Disclaimer: One Piece and Ben 10 do not belong to me.
Sorry for the wait on the next chapter, folks. I did say that I would release one new chapter a month. The plan was to release the previous chapter in January making 2014 a hell of a year and beyond. The first chapter was released last year as an early Christmas present.
This chapter was supposed to be released on Valentine's Day. Hopefully, I made it in time. If not, well fudge me.
Anywho, I plan to use Mr. Bigby's original nicknames for Ben, Gwen, and Kevin when they get their bounties:
Ben "The Legion" Tennyson
"Sorceress" Gwen
"Rockbody" Kevin
Now, I just need help deciding the amount their first and following bounties should be. Kevin and Gwen get theirs in the Enies Lobby Arc along with the rest of the crew. Ben gets his at the end of the Arabasta Arc along with Luffy's updated bounty. Let me know how much you think Ben's starting bounty should be. Should he have the second highest or third highest bounty in the crew?
Alright, enough song and dance. Let's do this thing!
Rumble in the Jungle Part I
"Yahoo!" Luffy cried out in excitement.
Nami sighed from her beach seat. "Are they still at it?" she asked.
Ever since Ben had revealed about the Ultimatrix device, which Luffy had labeled as a "mystery gizmo", Luffy looked as if he had just been given birthday presents for his next ten birthdays. Nami remembered when Ben told him that the rock creature "Chromastone" was just one of the things he could turn into. Right now, Ben had turned into a creature that looked like a red stingray that had the ability to fly. Ben had called the form "Jet Ray".
"This is awesome!" Luffy cried as he rode on Jet Ray. The Aerophibian was doing loop de loops around the mast before the two of them gently landed back on the deck. In a flash of green light, Jet Ray turned back to Ben.
"Alright, Luffy," Gwen said. "How about you give poor Ben a break? You've been at this for a while."
"But he's so coooool!" Luffy said. The captain had become extremely fond of Ben and his ability to become different monsters. So far, Ben had showed him NRG, Big Chill, Swampfire, and a tiny white creature called Echo Echo alongside Jet Ray.
"She's right, Luffy," Ben said "Besides, the Ultimatrix needs to charge right now. What happens if something happens and I can't use my guys?"
Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. "I guess that makes sense. Okay! Usopp! Build me a fishing rod!"
"A fishing rod?" Usopp asked. "Sure thing, Luffy."
"A fishing pole huh?" Zoro said as he sat next to the railing. "Sounds interesting."
"Nami-san! Vivi-chan! Gwen-chan!" Sanji cried from the kitchen as he came out, his legs doing some kind of weird noodle dance. "I've made drinks for you." He held up a tray with a variety of drinks.
"Thank you, Sanji," Nami said as she took a cup.
"Yes, thank you, Sanji," Gwen said as she took one too.
It was kind of strange but it seemed that everyone got along so well. Luffy was the captain of the ship despite lacking any actual sea going skills. He had revealed that he had eaten the Gum Gum Fruit, which granted him the ability to stretch his limbs. Luffy mostly hung around Ben and Usopp, who was the sharpshooter. Usopp had tried to pass himself off as the captain but Ben, Gwen, and Kevin already knew that he wasn't. Zoro was the swordsman of the crew. He fought using a unique fighting style called Santōryū, in which he used a sword in each hand while carrying the third one in his mouth. Zoro kept to himself, but had shown interest when Kevin revealed that he could absorb and became steel just as he could become rock. Nami, as she had said, was the ship's navigator who loved treasure. In fact, Nami and Kevin would hang out by discussing things like treasure and money. The two saw each other as kindred spirits. Gwen first was afraid that Kevin would start fliriting with Nami, but then she realized that Kevin saw Nami as the sister her never had. This eased her. Sanji was the ship's cook and the meals he'd make were delicious. His food was deeply appreciated by Gwen and Ben, who remembered very well about their grandpa's cooking and were glad to have Sanji's cooking instead. The only problem was that Sanji would try to flirt with Nami, Vivi, and Gwen all at the same time, much to Kevin's chagrin.
As the boys watched Carue try different drinks that Sanji gave him, Ben noticed a troubled look on Vivi's face as she watched them all from the upper deck of the ship. Despite the fact that they had been previously enemies, he had been asked by Igaram to watch over her. Besides, there was nothing wrong with getting to know her. So Ben walked up the stairs and stood beside her.
"Something wrong, Vivi?" he asked.
Vivi sighed before looking at Ben. "Everyone's too relaxed. Don't they understand how serious this is?"
"Well," Ben said. "I just met the Straw-hat crew so I don't know about them. But believe me, Gwen, Kevin, and I are taking this very seriously."
"Don't worry, Vivi," Nami said as she handed the princess a drink. "If something happened, they can work hard because no one wants to die."
Vivi looked back at the others as she took her drink. "That may be right," she said. "But they're too happy."
Nami grinned at her. "Staying on this ship can make you stress free right?"
Vivi looked at her for a bit before looking back at everyone else, who seemed to be having a good time. She allowed herself a small smile. "That's true," she admitted.
"Everyone!" Sanji called. "Look at the dolphin!"
"Wow," Luffy said as he held onto his hat to prevent the wind from blowing it off.
"That's so cute!"
"It's huge!" Kevin cried.
Sure enough, the dolphin was gigantic. It was even bigger than the ship. And when it leaped into the air over the ship, everyone saw that it was time to man their stations.
"Let's run away!" Luffy called with a large grin on his face.
"Aye aye, captain!" the others said. Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp manned the sails.
"Ben!" Sanji called. "Do you have a monster that can give us a boost?"
"Ben!" Gwen shouted, Sanji's question giving her an idead. "Use Terraspin's wind powers on the sails!"
Ben nodded. "You got it!" He activated the Ultimatrix and slammed the dial down. In a flash of green light, he became a large, two legged turtle with flippers for hands and holes in his chest.
"Terraspin!" the turtle called out in a low tone.
"So cooool!" Luffy cried when he saw Terraspin.
Terraspin grinned. He tucked his head inside of his shell. His body seemed to float off the ground as his legs molded together to created some kind of blade like structure. His arms did the same thing, making him look like a fan. Not that the Straw-hat Pirates knew what a fan was of course. Then, Terraspin's limbs began spinning like fast, circular motion as wind blew out of the holes in his chest. The gust of wind blew the ship with incredible speed.
"That's awesome, Ben!" Nami cheered. "With this, we'll be there in no time!" She looked at the Log Pose around her wrist and studied the needle it was pointing right ahead of them. She looked and could make out mountains in the distance. With Terraspin's wind powers, they would be reaching there soon.
"There it is, everyone!" Nami called to the others. "The second island of the Grand Line."
"Be careful," Vivi said. "I'm worried about Ms. All Sunday said."
"Will there be monsters here?" Usopp asked.
Vivi looked down. "I don't know."
"Judging from the way she talked about this place," Kevin said. "It's got to be dangerous."
"But we have to find more food because we didn't buy anything from the last town," Sanji reminded everyone.
Gwen looked at their surroundings as they sailed through a large river that took them into the heart of the island. Ben had turned back to normal, so they were taking things slowly. Gwen saw that different river banks were lined with large plants and some type of palm trees.
"This doesn't make sense," she said. "Ms. All Sunday called this place Little Garden. It doesn't look anything like a garden."
"Maybe it's a garden to the locals," Kevin said. "Some people have strange tastes. Take Ben for example."
"Hey!" Ben protested.
Nami was looking at the trees. "I've never seen these kinds of trees before."
"I have," Gwen said.
Nami looked at her. "Where?"
"In my history book," Gwen explained. "But these types of plants are supposed to be extinct."
Suddenly a weird noise of some animal echoed through the trees. Nami flinched at the sound and Sanji blushed at her cute little reaction.
"What was that?" Nami asked, looking around for whatever had made that sound.
"You're so cute, Nami-san," Sanji gushed. He pointed to a shape flying behind him. "Don't worry. It's just a bird and this place is just a normal forest. Don't worry."
Luffy looked up at the "bird" Sanji was talking about. What he saw was a lizard with feathery wings. "Is that a gecko?" he asked himself.
Just then another noise was heard. A loud rumbling noise that even caused the ship to shake.
