Galactic Shift Extend

by Seanzilla1988

A familiar Beastkin goes through a familiar abandoned Cauldron. However, she doesn't end up in another timeline, but Bellwood, home to a teen with a watch he wears on his arm that can change his shape to save the world from harm.

71. Strawhats and Gold

SZ: Boom! We're back! And…we're in a certain pirate mood a…*taps head*...wait. Who put a straw hat on me?...Why is my hair green?!...WHO MADE MY NOSE LONG?!

GT: *dressed up as Chopper in Sabaody outfit from the time skip* Um…*points at Z0 dressed as Kaido, exposing a paintbrush with green paint on it* It was him! He did it!

SZ: GRR!...*takes a deep breath*it's fine...happy we're doing this world, so...let's skip the formalities and get out the disclaimers. We own jack squat aside from original content. Oh and heads up...this is gonna be a HUGE chapter.

Z0: *turned into giant Azure dragon* I am amazing! *blasts fire at the screen*

---

"Dude...a-are we in Super Vegas?!" Rex awed as he and the others were looking out the store window, seeing what looked like a massive yet extravagant casino-like area, various bits and pieces of it covered in gold as various people walked around.

"In a way you can say it's this world's version of it," Sento explained, "This is Gran Tesoro, home of the world's greatest entertainment city where well-known pirates, Marines, and millionaires throughout the world gather in an 'absolute sanctuary' that even the World Government can't touch."

"...So we can pretty much do anything here?" Naoto asked.

"As long as you don't do anything to upset the owner or staff...more or less."

"Sweet! Then let's go!" Makoto beamed, grabbing Ben's arm as she rushed out of there.

"M-matte! Maybe we sh-" Noel began as she chased after them...and suddenly felt her chest was a bit heavier the moment she stepped out, "?"

"Eh?" Makoto blinked as she stopped, making Ben stagger a bit from the sudden stop as she looked back at Noel, "Noellie, what's…..wrong…?"

"Warned you boys," Sento shook his head in amusement.

Noel just stood there as she looked at her body...which was now curvy with her breasts having gone up a few cup sizes. She slowly reached up to her chest before groping herself, her eyes never leaving her chest.

"What's going on out…" Sari began as she, Lambda, and Mai stepped out...and soon their own bodies followed suit, "?!"

"Ah! What the…?!" Mai yelped as she looked herself over.

"...Big," Lambda whispered, Bluey giving a squeaky grunt as he poked out between her covered cleavage.

"...Oh my boy, you better not look at your significant other," Skurd whispered to Ben.

"Sento…?" Ben began to ask.

"A small side-effect when travelling universes. Sometimes, they impose 'rules' on us," Sento explained.

"I got turned into a little SD Cross-Z thing for two weeks once when I stepped out of the place in SDtopia and Hokestar and Sento used me as an attraction," Ryuga recalled before glaring at Gentoku after he heard a strong muffled laugh in his direction, the man in question avoiding looking at him with a neutral expression.

"So...now we basically have supermodel figures?" Sari blinked, unaware of Noel giving a rather...unnerving giggle.

"Super model wh-" Makoto began before she finally noticed herself...and saw that her top was threatening to tear open any second due to her now even bigger breasts and her shorts practically hugging her fuller hips, "?! Woah!"

"What you're seeing is a 'rule' females follow here," Sento explained before holding up a piece of paper with a circle over a line...and a circle with two more circles in the top of an 'X,' "The rule? Women over a certain age in this world produce certain enzymes that trigger certain areas of development in puberty, especially if they've been living on the seas for a certain period of time."

"So that explains the supermodel bodies…" Mai muttered.

"Girl, supermodels wish they could have bodies like those," Sento joked as he snapped the air a few times, "Also you may need to keep an eye on Noel."

"Shirts! I need mini shirts!" Noel exclaimed in glee.

"No," Lambda spoke as she grabbed Noel before she could run off.

"Such an odd ruling for this world…" Rook muttered...while helping Gentoku in trying to revive an unconscious Kazumi.

"Trust me, you boys are affected as well," Sento noted.

"Huh?" said 'boys' blinked a few times.

"Trust me. You'll know when you go to a restaurant or buffet here," Sento replied.

"You're saying that like we're Shonen protagonists," Naoto muttered.

"No...that would be Ms. 'Banned from all you can eat buffets'," Skurd quipped.

"Oh you l-" Makoto began while turning towards him and Ben before a tearing sound could be heard, "?!"

"Wow, what a neat skyline," Ben quickly noted, his attention focused solely on the skyline as Makoto's tail quickly covered her chest.

"Okay...let's go and find some appropriate attire to fit our new figures," Mai muttered.

"Agreed," Sari muttered.

"Perhapes while the girls do that, we could…" Rook began as he looked at Ben...before he was suddenly dragged off by Makoto as she and the girls dragged the other guys off.

"Sorry, partner!"

"...ugh...again," Rook sighed, "...I may as well look around...Bobo, w-"

"Already settin' up shop," Bobo spoke from inside the doorway, "...If anyone asks, I'll tell 'em a sea witch cursed me."

"Of course," Rook nodded.

"Actually you two aren't out of place in this world." Sento spoke up, "In this world there are naturally existing animal humanoids...and people with the powers to become animal-like forms."

"Really?" Rook blinked.

---

"Ahh~ Such a huge and bright place!~" a female figure gasped in awe as they looked ahead with three other figures from inside a large white and gold car-like vehicle, "So many lights and gold...it's like a golden Wonderland!"

"Sugei~!" two of the three figures beamed.

"And this is just the downtown area?!" the third gasped out.

"It's more the reasonable area, really," the driver, a tanned skin woman with long red hair and a black dress replied, "This should span a total of ten kilometers afterall."

"Ten Kilometers?!" most of the passengers in the car exclaimed.

"Indeed," the woman chuckled, "There's hotels, shopping malls, and casinos naturally. Pools, aquariums, theaters, golf courses, you name it."

"Interesting," another female figure noted in interest.

"And we c-LUFFY GET OFF OF THERE!" another female figure snapped.

"It's fine. You won't get in trouble here," the woman assured with a chuckle, "While this is a sovereign nation acknowledged by the world government, it's a safe place for anyone who travels here to enjoy themselves to their heart's content. Plus we have Gigant Turtles defending this place, so Sea Kings and other sea creatures won't bother us."

"You were able to tame Gigant Turtles?" one of two large figures in the back asked, "That's not an easy task to do."

"You'd be surprised what this palace is capable of," the woman assured, "Now we're approaching the luxurious area, where the best casinos and restaurants are."

"Wow, awesome!" the second large figure noted.

"An even brighter Wonderland~!" one of the female figures awed in excitement.

"This is quite a lot of gold," another of the females noted.

"It's so bright-teria," the third noted, squinting a little while moving a hand to block out some of it, "Too bright at points, too…"

"It's because of the gold," the woman explained, "The king of Gran Tesoro, Master Tesoro, is extremely fond of it, gathering tons of it from around the world to build this paradise aboard this ship."

"Sugei! So he's super rich!" the figure on the hood of the car beamed.

"Indeed. Master Tesoro has been acknowledged as the Casino King by the entire world. He stands atop the stage as the most elite entertainment, and a leader of a country to top it off."

"Eee~ So much gold…" one of the female figures whispered in glee, "Must...resist the urge to steal."

"No good~!" the woman declared, earning the passengers' attention, "There are special Video Transponder Snails surveying the entire city. The only rule to our city? Anyone caught stealing will be thrown into the underground prison."

"Transponder Snails?" the one that was trying to resist the urge to steal repeated.

"Ah! Up in that palm tree!" one of the males noted, looking over at a plam tree where a rather large snail in the colors of a banana with large eyes on its eyestalks was following the vehicle with said eyes.

"I see...unless you had a real keen eye, no one would be able to notice them," one of the larger figures noted.

"C'mon, c'mon~!" the one on the front of the car complained, "Let's hurry up an' go to the casino! The casino!"

"Of course. But before that…" the red-haired woman noted as she looked them over, "There is a minor...issue with your outfits that won't stand in the casino."

"Eh?"

---

"Heh...check us out," Rex grinned as he and the guys stepped out of a store, dressed in white and gold tuxedos fitting each of their styles with sunglasses over their eyes, "We look awesome!"

"Not much for fancy stuff at times, but…" Naoto paused as he fixed the collar of his suit, "Can't help but admit I look swag as hell in these."

"Speak for yourself," Gentoku scoffed, lowering his sunglasses.

"Says the man with no taste for fashion," Kazumi and Ryuga deadpanned.

"You kids are just jealous of my swagger."

"Well...A little bit, yeah," Rex admitted, "Seriously, you pull off the tux look as well as Six."

"Six?" Naoto repeated.

"A good friend and a bit of a mentor," Rex replied, "He's the sixth deadliest person in the world back home. Though, honestly, he should be the new One after kicking the butts of the others."

"I often had to wear suits back when I was working with my father in politics...granted I was also a secret commander of a splintered military revolution sect and then when I was the secret agent for another faction...but that is behind me," Gentoku spoke.

"You kicked our asses for months!" Ryuga snapped.

"Semantics."

"Let's just enjoy our time here," Ben spoke up, a tiny white and gold fedora on Skurd, "Besides...once the girls are out, w-"

"We're done~!" Makoto's voice called out.

"And on c-" Ben began as he turned...and wheezed out as he and the guys saw the girls stepping out of the store, the Omnitrix-wielding young adult mainly eying Makoto as she wore a white strapless dress with gold patterns resembling the stars with a acorn/gold feather boa wrapped around the back of her neck and around her upper arms, shoulder-length white gloves and stockings with gold patterns like her dress, and a slit on the side, showing a hint of a gold thong; all finished up with a pair of acorn-tinted sunglasses.

"Told ya he'd love it," Makoto smirked at Mai, wearing a suit like the boys but had the top few buttons undone to expose a decent amount of cleavage with a gold ascot nestled into it and a pair of blue sunglasses.

"...I think you broke him," Skurd muttered as Naoto was waving a hand in front of a gawking and heavily blushing Ben's face.

"Best world ever. Of all time," Noel stated, wearing a figure-hugging gold dress with small hints of sapphire-blue swirls along the ends with an azure boa around her neck and pink sunglasses.

"GH!" Kazumi tensed before he was sent flying back, blood spurting out of both of his nostrils as he landed in a nearby set of bushes.

"And down goes Kazumi," Ryuga groaned as Rex ran over to the bushes.

"Dude, are you okay?!" Rex exclaimed as he lifted Kazumi up.

"T...Tenshi-da…"

"Ah! I know that look...Amigo, don't walk into the light!"

"But the tenshi…"

"Is down here on the planet and won't be leaving it anytime soon, meaning you won't get to see her for a long time," Rex stated.

"...You're right," Kazumi stated, quickly recovering.

'I was just saying nonsense and it worked…' Rex thought with a bead of sweat going down the back of his head.

"Yep...he's an idiot…" Ryuga and Gentoku muttered.

"Ah...Fun times?" Lambda asked, wearing a similar outfit to Noel with the blues replaced with reds with a few gold feathers tied to the end of her braided ponytail and a white mini-coat on her shoulders with Bluey riding on top of her head, a tiny pair of blue sunglasses on his tiny face.

"Yup. Fun times," Makoto nodded.

"Good...now to wake him up," Naoto spoke before he smacked Ben upside the head.

"Ahh! I'm awake!" Ben exclaimed in surprise.

"Honestly…" Skurd rolled his eyes.

"What? I can't help my girlfriend is so sexy...and cute...and funny...and can be smart…" Ben listed off, "...oh god, my girlfriend is the sexiest gal in the universe."

"And don't ya forget it!" Makoto laughed as she walked over and wrapped an arm around his arm, "Now let's go get some spending cash and blow out that casino's bank with our mad luck skills!"

"So that's what a healthy relationship looks like..." Gentoku muttered, "Hmm...it's vastly different from my past romantic history...in that if you count cheap one night stands history…"

"We need a filter on you…" Ryuga muttered.

"...Wait. Will our money even work here?" Naoto asked, earning their attention, "I mean...we technically got these for free since we're new here, but will our money work at the casino in this world?"

"Oh good, I found you." Sento spoke up, still in his normal attire. In his hand was a large sack, as he walked over and tossed it and a few others to them, "Pure Gold and Diamonds, almost as good as currency here."

"And question answered," Naoto muttered as he took a sack.

"Wh-Where did you get this?" Ben asked.

"Get?" Sento blinked.

"He makes it…" Ryuga, Kazumi, and Gentoku sighed, "Without limit...and it's all real…"

"Yeah...I can pretty much print rare minerals for cash." Sento smiled, "It was the Makoto of our world who gave me the idea."

"Wow...go alternate me," Makoto grinned.

"How do you think I pay for half my stuff...let alone support our trip?" Sento smiled, "You really never wondered how we always have enough food to feed one of these?" he motioned to Makoto.

"Hey…"

"Remind me how much we have to put into the house's food budget," Mai deadpanned as she, Noel, and even Lambda were all giving the Beastkin deadpan stares.

"Mmm…" Makoto pouted.

"Get over it and I'll give you more money," Sento smiled.

"Deal!" Makoto beamed.

"That was a fast response!" Naoto gawked.

"But not out of character…" Sento mused, tossing another bag, "It goes without saying...please try not to get in debt...Gentoku…"

"Oh one time…" Gentoku muttered.

"Several…" Sento countered, "Now go enjoy yourselves and earn plenty of Berri."

"...wait. What did he just say?" Makoto blinked as Sento walked off.

"If you need me, I'm gonna be busy not doing stupid stuff, and waiting to see if I need to come save you! Skurd can send an SOS signal via the Omnitrix to me~" with that he walked away.

"Hey wait! Aren't you…"

"Can't hear you over the sound of me walking away~!" Sento chuckled.

"...Anyone else afraid for the safety of this place and the sanity of the folks here?" Mai asked.

"Nope," the trio used to Sento stated immediately.

"Seriously I heard him say 'Berri' with an i instead of a y. Is no one gonna q-" Makoto began before she tensed up, "...wait…"

"Something up?" Sari asked, wearing an orange dress with gold circuit patterns and a cream feather boa with red sunglasses and her ascot around her neck.

"Currency called Berri...pirates...beyond supermodel bodies…" Makoto listed before gasping, "We're in…!" she began before quickly covering her mouth, motioning the others to come closer as she whispered to them, "We're in One Piece…"

"...Pretty sure that statement doesn't confirm you're all there," Ryuga noted.

"No, no, no! It's a manga, a manga," Makoto argued, "One that I was binging before I ended up on the mission that brought me to Bellwood." she sighed, "I was on a cliffhanger in Wano, too. Now I gotta wait 'till 2021 to find out what that girl's Akuma no Mi is!"

"Don't spoil anything for me!" Naoto exclaimed as he covered his ears, "I haven't read the manga in ages!"

"What am I, stupid? I'm not gonna ruin anything!" Makoto argued, "The best part is the journey...what good is it if you spoil it?!" she gasped, "Oh shoot! Everyone, if you find a fruit with swirls on it, don't eat it!"

"Why?" Gentoku asked.

"Because of three reasons. One, it gives you superpowers but you don't know what you'll get until you eat it. Two, you lose your ability to swim and become a literal anchor when you fall into a large body of water while losing those powers until you get out of the water by someone saving you. And three…" Makoto listed before she stuck her tongue out in disgust, "They're said to taste so nasty that you can never forget the taste."

"I'd believe it since she's a fellow anime lover," Ben admitted, "...wait...babe...what if one of the worlds we visit is…"

"Don't say anything!" Naoto exclaimed, "I don't wanna be spoiled!"

"On to the casino! You, mister, have some very important things to do!" Makoto ordered as she pulled Ben off.

"Indeed he does! I've read a few volumes you've had when you requested some alone time with the boy! I demand the genetic material of a Fishman to compare to the Piscciss Volann!" Skurd declared.

"He already has a Zora form, so he technically already has one in a way," Makoto argued before grinning, "And since this place seems to be all about gambling, we could find a Fishman and do a bet to win ourselves some Fishman Kempo lessons! Or even some training scrolls for it!"

"I think we've lost them," Rex muttered before walking off, "...Well if you'll excuse me, I am gonna go search for the slots."

"You're gonna use your nanites to hack them, aren't you?" Sari asked with a deadpanned stare.

"I did it before to get some funds for the splinter cell I joined up with to fight Black Knight when she took over Providence," Rex shrugged before grinning, "Besides...how're they gonna know if they don't know how I'm cheating?"

"...Okay. Fair point," Sari shrugged, "May as well accompany you then."

"I guess I can find something to do at the casino," Mai spoke, "Noel, what a…"

"She and La-chan left," Ryuga deadpanned, currently holding onto a running-in-place Kazumi, "Something about looking for animals here."

"Because of course they would look for animals," Mai sighed, shaking her head.

"I may as well enjoy myself as well," Gentoku spoke as he walked off.

"If you get sent to jail, don't kill everyone," Ryuga warned.

"I make no promises if one of them tries to make me their bitch."

"Lord knows you go on and on about the last time you went to prison!" Kazumi added.

"I guess we can be normal people and watch our friends do stupid shit…" Ryuga offered.

"...deal."

---

"See any sign of a zoo, La-chan?" Noel asked as she and Lambda were walking around the streets.

"Negative," Lambda replied, Bluey looking around with a magnifying glass.

"This place has to be big enough to have one," Noel stated, "We shall see the fluffy...then we sh-" she began before she stopped, "...you sense it?"

"?"

"I sense...something fluffy...bunny-like...something like Bluey...and as equally cute…" Noel informed.

"Something as cute as Bluey?" Lambda repeated, looking up at her Blupee, "...Negative."

"Hah?!" Noel gawked.

"Bluey is cutest bunny," Lambda stated.

"No...no, I can sense it!" Noel argued.

"I would need proof t-" Lambda began before a cheer caught their attention.

The two turned to see a figure looking around in awe...said figure being what looked like a young, shapely woman with bunny ears...No…It more seemed like she was a humanoid bunny girl with snow-white fur and a cute little pink nose. She had long blond hair underneath a white sun hat with orange-tinted sunglasses shaped like carrots and donned in a fancy white dress with a slit like Makoto's dress with orange carrot patterns on it in a tasteful manner. Bluey froze up before his blue body turned pink with his eyes shaped like hearts. He swayed before Lambda caught him in his falling over.

"...I was wrong…" Lambda whispered with wide eyes, "...Kawaii…"

"Ah~The lights are better to see now that I have these to look through-teria," the bunny girl noted, her tiny fluffy tail twitching happily.

"...Is she...a Beastkin?" Noel whispered before shaking her head, "Worry later...must...investigate…"

"...Hai...must...look into her," Lambda added with Bluey rapidly nodding in agreement.

"...and pray she'll let us pet her floofy tail," the two sisters stated in unison.

"Mmm...But what to do now?" the bunny girl pondered to herself, unaware of Lambda and Noel walking up to her at a steady yet fast pace, "Luffy, Choniki, and the others went into that casino place and I d-"

"Excuse me."

"?!" the bunny girl nearly jumped as she turned to face the two sisters, "...Hello?"

"Can we ask something?" Lambda asked.

"What...are you?" Noel cautiously asked...while resisting the urge to glomp her.

"...Ara? You've never seen a Mink before, teria?"

"Uhm...Mink?" Noel blinked, "I'm sorry, but you're clearly a bunny rabbit."

"Hai...a Rabbit Mink."

"...Confused," Lambda spoek as she tilted her head to the side, Bluey once more pink and frozen on her head.

"Um...Do you not know what Mink are, teria?"

"Negative," Lambda answered.

"Outside of Mari-chan back home," Noel whispered to herself.

"...Well Minks are kind of like Fishmen, only we're more based on animals, teria," the bunny girl explained, "That and most of us never leave our home on Zou...but I'm on a journey with my captain to explore the Wonderland that is the ocean!"

"Captain?" the two repeated.

"Uhn! He's a really great captain! ...Except when he eats my carrots. Then he's not a great captain, teria!"

"Eh?!" Noel gasped at that, "You never steal a bunny's precious carrots!"

"Never," Lambda added, Bluey nodding in agreement.

"Ahh~! People who understand!" the bunny girl beamed as she hugged the two, "I'm Carrot! And you two are…?"

"Noel Vermillion!" Noel replied as she returned the hug.

"...Lambda Vermillion," Lambda added before pointing at Bluey, "Pet usagi...Bluey."

"Bluey?" Carrot repeated as she looked up at the Blupee, "Oh! Kawaii!"

"Confirmation; Bluey is cutest." Lambda turned to Noel.

"...oh! Do you want to walk around together?" Carrot offered, "I was looking around for something to do while my captain and the others are busy, so maybe we can search for something fun to do together!"

"...yes. So much yes," was Noel's immediate response.

"Agreed." Lambda smiled as Bluey nodded ecstatically.

"Yay!" Carrot cheered...before all three had an ear lightly nibbled on by her, "Garchuu~!"

'Is this a bunny kiss?' the two sisters thought as Bluey once more fell off and was caught by Carrot, bright pink with hearts in his eyes.

---

"Holy moly... There's a lot to do here," Mai whispered as she looked around the casino, "...What to even do...blackjack? Roulette tables? ...Nono...chances are those are rigged considering…"

"Haha! I'm swimmin' in moolah!"

"?" Mai blinked as she looked over at some nearby slot machines...with Rex being buried underneath pouring piles of gold coins.

"Okay, next to Hawaii...This has gotta be the best vacation spot I've been!" Rex beamed.

"Nobody is coming to check...so guess you got real lucky," Sari muttered as she stood nearby.

"Damn right!" Rex laughed, poking out from the pile of coins for a moment before blinking, "...Oh. Hey, Mai."

"...Nanites?" Mai guessed quietly as she walked over.

"Nanites," Sari nodded.

"Hoo, I wonder what I can buy with all this?!" Rex grinned excitedly as he stood up, "...No wait...let's keep this money train a-rollin'!"

"Maybe stay away from the slot machines to avoid suspicion," Mai and Sari deadpanned.

"Aw come on, amigas," Rex encouraged, "It's all good!"

"This place has to have some form of security, so probably best not to push your luck," Mai muttered.

"Do you see any cameras?" Rex countered.

"That is a trick question," Mai pointed out.

"I have noticed some weird snails," Sari noted.

"Snails?" Rex blinked before Sari pointed to a nearby alcove, making him look over to see a Transponder Snail looking down, "...Wow. That is one weird looking snail. A-Are those lips?"

"...I think those are supposed to be the 'security cameras' for this place," Sari muttered.

"Huh? Those are cameras?"

"There's technology both on and inside their shell," Sari explained, "I'm 'talking' to that to get a better understanding. Seems that there's at least one on each and every corner of the isla-wait, this is a giant ship big enough to be considered a mobile island? Wow. The more you know, huh?"

"...So I was caught in a way…" Rex muttered.

"Still wanna push your luck?" Mai deadpanned.

"...Ya know what? Yeah," Rex sighed as he picked up a pile of coins, "May as well check and see where we can go a-"

"Eh?! 100,000 Berries?!"

The nanite-infused male and his two female companions turned to the shout. Standing before a large entrance with the word 'HOTSHOT' on it was a shapely woman with long flowing orange hair wearing a white dress with a black bow on the stomach, a strange wristband sporting three baubles in a triangle, and an intricate blue tattoo resembling a pinwheel with one blade ending in a tangerine on her left shoulder.

"That's right," a woman in a bunny girl outfit nodded to her, "If you bet on the winning racer, that is the cash prize."

"Oh-hoh~!"

"...hmm…" Rex pondered as he rubbed his chin in thought, "...amigas, I think I got an idea..."

"...you want us to make the bet while you're racing?" Sari guessed.

"Yup."

"...Will they even let you participate?" Mai asked.

"We won't know unless we ask." Rex smiled.

"...fair point," Mai muttered as the three began to walk over, "Um, excuse me."

"Yes," the woman spoke as she turned to see the three.

"By any chance can anyone join these races we overheard you speaking about?"

"Oh yes. It's a free-for-all afterall."

"Sweet~" Rex smiled, taking off his jacket and putting on his regular one, "If you ladies will excuse me...I got a race to win."

"Try not to blow people up…" Mai muttered.

"...I promise I'll try," Rex assured as he walked off.

"We'll put money on h-" Sari began.

"LUFFY! YOU, USOPP AND CHOPPER BETTER NOT LOSE!" the orange-haired woman shouted, her eyes replaced with Berri signs as she ran in.

"We won't!"

"Oh what did we just get pulled into…" Sari and Mai whispered in worry.

---

"Royal Straight flush again?!" A casino employee gawked.

"What can I say? I'm just that good," Ben shrugged as he pulled in his winnings.

"Ahh~ My debt's increased…" he groaned in worry.

"?" Ben blinked at that.

"N...nothing sir. Y-You go enjoy the rest of your stay here."

"...you caught that, right?" Ben whispered to Skrud, picking up his winnings as he walked off.

"Indeed…" Skurd spoke, "I have noticed an odd level of stress from the people here. It causes a salty smell from most beings. Those new here like us...as opposed to people I assume are...returning customers. I recommend we not go 'all or nothing'...I'd hate to see what is the cause."

"Agreed," Ben whispered, "...Let's hurry and find Makoto. She's probably figured something's up as well."

"Odd…" Skurd muttered, "I feel something in the air…" he looked around, "Give me a moment…" with that, he flattened down and seemingly vanished within Ben's clothing.

"...What's gotten i-"

"PSST!" Ben looked over, seeing Makoto hiding behind a pillar, "Over here."

"Makoto?" Ben blinked as he walked over, "Why are you…"

"Something is very wrong with this place," Makoto whispered, "...That and I nearly became a slave to a Celestial Dragon...one I REALLY wanted to punch the face of."

"Isn't that like that…?"

"Yes!" she hissed, "I forgot how messed up this place can be in my hype fueled excitement. Example...before I ran into that a-hole, I ran into some kids that were begging me for money."

"...And how's th-"

"The employees and what I assume is one of the casino big wigs were treating them like lesser beings while chasing them off."

"Okay...So something is going on here…" Ben sighed, "I noticed a lot of weird stuff, too. It feels like a lot of people are crazy deadset on winning big. There's gotta be something else going on here...but what?"

"...Mayhaps we need to investigate," Makoto whispered as she tapped her pendant, only for it to spark a bit, "?"

"Okay, that's not a good sign…" Ben muttered.

"It didn't get damaged in the fight with Zonda, did it?" Makoto whispered, trying to gain her ProtoArmor as she kept tapping her pendant.

"Didn't Sento check all our stuff?" Ben asked, "Dude's weird...but if anything he never fails to check tech."

"...Where's Skurd? Maybe he can look at it."

"He went off to do something," Ben replied.

"Great...The one time w-" Makoto began as she took her hand off her pendant, only to blink when she noticed something on it, "...Gold dust?...wait…" she looked up at Ben," Ben, try activating the Omnitrix."

"Huh? Um...Alright," Ben replied as he put two fingers on it to turn on the holographic ring and selected an alien...only for the top to not slide open, "Okay...That's not good."

"...I think we're dealing with a Devil Fruit User," Makoto realized.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if it's Paramecia or Logia, but I can guess the name might be something like 'Gol-Gol Fruit' or 'Goru-Goru no Mi,'" Makoto frowned, "Point is...this is VERY concerning...if there's this much gold on us…"

"...Then it's probably on the others as well," Ben realized.

"I got it!" Skurd declared, appearing again, "We're covered in gold!"

"We already realized that!" the two hissed.

"You're no fun…" Skurd muttered, "Alright...I'm gonna dissolve it within my digestion system...don't do anything stupid."

"Wait...you can eat gold?" Ben blinked.

"You didn't know gold was edible?" Skurd blinked.

"It is?" Makoto asked, raising a brow.

