Chimera Luffy

by mellra

What if Luffy ate a different Devil's Fruit as a child? Not just any fruit, but the most powerful of the Zoan fruits, the Chimera-Chimera Fruit. It is a legendary Zoan fruit that allows the user to take on the forms of any Zoan fruit users, as well a true form as the mythical chimera. How will this change the course of the One Piece world? Pairing most likely Luffy/Boa Hancock, but

12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Nothing own I!

Chapter 12

The two could only stare up at the supposedly extinct animal in shock. Eventually, Vivi started to talk again. She spoke about how this island somehow stayed frozen in time. Luffy looked at her and she explained that the climax must've stayed like this since ancient times.
Luffy's laughter rang out and he leapt up while his arms elongated to those of a gibbon's so that he could hang onto the dinosaur's neck. "DINOSAUR!" he screamed joyfully.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Vivi screamed in terror.

Luffy went jumping up to the dinosaur's head. He was standing up and looking around eagerly. Luffy began yelling down at Vivi that he found a place to have their lunch.

"It's dangerous up there! Come down already!" she yelled—like a mother would to a child who had climbed too high in a tree, "It may seem nice but it's still a dinosaur!"

"We have something in common! We both love to eat!" Luffy waved down happily. He then called out that there was a mountain full of holes and that they should go and check it out.

Vivi was continuing to yell at him to come down as he was trying to get the dinosaur to take him to that mountain. The poor thing howled in pain when Luffy turned its head sharply, the noise it made was so loud that it shook the land and soon dozens of other dinosaurs—much larger ones—appeared from out of nowhere.

Luffy was now fighting with the dinosaurs. They were all going at him, looking like a tangle of snakes above them as he slid down their necks like slides… jumping from head to head with the skills and laughter of his namesake—until he was finally eaten by the biggest one that was covered in scars. Vivi screamed when she saw the giant blade come flying out of nowhere and lobbed the neck of the beast off so suddenly that Luffy popped right out of the neck as it fell.
A giant hand then appear and caught Luffy like he was an action figure.

The hand led up to a well-built giant with a beard so long, that it went past his waist; he was dressed in Viking attire with a helmet that went right over his eyes. Luffy was standing on the giant's palm as the giant began to laugh.

"Gegyagyagyagya!" the giant laughed, "What fun! That was glorious! Watching the likes of you grapple with long-necks is the most entertainment I've had in quite a while! You are my first visitor in a long while!"

"Wow! You're huge! Are you human?!" Luffy asked, without a trace of fear.

"Human? What a joke!" the towering man laughed as he heaved his sword up on his shoulder, "Greatest Warrior of all Elbaf! I am Dorry!"

"Well, hi! I'm Luffy! And I'm a pirate!" Luffy answered as if he hadn't noticed that there was anything wrong.

Dorry laughed again as he said, "A pirate? Well, good for you my friend!"

"By the way," Luffy said, pointing down to Vivi, who was trying to get Carue—who seemed to have fainted—to wake up so that they could get out of here. "I'd like you to meet Vivi and Carue! Say hi to Dorry!" Luffy added, waving down at them.

Vivi was looking angry with him and yelled back from the ground, "That's great, Luffy! Just can't shut up!"

Dorry just laughed again and invited them to his home in a good natured way as he bent down and picked Vivi and Carue up—both of them screaming fearfully as Luffy laughed. They spotted the mountain that Luffy talked about before and Dorry had already thrown an enormous chunk of meat to Luffy while the two were laughing. Luffy sat up on top of it, and was already making a head start on it.

"You sure knew how to cook, giant!" Luffy laughed up at him.

"Why thanks for the compliment! Your pirate goodies are good too, my little friend," Dorry said happily as he laughed with them, "Although the portions are a little small."

Luffy went on speaking, enjoying the meant, "Yeah, I know what you mean. But the chief on my ship made it special for this trip so I'm glad you liked it otherwise I'll have to beat you up!"

Dorry stopped in mid-laugh and demanded, "Was that a threat, shorty?!"

Vivi and Carue freeze up in terror before he then started laughing, slapping his knee, "I like you little pirate! You're really funny!"

It was a very interesting conversation from that point on as Luffy then asked Dorry why he was living here all on his own, and Dorry explained about how he and another giant named Brogy had been battling here for a hundred years. How that, in their land, when a fight breaks out and neither side yields, their god would then decide who is right of winning the duel and their life… so they had been battling each other all this time but there has yet to be a winner.

Vivi however couldn't believe the reason for that and was asking if there was possibly any hatred between the two after all this time, but Dorry just laughed as she continued to look confused. Suddenly, the volcano went off and Dorry was getting to his feet, a flash in his eyes and as they looked up at him—all of them feeling the surge of energy go through them. Dorry picked up his sword and shield, heading off to the battleground as he quickly explained how that volcano was their marker—they must rush off to fight whenever it erupts. Vivi tried to stop them, telling him that it was senseless to keep fighting and asking why he hated the other giant so much, but Luffy told her to stop, that this wasn't anything like that.

"You're right," Dorry agreed with a firm smile, "This is about honor! I had forgotten…" he then went running off towards the battle, "Our reason for our brawl!"

And at that moment they felt it—an enormous shockwave that came through the entire island. It was so great that they could all feel it. It sent a few chills up their spines and even Luffy was knocked backwards by it.

They watched and soon the battle ended… in a draw.

When it ended, they were able to get a good look at the giant Brogy. Like Dorry, he too dressed in Viking attire, complete with a red helmet with two horns. Brogy, himself, had a blond beard shaped like an axe's blade, beady eyes, pig-like nose—but he looked to be just as good-natured as Dorry was as he tossed him several barrels.

Dorry had rejoined Luffy, Vivi and Carue as he explained that he had seen Usopp and Nami with Brogy and that he thanked them for the drinks.

Vivi began asking Dorry if it really took a year for the Log to reset. Dorry admitted that it was the truth to Vivi, and also informed them that no human had ever survived on the island for the full year. He told them that some become dinosaur food, others have died from heat or starvation… some of them have even been dumb enough to attack him and Brogy. Dorry ended by stating he supposed that an entire year just seemed to be too long for humans.

Vivi was looking stricken, telling him that her country could be destroyed even if they could survive the year.

"She's right," Luffy added, "plus I'd get bored here after a year. Isn't there anything else we can do about it old man?"

Dorry thought it over as he put the barrels down and admitted that there was another Eternal Pose on the island, but that led them to Elbaf… and that was basically what he and Brogy had been fighting over this whole time. He stated that they could try to take it from them if they wanted. But Luffy shook his head, telling him that they weren't trying to get to Elbaf, but to Alabasta. Vivi agreed, saying that they had to stay on the course that would lead them back to her home.

Dorry thought it over again and stated that they could try sailing randomly… if they were lucky, they'd get somewhere sooner or later. They all thought about it before Luffy burst out laughing.

"Maybe so!" he laughed, "We may actually get there!"

Dorry began laughing with him, along with the Straw Hat's captain. For some reason, the whole thing did seem funny now that they mentioned it.

"Now that I think about it, someone did leave the island once before his log was reset!" Dorry confessed as he roared with laughter.

"And what happened to him?" Luffy asked, through tears of mirth.

"How should I know that?!" Dorry stated and soon, Luffy was practically rolling on the ground from laughter.

"I'm sure he was able to get to the next island!" he said, though it was clear that he didn't believe it as Dorry agreed just the same as they enjoyed themselves.

Carue was looking close to laughing with the other two, but stopped when he saw the outraged look on Vivi's face. As if she couldn't understand just what was so funny.

But just then, what sounded like an explosion came from within Dorry's stomach. He let out a strangle yell, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and smoke began to billow out of his mouth like the volcano. Luffy let out a horrified yell as he jumped up to see for himself. He was yelling at Vivi what happened, stating that was the same alcohol they had on the ship. Vivi then suggested that the Brogy was responsible for this.