"Is that supposed to be a sound from a normal forest?" Nami asked.
"That sounded like a volcano eruption!" Usopp whimpered.
Just then a tiger into the clearing and it was bleeding badly. Nami freaked out.
"This can't be a normal forest!" she cried. "What in the world could take down a tiger?"
Usopp folded his arms and tried to make himself look smart. "I've decided that we will not go down here."
"Uh….correct me if I'm wrong," Kevin said. "But isn't that the captain's job."
"I'll stay here until the Log Pose can memorize the island's frequency," Nami said. "Then we get out of here as soon as possible. We have to hurry up and go to Arabasta."
Ben then noticed that Luffy seemed to be shaking. "Luffy?" he asked. "You okay?"
"Sanji," Luffy said. "Prepare the lunchbox."
Sanji took a look at Luffy, wondering if he had cracked his head or not. "Lunchbox?" he asked as he took a whiff of his cigar.
"Yes," Luffy said. "A pirate's lunchbox. I smell the scent of adventure."
Kevin made a face at Luffy. "Scent of adventure? What are you, four?"
"Hey wait a minute!" Nami yelled at Luffy. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Adventure," Luffy replied as he chuckled. "Do you want to come?"
Nami whimpered. There was no stopping Luffy.
"Sanji," Luffy said, waving his arms excitedly. "Lunchbox."
"Ok, just wait!" Sanji snapped irritably at him.
"Can I go with you?" Vivi asked Luffy.
"Sure, just come!" Luffy said.
"You too?" Nami asked Vivi.
"That's right," Vivi said. "If I don't do anything, I will keep thinking. I want to relax before you can lock onto the frequency. Don't worry because Carue will be with me."
Carue quacked at her in shock and had a look on his poor face that said "Are you out of your mind?"
"Looks like he doesn't want to go with you," Nami said as she sweat-dropped.
"I'll come along then," Ben said. "Carue can stay here if he wants."
"Cool!" Luffy said as he punched the air in excitement. Most likely he was hoping to see more of the monsters Ben could turn into.
"Huh?" Nami whined. "You're supposed to be my bodyguard!"
"Maybe," Ben said. Then he looked grim. "But Igaram had asked me to make sure that Vivi got home safely."
That caused a heavy silence aboard the crew. When Luffy was told that the guy with the rollers had been killed, he was furious towards Ms. All Sunday. And Ben wanted to honor the man's last request by making sure that Vivi got to her home safely.
"Hey, Sanji," he called to the cook. "Is it okay if you make me something too?"
"Sure thing, Ben," Sanji called back. The cook and the wielder of the Ultimatrix got along pretty well, aside from the fact that Sanji would like to flirt with his cousin. "And I'll make something for Vivi-chan too."
"Thank you, Sanji," Vivi said, eager to get her mind of Igaram's death.
Once Sanji had finished making the luncboxes for the three, they hopped off the ship.
"Let's go!" Luffy said, punching the air.
"We'll be back!" Vivi called to the rest of the crew. And so, the three wondered into the jungle.
"Ms. Wednesday sure is a brave girl," Usopp said, still trying to get used to her being a princess.
"That's why she can sneak into enemy organizations." Nami agreed.
"Quack!" Carue quakced in agreement.
"I'm also bored," Zoro said, popping his neck. "I think I'll go and take a walk too."
"Take a walk?" Usopp asked him in shock. Trust a guy like Zoro to treat a possibly dangerous area so casually.
"Wait, Zoro!" Sanji called as Zoro hopped off the boat.
Zoro looked back at him. "Huh?"
"There's no food left. Can you hunt for some animal, too?"
Gwen cringed. "Are you serious?" She asked.
Sanji noticed her bothered look. "I'm sorry, Gwen-chan," he apologized. "But we didn't get any supplies from Whiskey Peak and I'm not sure how long it will be till we reach the next island. I don't want anyone to starve. Especially not you, Nami-san, or Vivi-chan."
Kevin scowled. He really hated it whenever Sanji would flirt with Gwen. He wanted to tell the cook guy straight up that Gwen was his girl but he thought that any brash action would upset her. And he didn't want to upset her.
"Fine, I'll do it," Zoro said as he started walking. "Since you're incapable of doing that, I'll hunt something for you."
"Ooh, burn," Kevin snickered.
"Wait a minute!" Sanji yelled angrily, causing Zoro to stop.
"What?" The swordsman asked, looking back at Sanji.
Sanji glared at Zoro while gritting his teeth, threatening to chomp the cigarette in his mouth in half. "Are you saying that you can hunt bigger animals than me?"
"That's right," Zoro replied smugly.
"O.k.!" Sanji yelled as he put one of his feet on the railing of the ship. "Why don't we compete then?" he hopped off the ship and started walking towards the jungle too. "Understand? Whoever finds more kilograms of meat will win!"
"Kilogram?" Zoro asked as he went a different direction. "Are you kidding? I'll find more than a ton! I wish you luck anyway."
Tears poured from Nami's eyes. "How come all of them are like this?" she weeped.
Usopp, who also had tears in his eyes, nodded. "I completely understand your feelings. Don't cry. I'll be here with you."
"Calm down," Kevin said with a sigh. "Relax, I'm not going anywhere."
"Really?" Gwen asked Kevin. "You don't want to go exploring?"
"No thanks," Kevin said. "Every time we go into a jungle or forest, we run into trouble. I'm taking it easy right now. Besides, someone needs to guard the ship."
"See?" Nami said. "Kevin's got the right idea."
Gwen sighed. "Fine. I'll stay here." While she did admit that Kevin had a point, she was mostly keeping an eye on Nami. She knew that the two saw each other as siblings for right now but she wasn't gonna leave anything to chance. Especially since the two shared a strong love for money.
"Thank you," Usopp said, giving Kevin and Gwen a bow. "I feel so much safer with you two around."
Just then Nami realized something and looked at the ground. "Wait a minute…"
Gwen looked at her. "What's wrong, Nami?"
"It sounds so familiar," Nami said. "I don't know if I have ever read it somewhere before."
"What?" Kevin asked her.
"Little Garden," Nami answered. "It's really familiar."
"Look!" Luffy called to Ben and Vivi, holding something up.
"What'd you got there, Luffy?" Ben asked.
"This shell looks like an octopus," Luffy said. "I will call it an octopus shell."
Ben and Vivi walked up to Luffy to see what he was talking about. In his hands was a creature that looked like an octopus inside of a snail shell. Ben's eyes widened. He had read about those in a book.
"This is an ammonite," Vivi gasped.
"So, it is an octopus shell, right?" Luffy asked excitedly as he held up the ammonite.
"No, Luffy," Ben told him. "It's not an octopus. It's like an octopus but it's not an actual one."
"Huh?" Luffy looked at Ben in confusion. Then the three heard a rumbling noise behind next to them. They looked up and their jaws dropped. Towering over them was the long neck of what appeared to a gigantic lizard.
"How come there is a sea monster on this island?" Luffy asked, the calmest out of the three.
"Luffy," Ben said slowly. "That's no sea monster."
"It's a dinosaur!" Vivi cried.
"Dinosaur?" Luffy cried happily.
"H…how can there be a dinosaur here?" Ben asked. He considered reaching for his Ultimatrix but then he remembered that all the dinosaurs with long necks like this guy were usually plant eaters, and therefore harmless. That still didn't stop him from being absolutely speechless of seeing a real life dinosaur. Sure he became one every time he turned into Humungousaur, but it was still cool to see a real life one.
"This must be an ancient island," Vivi said as she looked up at the dinosaur.
"Eh?" Luffy looked at her.
"Ancient island?" Ben asked.
"Because of the hardness of traveling in the Grand Line, each island will build a unique civilization and maintain that. Where there is a high civilization island, there is also an uncivilized one that hasn't changed for 1,000 years. With the atmosphere of the Grand Line, anything is possible."
"So…you're saying that we're on an island full of prehistoric animals?" Ben asked Vivi.
Vivi nodded. "It looks like it."
"This is so cool!"
Ben and Vivi looked up to see Luffy on the dinosaur's neck.
