Into the Domes

Part Six

Penguin's entire body was shaking with anger when the man disappeared from their sight. He was so angry at everything that happened that all he could see was red. All he wanted to do was find that Pendulum guy and rip his head off. He wanted to scream out loud, to curse Pendulum to the heavens and back. But nothing came out of his mouth. His words appeared to disappear on him. He couldn't recall a single time when words had left him like this. He had to move, despite the pain that shot through his torso from his injure. But that was nothing compared to the pain that was gripping his heart and his mind. He wanted to see his sister so badly, to hold her, and tell her everything was going to be all right. It hurt him even more thinking about how he couldn't do that. He couldn't comfort her at all. Tears pushed against the back of his eyes. He walked away from the two women he was with. Once on the farthest point of the island, he dropped to his knees. Slamming his fists onto the ground, his tears spilled over his eyelids.

The two women behind him remained where they were. They watched him walk as far away from them as he possibly could. When he hit the ground, they turned away from him to give him some privacy. They both knew how much he was hurting. They where hurting and worried as well but their pain was nothing compared to his. He has known her the longest and has built up a special relationship with her.

"How are you doing?" Robin asked the fire Elemental beside her. "I know you're hurting as well. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I'll be fine," Topaz said. "I'm just worried about her like everyone else is."

"And?" Robin probed upon noticing there was more inside of the Elemental's eyes. She also noticed Topaz wasn't wanting to speak anymore about it. But she knew her friend had to get it off her chest. She placed her hand on Topaz's shoulder. "Let it out. It'll only hurt you to keep it inside."

"I failed her," Topaz said, tears pouring out of her clenched eyelids. "I was suppose to protect her and I couldn't do anything to prevent this from happening."

"It wasn't your fault, you know that," Robin said. "Nothing we could do would stop that blob. But we're not helpless now. We will find this shard and return to Neo. Just hold on to that. Neo knows we will come for her. She's strong. She'll be fine."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. She brushed her sleeve over her eyes. "Thanks, Robin."

Robin nodded with a smile. She then looked over at Penguin. "What about him?"

"We should give him a few more minutes," Topaz said. "He needs to cool down some more before he's ready to tackle this." She looked down at the monkey. "In the mean time, let's see if we can get this thing to show us where the shard is."

Robin nodded. "Do you think we need to push some buttons or something?"
"I don't know," Topaz said, looking over the monkey's body. "It doesn't look like there are any buttons. Maybe we just ask it?"

"Will you show us the shard?" Robin asked. The monkey's eyes lit up. Light beamed out of it forming a map that blinked with four dots.

"Well, that was easy," Topaz said. The map extended multiple times before a fifth dot appeared on it. "If these dots are meant to represent us, the shard looks like it's quiet some distance from our location. By the way, can you read these strange markings?"
"No, I can't," Robin said. "I've never see words like this before."

"Great," Topaz said, frowning. "I guess that means we don't be able to read anything here." She looked over at the submarine. "I hope that doesn't cause us much problems with that thing."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Robin said. "Pendulum said he gave us all we need to get through this. And it looks like the shard is under the water and quiet some distance from us, maybe days or longer. I'm afraid I won't be much help if we have to fight underwater."

"What do you mean by that?" Topaz blinked in confusion. "You're a Devil Fruit user. Of course you won't be able to help under the water."

"Back in the New World," Robin said. "But here things might work differently."

"Back in the New World?!" Topaz gasped. "What do you mean by that?!"
"I wasn't sure at first, but when Pendulum appeared to us I knew we were no longer in the New World," Robin said. "This monkey, whatever material it's made of isn't in our world at all." She flicked the monkey with her finger. It made a hollow sound. "This monkey is hollow inside. If we took it apart we probably wouldn't find any kind of gears or any other type of machinery inside of it. I was also suspicious when we learned that we are all on different domes instead of islands. Pendulum clearly had the upper hand on us when he attacked before. He could have easily shown himself to us in person and it wouldn't have changed anything. But he chose not to for whatever reason."

"This is just crazy," Topaz said. She looked around their surrounding again. "Now that you mention it…the sea doesn't smell like ours does. In fact, it doesn't appear to be salt water at all. It kind of smells sweet."

"I don't care." The women looked up when Penguin finally spoke to them. They were so lost in their conversation that they didn't even hear the man walking back over to them. His cheeks were red from his crying and his fists were red from punching the ground so much. "We're going to find that stupid shard and shove it down Pendulum's throat."

