Tomorrow's Romance Dawn (OLD VERSION)

by OtakuWithHazelEyes

The Straw Hats have left Drum, ready to take on Baroque Works in Alabasta. However, upon making a pit stop at a 'mystery island', they come across something they never expected to find: an older Zoro! Now they must locate the rest of the future crew, as well as keep an ancient treasure out of the hands of bounty hunters. (EDITED CHAPTERS NOW ON THIS SITE AND AO3!)

18. Finding the Rainbow Connection

Hey ya'll! Guess who watched the first installment of Thriller Bark in English dub? This girl! I like the new voices; Brook's voice is the best, but I already knew that because I watched Strong World. Perona, Hogback, and Moria's voices were really good, but I'm still a little iffy about Absalom. I need to see more of him to form a real opinion.

Also... 201 FREAKING REVIEWS PEOPLE! This is officially my most popular story on Fanfiction! I'm rewarding you first with this extra long chapter! And since I've hit another hundred, next chapter is an Omake Special I think you'll like! Thank you all again!

---

SBS 5!

Chapter Question: "Which of the Straw Hats is your favorite?"

That question is cruel and unusual! How could I possibly pick just one Straw Hat as my favorite?! I love them all so much, and for so many different reasons! Luffy's dedication and innocence, Zoro's loyalty and stoicness, Sanji's lovesick mood swings and coolness, Usopp's cowardliness and heart, Chopper's cuteness and compassion, Nami's cunning and skill, Robin's intelligence and morbidity, Franky's humor and super personality, and Brook's music and loyalty that rival's Zoro's! However, if I had to pick a top 3, they would be Luffy, Zoro, and a tie between Robin and Sanji.

---

Chapter 15: Finding the Rainbow Connection... Among Other Things

---

Time: Day (but before the events of the previous two chapters. Basically, everything you're about to read occurred before, during, and a little bit after Chapters 13 and 14, in that order)
Location: Southern Sector of Kāla's Jungle

Monster Chopper's gigantic hand came down.

"RUN!" Roronoa shouted.

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!"

The pirates made a mad leap out of the path of the incoming hand, and just in time. When it made contact with the ground, it knocked down every tree within the general radius, and left behind a giant crater (taking into account how huge the trees were, this was quite an accomplishment). The Straw Hats didn't waste time thinking about it though; they stumbled a bit from the resulting tremor but immediately resettled on their feet and ran as fast as they could. This did not deter Monster Chopper and the creature chased after them while every-so-often trying to strike them down again, causing more tremors, more craters, and more falling trees that knocked into other trees. Those trees fell as well.

Very early on, the running caused a pain to shoot through Nami's gut from when Erity had kicked her. Chopper, who had transformed into Walk Point, pulled her onto his back without speaking. He still looked completely horrified. Roronoa was carrying the still-unconscious Luffy on his back, Sanji ran as close to Nami and Chopper as he could, and Future Usopp stuck close to Roronoa.

Monster Chopper roared again and made a swipe over their heads, prompting a reaction from Roronoa.

"I don't get it!" he yelled after they ducked.

"Get what?! Why our doctor is trying to pulverize us?!" Sanji asked.

"Actually, yes, but I wasn't talking to you, Cook!" Roronoa turned his head sharply toward Usopp. "Why is this happening?! I thought Chopper could control his Monster Point now!"

"He can!" Usopp replied. "He used it back in Gyoncorde Plaza! It's the only transformation he needs a Rumble Ball for now, remember?!"

"Wow, seriously?!" Nami asked in wonderment. She looked down at the reindeer she was riding. Chopper was going to improve his abilities that much?

Chopper didn't say anything about his apparent increase in power in the future, instead only staring straight ahead as he galloped. (Do reindeer gallop?)

"Hey, easy on the future stuff!" Roronoa scolded the sniper. "Luffy doesn't want us to give anything away!"

Usopp winced. "Oh, sorry!"

The swordsman shook his head and focused directly ahead. "Whatever! At any rate, all we have to do is avoid him for three minutes! Then he'll turn back and we can get some answers!"

"Only if we survive that long, Mosshead!" Sanji yelled.

Before Roronoa could retort, Monster Chopper tried to flatten them again. It was decided they'd settle the matter when they weren't in imminent peril.

After that last attack, Chopper stopped running. It was such a sharp halt that Nami was sent flying from his back, but luckily Sanji caught her before she hit the ground.

"Dammit, Chopper!" Sanji barked, holding Nami bridal style. "What's the big idea?! Be more careful with Nami-"

Chopper wasn't listening. He had already turned around and was now trotting straight towards his monstrous older self.

"Chopper, what are you doing?!" Sanji hollered. "We're supposed to be running away from the giant monster!"

"Chopper!" Nami cried out.

Roronoa and Usopp stopped running at the sound of the commotion, and turned to see what the problem was.

"Chopper!" Roronoa shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"You guys go on ahead!" Chopper shouted. "I'll handle him!"

"Are you insane?!"

"You can't fight him!" Usopp added.

Luffy remained unconscious, but in this state he buried his face into the back of Roronoa's neck.

Chopper ignored their protests and warnings as he shifted between Walk Point to Brain Point. As he ran, he reached into his blue bag and removed a Rumble Ball.

"Rumble!" He bit down on the round pill as soon as he got close to Monster Chopper. "Jumping Point!"

Chopper jumped into the air so that he was level with just below his older self's neck. His form shifted again; he was more reindeer-like but his arm muscles had expanded to ridiculous proportions.

"Arm Point!" Chopper called out. He reared back one hoof, then punched it directly into his older self's chest. "Cloven Roseo!"

The force of the punch left behind a hoof print in Monster Chopper's chest, but elder reindeer didn't even blink. With amazing speed for someone of his size, Monster Chopper raised his arm and swatted his younger self into a tree like a fly. A crater formed in the tree where Chopper hit, and after hanging for a few seconds, the younger reindeer tumbled to the ground.

"Chopper!" Nami cried out worriedly.

Monster Chopper didn't appear to be done with his younger self. He stomped over to where he fell and lifted one giant hand. He had tucked in his thumb and pinky fingers, and the three remaining ones were curved into a claw-like position.

Chopper struggled to get up. By some miracle the first blow hadn't knocked him out, but he was now back in Brain Point and he hurt all over.

"Chopper, stop!" Usopp shouted. "Don't hurt Chopper!"

"That made no sense!" Sanji yelled at him.

Before Nami could scold him that now was not the time for such comments, she soon found herself sharing Sanji's arms with Luffy. She removed herself from Sanji's grasp to make room for her rubbery captain.

"What the-" Sanji said, readjusting himself so he could hold Luffy more easily. "Roronoa, what are you-!"

Monster Chopper drew back his hand. "Cloven Rose..."

The pirates stared at him in shock. He could talk?!

But Chopper can't talk when he loses control... Usopp thought. Then does that mean...?

"PALM!"

"CHOPPER!"

Chopper closed his eyes, fully expecting for the immeasurable amount of pain he was about to experience.

It never came.

When he opened his eyes, Chopper gasped. "Roronoa?!"

The swordsman was standing in front of him, heels dug into the ground and arms wrapped around Monster Chopper's fingers. Every one of his muscles bulged from exertion, and his teeth were grit to the point of almost cracking. Chopper noticed with wide eyes that blood was dripping from the swordsman's arm from under his sleeve. He had ripped open his shoulder wound again.

"Roronoa, your shoulder-!" Chopper began to lecture.

"Shut up!" Roronoa snapped.

Chopper's mouth clamped shut.

"I gave you guys one rule; don't fight anyone from the future without my saying so!" Roronoa shouted, not even turning around once to speak directly to the reindeer he just saved. He couldn't move an inch, or he would lose his grip on Monster Chopper's hand. "That includes your future selves! You could've died just now if I hadn't come in! Moron!"

Chopper teared up a little. "I... I just..."

"Roronoa, that's a little harsh!" Nami yelled. "You don't have to yell at Chopper like that!"

"Nami, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Roronoa's right," Sanji disagreed. "Chopper was reckless. Luffy may make jumping into things without thinking look easy, but what Chopper did was just plain foolish."

Nami stared at the chef in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Chopper apologized. "I just... I just felt like he was my responsibility." He lowered his eyes, sniffling. "The first time I rampaged like this... I couldn't do anything then, but I figured that now... I couldn't let myself hurt my friends... I only just got you-!"

"I get your reasons," Roronoa interrupted. He didn't sound as angry. "But don't go picking fights with people you know you can't defeat like some sort of sacrifice while the rest of us escape. Trust me, if there's one thing Luffy hates and won't tolerate, it's a crewmate who tries to be a sacrifice. You're lucky that I'm not going to tell him about this."

Roronoa looked up at Monster Chopper, who was pushing against the swordsman to get his hand free. "Alright, Chopper. We have two more minutes, so mind telling us what this is about? You're not mindless; we heard you speak."

Monster Chopper stopped struggling, then slowly pulled his hand out of Roronoa's arms. He looked down blankly at his comrade, taking heavy breaths.

"... Play..." he said at last.

"Play?" Usopp echoed.

"... Play... with friends..." Monster Chopper went on, as if in a daze. "... Master... said to..."

"You've been trying to kill us!" Usopp hollered. "How is that playing?!"

Nami's eyes widened. Of course, that was the answer!

"He's in a trance!" the navigator announced.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"It just like with Tattoos on the beach!" she continued. "Someone hypnotized future Chopper! 'Play with your friends' must be be some post-hypnotic command!"

"Then that means even if he turns back, he'll keep trying to attack us!" Sanji realized.

Monster Chopper growled and brought both his hands over his head, clasped together.

"Zoro, Chopper! Chopper's attacking again!" Usopp warned.

"Okay, once we get out of this, we're thinking of something different to call him!" Sanji yelled in aggravation.

"PLAY!" Monster Chopper howled.

Roronoa quickly scooped up the younger Chopper and jumped out of the way. When Monster Chopper brought his hands down, he broke the tree they had been standing in front of in half. Roronoa and Chopper quickly made their way back to their group.

"Usopp," Roronoa said. "What's our time?"

"A little less than two minutes," he replied. He snarled and clutched his wounded arm. "Dammit! I have Sleep Stars that could probably take him out, but I can't shoot because that CP9 knock-off busted my arm!"

"No use crying over spilled milk," the swordsman told him.

"It's not milk, it's my arm!"

"Should we just keep running then?" Nami asked, interrupting the two future men.

"You and Usopp are in no condition to keep on running, and I don't think we should keep jostling Luffy with the condition he's in," Sanji said. He glanced at Roronoa. "Guess we'll have to fight."

