Editing credits (and my thanks ;)) are going to the SadEcho as usual :)

Warnings: Language, tiny bits of adult's suggestions, possibly hilarity? (I had great fun during the writing, so I hope you will have as well :))

Special warning: After one week without any internet at all and another one spent by not having the time to write at all, my mind went definitely crazy. This chapter contains almost no storyline but a heap of pure crack my mind happen to produce ...

I promise, the speed of this story will pick up with the next chapter. Since it's going all too slow, far more than I formerly anticipated. Sorry about that! *bows down in an apologetic gesture*

Certain people are just too easy to target. Other's are just too honest ... and so, some rules are needed to be set up before problems will arise.

*CRASH*

For a few seconds, Zoro's breath was knocked out of his lungs, as he and Joyce harshly landed inside of the men's quarters. Unfortunately for him, he just served as the redheaded pirate's landing matress, feeling like one of his weights just hit him hard, straight into his stomach. The sole weight of the redhead, who was now lying spread over his stomach with his feet bare feet almost in the Zoro's face, was more than just unbelievable.

"Thanks for choosing the Crazy Airlines." A hoarse, slightly muffled voice was coming from somewhere around Zoro's legs. "We hope you are satisfied with our company, and wish you a pleasant evening. ... and hell, I should really start to work on improving my landings, or I'm going to kill myself one day for real!"

Finally catching his breath, the green-haired swordsman tried to shove the redhead's rear out from the close vicinity of his face, as a vein of pure irritation bulging out on his forehead.

„No! I will kill you myself before you will ever have the chance to do it yourself! Zoro roared in irritation. "And get the hell off of me you crazy bastard!" He yelled as he pushed again.

"Awww ... come on, you don't have to be so mean." Joyce lifted his head, looking up through between his own knees, grinning, but not really making an attempt at moving.

"Get! Off!"

"... Greenie meanie. No fun." His grin instantly switched into a childish pout, the same one that had set Zoro on fire a few hours before. And if that wasn't enough, the redhead dared to slightly poke Zoro's nose with his big toe.

" ... die," the threatening growl emitted from the depth of swordsman's chest, along with a thick, dangerous, aura filling the air. If a mere glare could kill, the redhead would have dropped dead on the spot in that instant.

„Ehehehe … whops?" Joyce' face instantly switched into an expression that could have easily been described as an expression of a cat, that just ate a canary. That was a challenge the redhead could simply not pass, since there was a possibility of a lot of fun ahead. At least for him.

Both of their eyes locked together, the tension between them rising to an almost unbearable level, yet none of them moved. But the face of the swordsman, who was sprawled beneath, was sending out more than a clear warning.

One second.

As if someone shot out a signal, they both moved in the same moment. Hammocks blasted away in all directions and Joyce didn't waste his time. Having an enraged swordsman hot on his heels, he sprinted like a rabbit out of the room.

„What they are ..." Usopp started to wonder, but didn't have a chance to continue his musing. Just barely he managed to jump aside and save his own life, before he was literally run over.

With a speed, quite rivaling the Rocketman in a full throttle, the red and green duo dashed around the deck, almost like untelligible blur.

„Tag game! Yay!" Luffy exclaimed and jumped up and down, rushing to Usopp, smacking the poor sharpshooter hard between the shoulder blades. „Let's play too!"

Poor Usopp wasn't able to voice his protest, due to lack of the air in his lungs that had been so abruptly knocked out of him. Coughing hard, he tried to catch his breath, which turned out to be pretty challenging task when his captain keep smacking him over his already abused back. Just when Luffy was ready to dash, something caught his cheek and stretched it into inhuman levels.

„You are not going anywhere." Nami's eyebrow was dangerously twitching again. She had not letting the rubber cheek go, so it snapped its owner back to a more natural shape like … well, a rubber band.

„Don't tell me you became even an bigger idiot than two years ago!" The navigator screamed like banshee, loosing her nerves over her captain's shenanigans. Her litany was abruptly interrupted before she can even properly start. Irritated beyond belief, the navigator threw a glare at the perpetrators of the sudden commotion, just to be able to see the next course of events.