The women nodded then stood up with him. Without another word, they walked over to the sub with the monkey following them. Penguin was the first to climb up the small ladder that was attached to the side of the sun. Turning the handle on top of the hatch, he opened it and slid inside. Lights flickered on upon his arrival. He looked around. There was only one passageway that led to the front and to the back of the sub. Above him the two pirate women entered into the sub. Topaz closed the hatch and locked it into place. When the women joined him, he headed straight for the control room. He sat down in the pilot seat and began to look over the controls.

…

Topaz and Robin wondered in the opposite direction. Halfway down the hall they found a small kitchenette paired with a small table and two benches that were attached to the wall. Beyond that was the bathroom, which was equipped with a small shower, and the sleeping quarters with six beds built into the walls, three on each side.

"Well, this is really…homey," Topaz said. "I'm already homesick for the sub. This place is really small."

"It'll have to do until we can find the shard," Robin said. "Since we're only going to eat and sleep in here this space is big enough."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. "I'm just use to bigger and more opened spaces. I'm a creature of nature after all."

"That's understandable," Robin said.

"We need a first aid kit to tend to Penguin's wound," Topaz said, looking around. "Where do you think it would be? It doesn't look like this place has an actual medical bay in it."

Robin stepped away from her. They started going through all the small nooks and crannies they could find but weren't have any luck in finding anything that resembled a first aid kit. They were about to give up when they heard a chirping sound. Looking down they found that their monkey companion was holding a box the size of a normal first aid kit but it was grey with a black X over the front. The Straw Hat pirate took the box and opened it. "Well, it looks like a first aid kit."

"Let's just hope we pick out the correct medicine to put on his wound. Now that we have that let's see if Penguin can get this tub moving," Topaz said, leading the way back down the hall and into the control room. The found Penguin was hard at work leaning over the controls in the middle of the only three seats in the room. He wore an intense and frustrated expression on his face. "Can you control this thing?"
"I think I can," Penguin said. "While I don't understand these words, or whatever they are, these controls look very similar to the controls on the Polar Tang. I'll need to run a bit of a trial and error test before we really get going."

"All right, but first let's take care of your wound," Topaz said.

"I'm fine," Penguin said with a flinch.

"Sure you're fine," Topaz said. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her boot on the floor. "Come on now. Roll down your boiler suit. Neo won't be happy if you get that injury infected."

Penguin sighed. He knew the fire Elemental was correct. Neo wouldn't be happy with him at all. And they still had no idea what kind of trouble they were going to get themselves in. So without a word, he stood up, unzipped his boiler suit, and rolled it down to his hips.

"We still don't know which ointment to use," Robin said, eyeing the first aid kit she was still holding.

The monkey chirped again and reached for the kit. It hoped the box and pulled out a brown bottle. It handed it to Topaz then pointed at Penguin.

Topaz opened the bottle to find the content inside was a clear liquid that had a sharp, hair curling smell to it. "Well, I'm assuming this is something to flush out the wound. Let's go to the crew-"

"No," Penguin said, sitting back down. "We're doing it right here. I don't want to waste anymore time than we already have."

"Yeah." Topaz nodded. She waited until he had leaned back enough for her to pour the liquid into the wound. Pressing some gauze underneath the hole, she poured the liquid, catching what rolled down his skin.

Penguin hissed through his teeth when the liquid touched his sensitive wound. It burned like fire.

"Sorry," Topaz said.

"Don't be," Penguin replied.

"I hope that this is the correct medication that will help you instead of hurt you," Robin said.

"Thanks a lot," Penguin said.

"Well, Pendulum wants us alive to do this job for him," Topaz said, glancing at the silent monkey. "So I doubt that he'll do anything to purposefully hurt us."

"I guess he's good for something," Penguin hissed while glaring at the monkey.

Robin and Topaz didn't reply, not even with a little nod. Both women knew he was going to be very hostile towards Pendulum and their monkey companion. Once he was all bandaged up, he pulled his suit back on and went back to looking at the controls.

"Can you work it?" Topaz asked after several minutes.

"I believe so. It really doesn't look that much different from the captain's sub. But as I've said before, we're going to have to start out with a trail and error test run before we get going. You two better sit down and buckle in. This is going to be a rocky start," Penguin said.

Robin and Topaz did what he said immediately. They sat down at his sides and pulled their buckles over their bodies. They sat patiently while Penguin continued to look over the control panel before he finally started flipping switches and pressing buttons. Not long after that the engines roared to life. Slowly, he started to glide the sub away from the deck, bumping into it as he went.