"You don't watch cooking videos I cue up on the computer…" Skurd huffed, "I swear unless it's some form of slapstick or cat video, you never give a care…"

"Or sports like lacrosse and soccer," Ben added.

"I'll just get to work on the gold. Like I said, don't do anything stupid. Unless you're Ben and do something stupid anyway and trigger the failsafe in the Omnitrix to make things easier for me," Skurd stated.

"Don't remind me of that failsafe," Ben cringed.

"...Still, we better find the others," Makoto suggested, "...and I need to be careful and not get spotted by that fat snot-nosed spoiled brat Celestial Dragon…"

"Is it the one Luffy punched in the slave house?" Ben asked.

"Eeyup...Why do you think I resisted the urge to punch his stupid face in?"

"Let's get a move on," Ben added, "I am worried the higher ups might not like that some of our friends are abusing super powers to win…"

"Hai," Makoto nodded as the two ran off.

---

"Quite strange. You've got all that cash, but you ain't playing?" a bartender asked as Rook sat at the bar, drinking a mug of root beer.

"I am not like my friends when it comes to places like this," Rook replied, placing some gold on the counter, "May I have another order?"

"Comin' right up," the bartender replied as he walked off, leaving Rook alone to look at his reflection in the mug's glass, a somber expression reflected off it back at the caster.

'Despite the sights around here and the chance to learn of new things...Here I sit,' Rook thought, 'I suppose it is not a surprise. I feel like I should not be here, basking in rewards I feel unearned...and I should be enjoying myself like Ben and...' he paused in his thoughts as he gave a sigh, 'And yet...it feels like I am being left behind…'

"Hey bar-hic!-keep...hit me up with more sake!"

"Hmm?" Rook blinked as he looked to the side, seeing a man with a long braided ponytail sitting not too far from him..and he could tell he looked a bit drunk.

"Ahh...This plash ish parad-hic!-ise…" the man noted in content before grumbling, "But the way some of these games are set up…"

"...Excuse me, sir," Rook spoke up, earning the man's attention, "I think you have had enough to drink…"

"I'll let you know when I-hic!-had enough…" he argued in his drunken stupor before taking a shot of his drink, "Tch...you're lucky I'm on break...otherwise I'd use the Rokushiki on you…"

"Rokushiki?"

"Hah!? Ya mean ya made it all da way-hic!-here to the New World and don't knows tshat?!" the man gawked before cracking up in laughter, "You're one brave kid, but shtupid too!"

"Can you elaborate? What do you mean by that? I am very skilled in the ways of combat," Rook pointed out.

"Hahaha! All punks with an Akuma no Mi say that...what is ya...some kinda me-hic!-erkat?"

"Meerkat? No. This is my normal look."

"Ah...A Mink raised outside of the N-hic!-New World, then!" the man noted as he pulled out a black scroll, "The Rokushiki are super rare and barely anyone outside of here kn-hic!-ows it!" he grumbled, "Lousy Emperors and their sneaky w-hic!-ways of getting the info…"

"A form of martial arts that makes you stronger?" Rook asked.

"How is you nots dead yet...I bet you-hic- can't even use Haki either!"

"Haki?"

"...Okay, now I just feel sh-hic!-shorry for you…"

"...Is there...a way to learn it?" Rook asked.

"...Depends..how much you g-hic! Got…?" the man asked as he glanced down to Rook's side where his gold and jewels were in their sack.

'...Ben and the others are finding ways to get stronger, and after what happened in Gunvolt's world…' Rook thought, pondering for a moment, "...I have some gold and jewels I am willing to part with."

"Need more than that…"

"...How about a bet then?" Rook offered.

"...I'm listening…" the man slurred as he leaned in.

"You toss something high into the air...if I hit it without actually shooting, You will give me what is needed to learn both this 'Haki' and 'Rokushiki'," Rook continued, "If I were to lose, I will hand over all of my gold and jewels, and my weapon."

"...ha! EEsiest bet all night!" the man laughed, grabbing a nearby empty bottle as he grinned at Rook while pulling out another black scroll and slamming both of them on the counter between them, "Very well...game set!" he shouted as he tossed the bottle high in heh air, 'Heh...idiot. How can you hit something that high without Devil Fruit powers or a g-'

Rook said nothing as he converted his Proto-Tool into a bow formation before pulling the 'string', drawing it as he let an energy arrow fly and shatter the glass bottle.

"?! H...Hey! You ch-hic! Cheated!"

"How did I cheat?" Rook questioned, "I said I wouldn't 'shoot' from my weapon. All I did was pull the string back and let my arrow fly. A difference between guns and bows."

"Ghhh!" the man flinched.

"Considering I won this bet, I will take these I suppose," Rook said as he took the scrolls..before placing his bag of money on the table, "And to help you with your...drinking and gambling problem."

"...Why?"

"Just being a good and fair player," Rook smiled as he walked off, '...Oh dear...I hope that these come with diagrams. Otherwise, it will take me a bit to translate on my own…'

---

"Come on! Come on!" Ryuga shouted as he, Kazumi, and Gentoku were watching a steel cage match with a pair of boxers fighting one another.

"Knock his block off!" Kazumi exclaimed, "I got good money riding on ya!"

"Come on! You had six different openings for a finishing blow, dammit!" Ryuga snapped before facepalming, "Amateurs, I tell you!"

"I have to agree, though it may have had a chance that the one to the face could break the bones in the nose and pierce the brain," a voice noted, causing the trio to look to their right to see a shapely woman with long black hair wearing a white shoulder-less dress that exposed the entirety of her cleavage with a large blue feather boa over her shoulders and yellow-tinted sunglasses, "Which would lead to a near-instantaneous death."

'...Morbid…' Kazumi and Ryuga thought.

"Ah, so true. The death would be quick to us, but the time it would take for the dying to register would be agonizingly slow to them," Gentoku noted.

'...Oh god, now it's in stereo…' Kazumi and Ryuga mentally deadpanned.

"Aw come on!" Ryuga snapped, focusing on the fight and trying to ignore the...er...colorful...commentary from the two that seemed to be bonding over the morbid, "You should've jabbed! I swear if they keep this up, Kazumi, bet on me jumping in and beating them both up with how a real fighter does it!"

"I'd bet on that..." Gentoku muttered.

"Right...it's easy money," Kazumi chuckled.

"You have quite the confidence in him doing so," the woman noted, an amused smile as she felt a familiarity of this kind of shenanigan.

"Ryuga is all violence and energy; it's impossible to call him human." Gentoku sighed.

"Oi!" Ryuga snapped, "Who you not callin' human!?"

"You," Kazumi stated.

"Ghh…!" Ryuga growled.

"This is why we follow Sento around...unlike you, he's actually a leader," Kazumi chuckled.

"Even if most of his plans involve using us as shields 'till he figures something out," Gentoku muttered, "Ah, my apologies." he turned to the woman, "Gentoku."

"Robin," the woman replied.

"These are Kazumi and Ryuga," Gentoku added.

"Yo." Kazumi nodded.

"Ah! What's the matter with you two!? Don't you know how to freakin' punch!?" Ryuga shouted, "My Granny throws a better punch than you! It's actually kinda scary!"

"Ow! You're telling me!" another voice agreed, "These guys and their punches are SUPER lame!"

Kazumi blinked a few times at the owner of the voice. He was a large man in a formal white tuxedo with red lining...but his waist down had only a red speedo. He sported a blue pompadour with gold-rimmed sunglasses and bits of metal on his legs...and large pink robot hands.

'They have cyborgs here?' Kazumi thought.

"You said it. I was a pro before I got blamed for a crime I didn't do and these guys are making a mockery of the sport!" Ryuga growled, "Governments suck."

"Oh, tell me about it," the cyborg snorted, "They're SUPER annoying! And the-Aw come on! You call that a right hook?!"

"That's it! I'm getting in there!" Ryuga snapped, "Kazumi, bet it all on me kicking both their asses with my fists!"

"My kingdom for a sense of sanity," Gentoku sighed.

---

"You're a pirate?" Noel asked, the trio sitting in a cafe with a still-pink Bluey in Carrot's arms, his head resting on her impressive chest.

"Yep!" Carrot beamed, her tail twitching happily, "It's been really fun seeing so much outside of Zou-teria!"

"Zou?" Lambda repeated, "...Elephant?"

"Hai!" Carrot nodded, "Rarely any people have reached it because it's always moving..and Zou is so tall!" she tilted her head while putting a finger to her cheek, "I think this ship is as long as one of its legs."

"!?" the sisters' eyes widened in surprise.

"...Deka," Lambda whispered in amazement.

"How...were you able to get down?" Noel asked.

"Simple...I jumped after my captain and the others did, teria."

"..."

"...What?" Carrot blinked at the looks the two sisters gave her

"...M-Moving on…" Noel whispered as she shook her head, "So...what kind of adventures have you been on since travelling with your captain?"

"Tons!" Carrot beamed, her eyes seemingly having stars in them from her excitement as she recalled them, "What about you two?'

"Plenty," Lambda answered as she took a sip of her tea, "Defeated an enemy through the power of song..."

"Helped a kingdom reclaim its castle and captured princess…" Noel added.

"Chasing sister chasing a little blue fluffy creature…"

"La-chan~!"

"It is true…"

"Little blue fluffy creature?" Carrot repeated before looking down at Bluey, who had gone blue once more while nibbling on a carrot, "This one?"

"A different one. Looked more like a koala," Noel replied.

"Eh? There's a little blue fluffy creature that looks like that friend of Robin's?" Carrot asked in surprise.

"No no. Like the animal," Noel corrected, "P-point is...we've been on plenty of adventures as well…"

"And before those...Sister often spied on two friends on dates," Lambda added, earning a cute pout from Noel.

"Date?" Carrot tilted her head.

"Eh?! Y-" Noel began before Lambda put a hand on her mouth.

"Do not scare…" Lambda hushed.

"...Ara?" Carrot tilted her head further.

"It's an outing between those that want to be mates or are mates," Lambda stated.

"Oh~!" Carrot nodded in understanding before seeing something behind the sisters, "Oh! Zoro!"

"Zoro?" the two repeated as they turned around to see a man with green hair, gold earrings in his left ear, grey-tinted sunglasses, a scar over his left eye that was kept shut, sported three katana on his hip, and wore a white jacket over a black zipper shirt and black slacks.

"Hm? Carrot?" the man pondered, "How'd you get to the roulette tables?"

"Hah? This is a cafe on the other side of the building," Carrot replied.

"Tch. Damn building's rotating on me…" the man scowled.

"...to the left," Lambda spoke as she pointed in a direction.

"Thanks," The man muttered as he began to walk off...in the opposite direction.

"...Iie," Lambda spoke, getting up and walking before the man, "To...the left."

"I'm going left."

"Incorrect...you are going right."

"Right, I'm going left."

"No….to...the right."

"No. You said go left...I am going left."

"..." Lambda said nothing as her left eye began to twitch.

"Ano...Isn't that it over there, teria?" Carrot asked, pointing to the direction.

"Tch. Again with the rotating ship," Zoro grunted as he walked off towards it...and then made a right halfway there.

"...What just happened?" Noel asked.

"Zoro-san had a terrible sense of direction," Carrot stated, "We were at an archipelago once and he went to get a whetstone for his swords and he ended up on the very last island without anyone realizing what happened."

"Majide?" Noel gawked as Bluey blinked twice in disbelief before seeing Zoro come in through the nearby restroom.

"Back here again?" Zoro pondered in annoyance.

"...grr…." Lambda growled as her left eye began to twitch violently.

---

"Hmm...where to go...what to even do?" Naoto muttered as he walked through the casino lobbies, "So many ways to gamble here...and yet oddly there's no Pachinko games here."

"Kya!"

*SLAP!*

"Yohoho~! Was it something I said?"

"?!" Naoto tensed as he ran off to the source of the noise, running past a woman that was stomping off as he turned the corner, "What h-" he began before tensing up, seeing a rather tall Skeleton in a white tuxedo with orange button shirt, a large fur coat, orange-tinted sunglasses, and a large gold crown rubbing his bony cheek...while, oddly, he had a massive afro on top of his head, "?!" 'Is...is that a skeleton?! With an afro!? ...Wait...afro...afro skeleton...Holy shit, the Straw Hats are in this place?!'

"Hmm?" the skeleton 'blinked' as he looked over at Naoto, who tensed up as he quickly ran back behind the corner.

'Okay...Stay calm...You're literally meeting a manga protagonist...arguably part of one of the best's crew...and you haven't read anything since…' Naoto began in his thoughts.

"Is something the matter?"

"?!" Naoto tensed up as he slowly looked up...and saw the skeleton looking at him straight in the face, "..."

"Hi."

"GYAAAH!" Naoto screamed in surprise, causing the skeleton to jump back and scream in turn.

"AAAAHHH!-!-!" the skeleton screamed back, "What are we screaming about?!" he shouted.

"You startled me!" Naoto snapped, "Also I heard a woman scream a-"

"A woman?! Screaming?! Brook!" another voice snapped.

"Oh no," the skeleton realized before a formal black shoe slammed into his face, sending him spinning several times in the air before landing flat on his face, "Ah! My nose! You've broken it! Oh wait, I'm a skeleton so I have no nose! YOHOHOHOHOHO~! SKULL JOKE~!"

"Urusei!" a blond haired man snapped at him, one of his eyes hidden by a bang of his hair as he wore a white tuxedo with a red starfish-like charm on the left breast and a pair of scarlet-tinted sunglasses over his eyes, "What the hell did you do!?"

'Sanji as well…' Naoto thought, eyes wide in surprise...and worry, 'Oh sugar honey iced tea, I think this place is gonna go FUBAR sooner than later…'

"Tell me Brook, what did you do to a lady!?" Sanji demanded.

"Nothing, unless you count asking to see panties as something?" the skeleton replied, "Did you want to see them with me? I think I'm wearing one down~"

*BAM!*

"Ack!"

"Baka!"

"This is so surreal…" Naoto muttered.

"What I say? I thought you liked panties Sanji…" Brooks complained.

"Yes but these are women of class, like Nami-swan and Robin-Chwan!" Sanji argued.

"I'm acting like I do around them, and they love my company," Brook argued.

'I beg to differ with all the blows to the head the former gives you everytime,' Naoto mentally snarked.

"Gah...come here you…!" Sanji groaned, pulling Brook up by his afro before looking over at Naoto, "Oi..sorry about him."

"I-it's fine. Just heard a scream and came to see what was wrong," Naoto admitted, "Being honest...new to this place myself and I've yet to find something to do while my friends are busy."

"Ah. Gotcha."

"...Ah. Perhaps he can join us and Jimbei in looking for Nami-san," Brook offered, "I did hear that Luffy pulled her, Usopp and Chopper into something again."

'Jimbei?' Naoto mentally repeated. '...wait. Isn't he….wait. Did he...GAH! Hitting spoiler territory! But it can't be helped or I'll be a jerk and you don't want to be one to the Straw Hats...' "Well….better than getting lost. Plus I might end up bumping into my friends along the way."

"See? We made a new friend and we got to have a little adventure," Brooks added, "Half the fun is meeting new people when we make these stops. Well, except for Sanji...who is allergic to men."

"Don't spread weird and fake rumors about me!" Sanji snapped.

'Oh, Makoto is gonna be jealous I actually met two...er..three...gah! I really can't believe I'm delving into sorta spoiler territory here!' Naoto mentally exclaimed, '...It's fine, it's fine. I mean...surely they haven't gotten to anything crazy…'

---

"...You're noticing the 'KAME' stamped on her…" Sari began to ask as she and Mai sat beside the orange-haired woman.

"Yep," Mai deadpanned, looking at the start of a race course where seven vehicles-all with tiny turtles holding onto levers going into the engine areas of them-were lined up with a woman in a bunny suit standing before them, a torch in both hands...and the word 'KAME' stamped on her shapely behind below the fake bunny tail on her uniform.

"I'm loving this place…" Rex whispered, sitting in a black and orange vehicle as he had his goggles on over his eyes.

"Luffy!" the orange-haired woman shouted to one of the vehicles, looking specifically at a lanky young man in a white tuxedo with the undershirt being a Hawaiian one with a straw hat on a string on his neck and a straw cowboy hat on his head with red rimmed and tinted sunglasses, "You better win, otherwise you're gonna see hell!"

"Hah? Nami knows how to get to Impel Down?" the young man pondered, tilting his head and letting Sari and Mai spot the small scar under his eye, "N-Nevermind...Ussop, Chopper, we're gonna win!"

"YOSHA!" his two companions in the car cheered, one a tanned-skinned man with large curly black hair and a rather long nose in a black and white checkered vest over a green button shirt and under a large white fur coat with black pants, white boots, and a white hat with blue-tinted sunglasses while the other was a tiny humanoid Reindeer wearing a white cap over a pink top hat spotting a white 'X' on the center, a broken horn held together by a metal plate, purple-tinted sunglasses, a white jacket, black shorts, and a large blue bowtie.

"...We cannot let Noel or Lambda see that little guy," Mai stated, looking at the tiny Reindeer.

"Agreed," Sari agreed, "They might end up kidnapping him…"

"Oi, that's our doctor. Like hell we'll let him go," the woman, Nami, stated as she gave the two a look.

"You haven't met our friend Noel…" Sari muttered.

"Once she has her eyes set on something cute...it's hard to deter her," Mai added.

"It's a little concerning…" Sari added.

"What's concerning?"

"GAH!" Mai and Sari yelped as they turned, seeing Noel and Lambda approaching with Carrot, "N-Nothing!"

"What did we just walk into?" Gentoku muttered as he and his group, along with Robin and the cyborg, walked over, "And why's Rex…?"

"He entered and wanted us to make a bet," Sari explained.

"This is a great idea!" Rex shouted, "And you still haven't told me the bet you made yet!"

"And we don't plan to tell him anytime soon," Sari noted to the others.

"Noted," Ryuga noted...while currently sporting a black eye.

"What's with the…" Mai began.

"I had a really fun time and ended up with quadruple the cash we originally had," Ryuga stated.

"Ow! This guy sure was SUPER in that ring! They only got that one shiner on him while he went to town!" the cyborg beamed, patting Ryuga's back.

"The moment they said there was no rule against it...I took it into my own hands!" Ryuga cheered.

"Didn't Sento…" Mai began.

"What he doesn't know...won't hurt us," Ryuga, Kazumi, and Gentoku replied in unison.

"Oh, minna/Nami-chan! This is Carrot-chan/These are Noel-chan and La-chan and Bluniki!" Noel and Carrot beamed at the group in unison.

"...Because of course they'd find an actual bunny girl," Sari sighed, facepalming.

"No trying to swipe Chopper because he's tiny and adorable or I'm fining you at 900 percent interest," Nami warned, giving Noel a look.

"What?" Noel blinked before Lambda turned her to look at Chopper, "...A Reindeer! AW~! He's so little and fluffy!"

"URUSEI!" Chopper snapped...as he began to do a silly little dance with a happy face, "J-Just because you call me that doesn't mean I like it! Urusei~! Urusei~!"

"...Mmmm~" Noel began to squeal.

"No," was the response of everyone that knew the shy blonde.

"We are not paying for you if you end up incurring that debt with that insane interest rate," Gentoku warned before looking at Nami, "Is that yearly, monthly, or weekly?"

"Hourly."

"...I fear that if you ever showed up at my former place of work, you'd be in control in a day at best," Gentoku muttered, scooting away from Nami.

"Sides even if Sento has a lot of cash...he'd never pay for us…" Kazumi sighed.

"He'd sooner leave us in debt and laugh at us in money...then get our debtor in his debt," Ryuga added, "I know what I said!" he responded to the looks.

=YOSHA!= the announcer shouted over several speakers that looked to be more of those strange Transponder Snails with megaphones before them =It's almost time for the Turtle Race Event! HOT SHELL!=

"I really gotta take a look at one of these screens. It'd be SUPER awesome to have one for the Sunny!" the cyborg beamed.

"Absolutely not, Franky," Nami frowned.

"Heck, fit the Visual Transponder Snail in an airtight dome and we'd probably have a way to look underwater for some sunken ships with treasure!" he went on.

"Hurry up and figure out how to make one!" Nami snapped, her eyes replaced with a dollar sign with the 'S' replaced with a 'B.'

"...She loves money, don't she?" Ryuga whispered to Robin.

"Oh so true," Robin replied, still smiling in amusement.

=We've got seven racers today! Check okay! Ready to go! Whoever makes it back first, wins!= the announcer informed=The winning racer receives ten times their investment!=

"TEN TIMES?!" Rex gawked.

=So all at once…=

"Ready…?" the bunny girl spoke up before swinging the torches down, "GO!"

With that, the seven cars started their engines and put the pedal down. The helmets on the turtles all sparked before they started to pump the levers they were holding onto and the engines flared to life.

=And there they go!= the announcer shouted as the cars shot off down the track as the screens began to display the cars as they drove =Who will be the first to turn the corner?!=

"Holy moly!" Naoto gawked as he ran into the area, Sanji and Brook catching up with him as they looked at the race, "Wait...were those turtles powering the engines?"

"Ah, we rode in a car that was powered by those little kame," Brook noted, "It was quite an enjoyable ride. The wind felt so nice on my skin. ...Ah, wait! I'm a skeleton so I don't have skin! Yohohohoho~! SKULL~ JOKE~!"

"S-S-Skeleton!" Noel gawked as Bluey squeaked and covered his face with his paws, mistaking him for a Stalfos.

"No," Ryuga deadpanned, grabbing Kazumi before he could dash off.

"Don't or I'm confiscating all corgi paraphernalia from you and Noel for our next two destinations," Gentoku ordered, putting a hand on Lambda's shoulder.

"...Evil," Lambda glowered.

"Oiyoiyoi?" the girls from another world tensed as Brook was suddenly before them, "My, my, what a wonderful group of beauties! Ah, pardon me madams, but may I see you pa…"

"LIKE HELL!" Nami snapped, roundhouse kicking Brook upside the head, causing him to fall over with a smoking bump poking out of his head.

"Oiyoiyoi! How harsh~!" Brook exclaimed.

'Saw that coming…' Naoto deadpanned while Kazumi...well he was frothing at the mouth in anger before an explosion went off on the screens, "The hell?"

=And Number 5 Jimmy Myers is out! Taken down by Number 3 Marine Petty Officer Straight who hates leaving it up to others!=

"Are those machine guns and a freakin' cannon on his car?!" Ryuga gawked.

"Huh...They are," Franky noted, rubbing his three-pointed chin in thought, "...Could use more cannons on the back."

"Ah, you think?" Ryuga asked, blinking twice.

"If ya convert it into a cola-powered engine, you'd save up a lotta cash on feeding those little turtles, too," Franky noted, a pair of tiny yellow robot hands poking out of the palms of his pink ones as he was using them to make sketches and notes.

"What if ya added wings to let it glide?" Ryuga asked.

"Ow! SUPER idea!" Franky beamed.

"I'm so sorry for him," Nami and Kazumi apologized to each other.

=And now they're entering the pool area!= the announcer called.

"Oh! There's Jimbei-san!" Carrot exclaimed, seeing a large blue Fishman lounging in the massive pool/lazy river on the screen below the course, a pair of orange-tinted shell-themed sunglasses over his closed eyes and donned in a fancy white and gold sea-themed kimono.

"How big is this track?" Mai pondered.

"Beats me," Naoto shrugged, 'Also...when did they get a bunny girl in their crew?!'

---

"Zzz…" Jimbei snorted before snorting as explosions on the course above woke him, "Nani?"

=And the racers are coming up on another corner!=

"Sir!" the driver of the Number 3 car saluted, earning the attention of the large burly petty officer shooting his cannon at the other racers.

"Hm?"

"If we keep going, we won't make it!"

"Screw you! 'Failure' don't exist in my dictionary!" the petty officer snapped...before the car went straight through the wall of the corner turn.

=And the Number 3 car is out and falling into the lazy river below! Only a few racers remain!=

"...Hm. Seems like something Luffy would be wrapped up in," Jimbei muttered as the marine-occupied vehicle fell towards him, "Gyojin Karate: Samehada Shōtei!" he swung his palm up in a palm block, smashing into the car and causing the front to crumple up before it was sent flying into the distance, "Hmph. And good riddance."

---

"...yeesh. I hate to be those guys," Rex muttered, having overheard the crash in the distance as he focused on the road as they came upon a spiraling path going upwards.

=Oh? And who's coming to take on the lead? It's Number 6, the Mugiwara Kaizoku!= the announcer called =Followed closely by Number 7, Rex Salazar! Who will pass the quack doctor, Whitejack?!=

"Is that a loop!?" Usopp and Rex exclaimed in shock, seeing an actual loop up ahead.

"YOSHA! IKUZE!" Luffy cheered.

"Well...guess there is only one way to make it!" Rex chuckled as he hit the gas and began picking up speed.

"Hah! Like I'm gonna let them slip by me!" a rathe sickly looking, bandaged up man in a doctors outfit laughed from up ahead, "Kiruko-chan~!"

"Hai~!" a nurse in a pink outfit replied...as she pulled out a large syringe with a green liquid in it.

"...Oh please tell me she's not gonna…" Rex began with a pale face...before the nurse squeezed out the liquid onto the track, "Oh phew...I th-OH GEEZ!"

"Ah crap!" Usopp freaked as the two began to slip along the green liquid as soon as they completed the loop.

"EH?!" Luffy panicked.

=Ooh~! That's gonna set them back!= the announcer cringed as the other racers passed Rex and Luffy's cars.

"Oh come on!" Rex snapped, slamming a fist on the dashboard.

"Ike, Usopp!" Luffy shouted.

"I'm going already!" Usopp snapped, shifting gears on the car and proceeded to peel out after the other racers, followed behind by Rex.

"This is why I hate going to the doctor for checkups," Rex grumbled.

---

=And everyone is falling behind Whitejack! Will they be able to catch up with the mad doctor?!= the announcer called out.

"THEY BETTER!" Nami roared, stomping a foot on the railing and shaking a fist at the screen.

"Come on, Rex! Don't let that whack doctor show you up!" Sari shouted.

"Sari?!" Mai gawked.

"What? It's honestly getting good," Sari argued, "And it's reminding me of those street races back home, so this kinda feels nostalgic. Only difference is that me and 'Bee aren't the ones in the race and no sneaky jerk controlling a racer with an ancient relic."

"Oh...fair, I guess," Mai muttered, "...Still, this feels like something Ben and Makoto would enjoy in a way."

"...Come to think of it, where are they?" Naoto pondered, looking around.

"Maybe they ran into Sento or Rook or went back to get a smoothie," Noel suggested.

"Or somewhere private…" Mai muttered.

"You say something?" Nami asked.

"Nothing of importance," Mai replied before looking at the screens, "Oh! Looks like that doc and his nurse got knocked out of the race by...wait, is that a bull in the back wearing a shirt?"

"Looks like it," Sanji noted, "Oi! It just threw a bale of hay at them!"

"Sanji, if they lose to this guy…" Nami began.

"Already thinking of recipes for bull," Sanji assured.

"More for the trio that lose our money," Nami growled.

"So glad we went with the minimum bet," Sari sighed.

---

"Pfft! First oil slicks from oversized syringes now bales of hay!" Rex spat out along with some pieces of hay.

=And with incredible power, Kent Beef Jr. from South Blue's Baltic maintains a powerful lead!=

"Keep at it, Pork!" the driver of the monster truck in the race shouted to a beefy bull in the back wearing a yellow shirt, that mooed in compliance as it picked up another bale of hay and hit Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper with it.

"Ack! Ptui! Ack!"

"What the heck!? Why can't they toss meat!?" Luffy complained, before coughing up some hay, "ACK! This is the worst!"

"Also ironic!" Usopp declared.

"Da hell is that?!" Luffy asked.