Luffy obviously felt the same way. His eyes turned dangerous as he jumped down and yelled right in her face, "HOLD IT! WERE YOU EVEN WATCHING THEM?! THEY FIGHT THEIR DUELS HONORABLY! NO WAY HE'D DO THAT!"

"Alright then who did do it?!" Vivi demanded just as Dorry got back to his feet, reaching for his sword. His eyes were so angry they were now practically glowing red.

There was no trace of the friendly, gracious giant here. There was cold fury practically radiating from him. Blood spurt from his mouth. "You strangers!" Dorry growled, breathing hard, "It wasn't Brogy! No way… no warrior of Elbaf would dare so… who else is there to suspect on this island then? BUT YOU!"

Luffy glared up at the giant. Carue screamed and went running off as Vivi told Luffy that they should get out of here. But Luffy wouldn't move, declaring that maybe talking wouldn't change anything, but running wasn't going to do any good either.

Luffy passed Vivi his hat and told her to stand back while he took care of things. She stared at him as she took the hat and asked, "You're going… to fight Dorry?"

Luffy cracked his knuckles and admitted that he didn't want to, but he had to settle this. Vivi shook her head as she looked to Dorry and tried to reason with him that they weren't the ones who did this and that he was in no shape to fight.

But he was beyond listening as he swung his sword, blood coming from his mouth. The fight began and as it went on, it was clear that Luffy was trying his best not to wound the already hurt giant. Instead of using any of his attack forms, Luffy would simply dodge the wide swings, only using his powers to enhance his maneuverability. Dorry wasn't done yet as he finally slammed his foot down on top of Luffy.

However, this little fight seemed to be too much for him as he held onto his stomach, falling to his knees and finally passing out when he hit the ground. Luffy was laying in the boot print, gasping for breath dirty and bruised, but otherwise looked relatively unharmed. Vivi came running to him, asking if he was alright. But Luffy brushed off his own minor injuries and instead asked about Dorry as he took his hat back.

"He should be ok," she said softly looking at him. "Guess you were right about fighting," she admitted, "He seems a lot calmer now."

Luffy put his hat back on and, his eyes feral slits, snapped, "Well, I'm not! The old guy was right about one thing anyway! The other giant would never do anything like this! But I know that our friends would never do it either! They aren't like that!"

"Yeah…" Vivi said softly, "But then…?"

"There must be somebody else on this island!" Luffy decided without hesitation. Before the conversation could go any further, the volcano went off again. At the noise, Dorry's eyes opened and he looked ready to go off.

Breathing hard, still having blood on the side of his mouth, Dorry tried to get up, but he doubled over in pain, still holding onto his stomach. Luffy tried to stop him as Vivi pleaded for him to rest. But he wouldn't listen. He claimed that he was a warrior and that if he was going to die, he was going to die as a warrior no matter what—even as blood erupted from inside him. With a great effort, he managed to get back to his feet.

Still breathing hard, Dorry made to run off. But before he did, he took hold of the mountainside and picked it up so that he could drop it on Luffy—to keep him from moving. Screaming loudly, Luffy fought to pull himself out. But Dorry said softly to himself, "Forgive me, Elbaf."

Luffy stopped as he watched Dorry go over to pick up his battered sword again. "It's been over a century… since we started the battle… this duel. Injured or not… I cannot allow myself to run away from this fight!" He held his sword tightly as he straightened.

"To do so would be like running away from the title 'warrior'. And if I was no longer a warrior of Elbaf…" Dorry stated grimly, "then I would no longer know who I am." He looked down and added, "I'm sorry I suspected you of causing the explosion."

Luffy was now struggling to pull his body out from under the mountain, but his legs were so well pinned that even transforming into the smallest bug couldn't get him free and he risked crushing himself if he went into one of his bigger forms.

Dorry sighed as he said that he knew now that this was judgment from Elbaf… their god of war. Luffy was looking furious as he screamed out, "LISTEN TO ME! GOD'S PROTECTIONS AND JUDGMENTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT'S GOING ON! IF A GOD TOLD YOU TO JUST RUN OFF AND DIE WOULD YOU?! SOMEONE'S INTERFERED WITH YOUR DUEL!"

Dorry stopped for a moment and listened to what Luffy was saying.

"AND A DUEL THAT'S BEEN INTERFERED WITH ISN'T A FAIR FIGHT ANYMORE!" Luffy screamed out at the top of his lungs. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT?!"

"SILENCE!" Dorry screamed out, sounding angry again. "What could you possibly know about this? You're a human who can't have been living on this earth for more than two decades! How can you possibly hope to understand the ways of the warriors of Elbaf?!"

And without another word, Dorry kept walking with Luffy beating his fists around like a child having a tantrum—trying to get the rock off him—screaming for Dorry to let him go. Vivi just stared at him, trying to calm him down—the look on her face clearly asked why he was so upset.

"Who was it?" Luffy demanded angrily, "Who would dare to interfere? I'll kill them!"

While the princess tried to think of an answer, a familiar voice suddenly sounded off behind them, screaming for Luffy. Usopp came bursting through the trees, tripped, bounced on a rock before crashing right into the mountain. Usopp was looking up and when he spotted Luffy and Vivi there, he ran over to the, shouting out, "I HAVE TERRIBLE NEWS! A DINOSAUR ATE NAMI!"

Luffy also yelled in terror. Usopp cried out that they were running away from the dinosaurs together, but when he turned around, she was gone. They both began to freak out until Vivi yelled for them both to calm down and think things through. That just because she disappeared didn't mean that she was eaten. Usopp demanded to know just what else she thought could've happened and Vivi finally suggested the answer.

"I don't know for sure," she confessed, "But if Baroque Works followed us from Whiskey Peak it would make sense for them to go after Nami, not you. I think we may be in great danger! We should go."

Usopp gasped at Vivi's words. "You mean Baroque Works is here on the Island with us?" he asked before he thought it over, and his fear was temporarily replaced with confusion. "Wait… but why capture Nami and not me?"

Vivi explained that that they most likely didn't know about Usopp or Sanji even existed and so that meant that they were probably not on Baroque Works assassination list because they never got in their way. She then suggested that the alcohol was probably meant for them instead. Luffy and Usopp's eyes widen as Usopp asked what she meant and she told them the whole story about the exploding drinks.

"NO WAY!" Usopp screamed out, sweat falling and his eyes wide in horror, "THEY ACTUALLY EXPLODED INSIDE THE GUY?!" he looked behind him in the direction of the battling giants and asked, "Wait, he was injured that badly and he still ran off to go fight?!"

"I tried to stop him and that's how I ended up like this!" Luffy explained darkly, still trying to pull himself out.

"This is horrible!" Usopp yelled in panic, "Those two have been fighting for as hard as they can for a hundred years and they always ended in a draw!" In the distance they could hear the sounds of them fighting. "Plus, their duels are fought with the most honor and pride in the whole world! There's no way they can settle it once and for all like this!"

Vivi just looked at them as Luffy fought harder than ever to get out. However… soon they saw what looked like a geyser of blood shoot above the trees. They all stared at it and knew it could only mean one thing…

Luffy was now going crazy, banging his head against the ground in fury. Usopp and Vivi tried to calm him down but he ignored them both as he fought. "WHO WAS IIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT?" he screamed out at the top of his lungs. "WHO DID TTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS?!"

Usopp was with him completely, also looking angry. "I don't know what we're up against here… but I'm gonna take care of them by myself!" This lost its effect because his knees were shaking together. Vivi said that she was going to go with him, but someone said, "You're not going anywhere!"

Looking back, they were standing there were the two they saw before. Though it was hard to tell it was them without the beat up faces…

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentines were there, holding onto a beat up Carue. Vivi shouted for him to let the duck go. Mr. 5 did, but only because he wanted to. He threw the hurt duck to the ground and Vivi ran over to him in horror, calling out his name.

"You can have him back!" Mr. 5 said, "We don't need him." Miss Valentines laughed mockingly as Usopp asked Luffy who they were and he said that they were from the last island.

"Carue never did anything to you! Why did you have to do this to him?!" Vivi screamed at them.