"Sorry," Penguin said. He steadied the sub before testing himself on guiding the sub in different directions. Once he felt confident in that, he started to dive the sub down into the unknown depths below them. He continued to test out the controls once he was underwater for several minutes. Luckily for them the entire sub was easier to get control of than they thought it would be. They all just wished the writing was in a language they could understand. But they pushed those thoughts aside and headed off into the unknown with only the monkey's map to guide them.

"Wow," Topaz exclaimed a half an hour later at the colorful fish swimming around them. Despite the fact none of them could identify the crazy looking fish, they all were marveled at their colorfulness. It was like a swarm of rainbows were sitting along with them under the sea. "Neo would love these things."

"She would." Robin nodded. "Can you speak to them?"
"I don't know. I haven't tried," Topaz said. "It would be great if I could. We might be able to use their help if we run into trouble down here." She waited for a lone fish to swim by before calling out for it. "Hello there."

The fish stopped swimming and looked at her for a second before swimming off.

"Well," Topaz said.

"What did it say?" Robin asked.

"It asked me to leave it alone," Topaz said. "Never met a snooty fish before."

"I guess that's to be expected since we're no longer in our world," Robin said. "They've never seen an Elemental before, that we're aware of. The animals here might not be all that friendly."

"I hope they are," Topaz said, resting her chin in her hand. "For Neo's sake if nothing else. I wonder what type of dome Neo's on."

"Probably the safest one of all," Robin replied. "I wonder what he really has planned for her."

"He better not have anything planned for her," Penguin said through gritted teeth.

Robin and Topaz just looked at him before turning their gazes back out the window before them. There was nothing they could say that would make this better. And there was nothing else they could talk about other than Neo. None of them really wanted to talk about her thought. All they would do was worry themselves even more. And that wasn't good for anyone. So they had no choice but to remain quietly starting out the window.

"If you two are tired you should get some sleep," Penguin said four hours later.

"What about you?" Robin said. "You've been up just as long as we have. You need your rest as well."

"No." Penguin shook his head. His hands tightened on the controls. "I'm too furious to sleep right now. And I just want to get as close to the shard as I possibly can before resting."

"We can understand," Robin spoke softly. "She's going to be fine though. She's a lot stronger since that first time that your captain found her."

"I know she has. I watched her grow up after all. But even though she has gotten lot stronger, she still has occasional nightmares about what happened to her in the past. And this is the only time since the Elementals took her that she's been completely on her own. That was only for a few days though. This little forced adventure could take days or weeks to finish. She's just so use to being around us all the time. I'm worried that when she wakes up and realizes we're not there she might have a relapse. That she might try and hurt herself again."

"She won't do that, Penguin," Topaz assured him. "She's long passed doing that to herself. And she'll never do something that will put her and the captain's baby in danger."

"It's also safe to assume that Pendulum will speak with her at some point when she wakes up like he did with us. Through that alone she'll know that we might be some distance from her, but we will return at some point. For now, let's try and keep focus on the task at hand. We have no idea what's in these waters. There could be something worse than sea kings out here. And the sooner we all get the shards the sooner we can be reunited with her," Robin said. "So how about we do this? You can continue to drive the sub while Topaz and I get some sleep. After that one of us will relieve you so you can get some rest as well. We can rotate like that so we can keep going without stopping."

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Topaz said. "What about you, Penguin?"

"Yeah, I agree. That sounds like the best plan we could possibly have." Penguin gave the women a small, but genuine smile.

"All right then. It's been settled. We'll see you in a few hours," Topaz said.

The click of their safety belts was released, freeing them to head back to the crew quarters. This left Penguin all alone in the control room with the monkey. He glared down at it. He didn't want it anywhere near him. He feared that he would lose control of his anger and destroy the thing before it could take them back to his sister. The thought of her managed to calm him down enough to focus on the sea. When he felt his anger starting to get the better of him he calmed himself with deep breaths and would pretend Neo was with him. Only she was outside of the sub playing with the strange creatures that swam uncaringly around the heavy machine that passed them. It made him feel a lot better picturing her happy face and playing with the sea life. But there was still an emptiness sitting heavily in his heart. He knew it wouldn't go away until he was back with his beloved little sister. Soon he got lost in his thoughts of her, forcing himself to remember good times instead of letting himself focus on her being all alone in the middle of who knows where.

