Chapter 3- Uncertainty Principle


The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not, nor will I ever claim to own One Piece.

One Piece © Eiichiro Oda

William Henley, Prairie Flora, Talbot Alice, Wonderland Island, the Hermits of Virtue, and the Trick Card Pirates © HatOnFire/Me


"Why are you even here?" Henley asked Brook, sitting down on a bench with a small cup of tea, letting it sit. "We achieved our goals together, so that's that, right?"

The Straw Hats who stayed behind, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and the aforementioned skeleton were inside the lighthouse, keeping an eye on their 'ally.'

"I wish to see what your place looks like," Brook answered, "But I also want to know more about the content of your character."

"Listen, we're not here to make you miserable or anything," Nami explained herself somewhat, "I just… I don't know, I want to know more about you before we have to leave."

"I'm only here in case you try to pull a fast one on us," Zoro was straightforward with his reasons for being there, "You did endanger my captain."

"You think if you keep reminding me of my sins, your captain will forget about yours?" Henley snapped, "Try by all means, but I've stopped caring."

"You've got some nerve bringing that up, little stain," Sanji hissed, "We're not just gonna trust you because you partially redeemed yourself."

"He's not seeking anything of the sort from us," Brook calmly informed, "Weren't we over this?"

"They may not care about what happens to you, but Brook does," Nami chimed in, "I think you can talk to him about your problems."

"My problems are not for sharing," Henley declined, "Let me make you something to drink so it doesn't look like you wasted your trip here."

"Don't take this the wrong way, young man," Brook began to point out, "But you aren't well."

"I know," Henley admitted, pulling out a crude gas tank and placing it next to a plastic bottle filled with cold water. "But it's nothing a pirate like you should get worked up over. I'd worry more about the changes in your group."

"If you could just let me speak for a minute…" The musician's frustration only showed in his voice.

"Brook, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sanji requested, forcing him to go to a corner of the room. "Look, we can't help him. Our captain ordered us to avoid trouble, and we have to."

"I'm not looking for it," Brook replied, "I merely wish to offer him some peace. He hasn't had any in long while, from my point of view."

"I understand that," Sanji got the picture, "But he's not our friend, and he's not a priority. We can't afford to look out for any guy who has a troubled past."

"And yet your crew helped me," Brook crossed his arms, "Are you suggesting you should've left me to wander the Florian Triangle forever, as Zoro wished to have left Nami behind?"

"N-No…" Sanji whispered, seeing the swordsman mind his own business. "I'm only trying to say that some people want to deal with things on their own. Just look at him, he'll handle himself. He has so far."

They looked to the hybrid, had connected a tube with a small nozzle and placed it inside the small gap in the lid, turning the handle on the gas tank, which released carbon dioxide into it, creating carbonated water.

"You can have some carbonated water or fruit flavored soda," He opened a fridge to reveal cooled liquids of different colors, "Flavors are grape, blackberry, orange, or cherry."

"I hope it's better than what you gave me," Flora giggled, slowly walking down the stairs. She was in a magenta shirt depicting a white sunflower with a few falling petals. She also had cuffed blue jeans with dark brown boots. The shirt was barely fitting around her, considering her plump frame.

"Flora!" Henley almost tripped over himself, "You can talk again! But should you be walking around?!"

"Calm down," Flora pleaded, "That serum worked better than you thought! I'm back to normal!"

"I-I just don't wanna jinx it…" Henley stuttered, wanting to go to her, but he kept still. "You were dying when I got here…"

"Henley, you know I'm fine as long as I have you," Flora declared, "We can't go wrong as long as we have each other."

"If that's true, then why did you get poisoned?" He mulled to himself, "Why didn't I see it coming?"

"Ahem," Zoro cleared his throat, getting the woman's attention. "Sorry, but who are you?"

"Oh, apologies," Flora bowed her head, "I didn't know we had guests."

"Don't apologize," Sanji got down on one knee, entering his white knight act. "It's an honor to be in the presence of a beautiful woman."

"Lovesick fruitcake," Zoro insulted the cook like usual, leading to, of course…

"I'll split your skull with my burning heel, Moss-head!" Yet another excuse for Sanji to start fighting.

