Pendulum

There was a cool chill to the air as the giant clock's pendulum swung back and forth in the dark room. A faint glow from the strange numbers on the clock face was the only light inside of the circular room. The tick was heavy and soothing to him. He sat in the very middle of the room in a narrow throne. His eyes locked onto the eight viewing mirrors floating in front of him. He watched the people in the mirrors contently. Some had already woken up while others were still fast asleep because of the journey coming here. He knew the journey would be a bit rough on them. After all they weren't use to traveling the way he was. And he had caught them by surprise. That didn't help much of anything.

Still, he had them. And now it was time for them to wake up and get to work. He smirked, leaning his cheek against his fist while his elbow rested on the arm of the narrow throne he sat upon. A deep rumble released from his throat. He laughed. He laughed at his own thoughts. Then he quickly stopped. His eyes fell upon the eighth viewing mirror. She was lying in the bed he had placed her in. He figured she would sleep for a while longer than the rest. He didn't mind. Turning back to the other viewing mirrors, he said, "It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, you all have lot of work to do."

…

Chopper groaned when he heard the strange voice speaking out to him, telling him to wake up. He opened his eyes. Starting up at a pale blue sky through a few leaves, he noticed hundreds of new smells and noises that didn't fit in with the island's resort atmosphere. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before adjusting his skewed hat. He glanced around at his surrounds. He asked, "Where am I?"

When his eyes landed on several multicolored tents, he blinked in confusion. "What? I don't remember those being on the island. Did a circus come to the resort while I was asleep?"

He continued to stare at the tents in a slight sleepy state. He watched as people started coming out of the tents. His heart jumped into his throat when his brain registered what he really saw. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he might still be asleep and was dreaming, then looked again. The people weren't what he was expecting. They didn't even look human. They all had dark green hair, cinnamon colored skin, and short pointy ears. Some were just walking away from the tents while others were juggling balls or other various objects, some were balancing on one wheeled bikes, some were leading strange animals around, some were doing cartwheels and other acrobatic moves.

Chopper's eyes slowly grew very large. A loud scream erupted from his little mouth. He jumped into the air, flailing wildly. He screamed, "Where the heck am I?! Who are these people?! Where's my crew?! Where's Neo?! Oh my gosh! Neo?! Neo, where are you?!"

He dashed around in the immediately area, looking and sniffing the air in desperation to find his friends. He couldn't find them anywhere. He couldn't even get a single trace of the Heart Pirates or his own crew scents.

"Hey, did you hear someone scream?" a voice asked.

Chopper gasped. He dashed behind a tree, his heart pounding hard in his little chest. What do I think I'm doing? I shouldn't be screaming like that.

"No, I didn't hear anything. It was probably just a kid," another voice said. "Come on. We have to get ready for the next show."

"Yeah," the first voice said.

Chopper exhaled when the people didn't come looking for him. He said, "That was too close. I could have been captured. I wonder where I am. And why can't I smell the others?"

He peaked out from behind the tree and looked around carefully. The crowd he had seen had thinned out a lot. Only the performers were left standing around talking. He ducked back behind the tree again and scanned his eyes around his surroundings. The forest he was in looked just as strange as the people. The tree trunks were all various sized, but the limbs were all very thin with thin strands of what looked like hair hanging down from them. He sniffed the air, noticing the trees didn't smell like the trees he was use to. They smelled almost like sulfur to him.

"Where am I? Everything here just looks and smells so strange." He brought his eyes back down from the tree branches to find he wasn't alone anymore. Sitting in front of him was a spider monkey like creature. On its back was a pair of small light grey wings. The monkey's eyes were almond shaped and way larger than they should have been. They took up most of the monkey's head, making it look like it was born deformed. The pupils were vertical slits of black while the irises were a dull yellow. "Ah! What the heck are you?!"

The monkey's eyes started to glow as if it answering him, sort of. A beam of light poured out from the slit in its eyes formed a tiny looking man. Chopper blinked a couple times while inspecting the man before him. He wore a grey and purple vertical striped robe over his pastel blue skin. His hair was wild like a lion's mane only it was black in color. The longest parts of his hair hung over his shoulders and touched his chest. His ears were fish like, sharply pointing upwards. But it was the man's eyes that caused a chill to run down Chopper's spine. His eyes were the exact same as the strange monkey with him. Whatever was going on, the young pirate doctor was about to get his answer. And he knew he wasn't going to like it one bit. He hoped and prayed that his friends, wherever they were, were all safe from harm. He bit his lip when he remembered that Penguin had gotten injured in their battle. He wanted to cry. But he knew Penguin had basic first aid training. Plus the hit really didn't look all that bad. Or he hoped it wasn't bad. He swallowed hard, clenching a hold of the straps on his bag, waiting for the man to speak.

…

Sanji opened his eyes to the sweltering sun shining down on him from above. He sat up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and scanned the world around him. He kneaded his eyebrows and stood up. He walked closer to the edge of the roof he was standing on. He found he was no longer on the resort island. It didn't look like he was on an island at all. Or at least not the type of islands he was use to. There were several small islands floating over a dark hole. Most of the islands he could see held a single large tree with what appeared to be small apartment buildings built inside with normal enough looking porches while others held between two and seven different size buildings, all with similar porches or balconies. He also noticed that not a single one of them had any type of staircases to the ground floor of the floating islands. "Well, that's not a good thing. Who builds multiple floor buildings without staircases?"

