Neo & Straw Hats

"What?" Law asked, very flatly. He narrowed his sharp eyes at her and frowned. 'What are you thinking? You don't know the Straw Hats well enough to be comfortable with going with them.'

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted. "She can come with us! Her powers could come in handy!"

"Stay out of this, Straw Hat!" Law snapped at the young man before turning his attention back to Neo. 'Neo?'

Neo took a relaxing breath and met his gaze strongly. Her hands and arms were trembling as she spoke to him through their bond. She turned her body so they couldn't see her lips not moving. 'I know that. I know you can feel how scared I am, but I have to go with them. Caesar can control gas, right? We don't know what all he can do. We don't even know what all the Straw Hats can do since they've been out of sight for the past two years. But we do know that I can create and manipulate wind. I will be more helpful to them than to you and Chopper in this case. Wouldn't I? I don't know anything about drugs, medicine and science stuff. All I would be doing is standing there just watching you. And you're better at hiding your emotions and intentions better than I am. I could unintentionally give our plan away.'

'I know that. And you might be right. But what about you? Your comfort level keeps dropping while you're just thinking about going with them.' Law's eyes turned soft as he examined her posture. She had crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to keep the Straw Hats from noticing them shaking. Her heart rate and breathing had increased to the point it was making them both a little dizzy. 'See? You're on the verge of passing out just from the thought of going with them. I don't want you to put yourself in danger of not being able to fight since you're like this because you think you'll be more helpful to them than me.'

'Law, I'll be fine. I can still keep a bit of distance between them and me until I adjust to them a little more. Plus, I'll have a few minutes to adjust to them while we're heading back to the lab. But you know that I'm right. You want this kidnapping to go off without a hitch, right? I might not be able to do anything, or much, against a logia, but I can, at the very least, blow Caesar's gas away. I'll keep my sniper position too. I won't get very close to him.'

Law closed his eyes. He didn't want her to go with anyone she wasn't comfortable with. But she did make a good point. They didn't know what all Caesar could do with his devil fruit powers. Neo could very well be the key needed to take the scientist without much trouble.

'Besides...' Neo glanced over at the Straw Hats. Usopp was discussing something with Nami-Sanji while Robin, Franky, and Luffy were just standing there watching her and Law's silent conversation with mild interest. Her eyes rested right on Luffy. His eyes were bright and carefree. His lips curled into a light smile. He cocked his head to the right and smiled brighter when he noticed her looking at him. She quickly pulled her eyes away from him and swallowed nervously. 'My godfather trusts Straw Hat. You heard his stories when we went to meet him that first time. And I know you trust him as well.'

'Excuse me?' Law raised than eyebrow at her.

Neo narrowed her eyebrows playfully at him. 'Don't try and deny it. You do have some degree of trust in Straw Hat. If you didn't, you never would have brought this alliance thing to him. Plus, and most importantly, you never would have let him and his crew anywhere near me if you didn't trust him.'

Law clenched his teeth and balled up his hands into tight fists. He shot his eyes over to the Straw Hat crew. Most of them seemed oblivious to his and Neo's bond conversation, but Robin had an unreadable smiled on her lips. He flinched at her stare as she just smiled so casually at him then averted her eyes. A frown tugged at the corner of his lips. That woman seemed so observant for someone who didn't have observation haki. But he knew there was no way she could possible know about their bond and how they were communicating with it. He forced himself to put it out of his mind and turned to Luffy. "All right, Straw Hat. Neo can go with you. But I do not want her directly fighting against Caesar. She is to maintain her sniper position during the fight. And if she gets even one single scratch on her-"

"You're a sniper?" Usopp asked. Neo nodded. "Oh, that's right. I think I remember reading a newspaper article that mentioned that before."

"Don't worry about it, Tra!" Luffy shouted with a carefree wave of his hand. "She'll be fine! With her power over wind, I'm sure she can easily fly herself out of trouble! Hey! Yeah! She can fly us there! That'll be fun! Let's go!"

Luffy then shot out his arm towards Neo. Before she or Law could protest, the young pirate had his arm wrapped around Neo's waist. "Let's go, Neo!"

"No! Don't touch me! Let go!" Neo's body temperature dropped at the unfamiliar touch. Her heart rate shot up and memories from the past flashed through her mind. Her hands shot out to Law, but Luffy moved to fast. The rubber man had her pinned to his chest and was running for the exit before she could even get her arms stretched out all the way.

She grabbed onto his rubbery arm and tried to free herself, too hysterical to even notice Law's Room filling up the space around him or even hear his voice when he called out his moves. "Room! Shambles!"

Neo continued to struggle against Luffy until Law's familiar touch grabbed onto her arm. His familiar touch washed around her as he jerked her from Luffy's hold. He pressed her into his chest while tightly wrapping his arm around her. She clenched a hold of the front of his coat while burying her teary eyes into his chest.

"Hey!" Luffy whined, adjusting his disheveled hat. He shot up to his feet from his new spot on the ground. "What was that for?! You said she could come with us!"

"I said 'She can go with you'! I didn't give you permission to touch her!" Law hissed. His eyes glaring sharp daggers at the clueless pirate before him.

"Why would we need permission to touch her?" Luffy asked with several blinks of his eyes.

