A.n I own Nothing

Over the next couple of days Vivi grew increasingly annoyed at the crew's behaviour. At first she thought she could deal with it but with each passing hour she grew more and more frustrated. Luffy and Usopp were like children with boundless energy and always playing, Sanji was always flirting with her and Nami; though she did enjoy all the snacks and drinks he made for her. Zoro was always sleeping on the deck and Connor just sat quietly like he was waiting for something.

Vivi brought it up with Nami but she just told her that this was normal behaviour. One day Vivi came out and was surprised that Zoro was awake, he was training with Connor. She watched for a bit but when Connor failed to block a strike and received a huge gash across the arm she intervened.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vivi cried out and rushed over.

"We're training, isn't that obvious?" Zoro responded.

"Well this training stops now,"

"Why we only just started the warm up,"

"Can you not see the blood on the boys arm? He needs treatment,"

"It's his fault for not blocking the strike,"

Vivi had had enough and she slapped Zoro across the face, the entire crew stopped whatever they were doing and stared at her.

"How dare you say that, you're the one who injured him," She hissed angrily "you're just an uncaring brute; I bet you wouldn't care if he died. If this is your idea of a warm up then it's lucky he hasn't lost a limb,"

Vivi grabbed Connors uninjured arm and dragged him into the kitchen, Zoro stared blankly at her as she left.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Nami sighed and the rest of the crew shrugged.

In the kitchen Vivi was looking for the first aid kit but wasn't getting very far in her frustrated state.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked.

"Looking for the first aid kit," Vivi answered.

"It's on top of the fridge," Connor said.

Vivi made her way over to the fridge and found the kit; she brought it over and opened it pulling out a bottle of anti-septic and a swab.

"This may sting a little," she said and wiping away the blood.

"Why did you snap at Zoro?"

"He hurt you,"

"So,"

"So? So it's never okay to hurt children,"

"He's right about it being my fault. I could have blocked that strike,"

"NO He is not right, it's his fault you got injured. He's such a brute you shouldn't be anywhere near him," Vivi put the now bloodied swab aside and got out some bandages.

"Vivi I'm fine, look," Connor said showing her his arm. Now that the blood had been wiped off she could clearly see the gash starting to scab over.

"How..."

"I heal quickly; in fact a minor injury like this will be gone within the hour and despite what you might think Zoro is not a bad guy,"

"But he…"

"He looks out for me; he gets pissed if someone even looks at me funny. He knows that our enemies will see me as a weakness and he knows that Luffy and the others can't always protect me so he's teaching me to defend myself,"

"By injuring you,"

"Our enemies aren't going to take it easy on me just because I'm a child,"

"That's no excuse; I don't want you training with him again,"

"Unfortunately that's not your call to make," Zoro said coming into the kitchen "Kid you still good to go?"

"Yup,"

"Good, let's get back to it," Zoro said and they both went back out on the deck.

The first chance Vivi got she brought the incident up with Luffy but he just laughed it off, he claimed that Zoro would never intentionally hurt Connor. Vivi was furious at Luffy for not punishing Zoro and even more so when she discovered that Zoro's training left Connor exhausted. She refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.

"B***** Pirates" she hissed.

Vivi didn't show for dinner so Nami took some food to her but the princess was stubborn and refused to eat it. The next morning Vivi didn't come of her room, she'd been sharing with Nami. She heard laughter on deck and peaked her head out curiously. The straw hats were feeding Carue a strange green drink, it was obviously alcoholic because Craue was swaying and hiccupping all over the place.

"CARUE!" Vivi yelled and ran out to her friend.

"Hey Vivi, your duck can't hold his liquor," Zoro joked.

"You think getting my friend drunk is funny?" Vivi asked.

"No it's hilarious," Luffy answered.

"We have an entire underground criminal organisation after us and you're getting my friend drunk. WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? HOW CAN YOU ALL ACT LIKE OUR LIVES AREN'T IN DANGER?"

"Whoa Vivi calm down," Usopp said.

"Yeah Vivi, if the wind changers your face'll stay angry for ever," Luffy teased.

"How can you be so carefree? People are dying and I'm doing nothing,"

"Well it's not like we're not worried, it's just that…" Nami stated.

"We can't do anything about it right now," Usopp finished.

"Yeah we'll worry about Crocodile and his men when they come after us, until then just relax," Zoro suggested.

"You don't need to worry, these guys saved the entire East Blue," Nami reassured her.

Vivi stared at Nami in surprise; these pirates saved an entire ocean, it did not seem possible. They were immature and childish, how could they have saved anyone.

"OI NAMI," Connor yelled from the crow's nest, "I SEE AN ISLAND STRAIGHT AHEAD,"

"LAND," Luffy cried out excitedly. "Nami can we get there,"

Nami checked the Log Pose, the needle was pointing directly at the Island.

"Yup, no doubt about it. That is our next stop," Nami announced.