Just when Zoro's hand shot forward to grab the collar of his personal provocateur, the redhead suddenly threw himself aside.

*POIIINGGGGG*

The foremast vibrated like a tuning fork when the green-haired swordsman finally peeled his face off the wood. Now decorated with a wide, reddening strip decorating his face from forehead to chin, Zoro's expression was much darker than an average demon would ever be able to bear. Digging his glare hard into the snickering redhead, who was standing at the opposite side of the mast, the latter quickly caught up and dashed again, this time towards Franky's impressive body frame in attempt to find a cover behind the cyborg.

Everyone's eyes were set on the scene unfolding before them with disbelieving expressions. Nami frowned, even forgetting to scold Luffy for a second despite still holding onto his cheek up. Her attention snapped back to Luffy, giving the captain a ridiculously wide-eyed expression.

„Ehehehe …" Joyce rubbed sheepishly at his head, messing the wild red hair up even more in the process, as he peeked from his temporary cover, „Guess I'm ... well ... how was that word ... ehm ... sorry? Maybe?" he tried, already knowing, it was futile. But he did it anyway.

„No, you are not." Slowly, like predator, who has his prey right before his eyes to ensure it won't escape, the swordsman started to pace towards the peeking obnoxity. It was clear from his expression that Joyce was as good as dead at this point. „But don't worry … I will make you feel really sorry ..."

„Z-Zoro-bro?" Franky asked cautiously, uncertain at what is going to happen. At least, what is expected from him to do, in this kind of dire situation. „Jo-san, can you try and find cover anywhere else? Please?" he tried to ask, hoping that he would be left out of this ridiculous situation, or at least able to get out of it unscathed.

„I would like to but well ..." the redhead sweat-dropped, observing, how the swordsman was closing the distance, „... he's really scary, and you are so big and look so dependable …"

Two big mismatched puppy-like eyes looked at the cyborg. At first Franky was a little startled by the change of character, but he quickly regained his composure, trying not to blush at the compliment.

„... and drop that crap behind my name, if you would be so kind." The puppy look disappeared in an instant, switching into the sour one, bringing the cyborg harshly back down to the reality.

„Huh?" Franky looked down in puzzlement. Joyce's word choice end of that sentence, and sudden change of tone, left the cyborg dumbfounded.

„That -san crap. Thanks in advance."

Before Franky managed to answer, his attention was brought from the hiding redhead back to the green-haired danger before him.

An impossible predatory grin cracked on Zoro's face, as he took another step forward.

„Maybe I really overdid it a bit?" the redhead mused, sticking his pointer finger between his lips in genuine wonder. His observation of the green-haired man was temporarily interrupted as he occupied himself with his thoughts, which only succeeded in adding another dose of oil to the fire. Just in case there wasn't enough fuel present already.

„A bit?" Nami cocked up an eyebrow in disbelief. 'Was that question for real? Forget that.' she mentally slapped herself, 'Was that person for real?'

Flapping of wings tore Nami's eyes from the scene before her, just to realize Lissy had landed on her shoulder, chirping something. It looked like the falcon was clearly siding with her in this matter.

„Hopeless idiot." Chopper suddenly let out.

„Uh? Chopper?" Nami questioned in confusion. Sudden boldness in a situation like this was unexpected from the little doctor.

„She said it." The doctor pointed absently at Lissy, who nodded. „It's true … moreover when there's no cure for idiocy yet … I should really speed up my research." he added with a large sweat drop beading near his forehead.

„Ehehee … I'm screwed, am I not?" Joyce scratched at his head, as if thinking, in puzzlement, while grinning at the same time.

„... such accuracy … how is he doing that?" Sanji smirked and shook his head in wonder, exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke. Apparently his current amusement upon teasing the poor swordsman like this made him forget about his own antipathy towards their annoying, red-headed passenger. It was kind of interesting to watch, how Joyce's acts are able to turn the sides so quickly with such ease. What was actual a second before already changed into something different the next one.

„Don't tell me you forget already, Sanji?" Usopp sweat-dropped at the recent memories. For him, it would be something he would have a hard time forgetting. If he ever manages to get it out of his mind in the first place.