Mr. 5 merely answered that they didn't have to hurt him if he just cooperated with them. They had wanted to use him as bait to lure them into the jungle where they could attack them. But Carue had refused to help them and kept silence the whole time. But when they found out that Luffy was trapped like this they didn't think they had anything to worry about. As they laughed at Carue, Vivi declared she was going to kill him. Usopp demanded to know if they were the ones behind injuring Dorry, which they didn't bother to deny.

As soon as he heard, Luffy was now looking ready to kill as he tried to crawl out. Vivi pulled out her weapons and looked ready to fight as well but they didn't seem concerned. The two charged ahead, but Usopp's Exploding Stars didn't work as Miss Valentine's flew out of the way and Mr. 5 sent his own bomb at him. Miss Valentine's fell on Usopp like a boulder and Mr. 5 grabbed Vivi by the throat.

Mr. 5 reassured them that he wasn't going to kill them because Mr. 3 gave them orders to bring them in alive. He passed Vivi to his partner as he walked over to Luffy, and he actually exploded—burning Luffy, Usopp, and Carue in the process. The three lay there, their eyes rolled back and smoking.

Mr. 5 smirked down at Luffy. "Consider this our 'thank you' for what happened at Whiskey Peak. You should learn to mind your own business you pathetic excuse of wannabe pirates. It will be quite beneficial for your heath. By the way, we have your swordsman friend. We've captured the other girl you brought along with you as well."

"So you caught… Zoro?" croaked out Luffy, his face still in the dirt.

"That's right," Mr. 5 said with a sneer and suddenly, Luffy was chuckling softly.

"In that case," he whispered, "You're in more trouble than I thought."

"Well," Mr. 5 said, "Let's see how big you talk… after one of my kicking bombs blows up that little face of yours."

Luffy forced his head to look up, a smirk there, "Try whatever you want… I'm gonna kick your butt." And then he spit on Mr. 5's shoe.

Mr. 5 grew furious and then he kicked Luffy's face—which did explode. Vivi screamed as Mr. 5 continued to kick one… two… three…

He kept kicking about thirteen times—each kick exploding… until he was tired and Luffy was burnt black.

"You weak little fool," Mr. 5 said, as Vivi screamed out for them.

Luffy managed to get out a choking laugh, which caused a small cloud of soot to come out of his mouth. Mr. 5 developed an angry tick mark at the straw hat wearing idiot who refused to stay down. "And what," he sneered at Luffy's prone form, "is so funny this time?"

Luffy stopped chuckling and looked up at the Baroque Works' agent with a strange gleam in his eyes. "Thanks…for that. I was so…upset about what happened to that giant guy that…I couldn't think clearly. Your kick knock some sense into me though, enough that I just figured out how to get out of this!"

Mr. 5 was about to retort before he noticed Luffy's body shrinking. Unlike before, Luffy went for a form that, while smaller, was easily able to wiggle out of his trapped position: he became a rat (1). Ignoring Miss Valentine's girlish shriek at the sudden appearance of the rodent, Mr. 5 was more focused on how the boy he'd previously thought to be hopelessly trapped was now free. He barely had time to mutter, "Oh…crap," before Luffy's smaller form shot up to his previous height and beyond as he took on a rat/human hybrid form. The now taller Luffy gave the Bomb Man the grin of the mouse who got the cheese before slugging the man hard in the chin, knocking him all the way back to his still shrieking partner.

"Remember when I said you guys were in more trouble then you thought? Yeah, turns out that's happening now instead of later," Luffy smirked in a bloodthirsty way as he marched forward, cracking his larger knuckles as he went.

Mr. 5 scrambled up to his feet and, casting a worried glance at the approaching rat-man, said to Miss Valentines, "I think we've overstayed our welcome. Let's report back to Mr. 3"

The blonde woman quickly nodded her head and Mr. 5 once again exploded, but unlike the previous time this was more of a smoke bomb then an explosive one as a thick cloud of dust covered the area. Coughing, Luffy tried to pick up where the two creeps were at but due to the dust his vision was blocked and his sense of smell was messed up. Plus, the bang from the explosion left his sharp ears ringing, so he couldn't make out a thing. When the smoke cleared, there was only Luffy, Usopp, and a now recovering Carue in the clearing.

"Oh no! Those two jerks kidnapped Vivi!" Usopp cried out in terror.

Still in his hybrid rat form, Luffy growled, "And I can't pick up their scent, the explosion must have covered it. Darn it!" he whipped his tail angrily, "I'm really getting sick of those two!"

Carue let out a quack and Luffy whipped his head around to the duck. "Really?! Can you lead us there?"

Usopp looked at Luffy strangely, "Uh, I didn't say anything Luffy."

"Not you, the duck!" the Chimera Man said as he pointed to Carue. "He says he knows where those two were going since they took him from there earlier. He can lead us to those two creeps and the rest of the crew!"

Usopp exclaimed bewilderedly, "You can speak duck?!"

Luffy shrugged as he shrank to human form, "Well yeah, I can understand all animals. I can only do it when I'm in either animal or hybrid form though, human and partial transformations don't work for some reason (2). Anyway, let's get going!"

With that, the two followed the large water fowl as he led them through the forests. They traveled for nearly an hour before they came across a clearing that contained a worrying sight:

The giants were on the ground, Dorry was face-down and bleeding as Brogy was being restraint with large quantities of wax—including what looked like large wax spokes impaled in his hands and feet.

Vivi, Zoro, and Nami were there as well… and they seemed to be trapped in a giant cake with a spinning pumpkin on a pillar above them. Flakes of wax from the candles on top of the pumpkin were falling fast and covering everything beneath them with a coating of wax. The four underneath were already halfway covered with it and Zoro seemed to be arguing with the girls over something.

Watching them were Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's… however there were two others there with them. There was a young girl with blushed cheeks and braided pigtails while the other was a rather frail-looking man with one big 3 achieved through his top knot.

Seeing enough, the trio picked up speed till they were running full force into the area. Just as Zoro plunged his blades into his feet, and then Luffy, Carue, and Usopp came bursting into the clearing with such force that they were sent flying. "When I get back I'm gonna kick the crap outta you!" screamed Luffy as they threw by and smashing into some trees.

"Luffy!" Nami's voice called in relief, "Usopp!"

"Carue!" Vivi yelled as the three came marching back. All three of them were looking ticked off.

"We're here Brogy!" Usopp yelled, "Don't worry! We'll pick up where you left off!"

"Thanks Usopp," he said, from where he lay as Nami screamed for them to hurry up and beat them until they were beyond recognition. Luffy promised that he intended to as Mr. 3 laughed at him. Trying to mock him, on how pathetic it was that he had such a high bounty. But Luffy just noticed his hair and gasped that it was on fire as Mr. 3 screamed at him to shut up.

"Yes, he has weird hair!" Nami screamed at him, "Now could you break this pillar?! We're about to turn into wax statues here!"

Luffy looked up at them in blasé surprise and asked bluntly, "Oh, are you guys in trouble?"

"Nope," Zoro said, his sword over his shoulder. "No trouble at all."

"Wait, Zoro! Your legs!" Nami gasped and that was when they saw blood seeping over the edge of wax.

Zoro admitted that he must've made it about halfway through and Nami screamed at him, asking how that was no trouble at all? Vivi looked sick at the sight of it, her face turning a bluish tint as Zoro ignored the girls and asked Luffy if he could take care of the pillar and Luffy smiled confidently.

Zoro then smirked back as he lifted his white blade high and Nami asked him why he was standing like that.

"If I'm gonna be a statue I prefer this pose," he said as if answering telling her what two plus two was as Vivi shouted at him, sounding close to hysterical.

Nami was also yelling at him, telling him to at least do something about all the blood because she was getting nauseous looking at it all.

"So quite looking at it then!" Zoro told her off.

"It's kinda hard to ignore!" she yelled back. And soon they were both arguing as Vivi stared at them, as if she was convinced that they just didn't realized how much danger they were in.