'L-Law…' Neo whimpered and tucked her trembling body even closer into his chest. 'I'm…I'm okay. He…just startled me. Pl-please calm down. I need you to calm down.'

'All right. I'm calming down for you.' Law placed his hand on her head. He then glared at each one of the Straw Hats. They all, but Luffy who held his typical clueless as always look, were examining Neo and Law carefully and with confusion. "Look, Neo just can't handle being touched by people she doesn't know. From this point on all of you, but for the exception of the raccoon, are forbidden to touch her."

"You don't like being touched?" Chopper asked as he pulled himself upon Law's shoulder. He then snapped, "Hey! I'm not a raccoon!"

Neo peaked up at Chopper. He smiled sweetly at her while reaching out and brushing away her tears. She nodded. "Yeah. I, um, have issues with being touched. My past isn't…I was…"

"Hey, it's okay," Chopper said, soothingly stroking her cheek. "My entire crew has its fair share of hardships. If you don't want them to touch you, then they won't." He then turned a sharp glare at Luffy and growled. "Do you hear that, Luffy?! Don't touch Neo!"

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head to the side. "Why not?!"

"Were you listening at all?!" Usopp shouted while smacking Luffy over the head with his hand. "Law just said Neo can't handle being touched by people she doesn't know!"

"What?!" Luffy shouted. "That doesn't make any sense! We do know each other! We've met before after all!"

"Those were only for a few seconds, Luffy. And that was two years ago back on Sabaody," Nami-Sanji said. "Don't you remember how frightened she was of everyone back then?"

"Hm?" Luffy crossed his arm and tried to think. It only lasted a second. "Nope. I don't remember her being scared at all."

"You're an idiot!" Nami-Sanji shouted.

"Come on! She's actually met me twice! Once on Sabaody and once on Amazon Lily! We're friends now!" Luffy said with a huge grin.

Neo glanced over her shoulder at the young man. Whispering, she said, "Huh? Friends?"

"We're not your friends, Straw Hat!" Law snapped. "We're only in an alliance!"

"Same thing," Luffy said with a shrug. "Come on. Let's get going. We don't have all day, right?"

Neo turned her eyes back to Law. 'Law?'

'Are you sure about this?'

Neo swallowed, but answered firmly. 'Yes.'

Law flinched. He growled at her through their bond, making her mentally giggle, before sighing in defeat. He clenched her hair in his hand, possessively. 'Neo, if you need me at any point in time…'

'I know, Law.' Neo nodded. 'I know.'

"All right. Just keep your distance from her, Straw Hats," Law said with another harsh glare at the pirates.

"Yes!" Luffy cheered, causing Law to growl.

Robin took a few steps closer to Neo and Law. Neo carefully examined her while she spoke to them. "She'll be safe with us. And we won't do anything to make her uncomfortable."

"Fine," Law said with a reluctant tone and nodded. He looked at Neo again. "Walk with me."

"Okay." Neo nodded.

Law slipped his left, sword free, hand into Neo's. Threading their fingers together, he guided her towards the exit. They paused once they were outside. He checked on the locations of the Straw Hats, they were still inside the cave checking out the children and talking with each other, before leaning over and pressing his lips to Neo's. Resting his forehead on hers, he said, "Be careful, my love. I don't want you to get hurt."

"You be careful," Neo replied, brushing her nose against his. She tightened her hand in his and grabbed a hold of his coat with her other hand. 'Remember, Caesar still has our heart.'

'I know. I'll be fine.'

"Ah, you two are so cute together," Chopper suddenly said. He was still hovering over Law's shoulder and was staring at them. He had his elbows on Law's shoulders and his chin in his hooves with a light pink blush dusting over his furry cheeks.

The forgotten passenger made Law grumble in annoyance while he straightened his body up and adjusted his hat back down over his head. A soft growl was playing on his lips that made Neo smiled. Forcing back her giggle, she reached up and tickled Chopper's chin. She said, "You be careful too, Chopper. I don't want to see you hurt again."

"I'll be very careful!" Chopper giggled. "We'll see each other again soon. Okay?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded. 'Keep an eye on him for me, Law. And be nice to him.'

'Sometimes you worry too much. But for you, since you like him so much, I will.' With a quick smile from Law, the two set off to start their part of the plan.

Neo watched them go until she couldn't see them anymore. She then turned her attention back to the Straw Hats inside the ruins. She swallowed and took a slow deep breath. This was it. She was now alone with a group of people she didn't know.

"I can't believe he was using them as his test subjects and drugged them. I'm just so furious with him," Nami-Sanji hissed. "I'm so upset I feel like I'm going to be ill."

"Uh," Neo said cautiously, and softly, as she walked back over to them. She flinched when they all looked at her. She timidly looked at them all before settling her gaze on what didn't make her nervous, the children. Her eyes went right to Lin. The little girl was sleeping peacefully along with all the other kids. Her heart clenched a bit at the thought of Caesar poisoning her and the other children. "Are…are we going now? We really should go."

"Yeah! You're right! We really should get going! We have to kidnap this master guy after all!" Luffy said. He turned and headed towards the entrance of the ruins. He paused then looked back at Neo, who was clearly fidgeting nervously with her fingers. With a friendly smile, he said, "Don't worry. Everything is going to be just fine. I figured out a way to get us there in no time at all."