He watched as someone walked out on one of the porches. The person seemed to hug a second person before unfurling wings. His eyes widened when that person jumped off the porch and took to the air with one graceful flap of their wings. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and his lighter. Once lit, he breathed out the smoke and pocketed the lighter. He said, "Well, this definitely isn't normal. At least now I know why there are no stairs. Who needs them when you can fly?"

He stepped as close to the edge of the building he was standing on. Looking down he saw it was a building made of glass yet the light didn't reflect off of its walls at all. And more bird people were flying around the building, landing on its own balconies before entering into the strange building. He backed up from the edge. He looked around the roof but to found nothing but a strange looking spider monkey with wings and very large almond shaped eyes. He blew out another puff of smoke while the wind picked up, teasing his hair and the edges of his clothes. He said, "Well, I don't suppose you can tell me what's going on here, huh?"

The monkey didn't reply.

Sanji walked over to it. Bending down he poke the animal's cheek. His eyebrows lifted on his head when he found the animal didn't have any fur. He hummed in thought before standing back up. He shoved his hands into his pockets as his eyes remained locked onto the thing before him. He hummed. "I get the feeling you're not up here just to be a statue decoration. And I bet it's not just a coincident that you're also the only thing up here with me. I bet you have something to do with that attack back on the beach."

The monkey continued to remain silent.

Sanji bent back down to inspect the thing again. While eyeing it, he said, "I'm not really sure but you look like some kind of machine. If Franky was here he'd have you disassembled in seconds and could possibly tell me what you are." He poked the thing in annoyance. "So who's your boss? No way you're the thing that brought me here. And where are my friends? What's happened to them?"

He stood up and looked around again. He continued, "I think it's highly possible that they're not here with me, wherever here actually is. It wouldn't make sense to bring us all to the same place but put us on different rooftops." He looked back down at his companion. "I guess I have no choice but to sit around here and wait for the real person who took us to show up. And they better get here soon."

Sanji narrowed his eyebrows. His chest burned with anger. "Because whoever it is, I'm going to kill them for attacking my friends! Neo is going to be so freaked out when she realizes we're not around her! She doesn't need that in her condition!"

Sanji closed his eyes. He took in a couple slow breaths to get himself to relax. He knew he didn't need to get upset himself. That wouldn't do him or anyone else any good. He knew he needed to gather more information before trying to figure out a plan on how to get back to his friends. He laid down on the roof, putting his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky above him, his thoughts wondering where his friends could possibly be and how Neo was going to react to all of this. He hoped she was at least with someone that could keep her calm. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about it. Neo was strong. It might take her a while to adjust to things, assuming she was alone, but she would hold on until they all got there.

He turned back to the strange animal. He felt more anger at the thing while he stared at it. He really wanted to kick it into oblivion, into millions of tiny pieces, then flambé it, and then kick it as far away from him as he possible could. But he couldn't and didn't do that. He knew this thing was an important clue or key that he needed to keep around. So with a resigned sigh, he stayed right there in the hot sun and waited for whomever his real enemy was to show up. Lying there, he let his mind wonder over the battle they had before he arrived here. I wonder why that thing attacked Neo directly. And why did it wait to attack until after it was spotted? It clearly had the upper hand on us. It doesn't make any sense. There has to be more to this.

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, you all have lot of work to do," a voice said.

Sanji had no idea how much time had passed when he reopened his eyes. He really didn't even know when he had fallen asleep. The sun above didn't seem to have moved its position at all so it was no help in determining the time. But, looking to his left, he found that the winged monkey had moved closer to him. Sitting up, he said, "Well, the thing can move after all, unless someone else moved you closer. But I doubt that. I would have sensed their presence. I don't suppose you can at least speak?"

Sanji watched as the monkey's yellow eyes lit up. A beam of light shot out from its black slits, revealing a man was a grey and purple vertical striped robe. The cook inspected the man carefully, trying to determine if he was a fish from his pastel blue skin and ears or a lion with his black mane. Whichever the person was, he knew this was the one who had taken his friends. Lifting his finger, he poked at the man finding it to be some kind of projection. His eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "So, I assume that voice I just heard was yours? And you will be the one who brought us here, correct?"

…

Shachi woke up to find himself staring up into a pair of large reptile eyes. A startled scream passed over his lips. He bolted up from the ground. With his heart pounding in his chest, he looked to see that the reptile was digging into the sand. It disappeared beneath the top layer before he could figure out the type of reptile it really was. He exhaled then said, "At least it was as scared as I was. I don't think I could have handled a fight right now."

With a few more breaths, his heartbeat was back to normal. He then looked around to try and figure out where he was. Looking down to his left, he found Luffy was fast asleep beside him. His eyes lifted to the other side of Luffy. Sitting there on the sand was a spider monkey with wings, its yellow eyes starting off into space. He shook his head, unsure of why a monkey would be out in the desert like this. Brushing sweat off his chin, he scoffed. "Well, you're probably wondering why we're out here as well. So I guess that makes us even."

Ignoring the monkey, Shachi left the young captain alone for the moment. Pushing himself up to his feet, he walked to the edge of the shadow casing down on them from the large rock formation they were under. He ran his eyes over the dessert in front of him. He couldn't see anything but sand and steam. He walked around the rock, looking while hoping they were near a town or village or something that had people and water. But there was nothing but sand for what looked to be miles. With a defeated sigh, he walked back over to Luffy, wiping the gathering sweat from his forehead and neck away. He knelt down and placed his hand on the rubber man's arm. He said, "Hey, wake up. Come on, Straw Hat. We have a problem here. You need to wake up."