Roronoa scowled, but knew the cook had a point (for once).

"Alright, fine! You can fight this time!" Roronoa relented. He turned to the little reindeer he was still holding. "Well, you started this. Only makes sense you get to help finish it too."

Chopper's eyes widened, and then he wiped away the tears and smiled. "Okay, Roronoa!"

Roronoa set Chopper down and unsheathed Shusui. Sanji set Luffy down against a giant tree root next to Nami and Usopp, then lit a fresh cigarette as he joined Roronoa. Chopper shifted into Heavy Point and crossed his arms, trying to look more intimidating than he felt.

"Got a plan?" Sanji asked Roronoa. "We don't want to hurt the not-so-little guy, right?"

Monster Chopper stood up straight, unclasping his hands.

"Chopper's practically invulnerable when he's like this, so our best bet is to keep him busy until his Rumble Balls wears off. However, I am open to ideas." The swordsman glanced over his shoulder. "Usopp, what's our time?!"

"A little more than a minute left!" the sniper replied.

"Perfect, thanks!"

"I have an idea," Sanji said. He looked at their younger doctor. "Chopper, is your Rumble Ball still in effect?"

"For a couple more minutes, yeah," Chopper replied. "Why?"

"Think you could use Scope or whatever to find Jumbo's weakness while me and Roronoa distract it?" the cook asked. "I figure you won't want to try attacking him head on again."

Monster Chopper turned to face the group.

"He's coming!" Nami shrieked.

"If that's how I can make myself useful, then I'll do it," Chopper said with a nod.

"Not a bad plan, Cook," Roronoa commented. "Who knew you had a brain underneath all that unmanly blondness."[1]

"Shut up, Mosshead! At least I had a plan!"

Monster Chopper raised one massive hand.

"One minute left exactly!" Usopp shouted. "Go, now!"

Roronoa and Sanji jumped into action. Sanji immediately went for Monster Chopper's legs, rearing his leg back.

"Gigot!" he called out, sweeping his leg out into the rampaging doctor's kneecaps.

Monster Chopper roared, but he didn't appear to feel it that much. Instead he tried to swat Sanji away. The chef lept out of the away, landed on top of Chopper's hand, then kicked off while flipping into the air.

"Mouton Shoot!"

Sanji planted his foot directly into the giant reindeer's mid-section. Using Mouton Shoot without using the rest of the attacks before hand made the attack feel premature, but Monster Chopper was simply too tall and Sanji couldn't jump that high.

As Sanji fell back to the ground, Roronoa lept straight into the air and brought Shusui down in an arc motion.

"Ittoryu: Yakkodori!"

The motion created a crescent-shaped glowing slash, which flew right into Monster Chopper's upper chest. The giant creature roared, reeling back.

"Hey! I thought you weren't going to hurt him!" Nami hollered.

"I used the back of the blade!" Roronoa hollered back.

While this was going on, Brain Point Chopper had put his hooves out in front of him, and was now looking through the hole they created.

Scope! he thought. He scanned all over his older self. Come on, come on... I've- I mean, he's got to have a weakness!

Finally, Chopper found it in the least likely of spots.

"Guys, I found it!" Chopper shouted. "His weak point is in the right temple!"

"The right temple?!" Roronoa repeated.

"That's so random!" Sanji added.

"It's not like I picked it!" Chopper shouted.

Monster Chopper recovered from Roronoa's Yakkodori. Roaring in anger, he uprooted one of the smaller trees and prepared to smash the pirates that were causing him so much trouble.

"Cook!" Roronoa shouted. "Stick out your leg!"

Sanji did so without argument for once, and when Roronoa jumped on to the outstretched limb, he understood what the swordsman wanted him to do. It was just like with Luffy back on Drum...

"Armée de L'Air... Mosshead Shoot!"

Sanji kicked out his leg, launching the swordsman right into the air aimed toward Monster Chopper's head. As the swordsman hurtled forward, he sheathed Shusui and held the blade like a bat. Before the giant doctor could do anything to stop him, like batting him aside with the uprooted tree, Roronoa swung Shusui smack into his right temple.

CRACK!

Monster Chopper went down almost instantaneously. He first dropped the tree (narrowly missing Usopp, Nami, and Luffy), swayed back and forth for a moment, then fell forward with a loud thud. The impact of the fall kicked up dust, and when it cleared, Roronoa was sitting on Monster Chopper's back. Shusui was balanced across the swordsman's shoulders, hand gripping the hilt cockily.

"For the record," he said, sliding his sword back through his sash. "You call that move Power Shoot. Since it worked, I'll let the insult slide this time." He stood up and stepped off of the unconscious reindeer monster. "Usopp, what's our time?

Usopp blinked, processing everything that just happened. "Uh... five seconds?"

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

POOF!

A puff of smoke went off where Monster Chopper lay, and it dissipated rather quickly. Everyone gathered around the small shape that had replaced the large one.

"Is that... really me?" Chopper said in awe.

To Nami and Sanji's surprise, he didn't look all that different from their Chopper.

Monster Chopper, or rather Other Chopper, had changed back into Brain Point, looking almost exactly the same as his younger self. The only physical differences were that he was a little taller, and his fur was a lighter color. His horns were also bigger, though the left one still held the metal ring Chopper's had. Of course, his nose was still very blue. For clothes he wore a blue cap with metal studs over his pink hat, and a pair of orange shorts.

"This is so weird," Chopper whispered.

"Welcome to my world," Roronoa said gruffly.

Other Chopper stirred where he lay. The motion was unexpected, so Chopper yelped and ran behind the nearest bush, hiding behind it once again the wrong way. It was probably for the best. Who knew how Other Chopper would react to his younger self? To be safe, Roronoa motioned Nami and Sanji to step back. They complied, going over to where Luffy lay.

Other Chopper sleepily blinked his eyes. "What... what's going on? Where am I? Why does my head hurt?" He tried to rub the bump, but he couldn't move his arm. "Why can't I move?"

"Welcome back to the land of the fully-conscious, Chopper," Roronoa said, holding up one hand in greeting.

"Had me worried for a second there," Usopp added, sounding fully relieved. "You got hit pretty hard."

Other Chopper's eyes widened, then he grinned. "Zoro, Usopp! You're here!"

The reindeer fidgeted on his back for a second, before he gave up.

"... Were you trying to jump up and hug us just now?" Roronoa asked.

"... Yes," Other Chopper admitted.

Roronoa rolled his eye, bent over, picked the young reindeer up, and balanced him on his hip. He did it in a way that made it look like a huge inconvenience, but he wasn't fooling anybody.

"This better?" Roronoa asked.

"Yeah, this is perfect!" Other Chopper said. "Thanks a bunch, Zoro!"

Nami took in the scene with surprise. This was the same Chopper who hid every time Zoro entered the room back when he first boarded?

Sanji didn't know whether to laugh at this or find it touching. When did Zoro get so friendly with their reindeer in the future?

Chopper smiled a little. Roronoa wasn't just cool, he was really nice.

Other Chopper suddenly gasped, seeing the blood dripping down Roronoa's arm. "Zoro! You're wounded!" He gasped again when he saw Usopp. "Usopp, your arm is hurt too! We need a doctor, quick!"

"You're the doctor," the two men reminded him.

"Right, sorry!" Other Chopper tried to move again, only to fail. "Dang it, why can't I move?! It feels like I went into Monster Point or something!"

"Uh, Chopper?" Usopp said. "You did go into Monster Point."

"HUH?!"

It was then Other Chopper noticed all of the destruction around him.

"When did all this happen?!" he shrieked. He lip trembled. "I can't... I can't remember anything... everything after we fought that feral jerk is a blank!"

"What feral jerk?" Roronoa asked.

"It has to do with what happened to me, Chopper, Nami, and Sanji after we arrived here," Usopp explained. "I'll explain more in a little while. But first, I think we have other priorities."

Roronoa nodded, then turned to Other Chopper. "Chopper, we have a lot to fill you in on."

Roronoa and Usopp turned so that they (and Other Chopper by extension) were facing Nami, Sanji, Luffy, and Chopper.

Other Chopper sighed in relief. "Sanji, Nami, you escaped too! I'm so relieved!" He saw Luffy. "Oh no, Luffy! What happened to him?!" He tried to leap from Roronoa's grip. "Arghh, I have to treat him! Put me down, Zoro!"

"You can't move," Roronoa reminded him. "Don't worry, we have someone who can take care of him until you're better."

"Who?" the reindeer doctor asked.

Usopp and Roronoa pointed to the bush Chopper was (futilely) hiding behind. "Him."

Chopper stepped into full view and waved nervously. "Um... hi."

It took a few seconds for Other Chopper to realize who the figure before him was. But not too long.

"EHHHHHH?! ITS ME!"

"Yup," Usopp confirmed.

"A-and now that I-I think about it," Other Chopper continued. "Nami and Sanji look different too! Just what is going on here?! Why are Luffy, you, and Zoro hurt?! Why are there two of me?! Why do Nami and Sanji look younger?!"

"It's a really long story," Chopper replied.

"We'll tell you everything you want to know, but not at this very second," Sanji added. He pointed up at the sky. It was purple and red; a sure sign the sun was setting. "It'll be dark soon, and as you said, we've got injured."

"We should set up camp," Nami suggested to Roronoa. "Then when the sun rises again, we can go meet up with Brook and the others."

"Might as well," Roronoa agreed. He glanced at his shoulder. "You know, I don't think this has stopped bleeding since I tore it again."

"WHAT?!" Chopper hollered. He ran over to the swordsman. "Why didn't you say anything?! Sit down before you bleed to death!"

"Listen to him, Zoro!" Other Chopper scolded. "Why are you so reckless?! Do you have a death wish?!"

"Lay off," the swordsman grunted. Great, now he had two little doctors who nag him.

Usopp and the others simply laughed. Even with two doctors scolding him, he probably wouldn't listen. Still, it was a nice break from all the stress they had gone through that day. Leaving Roronoa to the reindeers' mercy, they began to set up camp.

---

Time: Several minutes after sunset
Location: Southwest Sector of the Jungle

"YOU LUNKHEAD!"

BONK!

"OW!" Vaughan rubbed his head and gave his comrade a sour look. "How many more times are you going to hit me? I actually need those brain cells you're killing."

After 'making their exit', Vaughan had dragged Erity a reasonable distance (the man had some ridiculous stamina), and hadn't stopped running until the sun set. After taking a short break to catch their breaths, Erity had taken the opportunity to show Vaughan exactly how she felt about his little stunt.