"I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to Chopper! Someone who knows what Irony means!" Usopp complained.

"I know what it means!" Luffy blindly defended.

"Liar!" Everyone who knew Luffy snapped at the same time somehow.

=And here they come on another turn!=

"A turn?!" the four exclaimed before Pork hit both cars with bales of hay, "QUIT IT!" a moment passed as they felt a sudden shift, "..."

"...We went over the edge, didn't we?" Rex calmly asked.

"Eeyup," Usopp replied, just as calm.

"We all agree to find that bull and cook it?" Rex asked once more.

"Aye," Luffy agreed in the shared calm tone.

"Groovy..." Rex muttered.

"We're gonna fall now, right?" Chopper asked.

"...AHH!" the four screamed as gravity finally took effect.

=Course out! They're falling right for the golf course!=

"Golf course?!" Rex exclaimed.

---

"Golf course?!" the girls in the Omniteam-minus Lambda-gawked.

"Wait...I could have gone golfing?" Gentoku blinked.

"That's what you're asking?" Ryuga raised a brow.

"What? I enjoy golfing," Gentoku argued.

"And yet you're not asking why there's a golf course in the middle of a racing track," Naoto deadpanned.

"Because it's not in the middle of a racing track, it's below a racing track," Gentoku replied.

Bluey just tilted his head. He didn't get why the purple crocodile man was getting excited about a flat plain. There weren't any shiny yummy rocks or yummy carrots in those places. Just big scary Lynels. He shivered in the memory of the last time before he met his Lambda...before turning pink and freezing up once more as Carrot snuggled him.

"Are you getting cold?" Carrot asked, looking down at the Blupee.

"Oh! Maybe after this, we can find a store that makes outfits for little animals like Bluey," Noel suggested.

"Yes," Lambda agreed immediately.

"I think w-" Sari began.

=Gomu Gomu no…=

"Eh? Everyone blinked as they focused on the screen, showing Luffy's outstretched arms grabbing the edge of the track.

=ROCKET!=

---

-"The heck?!" Rex gawked as Luffy's car was slingshot over the track, "...oh hell no. Like heck I'm getting left behind!"

He grabbed onto the sides of his car before his nanites bundled up to his back. In an instant, his Boogie Pack formed and he quickly took flight after them.

---

"Those idiots….!" Nami seethed as she held her head in frustration.

"Whoa! Did you see his arms?!" Ryuga gawked, "They stretched like rubber!"

"Ah, they did," Gentoku nodded.

"Never seen this Akuma no Mi before, have you?" Robin asked.

"Admittedly, no," Kazumi replied.

=Oh! With those two unique powers, Number 6 and 7 have rejoined the race! We're coming in on the home stretch!=

"Well at least Rex won't complain that he lost to a cheap shot," Mai sighed.

"Is it a good idea for him to show off his ability?" Noel blinked.

"Wow! That's one pretty SUPER Akuma no Mi!" Franky exclaimed, "Ya see him make that flying machine on his back!?"

"You haven't seen everything he can do yet either!" Ryuga chuckled.

"We travel with a group of...weirdos..." Kazumi muttered.

"We still have two more freaks…" Gentoku muttered.

"Just two?" Sari deadpanned.

"Shut it…" Gentoku complained.

=And we're at the last burst!= the announcer called =It's neck-and-neck between Number 1, Number 6, and Number 7! What an intense back and forth! Now who will win?!=

"IKE!" Nami cheered as they spotted the three vehicles all coming towards the goal/start.

"Oh, this is intense…!" Sari squealed.

=Aaaand…= the announcer spoke before the trio crossed the line =It's a photo finish! Let's have a replay to see the winner!= the screens all rewound before playing a slow-motion recap of the three racers as they crossed...with Number 6 just a few inches ahead of the others =AND NUMBER 6, THE MUGIWARA TEAM, WIN!=

"Ay basura…" Rex groaned as Luffy jumped out of his car with a laugh while crossing his arms over his chest with the biggest smile on his face, "Still...That was pretty sweet." he looked at the turtles, "Gracias, amigos."

"We may have lost, but we did go with the minimum bet for the race so that's keeping us still stocked," Sari noted.

"Also if Sento found out we got in debt...he'd do stuff to us in our sleep." Ryuga muttered.

"Oh~! That was amazing, teria!" Carrot awed, stars in her eyes.

"It was fun," Kazumi chuckled, "I've never seen a race that whacky."

'Note to self: introduce Kazumi to 'Wacky Races' later,' Sari thought.

"It's a bit sad that Rex-san lost," Noel noted, "But now that the race is over, do you think we can look at the tiny turtles that powered the cars? They look so adorable in those tiny racing hats and goggles."

"You want a turtle now, don't you?" Mai asked.

"You can't prove that," Noel quickly argued.

"Correction: you want one of those tiny turtles, don't you?" Gentoku asked.

"You can't prove that, either."

"Her eyes are glittering and there's a tiny flare of her nostrils, she does," Lambda stated.

"La-chan~!"

"Yeah see...told ya. Our female members are real weird," Ryuga turned to Franky.

"Wow…" he nodded in understanding, "I know how ya feel, my man. Women are SUPER weird."

*THWACK!*

"What was that?" Nami growled, a smoking fist held up.

"S-Sumimasen…" Franky and Ryuga apologized, steaming bumps on their heads as they twitched on the floor.

'Women of this world can knock Banjou down in one blow?' Gentoku thought, raising a brow in surprise, 'Or is it just this one when she's enraged?'

---

"Hmm...interesting. So if I were to do this…" Rook whispered as he looked through the scrolls he had won, "It is vague, but I think I might be able to…"

"Psst!"

"?" Rook blinked as he looked up from the scrolls, looking around before spotting Ben and Makoto poking out from behind a pillar, "Ben, Makoto?"

"Over here quick!" the two hissed.

"?" Rook raised a brow at that as he began to walk over to them, "Is something the matter? I thought you were enjoying yourselves here."

"Yeah well...let's just say we find this place real fishy," Ben argued.

"Like...possible slavery fishy," Makoto added.

"...How so?" Rook questioned with a serious look.

"Some of the employees working here for one," Ben answered, "They get so scared when someone wins big, as if they're in serious debt that keeps growing."

"Also for a fact that we have small traces of gold on us," Makoto added.

"Gold?" Rook repeated before Makoto tried to activate her Proto-Suit, only for her device to spark a bit, "...oh that is concerning."

"Yeah, it's messing with our tech, Skurd is doing something for the Omnitrix. I think he's eating the gold...apparently it's edible." Ben muttered.

"Yes, I knew that." Rook nodded.

"Right...so did we…" Makoto muttered.

"You did not know that, did you?" Rook smirked.

"Maybe…" the couple grumbled.

"...uh...wh-what's with the scrolls?" Makoto questioned, deciding to change the subject for now.

"Oh these?" Rook questioned as he look at the scrolls in his hand, "I won them off of somebody. Techniques for somethings called the 'Rokushiki' and 'Haki'."

"Wh-?!" Makoto began before covering her mouth, stopping herself before she could exclaim in shock and excitement, "...how?"

"As I said, I won them off of someone...he had a bit of a drinking problem."

"...did he smell like a wolf by any chance?"

"Forgive me...but how would I possibly know what that smells like?" Rook gave a confused and slightly concerned look, "I am cat like...I am not actually part cat. You do remember that right?"

"S-sorry...just nervicited right now," Makoto muttered.

"But if you mean he smelled like Ben's Wildmutt form after being dunked in Undertown's river...then yes." Rook added.

"...CP9 is here as well," Makoto paled.

"Uh...babe...I think this is a post timeskip...so...it's not a 9 anymore…" Ben pointed out.

"I know. I was trying to avoid spoiler stuff!" Makoto hissed to him, "...still, we need to find the others FAST."

"This is the part where I ask 'what have you done?' but given the scenario...it is more 'What do you know that you are not telling?'" Rook muttered.

"First, these guys I mentioned? Bad...REAL bad news," Makoto stated with a shiver, "You attack someone they are guarding or attack a building or place owned by the Marines...you're pretty much on their hit list, and they can and will call a Buster Call on the place just to terminate you if you're providing difficult."

"...And this Buster Call is…?"

"Essentially a nuke...but without nuclear energy...and yet somehow far worse." Ben explained.

"...yes. I do believe we should hurry and find the others," Rook whispered with wide eyes.

"First things first…" Ben spoke, "If it comes down to a fight...I trust our friends to hold their own...what we need to do...is find Sento. So far...he's fixed all our problems...all of them, even when he's caused them..."

"Honestly he's the most useful smart person we've ever had…" Makoto added.

"...this is sadly true." Rook sighed.

"Very," Ben muttered, "Anyway...one of us will have to go looking for Sento while the rest of us will go search for the others."

"I shall find Sento," Rook spoke up, "You two would be best left to find the others, and...save them if they have already gotten into trouble."

"Which knowing what world we're in...will most likely happen," Makoto added.

---

"...I don't like this," Naoto whispered as he and the others-along with the Strawhats- were riding in a golden elevator with the red haired woman-who introduced herself as Baccarat to the former group- as they were nearing the VIP lounge, "Even if we didn't win that race, we still had 'enough Berries' to come to the VIP lounge with Luffy and his crew."

"Dude chillax," Rex spoke as he put a hand on his shoulder, "It's obvious we impressed the big wigs here, so we got a chance to relax and enjoy ourselves with big time celebs."

"True...still, there's something about this situation I don't like," Naoto whispered with a frown before the elevator stopped.

"Eh? We're here already?" Luffy blinked.

"Wait just a moment," Baccarat spoke as she walked over to the doors, tapping on them with the back of her hand twice.

"...nothing h-" Sari began before a large face began to phase through the doors, "?!"

"Tsururururu~"

"Eep!" Noel and Carrot yelped as they bolted behind a startled Lambda with Bluey joining the two.

"Gh!" Ryuga tensed, about to punch before Gentoku stopped him.

"No…"

"Who the heck's this guy?!" Luffy exclaimed.

"He is the security guard of the casino," Baccarat answered as a man with a rather large head and wearing a black and green suit slipped into the room through the doors, a black headpiece with pointy horns at the top covering all but his face, "Tanaka-san, desu."

"...Yokosa…" Tanaka greeted with a slight bow...giving the two groups a rather creepy face, "Tsururururu~"

"He can slip through anything using his Phase-Phase ability," Baccarat continued as Tanaka skipped over to the center of the two groups.

"Okay...let me have your hands please," Tanaka stated as he held his hands out to them.

"...I ain't going near that," Sari whispered as she stepped back.

"Oh no please miss…" Tanaka began before shooting her that creepy face once more, "I insist...Tsurururu~"

"Maybe if you stopped being a creep." Ryuga spoke up as he stepped forward.

*WHAM!*

"Don't...ruin this….for me," Nami hissed, her fist steaming as Ryuga was crouched down, holding his head with a large noticeable bump.

"Gah...this is why I hate loud mouthed women!" Ryuga complained as he got up, "Mou...fine."

"Heh...was that so hard?" Tanaka grinned as he grabbed Luffy and Ryuga's hands...and began to drag them and the others as he phased through the golden doors.

"Ahh!" Luffy yelped as he and the others were dragged into a large room with various people within it, gold-colored glass panels covering the walls as various fishes swam nearby.

"That...was freaky," Mai muttered.

"I feel violated…" Gentoku muttered.

"Meh…" Kazumi and Rex muttered.

"Ahh~! What is this place?!" Carrot awed as she and the others began to look around.

"This is the VIP Room?!" Nami awed.

"Those fish tanks are huge!" Rex gawked.

"A little gaudy for my taste," Kazumi muttered.

"...dice," Lambda spoke, earning the others attention as she pointed to the floor, showing various people gambling with dice.

"Hah? The 'Special Gamble' was rolling dice?" Zoro raised a brow.

"Hai," Baccarat answered.

"Hmm?" Sanji raised a brow as he looked to the side, only to tense up as he saw a few people dressed in white military-esque outfits walked in, "Oi oi...even the Marines are here?"

"Gh?! No kidding!" Ussop freaked before covering his face with his coat, "Hide!"

"Oh don't worry about them," Baccarat assured, "The Gran Tesoro is a special location permitted by the World Government. There's a rule forbidding marines from touching pirates here."

"Seriously?" Rex blinked.

"...heh/now that's a rule I can get behind," Sanji and Zoro grinned at that.

"...Hmm.." Gentoku however found that...suspicious.

"Nande Hige?" Kazumi noted, "Can't you ever just enjoy the mood for once."

"I can't help it if I'm the only adult among our group." Gentoku replied.

"Nandato!?" Kazumi growled as they glared and bashed their foreheads together, "Care to repeat that Ero-Hige…"

"As many times as I want Potato…" Gentoku growled back.

"Please don't fight...w-" Noel began before a large muscular man in a black and white stepped by them, "?"

"That's Dice," Baccarat spoke up as the muscular man was stepping out to the main floor, a large pair of metal dice and a large iron bell in the center, "He's got a reputation as the champion of the underground death match shows. He was so strong that he lost people to play against, so we appointed him in charge of being the dealer here."

"Tch!" Dice scoffed as he spat the gum he was chewing out, grabbing the twin dice with his bare hands as he got into a crouching position. He then yelled out as he tossed the dice high in the air, grabbing the iron bell near him as he caught the dice, "Oh….yes!" he shouted in fluent english as he suplexed the bell, concealing the opened part of it as the dice inside rolled around.

"Sugei power!" Luffy, Ussop, Chopper and Carrot awed.

"Meh," Rex, Mai, Sari, Noel, and Lambda waved off, already getting Rath vibes from this guy so they knew what to expect.

"Mmm…" Dice growled as he grabbed a large metal axe, giving a rising roar as he reeled it back.

"Oh! He's going to strike the bell," Brook noted.

"Fight!" Dice yelle as he jumped high into the air, spinning around at high speed as he headed towards the bell.

"Even more!?" Brook gawked.

"Wait a minute…" Ryuga sighed, "Oh god dammit he's one of those…"

"Oh...YES!" Dice roared as he slammed his head against the iron bell, causing it to completely shatter.

"OH~!" the kiddy quartet awed in amazement.

"What was the point of the axe?!" Brook snapped.

"Give it a moment," Ryuga sighed.

"What's th-" Rex began.

"Kimochi~~~!" Dice squealed out in pure bliss, a marking on his forehead with a noticeable blush on his cheeks.

"...oh god did he just…" Naoto began in disgust.

"Yep…" Ryuga sighed, "I've fought guys like this in the ring...they get off on the pain…" he groaned, "He's a total masochist...and since pain means pleasure...he never stops fighting."

"Ew…" Mai gagged.

"Oh trust me...it can always get creepier…" Ryuga sighed.

"...I don't really get it," Robin spoke in a neutral tone.

"Hmm...well now, if you want to beat him…" Baccarat began with a light, playful smirk, "You'll have to bet 3 times your chips."

"Three times?!" Nami, Brook and Usopp exclaimed.

"..." Rex slowly blinked before he pulled the others in for a huddle, "Okay. We take what we have a-"

"No," Naoto denied.

"Dude seriously calm down. We can win big and won't get in trouble for it!"

"And you seriously don't find any of this fishy?" Naoto questioned, "I mean even Gentoku-san is already finding something fishy about this place."

"We should stay out of this." Gentoku added, "The more sweet the offer...the more deadly the poison it hides."

"...yeah I'm with them. Something about this place doesn't f-" Sari began.

"I'll bet everything me and my new friends have!" Luffy declared, already at the table to set up the bets.

"CHOTTO MATTE/WAIT A SECOND!" Nami, Brooke, Usopp, and the Omniteam snapped in unison.

"How did he even get our…?!" Kazumi began as Dice smashed a new bell in.

"And we have a winner~!"

"SWEET~!" Luffy beamed with a hearty laugh.

"...don't care. WAY TO GO AMIGO!" Rex beamed as he, Nami and Usopp rushed over to Luffy.

"Bought and sold~!" Nami squealed.

"Changed attitude fast…" Lambda deadpanned.

"Hai," Noel added.

"Oi oi! What's the big i-!" Ryuga began as he stomped over.

"Dude! Go again!" Rex cheered on towards Luffy.

"N...wait...3 times our winnings now would be…." Nami whispered, doing the math in her head before she squealed out, "Eee~! So much~!"

"Oi oi! Calm down..." Franky muttered.

"No way! We…!" Ryuga began before Rex rushed over to him.

"Think about it, man…" Rex whispered to him, "All that money will settle us for life, plus we can pay Sento back what we owe him, and make sure we won't have to borrow another cent from him."

"Don't do it," Gentoku spoke up, "Even with the devil's luck, thinking you can beat pros is nothing but stupid!"

"Agreed!" Sari snapped, "I honestly had an inkling on something fishy the moment we started earning our winnings, but now we…!"

"Oh! Tesoro-sama!"

The two groups heard a pair of doors opening, prompting them to see a man in a pink and white suit walking towards them, gold rings on all ten of his fingers while he wore a pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses with the lenses a hot pink. Accompanying him was a young woman with short light-purple hair and a black dress with a red feather boa slung over her shoulders.

"My my...welcome to Gran Tesoro," the man greeted them with a grin, "Are you all enjoying yourselves?"

"...oi. Who's this guy?" Luffy asked.

"Heh...pardon me. It's a pleasure to meet you, mr. winner," the man stated with a light chuckle, "I am the owner of this ship, Gild Tesoro."

"..oh! So you're that Casino King dude!" Luffy realized before taking a defiant stance, "Well I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

"Why're you getting so worked up?!" Usopp exclaimed to him.

"Ahahahha! Well now, it's truly an honor to have the future Pirate King aboard my ship!" Tesoro laughed before lifting his glasses up, "So...will you and your friend there take me up on my bet?"

"Hmm?" Luffy and Rex blinked at that as Tesoro walked past them.

"If we go about it..how's about using these rules?" Tesoro offered, moving to the main floor as he sat down on a gold tile, "If you both win, I'll give you an investment worth ten times your earnings."

"T-Ten Times?!" Usopp and Nami gawked.

'Red flag!' Sari, Mai and Naoto mentally exclaimed

"Oi!" Gentoku growled, grabbing Rex and Luffy and dragging them back a bit, "Don't make any stupid choices without our consent! If you lose that money, Sento will dissect you and this weirdo just to sell what makes you special to make back his money!"

"But...but ten times!" Rex argued before Sari pinched his neck, "?"

*BZZT!*

"Aye papi…" Rex groaned as he fell over, electricity crackling off him.

"Hmm...what interesting abilities." Tesoro noted to himself, "And they are borrowing their funds from another," he whispered to himself, "Interesting...truly interesting, I must meet this benefactor of theirs then." he then took a look at Gentoku, "You...you and your group can keep your winnings. In exchange, I'd like to offer my invite to just the Future Pirate King and his crew."

"Hmm…" Gentoku pondered, "I can't speak for them, even if they are friends." he grumbled, "But I highly recommend not taking this chance, you can't beat this man." he warned, making Tesoro smile.

"We'll see," Tesoro grinned before looking at Luffy, "So what do you say...deal or no deal?"

"Hm...alright. I'm in!" Luffy nodded.

"...know what? I'll take that," Rex shrugged as he got up.

"Ahh...a shame then. You probably would have been mr…" Baccarat began as she put an ungloved hand on his shoulder, "Lucky…"

"?" Rex blinked at that, only to shrug as he and the others in the Omniteam began to walk towards the elevator.

"Hmm...why did she say lucky specifically?" Noel pondered a bit.

"...trap," Lambda spoke up.

"Eh? Why wo-" Rex began before his foot hit the edge of the stairs, making him tense up as he crashed into them, "Gh?!"

"Oi...what happened? You forget how to walk?" Kazumi groaned.

"Gh...I don't know…" Rex grunted as he tried to get up..only to end up grabbing a tablecloth and pulling it down, causing it spilled its contents onto him, "Gah!"

"Lucky...abilities…" Gentoku muttered before it dawned on him, "No way…"

"What?" Ryuga blinked.

"People in this world have powers...any kind of power…" Gentoku spoke, "Even one that can alter luck or fortune."

"...and Rex just started having really bad luck after that Baccarat lady touched him with her ungloved hand," Sari added in realization.

"And Luffy is about to spend his winnings on a new bet…" Mai added with wide eyes.

"All in!" Luffy called out as he pushed his winnings to the dealer.

"Oi! Wait/matte!" the Omni-Team shouted as they ran back down the stairs.

"Oi! What u-" Rex began as he grabbed the railing, only to wince when he hit his head against it, "Aye basura!"

"?" Robin raised a brow at the other group's explanation...before it dawned on her when she saw Baccarat approaching Luffy, "?! Luffy, matte!"

"What an admirable bet, Master Luffy," Baccarat noted as she put her ungloved hand on Luffy's shoulder, "I have high respect for people like you."

"Crap!" Gentoku cursed as he skid to a stop, "It's too late, you've already lost!"

"Hmm?" Nami and most of the others in Luffy's crew blinked at that.

"FIGHT!" Dice shouted as he slammed his head on the bell, shattering it as it revealed a 2...and a 6 on the metal dice, "...yes~"

"Huh? I lost?" Luffy blinked.

"?! No way…" Nami whispered in disbelief, "Luffy lost...with his luck?"

"He has no luck!" Gentoku shouted, "That woman has an ability to alter people's luck!" he pointed to Baccarat, "You were never playing with luck to begin with. The Master of this place played you,"

"...heh heh…." Tesoro chuckled a bit as he got up, "Well now...seems you got most of the show figured out then…"

"I know you can never win with a real gambler…" Gentoku stated, "You are always finding ways to make luck yours."

"Wait. So they cheated?!" Luffy gawked, "Onor-" he began as he prepared to glare at Tesoro...before his stomach growled out, "Gh?! MY...my stomach hurts…"

"Gh?!" the rest of the Straw Hat's tensed up at that.

"Luffy...with a stomach ache?" Sanji whispered in disbelief.

"Stay down, you can't claim the owner cheated when the rules are his." Gentoku complained.

"You are a really smart man!" Tesoro smiled, "You are the first to figure the game out so quickly, and I have to respect you for not being an idiot to dare to call me a cheater. Its actually refreshing to meet someone who knows how the game really works."

"I've played the system myself for a majority of my life." Gentoku explained, "I didn't expect to ever meet someone who had literal Lady Luck hanging on his arm."

"And yet you were still deceived somewhat, and those that are deceived here…" Tesoro began, spreading his arms out as his grin grew, "Are nothing but losers…" he stated as the casino patrons were cheering on for him.

"So we were set up…" Nami whispered with a frown.

"Now then...three times your 200,000 Berri loan, plus add in the ten times you just lost…" Tesoro counted as he looked at the Straw Hats, "Won't you return it all?"

"Grr…" Nami growled at that as she and the rest of the crew glared at him, "We're not paying you a damn thing!"

"Then I'll have no choice but to have you work it off," Tesoro shook his head.

"Work it off?" Robin repeated.

"...slaves," Lambda spoke once it dawned on her, "The people working for him in the casino are slaves."

"All to pay off their debts," Tesoro grinned as Dice got behind him while Tanaka and Baccarat stood by his sides, "If you refuse, I'll have to forcefully collect it from you."

"Heh...Now that sounds fun," Zoro grinned as he grabbed one of his sheathed katanas, Brook gripping the top of his cane while Sanji took a puff of his cigarette.

"Give it a try if you think you can," Sanji challenged.

"Wait, I don't think it's a good idea." Kazumi spoke up, "You don't even know what the Head Honcho's ace is...how can he control such a place of debt alone?"

"You have an ability too don't you?" Ryuga asked.

"...heh," Tesoro grinned, slipping one of the gold rings off his finger as he flicked it at the group. He then flicked his hand once it rolled near them, causing it melt and spring to life as it quickly wrapped around the Omniteam before they could do anything.

"Ah! What the…?!" Sari began.

"Did he just..control gold?!" Mai exclaimed.

"That's the power of the Goru-Goru No Mi," Tesoro answered with a confident grin, "With it, anything I touch turns to gold, and I can control gold itself with just the flick of my wrist."

"But a power like that won't be enough to…" Zoro began before he flinched as he looked down to see gold spreading across his arms.

"Ah! That's right! See I'm not a very trusting man, everyone who enters my resort...is sprayed with small amounts of gold!" Tesoro laughed, "It's not a lot, and it hardly appears on the skin, but Gold you see...is a very wonderful metal, a small amount can be stretched out to a large extent! It's amazing really! But you see, the gold around you...has clung to your skin. Making controlling those who don't play by my rules...a simple task~"

"Ah!" Carrot yelped as she and the others noticing parts of them were covered in gold.

"It's even on us…" Naoto whispered as he looked down at the parts of him turn golden, "..it must've happened when we left the store…" he whispered to those in his team.

"I must admit, I am in a bit of a bind, you all seem very powerful." Tesoro sighed, "And I've seen many of you have odd and amazing abilities. I'm sure I now have at least half a dozen Akuma no mi eaters captured with the two parties. And One of them is still lacking their leader…" he looked to Gentoku, "I can tell you're not the one leading this interesting crew...no...you're following someone far stronger."

"Smarter…" Gentoku grunted, "He's smart enough to not come here...and warn us not to get carried away…"

"I heard th-gah!" Rex yelped as he fell down the stairs once more, "Dang it!"

"Well it's obviously not that one," Tesoro chuckled, "But...you raise a good point. It seems your Captain was smart enough to know how this worked ahead of time...what kind of ability must he have?"

"He's just really freakin smart!" Ryuga grunted, "Like annoyingly smart...he could probably use his brain to guess the outcome in any gambling game!"

"Eh!? Someone that smart exists?" Nami asked.

"Yup...and he makes sure to remind us every...single...time," Kazumi sighed.

"He really does," Ben and Makoto's voices spoke.

"Hmm?" Tesoro raised a brow as he and his group looked to see the two standing at the top of the stairs, Makoto in her Proto-Armor while banging her Proto-Gauntlets together.

"About…!" Rex began, using a table to stand before his hand slipped on the cloth, resulting in him smashing his chin against a plate, "Gh! Time...where were you guys?!"

"Eh. We had to go into hiding for a bit the moment we felt something shady was going on," Makoto shrugged.

"We began to search for you guys, and had a feeling someone in our group would push their luck and somehow end up in the VIP lounge," Ben added.

"We know you guys…" Makoto sighed.

"So we brought a bit of back up," Ben added, "They'd be here, but they're dealing with who we're assuming is the security guards."

"This is honestly, the single most fantastic day," Tesoro smiled, "I have never met anyone clever enough to figure things out. Honestly most people who come here are just...pure unadulterated stupid. And oh so easy to manipulate."

"...oh don't give me that look," Rex deadpanned when he noticed the others in the team giving him deadpanned stares, "The other guys got duped as well!"

"Yes b-" Makoto began before spotting the Strawhats, "..." she took a deep breath as she turned and clapped her hands together, "Fangirl later, Makoto..you're focusing on rescuing your friends from the literally gold-controlling man and h-ahh" she yelped when a gunshot went off near her, "Oi!"

"Tsurururu~" Tanaka snickered as he was phasing through the floor, holding a gun in his hand as he aimed it at them, "You should've been paying attention."

"And you're creepy!" Makoto countered, cocking her fist back as she punched out an electric energy fist at Tanaka, only for him to phase back down the floor before popping out at the wall nearby and shot at her, making her yelp as she dodged the incoming shot.

"What boldness…" Tesoro smirked, "You must be either very brave...or very stupid...I'm betting the latter. But curious...I don't sense my gold on either of you...wait? Don't tell me you actually figured that one out~?" he laughed, "Amazing! Ah...but ultimately it won't even the odds for you that much."

"Oh yeah?" Ben countered with a grin, tapping the Omnitrix as the core rose up, "We've beaten the odds before."