Luffy snored and rolled over onto his left side. Muttering in his sleep, he said, "Sanji, I want meat."

Shachi sighed. Pulling his hand back, he decided to just let his only pirate company sleep. He knew it really wouldn't do much good to wake Luffy up right now. Even if they wanted, they couldn't go looking for any of their friends or anyone for that matter. Being in the desert without desert clothing and water, they were basically stuck here, at least until the sun went down. Sure the desert would be freezing at night, but it would be better to search for people when it was cold rather than when it was blazing hot.

He already wanted the cooler weather to give him a break from this heat. He had no idea how long they had been here but his boiler suit was pretty much soaked. Now unable to take it anymore, he undid his boiler suit and rolled it down to his waist, tying it off with the sleeves. He plopped down on the sand with a heavy sigh. He mumbled, "I hope Neo's going to be okay. I hope she's with someone. And I hope the captain is also with someone who can handle him. Both are going to be very worried and furious when or if they wake up without each other close."

With nothing else to do, Shachi leaned back against the rock formation. He kept his eyes locked onto the desert wasteland. He hoped that a caravan would soon come by that he and Luffy could catch a ride with. He waited and waited. It felt like hours passed by. But he didn't know how long it actually was. The sun never seemed to change its location. It was starting to get to him. And he was starting to get thirsty while he stared out at the heat lifting off the sand dunes. He turned his eyes down to the sleeping man beside him. He wished that Luffy would wake up. At least then he would have someone to talk to and keep his mind off how long it's possibly been since he had a drink of water.

"Sanji, what's for breakfast?" Luffy then asked as he lifted his body up from his slumber. Drool dripped over his lip and rolled down his chin. "I'm hungry. I want meat."

"I'm afraid we have a more serious problems to worry about than breakfast, Straw Hat," Shachi said as he pointed out to the desert around them. "Like how we're going to survive in the desert without the proper clothes and water to keep us hydrated."

"What?!" Luffy shrieked. He jumped up. Running around inside of their only shade, he looked around the desert. "How did we wind up in the desert?! We were on the Sunrise Resort Island!"

"We were on that island some time ago, Straw Hat," Shachi said. "We were attacked by some strange orb thing, remember?"

"That's right!" Luffy said. His eyebrows narrowed as he looked around for the blob enemy. "Where is that thing?! I'm going to pound it into the dirt!"

"It's gone," Shachi said. "You, me, and that weird monkey are the only ones here."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at the monkey.

"There was also some kind of reptile here when I woke up, but it ran off," Shachi said. "So far no one else has come by this way. I'm not even sure where we are or where the others are."

"The others are missing?!" Luffy's eyes shot over to Shachi.

"I'm afraid so," Shachi said. "I don't even know if they're here on this island, or whatever we're on, or if they're somewhere else. All I could find was this weird little monkey here."

The two men looked at the monkey just a second before a beam of light poured out from the slit in its eyes. They both hummed in curiosity and confusion upon seeing the man before them looked like a cross between a lion and a fish wearing a grey and purple vertical striped robe with pastel blue skin.

"What the heck? Who are you? What are you? Are you a fish or a lion?" Luffy asked. "Wait! Never mind that! Where are my friends?! Are you the one who separated us?!"

…

"A-a-achoo! It's so c-c-c-c-c-cold!" Was the first thing Usopp screamed when he woke up to the subzero temperatures blowing through his body, chilling his bones down to their core. He wrapped his arms around his body and looked around. In all directions all he could see was snow, lots and lots of snow. It blew down on him heavily like a curtain blocking his view from his surroundings. He stumbled backwards. "Where the heck a-" His boot caught on something, causing him to fall back into the deep snow. He popped out of the snow, shaking it off before shivering from the coldness. "I'm going to die out here."

"Whoa," Brook said, lifting up with Usopp's legs lying over his own legs. "Where are we?"

"Th-th-that's wh-wh-what I-I-I-I'd-d-d like t-t-to know," Usoop said, his teeth chattering violently. "I'm s-s-so c-c-cold."

"I'm just fine," Bepo said, popping his head up out of the snow.

"Says the one born with a fur coat!" Usopp screamed.

"I'm sorry," Bepo bowed his head, his nose tucking back into the snow.

"How long have we been here?" Brook asked.

"I don't know," Usopp said. "I just woke up."

"Goodness, you're totally buried," Brook said to Bepo. "How did you manage to get buried while we remained on top? Can you even get out of there?"

"I'm fine," Bepo said, pulling himself out of the snow before brushing the white powder off him.

"Can anyone tell where we are?" Brook asked. "I can't see a thing in this snow storm."

"It looks like a white out," Bepo said. "We might not be going anywhere for a while."

"That's just great!" Usopp shrieked. "I'm going to die out here! What was that thing that attacked us anyway?! And where is everyone else?!" Holding his arms as close to his sides as he could, he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hello! Is anyone out there?! Luffy?! Sanji?! Nami?! Anyone?!"

"It might not be a good idea to scream like that, Luffy," Brook said. "You might start an avalanche."

"A-" Usopp clamped his hands over his mouth. "I didn't think of that. With all this snow I can't see anything. We might be right next to a mountain that's ready to fall on top of us, burying us alive so we'll suffocate to death."

"We'll most likely freeze to death before we suffocate," Bepo said.

"Shut up!" Usopp snapped.

"I'm sorry." Bepo ducked his head again.

