"There aren't any more Trials waiting for us, right?" Izuku asked.

"None at all! Half the people who come to my Trial don't even make it through. Having another means no one would ever make it to God!"

"And God is…"

"The strongest ever! If you were half-dead going up against me, you're dead-dead going up against him!"

"Also, you do realize that you need to put your oar in the river to row, right?"

Gedatsu looked down at the oar in his hands, then at the river. The boat swerved precariously towards the bank before Gedatsu plunged his oar and heaved.

"How clumsy of me!"

Buggy squinted at something in the horizon. "Tell me, does this God guy of yours have a pointy silver beard and mustache?"

"Why, yes! How do you know!"

"And does he have a white winged horse?"

"The very spitting image of Pierre! Have you met them before?"

"I think that's your God and his horse strung up on that tree."

Gedatsu peered forward. Izuku nudged him and said, "Your eyes are closed."

"Why, yes, yes they are!"

"Don't you need them open to see?"

Gedatsu's eyes flew open. "Goodness! How could I be so careless?"

Izuku and Buggy shared a pained sigh. Gedatsu looked and said, "Why, that is our God Gan Fall. What's he doing up there?"

"If I had to guess?" Buggy said. "Your God got his ass handed to him by all those Golden Lion pirates having a picnic down there."

Izuku's eyes wandered down the tree, to the mass of pirates milling about the stone terrace. He hunted frantically for any sign of Mei, and though he spotted flashes of pink hair, none of them looked like prisoners.

"See her anywhere?" Izuku asked.

Buggy gaped at him. "You're seeing all that and you still want to charge in there?"

"Well, no…" Izuku said.

Buggy sagged with relief. "Fucking finally, someone else with some good sense! Let's scram, before they-"

"I'm not leaving her there!"

"-spot us. Izuku, we can handle their wimpiest guys, but there'll be Shiki and his Mates down there! It's a miracle they haven't noticed us already!"

Izuku felt a twinge of panic. "Get down!"

Buggy yelped as Izuku tackled him off the boat. They went tumbling into the cloudy river. The moment his head broke the surface, Izuku dragged them both to shore."

"Twice!" Buggy screeched. "If I had a knife, I'd-"

Buggy noticed the hole in the boat, about where his chest had been. As liquid cloud bubbled in through the hole, Gedatsu bailed more into the boat, hastening its demise.

"Not stab you because that was a nice save," Buggy finished. "Now can we please get out of here before they-"

"Catch you?" someone finished for him. "Too late for that, I'm afraid."

A lithe figure wearing a golden lion's mane for a coat strode out of the tree line. Buggy gave a terrified meep and hid behind Izuku. Izuku looked him over and asked, "Are you Shiki?"

A pistol shot rang out. Izuku clamped a hand over his right ear as a bullet tore a hole through it.

The cloaked stranger held up his pistol and gently blew on the smoke wafting from it. "Don't sully the captain's name with your tongue. You may call him the Golden Lion if you must, though even his title is too grand to bear utterance from filth like you."

"That's Albara, the Second Mate," Buggy hissed. "His bounty is almost a billion beri!"

"An oversight I'll have corrected soon enough," Albara said. "Now, what should I do with the two of you?"

Izuku thought frantically as blood dripped through his fingers. He needed to find Mei, first of all, but how would he do that if he was taken-

Izuku's breath caught. Nervously, he said, "Please don't take us prisoner!"

Buggy nudged him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to find Mei," Izuku hissed back.

"By encouraging him to take us prisoner?" Buggy whispered indignantly. "That's… I mean, it would work, but you do realize what they do with prisoners, right?"

"I'm willing to risk it."

Buggy gulped. Speaking louder, Buggy said, "Prisoner! Yes, absolutely! It would be an honor to be held prisoner by Sh- the Golden Lion!" Buggy quivered as the pistol aimed at his head for a brief moment. Albara frowned at him, as if finding the thought of bringing them before Shiki unpalatable. Izuku shouted back, "Being a prisoner to the Golden Lion? I'd rather be a prisoner for Whitebeard! There's a pirate that knows how to keep someone prisoner!"

Izuku's other ear got a bullet hole. As Izuku bit back a scream, Albara strode forward and put the barrel of his pistol against Izuku's chin. "Say that again, I dare you!"

Izuku felt his heart stop. Every impulse in his body screamed at him to curl up and keep quiet, but the thought of Mei, captured and alone, waiting for him to come, gave him the steel to look Albara in the eye and say, "If I'm wrong, why don't you prove it?"