"I…I thought I was going to fly us there," Neo said softly.

"Save your energy. This will be a lot faster," Luffy said while looking around.

"What is it?" Robin asked as she walked up to her captain. She gave Neo a calm smile. "Remember, Neo doesn't like to be touched by strangers."

Neo looked at the black haired woman. Her smile, Neo noticed, was warm and way calmer than Luffy's was. It caused her to stop fidgeting. She stopped picking at her gloved fingers and let her hands hang by her sides. A small smile pulled across her lips.

"I've already told you all we're not strangers!" Luffy said insistently. "Besides, I won't be touching her. She'll be standing on me."

"Huh?" Neo tilted her head in confusion.

"You'll see. It's a very good idea," Luffy replied. "Let's go now! Gum Gum Balloon!"

"Huh?!" Neo's eyes popped open when Luffy's body expanded like a balloon being filled with air.

"Are you all right, Neo?" Robin asked. She turned her caring eyes to the young woman flying beside them in the air. "You look a bit shaken up."

"You know, you could just ride with us and saved your energy," Franky added.

"I-I'm fine. I'm just a bit, uh, shocked I guess. I…I knew Straw Hat had the ability to stretch. I just didn't know to what extent that was," Neo replied to Robin then to Franky. "I don't use much energy flying like this. I'm okay. Really."

Neo looked over Luffy's expanded body. He was flying through the air like a cannon ball with Robin and Franky standing comfortably on top of him. I know he can stretch, but I had no idea he could do something like this. It's crazy. She then said, "Oh, yeah. Th-there's something I think you should know about me before we enter into this fight, Straw Hat."

"Hm?" Luffy hummed since his mouth was too busy keeping all the air inside of him. He cranked his neck the best he could to see her. Neo noticed him struggling to see her so she flew closer into his view.

"I won't kill anyone. No matter who they are or what they do," Neo said. She clenched her fists and dropped her eyes to the passing ground below them. She started fidgeting with her fingers again. "I won't do it. I…I can't."

"Hm! Mmmhmmm! Mmmmhhmmmnnn!" Luffy muttered through his closed lips. "Nmmm hmmm nnnmmm!"

"Uh." Neo blinked. She brought her eyes back to him unsure of what he said or what she should say now.

"Allow me to translate for our captain," Franky said. "If I know him as well as I think I do, he said, 'No worries! We've got your back! We're friends now! And call me Luffy!'. Isn't that right, Captain?"

"Mhmm!" Luffy nodded enthusiastically.

"It's all right, Neo. You don't have to worry about that," Robin said calmly. She gave Neo a gently smile when she looked at her. "We're not planning on killing anyone anyway. But, if it does come to that, we'll handle it. So you don't have to worry about it. Okay?"

"Uh, o-okay," Neo replied with a little nod. Robin nodded back then turned her attention forward again. Neo watched the black haired woman carefully from the corner of her eyes. Once again the older woman caused Neo to stop fidgeting with her hands and caused a small smile to pull over her lips. She noticed that was the second time Robin was able to put her at ease. It helped her feel more secure in being with these strangers. So she turned her attention back to Law. She felt his presence out and found he and Chopper had currently reached the back door of the laboratory. Good. At least they have made it. And it looks like we're about to land as well. I wonder how Straw Hat's going to…

Before Neo could finish her thought, she heard Robin cry out, "Cien Fleurs! Wings!"

Neo looked up just in time to see the black haired woman jump from Luffy's back and create some form of wings on her back. Before she could think much about it, she saw Luffy's body still hurling forward. She turned to see Luffy and Franky crashing into the wreckage of the ship Law had destroyed several minutes earlier. Her eyes widened. She shouted, "Is he crazy?! What in the world is he thinking?!"

"Relax, Neo. Our captain does things like that all the time," Robin said as she gracefully floated herself down to the ground.

"What?" Neo asked. She hovered in the air while the disrupted snow from the crash floated away in the winds, revealing Luffy and Franky to be just fine. "They're okay. That was…so stupid."

"Oh, yeah! That was a very nice short cut, Luffy!" Franky laughed like the crash was nothing, like it was something that they did every single day.

"They're insane," Neo commented to herself. She maintained her position in the air, completely and totally unsure of what she had just volunteered herself into doing. She ran her eyes over the soldiers and Caesar's men below. They had stopped their fighting and were staring at the Straw Hats, looking as just as perplexed as she felt.

"Hey! Caesar! Where are you?! Come on out here and show yourself! We're here to kick your butt and kidnap you!" Luffy shouted. His arms were stretched out above his head and he worn a huge childlike grin.

"He is insane!" Neo said to herself. "Why would he just shout our plan out like that?! Law is going to be furious!"

"Luffy, that was suppose to be a secret," Robin said.

"Well, it's not a secret now," Luffy said with a shrug.

"Once we caught the guy they would have known anyway," Franky added.

Neo swallowed and looked in the direction of Law and Chopper. She noticed Law had stopped walking and was, undoubtedly, looking in their direction. She could feeling his anger, confusion and frustration.

"Hm?" Law turned his attention towards the front of the laboratory when he heard a loud crash.