"How many, you ask?" Erity cracked her gauntlet-adorned knuckles. "As many times as it takes to knock the stupid out of your puny little head! I can't stop you from being an idiot, but I can sure as heck hit you for it!"

This time when she attempted to punch him, Vaughan let his Haki take over and he avoided each strike.

"We-" Punch. "-had them-" Kick. "-where we-" Another kick. "-wanted them-" Right uppercut. "-and you-" Left crescent kick. "-let them-" Left punch aimed for his eye. "-GO!"

Vaughan caught the last punch and then twisted Erity's fist. The mohawked woman showed no signs of discomfort and kicked her leg directly upward, intending to strike- and possibly break- the younger man's jaw. Vaughan bent backward before that could happen, thankfully.

"I mean, seriously!" she continued to gripe. She began a series of rapid fire kicks that Vaughan blocked with his forearm. "What is going through your fool head?!"

Vaughan caught her ankle and flipped her over his shoulder. The woman landed on her hands and then flipped back into a standing position. She reared back her leg for a Tempest Kick.

"You know Whitebeard?" Vaughan said all of sudden.

Erity froze mid-kick. "Pardon?"

"Whitebeard. Edward Newgate, formerly an Emperor, died two years ago...?"

"Of course I know who Whitebeard is, you dolt! What about him?!"

"Why was he called 'Whitebeard'?" Vaughan asked seriously.

Erity sweatdropped. "What?!"

Vaughan crossed his arms. "I mean, I've seen pictures of the guy and he didn't have a beard; it was a mustache."

"I don't know," Erity said sarcastically. "Maybe the 'White-Mustache Pirates' didn't sound half as intimidating." She threw her arms up in the air. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

The sniper/swordsman shrugged. "You asked what was going through my head, and that was it."

"... The origins behind Edward Newgate's epithet is what is going through your head as this very moment; even when I was kicking at you?"

"Yup."

Erity stared at Vaughan for a full minute before sighing and facepalming. This was what she had to deal with on a daily basis. Vaughan, on top of Runo and Yari, caused her more stress than that longnosed sniper ever could.

"Vaughan, tell me something; are you completely out of your mind?" she asked tiredly.

"Well, my uncle did take me in for testing at the island's university, and they said I wasn't," Vaughan answered thoughtfully. His brow furrowed. "But they did suggest further testing on the next island-"[2]

"THAT WAS RHETORICAL, YOU NIMROD!"

She tried to kick him again, but this time Vaughan rolled his eyes and muttered, "Sanguine Armament."

At that moment, the veins in Vaughan's body all bulged- it was very strange to look at. When Erity's foot connected with his upper arm, it was as if she had just kicked a solid steel wall.

"OH MOTHER-!" Erity bit off the rest of the curse and hopped up and down, clutching her throbbing foot. "What did you-?"

"I hardened my own blood to create a sub-dermal armor," he explained.[3] "Unless you learn Haki in the next ten seconds, you're not breaking through it."

She shot him a quizzical look. "... Can you even move when you're like that?"

"Nope," he admitted. "But don't think you can knock me over. I can deactivate my armor and kick your sorry butt before you can even try."

The pair held a tense staring contest for a few minutes. You could cut said tension with a knife.

"I don't get you, Enoch," Erity said at last, gingerly putting her foot down. "Not now, and not even when we met a year and a half ago."

Vaughan smirked, deactivated his powers, and casually began to run his thumb over his medallion. "What's to get? I'm just your run-of-the-mill bounty hunter turned treasure hunter."

"Run-of-the-mill bounty hunters don't blow the money they gain from bounties on slaves in the Human Auction House, only to free them not an hour later." Erity smiled smugly. "That's why you set up a shop on Sabaody, right?"

"Sabaody is a pirate hot spot and business was good. If you have a point, feel free to make it," the red-eyed man said, not directly confirming her statement or asking how she even knew that.

"I'm saying that despite what you want people to believe, you're not that bad a guy. I mean, you beat up Straw Hat within an inch of his life, but then gave him his blood back and sealed his wounds."

"It was only fair. At any rate, if he's anything like his grandfather, he'll walk those injuries off in a day."

"You mocked Pirate Hunter about what happened back on the Archipelago; that was low and made you look like a jerk," Erity went on. "But heck, back when Carrion was talking about killing the brat after all is said and done, you were the only one who protested."

"Those actions have nothing to do with each other," Vaughan said, starting to sound impatient. "I'm still not hearing a point."

"My point is that you're much nicer than you pretend to be... so one has to wonder what the heck you're doing working for scum like Carrion."

She had now made her point... and it had been a completely unanticipated one.

Vaughan raised an eyebrow. "Unless things have changed in the last five minutes, you're working for him too."

"True," Erity admitted offhandedly. "But besides my ample paycheck, I have my own reasons for wanting to find the 'Star of Kāla'.[4] Otherwise, I would have dropped our wonderful boss ages ago."

"Then there you go," Vaughan stated as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

After placing the smoke between his lips and lighting it, he took a drag and continued. "Maybe I want to find the Star on the island; maybe I don't. It doesn't matter because in the long run, all of this- Carrion, this hunting crew, the Straw Hats- are just means to an end." He exhaled smoke. "What that end is though is my business and mine alone."

"That why you let the pirates go?" the mohawked woman asked. "It's hard to be a 'means to an end' if you're in a cage back at base camp."

Now she had brought them back to the origin of their argument; letting the Straw Hats escape. Vaughan hadn't thought she asked about his moral position just for kicks. Erity liked to have as much information as she could, a trait he both respected and found irking.

"Why? You going to tell Boss if it's true?"

"Please," Erity scoffed. "I bet you and I could write a book with stuff we don't tell Boss, then get that book banned by the World Government."

"Now that's a book I wouldn't mind reading," a new voice broke in.

Erity's head snapped to the side. There sat Runo, cross-legged and drumming his fingers impatiently on his knee.

"What the- when did you get here?!" Erity shouted.

"You just now noticed he was here?" Vaughan asked with a sweatdrop.

"What the heck are you talking about? How did you notice he was here before-" She stopped when Vaughan gave her a look. "Oh, right. Flippin' Haki-users... next time say something."

"I'll be sure to do so."

"We done having Friendly Bonding Corner?" Runo asked, standing up and crossing his arms bitterly. "Good. Because last time I checked, we have pirates to find and beat into a bloody pulp."

Usually when Runo said something like that, he would grin and look eager for a fight. This time, however, he looked halfway between upset and TO-ed.

"Geez, you're in a bad mood," Vaughan commented. "Did something happen when you went to play with your toys?"

"Shuddup, Bloody Mary!" Runo snapped. "Or you'll be my sister's next doll!"

"Whoa, what's your damage?" Erity asked.

"'Bloody Mary'?" Vaughan whispered to himself.

Runo scowled. "If you must know, I've lost my connection with Fluffy McFluffmeister. Someone broke him out of my hypnosis."

Erity put on a deadpan expression. "... Are you talking about that tanuki?"

"HE WAS A REINDEER!"

"Eh, nuance."

"Well, whatever!" Runo declared. "If he was weak enough to be defeated so easily, then I have no use for him. Who needs a useless fluff-ball anyways?!"

This righteous announcement would have been more believable if teardrops hadn't formed in the corners of his eyes and if he hadn't been biting on his shirt collar in distress.

"Sour grapes, anyone?" Vaughan asked sarcastically, taking another drag.

"Why is it you don't understand rhetorical questions but are still capable of asking them?" Erity asked the red-eyed man.

"Strict upbringing."

"That makes no sense."

"I'm still here, you know!" Runo snapped, interrupting the pair's discussion. He wiped his eyes and regained his confident and creepy composure.

"In any case," he went, running a hand through his hair. "It seems I'm in need of a replacement toy, and I know just where to get one."

"Oh yeah? And where's that?" Vaughan asked.

Runo grinned maniacally. "I'm in constant connection with those I hypnotize. So I'm able to extend my Haki through them if I concentrate hard enough, even with this island's muting effect. And you'll never believe who's ship we just found."

---

Time: An hour after sunset
Location: With the Luffy/Eventual Future Usopp/Roronoa's-Mystery-Girl-If-We-Happen-To-See-Her Search and Rescue Team

It didn't take long for it to get dark, so the Straw Hats managed to get a campsite set up. Once they had a fire going- Nami argued it would lead the hunters to them, but Usopp and Other Chopper said a fire was a must when camping- Chopper had gotten to work treating everyone's wounds. Usopp revealed he also had Other Chopper's blue bag- much to the Older Chopper's joy- claiming to have picked it up earlier, which proved to be a great aide to Chopper.

Luffy went first, naturally. Thanks to the Vaughan (a very large, bittersweet pill they had to swallow), Luffy had not died from blood loss and his wounds were already sealed. Chopper still gave his captain medicine to lessen the risk of blood-poisoning and tightly wrapped each wound in gauze. After that was done, he laid his captain out on a blanket to rest. Roronoa was next; luckily the reindeer doctor had brought supplies for making stitches this time and he was able to sew his shoulder shut again. Roronoa was officially banned from using a sword until the doctor said so, much to the former's chagrin of being bossed around by the little reindeer. Still, the swordsman chose to sit vigilantly next to his captain, with Other Chopper seated in his lap.

Other Chopper hadn't had any injuries, save for a bump on his right temple. He still couldn't move, but he assured everyone he would return to normal in at least another hour. Chopper taped an ice pack to his older self's head and left it at that. Other Chopper had complimented his work though.

Chopper took care of Usopp next, rubbing a salve from Other Chopper's bag over the wounds on his arm before bandaging it. Within fifteen minutes the sniper could move his arm freely. The reindeer used the same salve on Nami's stomach bruises, and it wasn't long before the navigator felt better as well.

Once everyone had been taken care of that needed to be, Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Roronoa filled Other Chopper (and Usopp, as he still didn't know a lot) in on everything that had happened. This ranged from the Past Straw Hats' landfall to Luffy running off like a moron to save Future Usopp. While expressing relief that at least Brook had been located and was now leading a search for Franky and the Sunny, Other Chopper was understandably taken aback. Usopp was too, and he'd already been told been told Nami, Sanji and Chopper were from the past. Once the initial wonderment wore off though, both agreed that this still wasn't the weirdest thing they'd encountered since joining up with Luffy. It was definitely in the top ten, but not the weirdest. Roronoa readily agreed as well.

(Over the course of the explanation, Roronoa prevented any mentions of the Going Merry. He wanted this one to be a surprise; he wondered why the idea hadn't occurred to Usopp and Other Chopper yet.)

Once the explanation had finished, Sanji passed out pirate lunchboxes and the group began to eat.