„Like I ever could! That friggin' sea urchin is gonna pay for everything he dared cause up until now!" And so, the old pissed off Sanji was back on track, burning with pure passion and anger.

„Then I would advise you to proceed, before Zoro-san will turn our guest into minced meat," Robin offered with her share of trademark macabre humor, which highly contrasts with her ever-present faint smile.

„R-robin ..." Usopp shot the archaeologist a sweat dropping glare. If he ever get used to this, it will be like a miracle. It was at times like these, that his crewmembers were scarier than even the toughest enemy.

„Bet. on. it," the swordsman growled to confirm Joyce's statement, his eyes drilling holes into the peeking redhead, as he unsheathed one of his blades.

„Whoops ... time to run."

„Go Zoro!" Luffy cheered, albeit a bit muffled given his uncomfortable position in Nami's grasp, just as his swordsman darted forward. Unfortunately, his cheer also dragged the navigator's attention back at him, instantly reminding her why she had caught her captain in the first place.

„H-hey! Zoro-bro! Be careful!" Franky yelped and flinched when the sharp blade missed his rear by a mere inches, cutting through the air as Joyce successfully avoided the blow and hid at the opposite side of the cyborg. Instantly, the poor shipwright found himself locked in the middle of a very tight circle created by the two blurs that was Zoro chasing after Joyce.

„Come here you red-headed asshole! I'll slice you up for good!" Both participants stopped instantly on their respective spots, glaring at each other, trying to anticipate each other's further swordsman roared from one side, trying to cut off the redhead's path, while Joyce was peeking at him from the opposite, switching sides and feigning his movements in attempt to confuse the swordsman with Franky in the middle as some kind of obstacle.

„That's not going to convince me to come closer!" The redhead peeked from behind Franky again, ducking back, when the blade threatened to split his head cleanly into two.

„Just wait till I catch you!" Zoro dashed again and so did Joyce.

„Good luck!"

Another couple of rounds were made around the poor cyborg, who really started to doubt that his speedos would survive the sudden assault. Zoro's blade had been missing them far too close for his personal taste, but as he was now, there was no way out of this pinch. Just as his mind offered him the reassurance of how lucky he was, to be now plated with steel everywhere, another thought ruined his relief when he remembered Zoro was able to cut through steel like butter. Being the man he was, Franky started to feel cold sweat forming on his forehead at that sudden realization, and the closeness of a sharp edge being swung around his waist made him even more uncomfortable.

„You stupid rubber head! Care to explain what you were thinking?!" Nami screamed from a very close distance right into Luffy's ear, temporarily ignoring the insanity happening on board. „Entrusting our Sunny into the hands of a complete stranger, who wanted to kill us in the first place?! Did you go completely nuts these past two years?!"

„But! It was fun!" Luffy tried to protest, as his navigator was angrily tugging at his cheek, successfully making his talking harder than usual.

„My own words!" Cheerful laughter came from somewhere around Franky, without a doubt from Joyce's mouth. „Otherwise I wouldn't even bother myself with doing something like that!"

„See! Odd-eye is good!" Luffy instantly sided with their passenger in this matter, trying to justify his own actions and decisions.

„By the way, if I wanted to kill you so badly, as you are saying, why are you still alive in the first place?!" the redhead threw the question out while successfully avoiding another attempt of Zoro's catching, much to the swordsman's ire.

„'Cause you are outnumbered and your boat is crushed!" Nami threw back, successfully mounting the steam. If the redhead's goal was to break the record of setting every strawhat member into the fire withing shortest time possible, he was more than successful. Now with Nami, it was the third hit of the bull's eye in a row.

„You are mixing apples with pears, that has nothing to do with it." Joyce casually swept her argument out of the table like nothing. "And it's a ship! Not some friggin' boat, dammit!" he passionately added from the outskirt of the blurred circle.

„He's really something, isn't he?" Robin chuckled. This exchange was amusing, at least for the dark-haired woman. Still, she couldn't deny, that the foreign pirate probably had a point. Up until now, their passenger wasn't very discreet about his intentions, even if they sounded more than just plain crazy. And given how crafty he was while escaping what should have been certain death from Zoro's hands, he probably had to have some trump cards up his sleeves to back those words up.