"Yeah!" Chopper cheered when his crewmates appeared in their view clearly ready for a fight. "Go Luffy!"

"What the heck is that idiot thinking?! He's supposed to capture Caesar! Not fight every single person on the island!" Law hissed. "If Neo ends up getting hurt because of his stupidity I'm going to murder him in a hundred different ways!"

"Neo will be fine. Luffy may seem like a bonehead, if fact he is, but he won't let anything happen to her," Chopper said. "He considers her his friend. And he'll do anything to protect his friends."

Law just growled. He had no choice but to let it go despite wanting to warp over to Straw Hat and sink his sword in the young man's chest. There was nothing he could do about it now. He searched out Neo's feelings. She was okay, but he still had to ask. 'Neo?'

'I'm fine, Law. A bit startled at how reckless the Straw Hats are being, but fine. You go on inside the lab. You know I'll come to you if I need to.'

'All right. We're going inside now.'

"Are we going to help them?" Chopper asked when Law didn't move.

"No. We continue with our plan," Law said. He turned back to the door and headed over for it. "Let's just get this over with."

"What? Did I hear him right? Did he seriously just say that he's going to kick the master's butt then kidnap him?" one of Caesar's men asked as they all stared in disbelief at the pirate crew before them.

"Huh?" One of the men looked up in the air when he caught a glimpse of Neo above them. "Hey, Lady Law! What are you doing out here?! Why aren't you with Law?! It's not really safe here right now! Go back inside the lab!"

Neo swallowed then tilted her head to her right. She wasn't sure what she should say so she said nothing.

"Never mind her! I'm sure she's just fine! Straw Hat's the problem here! He's out of his mind! We have to take him and his crew down!" another one shouted. They all then charged forward with their weapons raised, ready for a fight with the Straw Hats.

Neo continued to hold her position in the air. Law wanted her to maintain her sniper position so that's what she did. But she didn't attack. She really didn't want to fight these men. While they weren't exactly her friends, she still cared about them. Plus, a small question appeared in the back of her mind. Did these men know about the drugs Caesar was giving the children?

Her thoughts were broken when she heard Franky cry out. She turned her eyes to him and watched as he put himself in-between the charging men and Luffy. He shouted, "Strong Right!"

"Huh?" Neo blinked in disbelief when Franky's fist detached from his wrist. It flew out at Caesar's men. It hit the ground, sending both men and snow flying up into the air. She came back to her senses when Franky gave the gawking G-5 soldiers and Caesar's men a thumbs up. "Well, he is Cyborg Franky. But still…that was-Come on! Snap out of it! You have to focus! There's no time to be impressed with their skill level!"

With a clearing shake of her head, Neo dropped down to the ground and stood with the Straw Hats. One of Caesar's men looked at her. "Huh? Hey, Lady Law, you should really head back inside the lab! Law will be furious if he knew you were out here amongst this battle!"

"He already knows I'm here," Neo replied.

"Huh? They called you Lady Law. These guys friends of yours?" Luffy asked while pointing at the half human, half animal creatures before them.

"Uh, oh, um, Lady Law is just what they call me. As for being friends…" Neo muttered just loud enough for Luffy to hear her. She took in a shaky breath and forced all the memories of this island out of her head. These men were not her friends. Her loyalty was to Law and her crew. She looked right at Caesar's men. She said, "I'm sorry. These men are not my friends."

"What? Are you…" One of the men looked at her then at the Straw Hats. "You…you're going to betray the master?"

"I'm not betraying anyone. We were never loyal to Caesar in the first place," Neo replied confidently.

"You're going to pay for this!" one man shouted. They all raised their weapons at her. "How dare you betray us?!"

Even thought she knew she was right, the man's words still stung her. Neo took a deep breath. She started to call out her crystals. "Element Cry-"

"If you want her, then you'll have to go through us first," Luffy said while stepping in front of Neo.

"Huh?" Neo blinked in confusion of the protective aura Luffy was giving off towards her. She then noticed that Franky and Robin had moved in closer to her, but still kept a comfortable distance.

"Smoker, what should we do?" Tashigi-Smoker asked while running her eyes over the small group of pirates before them. "It looks like Trafalgar Neo and Law have teamed up with the Straw Hat crew."

"Just great. Fighting her the first time was a serious pain in the tail. Despite that, we still have to capture the Straw Hats," Smoker-Tashigi replied. "And since Trafalgar Neo is here, we're capturing her as well. We might be able to since Law isn't here. They can't tag team me again. That should knock that warlord down a peg or two."

"Capture the Straw Hats and Trafalgar Neo!" a G-5 soldier shouted. He and his fellow crewmates charged forward with war cries. They lifted up their weapons to fire at the pirate group.

"I guess me turning you all into the ugliest snowman in the world last time we fought wasn't enough for you. Very well, Element Cryst-" Neo started to summon her crystals again, but stopped when Robin went on the move quicker than she did.

"Cien Fleurs!" Robin cried out. Neo watched as she crossed her arms over her chest. Flower pedals fluttered into the air around them. Then arms grew out of the shoulders of the G-5 soldiers. "Clutch!"

The soldiers blinked in surprise just before Robin bent their bodies back until they passed out.