Brogy smiled in understanding at their now calm attitude. Even Miss Goldenweek noticed as she spread out a blanket and served herself some tea. She pointed out the Mr. 3 how they didn't seemed concerned with what was about to happen to them.

As Usopp and Carue moved back to hide in the trees, Luffy went against Mr. 3. Right off the bat, the Candleman was able to trap his feet—this proved to be a bad thing because in the end, Luffy was able to use this to his advantage by turning his legs into a snake's lower body and, using the now loose wax, slammed his leg locks into the pillar, smashing it.

The giant pumpkin fell, and for one horrible moment, they thought they were going to crush the three trapped below. But instead, it landed on the top tier of the wax cake and continued to spin—the process picking up rapidly.

Luffy asked them why they didn't run for it. Nami and Vivi screamed that they were stuck.

"Oh, really?" he asked in surprise, "Is that what's going on?! The only thing you guys kept saying was for me to break the pillar. So that's what I did!"

"Mr. Bushido do you really think it's a good idea to put our lives in that guy's hands?!" Vivi screamed at Zoro.

"Well, we don't exactly have much of a choice here do we?" the green haired swordsman asked, not looking the least bit concerned. "I don't know about you but I'm having a little bit of trouble moving right now!"

"And you don't seem to be bothered by it somehow!" she screamed hysterically.

Mr. 3 laughed out, saying that all Luffy had done was moved the candles closer and sped up the process turning them into wax statues.

"Wait!" Luffy yelled, finally understanding what was going on, "You guys are gonna turn into wax figures?!"

"THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU!" Nami screamed.

"Please just hurry up and destroy this thing Luffy!" Vivi begged and Luffy said that he got it this time. Mr. 3 tried to attack him just as Usopp sent an Exploding Star at him; however Mr. 5 stepped in and, not only did he catch it with his mouth, but he swallowed it.

Luffy went back to trying to break the pumpkin. He leapt into his gorilla form and was about to use his increased strength to smash the remaining wax just as Mr. 3 created a wall to block it. He then tried to trap him up again—but had only been able to trap one of Luffy's arms in the wax. Which Luffy used to launch another attack at him—using the wax on his arm to break through Mr. 3's shield and sent him flying.

Luffy, however, was suddenly standing there as if frozen and Nami screamed at him to hurry up… but he kept saying no. Despite them pleading… he just kept saying no. That he didn't feel like saving them. The crew failed to notice two things:

Luffy was standing on a strange, black symbol on the grass.

Miss Goldenweek holding a black-tipped paintbrush in her hands.

Nami's eyes widen. "Luffy…? What's wrong?"

"Yeah," Luffy said, still in that dead tone, "But for some reason I can't get motivated to help."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CAN'T GET MOTIVATED!?" the three screamed. Finally, Vivi noticed the mark and yelled at Miss Goldenweek that she was behind it, which the girl confirmed.

"It's my colors trap: Betrayal Black," she said as she enjoyed some rice crackers. "If you touch the paint you'll want to betray your friends no matter what they might say. Even if they beg and pled for help."

Vivi explained about Miss Goldenweek's ability. How her paint created different emotions and it could use it to manipulate others minds.

"Does that mean that all he has to do is get away from the paint and he'll be ok?" Nami asked as she tried to yell at him to get out away from it, but Vivi was telling him the opposite; screaming at him not to step outside the symbol and not to save them.

And he did.

Luffy snapped out of it and came back to his senses. Once he was freed, Vivi was screaming for help again. Luffy tried to charge in again to help, but Miss Goldenweek trapped him in another Color Trap and the yellow paint on his back was making him laugh helplessly.

"Color's Trap again: Laughter yellow!" she declared, "Shouldn't have stepped outside the circle."

Nami yelled at him to take his shirt off to get rid of the paint, but he couldn't move from laughing. Zoro glared at the wax covering his arms and mentioned that they'd be lucky to stay alive for another five minutes. It was looking bad, but thankfully, Usopp came running out on Carue—running from Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's. They ran into Luffy and smeared the paint getting Luffy to stop laughing.

"Hurry and take her out before she does something else!" Usopp yelled.

Luffy, now looking annoyed, yelled at Miss Goldenweek for her to stop as he tried to fight. But instead she painted another symbol on the ground—this time a bright red color. And like a bull to a red cape, Luffy couldn't attack anything but the spot on the ground.

Finally, Miss Goldenweek combined her yellow and blue paints to make Colors Trap: Tranquil Green. So now Luffy was so peaceful that he was having a cup of tea with her.
Luffy's face was twisted in pain—trying to break the spell. By this point, even Usopp was yelling at him about what the hell he was doing. With the help of Usopp and Carue, they hit him with another Exploding Star so that they were able to burn the shirt and the Color's Trap right off.

At this point though, the trapped Straw Hats resembled little more than wax statues, their faces set in different expressions.

"I'm tired of your stupid paints, you're through!" Luffy declared, waking up and gasping for air, his skin now burnt. "I'm not going to let you hurt anymore of my friends!" His eyes narrowed as he yelled out, "NOW I'M REALLY MAD!"

Mr. 3, who finally came back, had used the distraction to create himself a wax suit of armor; before he had Miss Goldenweek paint it to make it stronger.

As Luffy turned his attention back to Mr. 3, Usopp suddenly realized and he screamed out the way to save the others. That he reminded him that it was still wax and if they could melt it, they could still save the others.

"No way! Seriously?!" Luffy cried out excitedly and Miss Goldenweek confirmed it as Mr. 3 yelled at her for that.

Luffy, now in his Chimera Form, fought Mr. 3 while Usopp worked out a plan to get the others out of the wax. He covered a rope with oil and told Carue to run around the whole thing while he was slowly being crushed to death by Miss Valentine's. Thankfully, Luffy was able to grab hold of Mr. 3's burning hair and brought the little flame over to light the rope.

It was a massive fireball, like an explosion, going up in a tower of flames—the heat alone felt like it was going to knock them over.

The heat alone was easily enough to melt the statues and Mr. 3's armor until they were a mass of wax—with his protection gone, Mr. 3 turned and went running off into the jungle with Luffy and Carue on his heels. Luffy suddenly found himself in a clearing full of wax statues of Mr. 3. There were more than he could count—of all different positions all looking at him.

Just then, he heard Mr. 3's voice around them, trying to taunt Luffy into coming closer and try to find him. He then claimed that when he least expect it, he would stab him.

Luffy just stood there—as if lost in his own thoughts before he looked up.

Luffy suddenly grew horns out of both his forehead and his nose as his skin became rough hide (3). Now standing as a triceratops, Luffy charged in one random direction—and amazingly found him.

"How could you… have known… that this… was where I was?" he asked through foam in his mouth before he passed out from shock, the man being pinned to the tree with two of Luffy's horns under his arms while the third was just below his groin. Each horn was just a hair's breath away from impaling the man, and the shock of it all made him lose consciousness.

"Instinct," Luffy answered just as Carue spotted Miss Goldenweek trying to sneak away and he went after her, her scream echoing around them.

They soon were back clearing with everyone, even with Brogy out of the wax and was crying his eyes out. He was crying so much that his tears were making a waterfall and a rainbow to match. But to their amazement, the sounds of his wails had woken Dorry up and he was now sitting up—freaking everyone out. As it turned out that it really had been the weapons that saved him and Usopp realized that no weapon could hold up for a hundred years of battle. They had to have been dull by now…

Brogy however was crying shamelessly as he hugged Dorry and continued to sob and laugh at the same time; but the playful punches they were throwing at each other and soon they were fighting again. After all this madness, they took care of their injuries as they told Dorry everything that happened while he was out cold. As they talked, the two apparently forgot all about their bounties thanks to their years trapped on this island.

Vivi tried to apologize to them, telling them that it was her fault that they came here in the first place but no one else seemed to buy that as they all enjoyed the rice crackers that Miss Goldenweek left behind—and Luffy was even trying to get them to have a party.

Nami was yelling at Luffy and Usopp—who were fighting over the crackers—about what they were supposed to do over their Log Pose.

"All of you helped save us from those other guys," Brogy said. "If we can, we'd really like to repay the favor."