"He's correct," Brook said. "And freezing to death is actually the most pain free way to die. You just go to sleep and that's it."

"I don't want to hear that!" Usopp said. "So stop saying things like that!"

A threatening rumbled broke through the howling winds. The group frozen in place, wondering if they really were standing underneath a mountain that was packed heavily with snow and if all that snow was going to fall down on them. The rumbling stopped and was replaced again with the cold howling winds of their surroundings.

"I hope Neo's all right," Bepo said after the rumbling had stopped. "She's going to be so scared to wake up and find that no one's with her."

"Yeah." Usopp nodded.

"Don't lose hope, my friends," Brook said. "She might be with someone. After all, we three are together. And Neo is a very strong young woman. I know she'll be able to take care of herself."

Bepo nodded, but remained obviously worried about his little sister and co-captain. "She'll be fine. I hope."

"That might be true," Usopp said. "It just depends on who took us and why."

"All I know is the captain is going to be furious at whoever took us," Bepo said.

"He'll probably end up slicing everything up," Usopp said. "I hope he at least has someone with him that can keep him calm until he's reunited with Neo."

"That aside," Brook said. He pointed down to Usopp's boots. "What's the deal with the monkey? And why does it have wings?"

"Monkey?" Usopp asked turning his eyes down to where Brook was pointing. "Whoa. There really is a monkey here."

"But how could a monkey survive in weather like this?" Bepo asked. "It's so small and has very little fur."

"Maybe it's not a real monkey?" Brook offered.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's a real monkey." Usopp reached to pick it up. Before his hands could touch it, a voice spilled out of it.

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, you all have lot of work to do."

"Ah!" Usopp screamed and fell back into the snow. "It can talk!"

"Very strange indeed," Brook said, leaning closer to the monkey. "Do you think this is the thing that brought us here?"

"Who cares?!" Usopp said, popping out of the snow again. He tightened his arms around his shaking body, his skin now turning blue. "I can't feel my toes and fingers anymore! We need to get out of here!"

"Hey, something's happening," Bepo said when the monkey's eyes started glowing. A small beam of light came out from the monkey's eyes. It revealed a man with pastel blue skin, fish like ears, black lion mane like hair dressed in robes with vertical grey and purple stripes. "Who's that?"

"Do you think it's the one who really brought us to this place?" Brook asked.

"If so, he can get us out of here." Usopp leaned down, his nose going right through the man's body. "Hey! What the heck?!"

"He's not really there," Bepo said.

"I don't care!" Usopp said. "He can still see us! Listen up you! I'm a notorious pirate captain with five hundred thousand men! They're all going to be looking for me! Send us back to where we were and I'll forget this whole thing!"

The man didn't response.

"Can he even hear us?" Bepo asked.

"I'm not sure," Brook said. "Surely he can if he's appearing to us like this. How is he appearing to us anyway? Usopp's nose went right through him."

"Maybe it's just some kind of mirage?" Usopp offered.

"Is that possible?" Bepo asked.

"It must be," Brook said. "We're all seeing this."

…

Robin stared at the winged monkey before her. She found this island, which was void of plants, animals, and other people beside herself, Topaz and Penguin, was rather small and out in the middle of an ocean. The island only held a small dock with a fish shaped submarine. But the monkey was by far the strangest thing she has seen in a while. Its eyes were so huge and such a dull yellow color. And it had spoke. Or it appeared to have spoken. She didn't see its lips move at all, but knew someone's words came out of it. Her eyes drifted over to Topaz when she heard the Elemental woman waking up. She crawled over to her friends. She asked, "Topaz? Are you waking up now?"

"Hm?" Topaz opened her blurry eyes to see someone fuzzy looking down at her. She blinked to clear the fuzz and found that it was Robin. "Robin?"
"Good you're finally awake," Robin said. She gave Topaz her hand and helped the Elemental sit up.

"Yeah." Topaz nodded before looking around at their surroundings. "Where are we? Is that…" She paused when she saw the strange winged monkey sitting not far from them.

"It's been here since I woke up," Robin said. "It hasn't moved at all."

"It's not real," Topaz said.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"I mean it's not a real monkey," Topaz said. "It's not even a real animal."

"It's not a real animal?" Robin blinked at the thing. "I guess that would explain why it hasn't moved at all."

"Neo's not here either," Topaz said.

Robin brought her eyes back to the woman. All she could do was nod in agreement. She figured out that they were the only ones here. This only confirmed her feelings.

Topaz ran her hands over her face. "The captain is not going to like this. I wonder if Neo is with someone too."

"She might be," Robin said.

"Penguin." Topaz shot her eyes over to her crewmate. He was lying on his back with his boiler suit stained with blood. Pulling back the torn pieces of his suit, she inspected the injury the best she could while trying to ignore the iron smell piercing into her nose. Her heart thundered inside of her chest as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket. She was worried for Penguin but also for Neo. Neo wouldn't be happy one bit if something happened to her brother. Wiping away as much blood as she could, she inspected the wound to find it wasn't as big as she thought it was. Her tightened chest relaxed. "That's good."

"Is he going to be all right?" Robin asked.

"Physically I think so," Topaz said while she continued to clean the small round hole in Penguin's stomach. "He might be more mentally wounded than anything else. We're still going to need to find something to clean and properly suture this so it doesn't get infected." She looked around at the horizon of the water. "Do you think anyone else is around here?"
"It's possible that someone could be living beyond our eyesight," Robin said. "We'll keep a look out for boats. Someone might come by soon."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded despite feeling they were farther away from their homes than they realized. With nothing else to do, they sat down on the ground to wait for Penguin to wake up.