"So, I just joined the crew a few days ago?" Other Chopper asked. Usopp sat next to him and Roronoa, and every so often the sniper fed him some food.

Chopper looked up from his food, mouth full of fish. "Hmm? Yeah, that's right. Two days in fact."

Usopp leaned back a little, crossing his arms. He looked nostalgically into the flames of the campfire. "Man, Drum Island... that was so long ago. More than two years." He frowned and rubbed his face in painful memory. "Ugh... aside from getting Chopper, that whole debacle was a nightmare."

"What are you talking about? It wasn't that bad," Roronoa disagreed.

"Not that bad?! Have you forgotten the parts where we were chased down a mountain by a scalpel-tossing witch, attacked by a human trash compacter, and buried by an avalanche?!"

"Did that last part happen?" Roronoa asked.

"Yes! You were buried in the snow in just your pants, and Vivi slapped me so many times to make sure I was still alive that my face swelled up to the size of a beach ball!"

"Now that I remember." Roronoa shrugged and took another bite of food. "Didn't even recognize you until I saw your nose."

"You jerk!" Usopp yelled. "You only remember what you want to remember, don't you?!"

"I think you're confusing me with Luffy."

"You guys were caught in the avalanche like Sanji?!" Chopper gasped. He stood up. "Why didn't you tell me?! You could have gotten frostbite or bone fractures or who knows what else! Let me look at you right now!"

"Uh, Chopper?" Nami chimed in. "For these two, that avalanche was over two years in the past. Any injuries Usopp and Roronoa might have gotten then would have healed a long time ago."

Chopper wilted, sitting back down. "That's right. I forgot."

"'Roronoa?'" Usopp questioned.

"Why do you guys keep calling Zoro by his surname?" Other Chopper added.

"We decided it'd be best if we called the two Sword Freaks different things," Sanji explained, lighting a cigarette on the campfire. "You know, to keep addressing them from getting confusing."

"So we still call younger Zoro 'Zoro' and we call older Zoro 'Roronoa,'" Nami finished for the cook. She closed her bento. "While we're on the subject, we should probably decide what to call you two. You know, for future reference."

"Vivi always called me 'Tony,'" Other Chopper suggested. "I don't mind going by that."

"Sounds good to me," Roronoa said. "Vivi will have to start calling your past self by his first name when we regroup with her, though."

"That's right, Vivi never called you 'Chopper,' did she?" Usopp recalled. "Just like she never called Zoro by his name."

"It was okay; I actually liked it when she called me that." The newly-dubbed Tony smiled. "I've missed Vivi so much! I can't wait to see her again!"

"Me too," Usopp agreed. "I hated leaving her behind in Alabasta, so it'll be nice to have her around again, even if it's for a little while." He then stood up and placed one hand against his chest dramatically. "Now, as for what I will go by, I have the perfect name that you can call me."

"We're not calling you 'the Great Captain Usopp,'" Sanji said, annoyed.

"A flattering idea, but not remotely what I had in mind," Usopp admitted. "I'm not Captain, so there's no reason to call me that."

Nami and Sanji's jaws dropped (Chopper's didn't, because he still didn't know Usopp well enough to know this behavior was out of the ordinary). Did they actually hear those words come out of Usopp's mouth? Usopp had been calling himself 'the Great Captain Usopp' since they met him.

"Since when do you not call yourself that?" Nami asked dubiously.

Now that she thought about it, Future Usopp hadn't called himself that the entire time she'd known him.

"Yeah, it's kind of your trademark," Sanji pointed out.

Usopp 's eyes widened, as if he were having a major revelation. He opened his mouth to tell them something important, but shut it when Roronoa shot him a glare. The swordsman shook his head. Tony gave him a sympathetic look.

Usopp frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn't meet their eyes. "...Sorry guys. I can't really explain it without giving away too much about the future, you know?"

Sanji and Nami noticed how uncomfortable Usopp looked, so they decided to drop the subject. Nami, however, had a suspicious feeling that it had to do with Usopp asking her if she meant what she said about how he'd never do anything to hurt the crew. Still, she didn't make any further attempts to continue discussing the topic.

"Usopp? You said you had an idea as to what we could call you?" Chopper piped up.

"Yosh! Thanks, Chopper!" Usopp resumed his dramatic pose. "It would only make sense that you all call me by my title in the New World; Sniper King, King of the Snipers!"

"We are not calling you that!" Sanji and Nami hollered. "It's too long!"

"You sure that's a good idea, Usopp?" Roronoa pointed out. He discretely gestured to Tony.

"Why would we call you Sniper King, Usopp?" Tony asked innocently. "He said he was your friend and all, but will he really be okay with you using his name like that?"

Usopp practically deflated. Oh yeah... he and Luffy still don't know...

"There's another Sniper King?" Chopper asked. "But the guy on the bounty hunter ship-"

"It's a future thing; don't worry about it!" Usopp said quickly, waving the question off.

Roronoa snickered. "Well, at least that's not a complete lie." He snapped his fingers. "I got it! We'll call you 'Lysopp'."[5]

"HECK NO!" the newly-dubbed Lysopp protested.

"Sounds good to me," Nami agreed.

"Can't believe Mosshead actually came up with something decent," Sanji commented.

"Hi, Lysopp!" Chopper and Tony greeted, making it official.

Lysopp sat back down, slumping in his seat. Now I know how Franky felt when we named the Sunny...

"Now that that's settled, I think it's about time we got some answers for ourselves," Sanji said. He pointed at Lysopp and Tony. "Tony, you were hypnotized and attacked us. Lysopp, you've been chasing bounty hunters around for the last day. Add that on top of what Luffy found on the beach..."

Roronoa reached into his haramaki and removed the New World log pose.

"Just what has happened to you guys since you got on this island?"

"Nami's log pose!" Tony gasped. "Where'd you find it?"

"On the beach south of here," Nami replied.

Tony frowned. "Yeah... that sounds about right. We were on a beach when..."

"When what?" Roronoa asked, placing the pose back in his waistband.

"... when my memories stop."

Lysopp got into a more comfortable sitting position. "I guess I'll start. We had just weighed anchor after our Luffy went rocketing on to the island like an idiot. Our Sanji wanted to go into the jungle to look for provisions..."

"Oh Nami, I'm so happy you decided to come with me on my trek into the jungle!" Future Sanji gushed in mellorine-mode. "I'm sure I'll find lots of food with you guiding my way!"

"No problem," Future Nami said, humoring him. "I wanted to survey the land for a map anyway."

"You're so humble, Nami-swan!"

"Uh, we're here too," Future Usopp said, referring to himself and Future Chopper.

"Sanji, keep your emotions in check!" Chopper warned urgently. "I don't want you to relapse!"

"Relax, Chopper," Sanji said. "Thanks to Shirahoshi-chan, I'm completely cured of my little episodes. So no worries, alright?"

That did little to reassure the reindeer, but he decided to trust Sanji for now. He'd just have to keep an eye on the chef.

The group of four walked deeper into the jungle, marveling at the gigantic trees and other tropical flora. That is, except Usopp, who had lowered his goggles and was aiming his Kuro Kabuto in random directions.

"Wow, these trees are huge!" Nami said in wonder. "They kind of remind me of the ones on Skypiea."

"Still shrimpy compared to the mangroves on Sabaody though," Sanji said, running a hand on one of the tree roots. It came to about his shoulder.

"I like the leaves!" Chopper voiced his opinion. "They look like they sparkle when the sunlight hits them!"

"Huh, so they do," Nami noticed. "I wonder why. Think Robin would know?"

"Robin-chan is the smartest woman I know! Of course she'd know if we asked!" Sanji said with confidence.

Usopp kept aiming his slingshot at random spots, until finally Sanji snapped at him.

"Would you cut that out?!" Sanji barked at him. "You're making nervous with all that pointing! What's your problem?"

"My problem?" Usopp repeated. "My problem is that you all have seem to forgotten why we're on this island!"

The other three stared at his panicky state.

"Luffy wanted to come here, didn't he?" Chopper guessed. "He is the captain."

"I mean we're only here because some crazy current dragged our ship to an island that appeared out of nowhere!" Usopp threw his arms open, gesturing to their surroundings. "I mean, just look at this place! Who knows what could be lurking in the trees? I don't know, and I don't want to find out!"

"We're in the New World, Usopp," Nami sighed. "For all we know, this kind of thing is normal. The best we can do is accept that we're here and make the most of it."

"But aren't you the least bit worried?!"

"You know, I'm actually not," Nami admitted. "I don't know why, but I don't feel afraid of this island. It seems almost... familiar, like I've been here before."

"I've been having that same feeling," Sanji confessed too. He grinned at Nami. "We already think alike! Isn't that great, Nami my dear?"

Nami ignored him this time.

"Now that you mention it, this place smells familiar." Chopper sniffed the air and shrugged. "I can't place it though."

"You guys are all nuts!" Usopp snapped. "Like Zoro said, I think we'd remember being dragged to a disappearing/reappearing island by a super current!"

"Oh, so you're saying this place isn't familiar to you?" Nami asked, crossing her arms.

Usopp didn't answer, which was all the answer she needed.

"That's what I thought," the navigator said with satisfaction. "Well, whatever this is feeling is, I'm sure it'll pass. For now we can just keeping looking around." She smiled greedily. "Who knows, maybe we'll even find some treasure!"

Before anyone could scold for her one-track mind (or in Sanji's case, declare how cute it was), one of the tree roots in front of them exploded.

"If this island holds any treasure," a voice spoke from the dust and smoke. "I'm afraid Boss Carrion is going to want to see it first. I'm sure you understand."

The debris and dust cleared to reveal four people; two men and two women.

"I'm guessing Erity and Vaughan were two of those?" Nami asked.

"Yeah," Lysopp replied. "And the other two are named Runo and Yari- at least that's what the others called them."

"Carrion?!" Nami repeated. She quickly assembled her Sorcery Clima-tact.

"Looks like the bounty hunters followed us ashore," Sanji said, taking a defensive position.

Chopper shifted into Kung Fu Point, and Usopp aimed a Firebird Star at the four hunters.

"Actually, that wasn't our original intention," Vaughan confessed, loading ammo into one of his pistols.

"Yes," Yari said as she adjusted her umbrella and slapped Runo upside the head. "We are only here because someone steered our ship directly into a super current!"

"Oh, her," Roronoa groaned.

"Wait, was she the swordswoman you fought before Vaughan tranquilized you?" Nami asked.

"Unfortunately," Roronoa answered with a scowl. "She was ridiculously fast- almost as fast as Brook- and skilled. Fighting her wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for her-" He froze and slapped his forehead. "Crap! What heck is wrong with me?!"