„How joyous to observe such energy of youth ..." Brook sighed in a bliss, temporarily being lost in his own memories. One of many things he loved about his new crew was their liveliness. Where else could you find such a crew, overflowing with life and joy? In a world, where the most pirates were merciless and bloodthirsty, it was like a miracle for him to meet Luffy, who straightforwardly denied the common sense in all possible and sometimes even impossible ways.

„When will you finally start to use your head for some other purpose than just eating?! Not everyone out there is a friend! This stupidity of yours will be our doom one day! Are you at least aware of that?!"" Nami snapped back at pouting Luffy, who was still hanging down from her hand, ignoring the tagging duo again. Luffy was her first priority to beat back into line. As a captain they were depending on his insight, but there were certain boundaries that should never been crossed. Inviting a complete strangers from the waters of the New World on board, and treating them as a friends given the course of the previous events, was definitely one of them.

Slightly bending the rules of his crazy game, the redhead slipped out of Zoro's reach by crawling between Franky's knees to the opposite side of the cyborg's body, much to the shipwright's dread over his lower regions.

„You little …..!" Zoro made a half circle to get at the same side as well, but Joyce was nowhere to be found. At least on the deck.

„Hey! What are you doing?!" Franky yelped in surprise, trying to catch the redhead, who suddenly appeared behind his neck. Such a heavy weight dancing across his steel shoulders wasn't really pleasurable, but he was lucky to be so sturdy. Otherwise, it would have crushed him by now.

„Get down! Now!" The swordsman was pointing resolutely to the deck in an attempt to emphasize his point and intention. It was similar to a parent, trying to convince his misbehaving child to "get the hell down from that friggin' tree".

„Why should I? Looking at you, nothing nice awaits me down there." Joyce mused from above, trying to dodge Franky's huge arms, as the poor cyborg tried to get rid of him.

„Don't make me come up there!"

„Still, you can try it."

„Damn, you …!" Zoro sheathed his sword and hoisted himself up to Franky's shoulders too.

„Enough you two!" Franky's nerves finally snapped, just by the sheer luck he managed to grab both participants by their coat's collars in his huge hands like two kittens. Now, he was holding them with a considerable gap between both swords wielders to ensure that Zoro would not reach at his counterpart. Otherwise it surely would have end in a massacre.

„Thanks Franky, that's it. Hold them firm." The navigator appreciated the help in calming the situation down before it slipped out of hand. „I wanted to ask our guest a few questions, preferably before Zoro manages to rip him into shreds. He can do that any time afterwards," she informed the redhead casually. Nami turned back towards Luffy, ready to continue to chew him out like a piece of rubber he undoubtedly was. „So?! What are you going to do now?! What you would had been doing, if he would destroyed the Sunny and killed all of us?!"

„What makes you think I'll be in the mood for answering?" Joyce supported his head with his palm, wondering about the certainty of the mikan-head. The sounds coming from the other huge arm snapped his attention back to his original target. Maybe the word „victim" would be more precise at this point.

„Franky! The hell are you doing?! Let me down! Now!" Zoro tried to wiggle out of the iron grasp, but without too much success, sputtering saliva into all directions, trying to get his hands at Joyce at all costs. Then, he spotted a peculiar expression, etched into redhead's features and his eyebrows almost connected themselves in a deep frown.

„What!" he barked out, enhancing his color into a rich shade of red.

"Just wondering whether you are yet ripe or not," Joyce curiously mused, tapping his index finger over his own lips, pointing out a certain hilarious similarity. He threw a conspiring look towards the surprised cook. "Surely, you had to notice as well, being a cook, right, Blondie?" The redhead accompanied his question with a playful, one-eyed wink.

That gesture surprisingly didn't sent thousand of chills up to Sanji's spine, as he would have expected after spending two years on the island full of okamas, which quite surprised him in a confusing way. But before he managed to throw back an angry answer or occupy himself with thinking about the possible cause of his lack of reaction, the sudden realization about what the redhead was referring to hit his brain hard.