"Forget about those two," Nami appealed, "They're always fight sometimes. My name's Nami. You met Sanji, the green-haired guy is Zoro, and this is…"

"Brook," The skeleton held his hand out, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"A pleasure to make yours," Flora shook it as she nodded.

"If I may ask," When Brook proceeded to speak again, Nami fully expected him to ask for her panties. "How long have you known Henley?"

"What?" Zoro and Sanji both stopped their brawl to take notice of Brook averting his usual antics.

"I've known him for three years," Flora recounted, "Two years and three months, technically. I was stuck here for eight months."

"I'm sorry I didn't work fast enough," Henley made his apology, "You must've been hurting all this time."

"Oh, come on, Henley," The brown-haired woman grew exasperated with him, "You made that sauce substance to help me resist it for months. It was like the poison wasn't there!"

"It's not good enough," Henley returned to pouring carbonated water in separate glasses, mixing each one with a different fruit flavor. "You got poisoned on my watch. You were close to dying. And so many incidents could've been avoided if I weren't careless…"

"I'll say," Zoro cracked, earning a glare from his crewmates.

"Now, now, stop beating yourself up," Flora sighed, "I'm still here and so are you. It's all fine now."

"I-If you say so…" Henley smiled, turning to face her.

"Well, now that I think about it," Sanji disposed of his cigarette, pointing out something he likely shouldn't. "You got back in time before this beautiful lady grew in worse shape than she already was."

"Just say she got fat if you're trying to say that," Zoro scoffed, "Don't bother being nice about it."

"I wasn't saying that, you bastard!" Sanji snarled, "I'm saying if you killed this runt, then my floral Flora would've died!"

"Your 'floral Flora?'" Henley got up in the cook's face, showing his arachnid legs and eyes to scare him into submission. "You meet her for a few seconds and decide she's yours?!"

"Eek!" Nami shrieked a little, subconsciously reaching for her weapon as Brook dived under the table.

"Eek indeed!" He concurred.

"H-H-Hey…!" Sanji's arachnophobia kicked in, trying to squirm out of Henley's grasp. "I-It was a mistake!"

"I'll bet it was," The hybrid returned to his normal form, "Do you want your nether regions to feel like broken glass?"

"Henley!" Flora admonished, snapping her boyfriend out of his small bout of rage.

"…Sorry," He backed away from everyone else, "My anger just comes and goes when I hear words like that."

"I don't know what happened that made you like this," Flora shook her head, turning to Zoro. "But for now, I'll settle for asking why you almost killed Henley."

"Our captain got into a tight spot because of him," Zoro nonchalantly replied, "He gave me a good reason not to kill him, so I let him live. So far, it wasn't a mistake yet."

"Yet?" The brown-haired woman was more than vexed with him, "Are you threatening him in my face?"

"Anger a woman at your own peril, Zoro," Brook advised, coming out from under the table while the navigator disassembled her Clima-Tact.

"Your boyfriend almost destroyed my crew," Zoro leaned against a counter, "It doesn't matter if we had our own problems, but his actions almost cost us our lives."

"You lie, pirate," Flora seethed, "The man who risked his life for me time and again wouldn't willingly hurt someone he doesn't know without a good reason."

"Stop, Flora," Henley begged, "He's right about that. I wasn't in my right mind, but still…"

"I don't even think you are in your right mind," Zoro sneered.

"That's enough," Nami became the mediator, just before Flora was going to use her Devil Fruit powers to do something to Zoro. "Brook wanted to come here to talk with Henley and… I wanted to see if I could help. This was a mistake. We'll leave now, won't we, guys?"

"Yes," Brook nodded, "I suppose we're done here, but how did you know we were pirates?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out," Flora still had her eye on the swordsman, "But I did remember Alice gushing over some new pirates. And you were on one of the poster she showed me, so it was that obvious."

"Don't give them any trouble, Flora," Henley asked, "What they went through was my fault. It's been rough on everyone. Just let them stay near the coast until they can leave."

"I will," Flora softened her tone, but she still said this to Zoro. "But let me make this clear: you tried to kill someone important to me. If you try that again or even look at him funny, nothing will save you from me. Not your captain, not your crew."

"I got it," Zoro understood her, "He's not worth it, anyway."