A little while later they turned their eyes to the man when he groaned and started pushing himself up off the ground. The move shot a sharp pain through his lower left abdomen. He placed his hand on his wound, putting pressure there to try and stop the bleeding. "That hurts."

"Penguin," Topaz said, moving closer to her crewmate. "How bad is it?"
"Not too bad," Penguin said. "It missed vital organs."

"Try not to move so much until we can stitch that up," Topaz said, checking his wound out again. "If only Neo or the captain was here they could easily fix this."

"They're not here?!" Penguin's heart leaped into his chest. His eyes darted around their surrounding area in a panic. He was barely registering that he, Topaz, and Robin were all on a small island. "Where's Neo?! Where is she?!"

"We don't know," Robin said calmly.

"We're the only ones who landed here apparently. Minus the strange winged monkey who happens to not be real," Topaz said. She nodded at the monkey sitting about three feet from them. "We're not even sure how long we've been here. We just woke up a little while ago."

Penguin grabbed his head and growled. "This can't be happening. We have to get to her."

"We can't until we figure out where we actually are," Topaz said.

"And how do we do that?!" Penguin snapped.

"Penguin," Topaz said. "Calm down."

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" Penguin growled. Wincing he pushed himself to his feet, holding his injured side. He paced around on the island, looking for a way to get out of here. But all there was only the small submarine. He paused in front of it. He wanted to jump right into the thing and take off to find his sister. He didn't though. He couldn't even make a possible guess to where she even was or where they were. And if Topaz could sense her she would have said so. That meant they were far apart, very far apart. In frustration, he kicked the sub and stalked back over to the women. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," Topaz said. "I can understand how you're feeling. Neo was so scared when we were taken away from her. She's going to completely freak out if she all alone."

"So what do we do now?" Penguin asked.

"I think we're about to get our answer," Robin said.

The two Heart Pirates looked at her to find their companion pointing at the winged monkey. They both turned their eyes to find the image of a man with lion mane black hair, pastel blue skin, fish like ears, wearing vertical striped robes coming out of the monkey's eyes.

Penguin clenched his fists. He knew, somehow, that this was the one who separated them all. He hissed, "You better start talking!"

…

"When I get my hands on that thing that attacked us I'm going to slice it up into several million pieces," Zoro grumbled as he sat up from the hard ground. He swiped his nose and brushed with his fingers in an attempt to get the dirt that somehow got up there out. He then rubbed his forehead to try and settle down his throbbing head. "Where is that thing?"

"I think the better question to ask is, where are we?" Franky said.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked. He turned his eyes to the cyborg. Pushing himself to his feet, he walked over to his crewmate. His eye widened at the sight before them. There was a rather large steel city in the distances. Several black dots were flying around it like bees do to their hives. "Where are we?"

"I don't have a clue," Franky said. "I don't even know where the others are either. From what I can tell, we're the only ones from our two crews that are here."

"We're the only ones?" Zoro ran his eyes carefully over the city before turning around to see what was around them. Behind them he found a thick forest surrounded them. "I wonder if everyone else is with someone."

"You mean Neo," Franky said.

"I said everyone," Zoro scoffed. "Why would I single her out?"

"Because you care more for her than you like to let on," Franky said.

"Shut up! I do not!" Zoro growled.

"I with you, brother," Franky said. "With her being pregnant, being separated from her crew and friends is the last thing she needs." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I wonder why that thing went right after Neo."

"I'd be more concerned about why it waited until after Chopper spotted it to attack," Zoro said.

"Sounds like it wanted us to see it," Franky said.

Zoro nodded. "That's a possibility. So who long have you been awake? Have you seen anyone around here at all?"

"I've been awake only for a few minutes," Franky said. "I looked around a bit, but this forest is so thick I figured I'd probably get lost if I went in there. And the city is too far away. I knew I wouldn't get back in time before you woke up. The only thing I've found is that little monkey with wings."

"Monkey with wings?" Zoro asked. He turned his eyes away from the cyborg and found what his crewmate was talking about. About five yards from them was the little winged monkey. It's weird, lifeless stare made his eyebrows twitch in annoyance. "Stop staring at me like that. You're creeping me out."

"So what do you think we should do now?" Franky asked. "If the others are here, they could be miles away from us. I'm not even sure if we're in the New World anymore either."

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere sitting around here," Zoro said. "We might as well go into the city and find out where were are. We can also ask around to see if anyone has seen the rest of our crews and the Heart Pirates."

"There's a small path down the cliff over in that direction," Franky said, pointing to his right. "It might be a bit tight, but I think we can make it down to the bottom. I'd suggest just jumping down but it looks to be over two hundred feet. And without Chopper here we really need to be careful."

"Whatever," Zoro said, heading towards the direction Franky pointed. "Let's just go."

"Hey! Wait up! I don't need you getting lost now!" Franky ran to catch up with his swordsman crewmate.

"I'm not going to get lost!" Zoro snapped. "That city is huge! Only a moron wouldn't be able to find his way to it!"

"Sure. Whatever you say," Franky mumbled.

At the same time they both looked to their lefts when they heard strange rumbling noises coming towards them. Zoro's swords swished as he pulled them from their sheaths. Franky's wrist clicked while his hand dropped open. Both stood ready for the possible attack to come from the trees. Seconds later, six strange vehicles flew over their heads. They crossed their arms over their faces to keep dirt and leaves from hitting their eyes before they looked to see the flying objects heading towards the city.