But when Luffy suggested that they could help with their pose, they sadly admitted that there wasn't anything they could do about that.

Just then, Sanji came out of the jungle—swooning declares of love when he saw the women.

Usopp and Carue were outraged. "Of course he's happy the big, useless jerk!" his yelled, "He shows up after we take care of everything!"

Sanji yelled in shock after he spotted the giants and demanded if one of them was Mr. 3. When they pressed him to how he learned that name, he explained that he had been talking to Mr. 0 over a transponder snail in a hideout in the jungle and pretended to be Mr. 3 when he talked to him.

"And since I had him on the line," he finished up, "I went ahead and told him that we were all dead."

"So he thinks that he doesn't have to send anyone else after us anymore!" Vivi gasped in understanding.

"So your saying that we're finally free from people chasing us now that we can't go anywhere anyway?!" Usopp yelled dramatically. "Oh, that is just perfect!"

Sanji couldn't see what the problem was as he pulled out the Eternal Pose to Alabasta that he stole. Which stunned them all, their jaws dropping open as they stared at it—but soon it was a celebration as Vivi hugged him tightly and they were getting ready to leave.

"'Kay! Giant old guys! It's really been a lot of fun," Luffy said, waving up at them, both giants seemed to have been lost in their thoughts for a moment—as if remembering something from a long time ago when they heard Sanji and Zoro go on about their hunting contest, "But we gotta go!"

"Of course," Brogy said in understanding, "Right. We can tell that you really need to get going."

"It's too bad that you have leave so soon," Dorry added, looking directly at Vivi, "I hope you make it to your homeland in time."

"Me too! Thank you," Vivi said gratefully and they all started to head off with Usopp declaring that someday he would visit Elbaf one day.

The Straw Hats were standing on the Merry's deck and sailing down the river to the ocean's edge. It turned out that the giants were standing on either side of the river, their backs to them and their capes waving in the wind. It looked as if they had come to say goodbye.

As they got nearer, Brogy spoke without looking at them. "A great danger still lies ahead of you!"

"It is an obstacle that has always been here," Dorry added, just as dramatically, "To try and prevent people reaching the next island."

Straw Hats were looking scared as their jaws dropped. But Dorry went on, "But every one of you fought like true warriors to protect the pride of our duel."

"And because you were willing to do that no matter what enemy you may face…" Brogy stated.

"We will never let them destroy your pride, friends!" Dorry declared, his voice echoing around them, as if proving the sincerity of their words.

"You must have faith in what we say!" Brogy told them. "Go straight! No matter what happens, keep going straight! Understand?!"

"Yeah! Got it!" Luffy cried out. "No matter what happens, just go straight!"

They sailed passed them both, with them bidding their final farewells; but soon Nami yelled out in terror to see something enormous rise out of the sea. The water rising up and some of them screamed when it was revealed to be an enormous goldfish—greater than even some Sea Kings.

"Hello Island-Eater!" declared Dorry's voice from behind them.

"You will open the path!" yelled Brogy, "In the name of Elbaf, you will open it!"

Nami screamed at them to turn, but Usopp and Luffy both refused, saying that they just had to keep going straight. When she couldn't calm down, Luffy just told her to calm down as he threw the last cracker at her.

Nami kept screaming at him to chance course, but Zoro leaning back against the door telling her to just give it up. Sanji, Vivi, and Nami continued to try to change his mind, but onwards they went—the last thing that they saw before they were swallowed was the two giants holding their weapons high.

"JUST GO STRAIGHT!" Usopp screamed, but he sounded close to tears. "GO STRAIGHT!"

"What does it matter?!" Nami hollered at him, it was so dark that they couldn't see anything in front of them, "We've already been eaten here!"

"Straight, you hear?!" Luffy yelled from the front, "Just keep going straight!"

"You'll see!" Usopp called from the front, impatiently looking around—waiting. But before they were able to ask anymore there was a shockwave behind them and they were shot forward as the entire goldfish was ripped apart so that they were sent flying out into the open sky—the giants battle cries behind them. It was just like how Luffy arrived with Sanji and Yosaku to Arlong Park as they were soaring high, across the bright blue sky and warm sun…

"We're flying!" Luffy screamed out. Straw Hats were smiling in amazement as Vivi and Carue cowered in terror. "Don't bother looking back; cause we're going straight ahead! Look at us! Look at us! It's so incredible!"

Usopp was crying with awe. "They cut… the sea… itself! The strength of… the Elbaf warriors… IS AMAZING!"

The Merry hit the water, and by this point the island was almost out of their sight. But they could still just make out the voices of the giants behind them yelling out one last thing to them. "FRIENDS! GO! GOOD LUCK!"

Usopp declared to the others that he will go to Elbaf someday—to one day see the village of warriors.

Luffy and Usopp were both singing and dancing on the Merry's railing about the giants of Elbaf with Carue running in circles behind them.

Nami leaned up against the mast, looking a little red in the face (4).

Finally, the duo slipped and almost fell off the railing—but it didn't faze them—they were still laughing the whole time. Sanji was inside making some snacks while Zoro was lifting a set of weights that were even bigger than he was. His ankles were heavily bandaged.
All in all, it was a pretty normal day.

Soon, Sanji came out with a whole platter of sweets for the girls before snipping at the boys that there was more food inside when they began drooling over the plate. They went climbing up the stairs like a group of monkeys and they followed them to see them tearing into the food like pigs at a trough.

"Disgusting," Sanji hissed as he came in and began working on the dishes. He always said that he would beat some manners into them, but it seemed that no matter what he did, it just wasn't good enough to get through those thick skulls.

They all stopped what they were doing though, because Vivi was suddenly shouting at them from outside—and her voice sounded close to panicking. "Hey everyone come quick!"

The men went to the door to see what the matter was.

Luffy called to Vivi, with a mouthful of food, "What's wrong, Vivi? Are you ok?"

"Nami has an awful fever!" Vivi shouted.

Sanji knocked Usopp and Luffy out of his way and screamed in terror, "WHAT!? NAMI'S SICK?!"

Nami was lying on the deck and breathing hard—as if it hurt to take a single breath. Her face was a bright red and already she was starting to break out in a cold sweat.

Vivi had the boys carefully bring Nami down below deck, after giving Zoro the Eternal Pose, and they did what they could to try and help. The best that they could do was to make her a little more comfortable as her fever continued to rise. Sanji was crying his eyes out, looking heart-broken, while Vivi wet a town in a bowl of water.

"It's most likely the climate," Vivi said as she lay the cloth across Nami's forehead. "It's quite normal. See, sailors in the Grand Line aren't used to the change in weather and can become quite ill. There are countless stories of tough, notorious pirates who suddenly died."

Vivi explained to the others that because of the changing climates, a person's immune system was ravaged by colds and fevers until they just couldn't take it anymore. And she also warned that even the slightest cold could be deadly if they weren't careful. As Sanji cried out in despair, Vivi quickly asked if there was anyone on board who knew anything about medicine.

Wordlessly, Luffy and Usopp both pointed to Nami and that was when everyone knew that they were in worse shape than they first thought. Vivi looked anxiously as she smoothed out Nami's blankets.

"Well, when you're sick eating lots of meat always helps, right Sanji?" Luffy suddenly asked their cook.

Sanji sniffled a little as he looked to Luffy and answered him. "Meat is protein and that does give the body energy to operate properly. I can cook some food to give her energy, but there's no guarantee that it'll cure her, I'm not a doctor." He looked to Nami sadly and went on in a forlorn way, "Besides, if my cooking made that big a difference, she'd never get sick. I put a hundred times more care in preparing her meals than I do for you losers." He finished, "I feed Nami fresh meats and vegetables to ensure balance diet… anything that's rotten or moldy…" he pointed to them, "Goes to you."

"JERK!" Usopp exclaimed, slapping his hand.

Luffy proclaimed that Sanji's food still tasted good to him.