"And you…" Flora went to Sanji next, who got up while keeping his head down. "I'm your 'floral Flora?' Really?"

"I'm sorry," Sanji muttered in shame, "It was a mistake. It's a bad habit I have. Please forgive me."

"If that's how you treat women you've just met," Flora proceeded to hit a low blow, "I hate to see how you treat women you know over time."

"Sanji's not that kind of man," Nami jumped to his defense, "He's annoying with his chivalry and womanizing, but he's not bad."

"As long as he keeps to himself," Flora narrowed her eyes at Nami, "And that goes for all of you."

"You should go back to your ship, everyone," Henley requested, "But have some drinks, please."

"Hello!" Luffy called out from outside, driving everyone to the window. "Little guy! Are you in there?!"

"He's talking about you, runt," Zoro indicated the obvious.

"Little guy…?" Henley grew self-conscious about himself, "I'm only a few inches shorter than him…"

"Just be the bigger man," Sanji joked, "But I guess that's a challenge for you!"

"What do you expect from a dishonorable coward?" Zoro added, "He sets the bar pretty low!"

*SMACK!* *SMACK!*

"OW!" Zoro and Sanji got slapped on the backs of their skulls by Flora, controlling herself so she doesn't fully lose it.

"Idiots," Nami sighed while Henley cracked the window open.

"What'cha want now, Straw Hat?!" He hollered, "Need something?"

"Yeah, I wanna talk to you!" Luffy responded.

"Hey, guys!" Alice shouted, coming back with the other Straw Hats.

"I bought some meat, so how about we have a barbecued dinner?!" Franky asked.

"Sounds good," Luffy gave a thumbs up.

"As long as there isn't any deer meat in there," Chopper mumbled with slight worry.

"Don't worry, little bro," Franky was very sure of himself in that regard.

Onboard the Sunny, two cloaked figures saw the pirates, hiding from their line of sight.

"The ship is cleansed," The man clad in green uttered, "It's time to leave."

"So it is," The old man with the brown cloak tapped his staff against the floor, having a blue portal open in front of them.

The hermits entered it, and the enchanted swirling circle dissipated in an instant.

000000_ONE-PIECE:-MENDING-THE-FLAG_000000

A large sloop-of-war ship of tan and red colors was taking flight above everything in the sea, looming over the Calm Belt. The three masts' arms for rigging were replaced with black spinning propellers, keeping the ship in the air. The ship's bowsprit was stunted, halfway inside the ship to keep its rigging from interfering with the flight. Under that was the figurehead, a large skull with a red diamond painted around one eye, with a black spade around the other. A battery cannon stuck out from its open mouth, aiming straight ahead.

The ship's fore has a tan two story structure built around the foremast and mainmast, with a smaller version on its red roof, between both masts. Eighteen portholes were on that structure, half on one side and half on the other. Another structure was made around the mizzenmast, though smaller in length. It had six portholes split in half like the fore's building.

There were twenty two gun ports on each side of the ship, as there were six red and black compartments around the blue hull, used to release air boats if need be. The black keel had four silver balloons connected to it, built to produce concentrated steam to force the ship to levitate, allowing the propellers to lift the ship in the air.

The aft of the ship had the captain's quarters, indicated by purple glass. It also came with a pirate flag of sorts in the back. The 'flag' was actually a dark crimson rectangular plate, displaying a well-painted skull. That skull was just like the figurehead, but with a black club and red heart behind the skull.

Inside the lower aft deck, where the cannon was, a group of men were loading a large rocket inside the cannon's only barrel. Once it fit, someone large used only his bare hands and great strength to close it up, turning the handle to lock the cannon in.

"Aim for the small island below," He ordered, seeing someone in a seat attached to the cannon crank it a little bit to the right, having their sights on a small island with plant life.

"Supercharging weapon," A subordinate called from a control panel, watching the screen indicate the shell was heating up like a sword forged from metal. "Target area in view."

"Fire when the needle is in the red," A large man crossed his arms in the dark, seeing a needle on a pressure valve the size of a clock slowly move toward the red bar on it.

"Set!" A young man's voice shouted as he pulled a trigger mechanism on a joystick, "Fire!"