"That was…" Neo blinked. "I guess I don't know enough about your abilities to really help here."

"Don't worry about it," Robin said. "The first time you saw us fight you weren't exactly watching what we were doing. You were rather scared of everyone and everything at that point in time."

"Uh, yeah." Neo nodded.

"Well, you've gotten a lot better at dealing with people and places," Robin continued with her ever present friendly and calm smile. "Just use this time to study our fighting styles. Once you watch us for a few minutes you'll see what we typically do and you'll be able to adjust to that. Then you'll know what you should do."

"That's what Law would tell me to do," Neo said. She nodded at Robin. "Thanks, Nico Robin."

"Please, just Robin," Robin replied.

"Okay. Robin." Neo nodded with a smile then turned her attention back to the battle at hand. She carefully studied the new crew as they fought while keeping an eye open to use her sniper skills when needed.

One of Caesar's men leaped up into the air at Franky. The cyborg smiled and held up his left arm. "Weapons Left!" He shot a small cannon ball out of his arm, blowing Caesar's man away. "Yeah!"

Neo stood in slight shock as she watched Robin and Franky. Robin was repetitively smacking a G-5 soldier with one of her extended arms. She pulled her eyes over to Luffy. He looked around then asked, "We made it here, but where's the master?"

"It doesn't look like he's out here," Robin said, looking around.

"Then where is he?" Luffy asked. "Where would he be?"

"My guess is he would be inside the lab here. That door's the front entrance," Franky said, pointing at the door. He then looked at Neo. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes." Neo nodded. "That's the front entrance to the lab. But I'm not sure where Caesar will be. Sometimes he's in his common room with Monet, while other times he's locked up in his personal lab doing experiments. He really could be anywhere inside."

"We should get inside then," Robin suggested. "This battle out here is rather pointless."

"Right. Let's get-" Luffy started but was cut off.

"You're not going anywhere!" Tashigi-Smoker shouted as she charged at Luffy. She swung her sword at him, but he easily dodged it. "Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Oh! Hey, Smokey!" Luffy smiled before dodging another sword swinging attack from Tashigi-Smoker.

"Straw Hat Luffy! What are you doing here on this island?!" Tashigi-Smoker demanded.

"Smokey! I'm glad you are okay!" Luffy said, ignoring the question. "I was worried because you were laying unconscious on the ground before! Tra must have really put you through a tough battle!"

"Don't mess around with me, Straw Hat!" Tashigi-Smoker snapped. She held her sword out in front of her and concentrated real hard.

"What's wrong? You have a stomachache or something? Is it constipation?" Luffy asked.

"Uh, should we help him or something?" Neo asked while watching Luffy easily dodge the attacks from the marine. A couple of Caesar's men and G-5 soldiers charged at the small group of three pirates. "Element Crystals! Wind Ringlets!"

Neo wrapped her winds around those charging at them then used her earth crystals to form a rock prison. Rocks, in the shape of prison bars, rose up out of the ground, blocking several men inside of them. "Rock Prison!"

"Naw! Luffy's got this!" Franky replied. He punched a G-5 soldier out. "Hey, your powers sure are handy!"

"Th-thanks," Neo replied. She shifted nervously on her feet. Robin gave her another smile and she calmed down.

Tashigi-Smoker continued to concentrate on her arms. Suddenly, her arms and sword shot out with a stream of smoke. "Hey! It actually worked! I did it!"

Luffy easily dodged the attack with a small jerk of his body to the side. He grabbed the smoke arm and swung Tashigi-Smoker's body around in the air then slammed her into the ground. He asked, "What happened to you, Smokey? You've gotten a lot weaker!"

"What? No! I'm not…" Tashigi-Smoker said.

"On top of that, you sound very strange today. What happened?" Luffy asked while holding her down.

"Come on, Tashigi!" Smoker-Tashigi said while running over to the fight. "I don't want to see myself get defeated like that!"

Smoker-Tashigi jutted his jitte towards Luffy. Luffy jumped away from the two and did several backflips before landing on his feet, effortlessly. His eyes locked onto the weapon. He said, "Huh? Oh, that weapon is…"

"So you're back out at sea, huh? Straw Hat!" Smoker-Tashigi said. "But I won't let you do whatever you want."

"I take it you all know these particular navy soldiers?" Neo asked while using her winds to blow some soldiers away from them.

"Only Smoker and Tashigi," Robin replied. "We met them a while ago back in a kingdom called Alabasta."

"I didn't meet them, however," Franky said. He had one of Caesar's men in his left hand while tossing another one of Caesar's men into a pile of snow. "I joined the Straw Hats sometime after that little adventure."

"I see," Neo replied. Her eyes then drifted back over to Luffy. She gasped, unintentionally, when she saw Smoker-Tashigi attacking him with his sea prism stone tipped jitte. "No! Get away from him! That's sea prism stone!"

Neo wrapped her winds around herself and took off into the air.

"Hm?" Franky blinked in confusion. "What was that about? Did she say sea prism stone?"

"She did." Robin nodded with a smile. "Looks like she's finally adjusting to our fighting style. She's going to help Luffy."

Smoker-Tashigi charged again at Luffy. He jutted out his jitte multiple times. With each thrust he became fast and closer to hitting Luffy. Both Luffy and Smoker-Tashigi were unaware of Neo flying right at them. She called out, "Wind Lift!"