"What the heck were those things?" Zoro asked, lowering his swords.

"They looked like some kind of flying machine," Franky said. "I wonder if that means we're no where near the sea or if they fly them over the sea."

"Whatever. Let's just get out of here and see if we can find the others or not," Zoro said. He sheathed his swords while turning back to the find the path Franky mentioned before. He paused. His eyebrows twitched in agitation when he saw the monkey had moved and was still staring at him. "If you're challenge me to a fight then bring it on already!"

"When did that thing even move?" Franky asked.

"It's time for you all to wake up now. We have a lot of work to do. Or, rather, you all have lot of work to do."

"Did that thing just speak?" Zoro asked.

"I don't think so," Franky said, walking over to the monkey. He picked it up and started looking it over. "Its mouth didn't move at all." He turned it over in his hand. "I think it's some kind of machine."

"A talking machine?" Zoro stepped closer to his friend and took a closer look at the monkey. "So why is it here? Think it might have something to do with that blob thing that attacked us?"

"It's a possibility," Franky said.

The monkey's eyes then lit up. A beam came out of its black slits, forming a man. Franky turned it right side up then sat it back on the ground.

"What is that thing?" Zoro asked inspecting the man's body. "He looks like a cross between a lion and a fish."

"Well, maybe he is a lion fishman or something," Franky said.

"But fishmen are all fish, not lions," Zoro said.

Franky and Zoro exchanged confused and questioning glances before turning back at the monkey.

…

Law did have to even open his eyes or use his bond with her to tell that Neo was nowhere near him. He knew something wasn't right with how that thing attacked them. It had the elemental of surprise on its side yet waited until it had been spotted to attack. But why? Why did it wait? And why did it only directly attack Neo? Was it really only after her? Or was it something else? Was it an attack from a past enemy seeking revenge? If so, how was it they made that blob thing to have the ability to escape all of their attacks? Was it Caesar Clown? That man was a scientist after all. He could possibly create a thing like that. Or maybe he was giving the man too much credit. Caesar might have been smart, but he wouldn't have waited until they spotted his attack to make his own move. It was someone else. But who? Who would know they were on that island?

Law knew he needed to get up. He had been lying there for several minutes just staring up at the strange organic shaped leaves above him. He wasn't even questioning the strange shape leaves or their oddly thin branches they swayed from. His mind was only on Neo. Where was she? Did their enemy have her? Was she a hostage? Was she somewhere else? Was she with anyone? If she woke up without someone there, he knew she would be freaked out, even with what he said to her before they vanished from each other's sight. He just hoped she would be able to calm herself down enough with his ring and hat with her.

He took in a deep breath. Holding it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. Despite a small flicker of not wanting to, he tried to reach out for Neo through their bond. 'Neo? Can you hear me?'

Silence met him. He rubbed his hands over his face. He couldn't even communicate with her through their bond. That meant they were farther apart than he realized. They probably weren't even on the same island. He wondered if he would be able to Project himself to her. He sat up and looked around the forest. Anger flared up in his chest again when he spotted his sword lying on the ground next to him. He didn't have that with him on the beach. He had forgotten all about it when the thing attacked them. With it showing up here, he knew for sure they were taking for a specific reason. And whatever that was, it was going to end with him shoving his sword through the heart of whoever took them.

He had to force himself to look away from the sword. If he didn't, he knew he would pick it up and tear this place apart in looking for Neo and whoever took her from him. While doing so, he found that he wasn't completely along. He was with Nami. The orange haired navigator was passed out on the ground about five feet from him. He didn't know why she was asleep. He didn't even know why he had fallen asleep. He wondered if their attacker used some kind of gas or sedative on them. He really didn't feel like he was coming out of being put to sleep. He just felt like he was waking up. Waking up from a bad nightmare.

Law gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so hard his fingernails perched through his skin. Neo was going to have nightmares over this. And it was going to be worse for her to wake up and find he's not there. He had to get to her. He had to Project himself to her and let her know that he was all right. But could he? Was he in a safe enough place to do that? If they were attacked, would Nami be able to hold the enemy off until he was able to come back? He didn't know. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't going to try. He needed to at least wait and figure out where they were. He then would try and Project himself to her.

He then did a mental count of who was all on the beach with them when they were attacked. Out of everyone that was supposedly taken, Penguin was going to be the second one he was going to be the most worried about. Next to him, Penguin was the most protective and closest to Neo. He hoped he was with someone, preferably Neo. He also hoped his subordinate could find supplies, if he wasn't with Neo, to bandage up his wound properly. Bending his legs up, he rested his arms over his knees.

"Uh, what happened?" Nami asked when she started to wake up. She sat up, rubbed her head, and looked around. "Tra, where are we?"
"I don't know," Law said. "I just woke up."

Nami looked around. She took in her surroundings carefully. She noticed the oddly shaped tree limbs and leaves. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the leaves were a dark green with bright blue veins running through them. She also noticed the forest didn't smell like any forest she's even been in. She noticed this place had a faint smell of smoke to them. She squeaked. "I can smell smoke! I hope the forest isn't on fire!"

Law didn't respond.

"I also smell blood," Nami said when the wind shifted. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Law said.

Nami's eyes dropped to his hand. She could see the blood on his fingernails easily. She decided it was best not to mention it. She knew why the blood was there. She looked around again. "Do you think anyone else landed here?"