"My point, as long as I'm this ship's cook, nobody's going to feed Nami better in terms of nutrition," Sanji said firmly. "I can do anything in the kitchen, still, I do know that there are specific foods for different kinds of illnesses. But I can't make that call, she needs to be diagnosis by a doctor who'll tell us how to help her!"

"Just feed her everything that we got," Luffy suggested.

Sanji was just telling him that she was too sick to eat as Vivi checked her temperature and gasped out that she had a fever of a hundred and four.

"There's bound to be doctors and nurses in Alabasta that can help, right?" Usopp asked anxiously as Vivi leaned back on her knees, "How much longer till we get there, Vivi?"

Vivi thought it all over, trying to think of a way out of this mess as she confessed, "I don't know, at least a week, and that's too long!"

"Kay, she's sick, maybe we're over-reacting?" Luffy asked the other two.

"I don't know, I've never been sick," Usopp and Sanji answered together, tilting their heads in confusion.

"Just what are you people!?" Vivi screamed at them wildly. "This is serious! She shouldn't have such a high fever unless her body's fighting an infection! This is bad! Whatever's wrong it's possibly life-threatening!" Those words put the entire room into an uproar as the three men freaked out.

"YOU MEAN NAMI'S GONNA DIE?!" Luffy screamed in horror, while Sanji broke down sobbing and Usopp running around in circles in panic.

"Your screams aren't helping!" Vivi yelled.

"WE HAVE TO FIND A DOCTOR TO HELP NAMI BEFORE SHE DIES!" Luffy screamed loudly, his words almost being drowned out by Sanji's sobs.

"Ok! Everyone just calm down!" Vivi commanded, "You're only going to make her feel worse!"

But then a weak voice spoke up. It was so quiet that it was hardly heard over the noise, but it was enough to calm everyone as they looked to Nami. "Listen…" she whispered, and she slowly sat up, "I'm fine…"

"Nami?" Vivi asked worriedly.

"Oh, she's cured!" Luffy cheered happily before Usopp hit him over the head and screamed at him to shut up.

Nami, however was breathing hard as she pushed the cloth away and told Vivi to look in her desk for a newspaper. Once she found it, it turned out that their situation was worse than they ever thought. Apparently, three-hundred thousand of Alabasta's Imperial Soldiers had defected and joined the Rebel Army so that now the Rebels outnumbered the soldiers and the tide has changed. But the worse bit of news was that Nami confessed that she had been hiding the paper from them for the last three days.

Hearing that devastated Vivi so that she fell to her knees, looking ready to cry.

"I'm sorry I didn't say something earlier," Nami told her softly. "We can't change our speed so I didn't want to worry you. There's nothing anyone can do right now," She looked to Luffy and asked, "You understand, Luffy?"

Luffy looked like he was trying to figure out a really hard math problem before he said, "Things are bad and they're beyond our control?"

"That sunk in better than I hoped," Nami said with a smile like a teacher who was just given the right answer from a difficult student.

But Usopp was insisting that they take her to a doctor, which Nami dismissed; stating that no one has a temperature that high and that she probably had a little heat stroke. She got out of bed, but it was clear to them that it seemed to take a lot of effort as she got up; merely stating that she appreciated their concern but that they still had to get to Alabasta as she walked up the stairs with some effort. There was a long silence in the room as they watched her go.

"Wow, she recovered fast?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"No," Usopp hissed at him, "She's faking!"

Vivi, meanwhile, was still on her knees and staring at the paper. "Now that this conflict has escalated, even more blood will be shed throughout the kingdom. We're at war," she whispered tearfully as she looked at it. "If I don't put a stop to this insanity the entire kingdom of Alabasta will be doomed. Crocodile will move in and seize control!" she crumpled the paper and cried out desperately, "You're trying to get me home safely, but there's no time! I need to get home as quickly as possible! If I don't make it back in time a million innocent citizens will give their lives needlessly!"

"There are a million people there?!" Luffy gasped, "Wow!"

"What a horrible burden you have to carry, I'm sorry," Sanji said to her sympathetically, as she cried. Just then they heard Zoro's voice from outside yelling at them to hurry up and get on deck.

Sanji began telling Zoro off for the orders, but Zoro replied that they were to shut up because Nami told them to chance course. For those who weren't here, they couldn't understand why because the weather was perfect.

"The wind," Nami said, without looking at them. They looked confused as she went on, "There's a powerful wind… and it's heading right this way." She turned, but Luffy was there, checking her forehead for a fever.

Luffy hollered in pain because her fever was so hot that it hurt his hand. He began giving her orders to get back to bed while they found a doctor for her.

Instead, she got angry, and began yelling at them all that she was just fine. But they were all giving her worried looks, none of them—not even Luffy—buying that for a minute. Even Sanji was actually backing Luffy up, trying to convince her to just go lie down, but she finally lost her temper and screamed at them until they got the message.

But their attention was drawn back to the scene as Vivi came charging out of the door and begging them to listen. They looked up as she called, "I have to ask you all a favor! As a passenger on your ship, it's not my place to ask this, but I have no choice. My homeland is in jeopardy of being destroyed so I would really appreciate it if we could move even faster! Every minute that I'm out here, puts more of my people in danger of losing their lives. We need to head to Alabasta at full speed!"

The men were all looking at her with hard expressions.

"Of course we will," Nami said agreeably, "Just like we promised!"

Vivi smiled and suggested that they hurry up and find a doctor. After all, the only way they could move tops speed was to get Nami healthy as soon as possible.

"Right!" Luffy called out, smiling in approval, "No one makes this ship move like Nami!"

Everyone agreed and Nami thanked her as she tried to walk over to her. She apologized… just before she fainted.

Luffy then screamed, "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!"

They looked to see what he was talking about Usopp screamed as well. Not too far away, an enormous cyclone had appeared out of nowhere—one so big and large that it towered over them as large as the giants on Little Garden. The lightning flashed and the wind was so strong that even though they were far enough away not to have to worry about getting sucked in, the Merry was tossed around like a toy in a bathtub.

"IT'S A CYCLONE!" Vivi screamed.

"IT'S HUGE!" yelled Luffy, hanging onto the mast.

The Straw Hats yelled at how close a call that was, as the storm was exactly where they were originally headed. If they hadn't changed course when they did, they'd be dead right about now. The lightning got harsher and they hung on as Luffy yelled that they barely missed it before he yelled, that they were to find Nami a doctor no matter what and that was when it all faded.

After clearing the storm, the first thing they saw was of a gentle snowfall around them. Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy were all on deck, the first two wrapped in tight blankets.

"See any doctors yet?!" Luffy yelled up to Zoro.

"Luffy, you can't be serious," Usopp whispered to him as Zoro called down what they thought about people standing on water.

Luffy and Usopp asked what he meant. Instead of an answer, he told them to look ahead and they all did. And it was just as he said. A man was standing on the water directly in front of them.

For standing there was a tall man with wavy lips and a sad expression. He looked a great deal like a jester with his green-blue costume.

Luffy asked Usopp if he thought that he was a doctor, causing a massive case of the face-palms.

The man began talking about how chilly the weather was to the Straw Hats. Suddenly, the water underneath the man rose up suddenly. A wave so big that it almost overturned the Merry…

With that, a large round ship had rose up beneath them like a submarine would. It had large steel plating around the ship, with a star-like pattern. Two large gears are seen towards the side of the ship and the form of a giant hippo wearing a crown as its bow. There were hundreds of men on board and the pirate flag held a skull with a tongue out and a crown on its head.

The men jumped onboard the Merry and threatened to shoot as they held the three men at gunpoint—though only Usopp looked scared.

Just then two more men showed up with the jester guy they saw a moment ago. The first was a man wearing a long, orange cloak, with gloves that cover all fingers but his thumb, and resemble an afro each. He also had a large black afro on his head, and three small ones on his beard. A heavy, overweight man with dark violet and a cylinder-shaped jaw made up of tin plates, was standing there as he enjoyed a large slab of meat on the end of a knife. He was dressed in tin-plate armor and a hooded cape that made this guy look a bit like a hippo.