"Wait…" Skurd spoke up, "Think carefully...we don't know what strange effects the powers of this dimension will have on us, stick to one alien you know well."

"Got it," Ben whispered as he tapped down on the Omnitrix core, engulfing himself in a flash of green light as Diamondhead took his place.

"Woah~! He tr-gh~!" Luffy groaned as he held his stomach again, "He transformed...sugei~"

"Sorry in advance, but I got my own journey to c-" Diamondhead began before quickly tensing up, bringing up his arms in defense to block Dice's axe.

"Oi, boss!" Dice called out to Tesoro, "Mind if we take care of these nuisances for ya?"

"I'm sorry, but grunt says what?" Diamondhead countered.

"What?" Dice blinked before Diamondhead headbutted him, "...kimochi~"

"...Oh god, you're one of 'those' guys aren't y-" Diamondhead began before Dice grabbed his arm and began to slam him around.

"Interesting...he's made of diamonds...it's like the Kira Kira no mi, but Diamond Jozu was still alive last I heard…" Tesoro spoke to himself as Diamondhead blasted Dice making him let go, "Furthermore...his abilities work different from his...what kind of Ability is this?" he muttered as a mass of gold formed a barrier around him to stop some shards that rebounded towards him, "Furthermore the woman...she's not a Zoan user...she looks like she ate the same fruit as one of Kaido's men...truly interesting…" he smirked, "If I can get them in debt to me...I'd have something truly fun~"

"I heard tha-woah!" Makoto yelped as she jumped away from another shot from Tanaka, "Okay buddy, you are asking for…!"

"Makoto look out!" Mai, Noel and Sari shouted.

"Wh-" Makoto began before Baccarat's bare hand touched her shoulder, "?"

"Quite the cocky girl aren't you?" Baccarat questioned before stepping back from a punch from Makoto, "Easy now."

"Sh-" Makoto began before her own tail smacked into her face, "Pfft! Wh-" she began just as Tanaka poked his head out behind her, making the squirrel girl trip over him as she fell onto her back, "Ahh! What just happened?!"

"That lady took your luck!" Rex shouted as he finally managed to stand up, "Now you're as unlucky as me and Luffy right now!"

"Oh now you…" Makoto began as she tried to stand up, only to end up tripping on her own tail as she fell onto her butt, "Ow! Tell me…!"

"Okay...this guy is creeping me out!" Diamondhead grunted as he punched at Dice's face...who enjoyed it rather than feel pain from it before he headbutted the Petrosapien hard in the face, "Gh!"

"Oh well this is just wonderful...that weird trick where he covers himself in that dark coating somehow hurts you-you!" Skurd complained, "I thought you knew how to fight…"

"I do! It's just hard when you're dealing with a guy who enjoys pain!" Diamondhead argued before Dice grabbed him into a tight bearhug, "...oh n-"

"YES~!" Dice roared as he suplexed Diamondhead hard into the floor, making him grunt in pain as his head cracked a bit.

"Oi, Dice. Don't rough him up too much. I…" Tesoro began before he noticed Zoro charging at him, gripping one of hsi sheathed katanas, "Hmm?"

"San…!" Zoro began before he began to slow to a halt, the rest of his body starting to turn to gold as he stopped right in his tracks, "Gh…"

"Did you really think that attacking me while my guard was down would be a good idea?" Tesoro questioned as he walked over, "The moment you all entered my city, you became my property!" he shouted as he kicked Zoro down, "So you Strawhats will have to start working to pay off the debt you owe me...with your friend's bounty of course."

"So from the beginning…" Nami began in realization.

"No one can oppose me!" Tesoro declared in his laughter.

"Well we...are!" Diamondhead grunted as he forced himself free from Dice's grip and rolled over to Makoto.

"And as soon as I...stop tripping, I'm gonna…" Makoto began.

"Don't move," a new voice spoke, making the two turn to see the light-purple harried woman holding a knife to Nami's neck...with a tied up Sento, Jimbei, Rook, and Bobo near the others.

"Eh? Y-" Ryuga began before Sento hushed him, "?"

"Keep quiet and follow my lead," the woman whispered to Nami.

"You…" Nami began..before giving a serious nod before looking at Tesoro, "We'll get you your money. Just give us time!"

"Oi, Nami!" Ussop began.

"Good. You'll have until 8 PM tomorrow," Tesoro stated, "If you don't make it in time, this man will be executed before a live audience! In fact…" he began as he looked over at Rex.

"...oh you gotta be.." Rex began before his body was engulfed in gold as well, "Ahh!"

"To make sure your new friends comply as well, they have to chip in double their winnings to get their friend back as well, otherwise he'll suffer the same fate."

"Eh/what?!" those in the Omniteam exclaimed.

"Deal!" Nami shouted.

"Oi, Nami!" Ussop snapped.

"She doesn't speak for us!" Ryuga and Naoto exclaimed.

"...Ben, what do we do?" Makoto whispered to Diamondhead, using his arm to keep herself steady, "The plan's gone awol on us…"

"Note to self...we should stop making plans…" Diamondhead groaned, "But...maybe Sento can do the thing he did to get us money from before...or we can use him to cheat at...everything…"

"I thought you said no more plans?" Makoto replied.

"Not really a plan so much as...a prayer…" he grumbled, "We don't know how Sento gets his funds, so we have that ace…"

"So…" Tesoro began as he looked at Diamondhead, "Are you in as well, or will you fail your friend?"

"...fine," Diamondhead sighed as he changed back into Ben, "We're in..but heads up…" he began with a smirk, "It's not a good idea to underestimate me and my friends, along with the Strawhats."

"Well then…" Tesoro began with his own grin, "I suppose the Ultimate Gamble is on. Be sure to entertain me thoroughly~"

---

"Sento, what the hell?!" Ryuga snapped as the Omni-Team were inside a fairly large apartment room, "Why did you let yourself get caught?!"

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one here?!" Kazumi added.

"..it was a ploy," Lambda spoke up, earning the others' attention, "They were not caught."

"Eh?"

"You were in a lose-lose situation either way," Sento stated.

"After we encountered Sir Jimbei on the way here, Ben and Makoto went ahead to go help you and the others," Rook explained, "We were about to join before we encountered Carina."

"Aka the doll who saved both your and our bacons," Bobo stated, "...and before you ask why I was wit' 'em, I was enjoying myself until some snot-nosed man in a stupid lookin' spacesuit tried to make me his pet...of which I threatened him and now I'm wanted by the Marines for pissin' off some royalty."

"In short...you all made a situation that is infinitely harder to fix, and because you made a show of things...now I need to rethink things." Sento explained as he sat down and began reading, "You seem to think that we can work through everything with brute force...and in the event that fails...hope I have something to fix it for you. Well now you know just how I feel when you come to me expecting to have an answer."

"Is now really the time to teach us a lesson!?" Ben complained.

"Oh believe me, I can both fix this and teach you at the same time. It's remarkably easy...you give me plenty of moments to do it." Sento smiled.

"...he has a point you know," Skurd spoke up, "You all tend to think more along the lines of 'hit everything and that will solve the problem!' No no...this time it calls for intelligence!"

"Wha...well yeah I guess that's true…" Ben muttered.

"Also...I warned you all." Sento went on, "But you didn't heed my warning. I know how this world works, I told you to avoid one thing, and you didn't..."

"Blame Rex for getting us in the situation to begin with," Sari deadpanned.

"And now we have to rescue him and Zoro," Mai added with a sigh.

"Yes...well...we will need to meet with the Mugiwara Kaizoku to work this out together...I swear to god if any of you lose it…" Sento sighed.

"Trust me, I am trying SO hard not to fangirl out right now!" Makoto exclaimed, "Also… I am excited Carrot…!"

"No spoilers please!" Naoto exclaimed as he covered his ears, "I've already been spoiled enough somewhat!"

"Oh relax...this is an Alternate branching dimension...in this world certain events happened in a different order. Anything you learn here is null to the actual main world." Sento sighed.

"Oh….s-soka," Naoto muttered at that.

"So...subject change," Noel spoek as she clapped her hands together, "How are we gonna rescue our friend?"

"I believe Sento coined it as a...Ocean's Eleven situation kinda," Rook answered, "At least..that is what he surmised after finding out what that Carina woman is intending to do."

"We'll be meeting up with her once she's done filling in the Mugiwara Kaizoku what she's planning," Sento added.

"So...we do have a plan?" Ryuga asked.

"Yes...I have a plan." Sento sighed.

"But…"

"I know what I said." Sento groaned, "I bet Decade doesn't have to put up with this…"

"You mean Mr. 'Boot to the head'?" Ben asked.

"Where!?" Ryuga and Kazumi flinched as they got back to back.

"Decade is a guardian of the Multiverse...he only shows up if things are bad." Gentoku explained, "Or...you really pissed him off...or...he really loves messing with you."

"Which we ended up doing both somewhat," Ben muttered, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head, "Seriously he got me and Makoto too many times with the boots…"

"Oh...so you've been marked as: Fun to mess with…" Gentoku blinked before he took a few steps away.

"We feel sorry for you both," Ryuga and Kazumi bluntly stated in unison.

"Wait...what does that mean...marked as fun to mess with?" Makoto asked.

"If he has free time...he'll show up." Ryuga explained.

"Think of him like The Doctor...you're now his companions…" Kazumi explained.

"...oh~" Ben and Makoto realized...before cringing, "Oh...dang."

"God speed…" the trio of Riders saluted them, "You shall not be forgotten."

"Well then why hasn't he shown up yet?" Ben asked.

"Like I said...if he has free time," Ryuga sighed before the knocking went off.

"Hello? Is everyone rested and ready?" Carina's voice spoke up from behind the door

"Ahh. That is her now," Rook whispered as Bobo got up to the door.

"Depends...what's da password?"

"'No matter what illness ails me...the show must go on,'" Carina replied.

"...yup. It's her," Bobo nodded as he opened the door...before he was grabbed by a pair of stretchy arms, "What the…?!"

"Monkey!" Luffy beamed as he pulled him over, "Ohh~ He's got an eye patch and everything!"

"Hey put me down, ya stretchy idiot!" Bobo snapped.

"And it talks?! ...Did you eat a Akuma no mi or are you a Mink?"

"Da name is Bobo! I ain't no little weasel!"

"He's an ape who learned to speak." Sento explained, "He's probably smarter than the average person…" he looked at Ryuga for a long moment, "Too easy…" he smirked while turning away.

"...wait...OI!" Ryuga snapped at that.

"Can somebody get this idiot away from me?!" Bobo snapped.

*BONK!*

"Focus...on the task," Nami growled out a bit, her fist steaming as Luffy twitched on the floor.

"Apologies for being late," Carina spoke as she walked in, wearing a black bowl hat over her hair while dressed in a white unbuttoned long-sleeve shirt and a pair of suspender short pants, "We were having..issues with the deal."

"Nami wanted 70%," Ussop deadpanned as he and Chopper poked their heads in.

"...considering what type of plan this is...Tesoro's money?" Sari guessed.

"On the money," Carina nodded...before shooting an annoyed glare at Nami, "But I have the key so I should get the bigger cut."

"There's more of us…" Nami countered with her own glare.

"...oh I'm sensing bad blood between them," Naoto whispered as he slowly stepped back.

"Seriously i-" Nami began.

"Hoi~!" Carrot called out as she and the rest of the Strawhats walked in, "We're here, minna!"

"I'm just gonna wait for everyone to get it out of their system." Sento sighed as he took a seat again, "Call me when you are ready to get some work done." he pulled his book out again, "By the way, my crew shall not be partaking in any cut."

"Huh?" the Omniteam blinked.

"So in the interest of moving things along, I will gladly give our cut over to you Mugiwara's," Sento smiled.

"EH!?" Luffy shouted, "Really?! You're just gonna give us your part?!"

"I already have money." Sento smiled as he produced a diamond from his coat, "As much as I need if I have the time to get it. No, all I want is to...hm...well in your language..." he pointed to Luffy, "I just want to kick Tesoro's ass. If that reason will suffice for you...then we don't need to talk about it any more,"

"Oh...gotcha!" Luffy nodded, "We're gonna take back our friends, and free the people enslaved by Tesoro!"

"Wait…" Nami spoke up, shoving Luffy aside and sending him face first into a wall, "You say...you have a limitless supply of money?" she asked Sento.

"If you mean...do I know how to make diamonds and gold? Then yes." Sento nodded.

"Wait...how do you do that?" Makoto asked now that they had a moment to question how he did that.

"Science…" Sento explained simply, "That's the only answer you'll get from me."

"Mmm…" Nami pouted a bit at that.

"Eh?! You can make money!?" Luffy shouted, "What else can you do!?" he asked while shaking Sento, only to get slapped and sent flying into the wall.

"Please don't do that." Sento sighed.

"He's strong too!?" Usopp shouted.

"Probably one of our strongest…" Gentoku muttered.

"I kicked your ass…" Sento smirked.

"Now that's one Super Strong Nerd," Franky muttered.

"Luffy you okay?" Usopp asked.

"Sugei!" he shouted as he shot up, "You're crazy smart and crazy strong!" he ran up to Sento, "And you guys have a guy who can transform into monsters! Ah can we trade you something for these two!? They'd make great additions to my crew!"

"I am not a trading card…" Sento replied.

"And again sorry...got my own journey," Ben added.

"Tempting but I got the same reason," Makoto added before wrapping an arm around Ben, "Also he's my man, so we're more of a packaged deal."

"Wait, what?" several blinked.

"These two are inseparable...you want the Transforming kid, you need to take his girlfriend...and potentially future wife." Sento explained.

"See...I'm not the only one who says it!" Noel shouted.

"Their love is strong…" Lambda added, unaware of Bluey staring at Carrot while blushing pink.

"Okay...enough before you get corrupted, La-chan," Makoto deadpanned.

"We already have enough to deal with when it involves Noel," Mai added.

"Your argument is valid…" Lambda nodded, petting Bluey, "But I still can't argue with the truth. Nor can you."

"...I hate when you play the smart card like that." Makoto deadpanned.

"I know." she smiled.

"I do believe we are getting off track," Robin spoke up.

"They do that, it's best to let them work it out." Sento explained, "Otherwise it just bottles up 'till you least want them to do it."

"70!"

"20!"

"70!"

"20!"

"Triple five squared percent!"

"Deal!" Carina declared as she shook the offered hand.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Nami roared in fury.

"Sorry, but no take backs on a handshake! Pleasure doing business with you for…"

"Seventy-five percent, yes," Skurd replied, the Rath arm growing out of him being the hand shaken by Carina.

"...Eh?" Nami and Carina blinked twice, the fury and smugness vanishing simultaneously.

"I said Triple five squared. In Mathematics, five squared is twenty-five. Tripling that is seventy-five," Skurd explained, "And do remember that you shook my hand, and you said and I quote 'no take backs from handshakes.' Therefore, a luxurious seventy-five percent of the cut goes to the Mugiwara Kaizoku."

"Huh...But...and he...but the…" Carina gawked as Nami blinked several times.

"Honestly, you two were getting so heated that the first lowest-sounding bid would've made you go straight for it," Skurd chuckled, "To quote a fox from something Noel found in our current abode…" he snapped his borrowed finger before pointing at the two, "'It's called a hustle.'"

"...no," Jimbei spoke, putting a hand on Nami and Carina's shoulders before they could snap, "We have a plan to focus on, remember?"

"...This isn't over," Nami muttered.

"Why are you upset? I won you seventy-five percent of the booty for this heist," Skurd argued, retracting the limb.

"I think it's something along the lines of 'shattered pride as thieves' after getting tricked like that," Makoto muttered.

"I think they're ready now, Sento," Lambda spoke.

"Ah, good," Sento smirked, "We'll not only retrieve the wayward duo trapped in gold, but also drain him dry by stealing the five hundred billion Berri he has stashed away."

"Is that a lot?" Mai asked, unsure of how much things were outside of this place.

"It's enough to buy a small island roughly the size of the former Drum Kingdom," Robin explained.

"That's considered small?" Naoto gawked.

"Tesoro plans to offer a chunk of it to the Celestial Dragons," Carina explained, shaking off her stunned state at the reminder of the money, "With the power of money, the Celestial Dragons allow Tesoro to do as he pleases."

"Which is why the Marines don't do a thing here to Pirates like us," Usopp realized.

"He's literally paying off government officials to turn a blind eye," Sari added.

"Luckily, Tesoro will be too busy to notice us," Carina grinned as she reached behind her back, pulling out a small hand drawn map showing the main tower of Tesoro's ship, "The Giant Safe is located here; the Hyper Suite Area," she explained as she pointed at a spot, "It's kept safe inside of a giant golden tank dome, and inside it is the five hundred billion Berries. The floor, walls, ceiling, everything is made out of gold. It's impossible to infiltrate."

'Not unless you're Enel and his OP Devil Fruit to become lighting that can mold gold…' Makoto thought.

"Hah? So we can't break through it?" Franky asked.

"Considering the Giant Safe is made of gold, chances are it was crafted with Tesoro's ability," Rook suggested.

"And it's connected to all the gold in the city," Carina added, "If his gold suffers a powerful hit, he'll notice it immediately."

"So much for suggesting we melt part of the gold safe," Sari frowned.

"Then how are we going to get in?" Noel asked.

"Here," Sento spoke as he pointed at a spiral staircase underneath the spot Carina pointed at, "There's a spiral staircase leading up to the dome. Problem is the place is littered with video Transponder Snails."

"Oh, those little guys," Sari recalled, "The tech in their shells did say they were all connected to a single monitoring room."

"Hm?" Carina looked at her, "How did you…?"

"Sari here can 'listen' to machines," Ben explained, "It's pretty cool at times, especially when something breaks down and we can't figure it out without the risk of damaging something else."

"It's helped us quite a bit at times," Mai added.

"...Then we know who'll be part of Team A," Carina noted with a grin.

"It will consist of Luffy, Franky, Sari, and Kazumi," Sento informed, "They'll climb up the tower from the hotel and infiltrate through the clock where the control room for the Snails is located. In there is a Transponder Snail known as the Host Transponder Snail."

"Or as the tech in the ones all over the place call him, 'Papa,'" Sari noted.

"The moment he goes down, there will be a momentary pause in the video footage from the Transponder Snails," Carina stated, "And that's when we switch to Team B, which will include myself of course."

"There Team B will use the elevator from the casino floor, then take it to the VIP casino," Sento added.

"There we pass through Tanaka's checkpoint, and it'll lead us to the Hyper Suite Area," Carina continued, "That will give us an opening to the spiral staircase. Once we break through the security, it's a straight line there."

"While cameras are down, Team B will hurry up to the top of the stairs to reach the Giant Safe, where Carina will use her key to open," Sento stated, "Then you sneak out using the hotel's laundry carts, going through the back while no one suspects a thing."

"And bada boom. We sneak off with da two idiots and gold boy's cash," Bobo finished with a grin.

"As long as things go to plan." Sento smiled, "Thankfully I think we've put the wild factors where they can cause the least damage to things."

"That simple, huh?" Sanji noted.

"On paper...yes. In practice...we'll see…" Sento sighed.

"For now, we rest up tonight for tomorrow..we start gathering what we need for the plan," Rook advised.

"It's probably for the best," Jimbei nodded.

"We need some rest, and prep time." Ben nodded.

"And to relax a bit before the big plan," Makoto added.

"OH and Ben?" Rook spoke, earning his team mate's attention, "There is something I wish to discuss with you tomorrow…alone."

"Hmm?" Ben blinked at that.

---

"So what's up?" Ben asked as he stood outside a store with Rook, the two wearing casual clothing to not draw any attention to them while the others were off doing their own thing.

"You made sure you are alone, correct?"

"Yeah. I left Skurd with Jimbei because he wanted to play some Shogi with him," Ben nodded, "So what's up?"

"...do you recall on talking back before you and the others left to deal with Eden?" Rook questioned.

"Yeah…" Ben nodded before it dawned on him, "...Oh geez. Sorry man, just that things were…"

"It is understandable, but…" Rook paused before pulling out the two scrolls he won last night, "There is...another reason why I got these."

"Hmm?"

"Before it was just you, me, Makoto and Tsubaki," Rook stated, his gaze not once leaving the scrolls, "But ever since the team grew and we began this new journey of ours, it feels as if I am...being left behind."

"Oh...wow...Rook...I'm sorry man." Ben spoke up, "I guess...I just got so swept up in this adventure...and since I have Makoto now...I just never noticed. Man...I'm sorry…"

"I do not feel resent towards you, Ben. You are my friend, and my partner, but...it just feels like I am not keeping up with you. I am lagging behind, and dragging down the team." Rook sighed putting a hand on Ben's shoulder to reassure him, "I just really wanted to talk this out...before it stupidly turned into something…"

"Stupid?" Ben smirked.

"...exactly," Rook replied with his own small smile.

"I'm sorry Rook, I can get it. We...have fought a lot of crazy things, nothing new for me. But...for you, and now that we have so many powerful friends. I can get it, things have just gone by so fast." Ben sighed, "But if you need my help to catch up, I don't mind being your sparring partner. Or training dummy...something tells me you're gonna pick up this stuff fast."

"It has been a bit slow, but I am getting the hang of deciphering the scrolls," Rook admitted, "Perhaps once I fully get the hang of these, I might be willing to give them to you guys...perhaps Makoto could benefit from the Haki one."

"Oh she is gonna fangirl like crazy…" Ben sighed.

"Maybe you give it to her…" Rook smirked.

"You just don't want the back breaking hug…"

"Well you are the boyfriend. It should be your burden to suffer her super strength enhanced affection." Rook chuckled.

"...was that a joke made at my expense?" Ben asked with a grin.

"I have been practicing. I have a great partner to learn from." Rook replied.

"And that's why you're one of my best buds," Ben smiled, "And we have one of said friends currently locked up by a man with the literal Midas Touch."

"And we will rescue him." Rook smiled.

"Indeed we will," Ben grinned as the two fist bumped, "Now come on. Let's see if we can find a spot to practice in real quick."

"Will it be okay though?" Rook asked, "We are helping prepare for the big mission."

"Not if I use Clockwork," Ben offered with a grin, "Plus the others won't notice us being gone for a bit, so we should be good."

"Ahh...fair I suppose."

---

"Ah...idiota…" Rex groaned to himself, all but the upper half of his body buried deep in a golden structure as he hung right next to Zoro, "How could I not see it? Oh wait, I know...I was enjoying myself way too much to realize that the owner is a master corrupt gambler with the power to control and turn things into gold."

"Tch. If it were just my feet, I'd be able to fight," Zoro scowled.

"Huh? Why the fe...wait, you'd cut your feet off just to fight that guy?!" Rex gawked.

"That's right."

"...No offense, but I see several problems in that plan, amigo," Rex muttered.

"Like what?" he asked.

"How are you gonna stop the bleeding?" Rex asked, making Zoro blink as he kinda forgot how blood worked, "Also...don't you need your feet for balance and proper form? What were you gonna replace your feet with, knives or something?"

"..."

"...I was joking!" Rex exclaimed.

"I knew that!" Zoro snapped back.

"Why are you yelling?!" Rex complained.

"Why are you!?"

"Cause you started it!"

"Well you made me!"

"I made you do nothing! You're not my friend! So that means I take no blame for your actions!"

"Shit!" Zoro realized the logic in that...somehow.

"And yet here I am being used as bait for my and your amigos a-!" Rex began before his mouth was covered in gold, "Mmm?!"

"Now now...There's no need to yell, gentlemen," Tesoro's voice spoke, making Zoro growl as he and Rex noticed him walking towards him, "Save that energy for the show tonight."

"Show?" Zoro repeated.

"Your execution of course," Tesoro grinned, "Your friends won't be able to earn enough by tonight to save you and our guest here."

"Mmm mmm mm m mm mmm!" Rex gave a muffled argument.

"You don't know our friends; they have a knack for surprising people." Zoro replied, "That right?" he got a nod from Rex.

"And I anticipate it," Tesoro countered with a grin, "That's the beauty of a gamble...You won't know what type of surprises are in store. And when I win that bet...oh that will bring an amazing end to the stage as I take your lives...plus your friends will be in debt to me for the rest of their lives, because remember...those without money in this world can't accomplish anything..." he began before he kicked Zoro, "They're only controlled by it!"

'This guy's insane….' Rex thought, '...Damn it. If I wasn't bound to this thing, I'd give 'em a good ol' Smackhand Smackdown...oh wait. He can basically use gold to defend himself...shoot.'

"Now you two rest up…" Tesoro stated, dusting himself off as he began to walk away, "The stage awaits you later tonight."

"Asshole…" Zoro coughed.

---

It was night, almost a few hours away from the planned execution. The many crowds walked into the main casino building as spotlights shone into the night sky. Unaware to them though...things were about to get wild that night as both the Omni Team and the Strawhats walked out of the shadows, most of whom were dressed in different disguises while Luffy, Franky, Sari, and Kazumi were dressed in all black and military printed clothing.

"Okay...We do this as planned," Carina spoke, dressed back in her black dress as the group looked up at the watchtower.

"Yosh!" Luffy beamed...before blinking a bit, "So what're we doing again?"

"Just stay quiet...and if we tell you to hit something...hit it fast so it doesn't make a noise," Kazumi sighed.

"Oh….hai!" Luffy nodded quietly.

"Once the lights are out, that's when we make our move," Sanji stated, dressed as a janitor as he was lighting a cigarette with a golden lighter as he took a puff.

"...anyone want to tell me why Bobo's dressed as a…" Makoto began, dressed as a bunny girl.

"It's a heist, squirrel girl. Gotta look da part," Bobo stated, dressed in a tux his size with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes while wearing a fancy blackhat, "And be lucky I didn't pick youse and bunny girl as my arm candy to complete the disguise."

"He drove a hard bargain. But he earned it." Sanji admitted, "That is one lucky ape…"

"Are you just jealous you didn't get the arm candy?" Kazumi asked bluntly.

"Probably…" Luffy chuckled, earning a boot to the head from Sanji, "Ite!"

"He's one to talk," Gentoku deadpanned...while dressed in a tie-dye poncho with a pair of sunglasses and a sombrero, "He's probably having a mental argument with himself on wanting to sw-"

"Urusei, hige!" Kazumi hissed.

"These outfits are kinda nice-teria," Carrot noted, wearing a bunny girl outfit minus the false ears and tail, "They feel really flexible. Though the chest area is kinda making it hard to breathe..."

"!" Bluey, dressed in a tiny tux with a carrot-themed tie, slumped in Lambda's arms with several Rupee in various colors falling out of him like a nosebleed as he turned bright pink with tiny hearts floating off his head.

"...Mine," Lambda stated, moving Bluey away from the gazes Carina and Nami gave the Blupee.

"She's decapitated hulking brutes that normally take a military group to handle in one blow to protect the little guy," Ryuga warned, currently dressed as a waiter.

"..."

"..."

"...Focus," Jimbei told the two female thieves, the fishman dressed as a mafia boss.

"...Mmm~" both Nami and Carina pouted at that.

"The fact they paused for a moment to consider it…" Usopp-dressed in a male janitor's outfit-deadpanned with a sweatdrop.

"Gentoku-san, let us give them a show they'll never forget!" Brook laughed, dressed up as a clown as he shook a pair of maracas.

"...Where did he get the maracas?" Naoto asked, currently dressed up in a black tux with red decals as he looked over at Gentoku..who was now holding a spanish guitar in hands, "...Where did you get the guitar?!" Gentoku gave a few strums, "Th...that's not a response!"

"You just roll with it, man," Makoto shook her head while patting his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"You'll get used to it," Ben added.

"...Fine."

"Alright...commence plan…" Sento began, currently dressed in a janitor's outfit as the two groups minus Team A began to walk into the casino.