…

He had no idea how long he had been thinking about his sweet little sister since time seemed to have stood still for him. But a violent thud and rock of the sub pulled him out of his thoughts. Sirens screeched as red lights flashed through the sub. Another loud thump happened and this one sent the sub spinning through the water. He flipped switched and pushed buttons, silently pleading to God above that he was hitting the correct ones.

"Penguin!" Topaz's voice called from over the alarm's screeching. "What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" Penguin said. "Something must have hit us! But I don't see anything through the window or on the monitors!" The sub rocked again, sending both Robin and Topaz up against the wall. "Hurry up! Get up here and get locked into your safety belts!"

"We're coming!" Topaz said. She grabbed Robin's wrist and helped the Straw Hat to her feet before they pushed themselves along side the wall until they managed to pulled themselves into their seats and buckle themselves in. "I sense something! I'm not sure what it is, but there is definitely something underneath us!"

"Creatures don't often attack unless they feel threatened or they're protecting their offspring," Robin said.

"Then most likely whatever's attacking us is doing one of those two things," Penguin said.

"Or it's hunting us for food," Robin said. "After all this sub is shaped like a fish."

"Don't say things like that!" Penguin snapped.

"Just move us away from here as fast as you can! Try maneuvering through those rock formations over there!" Topaz said. "I'll try and communicate with the creature attacking us!"

"Okay!" Penguin nodded. He angled the sub four degrees to his right and headed for the rock formations that Topaz had pointed out. From their current location it looked like it was going to be a tight fit in between then, but it was better than sitting around until their sub was sunk by whatever was attacking them. "Hold on!"

Another hit was made on the sub. It stalled the engines for a few seconds. The pirates all held their breaths in hopes that the sub engines would start up again. They exhaled when the engines continued to hum. Penguin wasted no time in picking up their speed.

"Come on! Listen to me!" Topaz pleaded to the unseen creature. "We're not here to hurt you! And we're not your dinner either! Trust me, you don't want to eat this fish! It's not listening!"

"Why is it attacking us?" Robin said.

"Because it has a nest of babies around here that it's hunting for!" Topaz said. "It wants to eat us!"

"Well, that's definitely not good," Robin said.

"No kidding!" Penguin said. "But hold on! We're almost to the rocks!"

The back of the sub dipped down in the water from another hit by the creature. All of the pirates gritted their teeth in wonder and worry if they were going to make it or not.

"That's it!" Topaz said.

"What's it?!" Penguin asked.

"I can try and ask other fish to help us!" Topaz said. She closed her eyes and connected herself to the world around her as much as she possibly could. She felt out for small sea creatures and for large sea creatures. Once she felt like she had their attention she pleaded with them to help them escape. Please, my friends. We're not here to hurt you at all. Please, help us get to the safety of those rocks. Our little sister is counting on us to survive and come back to her. We just need you to distract this thing hunting us so we can escape. Just a little distraction is all we need. Please, I'm begging you to help us.

"Hey, look at that," Robin said. "The sea creatures are gathering. It looks like you reached them."

"Really?" Topaz peaked through one eye. She exhaled with relief to see the thousands of sea creatures swimming around them clearly in attack mode. "Thank you! Thank you all so very much!"

Penguin quickly got the sub back under control. He sped up the sub as fast as he knew he could handle and maneuvered in between two rock formations. The sub creaked and groan when one of the sides brush up against the rocks. But once they were inside, they had more than enough room to maneuver through a lot of the passageways. With the area being darker than their previous location, he flipped a switch that turned on extra lights on the outside. "There. That's better."

"Wow!" Topaz exclaimed when the lights flickered on and hit the rocks revealing them to be sparkling masses. "What do you think those are?"

"They look like some kind of jewels," Robin said.

"That's possible," Penguin said. "If this really is some other kind of world, surely they have their own valuables here."

"Indeed," Robin said. "I'd love to study those rocks if we had the chance."

"Well, maybe you'll find a piece you can pick up while we're down here," Topaz said, earning a nod from the Straw Hat. "Be careful, Penguin. The sea creature that was attacking us is moving above us."

"All right," Penguin said. "Keep a look out for it. If we're luck, that thing won't be able to reach us down here."

Topaz and Robin leaned forward and kept their eyes above them. A dark shadow swam over them before a large pincher reached into the rocks. They tensed up when it looked like the thing was going to hit them. They relaxed upon realizing they were too far away for it to reach them.