The fat man, who the crew members called Wapol, stood on the Merry, watching the whole thing with a bored expression, as if he could think of a million places he rather be, as he watched them all. Just then, the cabin door shot open and Sanji came running out, demanding to know what was going on. Sanji saw that they had guests. But rather than be concerned, he casually lit a match for his cigarette before he asked again coolly, "So… what's going on here?"

Luffy looked up, "Well, we're under attack, and it's still snowing."

"Well yeah," Sanji stated patiently as he looked to the guns with mild interest, "The guns pointed at my face kinda gave it away. What's next?"

Wapol continued to chew a chunk of meat off his knife. "You all consider yourself a band of pirates?" he asked, "That's amusing. I only count four of ya!" he then bit down on the blade, breaking it with his teeth.

The Straw Hats all cringed as he chewed up the knife and swallowed the whole thing like it was a cracker.

Wapol finished up the knife and added, "So strange… that your group would have so few members."

"'Kay, that's just weird," Luffy said as they all stared at him, "What kind of guy likes to eat knives?"

"And that's a lot coming from someone who eats almost anything he can catch," Sanji added, looking at him.

"Alright," Wapol said, still chewing, "I'll keep this simple. See, my men here and I wish to travel to Drum Kingdom. You wouldn't happen to have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose would ya?"

Sanji told him a straight no that they never even heard of Drum. Luffy then told Wapol to leave because they were in a hurry; though Wapol merely shrugged, not at all surprised that they didn't have anything, but he didn't seem upset. Instead, he said that he would settle for their treasure and their ship. And to their amazement, his jaw spread wide enough as he went and bit down on the ship's side.

"HE'S A SHIP-EATING MONSTER!" Usopp yelled terrified as he pulled off a huge chunk of wood and began swallowing it.

"Hey, our ship isn't your lunch!" Luffy yelled out, and the men all pointed their guns at them, warning him to stay quiet. Luffy of course, took them both out. As the men all prepared to fire, the Monster Trio all went out of control, taking out all the guards with no effort at all. The whole time, Wapol was eating the side of the ship—Luffy came charging over, just as Wapol clamped his mouth down on him—swallowing him whole.

But the man's mouth was suddenly wrenched open wide, revealing Luffy in the form of an elephant. The pachyderm's large body being too large for even the mouth-man's jaws allowed Luffy to easily escape. With an annoyed huff, Luffy turned around and raised one of his back legs for a kick. Just before he attacked, Vivi came out this time, demanding to know what was going on, but arrived in time to see Luffy send him flying, screaming out for him to just leave.

The men were all staring with their jaws open as they watched Wapol become a star in the sky. Freaking out, they all climbed back onto the ship and immediately went off to try and save him. "THIS IS FAR FROM OVER!" the jester, whose name was Chess, yelled, pointing a finger at them, "YOU'LL PAY! I PROMISE YOU'LL PAY!"

A few days later, the crew was back in Nami's room. Nami's faces was a bright red and she seemed to be struggling for breath as she tried to breathe.

Luffy and Zoro were there keeping a close watch on her when suddenly they could hear Sanji's voice calling out from above deck, "ISLAND DEAD AHEAD!"

Luffy looked up, looking thrilled. "Are you serious?!" he cried happily, before he looked to Nami, "Oh an island! We found an island! Hey Nami did you hear that? This means we can get you a real doctor! He'll fix you up!" he then chanted that she should wake up, but Zoro told him to go up and that he'll watch her.

Luffy didn't need to be told twice as he almost went skipping up to the deck. It was an island covered completely with white snow with several tall mountains that looked like tall cylinders covered with ice and snow—almost like drums. The tops of them were completely flat and they towered over everything on the island, casting shadows across the landscape.

Luffy began to scream excitedly as he ran up to jump onto the Merry's head and was yelling at the others. "THERE IT IS! NAMI'S SAVED!" It was at this point that he noticed the white powder falling from the sky. "Alright! It's snow!" Luffy yelled with stars in his eyes, "An island of snow!"

"Whoa! Luffy, wait. Just so that there's no misunderstanding between us!" Sanji called loudly, "We're stopping to find Nami a doctor! We're not here to have an adventure! Are we clear?"

But Luffy wasn't even listening as he went on to say how much he loved snow; and Sanji rolled his eyes, knowing that there wasn't any point going on when he got like this.

"Hold on!" Usopp asked, shivering from the freezing weather. "You sure this is a good idea? There could be snow monsters! Besides, we don't even know if there's people there or not! Oh no!" he gasped his hand over his heart, "I'm having a relapse of my 'don't go to the island' disease!"

"Snow… it's so white, it's beautiful," Luffy continued to say dreamily as he looked at the sparkling snow while Sanji just shook his head at them.

Luffy looked ready to jump off the ship once they neared the shore and heading inland along a river. Sanji was staring up at the mountains in wonder. "Look at the mountains," he said. "There unlike anything I've ever seen."

But then Usopp was asking Luffy if he was cold dressed like that, and he looked back in confusion, as if wondering what he was talking about.

"It's ten degrees below zero," Vivi added, "That's when bears get ready to hibernate."

Luffy was silent for a moment, as if this thought was being processed and then…

"IT'S COLD!" he cried out, shivering where he sat and both Sanji and Usopp yelled at him, "You just figured that out!?"

The small ship continued onwards, deeper into the island. The snow shone so brightly that it was almost painful to look at. So far they hadn't seen anyone else, but there was the lingering feeling of being watched. Soon, Vivi had spotted what seemed like a good place to anchor as Zoro called to them all, "'Kay guys, doctor search. Who wants in? Guess we gotta find people here first."

Luffy, who was now wearing a coat that added protection to the layer of fur he now had raised over most of his body, raised his hand. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" Sanji exclaimed.

"Fine! Go have fun!" Usopp yelled in the background.

But then someone yelled out, "That's far enough, pirate!"

At the voice, their heads jerked up to see that they had been surrounded on all sides on the cliffs, by several dozen people at least. Though they looked like ordinary citizens, they were all armed and looked ready to fight.

"People! Well, that was easy," Luffy said, not sounding concerned.

Usopp looked around nervously, and informed Luffy that they didn't look friendly.

Suddenly, a man stepped forward. He was a large and rather imposing man, with slicked black hair and a slight goatee. He was dressed in a long white fur-lined green tunic and armor plates on his arms; with an extra-large spade, in a sheath hanging on his back—and the way that the people all gathered around him, it was clear that he was the leader.

"I'll only say this once. Your kind is not welcomed here. Leave immediately," the man, who the Straw Hats heard was named Dalton called.

"We only came here to find a doctor!" Luffy yelled.

"We have someone who's sick!" Vivi yelled pleadingly.

"You'll have to do better than that! We won't fall for that old trick!" someone shouted.

"This is our island!" another person yelled, holding up his gun. "We won't let any filthy pirates land here!"

Soon everyone screamed for them to leave or else they'll blow them out of the water.

"That's great. We barely said hello, and they already hate us," Sanji said charily.

"Get out of here!" a person yelled at him as he shot near his feet, startling them all.

"Big mistake!" Sanji growled, looking ready to fight as Vivi moved to stop him from acting recklessly, but in the end, that same man lost his head as he fired again—this time he struck Vivi in the shoulder.

"Vivi!" Luffy screamed. He turned towards the shooter, completely enraged. "Why you…!"

They all held up their weapons, looking ready to fire on them all—Luffy looked ready to take them all out, but then Vivi got up and stopped him by his waist, holding him back, even as the blood rushed down her arm.

"Stop it!" Vivi pleaded. "Fighting is not going to help anything!"

Luffy glared at Vivi as she tried to tell him that she was alright, that it was only a graze. She then lowered her head to the deck and cried out, "As you wish, we will not dock here. But please, will you summon a doctor? Our friend is suffering with a severe illness. Please help her, I beg you!"

Luffy looked dumbfounded. "Vivi…"

"You don't deserved to be captain," Vivi stated harshly without lifting her head. "We can't get into a fight here!"

Luffy's expression was void of all emotions as he merely looked at her as she continued to beg for help.