Law closed his eyes. He didn't feel like replying. The answer should have been obvious anyway. If anyone else were here they would have been with them. Or he thought so. Why only drop himself and Nami here and everyone else somewhere else?

"Can you sense where Neo is?" Nami asked.

Law twitched. He forced himself to answer her. "No."

"Oh. We'll I'm sure she's okay," Nami said, thought she was having doubts about it herself. She knew how Neo was. They had to find her as soon as they could.

"Very good. You all are now awake," a disembodied voice said.

"Who said that?" Nami asked, looking around.

Law grabbed his sword. Carefully scanned his eyes around the forest, he stood up and unsheathed it. He whipped around at the same time as Nami when leaves rustled behind them.

"Huh?" Nami, clenching her weather baton, blinked when a spider monkey jumped from a tree branch and landed on the ground six feet in front of them. "Is that a…spider monkey? What in the world is that doing here?"

The monkey's eyes lit up. A beam shot out from its slits, creating the same man that all the other pirates were staring at.

Law did need to be told this was the man who really attacked him. He just knew it was. His brain instantly when through thousands of torture methods he was going to do to this man when he finally got his hands on him. He was going to pay for what he did. He was gong to pay for taking Neo way from him.

Nami, ignoring the hatred radiating off her companion, kneeled down to be closer to the small man's projection. "Are you the one who attacked us back on the beach?"

"Yes, that would be me," he replied. "Welcome."

Law snapped. He could believe this man would dare welcome them to a place they didn't want to be. He hissed, "Where's Neo?! What did you do with her?!"

"She is just fine. She-"

"Give her back to me! Now!" Law demanded.

The man stroked his chin as he quietly observed the pirate in front of him.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" Law pointed the tip of his sword to the man's image.

"Watch what you demand from me," he said, his lips curling into a smirk. "I'm the one in control here."

Law growled. He hated to admit it, but the man was right. He was in no position to be making demands. Neo could be this person's hostage. This man could hurt her and there would be nothing he could do about it. He reluctantly lowered his sword down.

"You made the correct decision," the man said.

"So who are you? Why did you send that blob thing to capture us? And where are the rest of our friends?" Nami asked with a cooler head than Law could possibly hope to have in this moment.

"You don't have to worry about your friends. All of you are currently watching this broadcast simultaneously. And I guarantee that you all are currently safe in the areas that you are in. I, however, cannot say how long that will last since I don't personally know all of the domes you are in," the man said. "I haven't been to all of them. But they should be pleasant enough for you all."

…

"I wish I knew who he was talking to and what questions were being asked." Penguin growled. "I hope he's talking about Neo. And I hope she really is safe."

"Considering that blob went directly after Neo, I think it's a pretty safe bet to say he's talking about her," Topaz said.

"If that's true, then it must be Tra that was talking just now. I guess we can only talk to this guy and not our friends," Robin said. "Do you think Neo is being held as a hostage?"

"Please, don't say things like that," Penguin begged.

"It's possible," Topaz said. "I just hope he doesn't have her locked up in a cell."

Penguin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. If only he could see her, even for a moment. He wanted to know, he wanted to see for himself that she was okay.

…

"You all suddenly became very quiet," the man said. "I thought you all would be happy considering I left her in a safe place."

…

"A safe place?" Franky asked. "What's this guy talking about?"

"I have no idea," Zoro said. "But he's going to pay for all of this."

…

"Domes? What are you talking about?" Sanji asked the image. "And just who the heck are you? Why did you take us from our friends? And you better not have laid a single find on any of my friends."

…

"My name is Pendulum." The man's holographic image began to walk around. But none of the pirates could tell exactly where he was walking to or where he even was. He stopped walking and looked back up at them. "I would love to tell you exactly where you are, but it would take a lot of time to explain it to you all. It's very difficult to understand for humans that have never been here before. And right now you have more important things to worry about. I brought you all here for a specific reason. And that reason is to gather up pieces of a broken mirror, of sorts. It was broken in a battle a few years ago and I really need it back."

…

The winds continued to howl around Usopp, Bepo, and Brook. The cries were so loud that the man's voice was almost drowned out by them. They moved in closer to the monkey in hopes they didn't miss a word their kidnapper was saying. Usopp shifted closer to the polar bear beside him. He sneezed hard then said, "You hav-v-ve got t-t-to be k-k-kidding m-m-me! We're on the verge of f-f-freezing to death and you want us t-t-to find a broken mirror?! Just go buy a new one!"

"I'm not on the verge of freezing," Bepo said.

"Oh shut up!" Usopp snapped.

"I'm sorry," Bepo bowed his head once more.

"Do you really want us to find a mirror?" Brook asked. "Why not just go by a new one? It would be a lot simpler than all of this."

…

Pendulum shook his head. "It's not an mirror that you can just go out and buy. It's a very special mirror with a very specific purpose. And if you want to ever see your friends again you all will find every last piece for me. There are only seven pieces that need to be found. So it shouldn't be that hard for you pirates to find them. I've been watching you all for a long time so I know what your skills consist of. That leads me to believe you have all the skills necessary to succeed in your mission and survive in the domes you're in."

…

"I will not bow to your demands and go chasing after a stupid mirror! If you know where the shards are, then find them yourself! Return Neo to me! Now!" Law hissed. His anger was briefly replaced with confusion when all the man did was smile.

"You will be reunited with your precious princess and wife as soon as you have retrieved your assigned shard," Pendulum said.