"It looks like we're safe," Robin said just before the creature hit the top of a rock formation, causing several large boulders to rain down on them.

"Or not!" Topaz said. "It's still trying to sink us!" She gasped when the creature finally came into their view. "What the…what the heck is that thing?!"

"Is it a lobster?" Robin questioned. It did look like lobster only its body was flat, its pinchers were almost twice the size of its body, and it had a snake like tail.

"It's not like any lobster I've ever seen," Topaz said.

"Hold on!" Penguin cried as he began to move the sub to avoid the rocks that were now threatening to send them to the darkest depths of this place. He rapidly pressed buttons in hopes to find some kind of weapon that would help them. "Let's hope the weapons on this thing are strong enough to handle that creature! Uh, let's just hope this thing has weapons that can handle that thing period!"

With the sirens still blaring their warnings, a couple small hatches opened on the outside of the sub. Narrow missiles shot out. With no way to control them they just slammed into some rock formations. Penguin cursed under his breath. Those weren't going to be of any help unless they had a way to angle the sub straight up and down in the water. With his heart racing in panic at the thoughts of not surviving this and never seeing his little sister again, he hit a button unintentionally. "Oh no."

The lights in the sub flickered, the sirens and flashing red lights flicked off and were replaced by a vibration that shook the entire sub.

Topaz looked around, worry etched into her facial features. "What is this? What's going on?"

"I don't know! I didn't mean to hit that button!" Penguin shrieked in panic. He reached for the button to shut it off.

"Wait!" Robin tapped his hand to stop him. "Look."

Penguin and Topaz followed the dark haired woman's gaze out the window. They saw that the creature looked like it was in pain, but nothing appeared to be attacking it. Soon with a strange screeching sound that could only came from the creature erupted through the water and it took off. After a few more seconds of the vibration, Penguin pressed the button and the vibrating stopped. He asked, "What was that?"

"Insane," Topaz said. "That's what it was."

"Maybe it was some kind of sonic attack that we couldn't hear," Robin offered. "Or perhaps it's like the sea prism stones that the Navy uses to ward off sea kings? Whatever it was it seem to only affect the sea creatures. As you can see there are none around here now."

"Hey, you're correct," Topaz said. "I don't sense any sea creatures anywhere near us now."

"Whatever it was, I'm just glad it worked. Now we can refocus on finding the shard," Penguin said. "I hope we don't run into something like that again. Can someone check the map? I don't want to take my eyes off these formations until we're out of here safely."

"Show us the map," Topaz said. The monkey's eyes lit up again, revealing the map. "We're still heading in the correct direction."

"That's good," Penguin said. "I was worried for a moment that thing might gotten us off course."

"Well, not that the excitement is over," Topaz said. "How about I make us something to eat then take over the sub?"
"Food I could use," Penguin said, his stomach growling in agreement. "But I'll fine on driving the sub for a while longer. After that attack I don't think I could sleep anyway."

"All right then." Topaz unlocked her safety belt and headed for the small galley. "But after you eat you're going to bed. You need your rest. You know that would be Neo's orders for you."

"Yeah." Penguin nodded. "I know."

Without another word Topaz made her way back down the hall until she reached the small galley. It didn't take long for her to go through the cabinets and fridge. What did take her a while was trying to figure out what all the strange food was. She had to conduct several experiments to figure out what needed cooking, what didn't need to be cooked, and other such tests. Eventually, she managed to make them some sandwiches and a drink that tasted like silk with a bitter after taste. Picking up the tray, she made her way back to the control room. She offered their dinner to Robin before sitting down and giving Penguin a sandwich. "Here. It's not the best tasting food in the world, but it'll have to do. At least, I think its food. We might end up deathly ill from eating unknown substances."

"It's not the worst thing I've ever eaten," Robin said.

"It'll do," Penguin said. "It just makes me miss Neo even more. I wonder what she would have done with this type of food. I bet she would be able to make it taste even better."

"She probably would," Topaz said. A soft chuckled escaped her lips when she got a mental picture of Neo and Sanji trying to figure out how to cook this type of food. "Since it's so foreign, they'll probably have a hard time with it at first. I bet they'd burn something stuff, over cook other stuff, and probably catch something on fire. Though with how skill Sanji is, he'd probably be able to easily make us one heck of a fiesta with this stuff."

"I think the former suggestion might actually be more accurate," Robin said. "Sanji's a world class chief, but even they have trouble when they have foreign foods to cook it. He'd have to try some trial and error recipes."