The gun twitched. Izuku's breath caught, and he braced a foot against the ground for a quick burst of speed. Albara's eyes narrowed, and he pulled the pistol away. Izuku slumped with relief, right before the butt of Albara's pistol slammed into his temple. Izuku saw stars as two pirates hauled him to his feet.

"Very well then. We'll show you exactly how well our captain can keep prisoners." Albara ran a gloved hand under Izuku's chin. "And once we're done with you, you'll be singing about what a good pirate he is… assuming we let you keep your tongue."

The pirates holding him guffawed with malicious laughter. Izuku's stomach churned, but he kept his feet under him and strode forward. Tied up and left next to a pile of barrels, Izuku looked around. Aside from Buggy, no one else was around, least of all Mei.

"You don't have any other prisoners?" Izuku asked carefully. "I thought the Golden Lion would keep more."

"Why bother?" Aldara said smoothly. "No one up here is worth anything, and it's less space in the cargo holds for all the gold we'll find. You should be honored we even bothered with your worthless hides."

As Aldara turned away, Izuku felt something shatter inside him. They didn't take prisoners. Did Mei get away, or did that mean… was she…

"Psst… Izuku… I don't know what you're thinking, but stay calm."

"Calm!" Izuku roared. "Why? You heard them! They-"

Buggy's hand clamped over his mouth. Izuku's eyes widened, as Buggy was tied up across from him.

"We're lucky they didn't think to use Sea Prism. I'll filch a knife and get us both out of here, but only if you agree to run. No fights, no heroic last stands against hundreds of pirates. We run, we live, and we never look back. Agreed?"

A part of Izuku told him to take the deal. At best, the Golden Lion Pirates would simply kill him, and his two throbbing ears gave him a taste of what the worst could be. But, a part of Izuku kept clinging to the idea that Mei might be alive.

Another voice howled in rage.

"I can't agree to that," Izuku said, anger burning in his words. "Sorry."

Buggy simply looked at him, and nodded. His ropes slid aside, cut from behind, and Buggy rolled his shoulders. "Fine. I'll leave a knife." Buggy propped a knife behind Izuku's back, within reach of his fingers, and pocketed the remaining pile he had filched. "I'll tell Shanks you took down twenty pirates before they brought you down."

Feeling oddly sentimental, Izuku quipped back, "Make it thirty."

"Hey, don't get too full of yourself! I go that high, no one would ever believe the story!"

Izuku gave Buggy a five-minute head start before reaching for the knife. Working carefully, Izuku rubbed his ropes against the edge, fraying them one strand at a time before they fell apart. Keeping the ropes wrapped around him for the time being, Izuku wrapped a hand around the knife's hilt and kept it pressed close to him. His mind raced as he imagined what he should do. Should he go back to the village and try to find Mei's body? Corner a lone pirate and ask them questions? Try to find the one that did it? Try to see if anyone saw her escape?

So absorbed in his thoughts, Izuku didn't even notice Albara return until he rammed the pistol in between his legs.

"I'm only going to ask once," he said in a bored tone. "Where is he?"

"He left. I don't know where."

"And left you here?" Albara said, smiling. "Some friend he was. Though, I can't say I blame him. You're not worth risking your neck for."

Taking a deep breath, Izuku asked, "I had a friend I was looking for. A girl, with pink hair. Do you know if anyone saw her?"

"A girl with - ah, I see! You thought we might've taken her." Albara hummed tunelessly and spun the pistol in their hand. "You know… maybe I did see a girl with pink hair over at that little village."

Izuku's breath caught. His hand squeezed around the knife's hilt.

"And maybe I did put a bullet between her-"

Albara's voice cut off with a wet gurgle. Eyes wide, he looked down and reached for the hilt sticking out of his neck.

"Soru," Albara rasped through bloodied lips. "Dammit. Didn't expect a kid to-"

Albara let out a gurgle, and his legs gave out from under him. Izuku stepped back, shell-shocked, staring down at the gaping man that lay dying at his feet. The other pirates shook off their shock and pointed pistols and cutlasses at him.

Izuku didn't even register his impending death. He looked down at his stained hands, felt the blood drip off his fingertips. His arms shook, and he sank to his knees.

A slow, steady clap brought Izuku back to his senses. The pirates had parted, and a dark-skinned, well-muscled and shirtless man sauntered forward.

"Nicely done," the man said. "You left the ropes around you, and you let him lean in nice and close while he gloated. Very sloppy of him." The stranger tsked over the corpse and shoved it aside with a boot. "The name's Bozan, Third - now Second Mate. Thanks for the promotion."

