for Zoro he seemed to be busy putting a half hearted effort into strangling Chopper at the moment who frantically but ineffectively swatted at the man's face if his carefree, bored demeanor indicated anything.

"You'd think they would be a bit more solemn given what just happened," he sighed in mild irritation. With closed eyes he began to rub his hair as his fullbring dissipated into nothingness, slightly relishing the freedom from the mounting tension that resulted from which after prolonged use. Rubbing his shoulder, he offered them one last glance just as things seemingly were getting serious with them, all traces of good humor gone as Nami discussed something amongst them that he wasn't able to hear. While it wasn't secret per se between those nearby and the fact that they were made no real effort to disguise their conversation, he didn't feel inclined to listen to any of what was being said between them as he walked off in the direction of the main office.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

Out of courtesy and mild curiosity Ichigo stopped himself and looked over his shoulder to see who it was that was talking to him only to realize it was Paulie who had long since seated himself on the ground, a cigar in his mouth and a lighter held in one hand and guarded by the other in an attempt to lit the cigar. Unfortunately with the rain even he relented to simply chewing on his vice for what comfort he could obtain from it.

"I'm going to find Iceburg," the teenager answered at last in a mild grumble. "Unlike you guys he sent me out to find Franky... and I couldn't find him."

The older man grunted in acknowledgement, closed his eyes and took out his cigar in order to heavily sigh. "Yeah, well, for better or worse too we found out for ya without meaning to," he grumbled in return. "According to the guys at the station apparently he and the long nosed guy were stuffed into the train along with Nico Robin... as we speak they're on their way to Enies Lobby already."

"... I see."

Enies Lobby, the Judicial Island, one of three most well known facilities favored by the World Government. It was said that anyone who was brought there and found guilty went straight to Impel Down, the world's greatest prison to date, or the aptly named Marine Headquarters via what was known as the Gates of Justice. It was also said to be one of the most heavily guarded locations within the entire world considering it was an island directly overseen by the World Government; a garrison occupied and maintained it at all hours to both ensure prisoners were escorted through it and to keep a successful raid from ever taking place. To this day however there has been no record or even a rumor of an escape from Enies Lobby.

"At any rate we sent one of our guys back to Iceburg to tell him the news. By now he already made it back."

Before Ichigo could comment on what Paulie said or else acknowledge him in the least, Luffy made his presence known by walking towards him, stopping when he was a fair distance away from the man to be both seen and heard without fail even for someone who wasn't paying attention to begin with. "Hey, rope guy."

"Please let us use a ship," he asked bluntly with a calm sense of urgency. "No," he suddenly changed before Paulie could consider the request, "rather than a ship, isn't there any other sea train leaving?"

If Luffy didn't have Paulie's attention by then, he had it now without fail in the form of a grim scowl and glare.

"The Puffing Tom is the only sea train in the world," he intoned. "It's a miraculous ship that is the result of the combined efforts of a team led by a legendary shipwright."

A moment later Luffy, his crew gathering behind him, took a step forward yet kept one foot back to better state his urgency. "Then let us borrow a ship! The strongest and fastest one you got in town!" He held up a fist though not in a threatening manner.

"Enough already!" Paulie all but outright yelled as he fixed them with a severe glare, one which left Luffy gaping slightly and causing him to lose his current stance. "Didn't you just see what just happened?!" He gestured to the ebbing ocean behind the pirates. "You were almost pulled out to sea by that wave alone!" Off to the side the dockworkers who haven't left just yet began to add their own two cents into the mix much to the pirates' overall irritation.

"You can't go out to sea right now!"

"A ship wouldn't last out there!"

"Moron!"

Regardless of the crowd Paulie continued, albeit more calmly than before as his countenance became more grim yet stern all the same. "Even with the usual Aqua Laguna, no ship has made it through! You saw the collapsing backstreets, didn't you?"

"The town that had never been damaged by Aqua Laguna up until now is now wrecked... On top of that, the Aqua Lagune this year is incomparably huge. If you put out a ship now, even if you challenge it with the biggest galleon," he he suddenly gestured to Ichigo, "even if you put this guy on it, it'll shatter immediately."

On the side Ichigo clenched his jaw in mild irritation as his eye twitched. "I'm not some kind of measuring stick," he grumbled to himself.

Like before Paulie ignored everyone else as he continued his calm rant. "I can't let you sail out when I know you'll die." With a grunt he pushed himself up onto his feet. "Wait until morning. Once the storm passes then there won't be a problem with letting you borrow a ship." He then turned his attention to the crowd at his left and pointed at them. "Hey, you guys go to the evacuation site or hide in someplace. We're done searching for missing people. It wouldn't be funny in the least if you guys got taken out to sea by a wave or something just by standing around."