Smoker-Tashigi jutted out his jitte once more. The tip heading right towards Luffy's exposed cheek. "Gotcha!"

Neo wrapped her winds around Luffy and pulled him towards her. In the process, she panicked a bit and pulled him a bit too fast towards her. She gasped and froze Luffy in midair and upside down before his body collided with hers. She sighed. "That was close."

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Luffy protested. He pressed his hand to his hat so it didn't fall off. "I was fighting her. That girl with the glasses! I can't believe she became this strong. It's surprising. But what was her name?"

"I'm sorry, Straw Hat," Neo said as she rotated Luffy into the correct upright position. "But that jitte is tipped with sea prism stone."

"Huh?! It is?!" Luffy shot his eyes to Neo. "But that weapon…that woman never fought with that weapon before! It belongs to Smokey!"

"I am Smoker, Straw Hat!" Smoker-Tashigi hissed.

"What?!" Luffy screamed. His eyes shot back to Smoker-Tashigi.

"Luffy, it must be Law's work," Robin said.

"What? Oh! You must mean that whole switching thing," Luffy said.

"It's 'Shambles', Straw Hat," Neo corrected. "It's the same technique he used to switch your friends."

"Oh, okay. Whatever. You can put me down now. But that does explain why that one's so weak now," Luffy said looking at Smoker's real body. Neo lowered him back to the ground while he pulled his eyes over to Tashigi's real body. Once his feet touched the snow, he pointed at Smoker-Tashigi. "Then that would mean that…you're Smokey?!"

Luffy fell back onto the snow. Clutching his stomach, he laughed.

"What's so funny?!" Smoker-Tashigi demanded. He charged again at Luffy. Luffy back flipped away from the attack with a huge smile. "Fight me, Straw Hat!"

Neo raised her crystals to gather Luffy back up in her winds. She stopped when she noticed he started to glow red and released steam from his body. "What's he doing?"

"Second Gear!" Luffy called out.

Neo's eyes widened when Luffy seemed to disappear before her. "What the…? What's he doing? Is he just moving really fast?"

"Are you finally getting serious, Straw Hat?!" Smoker-Tashigi asked while running at Luffy again.

"Strong Right!" Franky threw out his right fist and hit more of Caesar's men. "This is going to take too long if we keep fighting like this. Let's just break down the door and get into the lab at once! Here we go! Franky…"

Neo, unaware of what Franky was going to do, tried to follow Luffy's movements. He's just so fast. But it's effective. It looks like the navy vice admiral is having a hard time keeping up with Straw Hat now too.

Smoker-Tashigi darted his eyes everywhere in an attempt to try and follow Luffy's movements. "He's too fast!"

"Hey!" Luffy suddenly appeared in front of the navy soldier. He grabbed onto Smoker-Tashigi's shoulders. "We're going to finish this some other time!"

"What?!" Both Neo and Smoker-Tashigi shouted.

"There's no point in us fighting when you're not at your best!" Luffy replied. "When we fight, I want you to be at the top of your game so we can really go all out and see who's the better fighter!"

"Don't get cocky with me!" Smoker-Tashigi snapped. He roundhouse kicked at Luffy, but the younger man easily dodged the attack.

"See you later, Smokey! We have to go now! Come on, Neo! Franky's opening the door for us!" Luffy cried out with laughter.

"Opening the door?" Neo asked. She flew after Luffy as she raised her eyes to the cyborg.

"…Radical Beam!" Franky shouted.

Neo's jaw dropped in shock when a beam shot out of Franky's hands and hit the front door of the lab. A loud explosion quickly followed the beam. Out of reflex, she covered her eyes with her arms to block the backdraft.

"What the heck?! He just blew the door completely away!"

"How is that possible?! How strong can they possibly be?!"

"Was it a laser beam?"

"Hey! Luffy, Robin, I got the door open! Charge!" Franky said cheerfully.

"You sure did, Franky!" Luffy said. He placed his hands on his hips and examined the now missing door to the laboratory. "That's great! Good job!"

"That was unnecessary," Neo said. She floated herself down to the ground, unable to take her eyes off the gaping whole where the door use to be. "I could have easily opened it for us."

"Huh?" Luffy asked, turning his eyes to her. "Don't worry about it. This was it was way more fun!"

Neo opened her mouth to object or at least say something, but no words were able to form on her lips. Her tongue appeared to be in just as much disbelief as the rest of her body.

"Let's go then!" Luffy said. The small group of pirates took a couple steps towards the laboratory.

Robin and Neo stopped when a soldier called out about something flying towards them. They turned back and looked up towards the sky.

"Smokey! Something strange is flying towards us!" a G-5 soldier shouted.

"There!" Tashigi-Smoker pointed up to the sky.

"What is it?" Smoker-Tashigi looked up. He squinted his eyes. "What the heck is that thing?"

Robin called for her friends when a strange pink blob landed on the sails of the ship that the navy soldiers were trying to escape with. She said, "Franky! Luffy! Wait!"

"Huh?! What the heck is that thing?!" Luffy asked when he spotted the strange blob dripping down the sails of the ship.

"Is it some kind of living thing or creature?" Franky asked.