Sanji's jaw loosened, threatening his cigarette with falling out of his lips, before he boomed into salves of an uncontrollable laughing fit. Hilarious similarity didn't escaped the sharp, odd eyes. How it was able to escape Sanji, of all people, who spent quite a considerable amount of time with Zoro aboard of the same ship and being a cook at the same time, was a mystery. Maybe it happened because he grew so accustomed to his first made-up insult, Marimo, that he didn't consider anything else at all.

"Gyahahahahahahaaaaa!" The cook was banging his slender, delicate fist into the railing, being crouched over, in attempt not to piss himself due to sudden attack at his diaphragm. "Holy fucking shit! ... Marimo!" he brayed uncontrollably, trying to catch his breath. Not aware in the slightest of the weird looks from his crewmates, he started to wipe away the tears that appeared in his visible eye and tried to calm himself down.

Unfortunately, one look at the swordsman sent him into another laughing fit, much to Zoro's growing anger and confusion.

"Looks like our cook is having a really good time," the archaeologist commented with a chuckle. It was quite a rare sight to see Sanji being so ultimately crippled.

"Did he lose all his gears completely?" Nami wondered with a twitching eye, forgetting about the Luffy for a while again.

"S-sanji?" Chopper warily dared to ask, reminding himself how dangerous a deranged person could be. In his medical mind, the only explanation for the sudden laughter of this scale could be nothing less than a sudden strike of pure madness. "Are you all right?"

"Guess you all didn't notice until now," Joyce snickered, calling out the entire crew. "That's quite surprising. He really looks like ... well ... just look at him ..." snickering again, he gestured towards the confused swordsman.

"He's right!" Luffy suddenly started to laugh in his own way, supporting the redhead' result of observation. Now, it was clear to him, unlike the others. How could he miss something like that?! "Zoro really looks like a ... !"

"Tomato!" Sanji managed to squeeze out between the attempts to catch his breath, stop laughing, and stop himself from pissing. "You fucking Marimo, you really look like some frigging shitty tomato! Nicely ripe, just ready to be harvested!"

Booms of laughter, giggling and face palms overcame the rest of the crew when they finally caught on. Thanks to Zoro's short, spiky green hair and green coat, most of everything the poor swordsman's face resembled a juicy, ripe tomato, hanging down from a green stolon. Literally.

Through Joyce's face flashed satisfaction and enjoyment when the crew started to laugh so hard. It wasn't the usual childish smile, this was a bit more mature. One that Robin didn't miss. It looked like the pirate was pleased by the fact that everyone around was smiling and laughing, basically having a great fun. Well ... almost everyone.

On the contrary, Chopper would never have guessed a human's face could take on such a dark shade of red and still survive the blood pressure it required. But well, it was Zoro who performed this task. So in the end it didn't surprise the doctor that much, being used to the ridiculous sturdiness of the green-haired man. Someone, who seemed to have more than five litres of blood within his body, had to have high-pressure resistant veins able to withstand that crazy amount. Ready to start yelling at the trembling cook and laughing crew, Zoro's angry fit was stopped before he could even start.

„You really riped!" Joyce's eyes lit up with pure childish excitement, upon that change and realization, "... How cuteeee~!" An adoring chime sounded, despite the raspy voice, which only crowned the entire situation with pure insanity, pushing the meaning of that word into a completely different, much higher level, again.

It lasted a second, during which Zoro's jaw loosened, in attempt to grasp what he just heard. 'Cute? Did that …' he found himself struggling to properly name the entity hanging before him just out of his reach, '... just called him "cute"?! And a tomato on top of that?! Just when did he start to side with that idiotic love cook?! Of all the possible people?! … the hell is happening here?!'

Zoro had the miraculously survived Mihawk's sudden laughter two years ago, which had really been like the foreboding of an apocalypse that would be cast over this poor world. The ever stoic swordmaster had laughed so hard, it had to be some sign of incoming disaster. But never would he have thought something like this could really be happening!

Upon remembering his former teacher, whom he once vowed to kill, his mind flashed some of Mihawk's words again.