"Think about Nami, what will happen to her?" Vivi asked him. Luffy looked back to the townspeople and seemed to come to a difficult conclusion. "Yeah, right, I'm sorry about that," he said softly. He fell to his knees next to Vivi and bowed his head just like she did, his hat flying off as he also asked for help that they bring a doctor.

The townspeople merely looked on for a few agonizing seconds before Dalton said, "I'll show you to our village." They all looked up at him as he turned, "Follow me."

"See, just ask politely," Vivi said in a know-it-all voice before they got ready to depart.

They soon found themselves in a small, but warm house. There was a roaring fire going in the fireplace while Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Vivi were all gathered around Nami's bed with Dalton there and he even passed them a few warm drinks.

Dalton then started to speak to them as he pointed to the window, "Those mountains out there are known as the Drum Rockies. Look closely… Do you see the castle on top of the tallest one? The one in the middle?"

Barely making out the structure, Usopp questioned Dalton about the castle.

"That castle has lost its king," Dalton explained.

"Yeah, I see it up there," Sanji said as he looked as well. But Vivi was asking what was so important about the castle.

"That castle is where this land's only doctor lives," Dalton informed them. "Doctor Kureha. She's the one who the people here call a witch."

"What!?" Sanji cried out. "Of all places, why does she live on top of a mountain!? We need to call her here right now! Nami needs her help!"

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid there's no way to contact her," Dalton answered, and he truly sounded sorry here.

Sanji growled in frustration. "You can't be serious! What kind of doctor is she?"

Dalton explained that her medical skills are actually impressive but that she was also nearly one-hundred and forty years old.

"Hundred and forty?" Sanji repeated, "No wonder she doesn't get around much."

Dalton just explained that she likes pickled plums as Vivi asked what the people here do if they get sick or injured.

"She comes down from the mountain whenever she feels like it," Dalton explained. "She looks around for patients, treats them, and before she leaves, she takes whatever she wants from their houses as payment."

"She doesn't sound like a very nice lady," Usopp said.

"It kinda sounds like she's a pirate," Luffy added.

"But how is a woman as old as she is capable of getting down that mountain?" Vivi asked, not understanding something like that.

Dalton seemed to think it over for a moment before he confessed, "It's an odd rumor around here, but several of the villagers have claimed to have seen her at night riding a sleigh of some kind through the sky. They see her silhouette when the moon is out. That's the reason she is thought to be a witch."

"There are others who say they've seen her with a strange creature… a creature none of them recognize," Dalton added and Usopp seemed to freak out about snow monsters.

"Dr. Kureha is the only doctor we have but she's still a woman I would prefer to stay away from," Dalton warned, "All we can do is wait for the next time she decides to come down the mountain."

Vivi and Sanji were both exclaiming that they couldn't wait that long. But Luffy got up from the floor and went over to Nami as he began to gently slap her face, trying to wake her up. "Hey Nami? Nami, wake up now," Luffy asked.

"LUFFY YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?" the other three yelled at him. But Nami slowly opened her eyes and she looked over at him.

"Hey, look she's awake!" Luffy exclaimed to them before he looked back to her and explained, "Here's the thing. The only way to see the doctor is to climb the mountain. So, we're gonna have to climb a mountain."

Nami's face turn to one of great surprise while Sanji shouted out, "Are you crazy!? What about Nami? How do you intend to get her up?!"

"Easy, she'll ride on my back," Luffy answered.

"That's only going to make her even more sick!" Vivi yelled at him angrily.

"What's the problem? I thought we needed to hurry?" Luffy said, not understanding what the problem was.

"We do, but you'll never make it up there!" Vivi yelled, pointing out the window at the mountain. "Look at how steep and tall that thing is!"

"I can do it," Luffy said confidently.

"Maybe you can, but climbing that thing will be way too hard on Nami!" Sanji exclaimed.

"Yeah, but look, even if we fall or something we'll land in snow," Luffy said indifferently.

"That doesn't matter! A fall like that will kill even a healthy person!" Vivi yelled out, and acting like that ended the matter. Even Usopp was backing them up, arguing that Nami's fever was too serious and that she's almost dying.

"Let him do it…"

The voice had come from Nami started to groan in bed, and like before, the entire room fell silent as they looked over at her. "I… I need to get over this thing… and quickly. We need to hurry… for Vivi." Still breathing hard, she pulled her hand out from under the covers and held it up as she forced a smile. "Come on, captain. Let's go!"

The other three stared at them, dumbfounded—even Dalton was looking at her in surprise. Luffy grinned back at her and gave her a high-five that reminded them when Arlong Park fell and she had given back the Straw Hat… even back to when they first met and she agreed to join up with him for awhile. "That's what I'm talking about. Leave it to me!" he promised as they got ready to leave for a dangerous journey…again.

Soon they were all standing outside Dalton's house. Luffy was carrying Nami on his back as he took the form of a mountain goat as Vivi was tying a cloth around them to help make sure she stayed on. While Dalton was surprised at the boy's transformation, he easily accepted it as he explained that he was a Zoan Fruit user himself, having the Ox-Ox Fruit Model: Bison.

Sanji sighed a little as he watched them. How he wished that he had offered to carry Nami-swan up like this? He was sure that he would've made the journey a lot more comfortable for her than that animal brained captain.

"You know you're in no shape for a trip like this Nami," he told her, but she was already sleeping like a baby.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Vivi asked worriedly, "It'll take you hours to get there."

Luffy didn't answer that as he looked to Dalton and asked for some meat for the road and he looked at him in bewilderment.

Sanji declared that he would go with them to make sure that they got up there in one piece as Usopp warned Luffy that he couldn't fall, not even once, or Nami will die.

Vivi finished tying Nami on and told them that she would stay behind because she would only slow them down. Usopp nodded in agreement as Luffy told Nami to hang on tight and they looked ready to start running.

"I guess you're set on going," Dalton said, "I'm not going to try and stop you, but I will ask that you climb up from the other side. That way you can avoid the Lapahns on this side. They're fierce carnivorous rabbits. You run into a pack of them, you're as good as dead."

Luffy was reassuring him that they'll be fine as he looked to Sanji, who agreed firmly.

"You can't be serious!" Dalton said loudly, "Do you know how easily those things can kill you?!"

"Nah, we'll be alright," Luffy said confidently as he took off, calling back to Sanji, "Now hurry it up Sanji before Nami dies!"

The blonde cook looked annoyed, yelling after him, "Don't say things like that you idiot, you wanna jinx us?!"

And so they took off. It was already starting to snow with a wind picking up quickly so that it was difficult to see anything in front of them. But they could still see the main mountain in front of them as they made a straight beeline for that… leaving nothing but deep imprints in the snow behind them.

1. Interesting fact: rats can contort and flatten their bodies to fit in most spaces, allowing them to go into places like houses easily. Luffy momentarily forgot this fact in his anger and frustration, but thanks to having the sense knocked back into him he was able to remember this and easily squeeze out of the mountain. Also, gave you all something original to read! Yay!

2. I mentioned this in the first chapter I believe that Luffy can understand animals while using his animal or hybrid forms. He can't do it when he's mostly human though, because unlike Chopper he wasn't born an animal and has to rely on his Devil Fruit's power to understand them.

3. I'm pretty sure you all saw this coming after the ending of last chapter, but yes Luffy now has dinosaur animal forms. You may proceed to thank me.

4. I would personally like phonenix for the though and input they put into their review. That being said, however, I kept it with Nami being sick for several reasons: Luffy would most likely be able to brush off the sickness like he does most anything, Luffy could possibly turn into an animal with a stronger immune system to fight the sickness, and while Luffy's powers might make the trip up the mountain slightly easier for him please keep in mind that he's carrying a dangerously sick person who can't handle much at this point. I hope you continue to enjoy my writings!

AN: Once more, kudos to RoseDragonWitch for being awesome and allowing me to use their writings to help forward my own. Next chapter, we get to meet everyone's favorite monster doctor. Stay tuned, and remember to READ and REVIEW!