"I have no idea. Neo, what is that?" Robin questioned. She turned her eyes to Neo.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before," Neo said with a shake of her head.

"You've never seen it? Are you sure?" Luffy asked.

"I'm sure. But there is something strange about it," Neo said. She narrowed her eyebrows and squinted her eyes for a closer look at the thing.

"What do you mean?" Franky asked. He looked over at her. "What's strange about it?"

"I can fe-" Neo bit her lip. Shoot! I almost revealed that I can sense things that I shouldn't with devil fruit powers. But what is that thing? It kind of feels like Caesar's gas powers. But how is that possible?

"Tell me what that thing is!" Smoker-Tashigi demanded. He grabbed the front of one of Caesar's men's protective suits. He pulled the man up to his face and growled. "Tell me!"

"I-I don't know! I've never seen it before!" the man replied.

"You! You've lived here for a long while, right?!" Smoker-Tashigi demanded as he looked at Neo. "What is that thing?!"

"I don't…I don't know. I don't…" Neo gasped when a fire flared up on the ship. She felt a strange disturbance in the blob. Her heart pounding in her chest. "No! Get them off the ship! Get your men off that ship! Get them away from that thing! Right now!"

Half of a second after Neo got her last two words out of her mouth, the creature exploded. The majority of the people just stared in disbelief at the explosion as the fire snapped and crackled. Smoke filled up the air and their noses.

One of Caesar's men shouted out, "Good riddance! It blew up the navy soldiers for us! They're gone! Less of them to fight now! And the blob is gone as well!"

Just then another blob landed on the ground. Everyone gasped as they looked at it.

"There's another one!" someone shouted.

"It fell from the sky again!" Luffy said. He looked up at the sky to see more blobs falling down to the island.

"That's just like the one from before," someone said.

"How many are there?" another person asked.

"Neo?" Robin asked, turning her attention back to the blue haired young woman.

"I…I don't know." Neo shook her head. She took in several shaky, nervous breaths. "I don't know anything about this."

"It's all right, Neo. Just take a deep breath," Robin said soothingly. "We can handle this."

Neo took in a deep slow breath. Her eyes then shot up to the top of a piece of the ship wreckage. "Uh, S-Straw Hats?"

"Hm? What is it?" Luffy asked as he and his subordinates looked at her.

"He's here," Neo whispered. They all followed her gaze up just as a strange laughter rang out into the air.

"Very good boy, Smiley! Sorry that I had to keep you locked up for three whole years," Caesar said.

"Ah! Master!"

"Why are you outside?! It's dangerous out here!" Caesar's men shouted.

"Hm?" Law's eyebrow twitched when he felt Neo's nerves shoot up. 'Neo? What's wrong?'

'I'm not sure. There's these strange blob creatures out here. And Caesar just arrived too.'

'Blob creatures?'

'Yeah. They kind of feel like Caesar's gas powers. They just fell out of the sky. They apparently blow up when fire touches them. One did when the soldiers tried to burn it. I haven't been using my fire crystals, yet. But its still nerve wracking knowing that. I can't use them now.'

'Do you need me to come to you? Or do you want to come to me?'

'I…No, I'll stay here like we planned.'

'All right then. Just breath.'

'I am. Robin actually said the same thing just a second ago. She's surprisingly easy to be around.'

'I'm glad you're finding comfort among strangers, but keep on your guard with these blobs around. We're about to enter the Caesar's lab.'

'I'm keeping my guard up. You just focus on your task of finding out about the drug. I'll be fine. I'm calming down.'

'Good girl.'

"Is everything all right?" Chopper asked from his spot in the bag that Law had shoved him inside. "You went oddly quiet just now."

"Ne-I'm fine," Law replied stiffly. He actually wanted to tell the reindeer about what was going on about side, but quickly caught himself from doing so. It would reveal too much. "I'm fine. This is the room where Caesar and the woman should be. Get back into the bag."

"Right!" Chopper tucked himself back inside and pulled the top closed. He waited quietly as he felt Law moving again. Then he heard the voice of an unfamiliar woman.

"You're not going to find the master here if you're looking for him," Monet said.

"Where'd he go?" Law asked.

"Not really sure. But knowing how sick his hobbies are he's probably gone outside so he can watch the battle," Monet said. She continued to scribble on her paper.

"Well, we've been completely around the island. We've seen everything that we wanted to. We're going to be leaving soon," Law said.

"Really? Well, it will be lonely here without you two," Monet said. "But if you must leave, then you must leave."

"Before that, there's something I could use your help on. I need the use of your powers," Law said. "Mind coming with me for a while?"

"Huh?" Monet pulled her glasses off her face and looked over at Law. Her eyes widened when she noticed Neo wasn't with him. "Where's Neo? She's usually with you. Did you two have another fight?"

"Are you coming or not?" Law asked with a deep frown.

"Well, as long as your pretty little wife won't mind us going off together without her," Monet said with fake smile. Law turned and headed back to the door without a word. "You're so cold at times. Fine. I was a bit bored anyway. Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Law mumbled to himself.

"So I was right!" Smoker-Tashigi suddenly yelled. "You're behind all of this! And you're Caesar Clown!"

"So it's you!" Luffy screamed. "You're the master!"