"Luffy, get down!" Ben yelled. While the long necked dinosaur was a plant eater, he wouldn't mess with something that big. Unless he was Way Big of course, but he wasn't looking for a fight.
"Who told you to go up there?" Vivi yelled at him.
"Usopp! Kevin! Gwen! Carue!" Nami cried as she ran out of her room carrying a book. She had been in her room looking for a book about Little Garden.
"Quack?" Carue asked curiously.
"Did you find the book you were looking for?" Gwen asked.
"Emergency!" Nami cried. "This island is…"
"Grrrrrr"
All five froze as they heard that rumbling growl beside them. Slowly they turned their heads to see a looming shadow looking at them from the trees.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
"Quaaaaaaack!"
In another part of the island, Sanji paused in his walking. "What was that?" he asked himself. "I thought I heard Nami-san and Vivi-chan's duck." Then he heard a snarling behind him and turned to see a Tryannosaurus Rex looming over him, it's jaws wide open to chomp him.
As for Zoro, he was looking at a Triceratops, who was lowering its horns and Zoro and prepared to charge at him.
"What is this?" Zoro asked himself. "Can we eat it?"
Back at the ship, Nami and Usopp were all tears when they saw the being towering over them. It was a gigantic man wearing an outfit similar to that of a Viking, complete with a horned helmet. He had a blonde beard and a pig like nose.
"I said," the giant said. "Do you have any rum? Can't you hear me?"
Gwen, who managed to find her voice first, spoke. "Yes," she said calmly. "We do have some rum.
"Oooh," the giant said with a big smile on his face. "Can I have some?"
Gwen blinked at him. "Uh…sure."
"Aaaaaaagh!" the giant suddenly cried. His scream made the ship start tilting and caused Nami,Usopp, and Carue to scream as well. Then, the giant turned around to see T-Rex with its jaws on his buttocks.
"D…" Usopp tried to say.
"Dinosaur," Nami managed to say instead.
"No way," Kevin said, staring at the T-Rex.
"Quuuuuuack!" Carue cried.
"Wow," Gwen muttered. Paradox said this place was a parallel world but she never imagined something like this. This whole world was like something out of a kid's storybook.
Then, the giant spun around and cleaved the T-Rex's head off with one cleave of the gigantic axe he was holding. Gwen was horrified at the action while Kevin looked like he was about to throw up. Nami and Usopp started screaming again. The giant, on the other hand, was laughing at his accomplishment. "I am the strongest fighter in Elbaf! Broggy the Great!" He looked back at the others. "I have some meat now. I will treat you to a meal, my guests."
Kevin and Gwen stood staring at him. But his words snapped Gwen out of her shock. "Re…really?"
"Of course," Broggy said with that smile on his face. "You said that I could have some of your rum. It's only fair if I treat you generous visitors to a meal as a thank you."
Kevin was on full alert mode now. He put a hand on Gwen's shoulder and whispered to her. "I don't know about this, Gwen. What is this is all a trick?"
Gwen looked at Kevin. "If he wanted to kill us," she whispered. "He would have done it by now." She now looked back up at Broggy. "We would be honored."
"Gebabababababa!" Broggy said heartily. It took Gwen and Kevin a minute to realize he was laughing. "Wonderful!" he looked again. "But it looks like you're friends have fainted."
Raising eyebrows, Kevin and Gwen looked at Nami, Usopp, and Carue. The three did in fact looked like they had fainted. Kevin snorted. "Ignore them. They're just playing possum."
"It's alright, guys," Gwen reassured them.
Slowly, Nami, Usopp, and Carue opened their eyes to look up at Broggy.
"I'm sorry if I started you," Broggy apologized. "I got carried away."
"You can say that again," Kevin muttered, causing Gwen to elbow him.
"Come," Broggy said. "I'll take you over to my place and cook you all a feast."
Luffy was now on top of the dinosaur's head, taking in the sights. "Wow," he said. "This is a good view. I want to have lunch over here. Oh! There is a volcano too! And over there, what a big hole!"
"Luffy!" Ben called up to him. "I think it's best if you get down from there!" He was still surprised that Luffy was even up there to begin with.
"Ben's right, Luffy!" Vivi shouted. "Even though it's tame, it's still a dinosaur."
"Don't worry," Luffy called down to them. "This guy over here only eats vegetables. I saw him. I don't think he even sees me. Anyway, I see a big hole there!" he pointed to where he saw the hole.
Just then, the dinosaur flicked its head, causing Luffy to flip in the air…and right into the dinosaur's open mouth! Vivi screamed.
"Luffy!" Ben yelled as he activated the Ultimatrix. Maybe he could Big Chill's intangibility to get Luffy out.
But he didn't need to. Because a gigantic person came out of nowhere and sliced through the dinosaur's long neck with his sword. Vivi and Ben both stared as Luffy was seen falling from the dinosaur's disembodied neck. He landed in the giant's left hand.
"What a cheerful human you are," the giant said friendly. "I haven't met a person like you for a while."
"Wow!" Luffy cried. "A giant!"
The giant chuckled. "I am Dorry, the greatest fighter in Elbaf."
"He's huge" Ben cried, getting a better look at the giant. He looked like a Viking, complete with a long black beard. His helmet covered his eyes but had hole so that he could see through.
"This is the first time I've seen a giant," Vivi said, looking up at Dorry. "But I thought they were just a legend."
Just then, Dorry looked down at them. "I would like to ask you to come to my house." He said to Ben and Vivi.
Vivi flinched. "He…he saw us."
Meanwhile, Broggy was cooking the dinosaur meat on an open fire. His home was revealed to be a colossal skull bigger than he was. "The meat is cooked," he said. "Please eat."
"I'm…" Usopp began.
"Not hungry." Nami finished.
Gwen made a face at both of them. They being rude to reject Broggy's offer. Not to mention that it wasn't smart to reject something from a guy as big as him. "Thank you, Mr. Broggy." She said.
"Gebabababababa!" Broggy laughed as he cut some meat and handed it to her. "My pleasure, miss. Eat up, Dinosaur meat is good."
"I'll try some," Kevin said. He figured dinosaur meat couldn't worse than the gruel he had to eat back in the Null Void. He took some meat that Broggy handed it to him and took a bite. He looked at it. "You know," he said. "This stuff is pretty good."
Broggy grinned. "What did I tell you?"
Nami and Usopp didn't know what to think. They were very certain that this giant was just fattening them up so that he could eat them later. But here Kevin and Gwen were, chowing down like they didn't have a care in the world. Well, might as well start a conversation.
"Mr. Broggy," Nami said. "Can I ask you something?"
Broggy looked at her. "Huh? What is it?"
"How long does it take to memorize the magnetic frequency of this island?"
"One year," Broggy replied casually. "Please make yourself at home."
Kevin and Gwen chocked on their dinosaur meat while Usopp and Nami collapsed in horror.
Meanwhile, Dorry had begun cooking the dinosaur he had killed. Like Broggy, his home was the skull of some gigantic beast. Personally, Ben didn't want to meet a creature of that size while it was alive. Dorry and Luffy had done a switch with the food. Luffy was eating the dinosaur meat in exchange for giving Dorry the lunchbox. Ben didn't think of that as a fair trade but Dorry didn't seem to mind.
"This meat is really good, Mr. Giant!" Luffy said as he took a huge bite of it.
"Gegyagyagyagya!" Dorry laughed. "Your lunchbox is good too. But it's just too small."
"It must be good otherwise I'll beat you up," Luffy said with a grin.
Dorry laughed at that. "You are a very interesting person."
Vivi and Ben looked at each other. "They just met and already they're buddies," Ben said.
"I know," Vivi agreed. "It's like they've known each other for years."
"By the way," Luffy said to Dorry. "Why are you alone? Don't you have a village?"
"I have a village," Dorry responded. "It's called Elbaf and it's located somewhere in the Grand Line."
Luffy looked up at him curiously. Dorry had also gotten Ben and Vivi's attention so they perked up their ears.
"We have a rule in our village," Dorry said. "When there's a dispute and neither side will yield...The god of Elbaf decides the matter. Our god protects the one who is right...and lets him live. This island is the place where I fight with another. The right person will become the winner and live."
"That's a death match!" Ben cried out.
"However," Dorry went on. "It's been 100 years and a winner has not been decided."