"... beware of everything, that happens to have a red hair, if you don't intent to aim for a constant headache for the rest of your life."

'It had to be just a coincidence.' Zoro tried inwardly to assure himself, 'No way the first redhead I happened to meet would be so obnoxiously annoying as this rare example!'

Snapping back to reality from his inner thinking, the swordsman's mental gears clicked together in understanding, successfully blowing his anger into full glory.

„Dammit! I'm not some friggin' tomato, and I dare you to try to call me cute ever again!" Zoro roared, tossing and twisting himself but without too much success, "Get me down so I can kill him! I will kill both of them! Right now! Frrranky!" he sputtered into all directions.

„Okay, I got it. Sure you aren't." Joyce grinned from ear to ear in apparent amusement not really meaning his own words seriously. He was greatly enjoying the situation as it was, until Luffy's protesting voice reached over the sounds of anger erupting out of the restricted green-haired man.

"But Odd-eye is a friend!" the captain protested, stubbornly defending his opinion before the enraged navigator, who started to pull his cheek again.

"And what makes you think that?! He even tried to drown you, you idiot!" Nami averted her eyes from unusual scene and screamed. "People, who are trying to harm you are not a friends for goodness sake!"

She was the only one who had not laughed, except a light chuckle that had made its way through her lips at the very beginning. The hilarity of the revelation was just too insane, but she would be a hypocrite not to admit that on the inside she had been having as much fun as the rest of the crew. But, straightening her captain out required a straight face. You just can't lecture a person while grinning like an idiot. That's not how it works.

"He saved me!" Luffy blurted out in innocent bluntness.

"WHAT?!" It wasn't only Nami's voice that squeaked in surprise, successfully cutting off the laughing, and replacing it with a pure confusion.

The shocked silence, that spread over the deck was interrupted only by a loud smack of face palm, performed by the redhead. "... Brilliant. When shitting already, why notto pileit on." he muttered quietly in a very annoyed and sarcastic tone.

"He saved me from the water! So he's a friend!" Luffy repeated and grinned from ear to ear, at least in the extent, that was allowed to him by sudden slip of Nami's grasp. "Ne? Odd-eye?" His big eyes tried to seek for the support from the person in question.

"... finished already?" Joyce's sour and very annoyed tone precisely matched his expression, as he folded his arms before his chest over the sudden revelation. Still hanging down by the collar from Franky's fist, given his newest posture, it was quite a sight. "Satisfied with the outcome?" the pirate gestured in a sarcastic, wide gesture towards the shocked, dumbfounded crew, that stared at their captain. Their glares switching from Joyce and then back at Luffy. It was obvious, that whatever the rubber man wanted, it was nowhere to be found.

"Huh?" the rubber man tilted his head to the side, not getting the weird reaction of his savior. Shouldn't he be pleased by his revelation? Besides, it was true!

*SMACK* Nami's fist connected with Luffy's head again and instantly grabbed him by his ear.

"Ow ow ow!" Luffy protested against his ear's abuse, but nothing could soften the navigator's heart. The rubber powers of his were rendered unusable in his current situation. How was Nami able to hurt his spirit. He always wondered if he would ever bother with actually thinking over something other than what would be served for dinner.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" the navigator screamed. Many things could have been be different if they knew this fact in the first place. Especially the hostile treatment they inadvertedly gave to their unexpected passenger. Great. Thanks to Luffy's obliviousness, they now looked like a bunch of assholes, who were repaying kindness with hostility. Could the situation became even worse at this point?

"Cuz there was no reason to bring it up at all," Joyce coldly growled out in a pure annoyance, digging his sharp, odd glare right into a confused Luffy.

This unexpected twist of a situation was everything but up to his liking, if his sudden and violent mood swing was any indicator. "Now, the fun is spoiled. Thank you very much, idiot," he added almost venomously, deftly undoing the clasp on his belt with a metallic click and caught it on his ankle before it could crash into the deck. Hooking his index finger behind the second layer of his green sash, the redhead loosened the confinement of red fabric, which allowed him to slip out of his yukata like a snake without dropping his swords down or unfolding the sash. Kicking the belt back into the air, he hoisted it up to his shoulder and with a harsh tug, yankeding his red coat out of Franky's slightly lessened grasp, while swiftly turning on his heel. "There just has to be some kind of idiot every fucking time to spoil everything. Damn them all," he muttered angrily for himself, stomping towards the rear deck.