"Alright…" Franky began as he looked up, aiming his fist at the ledge near the clocktower before it shot out of his wrist, the fist attached to a chain as it gripped the ledge, "Grab on."

"Alrighty," Sari nodded as she hopped onto Franky's back.

"...why do I feel like I just got th-" Kazumi began before Luffy's arm wrapped around him, making him slowly look up to see Luffy's other arm outstretched on the ledge, "..."

"Heh. Gomu-Gomu no…"

"...Can I tra…" Kazumi began before he was pulled along by Luffy as he slingshot using his other arm, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"ROCKET!"

"SHHHH!" Kazumi hissed, "Baka! Not so loud!"

"Eh? But weren't you screaming?" Luffy asked.

"They don't have a sense of irony…" Sari muttered.

"They overshot where we were going," Franky noted as his chain retracted, pulling them up.

"...Of course they did," Sari facepalmed.

---

"Sounds like Luffy overshot it," Chopper whispered, covered in green paint while dressed in green military-esque clothes as he and the others stood inside a dark room.

"Of course," Nami facepalmed.

"...I just had a thought," Brook spoke, "Can't Sanji-san fly through the air?"

"Not like I can go up all the way up there," Sanji stated...before his eye was replaced with a heart as he hugged a broom, "Besides, it's my crucial task of protecting our ladies~!"

"You'd do a better job if you were silent…" Brook and Chopper muttered.

"U-"

"It'll be easier to focus if you stay silent," Noel whispered, wearing a blue and white version of Nami's disguise.

"...Hai, Noel-tan."

'And right now Kazumi's switch has been flipped,' Sento mentally deadpanned before the group heard a faint, annoyed yell go off.

"...That was…" Mai began, donned in a violet and white version of Nami's current disguise.

"Psst! Here they come!" Nami hissed, looking back at the others as they looked over a column to see a group of men escorting one of the large iron bells used for the dice game in the VIP lounge.

"Leave them to me," Carina whispered to the group, lowering her feather boa down a bit as she stepped out of hiding, "Hello. What macho men you are."

"Oh! Carina-san!" the men realized.

"So might I ask where you're going?" Carina questioned as she bowed lightly.

"We're delivering another Iron Bell for Dice-Sama's game," one of the men explained as they stepped aside, letting her walk up to it, "We're kind of in a hurry so…"

"Ahh~! Show me, show me~!" Carina begged before adapting a pose, making sure to show off a generous amount of cleavage to the men, "It's so big~!"

"...They sure are…" the men whispered with blushes, hearts in their eyes as they began to giggle in a stupid yet perverted manner.

"It's so...firm~!"

"Yes! They sure are!"

"These guys are just as bad as Kagura-san," Mai deadpanned quietly as the group began to sneak towards the iron bell.

"Pfft! They wish," Makoto quietly scoffed as the group quickly jumped into the iron bell.

"Thank you~!" Carina waved as the men began to push the iron bell away, "Keep up the good work, boys!"

"Hai~!"

"...And that settles that," Carina whispered with a grin as she began to walk towards the elevator.

"...I apologize, but why are we in disguises again?" Rook asked quietly, "They seem rather pointless now th-"

"It's in case we stumble on security," Sento explained, "Some of us are janitors, others are 'employees' of the casino, Jimbei is a mafia boss with connections…"

"I can gives the intimidating talk fer him," Bobo added.

"And Bobo is better at dealing with the...dangerous crowd," Sento added, "'sides, these costumes are just for the regular folks. We can't hope to fool Tesoro or his sidekicks. So this is just extra camouflage."

"And no one will know the better," Robin noted.

"Precisely," Sento nodded a bit, "Plus he hasn't seen all of us clearly. So we need to play smart, which is why I made sure our...wilder ones were out of the way."

"Solid plan, my fine fellow," Skurd whispered from underneath the Omnitrix before the bell stopped.

"...We've stopped," Lambda whispered as she began to poke her head out...and saw one of the men staring at her, "..."

"...a-"

"Don't…" Lambda frowned, her visor out as it glowed.

"Gh?!" the man tensed up at that..swearing he felt like a massive burning phoenix was glaring right into his soul.

"Oi! What's keeping ya!?" one of the other men shouted offscreen.

"...N-Nothing! Just felt a chill is all," the man assured, trying to keep calm as he walked away slowly...to get away from the scary girl he most certainly did not see.

"...Did you just pull a Batman TAS on him?" Makoto whispered, a squirrely smile on her face.

"A who?" Nami raised a brow.

"Stage show back home," Lambda informed, "Well over 65 different shows all interconnected."

"I introduced her to the DCAU," Ben explained, "Almost as good as Sumo Slammers when I was a kid. Never did get into the comics, though. Felt too convoluted."

"I can second that," Naoto deadpanned as he held a hand up.

"...Carina-san is nearby," Lambda spoke up, earning the group's attention as they poked out to see her waving to them.

---

"...The fact these work still amazes me," Sari whispered, still hanging onto Franky as he and Luffy were now climbing with a set of plungers.

"Never underestimate Usopp's Super inventions, little lady," Franky grinned.

"We're getting closer to the clock," Kazumi spoke as the four stopped at a lone plunger.

"Good. We just need to pass through that clock and we're in the security area," Franky stated.

"Yokata!" Luffy nodded, stretching his arm out to another plunger above as he dragged himself and Kazumi up to it...until the plunger popped off the golden wall, "Gh?!"

"...Oh that's not good," Franky whispered before the plunger he was holding onto began to slide off, "..."

"...and that's even worse," Sari palled before the plunger came off the wall, "Ahh!"

"Gh! Hold on tight, you three!" Franky shouted, managing to grab Luffy and Kazumi...before his behind swelled up to twice his size.

"You made your butt an airbag?" Kazumi gawked, Sari's eyes glowing briefly.

"No, it's not an airbag, it's…" Sari began as she quickly covered her nose with Luffy trying to follow her lead when...

"Coup de...Boo!"

*PFFFFFFFT~!*

"AHHHHH!-!-!-!" Kazumi screamed, "My hyper enhanced senses!"

"FRANKY~!" Luffy panicked due to the same issue.

"Man, I'm glad that super smell is not a Cybertronian power…" Sari whispered to herself, still covering her mouth and nose with her hand as they reached the front of the clock... before they began to fall down once more, "..Luffy…!"

"Ahh!" Luffy panicked, quickly stretched his arm out to one of the clock hands and pulled himself and everyone towards it.

"Ah….made it," the four sighed in relief.

"Thank god the time's at the 45 minute mark," Kazumi groaned.

"I'm just glad big clocks don't have second hands…" Sari added.

"Now to get in," Franky spoke as he looked at the part of the tower the hands were connected to.

"Should be easy enough," Sari replied as she held up an arm and deployed her Cybertronian blade from it.

"Oh~?" Franky flicked up his sunglasses to better look at her in surprise.

"Eh?! Cyborg da?!" Luffy awed, stars in his eyes.

"Sari is a very advanced kind," Kazumi groaned as the red-head proceeded to stab her blade into the wall with ease and began to cut an opening, "You can hardly even tell she is one at first glance. She has tons of abilities thanks to that."

"My dad is to thank," Sari added as she worked, "I'm not the smart one, but he loved me...and I'm still here." she smiled; while not telling them the 'actual' truth, she wasn't exactly lying in what she was telling them. Once she was done, she dismissed her blade as she gently pushed on the wall, pushing it back to give them an entrance inside, "Alright, and we have our way in."

"...Whew. Super Impressive," Franky noted with a slow yet quiet whistle, "Now come on. The Security Room should be nearby."

---

"...Damn it," Carina whispered, looking out from a corner to see some men standing before a large pair of doors, "The way's blocked."

"Allow me," Robin offered, closing her eyes as she crossed her arms while keeping the palm of her hands facing upwards.

"...What's she…?" Naoto began.

"She's using her Akuma no Mi, the Hana-Hana no Mi," Gentoku explained.

"How'd you…?" Makoto began.

"What? She's a good conversationalist," Gentoku defended.

"Don't remind me of your convo on the way to the race that caused all this nonsense," Ryuga cringed.

*CRACK!*

"Ooh~!" Rook cringed, poking out to see arms clutching the men in various positions, "That had to be painful…" he whispered as the men fell to the floor.

"But it cleared the way, regardless," Carina smiled as the group began to move towards the doors, "We just need t-"

"Oi! What are you doing here?!"

"...uh oh," Noel and Carrot whispered as the group turned to see some of the security glaring at them.

"...Follow me lead," Bobo whispered quietly to the others before he stepped up, "Hey hey hey! Watch where youse aiming dose things! Do you even realize who you're aimin' those at?!"

"Huh?" the lead officer blinked at that.

"Dis guy…" Bobo began as he pointed at Jimbei, keeping the fedora on his head tilted down enough to hide all but his scowl, "Dis guy right here is Da Big Boss, Killah Orca. One of Da biggest in dah underground in da entire ocean!"

"First time I've heard of him," another officer muttered.

"Dat's because he makes those who tick him off vanish under da water if'n ya knows what I mean," Bobo continued as Jimbei adapted an intimidating pose, "See da boss here was wanting to enjoy himself here at yer boss's resort, bringing his entire entourage with him while payin' a few of da staff t' serve him. Problem is…" he pointed at the unconscious guards, "Dese shcmucks tried to attack him when we was getting directions fer him…" he stated before looking at the others, "Isn't that right?"

"Oh. Oh! Hai~!" Nami quickly nodded as she and a few of the girls got next to Jimbei, "Big Boss Orca is the best~!"

"He may not look like it, but he's a big softy too!" Noel added with a slight giggle.

"But he's also a bit quick to anger if you act nasty to one of his subordinates," Makoto added.

"Not even a Celestial Dragon wants to deal with him," Robin added.

"GH?!" the security guards tensed up at that.

"So if I was you fellas...and believe me, you don't wanna be you right now," Bobo paused as he reached into his pocket for something, "I'd pretend I didn't see a thing..and not tell da boss a big time crime boss nearly got shot by two mooks."

"...Y-Y-You have a good day, Orca-sama," the guards stated calmly in unison as they walked off.

"Excellent work," Sento congratulated, looking down at the smirking simian.

"Eh. I worked with what I had," Bobo shrugged.

"...Technically, I'm a Whale shark Fishman, not an orca," Jimbei stated as he dropped the act, tilting his fedora back to show his eyes.

"And yet Killer whales are amongst the deadliest whale species," Rook pointed out, "People often…"

"Rook, Rook…" Ben spoke, earning the Revonahgander's attention, "Save the history lesson for later."

"History? But I was…" Rook began.

"Rrrr…" Nami growled behind him, fist raised ominously.

"...suggesting we move along," Rook smoothly went on, earning a happy Nami and no raised fist, 'Women in this world are quite dangerous...'

"Let's go," Carina spoke up as she pushed the doors open, "From here on out, we're heading into territory I've never been to."

"You mean like those owls up ahead?" Noel asked.

"...Owls?" Usopp blinked as the group ran ahead a bit, only to stop when they nearly stepped into a hallway with owls roosting on the upper ledges, their eyes glowing red as they looked.

"Shit! Red-Eyed Owls!" Nami hissed.

"Nande?" Chopper whispered.

"What's bad about a bunch of owls?" Ryuga asked.

"Considering the way they're positioned and looking...I'd say the moment they see someone they don't recognize, they hoot their little heads off," Makoto guessed as she looked up.

"That's...right," Nami blinked, "How did you…?"

"Eh, I was a bit of a spy," Makoto shrugged, "All you need to do is find the sweet spots-aka the openings in the lights-, and we can try and go through safely."

"Not easy," Sento shook his head, "Owls have amazing sense of hearing. They can also sense changes in the air, and have night vision far better than any other animal." he explained, "If you think normal stealth could get past them…"

"Normal Stealth, you say?" Skurd blinked as he pointed to the Omnitrix, "We have Superior stealth~"

"Oh? How so?" Brook asked.

"Ben, my dear boy?" Skurd turned to Ben who looked to Sento.

"I suppose we can trust you with the secret we've held about Ben's ability," Sento spoke with a small smile and a sigh, "He can turn into more than one kind of monster."

"...Eh?" Most of the Strawhats gasped quietly at that.

"Watch," Ben smirked as he tapped the Omnitrix, the holographic ring appearing on it before he moved it. As the core rose up, he pressed down on it gently, engulfing him in a flash of green light.

This caught the owls' attention as they turned towards the source of the light..only to see nothing. No in truth...it was an intangible Big Chill as he and the others were currently invisible to the owls.

"..." Sento held a finger to his mouth as they began stepping forward, using the passed on invisibility, and the cold drop to the air to mask their presence. The owls sensed the cold and chose to huddle closer together and away from the chill. Once the others were at the other side of the hallway, they went through the entrance as quickly yet silently as possible as they reached a large room with a long flight of stairs in it.

"And we….are good," Big Chill spoke as he dismissed the intangibility, letting him change back into Ben.

"Quite the unique ability," Jimbei noted.

"Yeah...but please don't change into that form again," Nami added...while currently hiding behind Jimbei with Brook.

"Ghost moth~" Brook whispered in fear.

"Ghost moth that can breathe sub-zero ice," Makoto argued.

"Ben's Monster forms have unique abilities. However...he can only maintain his transformation for short bursts of time," Sento added, "Also...he's not a master of it...so sometimes…"

"He gets the wrong monster." Skurd finished.

"Hey…" Ben frowned in annoyance at that.

"Yeah, don't pick on my man." Makoto complained.

"We do it as a form of love." Sento and Skurd replied.

"So...then what is...he?" Nami pointed to Skurd.

"A parasite who feeds off my ability…" Ben muttered.

"I prefer Slimebiote, thank you very much," Skurd corrected, pointing a tentacle in the air.

"...So he...feeds off you, teria?" Carrot questioned, tilting her head.

"Oh gods no, my dear Mink~" Skurd replied with a chuckle, everyone choosing to ignore Carina and Nami grabbing the falling Rupees from Bluey's reaction to the head tilt, "He...is a disgusting hormone bucket...with horrible acne and a bad smell...but...the monsters he becomes...oh...well they taste different and oh so wonderful~! I feed off abilities, not people." he explained in a way that they'd grasp.

"...Oh! That arm from before!" Nami recalled.

"Part of my ability," Skurd chuckled once more, making a Ditto arm pop out of him before pulling it back, "But I can only really use it so long as I am attached to young Benjamin here."

"Their abilities work best together." Sento explained, "If we stuck Skurd onto Luffy...he could grow an arm with the Gomu-Gomu no Mi's ability. But...that's it."

"Correct, my good genius," Skurd noted, "So, now that we've arrived at the spiraling staircase, shall we check in on our A Team on if they've taken care of things?"

"Kazumi?" Sento pulled out a small Den-Den Mushi, "You guys done?"

=Just about. Franky's finishing getting the grates off= Kazumi answered.

=We're right above the Papa Transponder Snail= Sari added =And hoo lordy, it's huge! It's as big as 'Bee before he went for an upgrade!=

"You need to take out the main cable marked 'three'. It's connected to the staircase," Sento stated, "There you just need to connect the White Transponder Snail, thus stopping the video footage."

=You got it, Science Bro= Franky spoke up =Question is who'll take it?=

=Sari, she's better with this stuff with that whole tech sense she got going on= Kazumi spoke up.

=Should be easy enough. I'll just lower myself down while they're not noticing, connect the little guy, and I'll be back up in no time= Sari added =Franky, mind handing me the snail?=

=Hah? I thought Luffy gave it to ya=

=Why w…..oh no…=

=Gh! That was close!= Luffy hissed.

=Baka!= Kazumi hissed.

"What's going on?" Chopper asked.

"From what I can surmise, your captain took the White Transponder Snail Sari was going to take down and attempted to head down to take care of the task himself," Sento sighed, "When this is over...I'm gonna skin him...and turn the skin into tires…"

=Eh?! Turn me into tires?!= Luffy gawked before a bonking sound was heard.

=Shut! It!= Kazumi hissed.

---

"I'm heading down," Sari whispered into a Transponder Snail, Kazumi currently tying up Luffy at the moment to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"I'll pull ya up the moment you get it attached," Franky informed, offering his right arm to the red-head.

"Thanks," Sari nodded as she handed Kazumi her Transponder Snail, pocketing a small white Transponder Snail as she hopped into his arm's hand, letting him lower it down as his hand began to reach down to near the machine that a massive elderly Transponder Snail was resting on with several large red tubes going into the floor. She then began to climb down the chain quietly, stopping now and again to wait for the guards to turn and walk away.

"Mmm...I could've gotten it," Luffy muttered.

"And get us caught," Kazumi argued.

Sari stayed quiet as she reached Franky's hand, quietly climbing off it as she hopped onto the metal cable. She then looked up at the others, giving them a thumbs up as she pulled out the white Transponder Snail. With ease, thanks to 'speaking' with the machine the giant Transponder Snail was connected to and to the machinery inside of the little white Transponder Snail, she safely attached it to the underside of the pipe labeled 'Three.'

"Phew…" Franky and Kazumi sighed quietly.

'Okay. So far soo good. Now I just need to hop back into Franky's hand and…' Sari began as she prepared to take a step, only for her foot to slip off the metal as she began to fall back, '...oh scrap…!'

"Ah, yabei!" Luffy quietly gasped before grabbing onto the side of the opening, stretching his arm out as it quickly wrapped Sari before she could fall off.

"...phew…" Sari sighed quietly, looking up as she prepared to thank Luffy...before she noticed the looks on Kazumi and Franky's faces. She then looked to the side...and saw a security guard glaring right at her, "..."

"Hah? Wh-" Luffy began before Sari pointed to the left, making him look to see the security guard, "..."

---

"What?!" Tanaka gawked, standing in a large room with multiple monitors as he saw two showing Sari and Luffy, "Intruders! Sound the alarms!"

---

"...oh that can't be good," Usopp whispered as the group heard the alarms going off, "Did they find them?"

"...Act of Luffy?" Ben guessed.

=Yep. He and Sari got caught after Luffy saved Sari from falling= Kazumi explained in a calm tone =Oh, look. Armed men coming out of the elevator=

"...We'll start climbing. Go to Plan B, Team A," Sento ordered.

"Plan B?" Lambda and Carrot repeated, both tilting their heads to the side with Bluey joining them.

=Ow! Let's go SUPER wild, Kazumi!= Franky shouted.

"B stands for 'Beat up everyone,'" Ryuga chuckled.

"Unfortunately yes…" Sento sighed with a clear look of annoyance, "I'm turning him into tires for my motorcycle…"

---

"Open f-!" a guard began before Sari's shield was thrown right into his face, "Gah!"

"Ok. Time for Plan B, I suppose!" Sari shouted as she caught her shield, quickly bringing her sword out just as Luffy, Kazumi, and Franky landed near her, 'Glad that I made sure the little guy's hidden, but to make extra sure…' she looked up at the giant Transponder Snail and held up a hand with her thumb and middle finger pressed together at the tips, "Sorry in advance for this, sir."

*SNAP! BZZZT!*

---

"What?! We lost our feed?!" Tanaka exclaimed as all the cameras showed nothing but static, "Gh...These intruders…"

---

"GH?! She took out the Head Transponder Snail!" one of the guards exclaimed, the giant Transponder Snail twitching and smoking in its knocked out state.

"Don't let them escape or else!" another shouted as they began to shoot at the group.

"Luffy! You can go wild now! Punch 'till you can't punch anymore!" Sari ordered as she ducked around gun fire before bashing another guard with her shield.

"Go wild, rubber boy!" Kazumi shouted, tossing Luffy like a missile at the guards.

"Finally!" Luffy shouted as he crashed into one, before he stretched his arm out and punched another and then another, "I love this part! Who knew stealth missions were so fun!"

"Ow! SUPER Strong Right!" Franky shouted, firing off his right arm on its chain like a rocket, slamming into several more as the men open fired at him from the front, their bullets just bouncing off him as his arm returned, "Ow~! You guys ain't doin' a thing ta me!"

"I knew this would be the end result," Kazumi sighed, winding up his arm before he punched one guard, before blasting him away with a shockwave from his fist that also cleared away several guards in the process, "This is just way more fun anyway! Let's begin the real festival! Bring out more people to fight 'till I'm satisfied!" he roared.

"As soon as we get an opening, we head for the elevator and get out!" Sari shouted, using her shield to block more gunfire as she quickly used her sword to slice two guards' guns in half.

"Got it! We just need t-" Franky began as he turned to punch a guard, only to grunt in pain when something stabbed him from behind, "Gh!"

"Wh-" Luffy began as he and the others turned, seeing a tendril of gold piercing through Franky's chest before it tossed him aside, "Ahh! Franky!"

"Damn it….Tesoro!" Kazumi realized as he side stepped another tendril that tried to run him through.

"Heh heh…" Tesoro's voice echoed through the chamber as the tendril reeled back into the floor, letting him phase through it as Tanaka stood next to him, "Now look what you did..you not only fried my Transponder Snails, but you surprised me by attacking this place...man. Don't you guys care what happens to your friends now that you've done this?"

"Teme…" Kazumi growled, "Sari, help Franky!"

"Huh?"

"Luffy and I ain't exactly good at this stuff...at least you might be smart enough to help him!" Kazumi declared as he flexed his fingers and formed a fist, "The only thing we're good at is punching…"

"Right," Sari nodded as she began to rush over to Franky, only to yelp as she nearly fell over, "What the…?!"

"Tsurururu~" Sari quickly looked down to see Tanaka phasing through the floor, his hand gripping around her leg, "You're not going anywhere."

"Ugh, I forgot about you," Sari scowled, "But since you're in the floor…" she held a hand out and her hand moved up to let a pole pop out that she grabbed before the other end of it formed a sledgehammer from Energon that she swung down at Tanaka, who phased through the floor to avoid the blow, "...How's about Whack-A-Mole?!"

"Tsuru~" Tanaka taunted as he poked out from behind her, about to shoot her before he phased back into the floor to avoid her hammer.

"With how often I got into danger as a kid, I think I've gotten a fair bit of reflex to danger," Sari noted.

"You know it's a shame, really," Tesoro sighed a bit as Luffy and Kazumi stood ready, "You and your friends would've been fantastic business partners, but really...it's much easier to control you than work with you. And tonight's show..." he paused as he began to chuckle, "It'll be the epitome of Entertainment!" he declared before focusing on Luffy, "How about it, Mugiwara...laugh."

"Gh…!" Luffy growled at that, "Like hell I will...I'll kick your ass!" he snapped as he shot towards Tesoro, steam coming off his body as he prepared to punch Tesoro...only to end up hitting a wall of gold that acted more like a semi-liquid, "!?"

"Heh…" Tesoro grinned as he reared his own fist back, the gold protecting him moving and forming a golden gauntlet around his fist, "Gon...Bomba!" he declared as he punched Luffy in the face, resulting in a large golden explosion as the rubber man was sent flying back.

"Did he just make that gold explode?!" Sari gasped before barely dodging a gunshot from Tanaka who was phasing in through a wall nearby, "Ugh! It's like fighting a ghost!"

Kazumi looked around before grabbing part of the pipe labeled 'Five,' "You sure like throwing gold around…" his fingers dug into the pipe before, with a grunt, he ripped off part of it and threw it at Tesoro, "Let's see how you like stuff thrown at ya!"

"Heh," Tesoro just grinned before slamming his hand on the ground, causing a wave of gold to catch the incoming pipe, "Come now, is that…"

=ROBOT IN GREASE!=

"Hmm?" Tesoro raised a brow before leaning his head to the side, dodging a punch from Grease before he jumped back from his attempted kick, "Oh? Now what's this?"

"It ain't gold despite the colors," Grease replied, cracking his neck.

"H-He turned into a robot~!" Luffy awed, stars in his eyes.

"FOCUS!" Grease barked before blocking a punch from Tesoro.

"Well now...this is interesting," Tesoro noted with a grin as he pushed back. "A highly advanced suit...and it seems far more advanced than Germa 66's suits."

"Perhaps," Grease replied, 'No clue who they are, but I'm not saying that.'

"Heh...Then let's see what it's capable of!" Tesoro grinned before summoning another gold wall to block Luffy's incoming blow in the form of a pair of simultaneous palm strikes before the gold grabbed him by the lower arms before reshaping into gold gauntlets bound together.

"Gh! Can't...move!" Luffy grunted

"Teme!" Grease roared as he summoned his Twin Breaker in Beam Mode and began to shoot at Tesoro, who made a wall of gold to block the shots.

"Oh? What an interesting weapon to go with the armor," Tesoro noted, "Ahhahah! Ahh, what a fantastic night tonight is!"

"Well we don't wanna be part of your…" Sari began as she turned to slam her hammer down on Tanaka again, only for him to jump up into the air before she could strike him, "Ah!"

"Bottomless Pit!" Tanaka declared as he landed, putting his hands on the floor as a large hole opened up beneath Sari and Franky.

"...Oh you little…" Sari began before she and Franky began to fall down the hole, "AHH!"

"Franky! Sari!" Luffy gasped before glaring at Tesoro.

"Oh don't worry about them, you'll join them soon enough!" Tesoro grinned before forming his golden wall into golden lances that were aiming right at Grease, "Gon...Lancia!" he declared as the lances shot right towards the Rider.

Grease switched the Twin Breaker to Attack Mode and quickly inserted his Robot SchlashJelly into it.

=SINGLE!=

"HA!" he roared, punching his weapon as the tip of the Twin Breaker met with one of the lances, causing a shockwave to ring through the air. For a moment, the two seemed to be at equal, before the lance twitched and suddenly melted before engulfing his upper body up to his neck, "Gah! Oi!"

"Ah! Kazumi!" Luffy gasped before Tesoro put a hand to the floor.

"Gold Ground Splash," Tesoro stated before the ground rippled and both yelped as it suddenly erupted with a fountain of gold that sent both of them into the air towards the hole.

"Gh?! That power…" Luffy realized, stretching a leg out to catch himself as Grease fell in.

"Remember this. Those without money in this world will accomplish nothing! They can only be controlled by it."

"Shut up! I won't be controlled by something so ridiculous!" Luffy snapped.

"Those words…" Tesoro growled, narrowing his eyes, "Let's see you try to make them a reality!" he smirked as he raised a foot, "Assuming you have a future, that is." he stomped down and a tiny pole of gold shot out and hit the foot Luffy had used to catch himself, knocking it into the hole.

"Ah…" Luffy gawked before yelping as he fell into it before Tanaka sealed it shut.

"Serururururu...Should I go down below and finish them off?" Tanaka asked.

"...No. Get the Transponder Snail back to health," Tesoro replied, "More importantly, check all the vital spots, starting with the spiral staircase. Since our feeds are cut, we'll need to post guards for the moment."

"Understood," Tanaka nodded as he phased into the floor just as Tesoro left, the two unaware of Team A's Transponder Snail looking on.

---

"Shit. He's onto us," Nami hissed.

"Did he transmute the floor into gold?" Sento asked.

"Huh?" Usopp looked at him.

"That sounded like a solid ground turning into a liquid," Sento noted.

"He should know. He's done it before for some plans," Ryuga spoke.

"Talk later, get out of da house now!" Bobo barked.

"You heard the simian! Let's book it!" Ben shouted as he and the others began to run, passing through the hallway with the owls as they began to hoot loudly. They then skidded to a halt when the group saw a group of security guards running in with guns ready.

"Don't let them escape!" one of the guards shouted.

"Sanji-kun!" Nami shouted.

"I got it!" Sanji shouted as he jumped forward, doing a downward kick to a guard as he got into the center of them, "Concasse!" he shouted as he held onto his mop, using it to spin himself fast in place as he kicked away a good chunk of the guards.

"Think he needs backup?" Mai asked.

"No, he's got it," Nami replied.

"Diable Jambe…" Sanji whispered, his leg burning bright as he floated in the air a bit, "Poele a Frire: Spectre!"