Luffy stared at the giant. "You fought a hundred years ago?"
Dorry chuckled. "Don't panic. Our lifespan is 3 times greater than a human."
"Even that," Vivi said. "You should have forgotten about the cause by now! What will you get from this fight? That's just another name for murder!"
Ben was about to put his two cents in when a volcano nearby erupted. Dorry started rising to his feet. "I have to go now." He said.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"It's fighting time again," Dorry replied. "A volcano eruption is the signal to start the fight."
"What have you done?" Vivi asked. "Why do you have to fight for 100 years? What is the purpose of this fight anyway?"
Just then, Luffy covered her mouth. "Stop it!" he said. "It's nothing like that."
"That's right," Dorry said as he picked up his sword. "It's about pride."
"Pride?" Ben asked. Then he noticed someone walking towards them. It was Broggy the giant. The two giants lunged at each other, using their shields to block each other's attacks.
"I've already forgotten…" Broggy said.
"What started this fight!" Dorry finished.
Ben made a face. These guys were fighting for something they didn't even remember. That kind of made things pointless really. Just then, Luffy fell on his back. "What's wrong, Luffy?"
"This is…gigantic," Luffy replied.
Ben nodded. "You can say that again." He looked back at the two giants fighting each other.
Far away, on another island, trouble was brewing.
"Mr. 3?" asked a little girl. She was fairly short with blushed cheeks, and had her hair tied in braided pigtails. Her attire consisted of a pink hat, a dark blue t-shirt with the word "Golden" written on it in orange, a sky blue shirt with a cloud pattern over it, a maroon-colored skirt, and striped stockings covering her legs.
"What?" asked her partner. "Wait just a minute." This man had a much more unusual appearance. He was an average sized man with a rather frail build. He wore lightly tanned pants with a sleeveless striped vest and a red bow tie around his neck. What really stood out was his hair style, which had been made to look like a large number three on top of his head. He took a sip of his drink that he was holding and sighed in content after he finished. "Earl Grey is the best tea ever."
"Why are we so free?" asked the girl. The two of them were sitting a table outside. The whole island they were staying at was a resort island where everyone was relaxing at.
"Why are you complaining anyway?" Mr. 3 asked her. "You don't like to work anyway."
The girl pondered that. "That's true," she admitted.
"Then why don't you just enjoy your free time?" Mr. 3 pointed out. "Stop complaining. It's our right as officer agents to have this special kind of vacation. Besides, would you please quit calling me by my code name in public? Otherwise, people will know that I am Mr. 3."
The girl looked at him. "Is that so?" she asked.
Mr. 3 noticed a piece of paper in his partner's hands. She had been staring at it for some time but he hadn't bothered asking what it was. "You've been looking at that paper for 2 or 3 days now. What is that?"
"Boss's orders," his partner said casually.
"What?" Mr. 3 cried out. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He took the paper and started reading it. "It seems that Mr. 5, his partner, and the Unluckies were all defeated. Hmph. I wish Mr. 2 was the one who got beaten up."
"So you could get a promotion?" his partner asked.
"Someone would have to be pretty stupid to mess with the Unluckies since the boss favors them but there's nothing interesting about Mr. 5 getting beaten up. After all, he's just another person who is proud of his special power too much." He drained his tea in one drink. "Even though he has a powerful skill, he didn't use it wisely. What a waste. Only the perfect criminal can create the perfect crime. We have to teach those people the lesson of being an enemy with our organization."
Meanwhile, the battle between Dorry and Broggy raged on.
"We both miss home, right? Dorry?" Broggy asked as he took a swing with his axe, only for Dorry to block it with his shield.
"That's why I have to take care of you, so I can go back to Elbaf!" Dorry yelled. He jabbed his sword forward to stab Broggy but Broggy jumped, causing the sword to stab into the mountain that had been behind Broggy instead. He raised his axe and smashed it down on Dorry's head. But when he lifted his axe, he saw that he hadn't cut through Dorry's helmet.
"He…he used his helmet cover himself!" Usopp cried. His eyes were leaking tears and he was holding his hair so tightly it was amazing that he hadn't ripped his hair off yet. "If he missed that, he would have been dead for sure! It's the most outrageous fight! Both of them aim for the death spot of each other."
"And they've been doing this for 100 years?" Nami asked as she watched the two giants fight.
"Do you think we should do something, Kevin?" Gwen asked.
"Are you kidding?" Kevin asked back. "We'd be flatter than pancakes."
"Don't stop them," Usopp said, causing everyone to look at him.
"Why not, Usopp?" Gwen asked him.
"This is a real man's fight," Usopp stated, folding his arms as if to emphasize the point.
"Say what?" Kevin asked.
"Let me explain," Usopp said. "In both of their hearts, there is a flag of pride and both of them think that flags are more important than their own lives. To protect those flags, they have continued fighting for 100 years. Don't you get it? This is a fight of pride and honor as real fighters and real men."
Gwen and Kevin looked at each other before looking back at the two fighting giants.
"Is their pride forth so much more than their lives?" Gwen asked.
Kevin looked at the giants solemnly. "It's the way they want to live their lives, Gwen. I don't anything we'd say or do would make a difference."
"I don't care about that," Nami said as she started walking away. "We'd better get out of here now."
"Why?" Gwen asked. "Don't tell me you still think Broggy's going to hurt you."
"She's got a point, Gwen," Kevin said. "Not about the Broggy thing, but we can't stay here a whole year."
Gwen looked at her shoes in thought. "True," she said.
"I want to stay here a while," Usopp said as he continued watching the fight. "This is exactly what I wanted to be. The greatest warrior of the seas. I want to grow up and be a proud and honorable warrior just like them."
Gwen smiled at Usopp. "I think you can do it, Usopp." She encouraged.
Nami sighed as she sat back down. "You want to be a giant?" She asked.
"Didn't you listen to me?" Usopp yelled at her before looking back at Broggy and Dorry. "If there is a great warrior village, I want to visit that place once in my life."
As for Dorry and Broggy, their fight was getting more intense. The two had knocked each other backwards and sent their weapons flying out of their hands. So the giants charged at each other and bashed their shields in each other's faces.
"This is the 73,466th time," Broggy said weakly.
"We are tied for the 73,466th time," Dorry said.
Both collapsed on their backs and just sat there for a moment. Then Broggy started laughing. "Dorry!" he called. "I've got some rum from my guests. "
"That's great!" Dorry said as he started laughing as well. "I have not drunk for a while. Let me have some."
Dorry later returned with several barrels of rum. He told Ben, Luffy, and Vivi about Broggy's guests, who were of course none other than Nami, Usopp, Kevin, Gwen, and Carue.
"I guess they like adventure after all," Luffy said as he sat down.
"So this means I received this rum from you, too." Dorry said.
"Um…Mr. Dorry," Vivi said. "You said that that it will take 1 year to memorize a magnetic frequency. Is that true?"
Dorry looked over at her. "You saw all those human skulls over there and you still don't realize this? Most of the people who came here died before their lock could memorize the frequency."
Ben scowled. If that was the case…was Ms. All Sunday actually helping them when she had given them that Eternal Pose? Or had she counted on them doubting her so that they would go to Little Garden? Had they been played?
"Some were eaten by dinosaurs," Dorry explained. "Some died because of heatstroke and starvation. Some came here to kill us. Finally, they all died. It seems that 1 year is too long for a small human."
Vivi held her head in her hands. "What am I going to do to survive for a whole year? I don't know what will happen to my country in that time."
"Mr. Dorry," Ben said as he looked up at the giant. "Isn't there another way?"
"I have an Eternal Pose that will lead to Elbaf, my hometown," Dorry said. "Broggy and I are fighting for that pose. Whoever wins gets it. Do you want to try and get it from me?"
"No," Luffy replied. "Because we don't want to go there. We just want to the next island." He looked at Vivi. "Right?" he asked.
Vivi nodded. "If we can't get to Arabasta, it will mean nothing to us."
Dorry threw back his head and laughed. "Then why don't you just take a risk?" he suggested. "If you are lucky, you will arrive there."
Ben made a face. "Isn't that a little too risky?"