Behind his back, the strawhats exchanged confused looks, with the only exception being Robin, who, like always, seemed to know more, than she let out.

For the dark-haired archaeologist, reading the other's personalities was easy most of the time. Since her survival depended on it for many years, she was an experienced reader of others. Despite what could be spotted on the first look, there was more things under this first layer, and her curiosity started to act. What exactly was going through Joyce's mind? Why is he acting like that? What made him be this way ... ? Too many questions at once. But she knew how to wait. And that the waiting could bring up the sweetest results.

When Joyce's stomping suddenly stopped, their heard the sound of waves splashing, causing the looks of everyone to be dragged back to him. Joyce was staring somewhere into the darkness, in the direction where the reef was positioned. A brief flash of excitement ran through his face, hiting that there was some kind of idea forming inside his mind before that expression disappeared like smoke in the wind.

"So, now that it has turned to this, let's clear a few important facts before it causes some unwanted misunderstanding." He turned back towards the crew with a firm expression, hinting his hidden, still somewhat present, irritation.

"You, Chibi." The odd-eyed glare dug deep into Chopper, who stepped back a few steps to increase the space. His small back hit something thin and hard, and upon that he turned around to face the object, being Brook's shin and hid behind the musician in the opposite way. "I would seriously advice you to stop butting into my fights, if you don't want to be hurt. That goes for everyone else as well." His sharp glare slid over every strawhat on board with unexpected hardness. It was quite shocking to see the such the once cheerful person, being suddenly so cold and firm. "I don't like it and I will not tolerate it. Rule number one."

The redhead made a brief pause, successfully creating the tension within the air.

"As for the rule number two, I'm not your friend. Dunno, where you picked up that nonsense, but you better forget it right now, or you will regret it later for sure. Save that for someone else, I'm not interested," he announced with a serious undertone. The nervousness had hit most of the weaker members of the strawhats, and Chopper again, fought the urge to run. That dangerous feeling assaulted his instincts again, making the redhead's statement even more crushing.

Turning towards the railing, marking this business as already solved, the pirate put his belt over the top edge near his sailor's sack, he casually slipped into the wide sleeves of his coat, leaving it wide open like a cape. As he climbed on the top of the railing, the weird pressure in the air instantly disappeared like the snap of fingers. Squatting, the redhead lightly slid his palms over the outer sides of his thighs and calves with a faraway expression.

'It's still within the safe limit, so it should be fine. I'm certain, that I will probably myself with heaps of names later ...' he inwardly cringed, checking his own state, ' ... but I live only once after might not be another chance to take a look.' he shrugged his mind train effortlessly off.

"Lissy?" Joyce casually asked over the shoulder, calling up his animal companion, who lifted her head up in an alarm. Surely, he couldn't think about …

"Keep an eye on a things here, please. If something happens, do as usual. It won't take long."

Yep. He couldn't.

He already did.

Alarmed whistling intertwined with angry high-pitched tones, and panicked waving of wings, cut the air apart with its urgency, causing Chopper to blush again. Most probably, the falcon didn't bother herself with modesty language. It made the doctor wonder if it was something she acquired from Joyce, since the redhead's speech was pretty colorful one as well.

"Something tells me, I don't want to know what you just said." Joyce turned away with a puzzled expression. "At a situations like these, twice as much. Well, never mind … thanks anyway. I'm counting on you!"

"Hey! Where the hell you think you are going?!" Zoro was the first one to recover from the sudden change, finally slipping his collar out of Franky's grasp.

"Wait! I'm not done yet! We are grateful that you saved Luffy, but you still have a lot to explain here!" Nami screamed at the pirate, who tossed her a confused glare over the shoulder. Being as hyped up as she was, it was hard to express the gratitude in a more proper way.

"Explanation?" he asked curiously, before setting up a polite smile, closing his odd-eyes. "Then, I'm afraid it will need to wait for later. Right now, I'm pretty busy as you might see, so sorry to disappoint your expectation, Miss."