That action caused the cannon to fire, launching the missile down to the small island. As expected, the missile blew up on impact.

The peculiar thing was that a light green gas erupted from the explosion, and a shock wave cut through the trees while carrying the gas particles with it.

All of the plants had suddenly started to shrivel up and decompose from exposure, dying off. The few birds that were caught in the blast all fell out of the air, twitching as their eyes changed to a red color. They too, would rot with the rest of the island, once lush with green, now barren and melting in a putrefying mass.

"The Necrosis Projectile works," A man with rabbit-like features could be seen through the silhouette, speaking to someone through a Transponder Snail, "The field test is complete."

"Good," A woman replied, "Return to Wonderland Island. It's time for our recruits to join our fight."

"Yes, my captain," The man resembling a hare nodded to the burly individual, who called to the helm deck above, giving the helmsman commands.

Whatever these people have planned, they were ready to initiate it now.

000000_ONE-PIECE:-MENDING-THE-FLAG_000000

Over a few hours later, onboard the Sunny…

"Barbecued turkey, chicken, lamb, and beef," Alice observed the meats that were cooked by the resident pirate chef, with six basting brushes in six bowls of barbecue sauce in between the dishes. "You even had some skewered for kebabs."

"I'm just that good," Sanji placed a pot of baked beans next to the meats before returning to get some vegetable sides dishes to balance them out. The sides included potato salads, a small amount of collard greens, deviled eggs garnished with chives, and buttered corn on the cob.

"Splendid," Robin complimented Sanji's skills, having a salad with sliced turkey pieces on her plate.

"It's really savory!" Usopp added, taking a bite of a brisket sandwich, filled in with barbecue sauce, onions, and pickles.

"Personally, it's mediocre at best," Zoro's pride would never allow him to give his rival anything that hints praise, even now.

"Personally, I don't care what you think," Sanji fired back, pulling out a whole roasted chicken out of the oven. It was around four feet long, topped off with pepper and a special sauce that wasn't too spicy, but didn't overpower the taste of its skin and meat. He brought it over to Luffy, sitting at the head of the table.

"Wow…" The rubber man was impressed as usual, "Thanks, Sanji!"

"It's all yours, captain," Sanji smiled with the knowledge that he can't disappoint him in his cooking. It was far better that sulking, that's for sure.

"You're gonna eat all that?" Alice was in awe by how big Luffy's dish was.

"His appetite is pretty large," Franky explained, "So he usually gets more than the rest of us."

"That's surprising," The blonde girl thought.

"It's more surprising that you invited us to eat with you," Henley threw himself in the conversation, having sausage on his plate. "So, why did you?"

"I got to know you," Luffy mumbled as he chewed on a large chicken leg, "Chopper and Brook wanted you to come, and they also wanted Alice here."

"I can understand that," Flora prepared to voice her query, "But why me? I was antagonistic to your crew a while ago."

"Henley and that blonde girl know you," Luffy reduced the meaty leg to a bone with his teeth, "You're not so bad, and that's enough for me."

"Is that so…?" Flora was astonished at the idea that a pirate would invite her for dinner. Granted, these pirates weren't at all what she normally anticipated, taking all her previous experiences into account. In fact, she almost swore that the captain looked familiar to her.

'You're definitely just like him,' Henley sadly remembered the time when a certain young pirate with an orange hat came to the island with his crew, even going as far as to invite him and two women to eat with them. 'Why do I feel like history's going to repeat itself?'

"Hey, hey!" Alice started asking some questions, "How did each of you guys join the crew?"

"If we're talking how we met, it's all because of Luffy," Usopp answered, "I joined him after he helped me out."

"Same," Zoro and Sanji spoke up at once, glaring at each other for speaking when the other one shouldn't have.

"He asked me to join almost the first instance we met," Brook shrugged, "I accepted."

"He kind of hounded me until I agreed to go with him," Chopper revealed, "I thought I was just a monster, but he wanted me in the crew."

"I joined because he saved my life," Robin divulged part of her story, "And because I had nothing else left to live for at that time."

Henley's eyes widened a little when the tall and slim woman said that, beginning to relate.

"Wow, that's deep," Alice began to admire Robin before looking to Franky, "How about you? How'd you join this crew?"

