[Author's note: If you haven't noticed, I've been skipping the anime filler episode story lines. The cannon events of this chapter are how they played out in the manga.]

Ship's Log 20: Foxy Pirates

We came across a place called Long Ring Long Island today. Everything here is extremely stretched. We found an old man named Tonjit who had been on stilts for ten years and were attacked by a band of "Foxy" pirates who specialize in Davy Back fighting. Groups of pirates compete for crew members and to keep their Jolly Roger. They provoked Luffy into competing by shooting the old man's horse.

My ankle still hurts from Skypia and walking to Tonjit's house took its toll on me, so I offered to help the old man clean up and watch over his horse until the captain dealt with these pests. I told them to tell Sanji to give them tea with scorpion venom in it, but he's not a subtle fighter and his pride as a chef will probably prevent him from taking up my offer. I made sure Usopp had strict instructions to report back everything that happens.

I'm still an unknown member of the crew, so my position isn't on the line. I doubt they'd want me anyway. The captured crew is supposed to pledge fealty to their new crew, but I don't have time for that kind of nonsense. These guys fish the local waters for pirates to plunder from. If I was the one captured, I would forego any sense of pirate pride. I'd poison their whole crew and come back. I don't like killing, but you can't pledge loyalty to the dead. West is the only direction I'm headed. Maybe I should volunteer as tribute and get it all over with.

Karmen takes a break from cleaning the old man's house and sits under a tree outside. Tired, sore, and slightly worried, she doesn't remember what Mihawk had told her on Skypia until a presence is already behind her. Her muscles tense as she realizes most of her toxins are on the ship and there is only one person she knows who brings a chill with their approach. "Kuzan."

"Call me Aokiji like everyone else. You've done a good job of hiding yourself, but you can give it up for now."

Admiral Aokiji steps around the house and stops a few paces from the tree she's behind. Karmen pulls her knees to her chest and hugs them but does not turn around. "Are you here to bring me back?"

"You've caused a lot of problems. He's very upset."

She looks at her feet. "Can you blame me?" Her voice is barely audible. "If I had gone with him I'd be dead right now. You know that, don't you?"

"I'm not sure if I should let you out of my sight. It took forever to figure out which ocean you were in."

Karmen is quiet for a minute. "I'm on my way back, but I refuse to stay."

"Is that so?"

"Can you tell me… if Pierce is alive?"

"He was the night you left. I don't know anything else."

"I see." Karmen breathes a sigh of relief, fighting the frustration of having a two year gap between hoping and knowing. "Thank you for telling me."

Aokiji lies on the ground, propping his head up on his hand to look at her. "So why pirates?"

Karmen smiles slightly. "That's something I've answered a lot recently. I had a friend who was headed to sea and I needed a ship, so I asked to come along too. It just happened that it was a pirate ship. I didn't think I'd get another golden opportunity like that in a long while. Who better to trust than the people who go against the government who failed to do its job? "

"Do they know?"

"Not yet. I plan on telling them, once we get a quiet moment to ourselves. But with you here and those other pirates there, I don't think today's going to do it." She rolls onto her knees to face him. "Would there be any point in asking you not to hurt them? They're good people, Aokiji."

He closes his eyes in thought. "I wouldn't be able to promise you anything."

"And me?"

He opens one eye and looks at her for a moment. "I'm not here to bring anyone back with me. I came alone on my bike. And you said yourself that you're on your way back. As long as you don't change course I don't see any reason to impede your progress." Somewhere in the back of her mind, Karmen puts Aokiji and Cobra on opposite sides of the same coin.

"I see." Karmen pulls two cups from her bag. "Would you like some tea, Aokiji?"

The first contest is a barrel boat race around the island. Nami, Robin, and Usopp almost won, but Captain Foxy used his Slow-Slow devil fruit powers on their boat. They chose to take Chopper. Zoro had to give the poor deer a man's pep talk. If they can use cheap tricks like that, then I'd definitely poison their whole crew. It would use up the last of my Plucharon and spider venom, but I could do it. I say this, but it's probably best that I avoided all the fishmen they had. If any of them were old Sun Pirates or slaves then it could have gotten bad for me.

Zoro and Sanji actually managed to work together for a few seconds in the next challenge. I wish I had been there to see it. Besides them going off by themselves to get my apple trees I can count the times those two cooperate on one hand… minus four and a half fingers. They played a form of basketball where a crewman on each side is the ball. They were able to dunk a giant fishman into the goal head first and win Chopper back.

I'm going to have to spend at least an hour scrubbing all the dirt and blood out of their clothes. Can't those two do anything without making a mess of themselves? Zoro is a little more understandable, but you would think Sanji would have a bit more finesse. I'm a little jealous of their monstrous healing abilities. They get the crap beat out of them and they're fine. I singe my ankle slightly and I'm limping for weeks. It's not fair. Maybe I would heal faster if I laid off the poisons for a few days.

The final match was Captain vs. Captain aboard the Foxy's ship. Usopp actually got Luffy to wear an afro for "power." I wonder if I would gain afro-power if I took my hair down. Probably not. I really need to find ocean worthy hair product. Foxy had all sorts of weapons. Luffy actually used his brain for once and reflected the man's slow-slow beam back at him with a broken mirror and beat him to a pulp. Today the universe seems to have lined up to make historic events occur for our crew. Instead of taking a shipwright from the pirates he took their Jolly Roger and painted his own for them. Luffy's eyesore abstract art is punishment enough for anyone.

They came back to the house to find Admiral Aokiji. He came here to verify Robin's location, not to capture her, but he's changed his mind.