"If..."

Everyone's attention drew to Nami, her hands clenched and at her sides as she addressed Paulie. "If we were to wait until morning, would we even make it?"

Out of the corner of his eye Ichigo saw Paulie solemnly scowl, one he unwittingly shared with the teenager.

"When I heard it was a Government island, I remembered something... Isn't that the place where the Gates of Justice are?"

Like a gale silence over swept the entire area. Even the ambient noise of the sea seemed to have dimmed for this, making Zoro's gruff question of "what's that?" all the louder to be heard.

"Enies Lobby is the Government-owned judicial isle. What's there is a court in name only. Being taken to Enies Lobby itself is considered to be proof of guilt. After passing through this court without stopping, criminals soon reach huge, cold steel doors. These doors are called the Gates of Justice. Once criminals go through them, they won't see the sunlight ever again; they're the doors of despair. This is because there are only two places that you can reach after sailing out from the harbor beyond these gates: the Navy Headquarters, the greatest military force in the world, and Impel Down, a deep sea prison..." He hands clenched even tighter. "In other words Enies Lobby is a judicial institution that criminals are just dumped into without being shown any mercy. Isn't that right?"

No one even breathed a mild contradiction to her summarization...

"Robin's got a bounty on her head," she spoke up once more. "No matter where she's taken, she'll see hell beyond that point! Each moment we sit here talking, she gets closer to the Gates of Justice! There's no way we can wait till morning!" she shouted.

Again silence ensued between them all as the patter of rain dominated the scene.

"If you know that much then I've got only one thing to say..." Paulie spoke up, breaking the silence. "Even if the sea were to calm and you were able to sail out, you shouldn't go there. Don't forget you yourselves are pirates. As you said, Enies Lobby is the front door that leads to the World Government's hub. Battle lines are naturally drawn up taking that into account. No pirate would think to get back crew members taken to that island... because it's crystal clear what would happen."

Paulie took a step toward them, his body turned sideways by doing so without his head turning in the least. "Are you trying to pick a fight with the World Government?!" he half demanded aloud, his voice rising his a heated pitch as if it could hopefully deter the pirates from their current thoughts of rescuing their crew member. Off to the side Ichigo shook his head, his eyes closed. Even he knew their answer by heart thanks to the determined look in their captain's eye as he angrily glared back at him and the dockworkers in general as they tried to back Paulie up in his bid to dissuade them.

Before long his premonition came true as Luffy planted a foot forth without necessarily leaving his spot, an arm cocked back with a fist half at the ready though clenched nevertheless. "Then we'll steal a ship and go!" he bellowed just in time for a wave to splash against the opening that was the bridge, the resulting crash sending the dockworkers closest to it through the air in screaming arcs of surprise. "We're gonna sail out now!"

In less than a moment Ichigo's form was encased in his fullbring and he himself was on the scene as Luffy continue to rail against Paulie and the dockworkers whom haven't diverted their attention to their drenched comrades even as they fell onto the others against their will. "Did anyone get sucked in?!"

"No! We're fine!"

"My head!"

"Why did you land on me?!"

"Does he wanna fight?"

At that last comment Ichigo whipped his head around to see Paulie challenging the Straw Hats once more, his form hunched over with likely a rope at the ready in his hands if the Straw Hats adopting similar stances and arming themselves indicated anything. He turned around and was about to leap over the crowd when the portly woman bellow out from the sideline.

"Hold it!"

With the sudden diversion everyone eased out of c confusion as they gave her what attention they were willing to spare without sacrificing their weariness completely. "Kokoro!"

"It's you who's wrong here, Straw Hat," she stated as she waddled forth. "Paulie is right, you idiot."

Instantly Luffy turned around, arms bent and fists clenched in anger rather than intentional aggression. "Shuy up! It's none of—"

"None of my business, huh?" she interrupted easily. Her eyes drooped a little as her unchanging smile gained a knowing edge to it.

"Well listen. If we let you be, you're going to risk your lives, aren't you?" No one confirmed it but no one denied it either... as if it would've made a point as she continued regardless. "Look," she stated. "If there exists a ship that can get through that Aqua Laguna, it could only be a sea train built by a legendary man."

"But it's not here right now! That's why we're trying to go in a ship!" Luffy countered.

For a moment she just stood there as if contemplating something, her mind both in the present and the past at once before she abruptly turned around. "If you're prepared to die, then come with me," she offered in a serious manner. "I'll give you a ride... on a sea train!"