Luffy started laughing as well. "That's true," He said to Dorry. "Why don't I do that then? We will arrive there anyway."
Dorry laughed alongside him. "You're really funny."
Ben and Vivi exchanged looks with each other. They didn't find this to be very funny.
"A great warrior?" Broggy asked after Usopp told him his dream. "What do you mean?"
"It means that one day, I'll be like you," Usopp said proudly.
"Be a giant?" Broggy asked curiously.
"No!" Usopp yelled. Kevin, Nami, and Carue, who had kept quiet until now, all laughed at him. Gwen gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I want to live with pride," Usopp told Broggy as he pounded his own chest. "And honor like the warriors of Elbaf."
Broggy threw back his head and laughed, impressed by Usopp's words. "Really?" he asked. "My lifespan is greater than yours, so I expected to die with pride. All the treasure in the world is nothing."
"Say what?" Kevin asked, shocked by the words of the giant.
"Treasure in the world is nothing," Broggy said. "But pride is forever! If I can choose, I want to die pride. As the law of Elbaf goes; "Pride and honor are the treasures that last forever"."
Usopp smiled. "Pride and honor are treasures."
Nearby, Ben, Luffy, and Vivi all watched in shock as a huge cloud of smoke erupted from Dorry's mouth after he had taken a swig of rum.
"What happened?" Ben cried.
"The rum exploded?" Luffy exclaimed.
"Luffy!" Ben said. "What was in that rum?"
Dorry fell over backwards, causing the other three to panic.
"Mr. Giant!" Luffy cried.
"Mr. Dorry!" Vivi cried.
Ben reacted first and ran over to the giant's head to see if he was alright. He could hear breathing coming from Dorry which meant he was still alive at least.
"Luffy," He said. "Did you know that rum would explode?"
"Of course not!" Luffy said. "I thought it was just ordinary rum."
"The rum exploded inside the body," Vivi said. "That's a very dirty trick! Did the other giant put the bomb in the rum?"
"I doubt it," Ben replied. "They've been fighting for a hundred years now. If the other giant wanted to fight dirty, he wouldn't have waited this long to do it."
"Then who did it?" Vivi asked, as if she thought Ben had all the answers.
"It must be you!"
Ben, Vivi, and Luffy all turned to see Dorry back on his feet. He coughed before saying "This is not Broggy's work. We are proud warriors of Elbaf. Besides you, I don't suspect anyone else."
"Let's get out of here!" Vivi called to Ben and Luffy. "He won't listen to anyone now."
"It's worthless to try and escape," Luffy said. He took off his hat and handed it to Ben. "Can you hold on to this…and get out of my way?"
Ben and Vivi stared at him. "Luffy, you're not seriously going to fight him are you?" Ben asked.
"The size is too different!" Vivi cried.
Luffy ignored them as he took a fighting stance to face Dorry. "Sorry, mister. But I have to put you to sleep."
"Ben, stop him!" Vivi cried.
Ben responded by handing Luffy's hat to Vivi and activating the Ultimatrix. If he let Luffy try to fight Dorry, he might get creamed. Fortunately, Ben had someone in his Ultimatrix that stood a chance. Finding the right alien, he slammed the dial down.
Dorry and Luffy's attention was brought to the flash of green light that came from the Ultimatrix. When the green light cleared, Luffy, Dorry, and Vivi all stared in shock. Standing before them was a colossal white giant with a red fin sticking out of the top of his head.
"Way Big!" the being boomed.
"Eeeeeeeeh?" Vivi cried.
"Ben!" Luffy cried excitedly. His eyes were shinning like stars. "You never told me you could turn into a giant!"
"What is this?" Dorry asked as he looked at Way Big. "What kind of giant are you?"
"Listen to me," Way Big said. "We had nothing to do with that explosive rum."
Dorry ignored Way Big as he raised his sword and shield. "Don't try to deceive me!" he yelled as he swung his head. Either with great skill or dumb luck, Way Big managed to catch the blade with his hands. But Dorry took advantage of that to slam his shield into Way Big's stomach. The blow sent Way Big tumbling backwards while clutching his stomach in pain. He looked up and saw that Dorry had flinched a little in pain as well. He saw this as his opportunity and lunged at Dorry. The giant hadn't expected such a move and found himself pinned against the gigantic skull behind him. Way Big pinned his arms down so that he couldn't use his sword or shield.
"Will you just listen?" Way Big asked. "It wasn't us!"
Dorry didn't respond in a verbal sense. He was too angry for that. So instead he responded by bashing his helmeted head into Way Big's face. Way Big grunted in pain and staggered back from the blow. This caused him to remove his hands from Dorry's arms. Dorry swung his shield against the side of Way Big's head with enough force that sent the giant alien crashing into the ground.
"Ben!" Vivi cried out in concern. Luffy was too stunned by seeing that his friend was a giant to do anything.
Dorry then raised his sword to cut Way Big down. Luckily, Way Big got his wits together and rolled out of the way in time. Dorry's sword struck the ground instead of his opponent's flesh. But Way Big noticed blood coming out of Dorry's mouth after the blow. The sight made Way Big cringe. If he didn't end this fight quickly, Dorry was going to do as much harm to himself as he would to Ben. Way Big crossed his wrists together, with his right forearm vertical and left forearm horizontal in front of it, and the thumb edge of his hands facing his body. Dorry, Luffy, and Vivi all looked at Way Big in confusion before a beam of light shot from the outer edge of Way Big's right hand. Dorry was too stunned to do anything as the beam struck his face, which also caused him to fall backwards and bang his head against his home behind him. The combined blows were too much for the injured giant and he crumbled down to the ground. With that out of the way, Way Big touched the Ultimatrix dial on his chest and turned back to normal.
"Ben!" Luffy cried, looking at Ben like he was the coolest thing in the world. "You can turn into an awesome giant that can shoot beams? That's so cool!"
"Uh…yeah," Ben replied.
"Was that the only thing you paid attention to?" Vivi asked with a sweat drop coming down her head.
"So coooooool," Luffy said, acting as if Ben was his hero.
"Ben!" Vivi said, running up to him. "Are you alright.
"Hey, Vivi," Ben said but looking at Dorry. "I'm fine but is he going to be okay?"
"I think so," Vivi said as she looked at Dorry. "But if you hadn't fought him, he wouldn't have stopped."
Ben sighed as he looked at the ground. Sure it might have been necessary but that didn't make him feel better about it.
Luffy's face was grim as he put his hat back on his head. "I am very upset about this."
Ben looked at him. "What's up, Luffy?"
"Another giant was not responsible for that rum," Luffy said. "And our friends wouldn't do that for sure!"
Ben's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that...?"
"There must be someone else," Luffy said. "On this island."
And two of those people were none other than Ben's latest enemies Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. They were walking through the forest towards what appeared to be a house made out of wax. A dinosaur that looked like a two legged crocodile, who had tried to bite into it, was studying the house curiously before it noticed its new company.
"Get out of my way, you stupid, over sized lizard." Mr. 5 said to the dinosaur.
Ms. Valentine leaped into the air above the dinosaur. "Leave that to me. 10,000 kilograms weight!" She fell right on the dinosaur's head and smashed it into the ground. Ms. Valentine then stood up and started walking towards the wax house. Mr. 5 opened the door and the two of them walked in.
Inside was furniture made out of wax with a table in the center. A table cloth, a tea pot, and several tea cups laid on top. Sitting in a chair with a tea cup in his hand was none other than Mr. 3. His partner was sitting against the wall, possibly asleep.
"Hi," Mr. 3 greeted. "You are back so soon, Mr. 5?"
"You really are skilled to build a house in the middle of this forest," Mr. 5 said as he faced Mr. 3. "However, let me tell you something. This job is still ours so you'd better not get involved."
"Because we won't lose again," Ms. Valentine said as she closed the door.
Mr. 3 snorted at the two of them. "Lose? I don't think so. You're just weak."
Mr. 5 snarled at him. "What did you say?"
"We just underestimated the guy," Ms. Valentine said. "That's all. We didn't expect a guy like that to be protecting the princess."
"Right," Mr. 3 said as he took another sip out of his tea. "The mysterious "shapeshifter" you reported about."
"Shape shifter?" Mr. 5 asked.