"You're navigationally dysfunctional, you have moss for hair, you do nothing but sleep all day..." Sanji rattled off.

"Put a sock in it, Dartboard!" Roronoa snapped. "That's not what I'm talking about! I forgot to warn Brook and the others about this Yari chick's devil fruit powers!"

"She has devil fruit powers?" Lysopp asked. "She didn't exhibit any when I followed her and her comrades around. She does have Haki though..."

"Haki?" Sanji asked. "What's that?"

"One thing at a time, Sanji," Nami interjected. Sanji cooed his obedience to Nami as she turned to Roronoa. "What are her powers?"

Roronoa's hand went to his wounded shoulder. "She called herself a 'sensation woman.' She was somehow able to intensify my sensitivity to pain." He ran a thumb over the small bandage that was still on his forehead from when Chopper first found him. "This one cut on my head felt like a spike was being driven through my skull."

"It sounds to me she can manipulate nociceptors," Tony said knowledgeably. "They're the nerves that usually register pain, but if she calls herself a sensation woman, she might not be limited to just that. Either way, it sounds like a horrible ability."

"It also doesn't help that she's a freaking sadist," Roronoa growled. He squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Can't believe I forgot to to warn them..."

"Maybe they won't run into her?" Chopper said hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe," the swordsman sighed. He turned to the sniper. "You can continue now."

"Thank you," Lysopp said with mild irritation. He placed his hand under his chin. "Now, where was I... ah yes, Yari had said-"

She adjusted her umbrella and slapped Runo upside the head. "We are only here because someone steered our ship directly into a super current!"

Runo rolled his eyes and grinned wickedly. "I warned Boss that I wasn't a helmsman. Not my fault he didn't listen."

Vaughan snapped the barrel of his gun shut. "Not remotely important. Basically, we have orders to scout the island, so we really don't have time to deal with you right now."

"You really expect us to believe that a group of bounty hunters is just going to let a group of bountied pirates go?" Sanji asked with light amusement.

"Easy there, Sanji!" Nami said with a pleading tone. "If bounty hunters want to leave us alone for once, who are we to question them?"

"Yeah, can't we all just get along?" Usopp added.

"What happened to that confident man who took down Fishmen in Gyoncorde Plaza?" Sanji asked the sniper, lighting a fresh cigarette.

"That man wants to avoid a fight if possible!"

The bounty hunters looked upon the pirates with renewed interest.

"Too late," Chopper whimpered.

"Bounties, huh?" Erity said, resting a hand on the gauntlets tied around her waist. She was wearing a high-collared leather jacket over her cheongsam. "Yari, you're our wanted list guru. You recognize them from the Straw Hat file?"

Yari nodded curtly. "I do."

She pointed a delicate gloved finger at Nami. "'Cat Burglar' Nami."

Nami swallowed thickly, but stood ready to fight if necessary.

Next was Chopper. "'Cotton Candy Lover' Tony Tony Chopper."

Chopper growled. Why did the government have to give him such a stupid epithet?

She lingered for a moment on Usopp. "Hmmm... I think he might be 'King of the Snipers' Sniper King, but without the mask, I cannot really tell. Besides, he reeks of cowardice, so that make me even more unsure."

Usopp scowled. What a snob.

Yari barely even glanced at Sanji. "He is not recognizable from any poster I have seen. Ignore him, and the coward as well if you wish."

Her total disregard for his identity was like an arrow piercing his heart. Sanji fell to the ground clutching his chest. "So cold!"

"Sanji!" Chopper cried out worriedly. "Are you alright?!"

"Such cold beauty and unbreakable indifference," Sanji whispered. He stood up, hearts in his eyes. "Amazing! I must the know the name of the woman whose frozen heart I will melt!"

Nami, Chopper, and Usopp fell over at Sanji's exuberant display. Did he have to choose now to act like a lovesick moron? Especially to the enemy?

Yari looked extremely disturbed by Sanji's words.

"If you want to date her, that's fine," Runo said with humor. "But I'll warn you now, she only goes out with masochists!"

"Runo!" Yari gasped indignantly.

"What? It's true and you know it. I once found a whip in your cabin on the ship."

"Runo! I am a proper, pure lady who is not into that kind of thing!"

"But what about that time on Visigoth Island-"

"Baba Runo, shut up! We agreed that never happened!"

"And that time with the guy-"

"Uh, Lysopp?" Tony interrupted. "Can we skip the rest of that part of the conversation? Hearing it the first time was bad enough."

Lysopp glanced around the campfire. Maybe Tony had a point. Nami looked scandalized, Roronoa looked disgusted, Chopper looked confused, and Sanji had a dreamy look on his face.

"Wow," the cook sighed. "This Yari sounds like such a confident woman."

"Snap out of it, Sanji!" Nami hollered, shaking the blond by his shirt collar. "You do not want that kind of woman in your life!"

"I don't get it," Chopper said. "What does a whip have to do with-"

"Hurry up and continue, Lysopp!" Roronoa commanded.

"Yes, hurry!" Tony echoed.

Lysopp flinched. "Okay, sorry!"

"You be quiet, cretin!" Yari ordered Sanji. "I will not be flirted with by some no-name pirate!"

"He's not a no-name pirate," Erity disagreed.

The bounty hunters looked at her in surprise.

"He's actually 'Black Leg' Sanji," the mohawked woman continued. "His poster looks nothing like him is all; bringing it up is actually a good way to make him furious."

"Duly noted," Vaughan said.

The Straw Hats were a little dumbfounded. Erity spoke with such amity about Sanji... as if they were close personal friends instead of enemies on different sides of the law.

"Sanji... do you know this woman?" Nami asked.

Sanji stared long and hard at Erity. He frowned, looking properly baffled.

Nami poked the chef's arm. "Sanji?"

"What's wrong? Do you recognize her?" Chopper asked.

"I don't why..." Sanji said at last. "...but whenever I look at this gorgeous woman... I feel nothing but complete and utter disgust!"

The other three pirates looked at the cook as if he had just spontaneously combusted. "EHHHH?!

"Yes! She's beautiful, but just looking at her makes me want to bleach my eyes!" Sanji grit his teeth and pointed at Erity. "Who the hell are you, lady?! Why am I feeling this way?!"

"Please don't tell me my future self actually spoke that way to a woman!" Sanji shouted incredulously.

"Okay, I'm never going to get through this story if you all keep interrupting!" Lysopp pointed out. "Save all questions until the end!"

"Geez, you really don't recognize me, do you?" Erity shook her head. "That's to be expected. I do look a lot different since the last time we met... Sanji-lolly."

Sanji looked like he'd just been electrocuted. No way...

Usopp raised an eyebrow. "Sanji-lolly?"

"I call him that because his eyebrow reminds me of one of those curly lollipops!" Erity explained. "Clever, huh?"

"Brilliant," Vaughan said in deadpan.

"Shut up, no one asked you."

"No..." Sanji whispered. "It couldn't be..."

"Sanji! Who is this lady?!" Nami demanded to know.

"Yeah, who is this lady?!" Chopper echoed.

"If I'm correct..." Sanji's expression darkened. "She's no lady."

You could practically see the question marks over the other three Straw Hats' heads. How could she not be a lady?

"As entertaining as this has been, we still have orders to scout this island," Vaughan interceded. "Forget the Straw Hats for now. We can go after them after we see if this is the island Boss has been looking for."

"But I want to tease Sanji some more!" Erity whined.

"Quit whining, it is unbecoming of a woman," Yari said primly. "I am with Vaughan. We need to get going; Carrion is not exactly renowned for his patience."

"You guys can go ahead," Runo offered. "I'll stay here and... play with the Straw Hats while you keep looking around."

Yari nodded, as if this were a sensible idea, but Erity and Vaughan gave Runo distasteful expressions. The latter two heaved long-suffering sighs then turned on their heels to run back the way they came. Yari closed her umbrella and followed.

"Hey, get back here!" Sanji shouted, most likely to Erity. He began to give chase.

Runo stepped in his way.

"Out of my way!" Sanji kicked out his leg.

Runo smirked and a flare of color suddenly erupted around his being. Sanji hesitated, entranced by the bright display. Runo used the moment to completely bypass the kick and deliver a palm thrust to Sanji's chin, snapping the chef's head backward. Then he finished the move with a crescent kick to the side of Sanji's face that sent the chef flying into a tree.

"Sanji!" Nami shrieked.

"Fire Bird Star!" Usopp called out.

Runo's smirk widened as he jumped into the air to avoid the attack. As he came down, he pulled back his fist and...

"... he punched me in the face," Lysopp finished with a shrug. "I went down and the next thing I know, I'm waking up alone in the woods at night. I found Tony's bag lying in the dirt and I wandered around for awhile until I found the hunters with their Boss and other lackeys. My crew's Nami, Sanji, and Tony were with them, but they had glassy, blank eyes and weren't trying to escape or anything. They eventually split up and I followed Erity, Yari, and Runo around with the men they took with them, hindering their progress as much as I could. Maybe I should have followed the group that Tony and the others went with, but if there's one thing I've learned in the past, my solo attempts to storm the castle never end well. I figured I would eventually find the rest of my crew. So I followed them around, lost track of them for awhile, Erity found me, I made a strategic retreat and hit her with the occasional Green Star, and eventually found your guys' Nami. And here we are."

"Wow," Sanji said. "I can't believe it."

Lysopp thumbed his nose proudly. "Impressed by my mad story-telling skills, Sanji?"

"No," the cook replied bluntly. "I can't believe you managed to tell that entire story without once trying to make yourself look like the star of the whole thing."

"HEY!"

"Tony, what happened after Lysopp got knocked out?" Chopper asked.

"Not a lot," Tony admitted. "Our Sanji got back up and we fought some more. We all tried to attack at once, but he kept curbing our attacks by distracting us with those weird colors. I must have lost my bag at some point during the fight. Then we somehow made it to the beach and fought some more, which is probably when Nami lost her log pose. After he avoided Nami's Gust Sword by throwing off her aim, he said he was bored and he decided we'd be good toys. He started making these jerky movements and the colors got brighter..." Tony lowered his gaze in shame. "That's the last thing I remember before waking up to see Lysopp and Roronoa."

Tony began to tear up. "Lysopp, I'm sorry we abandoned you in the jungle- Sanji said we could come back for you later! I'm sorry I got captured! And everyone, I'm sorry I went into Monster Point and attacked you! I trained these two years so that wouldn't happen again, and I'm so sorry-!"

"Chopper, get a hold of yourself!" Chopper shouted out of nowhere, using his older self's real name to get his attention.

Tony stopped crying. Everyone else looked at Chopper with interest.