"Huh?" Ichigo murmured to himself. Like himself the dockworkers were just as confused and in the dark as to what she meant, including Paulie. The Straw Hats were no better than them either nor was the child... and rabbit-thing that accompanied the older woman as she wandered off with the Straw Hats reluctantly following her.

"Uh... should we follow them?"

"She's gotta be kiddin'. Puffing Tom already left!"

"Maybe another one is being built?"

"Maybe she had too much to drink. She does live like a hermit at that quick stop station you know."

Shaking his head, Ichigo mildly swatted the back of a nearby dockworker, grabbing his undivided attention.

"Look," he said. "Everyone head back to the evacuation center. Regardless of what anyone does, they are not going to let anyone stop them from saving their friends, especially if there's a glimmer of hope in reaching them."

"But—!" another dockworker spoke up only to receive a penalizing chop to the head from Paulie.

"It's bad enough that wave knocked half of our guys away like bowling pins," Paulie stated before adopting a stern but contemplative look about him. He suddenly snapped his head to the crowd in general. "Is everyone alright by the way?"

"NOW YOU ASK?!" everyone struck by the wave, including those crushed by their battered comrades, roared in unison.

"Just get going!" he barked.

Grumbling for the most part though for varying reasons, the group of Galley-La workers began to depart as a barely organized mob that was eager to get out of the rain. Soon it was just Ichigo and Paulie by themselves, the teenager lost in thought as he stared into the space ahead, wondering what to do given what had happen, only to be disturbed from his rumination by the man he didn't quite realize was still there when he clasped his hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"So, are we going to follow them or what?" the older man almost quietly asked him, earning a skeptical quirk of the orange haired teenager's brow in return for just a moment.

A good part of him suspected just what Paulie meant by "them" without anything to emphasize just who he meant. As tempted as he was to follow the Straw Hats with Paulie, he couldn't help but risk a quick glance out of the peripheral vision at the red stains on his shirt and the cracked goggles, hoping against hope that he didn't betray himself by doing so...

The tightening of Paulie's hand however dashed that hope.

"I know good and well they kicked my ass back there," he stated. "In fact if it wasn't for Straw Hat himself then its likely I'd be taking a dirt nap long before now. But you and I both know who tried to kill Iceburg but betray us too! I for one am not gonna stand back and let them get away without so much as a black eye for all the crap they pulled!" His already stern face grew all the more serious as he looked Ichigo in the eye. "So are ya going to help me or not?" he asked.

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair, his eyes closed as he massaged his scalp. "Fine," he relented in terse exasperation, his eyes cracking open to give Paulie a warning of a glare. "But I'm going to kick your ass personally if you're pushing yourself too hard."

"Fine, fine!" Paulie waved him off both figuratively and literally as he let go and began to walk off in the same direction as to where the Straw Hats. "Now let's catch up with them before we lose them!"

XVX

Premises of the Galley-La (Underground) Storage Number Two

While he didn't necessarily know what was in it, Ichigo knew this place well enough. It was one of his more regularly patrolled spots outside of the construction and storage yards by Iceburg's request. What really got his attention however was that this area, more so than most others, was carefully monitored by not only himself but by the actual, official security guards of Galley-La though not by much by a slim margin. Other than himself on most days, the guards assigned to this particular storage area maintained a fairly routine patrol and more regular hours rather than once or twice a day at best. And though he was fairly curious as to why that was considering his familiarity of the small complex— the rooms were empty for the most part save for a couple of crates and barrels shunted to the far walls and forgotten. Of them all however he could think of only one thing that was of any significant importance: Straight down the staircase leading into the facility and straight down the hallway the followed was a set of double doors. Just beyond them is a room not unlike the very first room of what was allegedly Franky's hideout during Aqua Laguna, only perhaps a third as tall and much more narrow. In fact the room itself reminded Ichigo of a train station platform, complete with railroad tracks, on what he could only presume to be an train, the entirety of which was covered with a tarp. Though he was curious, tempted even to peek under the covers to discover exactly what it was hidden away by the tarp, be it an ordinary train or perhaps a prototype of some kind for a sea train, he had long since contented himself with ignoring it and avoiding whatever hassle came of it.

It would seem tonight would be the night those quiet questions would be put to rest.

It was almost too easy following the Straw Hats, consisting only Luffy, Chopper and Zoro for now who were still following Kokoro who had led them to the underground storage facility. And as he long since suspected she directed them to the train that was hidden away there for reasons unknown, and yet the room was already alight by the time any of them reached the room. Consequently the pair of coworkers approached the now open doorway more carefully lest they would be drawn to more trouble than what was necessary given the night they already had and with the same amount of caution they peeked around the corner to spot not only the Straw Hats, two of whom were marveling at the sight with childish delight at the sight of a legitimate sea train dubbed "Rocketman" by Kokoro in passing as she began a brief explanation of the train, and Iceburg just as he was descending a removable ladder to the train, still dressed in his pajamas, a tool box in hand, a workman's bandana covering his head, and fresh grease and soot staining his face, hands and clothes.