"You reported that you were stopped by a boy with a green jacket that had the number 10 on it. In your report, you described him having the ability to turn into some kind of plant monster. However, the orders from our boss say differently."
"What do you mean?" Ms. Valentine asked.
"According to the Unluckies, they were attacked by what appeared to be a blue moth man," Mr. 3 said. "And Ms. All Sunday herself encountered the boy that matched your description. Only…he didn't turn into a plant monster. According to her, he became some kind of purple rock creature."
"What?" Ms. Valentine asked in shock. "How could one boy turn into all these different monsters?"
"The boss doesn't care how," Mr. 3 said. "But he wants the boy eliminated. Since you came here, we will give 30% of our work to you." Then his eyes narrowed. "If you won't accept the job, I will make both of you disappear from this world right now."
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both glared at Mr. 3, who then chuckled as he poured tea into two cups. "You don't have to be so serious about it. Here! Have some tea! This is a very special occasion because on this island, we have another big job to take care of too."
"A job?" Ms. Valentine asked curiously.
"I thought you saw that already," Mr. 3 commented. "I should thank both of you for giving me a chance to come to this island. Look at this wanted poster. I was surprised at first."
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine noticed that there was a wanted poster on the table. The poster had pictures of Dorry and Broggy on it.
"This list is from 100 years ago," Mr. 3 explained. "When the giant pirates were creating turmoil around the world. The two leaders of these groups of pirates are those two giants that live on the island. They were known as Blue Giant Dorry and Red Giant Broggy. But now that's history. Right now, both of them are living here on this island."
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine gasped when they realized what Mr. 3 was talking about with this.
"The Marines still want them," he told them. "Both of them are worth 200 million beri. Which means each of them is worth 100 million beri."
"200 million beri?" Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both exclaimed.
"So, do you realize how huge this job is?" Mr. 3 asked them. "If we can accomplish our goal and get that 200 million beri, we'll all get promotions."
"So that's why you wanted me to put a bomb in the rum," Mr. 5 realized.
"That's right," Mr. 3 confirmed. "If we don't use trickery, we can't beat them."
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine stared at Mr. 3 in amazement.
"As long as you follow my orders," Mr. 3 said. "Everything should be okay. If you know how to adapt your strategy, you can beat anything."
The volcano boomed throughout the island, meaning only one thing. Broggy noticed it and chuckled as he started to get back to his feet. "The fight begin soon," he said. "This is a good day."
"You're fighting again?" Gwen asked Broggy. "But what about your injury?"
"Don't be silly," Broggy told her. "We both got hurt last time. Both of us risk our lives on this fight. We don't use any lame excuses to postpone it."
Kevin cringed. "Talk about overkill."
"I'm with you," Nami agreed.
Meanwhile, Ben, Luffy, and Vivi were trying to talk Dorry out of fighting.
"Don't do it," Ben said to the giant as he started pushing himself up from the ground. "You're way too injured."
"You should take a rest," Vivi told the giant. "Otherwise you will die."
Dorry continued to rise. "I'm a warrior," he said as he wheezed slowly. "At least I have to fight in the honor of Elbaf."
"Go and get him, teacher Broggy!" Usopp called.
"Sure!" Broggy called back as he started walking to where he and Dorry would fight. "I will crush him down this time. Gebababababa!"
Nami sighed as the giant walked away. "Why do they have to continue this stupid fight?" she asked.
"Don't call their fight stupid!" Usopp yelled at her.
"Dude," Kevin said. "They've been fighting for a hundred years nonstop and they don't even remember what started it. Kinda stupid if you ask me."
Usopp grit his teeth at Kevin's words.
"Anyway," Nami said. "Let's go back to ship. Since it would take us a whole year to memorize the frequency, we'd better wait for everyone to try and find the way out."
"Sounds good to me," Kevin said. "I don't want to wait a whole year here."
"Quack!" Carue said as if in agreement.
"Besides," Gwen said. "Who knows what's going to happen to Arabasta if we don't get Vivi home."
"Say," Kevin said. "Didn't Broggy say Luffy and the others were with the other giant? Let's go get them."
"Sounds good to me," Nami said. "Then we can look for Zoro and Sanji."
Usopp, on the other hand, was staring off into the sky with a determined look on his face. "One day," he said. "Even if I have to lose everything or face death alone on an isolated island, I will die with pride and my last words will be "I am Usopp, the great warrior of the Seven Seas! That's what I hope."
Rolling her eyes, Nami grabbed Usopp's bag and started dragging him away. "Come on," she said.
Gwen and Kevin looked at each other and saw that they both were having trouble keeping a straight face on as they headed off with Carue in the direction where Ben and the others were at.
"Mr. Luffy!" Vivi cried. Luffy was trapped under the gigantic skull that was Dorry's home. He had tried pinning Ben down but Ben rolled out of the way in time as he got Luffy by accident.
"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "What are you doing? Are you nuts? Take this thing off me!"
"Why are you doing this?" Ben asked Dorry, ready to turn back into Way Big in case he needed to.
"I can't stop," Dorry said, indicating the fight between himself and Dorry. "Even though it's been 100 years and we are still fighting. When we begin it, it means we can't escape from it. Otherwise it will mean that we are escaping from being true warriors. If I lose this feeling, I won't be myself anymore." He started to walk away. "I'm sorry to have suspected you."
"This the judgment from the Warrior God of Elbaf. Elbaf does not protect me anymore. That's all."
"Hold on!" Ben tried to reason with the giant. "You're injured from wounds that Broggy didn't give you. You keep talking about honor and pride. If you do lose, do you think Broggy would be happy with a victory that he didn't really earn?"
"He's right!" Luffy yelled. "There's someone else involved in this fight! And that's not fair!"
"Shut up!" Dorry snapped at them. "You were born 10 or 20 years ago. You don't know anything. Have you ever heard of the highest honor in Elbaf?"
"I don't care about that!" Luffy yelled as he started punching the giant skull on top of him. "Take this thing off me!"
Ben looked back and forth between Dorry and Luffy. While he wanted to stop Dorry from this suicidal mission, he knew that he needed Luffy's help.
"Hold on, Luffy," Ben said as he activated the Ultimatrix. "If Dorry can lift that thing, then Way Big should be able to." He switched the dial to Way Big and slammed it down.
When the flash of green light went away, Vivi and Luffy expected Way Big. Instead they saw someone or something else. It looked like a twelve foot tall muscular, humanoid dinosaur with strong arms, hard scales, and a face that meant business.
"Humungousaur!" the dinosaur roared before looking at himself and growling.
Luffy, despite being pinned down by the giant skull, had his face light up instantly as he saw Humungousaur. "You can turn into a dinosaur?" he asked with glee.
"Yeah," Humungousaur grumbled. "I was going for Way Big but Humungousaur will have to do."
"Are you sure?" Vivi asked. "Even though you've gotten bigger, I don't know if you can lift it."
Humungousaur grinned at her. "Just watch me."
Vivi and Luffy stared as Humungousaur starting growing. In a matter of seconds he grew up to 60 ft. tall. As his did, his dinosaur features become more pronounced, which showed by him growing Stegosaur-like plates on his back, a crest from his forehead, and spikes on his tail. Also three plates separated and grew on his elbows. Altogether, he looked very ferocious.
"So coooool!" Luffy gasped.
"Hold on, Luffy," Humungousaur said as he put his hand under the skull and started lifting it up. "I'll get you out of there."
As for Dorry, he had managed to control his breathing and did his best to hold his head up as proud as he could as Broggy walked over to him.
"Dorry!" Broggy called to his old friend. 'How was the rum? You really enjoyed it right?"
"That's right!" Dorry called back. "It was very tasteful!"
Back at Dorry's "home", Humungousaur had managed to lift the skull up long enough for Luffy to crawl out of. And Luffy did not look thrilled. Humungousaur touched the dial on his chest to turn himself back to normal.
"What's wrong, Luffy?" he asked.
"I just got a chance to meet a true warrior," Luffy said quietly. "But…" then he turned angry. "Who did this?"
Ben's face darkened as he looked at the ground. "I don't know, Luffy. But we aregoing to find out."