"Alright adventure here we come," Luffy declared.

The Merry sailed up the stream that led into the island; it was entirely covered by a dense jungle. As the Merry sailed downstream the straw hats realised that they were being followed by a huge tiger. The tiger freaked Nami and Usopp out; Luffy wanted to pet it.

Once the ship could go no further they dropped anchor, Luffy immediately wanted to explore and had Sanji make him a pirate lunchbox. Vivi asked if she could tag along much to everyone's surprise and Luffy agreed to take her.

As soon as they left Zoro got up and jumped off the ship.

"Well I'm going for a walk," he announced.

"Hang on; our food supply is dangerously low. If you see anything eatable, bring it back," Sanji ordered.

"Sure, I'll do your dirty work for you,"

"What?"

"You're only asking me because you know that you'll never get enough on your own,"

"Oh yeah?" Sanji jumped off the ship "I bet I'd be able to hunt more meat then you could carry,"

"And how would you hunt with those scrawny legs of yours,"

"I could say the same about your dull swords,"

"Then how about a little hunting contest then?"

"Fine by me. The one that brings back the most amounts of meat wins," Sanji said.

"A hunting contest. Can I join in?" Connor asked.

"Sure kid," Zoro said "any problems with that cook?"

"None what so ever," Sanji answered.

Connor jumped down from the ship and ran off into the jungle, Zoro and Sanji went their separate ways too. It was only after everyone had gone that Usopp and Nami realised that they were alone.

Connor wandered through the jungle looking for something to hunt, he stopped a shallow stream and noticed some odd looking shellfish. He followed the stream and eventually came across a stegosaurs.

'Is that edible?' Connor wondered.

He drew his blade and charged at it, the dinosaur went down in one strike. Connor grabbed the tail and began his trek back to the Merry. The dinosaur was heavy but the boy managed to drag it along behind him.

About half way back he met up with Zoro and Sanji they were both dragging dinosaurs as well, Zoro had a triceratops and Sanji had a tyrannosaurs. When they spotted each other they laid their kill next to each other, Zoro and Sanji immediately got into a fight over who had won.

"Mines got more meat," Zoro pointed out.

"Yours is fatter yes but we can hardly eat any of it. Mines longer and has more substantial meat," Sanji agued back.

"Mines probably the heaviest," Connor added, he really didn't care about the contest he'd just wanted to get off the ship.

"Well we clearly can't decide from these," Sanji said.

"Alright how about one more round, the person who brings back the largest hunt is the winner,"

Suddenly a volcano eruption was heard.

"Alright the next time that erupts signals the end of our contest," Sanji suggested.

"Agreed," and Zoro headed back off into the jungle.

Sanji also headed back into the jungle, Connor sighed and wandered off to do some exploring. He had no idea where he was going and he could also keep an eye out for any suitable pray. Connor had a leisurely walkthrough the jungle, he passed several more dinosaurs, but after the last round he'd decided not to hunt them. He spotted a large tiger earlier and was currently on its trail, it turned out that the tiger was hunting as well and led him to a heard of very large wild pigs.

'Now those are defiantly edible,' he thought to himself.

He spied one away from the herd and silently made his way over, careful not to alert the rest of the herd. He got into position and was as about to strike, when he felt something sharp pierce his neck. He reached up and pulled out a small red dart, suddenly his body felt very weak. Connor leaned against a tree for support but his legs gave out and he collapsed, he saw a blurry figure approach and it grabbed his leg; he felt himself being dragged away before he blacked out.

Connor woke up with a jolt but his vison remained dark, he tried to use his hands to clear whatever was blocking his sight but herd they would and move. He felt the cold metal of cuffs on his wrists behind his back, his back was against something round and there was something in his mouth.

'I must be chained to something, but what? It's too smooth for a tree and too thin for a rock,' Connor thought.

He heard a moaning sound next to him, he wasn't alone. Whoever it was also tried to get up but the sound of clinking told Connor that they were in the same situation as he was.

"Don't bother," a female voice said "you're hands and feet are chained behind wax pillars. You're not going anywhere,"

Connor herd muffled struggles next to him; he mentally rolled his eyes as whoever it was wasted their energy.

"So you're the boy who knows the boss's secret," the voice continued.

Connor froze Baroque works.

"To bad we caught we caught up with you. Now we just have to eliminate the princess and the rest of the straw hats and everything will be fine,"

So that was it, he'd been caught but Vivi and the crew were still out there, if he could escape he could warn them. The sound of a Den-Den Mushi ringing was heard and it was answered.

"Mr 3" the voice answered.

"Miss Goldenweek I'm all set up here. Have you taken care of our two guests?"

"They're not going anywhere,"

"Good then come help me out with the others,"

"Understood,"

She hung up.

"I have to go now and kill an annoying princess. But you two sadly won't live to see it. Kill the boy," she ordered and left.