*BOOM!*

"Oi! You went overboard!" Nami snapped as the group ran into the next room, only to see more guards running in.

"Hmm…" Jimbei noticed a fountain nearby and ran over to it, quickly dunking an arm into it, "Gyojin Jūjutsu: Murasame!" he flung his arm out of the water...and all the water inside followed, taking the shape of a pack of sharks that slammed into the guards, scattering them.

"Oh~!" Makoto awed, quickly grabbing Ben's arm to pull him close and whispered, "We have gotta ask him for lessons or a scroll on how to do that stuff! Just think what it'd do for your water forms like Ripjaws or Mita!"

"Fangirl later! Run now!" Naoto shouted as the group began to run in a different direction, even more guards starting to pour into the room. The group then ran into a lighted room with light-blue marble detailing, "...Ok. Where are we now?"

"This is the Hyper Suite where the Celestial Dragons stay," Carina explained, lowering the volume of her voice.

"...Those are the stuck up guys who make people slaves and get away with things because they live on top of the giant rock going all over a single line of the planet, right?" Mai asked Makoto quietly.

"Yes," Makoto replied, "And I nearly became a slave to a particular snot-nosed one."

"Same here…" Bobo whispered.

"...People incoming," Lambda spoke as the faint sounds of footsteps and armor clacking could be heard.

"Okay...so what now?" Ben asked, "I could go Big Chill and phase some of us through the walls...but I can't do large groups like when I made us invisible."

"...Got anything to knock 'em out?" Usopp asked.

"...What are you thinking?" Makoto asked.

"Well tons, depends on what you need," Ben explained to Usopp, "I got like almost a dozen that can shoot lightning."

"No lightning," Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, and Robin quickly denied.

"Enel…" Makoto whispered to Ben so they couldn't hear, "They must all still have PTSD if Nami's not the one doing the zapping…"

"Maybe Pixie Dust?" Noel suggested.

"Who?" Naoto asked.

"No way…" Ben replied.

"Ah! But its power over sleep is so far unbeaten! No one has shaken it off!" Makoto realized.

"Noel just wants to hug me in that form," Ben pointed out.

"You can't prove that," Noel argued as she looked away.

"Ah the form is cute, but its power is useful!" Makoto argued, shaking him, "Just put up with it for ten minutes!" she then got close, her figure pressing against his and whispered into his ear, "Plus, I'll add another thing to that list we're making. You know, the one for when we finally get some actual peace and quiet and…"

"Okay, okay," Ben quickly replied, cheeks a bit pink, "But there's also one problem. Don't these Celestial guys wear bubbles on their heads?"

"They're surprisingly fragile," Usopp noted, recalling how Luffy broke one with a single punch, "Leave the shots to get an opening in them to me."

"Better make it quick. They're coming closer, teria," Carrot warned, her ears twitching.

"Noel, I swear if you hug me, I'm hiding the corgi plushes until after the next world," Ben warned as he turned on the Omnitrix and changed into the tiny pixie-like Alien, "You get me that opening, Usopp~. Then I'll give them a lot of nice dreams~"

"Mmm…" Noel whined, wanting to hug but didn't want to lose her plushies.

"Aw~! You're adorable!" Carrot cooed, glomping him.

"Aw come on~!" Pixie Dust whined and purred at the same time.

"Didn't take her into account, did you my boy?" Skurd chuckled.

'I hope the others are alright,' Mai thought.

---

Grease and Luffy screamed as they came out of the other end of the hole, Luffy just behind Grease. The two crashed down, creating a large golden dust cloud for a few moments until it dissipated, revealing Luffy had landed on Grease before his armor faded away to reveal Kazumi still stuck in the gold straightjacket.

"Well that sucked," Kazumi summed up before a skull rolled over to them, "..."

"BROOK!?" Luffy freaked.

"WHAT!?" Kazumi panicked.

"It's not him," the two quickly turned to see Franky staggering over to them, Sari helping him stand straight the best she could.

"Ah!" Luffy gawked.

"You look like shit," Kazumi stated.

"And you look like you came out a rich boy psycho ward," Sari replied before frowning a little, "He used himself as a cushion for my fall."

"Heh. Couldn't let a fellow Robo get hurt," Franky joked.

"I'd feel more happy if you hadn't gotten skewered by a gold spear...but...thanks," Sari sighed, "But from here on...let's take it easy 'till you can get patched up. Please?"

"Mm...can do," Franky nodded before frowning a bit, "For now...let's figure out where we are exactly."

"If I had to guess…" Kazumi grunted, moving around a bit as he managed to get himself sitting up, "This is probably where Tesoro stores all his gold and prisoners."

"Mizu…"

"Hm?" the four turned to see a group of people struggling to come to them, all in clothes of various states of ruin and looking in a mixture of dehydration and starvation.

"P-Please...do you have water?"

"Food, please~!"

"What the…?" Luffy tilted his head before realizing one wanted food, "Oi, I ain't no hero!"

"Nani?" Kazumi raised a brow at that, "That came out of nowhere."

"Please…" one of the men began as they all held up various gold objects, "We'll pay you…"

"We don't have any!" Kazumi snapped, "Don't you think if we had anything to give we would?! What good is waving money around if we don't have what you want!?"

"Kazumi…" Sari spoke up.

"...no," the people whispered as they fell to their knees.

"He makes a point," a new voice spoke up, making everyone look at a figure standing in the shadows, their foot messing with a skull as they moved it in the sand a bit, "Gold is useless down here in this hellish Golden Prison."

"Golden Prison?" Franky repeated.

"Ah...To prove his status as the king of the world, he used some of the gold from the city to build up this Golden Prison," the figure explained as they stood straight, "Hmph...How ironic. All the people who come here for wealth end up dying down here, surrounded by gold."

"...So Tesoro uses this place to lock people up and literally look down on them," Sari noted with a frown.

"Exactly, little lady," the figure spoke as they began to walk out of the shadows, revealing him to be a short man in a white tuxedo and matching fedora, "He gets a kick out of watching us suffer down here."

"Who the heck are you, pops?!" Luffy demanded, making the man stop.

"Who, me?" he asked before lowering his head, "I'm nothing but a loser…"

"?! No way…" Franky whispered in realization, "Are you...Raise Max?"

"Who's that?" Luffy asked bluntly.

"You don't know him?!" Franky gawked at that.

"Technically neither do we," Sari pointed out as she motioned to herself and Kazumi.

"Raise Max is a legendary gambler said to never had lost even once," Franky explained, "He was a huge star I used to admire back when I was a kid." he stated before looking at the short man, who stood there in the sand in a sort of cool pose, "I heard rumors you had joined the Revolutionary Army."

"...It's true that I'm Raise Max, the gambler who doesn't know how to lose," the short man admitted before frowning, "Not until he loses…"

"...Let me guess, that Baccarat lady took your luck?" Sari guessed, earning silence from Raise Max as his opened tuxedo blew in the wind, "...She did."

"Regardless, the moment I lost against the Casino King...Raise Max was considered dead," Raise Max stated.

"Yeesh," Sari cringed.

"...grr...We can't stand here and do nothing!" Luffy snapped as he began to walk around, "We need to find an exit so we can go rescue Zoro and Rex!"

"There is no exit," one of the men explained.

"I'll destroy the walls then!" Luffy argued.

"How? Your arms are bound," Kazumi deadpanned.

"...I'll headbutt the walls until they break!" Luffy snapped.

"You can't!" one of the men exclaimed in fear, "You'll alert Tesoro!"

"Gh...Forgot about that," Luffy frowned.

"Any idea how he could turn the floor into gold when I was pretty sure it wasn't?" Kazumi asked.

"He Awoke his Akuma no Mi," Raise Max explained.

"Awoke?" Sari repeated.

"It's when a user of an Akuma no Mi has a 'breakthrough' with their Devil Fruit. The Jailer Beasts of Impel Down are Awoken Zoan, meaning their powers 'consumed' their minds with the 'mind' of the animal their fruits are based upon," Raise Max explained, "For a Paramecia, they can turn their surroundings into their power. They also allow the user to vastly expand the strength and range of the Fruits power, as well as super-fine tune the ability. As you can tell, Tesoro has made damn well on his Awoken Akuma no Mi." he then pointed at Luffy, "And you're an idiot! Did you forget that as long as his gold dust is on you, you can't beat him?"

"Then let me get the gold off!" Luffy argued, "Is there a way to do it?"

"...Well," one of the men nervously began, unsure if he should say anything or not, "...Tesoro can't control his gold in sea water. If you touch some sea water, the gold on your body will lose its effects."

"But...Gold is super heavy...Luffy could sink." Sari spoke up.

"Well, guess one of you two will have to rescue him," Kazumi noted, struggling with the gold, "What the hell is with this gold? It's tougher than normal gold?"

"More than likely, he's condensed it to make it harder to break," Raise Max guessed.

"There's no sea water on this ship. You really think Tesoro would keep any on it?" one of the men questioned.

"But...Isn't this thing like one giant ship?" Sari asked, "We have to be able to reach a point low enough to get to it."

"...There is one way," another of the men noted with a long brown beard, "The only slim chance you'd have would be the drain pipe."

"Ew…" Sari whispered to herself.

"Drain pipe?" Franky repeated.

"It's entirely surrounded by gold, but there's a single pipeline system inside," the man explained, "If you can get through it, there will be a massive pump at the bottom of the ship that connects to the sea."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Sari noted.

"Ah," the man nodded before pointing to a large hole in the ground nearby, "The pipeline is blocked off by ferocious Golden Bats. So many of us have tried challenging them and got our asses beat."

"Golden Bats?" Franky repeated.

"This is a gamble you have no hopes in winning," Raise Max spoke up with a frown, "Just give up!"

"Ah...if that's your final argument, Jiji...sorry to say that's not really an option," Kazumi argued.

"Ah!" Luffy nodded in agreement, "Our friends are still up there fighting...I'm not gonna abandon them and stay down here!"

"Even then...that option means we let that asshat win...and I'd rather go out making sure to ruin everything he has then let him win with that smile on his goddamn face!" Kazumi shouted.

"Yosh!" Luffy nodded before looking down the hole...and soon jumped down, "I'm going in!"

"Ah! Luffy! Didn't you h-" Sari began before a loud bonking sound could be heard. A moment of silence went off as a large, golden furred bat flew out of the hole...before crashing as it had an indent in its head.

"Oi! Come on, Franky! Sari! Kazumi!" Luffy shouted from the hole.

"Heh. If he can do that with just his arms bound, like hell I'm getting behind!" Kazumi declared as he jumped down, "ORYA!"

"Ka…" Sari began before another set of bonks went off as three more flew out, two sporting indents shaped like shoes and one shaped like a sandal, "...Monsters. I am travelling with monsters on an island-sized ship filled with gold controlled by a man who can manipulate gold like it's putty. ...Is it wrong that I miss my life before anything crazy happened to it on days like this?"

"To be fair, it seems like you're already traveling with some SUPER weird people as is," Franky chuckled as more bats flew out.

"I kicked way more!" Kazumi laughed.

"EH?! Oi, I'm not gonna lose!" Luffy argued.

"Then start kicking! This festival is just getting started! YAHOO!"

"...Mmm…" Raise Max muttered.

"...You can put your faith in Luffy," Franky assured, getting his attention, "He's a man who'll always get the job done when he says he will."

"You're a gambler, right?" Sari asked, "From what I've come to know over the last day or so, he's worth betting on along with our friends."

"Hey, you think if we took one with us, Sanji would cook it?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, that'd be good! The breakfast he made this morning was worthy of a thousand festivals just by itself! With all this bat meat..."

"And that's where I draw the line," Sari frowned as she pulled her sword and shield out and jumped down, "We are not eating bats, slag it! You're both out of your fragging minds if you think we're gonna drag one of those things with us with how big they are!"

"Eh?! But…!"

"No buts or so help me...!"

"I better go after them," Franky chuckled sheepishly before jumping down.

"...Ya kids better keep that bet I'm laying on ya," Raise Max muttered.

---

"This way-eh~!" Ussop declared, his nose painted blue while dressed in a gaudy robe/puffy jumpsuit while a glass bowl was over his head, riding atop Chopper as a full grown reindeer disguised as a panda, his face acting as the muzzle of the panda, "Is it true that there are people in here trying to steal my money-eh~?!"

"Just what is the meaning of this, amasu!?" Nami demanded, wearing a similar outfit with her face hidden behind a veil with Robin in a business suit on her left and a large imposing figure in armor on her right with spikes emerging from the back of the armored fists.

"This is why you peasants are so useless!" Carina added, dressed in the same disguise as Nami, three armored guards behind her with one sporting a squirrel tail and the other having several floating swords behind them resembling wings.

"We-we're so sorry!" one of the guards yelped as they bowed, "We have heightened security for the safe! Please don't w-"

"Not good enough-ehh~!" Usopp snapped while bobbing his head back and forth every time he said 'ehh', "I cannot possibly trust you people-ehh~! So all of you get away from my safe this instant-ehh~!"

"B-but...we can't..!" one of the guards began.

"Such an insolent tongue!" Nami scowled, "Then you people must be allies with the thieves, amasu!"

"Or are you suggesting we have no right to watch it ourselves?" Carina questioned.

"N-No!"

"...Guards?" Nami spoke as she snapped her fingers.

The guard with spikes on the back of his fists grabbed the guard that had tried to deny by the scruff of his shirt, "Lemme tell ya somethin', soon-to-be-ex-guard, you intend to defy the Celestial Dragons?!"

"You should know what will happen if you do," Robin warned.

"Hm!" Rook and Bobo nodded, dressed up in similar suits before pulling out their respective guns.

"Do you understand~?" Brook dramatically declared...while dressed up as a belly dancer with a fake skin to 'fill him out' aside from his skull, "Yo-ho! Yohohohoho!"

"H-HAI! WE'LL LEAVE RIGHT AWAY!" the guards panicked, managing to flee from the area in horror...but if it was from the consequences or the belly dancer was debatable.

"...Ya still smilin' in dere?" Bobo asked, looking at the largest of the 'guards' once the guards were all gone.

"Doing something like what we have done is something that many a Fishman would end up feeling like I am at the moment," Jimbei replied, a perpetual smug smile on his face before bowing towards Sento, wearing a black suit like Robin, "I still owe you a great favor, Sento-san, for helping those slaves that Ben-san found in his other transformation."

"My pleasure," Sento smiled a bit before pulling a pocket watch out, "?! ...We better hurry. It's almost 8 PM."

"We are running short on time," Jimbei nodded.

"Okay...you can let go of Ben now…" Sento sighed.

"Awww…" Noel and Carrot complained as the armor on the back of the bulky soldier fell off, revealing Noel and Carrot had been riding on Rath's back.

"Lemme tell ya somethin', Carrot the Mink and Noel Vermillion; Rath is not a cuddly cat," Rath grumbled.

"Even if you do purr when you get scratch on the right spot," Makoto joked.

"That is private!" Rath shouted while blushing.

"Shut it," Sento spoke, elbowing Rath and knocking the air out of his lungs.

"Let's hurry and rob Tesoro blind before we run out of time," Naoto sighed as the group hurried past the doors, "...still, the fact that worked…"

"We would've been totally screwed if we were caught doing that!" Usopp hissed.

"And thanks to Sari zapping the big snail, their cameras aren't a problem!" Ryuga grinned, "Let's get up there and grab that gold!"

"It might not be that easy…" Sento spoke, "A commotion was stirred. Tesoro has to be changing his steps."

"If he has, then we'll do what we do best: wing it," Rath snorted before changing into Ben, "Now let's go!"

---

*SNAP! KRAKOOM!*

"And that should be the last of them, right?" Sari asked as the large group ran by several twitching, sparking Golden Bats...before Sari ran to one and dragged Luffy away from gnawing on its leg.

"Ah, we should be coming up on the last obstacle between us and the pump," Raise replied as they skidded to a halt at the end of the tunnel to another tunnel...with a massive filter spinning rapidly down below.

"Because of course there'd be a giant fan," Kazumi groaned, "Guess we're smashing that one?"

"No," Sari replied, her eyes glowing faintly as she looked down at the fan, "That stuff is made of something called Kairoseki-Sea Stone-that's nearly indestructible and can negate the powers of an Akuma no Mi. It's constantly run 24/7 and what it filters is people trying to get past it."

"Hah?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Why do you think that 'small' section just above it is red?" Sari replied, "Sure wasn't red when it was built."

"NANI!?" Luffy shouted.

"You sure know your history on this place, little lady," Raise noted.

"It's part of my abilities. I can 'speak' with machines like the engine for this filter," Sari explained.

"Wait...machines are alive?!" Luffy shouted in shock.

"More or less…" Sari shrugged as if she wasn't talking about something mind blowing.

"Any chance you could 'talk' it to turn off?" Franky asked.

"Nope," Sari replied, "I'm still learning just what I can do with it."

"That's fine," Luffy stated...before jumping down towards it, "IKUZE!"

"Luffy!?" Sari and Franky exclaimed in shock.

"That baka!" Kazumi snapped.

"Don't worry! I…!" Luffy began before he began bouncing along the blades of the fan, his arms getting caught in one as he was spun around, "Ahhh~!"

"Called it," Kazumi groaned as he looked at it, "...Huh...With that gold on Luffy's fists, it kinda looks like a roulette table."

"Seriously?" Sari deadpanned.

"Look," he motioned with his head, "This palace is a casino...and so far he hasn't been subtle...so...why can't he have done something like that?"

"Ah! Luffy!" Franky panicked as Luffy smashed into a wall.

"Gh...I...I'm not giving up…!" Luffy grunted, pulling himself out and jumping at the filter once more only to slam into another wall.

"He's a stubborn one," Kazumi noted as Luffy began to repeatedly try, "Only guy I'd say is almost as stubborn is Ryuga."

"Ghh...I can't take it anymore!" Franky exclaimed, quickly firing his right arm at Luffy, catching him and pulling him back just as he tried to jump at it again, "Baka!"

"...I...I can't...give up…I won't...give up...no matter what..." Luffy grunted, "Zoro and Rex...and all these guys...they're counting on us…" he glared at the filter, "I won't give up no matter what!"

"Then let's do this the way our leader would...find a better way…" Kazumi sighed, "A better way to win."

"A way so there is no chance of losing." Sari added.

"A SUPER lucky chance," Franky agreed before the four blinked as Raise approached the end, "Ah! What are…"

"Heh. I may be a loser, but I've decided to bet one more time," the short man stated, looking at the four over his shoulder, "On you kids."

"Oi, matte. What are you going to do?" Kazumi asked.

"This is no different from a gamble," Raise replied, looking down at it while visualizing the blades as playing cards, "It's about chance." for a few moments, he stood there and focused on them, "...NOW!"

"Ah! He jumped!" Sari gasped as she ran to the edge with the others.

"Is he gonna make it?" one of the men asked in concern.

"No, he's gonna get hit on the edge of it!" Sari replied, 'speaking' with the machine again, just before Raise Max indeed hit the side of one of the blades, causing his sunglasses to break.

"MAX!" the men from the prison screamed in horror and concern before smoke started to rise from the edge of the fan, "Eh?"

"Ah! He's...He's holding onto the edge while digging his feet into the wall!" Franky gasped.

"Is he trying to slow it down with his body?" Kazumi asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

"TOMARE!" Raise Max screamed.

"No good! He's not strong enough!" Franky grit his teeth before the men all started to jump, "Ah!"

"You guys!" Raise gasped as, one by one, the men hit the fan and started to grab onto the edge, digging their heels into the walls.

"Because of our damn debts, our families have been worked to death!"

"I can't take it anymore!"

"We just wanna be free!"

"Omae…" Kazumi spoke with grit teeth, "To go that far...being brave like that…"

"They're...They're stopping it," Sari awed as the filter grinded to a halt.

"Mugiwara-bozu! Go beat Tesoro!" Raise called out, grinning up at them.

"Franky, get me down to the engine," Sari ordered...earning no response, "...Franky?"

"Uwaaaa~!" Franky sobbed into an arm, "To do something so risky like that with all yer pals~!"

"Are you seriously crying!?" Sari and Kazumi snapped.

"Shaddap! I'm not cryin', you're cryin'!" Franky denied while in tears.

"Ah...mou fine, but let's not make their effort go to waste!" Kazumi shouted.

---

"We...made it," Nami panted as Team B stood before a large, ornate golden door, "It's the golden door!"

"Once we open the door…" Carina began as she approached the door, pulling the key out as she looked back at the others, "...We win."

"...something doesn't' feel right," Naoto whispered as Carina inserted the key, "We're right at the Giant Safe, and yet Tesoro didn't take into account on adding security here just in case?"

"...that's...a good point," Ben whispered.

"...wait…" Makoto's eyes began widening in realization, "I think we just got hustled."

"Impossible. I went over the plan with her," Sento argued as the gold doors began to open, "There's no way…"

"It's...showtime~!" Tesoro's voice declared, followed by the sounds of a crowd of people cheering and fireworks going off.

"?!" the group-minus Carina- tensed up as they began to step out, seeing they were high in the air with a large coliseum's worth of people cheering on.

"Wh...what is this?" Nami whispered.

"Surprising isn't it?!" Tesoro laughed, wearing a black suit and coat combo while having a dark magenta feather boa around his neck, "This is the Sky Stage! Perfect location for the executions of Roronoa Zoro and Rex Salazar, isn't it?" he grinned before motioning to something at the top of some stairs, "Behold!"

At that a pair of spotlights shone at the top, showing both Rex and Zoro bound against crosses made of gold, all but their heads bound to it.

"Zoro/Rex!" the group gasped.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Tesoro asked with a grin, "Not even my gold worth five hundred billion berries could buy this! The Heavenly Tribute has already been placed in the Celestial Dragons' ship...you've all been fooled..." he paused as he motioned to Carina, "By my lovely and loyal servant Carina."

"Hm…" Carina chucked a bit as she began to walk towards Tesoro, a set of golden stairs leading her down to him and over the golden moat below, "What was it that little slime said?...Oh yes. It's called a hustle, Nami," she stated before stopping to look back at the group, mainly looking at Nami, "Like I said, you can't stop Gran Tesoro. Being deceived...makes you the loser."

"No…" Nami whispered, falling to her knees as she lowered her head, "Damn it…!"

"So we had a mole hidden in our ranks," Gentoku frowned as the crowd began to cheer on Tesoro.

"You've been played with the entire time!" Dice laughed as he, Tanaka and Baccarat stepped out of the shadows.

"It was a rigged gamble, Tsururu~" Tanaka added, casually picking his nose while shooting the group a smug grin, "Like we'd tell anyone where the gold's hidden!"

"We often play this game with passing pirates, so good work," Baccarat added with a chuckle, "You kids nearly came close to winning."

"But fools are fools afterall," Tesoro added as he began to walk towards the stairs, "Fools betting their lives for money end up duped in the end. This…" he paused as he turned around with his arms spread out, "This is the greatest show, and you all played your parts well! As your reward...I'll give you all front row seats to the finale," he held his hand up before snapping his fingers, causing the monitor above them to show a video feed of Luffy in the others in a large room with pipes and machinery.

"...he's not gonna…" Mai began with wide eyes.

=Okay…! That should do it!= Franky grunted, finishing unscrewing a bolt from a large pipe, =Luffy, Kazumi..you guys are Super Good to go!=

"...trap," Lambda realized just as Luffy and Kazumi punched the pipe, causing water to start bursting and pouring into the room.

Tesoro just grinned before he snapped his fingers, causing some openings in the ceiling to close up.

=Oh you gotta be k-= Sari began before she was caught up by the water, rapidly pouring into the room as it began to flood.

=Welp...we're gonna die...and I never got to tell Noel-tan how I feel!=

"Oh no…" Noel and Carrot whispered wide eyes.

"Luffy, Franky!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Guys!" Rex called out as Zoro growled in pure anger.

"Ahahahahaha!" Tesoro gave a laugh as the crowd cheered on, "The moment hope turns into despair! This alone is what makes for the ultimate entertainment! Money is power! Money is everything! Those without money can't gain anything! Not love, nor dreams, nor strength, no freedom! And that goes for hope as well..."

"Gh!" Makoto tensed before rapidly looking around for a black and white bear or green-haired sociopath. She then tensed up when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to see Ben glaring at Tesoro.

"Don't worry...I'll get them out," Ben assured, moving his hand as he prepared to activate the Omnitrix, only for his Omnitrix hand to be engulfed in gold, "?!"

"Sorry...can't have the audience join in and ruin the show," Tesoro grinned as he lowered his hand.

"Tch…!" Ben growled at that.

---

'Damn it...getting hard..to breath…!' Franky thought, keeping his mouth shut as the room was completely submerged in seawater, 'Can't let...things end here…!'

'We were...set up…' Sari thought, struggling to keep her breath in as she held onto Grease.

'That bastard really thought of everything…we need a way out...think, come on think...' Grease mentally grunted before a clanging sound caught his attention, making him, Sari and Franky look up to see Luffy trying to punch at the door.

'Gotta...get...out…' Luffy weakly thought as he kept punching..until he began to float down as he began to pass out.

'Luffy!' Franky mentally shouted...until he couldn't hold his breath in any longer as he began to float along the water.

'Damn it!' Grease complained as he held up his Twin Breaker and slotted a Bottle with a Rose on it.

=SINGLE=

He held it out as he fired out two vines which wrapped around Luffy and Franky, before pulling them closer.

'Good thing Sento let me take my pick of bottles before we started this stupid thing...but now I have to find a way out before all three of them drown! Crap! I can't hold them and punch at the same time either!'

'Gh...come on…' Sari thought as she struggled to stay conscious, managing to form her helmet over her head as she gasped out =Oh phew…! Got it in time…= she gasped out before moving off of Grease =I'll hold onto them the best I can. You focus on getting that door open!=

"?!" Grease tensed a that.

=Don't worry..I'll be okay..just enough until you get the door open a…= Sari began before something smacked into her face =Ahh! What…?!= she began as she took it off, only for her eyes to widen behind her helmet =...so that's how...Kazumi, change of planes! We're gonna let the water take us!=

"?" Grease looked at her and motioned to her head as if to ask if she was okay.

=Yes I'm alright! Just...just trust me!=

Grease took a moment before giving a thumbs up.

---

"...no…" Mai whispered as the group looked .

"...Yurusene…" Sanji whispered, his hands balling up into fist as hh glared at Tesoro, "You damn shitty bastard!" he snapped as he charged, jumping off the air a few times.

"Now, shall we enter the finale?!" Tesoro declared as many golden tendrils shot out of the moat surrounding them, the Casino King moving his hands as the tendrils shot towards Sanji and the others.

Sanji roared as he began kicking a few of the tendrils away, only to grunt out as one managed to pierce his armor, making him spit out a bit of blood before a tendril wrapped around him tight. The others tensed up before one by one, they were caught by the golden tendrils before they could do anything.

"Ahhahaha! Those are some nice expressions!" Tesoro laughed, noticing the panicked looks on some of their faces, "...wait…." he frowned when he noticed something, "...where…" he tensed up before quickly bringing up a golden wall to block Lambda's leg blade, the Murakumo unit decked out fully in her armor as her visor glowed in a way that promised death.

Lambda attempted to pull away before various golden tendrils grabbed onto her, another one taking one's place when one was sliced off by one of Lambda's blades.

"What kind of power…?" Tesoro blinked in surprise.

"Target...Tesoro…" Lambda whispered before her blades became blurs, slicing up the golden tendrils keeping her down, her gaze not once leaving Tesoro, "Response….termination."

"?!" Tesoro tensed as he quickly held his hand out just as Lambda charged, the gold on her body starting to form and spread all over.

"T...term..inate...Te...so...ro...taking...fr-" Lambda tried to get out until she was completely covered in gold.