Izuku flinched when Bozan put a hand under his chin and lifted his head. He gazed into Izuku's eyes, and chuckled.

"It's your first time, isn't it? You haven't thrown up yet. Good. What's your name?"

Izuku didn't respond. He felt his chest burning as his lungs struggled to get air. No matter how heavily he breathed, he felt dizzy and breathless.

Bozan shook his head. "Come now, we can't have that. Give him a poke, would you?"

With a gesture from Bozan, a pirate stepped forward, warily raising his sword. As it swung down, Izuku saw a silver glint in the corner of his eye. He reflexively leaned aside, letting the sharp steel graze his neck, then lashed out with his leg, sweeping the man's feet out from under him.

As the pirate scurried back and Izuku leapt to his feet, Bozan nodded. "Two of the six powers? At your age? You must be a Marine dropout. You've got that look about you. Why don't we see if you've got anything else."

This time, four pirates advanced, fists raised and circling around him. The first blow slammed into Izuku's shoulder. He barely flinched and threw a punch of his own, knocking out a tooth.

"And there's Tekkai. Makes me wonder how close you are to unlocking your Haki. Have you ever heard of it?"

Izuku didn't answer. He was too busy weaving between blows and returning punches when he could. By the time the four pirates went down, he had a massive bruise across one cheek.

"Hmm… let's try eight. Feel free to use your pistols."

Two pirates backed off and took aim, while the other six rushed forwards with swords and knives. Seeing the guns as a larger threat, Izuku dashed out of the melee and clocked a pirate under the jaw before he could raise his pistol. The other gunman, positioned on the opposite side, cocked his pistol. Hearing the hammer click back, Izuku whirled and punched, displacing the air in front of him and knocking the man back a step.

The gunman tried to recover, and the other six pirates crowded in front of him. Izuku leapt up, stepped off the air, and fell in a whirling kick that planted the second gunman's face in the cloud-dirt.

"That makes five," Bozan commented. "From one of the Cipher Pols, maybe? You seem too green for that." He chuckled, and added, "No pun intended."

Steadily chipping away at their numbers, Izuku eventually brought down the six remaining pirates. As they lay in a heap, groaning and nursing broken bones, Bozan glanced around at the remaining pirates in the clearing. "I think I've seen enough."

Izuku flinched and readied himself as Bozan strode forward. Bozan stared down at him, arms crossed and muscles tense. "Listen here, boy. Swear on your life that you'll follow the Golden Lion's orders, and you'll probably make Third Mate within a few years. Even if you don't, you'll get a cut of whatever loot we find. Last raid got us a million Beri a pop. We'll even find you a Devil Fruit, if you prove yourself."

When Izuku didn't respond, Bozan cracked his knuckles. "This isn't an offer."

"Not happening," Izuku said.

Bozan shrugged. "Your loss. Get him."

The rest of the pirates around them all swarmed him at once. Izuku found himself flash-stepping backwards, while leaning left and right to avoid the meat grinder of pirates and pointy objects trying to turn him into hamburger, while only occasionally throwing out a quick punch to crush someone's liver or break their kneecap. Izuku lost himself in the whirl of weapons and punches, zipping around bullets and nudging blades aside with his forearms to cave someone's face in.

Izuku threw one last punch, crumpling a pirate with a blow to the gut. Looking around for the next attacker, Izuku only saw bodies piled up around him.

Bozan met his eyes. He stepped over his fallen comrades, pushing heads and bodies deeper into the blood-stained cloud. "Part of me wants to let you go. I haven't seen a bounty out on you. Not much fun telling people I beat up some snot-nosed kid without a single Beri under his name, even if you did take out half my men."

Izuku looked around and chuckled. Bozan raised an eyebrow at him, and Izuku said, "I took out thirty pirates after all."

"Not the worst last words I've ever heard."

Every muscle in Izuku's body screamed out in panic. Izuku ducked sideways, but he hadn't even moved an inch when Bozan's fist rammed into his chest. Despite Tekkai bracing him for impact, Izuku felt a sharp snap from one of his ribs. Gritting his teeth, Izuku flung out a kick. Bozan lazily blocked it with a forearm.

Bozan's next punch crashed down on his leg. His femur crumpled, and Izuku hobbled back. With his one good leg, Izuku tried hopping away into the air. Bozan leapt up and punched Izuku back into the dirt.

Digging himself out of the indentation he left in the cloud, Izuku tried to crawl to his feet. Bozan picked him up by the scruff of his neck and squeezed. Izuku's eyes bulged out, and he clawed at his throat. Bozan's grip tightened, until Izuku thought his head would burst like a grape.