"Well, I got pressed into service, technically," Franky replied, telling as little as possible about his recruitment.

"Robin grabbed his balls to get him to join," Chopper cut in.

Saying that caused everyone to stop what they were doing and just stare at Chopper, though quite a few people had different reactions.

"URRPP!" Luffy choked on his chicken bone until he swallowed it whole, while Zoro and Sanji spit out their drinks.

"What the hell?!" Flora exclaimed, taken aback by the bluntness of the innocent reindeer.

"And that's enough weirdness for one day," Henley was ready to get up from his seat, "Thanks for the food."

"WA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Usopp, Brook, and Alice laughed their rears off, and soon Zoro and Sanji joined in.

Nami and Robin stifled their own giggles as Franky loomed over the poor doctor, just standing right over him.

"Did it just get hot in here, or is it just me?" Chopper meekly questioned, realizing what he was in for.

"It's gonna get hotter, alright," Franky evilly grinned as his eyes glowed red, "I'm hungry for some cooked venison."

*GULP!* Chopper swallowed what remained of his food in fear.

"Franky, wait…" Luffy pleaded.

"What?" The cyborg growled.

"Dos Fleur!" Luffy imitated Robin's voice, crossing his forearms while holding his hands open, with his eyes comically resembling Robin's sultry gaze. "Grab!"

"AIEEEEE!" The minute Franky reflexively crossed his legs and covered his waist with his huge hands, the entire room erupted in laughter.

"YO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!" Brook chortled with tears falling out of his eye sockets.

"THAT WAS PERFECT!" Usopp wheezed out his words, gasping for air.

"I'm crying!" Alice fell out of her seat from laughing so hard, having to be helped up by Flora, who's cheeks were turning red from her own convulsions.

"Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!" Robin let herself go with the hysterics, yet she had to stop and breathe every now and then.

"Luffy, how could you?!" Franky sobbed with water shooting out of his eyes in a humorous manner, "I thought we were bros!"

"I-I couldn't help it!" Luffy was in stitches, clutching his belly. "Ah-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!"

"Oh, I'm so glad I was there…" Nami simmered down and relaxed, though she was still grinning like a schoolgirl.

"I wish I were there when it happened," Zoro already had a mental picture in his head, "That's just as funny as the cook's wanted poster."

"O-Ooh, man," Henley snickered and coughed at once, "I think I injured myself again."

"You guys have a lot of fun, don't you?" Alice inquired, "As a crew and a family?"

"Yeah," Luffy's cheeky grin became a little smile compounded with forlorn eyes, turning his mood upside down. "We sure did."

All of the other Straw Hats hung on those last words, silencing the last of their amusement.

'Past tense,' The sniper ruminated on the captain's last words, 'I-I guess he's warming up to that notion…'

Dinner went on with a few conversations between everyone, but it was more reserved and less in high spirits. Flora was unable to get a few words from Henley, seeing as he's fully aware of the context and unhappy, even when he isn't involved with the crew. Alice was seemingly ignorant of what was going on.

"Thank you for the food," Henley nodded politely, "Want me to wash my plate?"

"I'll take care of it all," Sanji replied, "Just get out."

"Sorry for telling everyone about that," The reindeer apologized to Franky, "It's hard to forget it when you've seen it."

"That's okay," Franky forgave him, "It was funny, I'll give you that."

"That was pretty good," Luffy complimented the chef, "So thanks."

Sanji bobbed his head without another word.

"Hey, little guy," Luffy got outside, stopping the red-haired hybrid from leaving the ship, "We need to talk."

"Talk?" Henley pondered for a spell.

"About what?" Flora crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't involve you," Luffy told her, "You'll have to leave us."

"It's okay," Henley relaxed her by rubbing her hand with his own, "Just go back to the lighthouse and wait for me to take you up the stairs."

"Pretty sure I can climb without any help from someone so short," Flora mumbled under her breath, taking a crack at his height with a smile.

"You defended my height from those two jerks, and now you're gonna mock me for it?" Henley questioned.

"Maybe I think I'm the only one who gets to bust your chops," Flora teased him.

"That's not all you want to bust," Alice joked, leaping on the plank and moving off the ship as quickly as possible.