"During a fight," Mr. 3 said as he continued explaining his plan to his co-workers. "If you're not concentrating, you will lose. Right now, their concentration is running all because of the bomb from the invisible enemy. Our first target is Blue Giant, Dorry. I knew that bomb couldn't kill him. However, it should have some effect on him from the inside. There won't be any trouble taking care of him.
Besides, this is a good time because they are just starting to fight! They are just silly fighters after all! As long as we don't have a face-to-face fight with them, everything should be fine. As for everyone who learned about the boss's secret, we will lure them into a trap. Beginning with the most stupid one, they all will receive a full service from me." Mr. 3 grinned. "My principal is evasion criminal. I have many plans to take care of my enemies without doing it myself."
"This is bad," Zoro said as he looked around. He was dragging the triceratops he had killed to take back to the ship. Unfortunately…
"I must be lost," Zoro said as he looked at a tree. "I think I saw this tree before. The tree with liana covered around it." He was aware of someone else nearby and saw who appeared to be Nami leaning against a tree. He grinned. "Hey, Nami. I was just wondering about how to get back to the ship." He dragged the triceratops over to her. "By the way, what are you doing out here?"
Nami did not reply.
"Hey! Nami?" Zoro asked in confusion.
"Dinosaur!"
The real Nami, Usopp, Carue, Kevin and Gwen were running like mad, as they happened to stumble upon some more of the local wildlife. Usopp and Carue had somehow managed to run faster than the rest and was soon gone from sight.
"How in the world does a guy that scrawny run so fast?" Kevin said as he stopped to catch his breath.
"I don't know," Gwen said as she panted too. "But I think we're safe now."
"I can't believe this," Nami groaned. Then she turned her head and saw what appeared to be Luffy waving over to her. "Luffy!"
"Huh?" Kevin and Gwen saw where she was looking and walked over to "Luffy".
"Boy are we lucky to see you," Nami said as she got closer to "Luffy". "What are you doing here?"
Luffy didn't say anything. He just stood there with his arm in the air with a grin frozen on his face. Then something happened. Something that caused Nami to scream to the heavens.
And it was that scream that snapped Usopp and out of his running daze. Confused, he looked back and saw that he was by himself. Not even Carue was with him anymore.
"Na…Nami? Carue? Kevin? Gwen?" Usopp asked quietly before yelling. "Nami! Carue! Kevin! Gwen! Where are you?" When no answer came, he began to cry. "This is bad." And then he took off running again, looking for the only two people who could help him. "Luffy! Ben!"
Ben and Luffy, who were debating about what to do next, heard someone screaming their names and turned just in time to see Usopp collide face first with a boulder. Ben blinked in confusion at the sight.
"Uh…Usopp?" he asked.
Usopp pulled himself from the boulder and looked at Ben, Vivi, and Luffy. "We're in big trouble!" he cried. "Nami, Kevin, Gwen, and Carue were eaten by a dinosaur!"
"What did you say?" Ben exclaimed.
"Carue?" Vivi asked.
"Is that true?" Luffy demanded.
"We were running out of the jungle and suddenly they disappeared," Usopp said as he broke down into tears. "What am I going to do? I let my friends die!"
"Usopp, hold on," Ben said. "You didn't actually see a dinosaur eat them did you?"
"Well no," Usopp admitted. "But what else could have happened?"
"I wonder…" Ben said. Then his eyes lit up. "Hold on. Exploding rum…the others disappearing." His eyes narrowed. "It has to be Baroque Works."
"Exploding rum?" Usopp asked. "What exploding rum?"
"Some of the rum Dorry drank exploded," Ben said. "And he's off to fight Broggy if he isn't already fighting him now."
"What?" Usopp cried. "Both of them have risked everything in this fight for 100 years and they always draw. And this fight will end because of that underhanded reason?"
Dorry blocked Broggy's axe with his sword but it put a lot of strain in him. And Broggy noticed this.
"What's wrong with you, Dorry?" Broggy asked. "You are not acting well today."
"What are you talking about?" Dorry asked. "I'm acting usual."
Behind a tree, watching the whole battle, was none other than Mr. 3.
"Blue Giant Dorry is really strong," Mr. 3 observed. "Maybe I should lend them a hand."
Dorry suddenly felt his balance fall as his foot slipped on some kind of slippery substance that he stepped in. Whatever it was, it made him fall back, just in time for Broggy to make his next attack.
"Got-cha, Dorry!" Broggy yelled in triumph. And with that, he brought his axe slashing diagonally down Dorry's side. Blood erupted from Dorry's wound.
Nearby, Ben, Usopp, Vivi, and Luffy all noticed a giant pillar of blood shoot up above the trees. It could only mean one thing.
"Oh no," Vivi gasped.
"Dorry," Ben said quietly. He clenched his fists tightly.
Luffy trembled with rage. "Who did this?" He roared. "Show yourself!"
Far away, Luffy's cry was heard by Mr. 3 and his partner.
"Mr. 3," the little girl said. "Did you hear something?"
Mr. 3 laughed. "That's very strange," he said he drank some tea. "How can we hear a loser's cry in the middle of the jungle?"
Broggy stood over Dorry, who had collapsed from the wound Broggy had given him. "We've fought 73, 467 times," Broggy said as he began to cry. "And I won once." He started walking away, but he did not stop crying.
"Are you crying because you are happy?" a voice asked. Broggy turned around to see Mr. 3 leaning against a tree with a cup of tea in his hands. "You have easily won over that guy. Anyway, I should thank you."
Broggy glared at Mr. 3. "Crying because of happiness?" he asked. "What do you know? Who are you?"
Mr. 3 smiled at him as his partner came into view. "I'm Mr. 3. Sorry, I'm just a regular artist. And this is my partner, Ms. Golden Week. She's a portrait artist." Mr. 3 looked up at Broggy. "Anyway, you've been captured by me."
Broggy raised an eyebrow at him until he realized that his feet were encased in some kind of white substance that had hardened, preventing him from moving.
"I'm gonna find whoever did this," Luffy said angrily, his whole body shaking with rage.
Ben nodded as he put his hands in his pocket. "I'll help you, Luffy."
"No need to find us,"
Ben and Luffy looked in the direction of the voice. Ben's eyes widened before they hardened. "You two!"
Mr.5 and Ms. Valentine stood beside a badly injured Carue. "I want to return this thing to you because it's not necessary anymore." Mr. 5 said, indicating Carue. Beside him, laughed.
"Carue!" Vivi cried in anguish over her injured duck. "Why? Why did you hurt Carue? He didn't do anything to you!"
"Who are they?" Luffy and Usopp both asked.
Ben glared ahead. "Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine," he answered. "Two agents of Baroque Works."
"You're right," Mr. 5 said to Vivi. "That bird didn't do anything." He looked over at Ben now. "The most dangerous one is that kid over there. You're always with him , so to separate you two from him, we tried to make this bird cry for your help."
Ben clenched his teeth. "You mean you tortured him?" he asked, his voice low and angry.
"But that bird really ticked me off," Mr. 5 said aggravated.
"No matter what we did," Ms. Valentine said. "He wouldn't cry. Silly bird."
"You!" Vivi said angrily.
"Let me guess," Ben said. "You're the ones who put that bomb in the rum, didn't you?"
"Yes," Mr. 5 said. "So what?" he looked over at Luffy and Usopp. "Are those two on the list?"
"No, but they're two of their friends, so we'd better kill them too." Ms. Valentine said.
"You destroyed the honor of those giants' battle!" Usopp yelled at them.
"You did this!" Luffy yelled. "I'll crush you into the ground!"
"Prepare to die!" Vivi cried, pulling out two blade tipped wires that were attached to rings around her pinkies.
"Leave this to me," Ben said as he activated the Ultimatrix. "I beat these guys before and I'll do it again."
Mr. 5 snarled at Ben. "You got lucky last time," he said. "It won't happen again."
"Oh yeah," Ben said as he scrolled through his aliens. "Well, I think Big Chill might have something to say about that." He slammed the dial down. But the creature that he turned into wasn't Big Chill. It was a small, blue furred monkey with four arms and eyes.
"Spidermonkey!" the creature cried in a high pitched voice. "Will you knock that off?" he yelled at the Ultimatrix dial on his chest.
Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine both laughed at this new transformation. "And here I thought he was going to turn into something scary," Ms. Valentine.
"What are you going to do with a monkey, kid?" Mr. 5 mocked. "Throw poop at us?"
"Don't tempt me," Spidermonkey said as he narrowed all four eyes at his opponents.
Mr. 5 picked his nose and pulled out a booger. "Nezpalm Cannon!" he cried, flicking the bullet at Spidermonkey.
Remembering that Mr. 5's boogers were explosive, Spidermonkey jumped to the side but felt a gust of wind as the booger whizzed past him and hit the skull behind him. The booger exploded and took a nice chunk out of the skull.
"What?" Usopp cried. "How did he...?"
"Mr. 5 ate the Boom Boom Fruit," Vivi explained. "He can turn any part of his body explosive."
"10,000 kilogram weight!" Ms. Valentine yelled as she plummeted towards Spidermonkey, who barely managed to roll out of the way in time.
"Hold on, Ben!" Vivi cried as she ran towards Ms. Valentine with her wire blades. But then Mr. 5 appeared next to her and stuck out his leg. The moment Vivi's leg collided with his, a small explosion happened that made Vivi flip into the air. As she fell back to the ground, Mr. 5 caught her by grabbing her neck.
"Let her go!" Luffy yelled as he pulled back his fist. "Gum Gum Pistol!" his arm shot forward and got Mr. 5 right in the gut. And the blow sent him flying backwards. At least he let Vivi go when he went flying.
"Mr. 5!" Ms. Valentine cried out in concern. She glared at Luffy. "Why you…"
"Forgetting someone?"
Ms. Valentine to see Spidermonkey smiling at her before raising his tail and pointing it at her face. Ms. Valentine only had enough time to raise her eyebrow before webbing shot out of Spidermonkey's tail and got her right in the face. She began screaming but it was muffled by the webbing. She instantly began clawing at the webbing to try and free her face but no luck.
"Hey, Luffy!" Spidermonkey called. "Want to see a cool trick?" Then with incredible strength for a being of his size, Spidermonkey pulled on the webbing that connected from his tail to Ms. Valentine's face, which made Ms. Valentine soar towards him. Spidermonkey began spinning the webbing, and Ms. Valentine around and around. "It's called…Around the World!"
Spidermonkey gave her one last spin before letting go and sent Ms. Valentine flying by detaching the webbing from his tail. The Baroque Works agent crashed into a nearby tree. When she tried to weakly get up, Spidermonkey shot more webbing from his tail that encased her whole body. Then he walked up to her and yanked the webbing off her face with ease. Ms. Valentine took grateful gasps of air before seeing Spidermonkey right in front of her. She squeaked in fright.
"Are there any other Baroque Works agents on the island?" Spidermonkey asked. Ms. Valentine gulped.
"Nezpalm Cannon!"
"Huh?" Spidermonkey looked up in front of him only to be caught in a massive explosion.
"Ben!" Vivi, Luffy, and Usopp cried.
The smoke cleared to reveal a badly injured Spidermonkey collapse. His fur was blackened from the explosion. He was weakened but still alive. In a flash of green light, he turned back into Ben.
Mr. 5 walked into the clearing. "That was quite a punch," he said as he rubbed his stomach. "I thought I was going to go flying right off the island."
"Mr. 5!" Ms. Valentine cried in relief at seeing her partner.
Luffy's eyes were full of rage. He pulled both arms back now. "Gum Gum…"
"Nezpalm Cannon!" Mr. 5 yelled, shooting a booger at Luffy, which made him explode too.
"Luffy!" Vivi cried. She tried to move when Mr. Five grabbed her again.
"You're not going anywhere," Mr. Five said. "We won't kill you. Mr. 3 wants you alive."
Vivi's eyes widened. "Mr. 3?"
"You jerk!"
Mr. Five turned around to see Luffy, despite being blown up, still ticking. "How did he…"
But he never got to finish his sentence as Luffy slammed his fist into Mr. 5's face. The blow sent Mr. 5 smacking into the ground. Luffy pulled his fist back to show a large fist imprint on Mr. 5's cheek now. While Mr. 5 wasn't dead, he was going to be out for a long time.
"Thank you, Luffy," Vivi said.
Luffy looked back at Ben, who Usopp was helping get back up to his feet.
"Are you alright, Ben?" Usopp asked.
Ben groaned. "I'm fine," he said. He rubbed his head. "Why couldn't the Ultimatrix have turned me into Swampfire or Goop?"
Ms. Valentine was now whimpering in fear. She had just seen Luffy send Mr. Five flying with ease. Not only that, but she had seen his arms stretching. He possessed a Devil Fruit like they did. Those two boys, the straw-hat boy and the monster boy, might be the most dangerous team ever.
"What do we do with her?" Usopp asked, pointing towards the tied up Ms. Valentine.
"I guess we better take her with us," Ben said. "We can't just leave her out here to die."
"Ben, she just tried to kill you," Vivi reasoned.
"Maybe," Ben admitted. "But leaving her out here to die wouldn't make me feel better." He walked over to Ms. Valentine and picked her up by the webbings her body was encased in.
"Ben," Vivi said. "Mr. 5 said Mr. 3 is on the island."
"Mr. 3?" Ben asked her.
"A man with the power of the Wax Wax Fruit," Vivi explained. "He and his partner, Ms. Golden Week are an art themed team. And Mr. 3 is credited for his intellect among the Baroque Works agents."
Ben looked at the ground and then back at Ms. Valentine, who flinched as Ben looked at her.
"Is there anyone else?" he asked.
"No!" Ms. Valentine shook her head to emphasize her answer. "He and his partner, Ms. Golden Week, are the only other ones besides me and Mr. 5. It was all Mr. 3's idea. He made us put the bomb in the rum and help him capture your friends…"
"What?" Luffy roared. "Where are the others?"
"Mr. 3 has them all," Ms. Valentine said. "He wanted us to bring the princess to him before he did anything to tell them. He also wanted to get rid of the giants so we could collect their bounty too. That's the truth! Honest!"
"And where is Mr. 3 now?" Ben asked.
"He's with the giants," Ms. Valentine answered. "I promise I'm not lying."
Ben looked at her. "You know what?" he said. "Stay here a while." He put Ms. Valentine down and sat her up against the giant skull.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Ms. Valentine yelled. "Don't leave me like this!"
Ben looked at Luffy, who shared a knowing nod with him. "Vivi, Usopp," he said. "Keep an eye on her and take care of Carue for us."
"Got it, Ben!" Usopp said, giving the wielder of the Ultimatrix a salute.
"What about you?" Vivi asked. "Where are you going?"
"We'll come back," Ben said as he and Luffy started walking to where the giants had fought. "After we take care of Mr. 3."
Meanwhile, Mr. 3 had succeeded in pinning down Broggy and encasing the majority of his body in wax.
"You'd better not move," Mr. 3 said to him. "My candle jacket is stronger than rock." Chuckling, Mr. 3 created some wax from his hand and made it into a likeness of Broggy's face. "Even though a giant has a lot of power, he can't do anything when he's tied up! You dropped your guard when you were happy with that victory, Red Giant Broggy."
Broggy glared at Mr. 3, who made it humorous.
"Don't look at me like that," Mr. 3 mocked. "I'm so afraid of you." He laughed. "Isn't that good that you have a chance to know the result of this long right? Even though your victory came from the help of one human. What do you think?"
Broggy's eyes widened. "You! Does that mean…?"
Mr. 3 smirked at him. "After all, the winner is me! Did you know that both of you are still worth a lot?"
"You!" Broggy yelled.
"Mr. 3!"
Mr. 3 froze when he heard someone call his name. And he knew that it wasn't Mr. 5 or Ms. Valentine. He turned around and his eyes widened in shock.
Standing before him were two boys. One had a straw-hat on his head. He believed this was the boy with the wanted poster of 30,000,000 beri on his head. And standing beside him was a boy with a green jacket that bore the number ten. The one who had defeated the Unluckies and Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
"Mr. 3," Ben said as he activated the Ultimatrix. "We've got a bone to pick with you."
End of Chapter
Next chapter: Rumble in the Jungle Part 2