Before Ichigo could blink, Paulie reached over and pulled him into the safety of the shadow before Iceburg had a chance to spot either of them.

"What the hell—"

Paulie clamped his hand down on Ichigo's mouth and brought his freehand to his gritted teeth as he shushed him. The teen squinted at him in return, removed the older man's hand and, reluctantly, decided to humor him with by whispering "why?"

"Running off to fight alongside pirates to kick the asses of a secret branch of the World Government? Do you honestly think Iceburg would allow that?" he replied back in a murmur.

Ichigo quietly sighed in exasperation. "Fine," he relented, being in no mood to argue with him.

"Good. Now how are we going to get passed them without being noticed?" Paulie asked, albeit rhetorically as he chanced a look past the corner to observe them. He drew himself back however when Ichigo reached over, tugged on the man's jacket and ushered him to follow the younger foreman down the very hallway they came from and past a corner of an adjacent that was almost hidden away by the very shadows of the poorly lit passage. They were barely a few feet away from the corner when they came to an abrupt stop to look behind them as a sudden banging and crashing of a cart rumbled through the previous hallway. In short order Nami at last made her appearance, however brief, as she zipped passed the dark hallway, followed closely by two train station attendants pulling a wagon heavily laden with an oversized sack.

The two of them blinked at the scene before carrying on as before. In no time they found a door at the end of the blackened corridor which Ichigo pushed open, leading to a tunnel and a a small walkway of a platform that marked the border of a dry channel equipped with train tracks.

With a grunt Ichigo and Paulie jumped down and made their way to the train, crouching slightly at the cost of their speed in hopes of being quieter or perhaps more stealthy in exchange if only by a slight margin. Without incident they got behind the train as the Straw Hats conversed amongst themselves with Iceburg and Kokoro as well as a new, rougher voice neither were particularly familiar with. With gritted teeth Paulie attempted to jump up the side of the tinder box behind the engine room and climb into the tarp covered box only to fail to even come up halfway. Even with Ichigo giving him a boost he couldn't reach the edge. Seeing no better choice on hand, against his better judgment given the mounting strain of his taxed body he grabbed at his badge only to halt when he realized there were two figures approaching them from the shadows of the channel. Both he and Paulie came to gawk as both Lulu and Tilestone.

"What're you guys doing here?!" Paulie yelled in a strangled whisper. In response Tilestone, his head now bandaged with a few wrappings acting as an eye patch for him, opened his mouth to reply only to be stopped by Lulu with him smacking his hand against the larger man's mouth.

"Suffice it to say that we're not letting you two have all the glory here. We all have a bone to pick with those assassins, not just you too!" Lulu hoarsely whispered back.

Ka-Chunk! RRmmmmble!

"Huh?" As one they all looked in the direction of the noise, initially out of curiosity which soon turned to shocked fright as the familiar roar of water rushed forth from the opposite end of the railway.

"Go-Go-Go!"

Immediately they all scrambled to the side of the tender box and climbed up, their hands taking advantage of their newfound strength and making use of every fold and crevice of the once neglected vehicle. Before long they all lurched over and slipped underneath the canvas covering just as the passage was flooded with sea water. It wasn't even a moment later when they were barely catching their breath and wondering if they were spotted by their employer when the train whistle blew out a precursory warning just before the entirety of the train lurched forward only to come to an immediate, jerking halt that threw the four about their hiding spot. They had not even the time to even try to regain their composure when the train lurched forth again like before, moving forward by a whole foot if they were to guess before the subsequent halt had them smashing into each other by accident. By its third lurch the train finally found a steady pace that slowly gained speed as it went. Yet it was stable enough for them to finally get off of one another and sit in relative comfort sans Paulie who dared to peek out from the covering towards the back.

"We're finally on our way," he grumbled at last.

"Good... I'm going to take a nap then," Ichigo muttered as he leaned against the wall of the box and closed his eyes.

"Say Tilestone, you wouldn't by chance have any cards do you?"

"NO! BUT WE CAN PLAY EYE-SPY!"

"... Never mind—"

Before they all knew it the train had rushed out from underneath a waterfall that splashed against the 'roof' of the car they hid in for just a brief moment. Unfortunately that wasn't what grabbed their collective attention: there was a sincere lack of gravity for just a moment as the train sailed through the air...

It was ultimately a short lived moment.

"Crap..."