Law's entire body jerked. He wasn't expecting that at all. How long has this guy been watching them?

"You know she's a princess and married to Tra?" Nami gasped.

"Like I just said to you all, I've been watching you for quite a long time." The holographic man starting walking around before sitting down in a throne. Rest his elbows on the armrests, he laced his fingers together in front of his face. "I know what she means to you, Trafalgar Law. I've seen how you react towards her. You're so in love with her that it makes me want to vomit. Despite that, I know what you can do when someone hurts her. So I give you my word that no harm will come to her and I will keep her safe, as long as you all bring me the shards. And while I cannot just hand her over to you, I can show you that she is indeed safe where I put her. She hasn't even woken up yet so she doesn't really know you all aren't near her."

The man's image faded and another one took his place.

Law did know how he should feel in the moment. He was so relieve to see Neo lying there on top of a bed with his hat still on her head, seemingly untouched and unharmed in any kind of way. But he was also scared, confused, and very furious. Pendulum had apparently and possibly unknowingly hurt her in one of the worst ways possible. And it would only get worse once she woke up. He looked at her image as much as he could before forcing his eyes away to look at what little of her surroundings he could. It really didn't look like she was a cell, but since he couldn't see much there was still the possibility that she was. He couldn't even tell if that man was in the room with her. The very thought flared up his anger even more. This psycho could be in the very same room as his love and there was nothing he could do about it. He reached out for her, wanting to touch her, to hold her, but she faded away before he could get close enough. Pendulum reappeared with a look that screamed gloating on his face. Law growled and clenched his fists again. He said, "If you touch her in any kind of way so help me I'll-"

Nami held out her hand to cut Law off. She could feel his glare on her, but she wisely ignored it. It was bad enough that she silenced this man. She didn't need to push her luck any farther than she already did. She narrowed her eyebrows at Pendulum's image. She said, "All right, we'll do what you want us to do. We'll find these shards for you. Just keep your word and don't hurt her. Now how do we find these shards?"

"You're a smart woman. I have already equipped you all with the necessary equipment to locate the shards," Pendulum replied with a cocky smile that made all the pirates want to punch him in the face. "The little monkey that is with you is all you need to locate them. They'll lead you directly to the shard on your respective domes. Just follow it and retrieve the shards. It couldn't be any more simple than that."

…

"Don't tell me this little monkey is all we need," Zoro said as he frowned at the monkey. "This whole thing is such a pain."

"How will this thing help us?" Franky asked, scratching his head while his eyes inspected the strange machine. "It doesn't look like it can do very much."

…

"Oh, I assure you that the monkeys will do their jobs," Pendulum explained. "They have been built with an ability to trace the unique magic signal the shards will be giving off. And in the case of finding the shard among several other mirror shards, you'll easily be able to tell you have the correct shard when you look into it. The mirror doesn't reflect anything. Now, I can't tell you where they might be or who might have the shards because I don't know. And I don't really care how you get them as long as you get them. Kill everyone you see if it'll help you get the shards. Since you're all pirates I'm positive that won't be a problem for you. There is, however, a few rules you will need to be aware of. First rule and the most important rule of them all, never mention my name to anyone you come across. Second rule, do not udder one single word about your mission to gather the shards to anyone either. The third rule is to never tell anyone that the monkeys with you are machines. Just pretend they're your pets or whatever. And the fourth rule is do not let the monkeys be destroyed. They're your only way back to your precious princess. They will automatically take you to the dome your princess is at when you finally have the shards in your hands. If you break any one of these rules I cannot guarantee the safety of your princess. And I will know if any of you break any of these rules. All the monkeys have built in sensors that record your moves and sounds. They get relayed right back to me so I'll be watching you all very closely."

"What do we do with the shards when we have them? Should we bring them to you?" Nami asked.

"No, you all won't be bringing me the shards. The monkeys will do that once you have them. Then, when I get all the shards back I will send you all back to your homes. Good luck to you all, oh, and don't die." With that Pendulum's image disappeared.

Law cursed under his breath. He whipped around and marched over to the closest tree. Pulling back his fist, he swung it forward. He could feel his skin splitting open when his fist made contact with the tree. The bark caved under his punch, splintering into his already damaged hand. Leaves rain down around him from the tree shaking in protest to being hit. He didn't care. His thoughts were completely on Neo. She was along. She was going to wake up in that place with no one around her. Or worse, she was going to wake up to that man being there. And her magic was still cutting out from her pregnancy. She could be completely helpless. He felt so helpless himself. He was supposed to be her protector. He was supposed to keep things like this from happening. He failed. He was supposed to keep her safe. And she wasn't safe at all.

…

"Well, that should motivate them to get the shards as quickly as they possibly can. I knew I picked right when choosing the princess. They're so furious they won't rest until they have gathered all of the shards. If I'm lucky I'll have the mirror back in my possession within a month or so." Pendulum leaned back in his chair. With his fingers still laced together, he watched and listened to the pirates as they took this all in and made plans to get the shards and find their way back to their princess. His eyes wondered to the still sleeping girl in the bed. He wondered when she was going to wake up. He was going to have to go properly introduce himself when she does. "Now, what am I going to do with you when you wake up. I wouldn't want you to get bored while you're without your loving family and especially your sweet lover."

…

Apple Bloom: Hopefully this time it won't be plagued with cliffhangers.

Sarge1130: I know the feeling in wanting to cuddle Law. I have my eye on a plushy of him. I hope I get it before they're all gone.