"Indeed I am! And I know you're the Straw Hat pirates, Naval G-5 and…" Caesar paused and looked at Neo. "Neo? Why am I not surprised to see you out here? I am a bit surprised to see you without Law. You two always seemed so joined at the hip."

Neo narrowed her eyebrows.

"Anyway, I see you all have finally met my little pet. Well, you've met part of him. He's not whole just yet. Give him a little bit longer. He doesn't care much for water, you see. So in order for him to come to this side of the island, he had to launch himself over the lake. And this can only be done piece by piece," Caesar explained. "And once all the pieces are over on this side of the island you will know the terror of what happened here four years ago!"

Neo gathered up her crystals. She prepared to launch an attack at the scientist when Luffy suddenly appeared in front of the man and grabbed him. She gasped, "What? So fast!"

"S-Straw Hat caught the master!" one of Caesar's men shouted.

"All right, Luffy! He just grabbed himself a handful of logia!" Franky cheered. "That's because of his haki, right? That is what haki can do! I can't believe Luffy can do that now! It's incredible!"

"Stop him! Save the master!"

"Straw Hat! You're not going to get away with this!" Caesar's men shouted. They raised their guns and arrows up towards Luffy and Caesar.

"I won't let you guys do that!" Franky shouted as he charged forward. He punched the ground, knocking the men off their feet.

"Clutch!" Robin called out. She grabbed several men and squeezed them.

Neo glanced over the Straw Hat pirates. They were clearly handling themselves easily enough so she ran her eyes over the battle around her. Some of Caesar's men and some navy soldiers were charging at her. She moved her wind crystals in front of her. Slightly panting, she said, "Wind Gust!"

"Ah!" the men cried out as Neo easily blew them away from her.

"Luffy's so strong now! I bet he can easily beat that guy!" Franky said.

Neo looked at him then up at Luffy and Caesar. She took a step towards the two Straw Hats and stumbled. Using her winds to catch herself, she pulled herself back up to her feet. Huffing, she placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. What's going on? Why am I so tired? I haven't used my magic that much.

"We don't know that yet," Robin said.

Neo lifted her eyes to the dark haired woman.

"What?" Franky asked.

"Armament haki allows the users to strike logia eaters who you can't normally touch. Unlike the sea or the sea prism stone, it doesn't drain their powers. So Caesar can easily strike back," Robin explained. "We don't really know the extent of the gas gas fruit's powers."

"I guess that's true," Franky said to Robin. He then turned to Neo. "Hey, Neo, do you know anything about…hey are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Neo replied. She panted a few more times before pushing herself up straight.

"Are you sure?" Franky asked. He ran his eyes over her obviously tried body. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should sit the rest of this fight out."

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired," Neo replied. She walked closer to them. "And I don't know anything about Caesar's powers. He's never really used them while we've been on the island. We're just going to have to be careful."

Neo looked up to see Caesar shifting back into his human form.

The gasman glared at Luffy. "Don't get carried away, Straw Hat!"

"Armament Hardening!" Luffy called out. "Gum Gum Bell!"

Caesar puffed himself up then shifted to the left to avoid Luffy's attack. "Gas Robe!"

Caesar snapped his fingers. A piece of his gas body spiraled out towards Luffy's head. Luffy moved his head out of the way, but the gas flew down and wrapped around one of the navy soldiers. Caesar growled at his missed target. "Darn it! Gas Robe!"

"What is this? What's going on?!" Luffy asked as the smoke spiraled up around his extended neck. "I can't shake it off!"

"Straw Hat! Get away from him! Now!" Neo cried out.

"Huh?" Luffy asked just as the gas grew around him.

"Luffy, hold your breath! The guy who got hit before with that stuff is suffocating!" Franky shouted.

"Crap! It's poison gas!" Smoker-Tashigi cursed.

"Fool! It's no use doing that!" Caesar told Luffy while the rubber man tried to escape the gas. "Once you get wrapped up in the Gas Robe, it's impossible to get away from it! No matter what you try! You can't escape from me now! How much longer do you think you can hold your breath?! Just breath deeply! It'll be over soon!"

"No! It won't! Wind Gust! Wind Lift!" Neo shot a stream of air up to Luffy. Her winds started to blow the gas away from the rubber man. She then wrapped a gust of wind around herself. Knowing it was time for her to step up and put her magic to good use, she lifted herself into the air about fifteen yards before her crystals started flickering out of sight. She gasped in shock at her crystal failure just before she dropped back down to the ground. She landed on her feet, but with the shock of her crystals failing her, she fell forward into the snow with a thud. Pushing up onto her hands, she looked at her crystals just as they disappeared from her view. "What the…?"

Author's Notes: I feel like 'Cabbage' right now. "CliffhanGERS!" ^.^

sarge1130: Thanks! Hope I am improving. And try 8000 words. I feel like I'm still struggling with the fight scenes. But thanks a lot! Glad you're liking them.

Apple Bloom: Yup. More coming.

rodinaashraf: Yeah, Nami can be annoying at times. I wonder why Robin is smiling. :3 We'll see what happens with Vergo real soon. It's gonna be intense!

KittyCCCC: Thanks. I, personally, try to change some words around. Reading it word for word makes it very boring.