"What was that?!" The brunette's face turned really red from embarrassment, leading her to chase after the blonde woman. "You take that back!"

Henley stuttered with a shocked expression, blushing a little bit.

"Uh… right," Luffy felt it was better to ignore that, "Anyway, I need to talk to you."

"A-About what?" Henley murmured.

"That drink you gave me," Luffy didn't waste time bringing him to the helm to keep this matter to themselves. "I think it did something else to me."

"Oh?" Henley brushed his chin with his right index finger, "It's doing something else now?"

"It's not so bad or anything, but I'm concerned about it 'cause I think it did more than make me sad."

"Go on…"

"I thought everyone in my village hated me," Luffy did that, "But on my way back here, I just remembered my departure. They saw me off and were all kind and nice. If they hated me, it would've been different."

"Hmm," It was odd to Henley, but not enough to go on.

"And there's this girl… I once knew… She tried to kill me. The last time I remembered her, I thought she hated me because of a crush. And also because my grandpa was with the Marines that killed her parents."

Henley grew quiet.

"Her parents were pirates, and when they got killed, she started resenting me for it. I could understand that part, but… She went on about how I was stupid to have a crush on her and told me that no one would love me."

Henley silently gave sympathy.

"But that's the problem," Luffy revealed, "I remembered that she had her parents killed so she could take their money."

"What?" Henley blinked, having followed along up to that point.

"And when I went over that memory again, I realized something: I never had a crush on her when I knew her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And in that memory where she really hated me, it's like I followed along with it…"

"Oh…" The hybrid reached a hypothesis after taking in what he learned, "That serum was meant to force the brain's ability to recall all information sent to it via the senses, remember?"

"Yeah…" Luffy nodded.

"And I told you that any feelings you had in that moment would carry over and make you unstable, right?"

"I barely remember that, but yeah…"

"You also had nightmares brought on by your negative state, which further affected your health."

"And that all leads to… what?" The captain wanted a point to be made, already.

"Captain," Henley started, "Your suppressed memories came back wrong. It looks as though your nightmares had such a strong affect, that they altered what you remembered and added in certain feelings that may not have existed."

"Huh?" Initially, Luffy was confused by this, but it all dawned on him almost immediately. "You mean some of my memories were fake?"

"And they were encouraged by the hysteria and delusions in your nightmares…" Henley dismally frowned, "Courtesy of yours truly."

"But I'm clean of that now," Luffy glowered, "So why aren't those fake memories clearing up?"

"Some of that serum is still in you, captain," Henley notified, "And even if it isn't, what you did or didn't go through is going to stick with you for a while."

"How long?"

"Until a good shock to your system forces those memories away. But I'd be more concerned with a pressing issue."

"What now?" Luffy sighed, getting sick of being sick, if that makes sense.

"The feelings you experienced throughout your time affected by my serum could all come crashing down," Henley advised, "It could also come in short emotional bursts, especially if they were just side effects of it."

"Hold on," Luffy realized something else, "Side effects? I know that you mentioned them some time ago, but you're practically saying that those emotions were also fake, aren't you?"

"When you put it like that…" Henley murmured, "It's more like a disassociation of emotions. You complicate one subject with one emotion when that emotion isn't really connected to that subject."

"Ummmmmmm…" Luffy became lost on that.

"Let's pretend your emotion is angry and the memory is a smiling kid," Henley tried to use an example, "You know those things don't match, but that's what you remember. That's what I'm saying."

"I had a bad feeling about this, but…" Now that Luffy caught on, he was feeling more down from the conclusion he came to. "This is… This sucks."

"I'm really sorry to have put you through this…" Henley apologized once again, despite believing in his heart that such apologies are in vain.

"I should be relieved that some of my bad memories were lies, but it's not like that," Luffy grit his teeth, "That means that some of my other feelings may have also been lies…"

"That's not entirely true," The red haired young man made his rebuttal, "Some feelings you had may have been genuine."

"But I can't believe that. I can't believe you, either. Because maybe you are lying to me, just like my crew was."

"I can't even trust myself, so you're not wrong…"

"Maybe I'm just talking crazy. I'm practically tricking myself into thinking that I really like…"

Luffy stopped, unable to bring himself to end that sentence. To do so would mean that it was another fictional delusion he felt, and for some reason, he won't admit that.