Karmen had patiently bided her time until Aokiji had fallen asleep, which he was known to do. She had attempted to sneak away before the crew arrived in order to warn them, but she hadn't taken two steps before they appear over the hill. She gnawed her lip quietly as he froze the ocean to let Tonjit starts his way back to his people and then he decides the crew is too dangerous to travel any further. She watches in horror as Aokiji freezes various limbs of the crew and then Robin. "An Admiral and a Logia. I can't do anything against that." She remembers trying to attack Eneru and watching her pen pass right through him. "It may be a gimmick, but I could really use some sea prism." Terrified, she runs back to the ship with Usopp and Chopper, giving one last look over her shoulder at Aokiji as Nami, Zoro, and Sanji follow. There is no mercy in his eyes as Luffy buys them time to escape with Robin.

Karmen runs straight to the storage room and begins digging through the treasure. Usopp follows her. "Why do you need treasure at a time like this? He's an Admiral! There's no way we can pay him off!"

"There has to be sea prism in here somewhere! Wyper used some in Skypia, right? If I can find even one stone I can go back and help Luffy."

"Good idea. Keep looking. I'm going to go help Chopper and Nami."

Karmen inspects every statue, necklace, and ingot they had brought aboard. Some have blue stones, but none of them are sea prism. Exhausted and frantic, she collapses on the pile and rubs her swelling ankle in defeat. "Don't you die on me, captain. If anyone could survive him, it'd be you." She makes her way to the bathroom to find Robin nearly defrosted in the tub. Usopp looks at her questioningly. "Not a single pebble of it."

Karmen sits on the closed toilet and pales as a battle begins waging itself in her mind. Could she could save Luffy's life by turning herself in? Aokiji may be satisfied by appeasing a noble, but would he have enough honor to let the crew go and leave them unpursued? And if she were to be shipped back as a captive, Pierce was sure to die. But if Luffy dies, her progress West is over. Karmen stands up and is about to head to shore when Zoro and Sanji say they're going back for Luffy. Karmen stands on the prow and watches them go, deciding that if they do not return promptly, she will continue with her decision to trade herself for the crew. She gnaws a little too hard on her lip and can taste blood in her mouth. She falls to her knees as she watches them carry back the frozen captain and take him to be thawed as well.

Karmen follows them into the bathroom, watching them work to save two lives. "I could have prevented this."

"What are you talking about, Karmen?" Usopp asks. "That man is a monster. There's no way you could have done anything."

"He came to Tonjit's house while you were competing. I knew who he was and was looking for a chance to get away so I could warn you. I gave him tea. I could have poisoned him, but I didn't. I don't even know if poison works on Logias. I could have tried. If I had, then-"

Zoro grabs Karmen's shoulders and pushes her against the wall. "Listen you." He forces her to meet his eyes. "You did what you thought was best at the time. If you had tried to poison a guy like that and he caught on, you would have been killed. If he was there long enough to take a nap then we wouldn't have gotten to you in time. None of this was your fault."

"I could have done something. Zoro, I gave that bastard tea." She leans her forehead against his chest and cries.

"You're our secretary," Sanji comments. "It's your job to give people tea. Let us do the fighting, ok? We'll find a way to handle those guys somehow."

Unable to do anything else and relieved that Aokiji doesn't seem to be perusing them, Karmen sits next to Robin until she regains consciousness. After Sanji gives them a meal, everyone falls asleep, exhausted.

Valentine's Personal Log 20

I'm not going to sit back and let the crew handle everything anymore. It's all I ever do and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of myself. If I had acted today instead of looking for a peaceful solution I could have saved the crew a lot of stress. Everyone's ok, but they're all scared. Well, maybe not Luffy, but he knows the strength of an Admiral now. I'm worried because I know there are so many more like him where we're going. If I had turned myself in the crew would have been saved but Pierce would have been lost and my life forfeit. If I fight, I'll die. If I get caught, we'll both die. We're so close to the Red Line now. I need to start training my Haki like Uncle Drac said. Even if it's just the observation type, I can use it to my advantage in a battle.

From now on I'm carrying more poison on me. I don't care how many harnesses I have to make. I've spent the afternoon sewing more clasps for bottles onto my wrist harness. I don't have very much leather right now, but we can buy some soon. Maybe I can add crystallized extracts to my outfit. I won't be able to get it wet at all, but to the people I'll be fighting they'll just look like decoration until I use them. There's a thought: Don't get wet on the ocean. Maybe I can find some kind of coating.

The angel's trumpet makes me sick in a different way than the bloodroot did. Maybe it's because I also added some spider and scorpion venom to the mix. Eventually I'll get some neurotoxins and sea prism. Maybe I can steal a few blue stones from the next batch of Navy we run into. This ship has to stay afloat. I've come to care for this crew too much to turn my back on them. And yet…

And yet I find myself wondering what would have happened if they had known who I am. That half the reason Aokiji was here today was because of me. He changed his mind about Robin and Luffy. What's to say he won't change his mind about not taking me in as well? Would it be safer for them to know so they can prepare, or is it best for me to remain quiet and stay on the path I've been traveling?

I told Sanji I'd tell them. I told Cobra I'd tell them. I told Robin I'd tell them. We're on our way to get Merry repaired. Perhaps when she's mended I can get everything off my chest and let them decide.

Karmen looks around at the sleeping crew, lowering the logbook out of the candlelight. She is about to snuff the candle when she sees Robin awake, staring up at the ceiling. Noticing the secretary's gaze, she turns her head to meet her eye. "Robin, are we going to get everyone on this ship killed?"