As Izuku's world greyed out, tears stung the edges of his eyes. He failed. Mei died, he'd never see his mom again, he'd never be a hero. Even as his spirit raged and clawed away, his body fell limp, unresponsive to Izuku's frantic desire to fight back.

A fist rammed into Bozan's cheek out of nowhere. The man stumbled, and his grip slackened just enough for Izuku to take a gulp of fresh air. Feeling strength returning to his limbs, Izuku hooked a finger underneath Bozan's grip and pried him off his throat. Izuku collapsed in a heap, breathing deeply even as his broken rib pained him with every breath.

Bozan rubbed at his swollen cheek. He turned towards where the punch had come from and shouted, "Kind of rude to interrupt a fight. You want to die too?"

The cloudy vista before him remained silent. Then the river stirred. Bubbles churned, and the water frothed. A straw hat rose above the surface. Then Luffy's head. Panting heavily, Luffy said, "Keep… your hands… off my nakama!"

"Oh?" Bozan kicked out, slamming Izuku in the gut. Izuku coughed and sputtered as he tried to get back up. "What are you going to do about it?"

"This! Gum-gum Pistol!"

Luffy's arm rocketed out of the water. Bozan tilted his head aside and caught Luffy's wrist. While Luffy struggled and tried to tug his arm back, Bozan tapped his arm and plucked it like a string.

"Devil fruit. Flexible, likely able to take a punch. Let's see how well you can handle Haki."

Bozan's fist took on a black sheen as it slammed into Luffy's arm. A loud crack echoed across the forest as Luffy howled in pain.

"Everyone with a Devil Fruit always thinks they're invincible until they run into someone with Haki. Especially the Logias."

Luffy glared at him. "Gum-gum Rocket!"

Pulled by his outstretched, broken arm, Luffy launched out of the river with a giant plume of water. Just before his forehead was about to collide with Bozan, the Lion Pirate leaned entirely backwards and rammed a pitch-black knee into Luffy's stomach.

"Predictable," Bozan sneered. "And you left yourself wide…"

Bozan paused. Luffy's distended belly rumbled ominously, and Bozan finally noticed how large he was. Luffy ballooned out, swollen until he was nearly spherical and twice the pirate's height. His stomach jiggled as the impact from Bozan's knee rippled across his body.

Luffy's cheeks turned green. "Ugh… those meatballs don't feel so good…" Then his cheeks bulged out, and a white torrent poured out of his throat. Bozan punched the first sphere, and it burst into a pair of heavy manacles that clamped themselves around his arms. While he struggled, a second sphere burst in his face, turning into a pile of snakes. A third showered him with confetti, the fourth dumped thumbtacks all over the place, and the fifth exploded in a cloud of acrid black smoke.

As Luffy continued to disgorge the contents of his overpacked stomach, Izuku lurched to his feet. The commotion drew the attention of the rest of the Lion Pirates, who ran over with cutlass and pistol in hand. Izuku turned Luffy around, and the stream of white spheres spilled into the charging pirates. Cacophony ensued as lions and tigers and bears, and much else besides, popped out of the spheres and landed on the pirates. Once the pirates' camp descended into mayhem, Izuku hobbled while leading Luffy away from the chaos.

"What do we do now?" Izuku asked.

Luffy started to speak, stopped, and horked up one last white sphere. Satori flopped to the ground, curled up, and weakly said, "Ho, ho, ho! Thought I was a goner…"

Izuku gave Luffy a disgusted look. Luffy wiped off his chin and gave a contented sigh. "Ahh… that's better. Man, those meatballs made my stomach all hurty."

Izuku glanced between Luffy and the shivering trial guardian on the ground before shaking himself and slapping his own cheeks. "Right. Do you know where Shanks and Buggy are?"

"Buggy… didn't he fall into the river? I thought you did that. And Shanks… he liked Mei's boat better."

Izuku froze. "Mei's boat?"

"Yeah! It went vroom even though nobody was rowing it. It didn't have any meat, though, so I stayed with mine."

"And was Mei… on the boat?"

Luffy made a frowning face of intense concentration. "Mmm… yeah, she was. Why, were you looking for her?"

Izuku looked down at his bloodstained hands. He clenched a fist, and anger boiled up in his chest as he forced himself not to yell. Anger gave way to relief, when it finally sank in that Mei was still alive. Tears flowed like rivers down Izuku's face as he sobbed silently to himself.

"She's alive. Thank goodness, I thought…"

Luffy stood awkwardly, watching Izuku cry. From overhead, Gan Fall awkwardly coughed, drawing their attention.