"It's better that I don't think about this now," He reasoned with himself, "But as long as I'm so conflicted, I've got a problem."

"What else is new?" Henley mirthlessly questioned.

"I've got to decide if I can still trust my crew through remembering everything we've done," Luffy explained, "But I can't tell if my memories were true or not. Because of that, we're all stuck."

"If you need more time, the Log Pose will reset in four days. But that may not be enough."

"Well, can you do something about me?" Luffy asked, "Like, make an opposite serum to the one you made and give it to me?"

"I…" Henley almost choked on nothing, stunned at the consideration before responding, "I'm sorry, but I won't do that."

"What?" Luffy gasped, not seeing this one coming. "Why not?"

"You of all people should know 'Why not!'" Henley retorted, "I made the thing that almost killed you! I'm not going to risk making a counteragent that could do the same thing!"

"But opposite is opposite! You can't die from too much positivity!"

"You can always die from something that's too much! And while it can be done, considering how I made that stupid thing, I still refuse to do it!"

"And why is that?" The black-haired boy crossed his arms.

"Because I don't have any faith in myself after all that!" Henley shouted, "I don't want to touch another test tube or handle another chemical!"

"You're being so selfish!" Luffy calling him out like only that led to the shorter one twitching his eye.

"Is it selfish to not want to do something that will endanger you and your crew?" He queried as he exhaled, "No, it's not. Just look at yourself, captain."

Luffy went silent so the hybrid could talk, but he didn't like it.

"You have your life ahead of you, and you think making changes is going to help you in the long run," Henley lectured, "And that's good. I'm following that example by weighing my options. But when you get to where you want to be, you're going to think back and wonder if the choices you made were worth it in the end, be it killing someone or getting someone off the crew."

The shore's sand rustled from the wind, doing nothing but flowing with it, enhancing the seriousness in the air.

"If you're a pirate, you won't think so much over it. The One Piece is all you wanted, anyway. As for me, it's no question my actions ended with a terrible result. It always does. I have to chew on that for the rest of my short life. No amount of goodwill I offer or good deed I do will ever change that."

Luffy was seething, but he composed himself much better than back then. It was easy to do so when he wasn't under the influence.

"All you have to deal with is your self-doubt. And I'm sure that you can overcome it. Besides, how do you know I won't do something to that anti-serum that will harm you, if I wanted to make one? You said it back there; you can't believe me."

"That's how it's going to be, huh?" Luffy closed his eyes and sighed with disappointment.

"It's the trap of doubt," Henley smiled without and real emotion in it, preparing to walk back into the lighthouse. "And when you start questioning everything you know, you'll never be whole again. You'll truly be alone, just like me."

The captain was experiencing a case of déjà vu, feeling how odd it was for Henley to act in the same manner he was in a week ago. The lack of faith in himself and his abilities were too similar to ignore.

"Crap…" He spat, "If my misremembering isn't going to last long, then that also means I can't think about anything without hurting my brain again. I can't decide which memory was true or not without thinking back to those… things."

His nightmares came to mind again. In addition to that, he experienced strange hallucinations and had a voice in his head pop up a few times.

"Come to think of it," He mumbled, "How did Henley's serum make me bring those visions of everyone to life? And how did it make me feel like everyone I knew hated me when that wasn't true?"

More questions piled up, but Luffy wasn't willing to answer them all.

"I'll think later," He decided, "But I can't be near the crew if I start acting out again. It's better to be alone for now so I don't hurt them…"

His judgment call on this was shaky and almost hypocritical, due to his beliefs on having someone back you up and help at times like this. However, he was firm on doing this, not just because he doesn't want to accidentally hit someone close to him again, but also because it's a problem he has to solve alone, and making them worry about him wouldn't do any good. Plus, that will only make his decisions harder than it already is.

"Hey, Zoro!"

"Yes, Luffy?" Zoro answered.

"Get the crew together," Luffy ordered, "Have them meet outside, now."

He will just have to see if he can make the right choice once he waits out his memory purgatory, assuming it only lasts for half a week.

TO BE CONTINUED…