"Lambda/La-chan!" the group gasped out.

"Tch...what was that just now?" Tesoro whispered as he tried to stay calm for the audience, '...I'll worry about it later,' he thought before looking back at the crowd, "Sorry about that, folks! Let us resume with the show as our special guest have front row seats…" he began as a pair of large golden arms came out of the wall near Rex and Zoro, grasping a pair of large axes, "For the final moments of their friends!"

"Oh come on...execution axe...what did you find a guillotine too tacky?!" Rex complained as the golden arms clanged the axes together.

"Give a huge round of applause for the dead!" Tesoro declared to the crowd, slowly raising his arm up as he began to point to the sky while the crowd cheered on, "Gold...Splash!"

A moment of silence passed before a geyser of gold sprayed out of the tower behind him, similar golden geysers spewing out of the towers surrounding the ship.

"Saraba, Mugiwara no ichimi…" Tesoro grinned, not once turning away from the golden geyser, "Now I win! This...is entertainment!" he declared as the arms prepared to slash the axes on Rex and Zoro, only to stop when the lights suddenly shut off around the entire ship, "?"

"What the hell?" Tanaka tensed as he and the rest of Tesoro's group looked around.

"...what is this?" Tesoro frowned, "What's going on?!" a chuckle got his attention, making him glare up at the heroes, "What's so funny?!"

"Tell me again...who was fooled?" Nami asked, a confident look on her face.

"Hah?!" Tanaka exclaimed at that.

"I'm fairly sure we pulled off the win here," Sento chuckled.

Tesoro raised a brow at that before a rumbling sound could be heard, making him and his crew look back at the tower...until a huge geyser of sea water began to shoot out, completely destroying the top as it began to rain down on the area.

"Ahh!" Tanaka yelped as he got splashed, "Th...this is….sea water…!" he realized as he collapsed.

"What?!" Tesoro's eyes widened at that.

"Tesoro-sama!" Dice shouted as he quickly got behind him, using his body as a shield to block the incoming water.

More and more geysers began to burst out of the towers surrounding the ship, pouring sea water all over it as the people looked on. Within a matter of moments, the gold binding the others began to dissipate and shatter off them, Lambda gasping out as she was free of her golden prison, staggering for a moment as the others landed. Rex and Zoro grunted as the crosses holding them up shattered, freeing them as they fell to the floor.

"HA!" Franky shouted as he jumped out of the now river of sea water, followed by Sari and Grease as the trio landed with the largest of them posing, "SUPER COMEBACK!"

=Told ya to trust me= Sari grinned at Grease as she dismissed her helmet.

"Hai hai…" Grease sighed, "AH!" He pulled on a vine and dragged out a bloated Luffy, "Luffy!"

"Ahh~" Luffy groaned out.

"Baka!" Grease snapped, stomping on his stomach to make him spit the water out, "You don't drink sea water!"

"You…" everyone looked over to see Tesoro walking over, Baccarat holding an umbrella above him, "What the hell..did you guys do?!"

"We knew you'd use your golden rain during the end of your little show," Nami stated before smirking, "We were told that...by Carina."

"What?!"

"Everything you saw was just an act," Carina stated as she walked over to the others, "We were just waiting for the right moment to strike."

"I have nothing to say. I'm honestly impressed by this plan," Sento admitted with a chuckle, "Normally it would be impossible to defeat you while the entire city is covered in gold. You thought we were after your money and gold? Nope…"

"The real treasure we were after...is the sea water," Nami added, "We were betting on Luffy...well, being Luffy and you heading out to deal with him yourself."

"Which happened to be Plan H," Sento stated with a grin, "The 'H' being hustle…"

"...wait. Is that why you guys were talking in private earlier today?!" Grease snapped.

"I quickly caught on when I saw that map while we were underwater," Sari pointed out, "I just didn't know how they were gonna get the sea water out, but when Franky began to mess with the pipes, it began to click."

"Luffy naturally didn't know any of that," Robin spoke.

"Then why leave me out?!" Grease demanded.

"Ryuga was supposed to tell you." Sento explained.

"Oops…" Ryuga muttered.

"Point is…" Sanji began as he lit a cigarette, "We don't have to play by your rules anymore…"

"Meaning we can fight back!" Chopper added.

"While making up our own rules," Usopp added with a grin.

"We're pirates afterall," Nami grinned.

"And we're just people passing by," Ben added before he and the others threw their disguises off, revealing them to be wearing all black outfits.

"We use force to take what we want, so we'll be taking our friends back!" Nami declared.

"You shouldn't have underestimated us," Jimbei added as Carrot and Brook stood ready.

"You…!" Tesoro growled.

"What's wrong?" Makoto smirked, pounding her gauntlets together as she had her Proto-Armor on, "Not getting mad, are ya?"

"Maybe less witty one liners...more kicking his golden butt!" Skurd complained, his body currently more gold than green, "I had to eat so much gold from the inner mechanisms!" he snapped.

"I tried to warn you," Gentoku spoke to Tesoroa, his SteamGun ready as he glared at him, "You'd lose the moment you'd mess with these kids. They turned a hopeless situation around…"

"And got us…" Rex grunted as he and Zoro got up, the latter wrapping a dark green-black bandana on his head as the two moved next to Lambda, "Out, so get ready for a beat down, ya gold loving lunatic."

"...What hope?" Tesoro whispered, memories flashing in his mind as his hands slowly began to ball up into fist, "What despair?" he began to pant out as the memories kept playing...being yelled at by his mother because they were poor, laundering money and getting beaten up by scalpers and thugs...meeting Stella and promising he'll buy her freedom, only for a Celestial Dragon to buy her and brand him as a slave, "...In front of me….in front of me…! In front...of me…!"

"T-Tesoro-sama?" Baccarat whispered in worry.

"...uh oh," Noel whispered in worry, "I think...we just triggered some memories in him…"

"Oh no…" Skurd spoke, "He...has his own tragedy…"

"Wh…" Luffy began just as Sari helped him up.

"DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT ME!" Tesoro roared as he slammed a fist into the ground, cracking burying his hand in it in the process, "GOLDEN...TESORO!"

A moment passed before the area began to rumble, followed by several explosions going off around the ship as the main tower began to crumble away. Suddenly massive waves of gold burst out of the water as they began to form, engulfing the crowds of people in the stands.

"Who gives a damn if you won...who gives a damn if you broke my curse?!" Tesoro snapped, "If you broke it, I'll cast it again!"

"What the heck!?" Ben groaned, "Skurd, what did you mean?"

"Exactly what I meant! His own tragedy! He's not evil for the sake of evil...he's a good man that has been broken by the world's cruelty!" Skurd declared, "That's far more dangerous...he's evil to control the world so he won't suffer! We made him suffer flashbacks! In your terms; we tripped the secret flag that makes the boss fight start in his second stage with full health!"

"...oh crap baskets," most of those in the Omniteam paled at that as the gold started getting near them.

"Shit! We gotta get out of here!" Franky cursed as Luffy, Zoro and Brook got onto his back, "Coup de…Boo!"

"Move!" Ben panicked, quickly activating the Omnitrix as he pressed down on it, transforming him into Jetray as Makoto grabbed onto him.

Just as he took off, Lambda and Rex began to follow as they held up Jimbei with Noel, Carrot, Bluey, Bobo and Mai holding onto him. Three more flashes went off as Build and the others Riders jumped after them, Sari and Robin-who had a pair of wings on her back made by a multitude of her hands- flew after them with the latter carrying Usopp and Chopper while the former carried Rook and Naoto. Lastly Sanji jumped after them while carrying Nami and Carina, trying his best to stay focused on fleeing and not the two beautiful ladies on him.

"Everything in this city is mine to control!" Tesoro declared as he rose his arms up in the air, "And I decide what is funny!" he shouted as the golden waves engulfed him and his crew.

"Okay...we really ticked him off...and that has to be bad…" Jetray muttered.

"Yes...yes it is," Makoto nodded.

"This guy's insane," Franky whispered as the group landed near a broken bridge down below.

Luffy said nothing as he began to walk to the edge of the bridge, looking down on the water. The area then began to rumble a bit, causing everyone to nearly lose their footing.

"Nani? Wh-ahh!" Nami yelped as she nearly lost her footing.

"Alright...let's commence the greatest show!" Tesoro's voice declared as a giant, golden hand with neon pink lines on it grabbed onto the bridge.

Everyone tensed up as a giant, golden golem pulled itself out of the water, the golem taking the appearance of a shirtless Tesoro, neon pink line going along its muscles as it had a small window right above its pecs. The group minus Luffy ran back just as the golem stomped its foot onto land, barely missing the rubberman as the golem was now towering over everyone.

"You brats understand now?" Tesoro's voice questioned form inside the golem, "To me, everyone in this entire world...no. All of you people are nothing but trash to be ruled over! This is the form of a god!"

"Well...that's different…" Jetray muttered, "Uh...run?"

"No!" Luffy snapped as he lowered his fist onto the ground, steam coming off his body as he glared up at the golden giant, "Tesoro, I already told you we won't be controlled!" he roared as he shot up high into the air, "Gear Third! Gomu Gomu no…!" he began as he enlarged hist fist, coating it in Haki as he threw it at the golden giant, "Elephant Gun!"

"Don't get so cocky!" Tesoro argued as his golem reeled its fist back until a golden gauntlet formed around it, the golden giant throwing a straight punch as its fist clashed with Luffy's, who struggled to push back until he was sent flying far back and away from the others.

"Luffy!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Well...that happened…" Cross-Z muttered.

"The sheer size and weight of that construct...its not gonna be easy to topple." Build added.

"So...a giant robot made of gold...and empowered by magic...is not a good time to rework my will?" Grease asked.

"Not the time…"

"What...it felt fitting…" Grease argued.

"Tch…" Zoro growled out as he glared at the golden giant, only to tense up as he quickly turned to block a pair of golden axes from Dice, who was now decked out in golden armor, "You again…!"

"Not bad!" Dice grinned as his axes were deflected by Zoro's swords, "Nice!"

"Oh right...his men," Naoto muttered.

"Only now decked in golden armor," Mai added.

"Tsurururu~!" the group turned to look up, seeing Tanaka looking down at them from the roof while decked out in full gold armor with the helmet sporting a pair of curved horns, "This isn't ordinary armor...this Gold Armor was created by Master Tesoro's powers."

"Gold Armor?" Usopp repeated before a swirl of gold appeared near the Strawhats.

"Meaning…" Baccarat's voice began as the gold dissipated, revealing her to be wearing golden armor as well while brandishing a sword, "We've powered up exceptionally!"

"I question the logic of it...but I forget that's not really how things work!" Makoto complained.

"Ha ha….you guys want money, right?" Tesoro questioned as a group of his men ran into the area, wielding various guns and swords, "I will give special gold to whoever brings me the heads of my enemies!"

"Oh come on!" Naoto complained.

"..oi!" Zoro shouted to Jetray and the others, "You guys go look for Luffy! We'll hold them off!"

"If anyone has the crazy power to put that thing down, its Luffy...or Waybig." Makoto spoke up, "Not our world, so may as well leave things to happen as they should."

"Good point," Jetray nodded as he changed back into Ben.

"We're heading off too, teria!" Carrot added as she and Jimbei ran up to the group.

"It'll work best if we split up to cover more ground," Jimbei suggested.

"Got it!" Ben nodded as he and the others ran off, leaving the rest of the Strawhats to deal with Tesoro and his army.

"Come! Earn your place...as my loyal servants!" Tesoro declared as the golden giant rose one of its hands, its fingers shooting out like tendrils as they began to slam the floor around the Strawhats.

---

"He couldn't have gotten far," Mai whispered as she, Sari and Rook ran down the dark streets to look for Luffy, "...Then again he was sent flying by a giant golden golem that easily overpowered his punch."

"It is best i-" Rook began before he skidded to a halt.

"Eh? Rook, what's up?" Sari asked as she and Mai stopped to look back at him.

"..." Rook frowned a bit as he brought his Proto-Tool out, "Okay...reveal yourself."

"...hmph. You have quite the eye on you," a female voice spoke up, making both Mai and Sari tense up a bit as a slim woman with strawberry-blond hair stepped out of an alleyway, adjusting the glasses on her face as she wore a long-sleeved short-white dress akin to a business suit with a fishnet mesh covering yet showing a generous amount of her cleavage.

"...oh great. Another of Tesoro's lackies?" Sari groaned as she brought her sword and shield out.

"Wrong. I am Kalifa, a member of CP0," the woman stated, making Rook tense up at the name as he recalled what Makoto told him, "And as it stands...you and your friends are wanted by the World Government."

"What did we do?" Mai asked, "We never broke any law but Tesoro's!"

"An informant told us that you were seen assaulting a Celestial Dragon," Kalifa countered, "And that's not counting the verbal attack your little simian pet gave another when he wanted to make him his pet."

"Dang it, Bobo!" Sari snapped.

"Well...I am sad to say we can't agree with such laws." Rook spoke, "The right thing here is to help Luffy and his companions defeat Tesoro. But given who you work for, you do not care for the right thing, do you?"

"You just scream evil…" Mai sighed, 'And me without my spear…'

"So sorry, lady...world government or not, we're not letting you arrest us," Sari countered as she stood ready.

"...hm," Kalifa smirked a bit as she got into a stance, "Who says you're being arrested?" she questioned before she vanished from sight.

"?! Wh-" Mai began before she cried out, Kalifa standing before her as her finger was stabbed into the bluenette's shoulder.

"Shigan," Kalifa said before she vanished once more when Rook tried to fire a shot at her, "Soru!"

"Yep...totally evil…" Mai cringed as she held her bleeding shoulder, "And with freaky powers to…"

"Mai, you run on ahead," Rook spoke as he converted Proto-Tool into its tonfa form, "Sari and I will hold this woman off while you search for our friend."

"And like heck we're letting her get the better of us," Sari added as she stood ready.

"...sorry, but…" Mai pushed, looking around quickly before she moved over to the sidewalk and grab a long metal pipe, "I'm not backing out of this. Even if I ran, she'd just end up catching me with her powers anyway."

"Smart girl, but…" Kalifa began before rubbing one of her hands across her arms, causing bubbles to come out of it, "You've yet to see what CP0 is capable of."

"Forgive us...if we have heard lines like that before." Rook countered.

---

"Grr...not here either," Jimbei frowned as he and Grease stood around a plaza with a large water fountain, "Where could Luffy have gone?"

"An idiot like that must have bounced around a few times!" Grease complained, "He better not have bounced off the island…"

"Hopefully n-" Jimbei began before a loud splash caught his and Grease's attention, making them turn towards the fountain.

"Yoyoi~! I...have found...the enemy~!" a figure dramatically declared as they hopped out of the water, striking a pose as they flipped their long mane-like pink hair around. The figure was a very tall man with white face paint on his face while one of his eyes remained shut, giving him the appearance of a kabuki player while holding a monk's staff in his hand.

"...who's this weirdo?" Grease bluntly asked, making the man nearly lose his footing.

"How~ Dare you, sir~!" the man dramatically declared, "I am no weirdo! I am the mighty lion of CP0~!" he shouted as he struck another pose, "Kumadori, sanjou~!"

"..not good," Jimbei frowned as he quickly got into a defensive stance, "To think we'd run into CP0 here…"

"And by the decree of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons…!" Kumadori paused, swinging his hair around in a dramatic manner before he posed once more, "You and your comrades...are hereby sentenced to death! Yoyoi~!"

"Baka mitai…" Grease muttered.

"Don't let your guard down," Jimbei advised, his gaze not once turning away from Kumadori, "He wouldn't be a member of CP0 for nothing."

"He just comes off as an idiot compared to the monsters I've had to fight." Grease replied, "But fine, if you're some big shot assassin…" Grease leaned his head to pop his neck, "Lets see if you can ignite my passion?"

"Yoyoi~! I will do more than that~!" Kumadori declared, swinging his staff around before holding it like a pool cue, "Shigan...Que!"

"Wh-" Grease began before he grunted out when Kumadori's staff jabbed him in the gut, sending him skidding back a few feet as he nearly crashed into the wall.

"Huh?" he blinked, seeing no damage to Grease's armor, "What in the…"

"This armor can't be damaged by such a soft attack!" Grease chuckled, "But...I felt it...congrats...you ignited it…" he flexed his fingers to crack his knuckles, "YOU IGNITED THE FIRE IN MY HEART! LET'S START THE FESTIVAL!-!-!-!"

"Ah...so you hide one of those personas within a calmer mind." Jimbei noted, "You awoke a battle maniac it seems. One who loves endless conflict and battle." he stated as he turned to Kumadori, "In simpler terms…"

Grease roared as he punched the ground, causing it to crack and buckle in a path towards Kumadori till it shattered around him and launched him back a bit, "Ya done goofed~!"

"Gh….fine," Kumadori growled as he got up, "If it is a fight you want…" Kumadori began, hopping on one foot as he swung his hair around once, "I shall provide it to you~!"

"Then you better be able to take a freakin punch~!" Grease shouted.

---

"Luffy-san! Luffy-san!" Noel called out as she and Makoto looked around a fairly large park-like area, "Mmm...where could he be?"

"I don't know...normally he gets up after a while, typically a chapter or two. Sometimes more depending on how bad he got conked out…" Makoto muttered, "Guess that punch sent him further than we thought…"

"Oh dear...I hope h-" Noel began.

"Heh...well this is good timing," a voice spoke, making the two turned to see a figure leaning against a tree, "You seem like cute girls, but…" the figure paused as they stepped out into the moon light, revealing himself to be the man Rook encountered last night, "I have my orders."

"...Oh crap it's Jabra," Makoto whispered in worry, "...Oh crap, we're wanted by the World Government."

"Eh?" Noel blinked in surprise at that.

"Because of what we did to that Celestial Dragon...and probably thanks to Bobo pissing one off, we're now targets of CP0," Makoto quietly explained to Noel.

"...EH?!" Noel gawked at that before looking at Jabra, "B-but we didn't do anything wrong!"

"Sorry, don't care," Jabra stated with a cold, bloodthirsty grin, "Whatever the Celestial Dragons says happens, and you two gals are in deep shit...but I'm willing to look the other way...if you stand down and tell me where Strawhat or his crew are."

"I mean…" Makoto motioned to the giant golden Tesoro in the distance, "If that's not a give away...you kinda suck at your job…"

"I mean...it's not untrue…" Noel muttered, looking back at that sight.

"Bet you the cat guy figured that out…" Makoto muttered before tensing, "Crap! Cat guy!"

"Eh?"

"He's the strongest member of CP0 and it took everything Luffy had to defeat him," Makoto whispered to Noel, "And right behind him is a guy who can transform into a humanoid Giraffe, and behind him..." she paused while using her tail to point at Jabra.

"...so he's the third strongest?" Noel questioned.

"Eh. More or less," Makoto shrugged.

"A….am I being ignored?" Jabra whispered, his eyes blinking a bit in disbelief as he looked at the two girls talking, "..grr! Oi, you stupid bitches! Take this seriously!"

"We're kinda panicking cause the stronger guys are out there at the moment!" Makoto snapped right back at Jabra, making him lose balance and almost fall over.

"Ooh...I think you got more intimidating here…" Noel noted.

"And I am loving i-" Makoto began before a large shadow loomed over them, "...Noellie?"

"Hai?"

"Did he just change into a large humanoid wolf with razor sharp claws, teeth, and looks like he'll eat us in one bite?"

"Hai…"

"...mmm~" Makoto whimpered as she slowly looked up, seeing Jabra towering over her and Noel as he took the form of a large, humanoid wolf, "And yet the snout is still so cartoony…" she quickly grabbed Noel and jumped back before a palm strike hit the ground.

"It does look rather...cartoon-like…" Noel noted, "It almost ruins the intimidation factor…"

"Are you still mocking me?! How are you not grasping that you are in danger?!" Jabra snapped.

"We're always in danger…" both girls replied.

"What kind of response is that?!" Jabra snapped with blank eyes and razor sharp teeth.

"Ha!" Makoto cut him off as she punched and blasted him with an electric fist that sent him flying back.

"Nani kore!?" Jabra snapped sitting up, "How did you punch me from over there?! Maska! You know some strange form of Rokushiki like Lucci!?"

"No. I just punch really good," Makoto quipped with a grin.

"Grr! Ranky-!" Jabra began before a energy bullet hit him in the chest, "Gh!"

"Gomen, but we're not letting you take us," Noel apologized, spinning Bolverk for a moment as she took aim at him.

"What is wrong with women!?"

"We don't like lines like that!" Both girls complained as they blasted him at the same time, sending him through a wall.

"What did I just get myself mixed up into…?" Jabra groaned from inside the hole.

---

"...quiet. Too quiet," Lambda whispered, her and Rogue standing inside a darkened hotel lobby, "...no detecting of Monkey D. Luffy."

"Dayo-ne…" Rogue muttered, "Where did that idiot land…" he sighed while walking forward, "Things have just been getting stranger and stranger. I've even felt a creepy chill the entire time we've been here...but that might just be Tesoro's elaborate security."

"...lifesign detected above us," Lambda spoke, her visor flashing a bit as she looked up, "...zipper?"

"Hmm?" Rogue blinked before his helmet as he looked up, seeing the faint image of a large, round and circular man in a white suit...and a large zipper lining his lips as he looked down at that, "...What the…?"

"Mmm…" the man began as he unzipped his mouth, "Chapapa. It seems I have been found by the wanted criminals."

"..wanted?" Lambda repeated.

"We found out you attacked a Celestial Dragon and that your pet insulted one to the point it angered him," the man stated, "My order is to terminate you both, chapapa."

"Hentai ka…?" Rogue asked.

"Chapa?" the man blinked at that, "..Ie! Fukuro da!"

"Fukuro?" Rogue and Lambda tilted their heads as they pictured an Owl, before looking at eachother then back to him, "Eh?"

"No matter how you look at it...it's a frog…" Rogue muttered to Lambda.

"Correction: Toad…" she muttered.

"...huh. You're right. He's as fat as a toad."

"Akuma no mi?" Lambda guessed.

"It has to be...no human could naturally look like that…" Rogue agreed.

"OI!" Fukuro snapped.

"It's still so surreal…" Rogue muttered, "What do we do with it?"

"Kimochi…" Lambda muttered.

"Sh-should I just hit it?" Rogue asked.

"Possibly...though there is chance he has something to block or dodge it," Lambda stated.

"Well what do we do with it then?" Rogue asked.

"Sound argument." she nodded.

"Why are you talking like this!? Do you not grasp the situation, chapa!?" Fukuro snapped only to tense as Rogue shot at him.

"Sir...we are having a conversation," Rogue complained, "Some people...so rude…"

"Very rude," Lambda agreed.

"Geppou!" Fukuro shouted as he jumped up, hopping in the air before shooting at them, "Jugon!"

Rogue sidestepped in front of Lambda and let the attack hit him...to almost no effect. He blinked a few times behind his mask.

"I felt that...ow…" he said in a neutral, bored tone.

"Chapa!?" Fukuro gawked before the side of his face was hit by Lambda's Ancient Flail, sending him flying back as he bounced off the wall, "Chapa!"

"Huh...he bounces…" Rogue muttered.

"...He will pursue us no matter how much we send him back," Lambda informed as she looked at Rogue, "Suggestion...we team up and force him into unconsciousness."

"Ah," Rogue nodded.

"Understood. Initiating enemy target."

"Ch-" Fukuro began before Lambda smacked him aside with one of her flails, "Fugeh!"

"Forgive us. You might just be working, but we got more important things to do!" Rogue shouted as he clapped his hands together and grasped them before swinging them down like a hammer to Fukuro's head.

"Chapa!"

---

"...Ok. I swear we ran through this way," Naoto whispered as he, Rex, and Cross-Z ran through a series of restaurants.

"Don't tell me we're going in a circle," Rex groaned.

"Oi, what the hell did you two do?" Cross-Z asked.

"We were following you," Naoto replied.

"Hah!? But I was following you!" Cross-Z argued, pointing at Naoto.

"Eh?! But we were following...wait…" Naoto blinked as he looked at Rex, "Were we?"

"No...It's like someone's messing with the doors or something," Rex muttered.

"Don't look at me," Cross-Z spoke, "I have a Lock FullBottle and my Dragon FullBottle, not a Door FullBottle. I don't even know if there is one."

"...wait….doors…" Naoto whispered as it began to dawn on him, "...we're trapped by a Devil Fruit User…"

"Hm...so someone finally saw through it," a new voice spoke, making the three tense up as a tall, semi-tan skinned man in a white suit seemingly walked out of the air, his hair done up to resemble bull horns.

"What the heck asshole!?" Crosso-Z snapped, "Whats the big idea here?! You want your ass kicked or something for messing with us!?"

"My name is Blueno of CP-0, and I've been tasked with something important," the man stated as he pointed at the three, "The termination of you three and your comrades for assaulting a Celestial Dragon, and for your pet's rather...colorful words to one."

"Ah go screw yourself. We got shit more important to deal with then some brats tantrum to his overpaid bodyguard with a stupid haircut." Cross-Z complained.

"Mmm…" Blueno frowned a bit at that, "You do realize that defying the Celestial Dragons marks you for death, correct?"

"You realize you look stupid?" Cross-Z kept antagonizing.

"Eh...we've all done worse." Rex argued, "Heck...we've taken worse…"

"Not even that much of an issue given our last adventure and how much we almost died there…" Naoto muttered with a shrug.

"...fine. Then I'll cut it short and terminate you now," Blueno stated as he reeled his leg back, "Rankyaku!"

"Oh geez!" Naoto and Rex yelped as they and Cross-Z jumped back from cutting wave created by BLuno's kick.

"Nanda?" Cross-Z blinked looking at the damage he did, "Oi...what was that some kind of Devil Fruit thing like the doors?!"

"No, that's Rokushiki," Naoto explained, "It's a fighting style that turns your body in a dangerous weapon with your fingers able to be bullets, kicks strong enough to make blades of air or let you 'fly' in the air, and make your body tougher than a barrage of cannonballs."

"Soka...waza ka…" Cross-Z muttered as he lifted his leg up, making them all blink, before he swung his leg and fired the exact same cutting wave as Blueno did, making him gawk and jump out of the way, "Like that?"

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Naoto gawked.

"Amigo, that was awesome!" Rex awed.

"That...That was the first time you saw the move…" Blueno awed.

"Fighting is the only thing I'm good at," Cross-Z spoke, "If I don't learn new ways to fight, then I can't survive!"

"Gh!" Blueno tensed, starting to sweat, 'This man...He's like Monkey D. Luffy and mastering Soru after just watching me use it…Why do I always get the dangerous ones?'

"So we just do this...and then I add some of my own style…" Cross-Z muttered as his leg ignited with blue flames, "HA!" he roared, swinging his leg as he fired out a cutting wave made of blue flames which exploded after Blueno jumped over it, "Soka...I still can't get the timing right…"

"That...was missed timing?" Naoto asked.

"Yup."

"TCh...I need to play smart here," Bluno whispered as he gripped the air, causing it to open up like an actual door, "Air Door!"

"Oi! Hikyo da!" Cross-Z complained, he looked around with a grunt, before stopping, 'Dirty tricks...ah I get it…' he suddenly turned around just as the Air Door opened behind him, "There you are!" he punched just as Blueno was able to lean back to avoid a direct hit.

"...Oh I already know where this is heading," Rex whispered just as an Air Door opened near him, making him jump back from Bluno jabbing his finger at him, "Ahh!"

"Don't let him touch you!" Naoto warned, "He can…" two tiny Air Doors appeared behind him and grabbed his head, "Oh no." the hands twisted...and the middle of Naoto's head began to spin around like it was on a pole, "Gyahahahahaha~!"

"GAH!" Cross-Z and Rex yelped as Naoto grabbed his spinning section and stopped the spinning.

