Chapter # 17 is a go.

After some of the towns and villages that they had been to since Luffy's bounty had been raised, the crew had been used to seeing Luffy's bounty picture posted up in bars, restaurants, taverns, and just about every other imaginable place that they could think of. However, Sanji and Usopp were surprised to find that not only were there no pictures of Luffy anywhere, but there were absolutely no people either. This was strange as there were doors to people's homes that were wide open and even a few den den mushis that were seemingly in use.

"Oi, Sanji. What's up with this town? It seems like there are people who live here, but there is no one around."

"I have no idea, what's going on. This seems more like a ghost town to me." The cook seemed undaunted by the ominous air of the place as he lit his fourth cigarette since landing.

"G-g-g-g-ghost town???" Usopp curled up into a little ball on the ground. "Oh no, my I-can't-enter-this-town disease has suddenly struck again."

"Fine by me. Stay here by yourself. I'll bet your I-can't-stay-here-by-myself disease will change your mind,"

"Oiiiiiiiiii! Sanji! Wait for me!"Usopp was up and with him in a flash.

Soon they came up to a sign that read, 'Seaside Island. Industrial district this way.' An arrow pointed to the left. 'Concessions this way.' Another arrow pointed to the right.

"Ok, I guess I'm headed this way. Good luck, Usopp." Sanji turned right and walked off.

Sanji walked through the concessions district, turning his head to find a decent place to get his ingredients from. It was just as he had imagined. A lot of food shops, though most were premade.

When he finally found the one he was looking for, he was surprised to find someone already there. That surprises turned to deep annoyance when he saw that the man was eating everything up.

"Oi, you. Just because no one's here to tell you to stop, that doesn't mean you should waste all that good food." Sanji lit another cig.

"Shut up. Can't you see that I am busy?"

The voice rang a bell somewhere in Sandi's mind. 'I know that I've heard this annoying voice before, but where. "Besides, a king should get to do what he wants when he wants." The bell went crazy.

"Oi, you are that fat bastard (no pun intended Austin Powers fans) from that winter Island. Wapol."

Wapol stood and turned to Sanji. "Huh? You! That blonde bastard that was with that straw hat kid. You cost me my kingdom and now I am going to make you royally pay."

Sanji lit his next cig and got ready.

Industrial District)

Usopp looked around for someone, anyone. But all of the shops were closed. Well he wanted to say closed but considering that the doors were still wide open he couldn't tell.

But the fact remained that there was no one in sight. And this slowly began to worry Usopp, who was already beginning to sweat profusely.

He found a shop that looked promising enough to buy supplies from, but of course, it was empty.

"Damn. Now what do I do? I can't come back empty handed but I don't want to simply take anything." He walked out of the shop and decided to keep on looking.

Unfortunately his search wouldn't last long. Almost as soon as he stepped out of the shop a boulder that had been sitting nearby broke into pieces. "Ahhhhh, what was that?"

A second boulder broke as well, and then a third. Usopp continued screaming, yelling out, "This really is a ghost town and the ghosts are here." But once he actually got a look at another boulder being broken, he noticed that it didn't break at all. Instead it looked like it was being sliced into pieces.

"Wait I've seen this before." And in answer a voice called back to him. "I was wondering when you would remember."

Suddenly a man wearing a black suit, glasses, and gloves with claws attached to the fingers appeared before Usopp.

"K-K-Kuro. What are you doing here?" Usopp was petrified.

"I'm here to get my revenge on the straw hat. But first, I think that I will start with you. This should be simple since no one else will interfere with this battle. It is just you and me, Usopp."

However, instead of being scared and running away like normal, Usopp remembered that he had tried to kill Kaya so he could take her money. He used that to fill his rage. He lowered his goggles and took out his Slingshot.

"Oh, do you actually mean to try and face me like a man?"

"No question about it, Kuro."

Forest near the town)

Chopper and Robin decided to walk into the forest from the ship. After they had gotten deep enough, Robin headed on to the ruins, while Chopper began to search for herds and plants for his medicine.

He found a nice little floral oasis of healing plants and herbs a few minutes after splitting with Robin and began collecting.

Meanwhile, in the bushes near the blue nosed doctor's position, two pairs of eyes looked on.

"Hmm, for a deer, he is rather cute." Commented Alvida.

"Yea and I'll bet he is even cuter when he is completely chopped up. But who was that woman that he was with? You think she was the extra member Kuro was talking about?"

"I don't know, but she said something about my sweet little Luffy. I hope he isn't trying to cheat on me." Whined Alvida.

"Hmm, well then why don't you go and ask her?"

"Oh, Buggy dear, you are too good to me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before sliding off after Robin.

Buggy in the mean time, decided that he had waited long enough. He jumped out of the bushes. "It's killing time."

Chopper turned around in a flash and screamed. "AHHHHHHHHH! WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?" He stopped for a second and got a good look at the guy.

"Ha, so I see you are impressed with how I went about this huh? Well that is to be expected from a captain of my caliber."

But Chopper simply said. "You have a funny looking nose." Naturally, this hit a nerve with Buggy.

"What was that, you stupid deer?"

"Asshole, I'm a reindeer."

"Ha, see how it feels then, smart ass deer."

"Bastard. Shut up, you big, red nosed asshole." At that he went heavy point.

"Oh, that's right, you have a zoan fruit. That's good. I haven't cut one of you up yet."

"And you ain't staring with me, clown."

Ruins)

These weren't as old as she was used to, but Robin was still as intrigued about these ruins as she always was.

She had learned a little about the people that lived in these ruins. There was nothing outstanding about them except for the fact that they seemed to worship some kind of square stone that was hidden deep in the ruins. Her first and most obvious guess was that the stone was indeed a poneglyph, but she had to be certain.