Connor had no time to wonder if some else was with them as well, because he felt something jab at his chest and then he felt nothing at all.

Sanji struggled against his bonds; the second he'd woken up he tried to escape. The female voice did nothing to help either, but when she mentioned knowing Crocodiles name he realised that Connor was most likely with him. The voice also mentioned killing Vivi and Sanji desperately wanted to rush to her rescue, like a knight in shining armour or a prince out of a fairy tale book.

'I'd be her Mr. Prince. Hey that has a nice ring to it' Sanji thought.

His thoughts were interrupted when the female voice ordered someone to kill Connor, Sanji wanted nothing more than to save the boy but he could not break free. he could hear whoever it was approach him and move behind him.

'This is it whoever's behind me will kill me,' he thought and braced for the end.

Suddenly his hands came free, he herd the chains hit the ground and his feet were released as well. He quickly ripped off the blind fold, he winced as the sudden change blinded him for a few seconds and looked around, and he froze when he saw Connor.

The boy was chained to a pillar, with a blindfold over his eyes and a gag in his mouth. He was leaning forward slightly being held up by the chains, he wasn't breathing; in fact there was no indication that he was alive.

Sanji stared at Connors limp form, he'd forgotten about the boy's killer that was still in the cave with him. It was only when the person who had freed him released Connor that he remembered that they were still there. With the chains gone Connors body fell to the ground, Sanji glared at the killer and was quite surprised to find a young woman.

Her face was young and her features were that of a woman in the early twenties, but her blue eyes held suspicion and caution only found in the most experienced of fighters. He black hair was straightened and heled back by her braided fringe, which was tied together at the back of her head.

She wore a dark grey leather buttoned up hooded jacket with gold tipped buttons, it came down to her waist, blood red marital extend from her coat giving it a dress like appeal. Her belt held a single pistol and many knives as well as an ornate looking cane. Her brown knee high boots covered thin black pants.

Sanji wanted to avenge Connor but he'd been brought up to respect women and he knew deep down that if he ever got into a fight with one he could never harm them.

The woman knelt over Connors body and jabbed his chest again, Connor instantly woke up coughing and gasping for air. Sanji took out the gag and removed the blind fold; he'd never been so relived.

"Connor you're alive," he said happily, giving the boy a hug.

"Sanji, what's going on?" Connor asked back.

"You need to leave, now," the woman said urgently.

"What did you do? Who are you?" Sanji asked urgently.

"My name's Evie and I just killed your friend,"

"Sanji I can't move," Connor said worriedly.

"A small side effect, it'll pass. Now we really need to get out of here," Evie hissed.

"Normally I'd follow a pretty girl like you but you just admitted to killing my friend. So why should we go with you?" Sanji demanded harshly.

"You think I'm pretty?" Evie blushed "I'll explain as we go,"

Sanji carried Connor on his back and followed Evie out of the cave into the jungle. They walked for a while until Sanji demanded answers.

"Why'd you attack us?" Sanji asked.

"I didn't want to, really. I came to this island to look for something," Evie claimed. "Miss Goldenweek has hypnotic powers, if she gets you with her paint you fall under her spell,"

"So she hypnotized you?"

"At first yes, but the control can be overcome if you have a strong mind, it just takes some time. By the time she had ordered me to kill your friend I was no longer under her control,"

"Then what did you do to Connor?"

"Miss Goldenweek was still there so I played along, I jabbed a pressure point that would give the appearance of death,"

"Appearance of death?"

"Yes, extremely light breathing and temporary paralysis. Unless you looked really close you wouldn't know the difference between him and a corpse,"

"So hit that point once and fake your own death, hit it a second time to revive them?"

"Pretty much,"

"But I can't move," Connor complained.

"Don't worry, like I said it'll wear off. Usually takes a good day or two,"

"WHAT?!" both Connor and Sanji yelled.

"Sorry but it was the only thing I could think of at the time,"

"Why didn't you just fight Miss Goldenweek?" Connor asked.

"And risk falling back under her spell? If I had done that then you would be dead for real," Evie claimed.

"She's right, besides you heal pretty fast. I bet you'll be moving in no time," Sanji pointed out.

"I guess, not very useful in battle though,"

"Well not on yourself but it comes in handy when dealing with your enemies. Or your annoying, reckless idiot of a brother,"

"So a baroque works agent who can hypnotize there enemies. Wonder what fruit that is?" Sanji commented.

"Miss Goldenweek doesn't have a devil fruit power," Evie claimed "Also why would a top Baroque works agent want a kid like you dead?"

Sanji explained the situation with Vivi to Evie; she took it rather well and was not surprised in the least. It explained why Miss Goldenweek was so set on killing a child.

"Oh that's a real downer. But you do know that Little Garden takes 100yrs for the Log to set, right?"

"WHATT?! 100YRS," Sanji yelled out. "How are we supposed get Vivi-chan back home?"