"You're older than me and are supposed to be a man, so stop crying!" Chopper continued to scold. "Lysopp said Monster Point is the only form you need a Rumble Ball for in the future. Is that true?"

Tony nodded slowly.

"That means usually you can control it. Me? I can't do that, and the only thing I can do with that form is hurt people! I'm afraid of that form and I promised Doctorine I would never go down that path! But you did... and you can control it now and help the crew, like a real pirate. That's... that's a good thing! Don't let this one incident ruin all you've accomplished! It wasn't even your fault; you were hypnotized! So... so... so man up!"

Chopper stood there a moment, panting heavily from his outburst. The rest of the group was left speechless.

"... Okay, definitely won't call you the emergency food supply anymore," Sanji mumbled, breaking the silence.

Tony smiled and giggled. "Sanji, Lysopp is supposed to be the liar."

That got a laugh from Nami, Lysopp (who looked insulted a second later), Sanji, and even Chopper. Roronoa just gave the younger reindeer a half-smile.

It was amazing really. The younger Chopper had only been a Straw Hat for a few days, and here he was telling the more experienced version off. But what needed to be said had been said, and that was the end of that. Tony apologized for losing his head, and the group moved on to next vital topic- Lysopp and Tony's stories.

"It sounds to me that this Runo guy is our hypnotist," Nami said. The name sounded familiar to her... but she shook off the feeling and shivered. "If he is, he's on a whole other level than that weirdo from Kuro's crew."

"Did he really hypnotize a guy into killing himself?" Tony asked in horror. If he were capable of moving, he would have been clutching Roronoa in fear.

"He did. Tattoos pulled out a gun and offed himself like it was nothing," Sanji replied, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Lysopp! Sanji's emulating Robin!" Tony cried out.

"But he hasn't even met her yet!" Lysopp cried out as well.

"I suppose somebody has to make the morbid comments without her around," Roronoa observed casually.

Nami was really beginning to dread meeting this 'Robin.' "So!" she broke in chipperly. "If we see a feral-looking freak who can make colors appear out of thin air, we know to avoid him. What else we got?"

"Going off what Lysopp and our future selves talked about, they seem to vaguely remember coming here," Sanji said. "That reinforces the idea that history hasn't changed, we just forget we ever came here."

"I'll admit, this whole place is really familiar," Lysopp added. "But it's hazy, like it's on the very edge of my memory. No matter how hard I try, I just can't remember."

"That's how it is for me," Tony agreed.

Roronoa crossed his arms. "I don't remember this place at all."

"Didn't Lysopp say you only remember what you want to remember?" Chopper asked.

Roronoa shot him a dirty look, and the reindeer hid behind Nami.

Nami sighed tiredly. "This is going nowhere. We've all been running a lot today, so how about we get some sleep and continue discussing this in the morning?... Whenever that is anyway."

"Excellent idea, Nami my swan!" Sanji agreed wholeheartedly. "I'll take first watch if you want!"

"I'll take first watch, cook," Roronoa said, standing up and laying Tony on the blanket next to Luffy. "If another bounty hunter does show up, you won't be able to fight them."

Sanji tried to argue, but Nami and Lysopp snapped at him to just go along with it. Nami curled up with Chopper, Lysopp laid down against one of the trees Tony knocked over earlier, and Sanji situated himself on the side of the campfire opposite of Nami- glaring at Chopper with envy.

One by one they all fell asleep, save for Roronoa, who actually stayed awake. He hadn't mentioned it before (not wanting Nami, Lysopp, and the Choppers to freak out as they were prone to do), but there was one thing about this island that did feel familiar. This one constant, nagging feeling he kept having...

Roronoa looked up into the tree branch-blocked sky.

He frowned in suspicion. It's like we're being watched.

---

Time: Roughly half an hour before sunrise
Location: Jungle on the edge of Kāla's southwestern beach

"Go on, say it," Runo said proudly, pushing a bush out of his path. "I'm a genius."

"This the fifth time you've told us to say that since we reentered the jungle," Vaughan said, uninterested. "And how many times have we said it in that time period?"

"None, but a guy can hope, right? Come on, just say it! I had a genius plan, and you two are impressed!"

"I wouldn't say that even if you paid me the bounties of Monkey D. Dragon and his son combined," Erity said with a snarl. She yanked on one of her shoes. "Not after you made us walk for two hours trying find that stupid ship. My feet are killing me."

Vaughan rolled his eyes. "That's what you get for wearing impractical footwear."

"My shoes are perfectly practical for what I do!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I hate you."

"I can live with that."

"Are you guys flirting?" Runo asked teasingly. "Yeah, you're so flirting. Go right on ahead, I'll just keep reveling in my own brilliance."

"I don't date younger men," Erity said with a mean smile.

"I don't date old hags," Vaughan retorted with the same smile.

"I'M ONLY THREE YEARS OLDER THAN YOU!"

"By that math, that makes you thirty."

"I'M STILL TWENTY NINE!"

"Looks like Carrion isn't the only one with issues," Runo snickered. He was clearly in a much better mood than before. "Man, a psychiatrist would make a killing off of-"

Vaughan, without warning, slapped a hand over Runo's mouth. "Wait, shut up for a second."

The trio stood in silence as Vaughan closed his eyes and concentrated. After a couple minutes, the sniper/swordsman opened his eyes.

"About 20 voices just went silent- unconscious, not dead," Vaughan announced. He then wrinkled his nose and ripped his hand away from Runo's mouth. He glared at the violet-haired man. "Did you just lick my hand?"

"Maybe," Runo answered childishly. "And what are you talking about? I don't hear anything. Stupid Kenbunshoku Haki's been muted since we got to this stupid island, remember?"

"Obviously, unlike me, you haven't worked your way around it yet," Vaughan mused. He broke into a brisk sprint and motioned the other two to follow. "Just come on and follow me!"

Erity and Runo looked at each other, shrugged, then chased after Vaughan. They ran for about five minutes before finding themselves back on the beach, where they were treated to a very unexpected sight. Scattered along the beach, floating in the water, and even thrown into the very edge of the jungle trees that met beach were the members of the Carrion Bounty Hunters. Many them were cut up or had burns, and every single one was unconscious. There was no sign of an enemy having been there... aside from the unconscious lackeys, anyway. The trio walked out onto the beach.

"Yeesh, what the hell happened here?" Vaughan asked. "It's like someone threw a party and forgot to invite us."

Erity toed one of the men. He grunted but didn't wake, so at least this meant he and the others weren't dead. She reached down and checked the badge on his shirt.

"This is Theta Unit," Erity confirmed, standing back up. "Carrion told them to quit searching long enough to salvage the Silverback. Yari went to go supervise when she caught the message on her baby Den Den. She called me right before we found that ship though- she said she took half of Theta to look for the Straw Hats while the rest continued salvaging."

Vaughan looked up and down the beach. "I don't see her now."

Runo reached down and picked something up that had washed ashore. It was the sheathe of Yari's shikomizue- the part that formed the actual parasol. That meant she had been here before, even if she wasn't now. He stood up and scanned the beach... until his eyes caught something floating in the water.

His heart skipped a couple beats and he pointed out towards the sea. "Uh, guys...?"

Vaughan and Erity glanced to where Runo was pointing... to see the remains of a purple top hat floating in the water.

Erity went blue in the face. "You don't think...?"

Apparently he did think, because Runo immediately tried to dive into the water.

"HOLD ON BABY SIS, I'M COMING!"

Before he could leap into the sea, Vaughan tackled him into the pink sand.

"LET ME GO, VAMP!" Runo hollered, throwing Vaughan off with ease. "I HAVE TO SAVE MY SISTER!"

"Runo, you're a devil fruit user!" Vaughan snapped back, jumping to his feet and poking Runo's chest with each following word. "You. Can't. Swim!"

"Oh yeah." Runo pondered the predicament. "Okay then, you save her!"

"I can't swim either."

"Oh... then who's supposed to save Yari?"

The two men paused to think... then glanced over at Erity. The blonde woman grimaced.

"Do I have to?" she asked, as if they were asking her to do something menial and boring.

"Erity..." Vaughan said in a warning tone.

Erity sighed. "Fine, but I'm not giving her CPR!"

She jogged across the beach and dove into the water with a splash.

Runo turned to Vaughan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, buddy."

"What?" Vaughan said with revulsion. "Why do I have to give her mouth-to-mouth?! Why can't you do it?"

"Dude, she's my sister."

"So?"

"I don't need those kinds of nightmares."

Vaughan threw his arms up into the air and and looked away from the Hypno Hypno Fruit user. He then sat down and crossed his arms- they could make him resuscitate Yari but they couldn't keep him from pouting about it.

While Vaughan moped about his upcoming traumatic experience, Runo looked around the beach once more, then smiled to himself. He had a feeling as to who had done the damage.

He so loved it when a plan all came together.

---

Time: A little more than an hour after sunrise
Location: The jungle... as to where, your guess is as good as Nami's.

Sunlight streamed through the impossibly tall trees. All around him were the remains of buildings, broken or burned. There was a battle here recently. The grass was sticky and wet, and for some reason, bubbles floated around everywhere.

Luffy looked around. What was he doing here? He didn't remember ever coming to some bubble island. Hadn't he been fighting that vampire guy? Why was he all alone? Where was everyone else?

"So you survived, Roronoa."

Roronoa? Luffy turned in the direction of the cold, emotionless voice that had just spoken. The speaker was an extremely tall... bear? Man? Man-bear? Yeah, man-bear. The speaker was an extremely tall man-bear wearing gloves and carrying a book. The man-bear was standing in front of another man. The other man had green hair, so Luffy assumed that was Zoro. It was hard to tell, since his back was to him. If it was Zoro, he didn't look too good. His whole body was shaking, he was bleeding all over, and he clutched his shoulder in agony.

Luffy's eyes narrowed and his teeth bared. Who had hurt his crewmate like this? They were going to pay!

Usopp was sitting on the ground next to Zoro. He was carrying a big green slingshot that looked really cool. He was reaching up towards Zoro and his lips were moving, but Luffy was too far away to make out what he was saying.

Luffy glared at the man-bear. He didn't know who he was, but he somehow knew this guy was the enemy. He tried to run over to his crewmates, but found he couldn't move his body. He tried to call out to them, but his voice didn't work either. It was just like his Ace dream; he wasn't in control of his body.

The man-bear peeled off one of his gloves, revealing paw-pads on his hand.

"If you were to go on vacation," the man-bear said. "Where would you like to go?"

Zoro never had time to answer. The man-bear swiped at him with the padded hand, and the swordsman vanished.

Pop.