"You are not going anywhere!"

"I wonder about that. Besides it's your curiosity. It will not run anywhere, not without you, Miss." Joyce winked at Nami and turned his head back into the previous direction. "And when we are at it, be so kind and stick your gratitude ... you know where to. With that, I'm off then," he announced casually. In that casual kind of tone, made up especially on empty commenting of the weather.

"Wait!" Zoro rushed to catch the redhead, but it was too late. Like a suddenly loosened spring, Joyce shot out of the railing, disappearing into the darkness towards the faintly illuminated reef. Only the violent flapping of the edges of his tattered garment hinted the curve he was following during his jump.

"The hell is with him?" Sanji wondered, frowning, as he light up another cigarette. The sudden changes of mood, the scolding which they just earned, and the weird actions that resulted into ridiculous game of tag around Franky… it didn't make the slightest sense. Most of all, he felt bothered and confused by his own reaction, or precisely, lack of it. A man had winked at him in a such way , and he had not reacted in the slightest?! Oh shit, it had to be far, far worse than he thought!

"Don't take it too personally. All the time it's like this. She said." Chopper translated Lissy's sighing chirping. The falcon had obviously undergone a variety of rich experiences with her companion, but it clearly didn't put her little heart at ease.

"Maybe ..." Robin started to muse, but her eyes caught the two outstretched hands of her captain. Nami, instantly followed where the dark-haired woman had been looking, just to realize what was going on, twisting her expression into pure dread.

"Gomu Gomu noooo …"

"Luffy … NO! Stay here!" she shrieked, but it was too late.

"... Rockeeeeet!"

With that, followed by the sound of a snapping rubber, the captain propelled himself into the air to follow Joyce in his own version of the same manner as the mentioned pirate. Nine facepalms smacked through the air when even Lissy joined the wave.

"… this just has to be a nightmare!" Nami sobbed through her palm over such concentrated idiocy. As if she hadn't said how dangerous these reefs are! Of course, the first thing their captain had to do was investigate. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for their … nemesis, who managed to swept him along in the wave of his own curiosity and excitement. Just when Luffy seemed to finally forget about his initial idea to go on the adventure into the Hollow sea. What kind of calamity was this? Was it fate, or God himself, that seemed to make fun out of them in such a ridiculous manner? Maybe she didn't really want to know the answer. It was enough as it was right now.

An ironic chirp from her shoulder brought her back from the depths of her mind.

"Welcome to J's reality … she said." Chopper sighed, gesturing towards the falcon, who heavily nodded in agreement while throwing a criticizing glare in the direction where Joyce had disappeared, also from where a pair of loud crashes reached their ears.

Without a doubt, this ride had really started to turn itself into one hell of an insane dose of fun. And they will be lucky, if that tiny amount of sanity usually, though kind of surprisingly present there, will not decide to pack her luggages and definitely leave this ship for real.

Illustration: ... riping Zoro sounds sooo exciting! Why no one spotted that similarity yet? XD I wonder ... well, when I will steal some time, I'll try to draw him :)

Ugh, so the chapter is finally out. As I wrote at the beginning, I'm terribly sorry, it took too long to publish it ... handling eleven different characters at once without confusing the reader too much and without leaving someone out is quite a challenge I called upon myself! But I'm not going to give up XD

At the same time, I'm afraid the updates will be less frequent than "the usual" one chapter per week, because my time is pretty limited. :( Work is a terrible thing ... yet very pleasant. Depends on point of view.

Hah, but stop babbling, Jitt!

Thanks a lot to all of you, who are still staying with me :) I'm really glad and happy for your support, which gives me the energy to write this story further :)

I know, that I'm throwing a lot of things and hints around and that it's probably more than just confusing, but everything will be explained at the right time. Just to let you know, this story is more like a prologue to something, that will follow in the future. I have a lot of things planned out, just not enough time to write them all down at once. :X

Chapter 11 is on the way, but as everything, it needs its time to fully ripe to be as tasty as possible ;)

Thanks a lot!

Jitt