"You might be correct on that," Topaz said. "I wonder what everyone is doing right now. Well, whatever they're doing and wherever they are, I just hope their skills can get them through this."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Robin said. "Pendulum probably divided us up according to our strength and weaknesses."

"You think so?" Topaz asked.

"That would be my guess," Robin said. "He put us three together after all. Penguin has spent years inside of a submarine, you have your fire crystals and the ability to talk to animals, and I have my Devil Fruit powers. There could have been other ways we could have been divided up, but anyone of the Heart Pirates would have been here to control the sub."

"Then they should be just fine with whatever they have to do to get their shards," Topaz said.

"Except for whoever's with Straw Hat," Penguin said.

A stretch of silence passed through the small sub before it was filled with laughter from the three pirates. They knew whoever got paired up with Luffy was going to have the hardest time of all.

…

Pendulum tapped his fingertips together while he watched the pirates react to his deceleration and what he had planned for them to do. He loved watching their angry actions, hearing their words curse at him, and seeing the hopelessness in their eyes despite the face it didn't take long to be replaced with distain for him. He loved it all. He enjoyed it all. He wanted to see more of it. And he was sure he would see plenty of it with how angry the pirates were at him.

He scanned his eyes over all of the viewing mirrors, carefully watching as the pirates started off on their forced journeys. He knew some of them were going to figure out they weren't in the New World anymore. And he knew some of the people of the Time Domes would also figure out that the pirates didn't belong here while others would only suspect the pirates didn't belong. One of those would be with Nami and Law. The Heart Pirate captain gave him such joy when he slammed his fist into the tree. He loved seeing the blood and how angry the pirate was. It sent shivered up and down his body. He wanted to watch that part over and over and over. But he knew that he couldn't. He needed to keep a close eye on them here in the beginning to make sure they weren't going to reveal to anyone who they really were and why they were in the Time Domes to begin with. He wasn't really worried about them revealing themselves. He was more concerned about them getting the shard pieces so he could continue with his plans.

He turned his eyes to the eight mirror just in time to see the Time Sprites tell the Princess of the Elementals who he was and who he use to work for. He didn't mind. The Time Sprites had no way of getting information to the empress. But he knew the empress already knew that the pirates were in the Time Domes. It was impossible for her to not know since she was the empress. The only thing she didn't know if what his plans were. And there were far too many possible futures floating around in the Time Stream that it would take her at least another five hundred years to figure out his plans. By then it would be too late for her or anyone else to stop him.

Looking back over the viewing mirrors, he let his eyes stop on the Time Dome that help the Straw Hat pirates Franky and Zoro. He knew this dome was going to be the hardest for them to conceal their identity in with Franky not being register in the database and all. But it all somehow worked out fine for them. They were on the verge of a little scuffle against the one who was running the city they were in but were quickly rescued by a pair that wasn't going to blow the whistle on them. However, he felt heated anger boil inside of his chest when it was revealed their rescuers had the shard they were looking for. He wanted them to take it and leave already. They didn't. They just had a boring discussion on what Neo would want them to do.

"It's sickening how much control that Elemental has over these pirates," Pendulum grumbled. He slumped down into his throne as his eyes scanned over the rest of the pirates. The one called Penguin was just as upset as his captain. Only watching him pound the ground wasn't nearly as exciting as having blood drawn from hitting the tree like his captain did. Still, he kept watching them as they finally loaded up into the submarine he had proved them and took off after a shaky start. His eyes focused in on Robin. She was the Straw Hats' archeologist. She was the smartest of their crew. He speculated that she was going to be one of the firsts to realize they were no longer in the New World. He wasn't worried since there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it.

Next his eyes wondered over to Sanji. All of the pirates were starting to settle into their temporary new lives. He couldn't wait to see how the chief of the Straw Hats handled the food that he had to cook with. His lips curled into a smile when Sanji balked at the bugs he was going to have to use in cooking for the contest. While not as satisfying as seeing the blood, he still enjoyed the look on the cook's face. He figured the blonde man would be the second to arrive back on the Time Dome with the Elemental princess since the cooking contest was in two weeks. He knew for certain that the first one that was going to arrive back to the princess was the reindeer doctor. His eyes went to Chopper's viewing mirror. The reindeer had already integrated himself into the acrobatics in the company and the shard wasn't very far from where they were. It should only take him four to five days to retrieve the shard.

…

Author's Notes: Some chapters are going to come out a bit short.