Luffy's eyes widened. What had... what had just happened? Where did Zoro go? He was... he was right there!

Luffy tried to call out his name, but sound refused to come from his mouth. Even if he could say anything, he would have been interrupted by a sudden loud roar. He looked up to see a monstrous arm swinging down towards him. The arm was attached to a giant horned creature that looked familiar to him, though he wasn't sure why.

Luffy tried to move out of the way, but his body was still frozen. Luckily, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him out of harm's way before he could be hit. His rescuer was a dark-haired lady... wait, was that Miss All Sunday? What was she doing here, and why did she save him? She also appeared to be shouting, but her words weren't coming out either. Was the whole dream on mute except for the man-bear and the horned monster?

Luffy turned back to the man-bear. He was now approaching Usopp... and Sanji, who was on the ground and appeared to be injured as well. Usopp was trying to get Sanji on his feet, but the cook was struggling. The man-bear got closer and closer.

Luffy cursed inwardly. Why couldn't he move, dammit?! The man-bear was going to send more of his crew away!

As the man-bear reached for his crewmates, Brook jumped in front of them and spread out his arms. He disappeared instead.

Pop.

The man-bear was in front of Usopp now. Luffy could tell the sniper was scared dead out of his mind. Usopp frantically fired with his big green slingshot, but it was no use. Down the pawed hand went.

Pop.

Sanji gave a silent, enraged scream. He charged at the man-bear.

Pop.

A weird man with really big forearms tried to attack the man-bear.

Pop.

The man-bear was now heading for Nami. She reached out towards Luffy, her lips silently forming his name.

Pop.

The giant horned creature from before came at the pawed man, roaring in rage.

Pop.

The only one left was Miss All Sunday. She tried to run, but the man-bear easily caught up. All of sudden, Luffy could move, but not on his own accord. It was moving on its own, reaching for the Baroque Works leader. The woman who had killed the funny tube-haired guy and was helping Crocodile take over Vivi's country... looked at him pleadingly. All Sunday reached out to him just as Nami had, and to his surprise, he didn't mind reaching out to take her hand.

It was useless though.

Pop.

Luffy fell to the ground, gasping for each breath as if it would be his last. This didn't happen. Someone had to tell him this didn't just happen. Somebody had to tell him his crew wasn't just gone. Where were Chopper, Vivi, and Carue? What about Miss All Sunday? Why did she help him and reach out to him?

This was... this wasn't happening! He could not lose his crew like this! Their journey had barely started; they still had to beat up Crocodile and sail the Grand Line and find the One Piece. They couldn't be gone! It wasn't possible!

"I couldn't save..." he heard himself say (now he could talk?), hot tears running down his face, "... a single one of my friends!"

Luffy felt someone standing over him, and he looked up. It was the man-bear, but this time, Luffy somehow knew his name.

"K-K-Ku... m-m-ma," he stuttered, this time speaking on his own.

Kuma stared down at him coldly. "You will never see them again."

He raised his hand.

"Farewell."

The hand came down.

Pop.

"NO!"

"Ack! Luffy-!"

Luffy pinwheeled his arms and fell to the ground, dragging the person who he'd been riding piggy-back down with him.

"Luffy, you're awake!" Nami's voice exclaimed.

"Luffy's up?" Usopp's voice asked. "About time!"

"Crappy rubber head, making us worry," Sanji's voice scoffed, but he sounded relieved as well.

"Luffy, take it easy!" Chopper squealed reprimandingly.

"Be careful, you're still injured!" Chopper spoke again. Had those two sentences overlapped?

Luffy opened his eyes. He wasn't on the bubble island- he was back in the jungle of the Mystery Island. The bear man- Kuma- was nowhere to be seen either. He sat up and noticed his body was wrapped in white bandages. He was about to ask what was going on when someone stuck Hat in his face.

"Here." It was Roronoa. He'd also been the one giving Luffy a piggy-back ride.

Luffy glanced from Roronoa, to Hat, then back to Roronoa.

"'Bout time you woke up," the swordsman grunted. "Sun's been up for a couple hours now. We figured we'd try to meet back up with Brook and the others, so we- WHOA!"

Roronoa cut himself off, for Luffy had thrown his rubbery arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug, all but burying his face into the swordsman's chest. Its force was enough to make Roronoa drop his captain's precious hat.

"What the hell, Luffy?! Let go of me!" Roronoa shouted, trying to remove his captain from his person. Roronoa Zoro was many things, but a hugger was not one of them. However, he stopped pushing and protesting when he noticed Luffy's shaking form. "Oi, Luffy? You okay? What's wrong?"

The rest of the group walked up to the pair on the ground to see what the problem was, and were struck dumb at the sight of their shaking captain.

"Luffy...?" Nami began to say, reaching out for him.

Sanji grabbed her hand before she could, shaking his head. The message was clear: let Mosshead handle this.

Roronoa shook Luffy's shoulder. "Luffy? I asked if you were okay."

Luffy pushed himself off Roronoa, cursing inwardly. He couldn't believe he just did that! He must have looked like a childish weakling! He furiously rubbed the back of his hand along his eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to form. Hugging a person after having a nightmare... he hadn't done that since he was a little kid, and the person who got hugged was usually his brother. Ace never minded, but what about Roronoa?

Luffy looked up at the swordsman's face. He didn't look angry or annoyed (at least, not anymore), only concerned.

"It's nothing," Luffy said at last. "Just a bad dream."

Roronoa crossed his arms. "Want to talk about it?"

Luffy shook his head, not looking Roronoa in the eye. "No, it's fine. Just... just say none of you will ever disappear, alright?"

The concerned expression on the swordsman's face melted into a stricken one. It was as if that of all the things Luffy could have asked of him, that was the one thing he hadn't wanted to hear. Tony and Lysopp had similar expressions. All three carried a guilty light in their eyes that did not go unnoticed by Nami and Sanji. Chopper was too busy fussing over Luffy's injuries to really notice.

"You are really are a moron," Lysopp broke in with a heavy sigh.

Before Luffy could respond to that, Lysopp reached down and jammed Hat back on the rubbery boy's head. "Of course we'll never just 'disappear,' so don't go asking stupid things like that."

Luffy stared at his sniper for a moment, then adjusted his hat and grinned. "Yosh."

Chopper went into Heavy Point and helped his captain stand back up, and Tony did the same for Roronoa.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're finally up, Luffy," Lysopp continued. "That vampire guy really did a number on you, huh?"

Luffy stared at the longnosed man with a blank expression.

"... Why are you staring at me like that?"

"... USOPP! WHEN DID YOU GET ALL MANLY?!"

"SERIOUSLY?!"

That did it. Nami broke into peals of laughter, and Sanji choked on a chortle of his own.

Luffy turned and waved his arms at Chopper and Tony as the reindeer returned to their smaller forms. "AND WHY ARE THERE TWO OF CHOPPER?!"

Roronoa rolled his eye. "Here we go again..."

---

One dumbed-down explanation later...

"Shishishi, I get it now!" Luffy laughed, now walking alongside his comrades and eating his bento at the same time. "You guys are from the future, just like Zoro-ossan!"

"Yeah, only we're calling them Lysopp and Tony," Sanji said, "Instead of Usopp and Chopper."

"Usopp-ossan and Chopper-ossan!" Luffy decided.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD-" Lysopp began to protest, before slumping in defeat. "- oh, forget it."

"We'd have more luck stopping the tides then getting Luffy to change his mind," Tony agreed in the the same defeated way.

Chopper looked at his older self in fear. That tone was so dejected- just what was Luffy going to put him through in the next few years?

"While we're asking things, mind telling us what happened with you and Vaughan?" Nami inquired. "You were beat up pretty badly."

Luffy swallowed the last of his food, tossed the box to Sanji, crossed his arms, and cocked his head the side. "... Who's Vaughan?"

The navigator rolled her eyes. "The vampire guy."

"Oh, him!" Luffy said, tapping his fist into his hand as he remembered. He frowned. "That guy cheated. He was able to shoot me and made blood do weird stuff. I almost had him, but then he made my head all heavy and I passed out!"

"Your head is already heavy with rocks," Roronoa pointed out in deadpan. "How could that red-eyed freak make it any heavier?"

"I think what Luffy means is that Vaughan made all the blood go to his head," Chopper theorized. "I remember Erity asking him if he got bored and did that, and he said yes."

Sanji considered the doctor's words. "Hmm... so it's like when you hang upside down too long and you pass out from the head rush. I used to have that problem when I was first learning how to do my handstands."

"Really?" Chopper asked curiously.

"I don't care what it is, it was still cheating!" Luffy huffed. "He cut our fight short and we didn't even get to finish it! I'll get him him next time though!"

"Luffy, I don't think that's a good idea," Tony said, shaking his head.

"Huh? Why not?"

Roronoa stopped walking and shot Luffy an angry glare. "Because when I agreed to let you help me search for my crew, you agreed not to fight anyone without my saying so or unless you absolutely had to."

Everyone else stopped walking as Roronoa did.

"I did have to!" Luffy argued. "He could've stopped your heart with those sleepy darts! Chopper said so!"

"Revenge is not a good reason to fight, Luffy!"

"But what about that time in Water 7-" Tony began to say.

Roronoa shushed him. "Shush! That was different!" He turned back to Luffy. "Nevertheless, you still went against our deal, and now look at you! If Vaughan hadn't returned the blood to your body, you would have died!"

No one made an attempt to argue with him this time, for they all knew for better or worse he was right, even Sanji. They all remained silent and watched the exchange progress.

Luffy ran his fingers over the bandages covering his torso, shoulders, and arms. There was very little of his body that wasn't wrapped in medical gauze. Had he really been that close to death?

He looked back up at Roronoa. "But Zoro-ossan, I-"

"No buts," Roronoa cut him off. "Next time we see that blood-controlling weirdo, I'm handling him. Got it?"

"But I-"

"Got it, Captain?"

Luffy knit his eyebrows, but stiffly nodded.

"Look, I'm not condemning what you did completely. It would make me a hypocrite if I was," Roronoa said, tiredly running a hand through his hair. "You just can't afford to rush into things without thinking, at least not while we're on this island. Alright?"

Chopper really wanted to tell Luffy that Roronoa had spoken similar words to him earlier, but the swordsman had warned that would not be a good idea. He instead remained quiet but sent Luffy good thoughts.

Luffy finally nodded again, but considerably less stiffly.

Satisfied, Roronoa turned back around and returned to walking, as did everyone else. However, the tension hadn't left completely, obvious by the way no one spoke up or made any attempts to converse. They simply let Nami lead them, but the navigator often grumbled to herself and made them change direction. This went on for about fifteen minutes until Luffy couldn't stand the quiet any longer, and he decided it was safe to talk.