As she was about to make her way into the ruins a voice caught her attention. "Are a member of the straw hat crew?"

Robin turned to see a woman wearing a purple coat and cowboy hat, and wielding a rather large mace, standing atop the ruins.

"Yes, miss, that is correct. How may I help you?"

"Mmmm, so how is that precious straw hat boy doing right now? Hmm, you would know wouldn't you? You seemed interested in him during your walk here."

Robin smiled. "So you and that big nosed clown were following us then."

"Yes, and I hope your friend, that cute little deer didn't call him that. He is rather sensitive about his nose."

"Yes, well I hope he didn't call my friend that. He is rather touchy about being called a deer."

"Hmm, looks like they are gonna get along just fine. Which is much more than I can say about us. Now shall we begin?"

"I have no reason to fight with you. I just want to explore these ruins and learn about history."

"Oh, no reason huh? I know your type well. Once you press the right buttons they will be perfectly willing to fight. For example." Alvida brought her mace down upon a section of the ruins, causing it to crumble into pieces.

Robin, who had begun to walk off into the other direction, stopped in her tracks.

"I suppose I pressed your buttons, right?"

Robin dropped her bag and removed her hat. "Please excuse me, for I cannot forgive you for what you have done." Robin turned towards her with pure evil in her eyes.

On the coast on the side of the island)

Nami had put the finishing touches on her map and decided that since she finished a little earlier than expected; she would lounge a little on the beach.

The sun felt rather good on her right now. She hadn't had this much time to herself in a while a she wanted to relish every minute of it. It was enough to spoil a girl, as if she wasn't spoiled enough already, courtesy of Sanji.

She had almost fallen asleep when she heard someone walking up to her.

"Luffy, go back to the ship. The map had been done and I don't need any help." 'Although, I suppose a little company would not be a bad thing. But then I would have wanted Vivi to come. But then that would leave Luffy alone on the ship, and Luffy alone on the ship was not a good thing.'

"So, you finished another map huh? Well, I suppose it's a start."

She was sent immediately into shock. The voice was one that she did not want to hear now or ever. In fact she was sure that she had heard the last of that voice long ago in east blue.

Slowly she stood and turned to stare into the menacing eyes of her former employer; Arlong.

"A-Arlong, why- why are you-?"

Heh heh heh, surprised to see me Nami? You shouldn't be. After all, I told you that you would be a part of my crew for life. And the minute that the straw hat bastard is out of my way, then that is when you are coming back with me to your village. Only this time, instead of making them pay a fee every month, I will kill one villager every month. And I will make you pick him or her."

"No, no, no. This can't be happening. Tell me this is not happening."

"Yes it is, Nami. But before that, I think that I will have some fun with you first."

That clicked Nami back into reality. 'Luffy, you defeated him for me once. This time, I will take him out myself.' She took out her climatact and assembled it for combat. "Get ready Arlong, cause I ain't the same girl you captured in my village."

Arlong laughed. "This should be fun."

Other side of Island)

Zoro continued to train himself to the best of his ability.

'I need to harness this power that I have used. Chopper was right. The deeper into the grand line we get, the tougher the enemies get. I must be able to use this power at will.'

As he pondered this, Don Krieg stayed concealed in the bushes. Well as concealed as the most heavily armored pirate in history could be. He was trying to find a good opportunity to strike, but that would never come.

"If you are waiting for an opening you aren't going to get it, so you might as well come out and face me."

Krieg cursed himself but still emerged from his hiding place behind the trees. "So you knew I was here the whole time. How? Some kind of third eye, or sixth sense?"

"No, your armor reflected the light. Not a smart idea if you're trying to hide." Zoro turned. "You're the bastard that attacked the restaurant. I heard that Luffy took you out but I didn't get to see it. Looks like my turn is here." He took out two of his swords leaving the Wado sheathed.

Krieg laughed. "Go ahead and try to cut my new armor. I've had it completely reinforced. There is no way that it can be broken this time."

Zoro simply smiled. "We will see."

Going Merry)

Luffy had been sleep for the longest time since the group split apart. Vivi imagined that he picked up that trait from Mr. Bushido a while ago. However that bad feeling kept her from feeling even the least bit relaxed about this place. Finally giving up on hiding it, she tried to talk to the captain.

"Luffy, Luffy wake up please."

"What, what is it? Is it lunch?"

"No, I'm just kind of worried is all. Do you really think everyone will be ok alone?"

"Don't worry. They can take care of themselves."

"Ok, but still-."She never got to finish.

"Your friends should be the least of your worries, princess." A voice called from the dock.

Vivi and Luffy both headed to the side of the ship to see a man that Vivi had never seen before standing there.

"Straw Hat Luffy. It's been a while hasn't it? I hope you don't think that I have forgotten what you did to me in Mock Town."

Luffy gave the man a blank stare. "Eh, who are you?"

"WHAT??? Do you mean to tell me that you don't remember who I am? It's me, Bellamy?"

"Huh, Bellamy? Did we fight before?"

"Yes we did. And because I went easy on you, you beat me with one punch."

"Oh, that's why I don't remember you. I don't remember weak fights."

"WHAT??? That's it. Boss let's get on with the plan." And as soon as the 'boss' emerged from behind the building Vivi's eyes went wide. "Hello, Vivi."

"OI, Vivi. Isn't that your friend from Alabasta? Why is he here?"

But Vivi never heard him. Her eyes were trained on the person that was standing below her.

"K-Kohza?"

Pants. That was not an easy chapter to do. Hopefully my hard work produces the desired result so please. R&R.