"Far be it from me to interrupt what must be a touching moment, but could you two help me and my mount Pierre down from here? It's getting hard to breathe."

Luffy reached up and plucked them both off the tree. Gan Fall clanked as his body slumped on the ground. He let out a pained grunt as Pierre landed on top of him. Once Izuku helped roll Pierre off him, Gan Fall dusted himself off and wiped the dried blood off his chin.

"Thank you, children. I take it you aren't with those… ruffians?"

"Nope. Is there any way you can help us?"

"If I knew who to look for, I could find nearly anyone on Skypiea with my Mantra. Alas, your friend is unknown to me. However, I think there's a way we could help each other. These pirates seek the golden bell I and the gods before me have guarded since the holy vearth came to this island from below. If we ring it, your friends might find us there."

"But wait," Izuku asked, "Won't that get all the other pirates over there?"

"I'm afraid they'll find the bell no matter what I do. Our only hope is to hold them off long enough for your allies to arrive.

Izuku looked around at the three of them. A part of him quailed at the thought of holding out against an entire pirate crew with how beat up they were. He tried to think of other ways to find Mei, or get the Lion Pirates to leave, but in the end, he had no other options. He could either fight against impossible odds on the slim hope that Mei somehow found him again, or give up and leave.

Izuku clenched his fists. "Let's do it."

Luffy grinned. "Shishishi, sounds fun! Let's ring that bell!"

Gan Fall solemnly nodded. "Very well. Pierre shall fly the three of us there."

Pierre suddenly looked up. He gave the three of them a shocked look and frantically shook his head. "Old friend," Gan Fall said chidingly. "Surely you have strength enough for a quick flight."

Pierre snorted and turned his head. Gan Fall sighed and said, "I'll get you all the cloud melon you can eat."

That got Pierre on his feet immediately. Chuckling softly, Gan Fall hopped on and offered an arm for Luffy and Izuku. It was a tight squeeze on the winged horse's back, and Pierre wheezed as he laboriously flapped into the air, but within minutes, they caught sight of a glimmer of gold between the trees. Pierre crash-landed onto the stone steps, sending his riders tumbling across the terrace.

Izuku looked up. A massive golden bell, etched with intricate designs all along its gleaming surface, hung between two stone pillars.

"We're here!" Luffy shouted. "I wanna ring it!"

Luffy wound back an arm and punched the bell. It let out a sonorous chime that shook Izuku's bones. Gan Fall stood, eyes closed, letting the sound wash over him.

"I've never heard it ring before," he admitted. "It's more beautiful than I imagined."

Luffy shook his hand. "Wow, that felt tingly. You try it, Izuku!"

Izuku hobbled forward and ducked as the bell swung overhead. He gave it a firm swing as it passed, causing it to make a lower note.

"Huh," Izuku observed. "The pitch changes depending on where you strike it." As the lower note rang around him, a memory of another bell rose to the surface.

"Luffy, could you hit the bell three more times? I want you to do it in these spots…"

Across the island, as Buggy frantically and apologetically told Shanks and Mei about how Izuku had taken down twenty pirates covering for him, all the while sobbing crocodile tears, a sonorous note rang across the trees. As it echoed into silence, three more notes sounded, with the ponderous chime of an afternoon school bell. Mei wiped the tears out of her eyes and leapt up excitedly in her jet ski.

"That's Izuku!" Mei shouted.

"What?" Buggy shouted. "He escaped!"

Shanks gave Buggy a suspicious glare. Buggy gulped nervously and said, "I, uh… I couldn't be happier! But he needs our help, right! Let's go rescue him!"

Sweat dripped down Buggy's face while Shanks peered closely at him. As the jet ski revved up, the two of them both got grabbed by their collars with a thick metal cloud. Both of them screamed as they whipped around in the air as Mei raced down the river.

"Hang on, Izuku," Mei shouted. "I'm coming!"

A/N: sorry it's been so long. My parrot died a few weeks back, and I needed a bit to get emotionally back on track. Hopefully I should be back on regular updates.

In other news, after years of resisting the temptation, I finally got an air fryer. The company I work for gives out gifts for five-year anniversaries, and the only one that I had any use for on their list was the air fryer. Made egg rolls with it. My plan for now is to store things like mozzarella sticks, popcorn shrimp, etc. in the freezer and air-fry small batches when I want them. We'll see how it goes.

Next update should be three Sundays from now (about 2.5 weeks). Until then, thanks for all the follows and faves, and reviews are always appreciated.