Luffy looked glanced around the jungle. "So, where are we now? Zoro-ossan said we're trying to get back to Vivi and the others, didn't he?"

"He did," Lysopp replied. "But we're having a little trouble."

"Trouble?"

Nami crumpled up a piece of paper she had been writing on and threw it on the ground. "I have no idea where the heck we are!"

"What?!" Luffy shouted. He looked terrified. "But you're the navigator! It's your job to know where we are!"

"Hey, don't blame Nami!" Sanji shouted back. "She's doing the best she can!"

"I'm trying to make sense of our location, but with all the random running around we've been doing, I've completely lost our original path!" Nami gestured to the jungle around them. "And every time I try to go back the way we came, it's like the terrain has changed shape. Trees that weren't there before are there, or bushes and vines block the way! I swear, this island's foliage is conspiring to get us all lost!"

Roronoa scoffed. "You're making it sound like the island's alive or something."

Wrong thing to say on his part.

"THE ISLAND'S ALIVE?!" Chopper and Tony screamed in unison.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW COMING HERE WAS A BAD IDEA!" Lysopp shrieked in terror.

"Ha! I knew it was a mystery island!" Luffy yelled triumphantly.

"SHUT UP, THE ISLAND'S NOT ALIVE!" Nami hollered, bonking the four boys on their heads.

Luffy, Lysopp, Chopper, and Tony fell to the ground, nursing large lumps on their heads. By this point everyone had stopped walking either because they were in the aforementioned group and had been knocked to the jungle floor, or they were Roronoa and Sanji, who had halted to wait for Nami to work out her irritation.

The red-haired young woman groaned and slumped to knees. "The island better not be alive. I don't think my sanity could take it if it was."

"If it is alive and it's goal is to drive us all bonkers, it's doing one heck of a job," Sanji said, stubbing out a cigarette then replacing it with a fresh one. Then he knelt down and patted Nami comfortingly on the shoulder. "Just remain strong, Nami-swan. We'll figure it out."

"I don't know if I can. This island has already thrown so much at us," Nami said miserably. "Time travel, bounty hunters, disembodied voices, rainbow fog, moving terrain-"

"Hold it," Lysopp interjected. He stood up. "Nami, could you say that again for me?"

Sanji helped the navigator stand up, after which she gave the sniper a confused look. "Umm... disembodied voices?"

Lysopp shook his head. "No, after that."

"Moving terrain?"

Lysopp slapped his forehead then held his hands out in front of him. "The one in the the middle."[6]

"The rainbow fog?" Nami guessed.

"That's it!" He walked over to Nami and placed an arm around her shoulders, much to Sanji's annoyance (Nami was too confused to care). "Tell me something, Nami. What exactly do you mean by 'rainbow fog?'"

Tony picked himself up from the ground. "Rainbow fog?"

"I guess we never mentioned it, huh?" Nami said. She started to explain. "When we first got stuck in the current, we got pulled into this thick fog surrounding the island- where we eventually heard the voices we told you about. It seemed to be normally colored fog at first, but then it quickly became filled with all sorts of different colors, like a rainbow."

Lysopp's eyes widened, then he groaned and stepped away from Nami, rubbing his temples. "Great. Just great."

"What's great?" Nami asked. "Lysopp, what do you know?"

"Only that I now have an idea as to where we are," Lysopp sighed. He turned to Tony. "Tony, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Tony crossed his little arms and nodded knowingly. "Rainbow Mist?"

Lysopp crossed his arms and nodded in the same knowing manner. "Rainbow Mist."[7]

The rest of the assembled pirates (Luffy and Chopper having already gotten up off the ground) gave the sniper and future reindeer similar questioning looks.

"What are you two babbling about?" Roronoa asked impatiently.

Lysopp placed a hand on Roronoa's good shoulder. "Roronoa, remember that island we visited right after Alabasta? Ruluka?"

Roronoa raised an eyebrow. "The place with the moneylender and the goats?" [8]

"No, that was Goat Island," Tony informed him. "He means after that."

"Ruluka..." Roronoa sounded the name out. It suddenly came to him. "Oh yeah, the island with all the crazy taxes! That island sucked." His eyes widened, and he slapped his forehead. "Of course, the Rainbow Mist. Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

"Because your skull is full of algae instead of brains, unlike the rest of us?" Sanji suggested sincerely.

"At least it's not totally empty like yours, Ero-Cook!" Roronoa barked at him.

Sanji moved to fight him, but Nami punched his arm, making him back off only somewhat reluctantly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Luffy asked. "What do goats and taxes have to do with anything?"

"They don't, actually," Lysopp admitted. "Sorry, Luffy, we're going to have to spoil a future adventure, but it's important."

"If it's important, then it's okay," Luffy assured him. "Just try not to give too much away."

"We'll do our best," Tony promised. "You see, not long after we left Alabasta, we came to this island called Ruluka. To make a long story short, while we were there, a few members of our crew accidentally entered a phenomenon called the Rainbow Mist. As the name implies, it's a rainbow-colored mist that appeared in front of the island."

"When we sailed through it, we entered a pocket dimension called Apes Concert," Lysopp continued. "It had no sense of time. We met a bunch of kids who got stuck in there forty years ago and hadn't aged a day!"

"FORTY YEARS?!" Nami, Sanji, Luffy, and Chopper exclaimed together.

"Are you saying we're in this Apes Concert place and forty years have already passed on the outside?!" Choppered yelled.

"No, it can't!" Nami yelled fearfully. "Vivi still needs to save her country! They can't wait forty years for her to show up!"

"Vivi-chan can't wait another forty years either!" Sanji agreed, teary from the thought of his poor princess's suffering.

"I waited ten years to start my journey!" Luffy shouted, tugging at his hat. "I can't wait another forty years to continue it! This sucks!"

"Would you all pipe down?!" Roronoa snapped at them. "The circumstances of how you got here may be similar, but I doubt this is actually Apes Concert!"

The Past Straw Hats stopped panicking and expectantly awaited further explanation.

"Roronoa's right," Lysopp said. "Apes Concert was a foggy ship graveyard where no light shone, not a tropical island where it can't decide to be night or day."

"Also, you said just a minute ago that the fog didn't start out as rainbow-colored, right?" Tony added. "It didn't turn rainbow for our crew at all. It was gray the whole way through."

"We're just saying the two events may be connected is all," Lysopp finished. "When I was following the hunters, I heard them call the island 'Kāla.' You told me and Tony that you learned something about that, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Brook said there's a fairy tale about this island in the West Blue," Luffy replied. He made a pouty face. "He didn't tell it though. He said he didn't remember much about it except the island was stupid like Zoro and had treasure."

At the mention of treasure, Nami's eyes became berri signs. Oh, if only they could find that legendary treasure!

"What do you mean stupid like me?!" Roronoa demanded.

"He means the part about it being lost in time, Mosshead," Sanji clarified.

"I don't get lost! You guys just go places without telling me!"

"Is he always like this?" Chopper whispered to Nami.

"Yes, unfortunately," Nami replied in a dull tone.

"Hey, Roronoa, isn't Robin also from the West Blue?" Lysopp asked the swordsman, interrupting another possible argument with Sanji. "Think she might know anything about it?"

Roronoa turned away from Sanji and to the longnosed man. "She does make a point of knowing about history and legends, and she did know about the Rainbow Mist the first time around. It's worth a shot."

"But we don't know where she is!" Tony reminded them. "She went off on her own after we weighed anchor!"

"Then let's go meet up with Brook and the others!" Luffy declared. "Then we can find this Robin lady! We're sure to find her with more people looking!"

"You mean I finally get to meet the elusive second female member?!" Sanji gasped excitedly. He twirled in a circle. "Mellorine~!"

Nami sweatdropped. They've all forgotten we're completely lost, haven't they?

Before Nami could remind them of their plight, there was a rustling in the bushes and trees.

Roronoa put a hand on one of his swords. "Someone's coming."

"Crap, is it the bounty hunters again?!" Lysopp yelled.

"I hope so! I owe Vampire Guy a Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy said, grabbing his shoulder and swinging his arm in a circle.

"Luffy, we agreed I'd handle him!" Roronoa scolded him.

"You should let him have one punch. He deserves that much," Sanji pointed out. "I'll even help you hold the bloodsucker down if you ask nicely."

"Screw you, Cook!"

Chopper sniffed the air, then ran in front of the group. "Stop everyone, it's okay! It's not the bounty hunters!"

Nami held up the broken halves of her bo-staff like escrima sticks. "Are you sure?"

Tony ran to his younger self's side. "He's sure, and I can confirm it! It's been awhile, but I know those scents anywhere!"

As soon as the reindeers made their announcement, something broke through the flora and stopped directly in front of the pirates. Save for the two doctors (and Roronoa- his eye just widened), everyone gasped. This person wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be on the Merry with Brook, Zoro, and Usopp.

"Vivi?!"

The princess was limp in Carue's saddle, covered in bandages and wearing different clothes then she was before. He face was pressed against the back of Carue's neck. The duck himself panted heavily, as if the forces of hell had been biting at his heels the entire way here.

"I'm sorry," Vivi mumbled into Carue's neck.

"Sorry?" Luffy echoed. He rushed over to her. "Sorry for what? What are you doing here? Where's Zoro and everyone else?"

Vivi lifted her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Her voice choked. "They told me... they told me to get away!"

Ice water ran into Luffy's veins. It was as if he had just fallen into the sea and couldn't move.

"You will never see them again."

---

Next Time:

200 Review Special- Omakes Galore #2! Stories include "Luffy's Adventures on Kāla #1", "Chronicles of Lone Wolf Vaughan #1", and so much more!

---

[1] This is a joke from Frozen. It's a lyric from the song all the trolls sing.
[2] This joke I borrowed from Big Bang Theory. I don't remember which episode, but it was when Sheldon's mom visited.
[3] Crona from Soul Eater can do this with his black blood, but unlike Vaughan, he is able to move while doing it. I never saw how that would work realistically speaking. His whole body should have locked up. I decided this was a good weakness to give Vaughan.
[4] This is one of two names that is given to the treasure Carrion is obsessed with finding. If you go back to the first Omake special, Carrion refers to it as this in his bit.
[5] The "Uso" part in Usopp's name means "lie" in Japanese, and "Lysop" is what they call Usopp in Germany.
[6] I borrow a lot of jokes from other shows. I got this one from a running gag in Danny Phantom.
[7] See the Rainbow Mist Filler Arc for further details.
[8] See the Goat Island Filler Arc for details.