"That...He can do that…" Naoto groaned, stumbling a little, "Ugh...He turned part of me into a 'door' and now I get why Luffy was so dizzy when he fought this guy. He spun the part of my brain in that 'door' too…"

"Seriously!?" Cross-Z gawked.

"Okay...No underestimating this guy," Rex ordered.

"Agreed," Naoto muttered as he and Cross-Z stood ready.

---

"Hmm...He's not this way," Carrot whispered as she and Ben stopped around a fairly large garden-like area.

"Really wish he dropped something in his 'flight,'" Ben noted, "I could go Wildmutt or Blitzwolfer to follow him by scent."

"Hm?" Carrot tilted her head, "Wildmutt? Blitzwolfer?"

"They're names of some of the forms I take," Ben explained, "I've got almost a hundred unlocked."

"Ohh~ Sugei~" Carrot awed at that, "...ne, Ben-san? Can you...become a Mink?"

"Maybe," Ben replied, "All it takes is a sample from another race for me to get a form based on them."

"Sample?" she tilted her head.

"The device needs to 'taste' a being to become them," Skurd explained, "Though whether or not Ben can actually become it after...is a small chance…"

"...And how do you get a sample?" Carrot pondered.

"Well th-" Ben began before tensing up, "Look out!"

"Eh?" Carrot blinked before Ben tackled her over, causing a Rankyaku cutting wave to miss her, "Ah!"

"Ahh….missed," a new voice spoke up, making the two shoot up to see who had said that.

Walking slowly into the area was a rather slim man in a white suit with a full circular collar surrounding his neck, a white furred hat on top of his head as he sported a long square-shaped nose.

"My word...Usopp, when did you get plastic surgery?" Skurd asked.

"...If you are referring to me as the Strawhats' Sniper, you're sadly mistaken," the man stated, "Also I overheard what the young man said...that type of power is a dangerous thing to have. Makes my mission from the Celestial Dragons all the more important..."

"Oh wait…" Ben muttered, "I know you...you're the guy Zoro beat up."

"...Yes. That….was not one of my better days," the man muttered, "Still, it doesn't change the fact...that I'll have to kill you."

"And that's Line 37 of the one hundred variations of folks saying they'll kill me," Ben sighed.

"So you're used to this..good. We can get the pleasantries out of the way," the man stated.

"Just so you know, I know this is your job...but this still feels personal." Ben sighed once more, "Is this the part where you pull out two swords but say you use four?"

"Well now that's just unfair...you seem to know all about me...you must have spoken a lot with the Strawhats…" he chuckled awkwardly, "Meanwhile I've only heard about your power...and have yet to see it."

"If it's a fight you want..." Skurd spoke as Ben slapped the Omnitrix turning him into Heatblast, "Then we are happy to oblige!"

"We're in for a big fight, aren't we-teria?" Carrot asked as she pulled out a pair of gloves resembling rabbit paws with claw-like knives on the fingers and put them on.

"Eeyup," Heatblast sighed as he formed a pair of fireballs in his hands.

"What kind of power is this now...it's almost like the Mera-Mera no Mi…" the man awed, "But his body looks like magma…"

"Heads up!"

"Soru!" the man shouted as he became a blur to dodge the fireballs, "Interesting…I may need to play it safe."

"Hey, if ya can't handle the heat, get off the ship," Heatblast advised.

---

"Gh...can't...move…!" Luffy grunted as he was tied up in a spiked chain, "I'm losing strength."

"Tehaha!" a voice laughed, making Luffy look up to see a masked man in a white suit approaching him, "You let your guard down! That's a special spiked chain made of Sea Prism Stone! Mugiwara...I'm paying you back for what happened on Enies Lobby right here!"

"You…" Luffy began in a growl, "Who the hell are you?!"

"EH?!" the masked man gawked...before growling as he pulled out a sword with the guard sporting a pair of elephant tusk, "Fine...I'll force you to remember!"

"GH!" Luffy tensed as the man began to bring the sword down, only for a young kid to come running in and deflect the sword with a metal pipe, "?!"

"Eh?!" the masked man gawked as he staggered back a bit, quickly recovering to glare at the kid, "Who the hell's this brat?!"

"Omae…" Luffy began.

"I've….decided…" the kid grunted as he began to force himself off the ground, "I won't...give up! I've decided...to fight." he whispered as he gripped the ground, ignoring the pain in his body as he shot a determined look at Luffy "After all, I…like being free!"

"...heh heh heh…." Luffy chuckled at that, "Well said!"

"Like I care!" the masked man snapped before pointing at the main fight going down in the center of the city as a large group of Tesoro's men came charging into the area, "You see that?! As if any of you stand a chance of beating this huge army!" he declared before shooting a grin at the kid, "Listen brat! Authority is the only thing worth a damn in this world! Gyahahaha!"

"Hmm...is that so?"

"YES! I…" The masked man began before blinking, slowly turning his head to see Build standing there.

"Shoo…" he slapped the masked man, sending him through several walls, "Wow...he's so dainty…" he muttered as he walked over and grabbed Luffy by his face.

"AH! What are you doing?!" he asked as Build yanked on his head, his neck stretching until the rest of his body caught up, rubble sent flying as a result.

"Freeing you," Build replied simply, "You're the man who's going to be the pirate king, right?" he asked, "Unless you want to get buried again and do it yourself?"

"Eh?! Hell no!" Luffy snapped as two of Tesoro's men came running at him.

"Hm...he was wrong anyway," Raise Max's voice spoke up as he walked in, two more men rushing past him as they knocked Tesoro's men away.

"Ossan!" Luffy and the kid gasped.

"Hey kid!" Raise Max called out to the kid, "Let me in on that bet! We're definitely gonna win this gamble! Have faith...I'm the legendary gambler, Raise Max! So..." he began as he held up the iron pip in his hand, a group of men standing with him as they wielded similar weapons, "LEt's fight 'till we're free, men!"

"HAI!"

"You go on ahead, Luffy," Build spoke to the rubberman, "Your fight is with Tesoro...you are the man who proudly claims he'll be King of the Pirates. It should be the future king to win this fight."

"...Hmm!" Luffy nodded in agreement before he rushed off, his gaze set on the Golden Giant in the distance while knocking a few of Tesoro's men aside.

"...Alright, boys…" Build began as he looked at the grunts surrounding him, "Let's begin the experiment…"

---

"GH…!" Bobo growled as he shot at the night sky, trying to hit a figure as it flew by, "I don't believe dis...first I lose track of da emotionless Doll's blue bunny. And now I'm struggling with a freakin' pigeon of all things!" he rolled out of the way of a pressurized blade of air, "And one dat knows how ta do that…I was lovin' dis here world at first and now I hates it. Why do places wit' casinos always make me hate 'em in da end?"

A small pidgeon, wearing a white tie fitted for its small size, swooped at Bobo. The eyepatch and fedora-wearing simian rolled out of the way of the attack, quickly going back into the skies to avoid the unusual ammunition the simian fired. The pigeon knew its assignment from its master; subdue the animals for the Celestial Dragons and bring them to its master. The pigeon's body suddenly went flat like paper just as an apple hit where it had been. Filling out, the pigeon looked to see Bluey giving a nervous squeak almost akin to an awkward chuckle as he dropped another apple from the cart he was on. The pigeon swooped down at the Blupee, intent on striking beak-first. Bluey squeaked in fright before vanishing just before the pigeon was on him, causing the bird to ram into the cart, scattering apples everywhere. Bluey popped up behind Bobo's leg, peeking out at the pigeon that was struggling with an apple now stuck on its beak.

"Well dat happened…" Bobo noted, "He can't get a read on you huh Blue-ster…" Bluey shrugged, "Hmm...I gots an idea."

Bluey wasn't sure how to feel about that statement from Bobo Haha. The best his gut was telling him...he was going to need cuddles and lots of yummy carrots later.

"Hey, look at it like this: that stupid bird wants to take you away from the little lady. You gonna let him?" Bobo asked.

"!" Bluey tensed before fuming and shaking his head.

"Then one thing to do...beat up dat stupid bird!" Bobo declared.

Bluey let out a squeak of agreement while pumping a paw…before they ducked and a 'blade' of air cut the palm tree they were standing before down.

"...And not let dat happen to us," Bobo added, earning a frantic nod from a now frightened Bluey, "Okay Tweety, let's settle this! You think you're so tough huh!"

The Pigeon moved to attack but blinked, seeing Bluey vanish again. Concern growing over how it did that, he began looking around frantically. He then blinked seeing Bluey standing right next to him, the surprise making the Pigeon chirp and jump back and into a wall. He groaned as the small impact shook a loose brick...making it fall on his head. He grunted while pushing it off...only for another to fall shortly after. Bluey looked up in wonder at that stroke of luck. The Pigeon chirped in effort as he got free and shot the stink eye at Bluey, blaming him for that. He swung with his leg and fired another cutting air blast only for Bluey to jump over it. The Blupee's ears twitched as he suddenly took two steps to the left...and let another palm tree fall and slam onto the Pigeon who unknowingly cut it down.

Bluey tilted his head as the Pigeon was able to squeeze his head out and glared at the Blupee. Bluey's reply was to turn around and kick some dust into his face. The pigeon coughed as he was able to get free and blinked as Bluey walked over and handed him a length of rope, the pigeon taking it out of instinct...only for it to suddenly go taut...and yank him, away and through a pulley after something heavy was dropped by Bobo which he tied to the other end.

"And da folks back home question why I love watchin' dem old time cartoons," Bobo chuckled.

---

"Ahh~!" Mai yelped as she ended up slipping on the ground, her entire body so shiny and smooth...it appeared as if she was a bubble person, "Stupid soap...and did she really have to get so hands on?!"

"Ha!" Sari shouted as she sent her electrified shield at Kalifa, who seemed to rub her arm as her body flashed for a moment.

"Tekkai: Hansha-men," Kalifa whispered as Sari's shield bounced off her, making parts of it smooth and shiny as the redhead tried to catch it...only for it to slip out of her hand as it fell to the floor.

"How do you fight someone you can't even touch?" Sari asked, "She's so fast, and just a touch and we're done for."

"Hmm…" Rook muttered, "If what Ben told me is true...all of these abilities have a flaw…"

"Eh?" Sari and Mai blinked at that.

"Since she is able to make bubbles come off her body and ours, surely…" Rook paused as he looked around before stopping at a nearby fire hydrant, "We can wash those bubbles up with water." he rushed over as he looked it over, "I can work with this," he smirked as he scanned it real quick, "...Perfect. If I can…"

"Hitsuji Gumo...Relax Hour!"

"?!" Rook tensed as he quickly jumped away from a barrage of condensed soap bubbles, some hitting parts of his body as they became shiny and smooth.

"Do not think I'll let you do that," Kalifa stated as he was covered in a large mass of bubbles...so much it made her look like a sheep with her arms acting as a pair of horns.

"Why is it cute?" Mai asked.

"Seriously?" Sari deadpanned at that.

"Hitsuji Gumo...Tidal Wave!"

"Wh-Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Sari gawked as a tidal wave of bubbles headed towards her, Mai, and Rook.

"...May as well risk it," Rook whispered, using his good hand to lift up his Proto-Tool before pulling the trigger, causing a laser to fire right at the Fire Hydrant, causing a torrent of water to come shooting out as it doused an opening within the bubble tidal wave.

"Gh?!" Kalifa tensed as she jumped high into the air to avoid the stream of water, "Clever…"

"Oh finally…" Mai sighed in relief as she managed to stand up, the bluenette dripping wet from the water as Sari's shield and the parts of Rook's body that got hit earlier no longer had soap on them.

"So like normal bubbles, they can be dissolved by large quantities of water," Rook noted.

"Least we won't have to worry about getting cleaned now," Sari added as she picked her shield up, "Only problem left is that freaky kung-fu of hers."

"Rokushiki," Rook corrected.

"?" Kalifa raised a brow at that as she landed on a nearby rooftop to avoid the water, "How do you know that name?"

"I think you should keep a better eye on one of your teammates. He seems to embody the term 'Loose lips sink ships,'" Rook stated.

"...Damn it, Jabra," Kalifa frowned at that, adjusting her glasses a bit as a glare came off them, "Now I for certain can't let you three leave alive…"

"Yeah, well your soap is not gonna work on us anymore!" Sari countered as she pointed at her.

"Yes...but only if I'm near the water," Kalifa countered as the water began to die down, "And it seems you're starting to run low…"

"Maybe so," Rook replied as he grabbed his Proto-Tool and adjusted it, "But just imagine if you are having so much trouble with us, how much your comrades must be struggling against our stronger comrades?"

"What?"

"I am alright with saying I have friends many times more powerful than me. Even if you win here, your mission will fail." Rook smirked, adjusting parts seemingly at random with his Proto-Tool.

"Fail?" she repeated as she landed on a dry part of the ground.

"Just as you will here!" he shouted, slamming his Proto-Tool into the water covered ground, a sonic pulse going out and spraying it toward Kalifa and dousing her, removing her bubbles once again.

Rook grunted as he took this opening to rush forward. He reared his arm back as he began to concentrate. He grit his teeth as he tried to get it right again, just once, before his arm began to glow ever so faintly until it suddenly turned black. He grunted, swinging his fist and landing a clean blow to Kalifa's stomach. The blow was enough to knock the wind out of her and send her stumbling back, her foot stepping into a bit of water.

"Sari!" Rook shouted as a grappling hook shot from his armor and hoisted him up off the ground.

"Right!" Sari replied, quickly pointing at Kalifa and snapped her fingers.

*Snap! KRAKOOM!*

"...Not...again…" Kalifa wheezed out, her glasses fogged over as her entire body was darkened up, bits of electricity crackling off her as she fell to the ground.

"...Was that enough to take her down?" Mai asked, currently hanging off a lightpost to avoid the electricity from Sari's snap.

"It should. She was standing in water and got dealt with a literal thunderbolt," Sari pointed out as Rook lowered himself down, cautiously approaching Kalifa as he put his fingers on her neck.

"...She is okay, but she is currently knocked out," Rook replied as he looked up at the girls, "Way to go you two."

"Not sure why I'm getting praise, Rook...I barely fought before she rubbed soap all over my body," Mai muttered, 'I miss my spear already…'

"Yes, but if you had not been caught by her move, then we would not have figured out what else she was capable of," Rook stated.

"We all played a fair part in this win, but MVP goes to you Rook," Sari smiled, "Way to pull a Ben! You used talking to distract her."

"Well I have learned from the best," Rook nodded as he stood up, "Now come on. Let us go find our friend."

"Wait…" Mai spoke up as she pointed down at Kalifa, "What about her? She's gonna end up chasing after us."

"Well...what do we do with her? 'Cause I ain't carrying her…" Sari argued.

"I cannot arrest her and turn her to the government of this world. She is...well technically part of it," Rook muttered...before slapping a pair of cuffs on her arms and legs, "Just to be safe."

"I can live with it." Sari muttered.

"Same, let's go!" Mai stated as they began running again...unaware of Luffy running past the area.

---

"Yoyoi~! I...have you, Knight of the Sea Jimbei~!" Kumadori declared, his hair currently wrapped around Jimbei's fist as he reeled his staff back, "Now Shigan Cu-"

"ORA!" Grease shouted as he punched him across the face, causing his hair to go slack as it let go of Jimbei's fist, "Not enough! More! Excite me more! Power up! Fight me! Hit me! Get lost in the passion of the souls burning flames!" he shouted, punching Kumadori rapidly, his arms moving so fast it looked like he had dozens of arms "JOIN ME IN THE FESTIVAL OF BATTLE!"

"GH...S-Seimei Kikan!" Kumadori declared as his hair came to life once more, coating itself in Haki as it wrapped around Grease's arms and legs, "Yoyoi~! Got it…!"

"How naive!" Jimbei shouted, crossing his arms as he coated them in Haki, "You are fighting two warriors! Prepare to deflect attacks from two fronts!" He rushed forward with one arm raised back, he punched forward aimed at Kumadori's back, a ripple coming from the air where Jimbei's fist stopped, Kumadori grunted as the ripple spread across his back and to his entire body.

"Gh!" Grease's eyes lit up as he felt the hair loose its grip on his limbs. Once he felt his legs get free, he gripped the hair, and swung his arms up, pulling on Kumadori's hair, he twisted his body around before swinging his arms up again and lifting Kumadori up into the air, "If you can't ignite the flame anymore then this...then GET LOST!" he shouted as he began swinging him around.

"Yoi~! Getting...sick~!" Kumadori groaned out as Grease swung him faster and faster, his face slowly turning green, "Please...stop it...before I….hrk! BLECK!"

---

"Gh….damn that man…" the masked man grunted as he forced himself up off the ground, "When I find him and Strawhat, I am going to….wait. What's that coming at me? Is th-"

*SPLAT!*

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

---

"Oyasan! Coming at ya!" Grease shouted as he tossed Kumadori towards Jimbei.

"Samegawara…" Jimbei grunted, flexing his arm as he held it back, waiting for Kumadori to get closer for maximum damage, "SEIKEN!" he shouted, punching his fist as a powerful shockwave blasted out and into Kumadori, sending him flying off through a wall, and then several buildings.

"...whew. Nice punch," Grease noted as he gave a slow, impressed whistle while looking at the damage, "I doubt that kabuki freak is gonna wake up anytime soon."

"Hmph...with any luck, he won't be a problem anymore. We'd best find the others before more high ranked CP0 agents get to them." Jimbei nodded.

"Well that depends on if they ran into the wrong friends of mine…" Grease muttered.

---

"AH!" Jabra panicked as he was shot at again, "Why are you both so violent!?"

"Says the paid government assassin who can't handle his sake!" Makoto shouted, blindsiding him with an uppercut to his jaw, "When a creep corners a girl, they are within their right to defend themselves!"

"Also your animal form is creepy and not fluffy!" Noel added as she aimed and shot Jabra up several times, the barrage of bullets pinning him to a wall, "I really am not good at trash talking, so Makoto will do it from now on!"

"Oh!" Makoto cheered as she spun around before slamming her elbow into Jabra's chest, pushing him through the wall.

"What is it with smacking me into walls?" he groaned in pain.

"Duh. It's fun," Makoto argued before punching him back further into the wall, "Also because this is payback for trying to play wolf in sheep's clothing by claiming 'you're an old drinking buddy of my dad.'"

"I didn't follow that one…" Noel whispered to herself.

"Gh…" Jabra growled as he forced himself up, "Alright...in that case, I might as well cut the BS and take care of you girls...Tekkai Kenpo!" he roared as he shot past Makoto and ran towards Noel, his fist being coated in Haki before flashing for a moment, "Shin Okami Hajiki!"

"Ahh!" Noel yelped as she narrowly spun to the side, causing Jabra's fist to hit the wall behind her...before it completely exploded and collapsed from the blow alone, "?!"

"Oh right...they know Haki, too," Makoto whispered to herself.

"You're going to treat me like a jo-OH!" Jabra cried when Noel raised her leg and kicked him between his legs, "Ooooh…" he weakly howled in pain.

"Girls don't fight fair!" Noel spoke as she aimed right in his face.

"Meep…" Jabra blinked as he was blasted and sent flying back.

"Amazing! I didn't think you had that in you, Noellie~!" Makoto cheered.

"To be honest, I was scared and went with the first thing that popped into my head, and I remembered all boys have a universal weak spot," Noel explained.

"Cheap...shot…~!" Jabra squeaked out, "I should've gone...after...the bunny instead…"

"WHAT?!" Noel snapped as she reconfigured Bolverk into its missile launcher form, "HANDS OFF BLUEY AND CARROT!"

"Kinda want to put her in a red hood now…" Makoto whispered to herself, "She's adorable enough to pass off as a Red Riding Hood..."

"Wait...guns can do that?! AH! You have an ability based on guns?!" Jabra panicked.

"Shinei…" Noel replied as she opened fire.

"AH!" Jabra panicked as missiles bombarded the area around him and tossed him around like a ragdoll, "Fuck this shit! I'm out of here!" he snapped as he landed, quickly shooting up as he ran off...just as a missile began to fly after him.

"It's rude to run out on a lady!" Build shouted as he kicked Jabra across the face, causing him to flip around in place...and letting the missile crash into him, allowing it to explode and blast him off into the distance.

"Hey look at that Noellie, you did a Team Rocket on him," Makoto awed.

"And he better not come back either," Noel huffed as Bolverk changed back to its normal twin gun form.

"Found you," Build smiled, landing before them, "I stole something you might take better care of then its previous owner." he explained while holding up Spandam's sword.

"...Wore a mask over his face? Looked like a total buttmonkey that practically asks for an asswhooping?" Makoto guessed.

"Exactly," Build smiled, handing it to Noel, "You seem like the kind to enjoy new pets."

"Eh? Pets?" Noel repeated, looking at the sword.

"If I remember right, the name is Funkfreed," Makoto recalled, "And he likes a lot of fruit."

"Eh? Funkfreed?" Noel repeated before yelping when the sword suddenly came to life, making her drop it as it changed into a large elephant, "Oh!"

"You'll probably take better care of him then the last owner. Plus I think he's already warming up to you," Build chuckled.

"Wh-eep!" Noel yelped as Funkfreed picked her up with his trunk and placed her on top of his back.

"So cool!" Makoto awed with sparkling eyes, "Did you get me anything?"

"Sorry, no time to find an Alpaca bazooka…" Build joked.

"Aww nuts," Makoto pouted.

"'Sides I have to get going," Build explained, his voice much more stern than normal, "Something tripped an alarm back at our place...I think someone followed us. Dimension wise."

"...eh? Someone...followed us?" Noel blinked.

"You think it might be Professor Paradox?" Makoto pondered.

"I can't say, but I need to check it out. Luffy is already back in the fight, so you should go find and help the others if CP0 is tracking us all down." Build ordered.

"...Understood," Makoto nodded as she jumped up on Funkfreed's back, "Ike, Noellie! Funky!" she rubbed her chin, "Oh! Since we're considered enemies of the World Government, then that means we're technically pirates, so...Let's swipe all the food we can while we're at it!"

"Eh?" Noel blinked, only for Funkfreed to trumpet in agreement, "Ah mou...outvoted…"

---

"...To the left," Lambda whispered as she and Rogue stood back to back, "He is attempting another Jougan."

"For such a chubby thing...he's deceptively fast…" he grumbled as he shot to the left, causing Fukuro to jump out of the way as he became a blur once more, "Maybe him having that owl-pun in his name is fitting."

"Agreed," Lambda whispered before tossing one of her flails to the side and struck Fukuro...or rather an afterimage of him as it faded, "...Proposal: one of us holds him down while the other goes in for the finishing move."

"Always wanted to do that to someone," Rogue chuckled, "You pin and I'll finish him off."

"Understood," Lambda nodded before she became a blur.

"GH! Te…!" Fukuro began before Lambda's flails wrapped around him, making him gag out as he was dragged down to the ground, "Gah!"

"Target bound," Lambda spoke as she looked up at Rogue, "Proceed to the next phase."

"Yosha!" Rogue declared before pushing down on his belt's lever.

=CRACK UP FINISH!=

"HA!" Rogue roared as the energy went into his fist, he rushed forward as he landed a punch to Fukuro's face.

"GURGH!" Fukuro gurgled behind the fist before he was sent rocketing off through several walls and into an abandoned car, causing it to flip in the air before crashing down on Fukuro, "Ugh…"

"Ah, that felt good. Haven't been able to check that off my mental list," Rogue chuckled darkly.

"List?"

"Ah, every blow done to me in prison that I'll do on my enemies," Rogue replied.

"Ahh...noted," Lambda noted before she heard the faint sounds of fighting and yelling going off, "...Luffy has encountered Tesoro."

"Then we can focus on finding our friends." Rogue nodded.

"Correct," Lambda nodded, dismissing her armor as the two began to run off.

---

"Ok...Starting to get annoyed here!" Cross-Z snapped as he, Rex, and Naoto were huddled up together.

"I'll say. They guy keeps going into the air through those stupid doors of his!" Rex added.

"We just gotta wait for the right moment is all," Naoto whispered as he looked around.

Blueno looked at the trio, standing before them as everything around him was tinted blue, 'These three have gotten me to a point like Monkey D. Luffy did two years ago...The biggest threat of the three is the one they call Cross-Z or Ryuga. He's copied over half of the Rokushiki from me just showing them off once. The next threat is Rex and his Ability of creating mechanical limbs over his own, each with its own abilities.' he looked at Naoto, 'But that one...hasn't shown much of what he can do. For all I know, he may be the biggest threat.'

"Dude's just staring at us...menacingly…" Rex muttered with his goggles down over his eyes.

"He must be trying to figure out how to beat us...and not let Ryuga copy another trick," Naoto figured.

"I'm 4 done, three to go!" Cross-Z declared.

'?! Th...They can see me?' Blueno thought in surprise.

"Yeah, it turns out my goggles can pick up his heat signature…" Rex muttered as he saw Blueno tense suddenly, "I really wish I learned that like...ten finger jabs ago."

"Those things do that!?" Cross-Z asked, "I've been sensing disturbances in the wind to find him. Man...you gotta remember stuff like that!"

"I just have a great sense of danger," Naoto muttered.

'The New World...is filled with monsters…they don't even seem to know Haki and are just fine...' Blueno thought to himself, 'If I don't stop them here...they could become even stronger...more so than Lucci even…'

"...He's gonna get desperate," Naoto whispered to Rex and Cross-Z, "...The moment he pops out, we go for a triple whammy."

"Gonna do that weird hair change?" Cross-Z asked.

"Heh...I say it's cool," Naoto smirked.

"I'll go high; you guys go low," Rex smirked.

"Okay," the other two gave a thumbs up.

'They are plotting something. If I can take a blow from one of them, that will give me the opening I need...I won't fail this time...My Tekkai Gou won't be broken!' "Air Door!"

As the door formed, Rex formed his Punk Busters and quickly shot up into the air. Cross-Z and Naoto jumped back and Blueno landed in front of them.

"Tekkai...GOU!" he roared as the two reared their arms back and seemed to charge them with energy. His body stiffened before it all flashed and his entire form was now coated in Haki.

"Ha!" Rex shouted as he spun around mid air and formed his Smack Hands, he reared one back as it began spinning at high speeds before he punched with his descent and slammed it into Blueno's back, sparks grinding off his back as he was pushed forward.

Cross-Z roared as his body was covered in an aura of blue fire, the flames condensing into his fight arm. Naoto grunted as his hair flashed colors with blood red energy forming around his left arm. The two roared as they punched just as Blueno got in close. The three punches all struck his hardened body, a small pulse from the impact going off. The three grunted as they put even more force into their punches. Eventually, something gave as Blueno coughed a bit of blood with his body suddenly going limp, and the Haki coating vanishing. The three boys roared as they swung their arms up and launched his now unconscious body high into the sky. After a few moments, his body fell down, crashing into the ground and burying him from the waist up into the ground with only his limp legs exposed.

"Finally…" Cross-Z sighed.

"Knocked...out…" Naoto panted a bit.

---

Heatblast grunted as he dodged out of the way of Kaku's kick as another lamppost was cut down. The two circled around before jumping back and launching another long range attack at the other resulting in their canceling each other out.

"You're no pro at fighting…" Kaku noted, fixing his hat, "But your mastery with those powers...rival even someone like the Fire Fist…"

"I've had a long time to practice. Let's call it...my first power," Heatblast smirked, raising his hand.

"A monster such as you one day becoming stronger... That is something I'm sure the World Government would fear," Kaku smirked.

"Contrary to what psycho's like you think...I fight to help people. A monster that saves people, and a killer who fights for justice. This world really doesn't make sense, huh?"

"Ah, true," Kaku chuckled, "But I suppose I've held back enough."

"Funny...I was thinking the same." Heatblast smiled.

Kaku tensed for a moment before narrowing his eyes. His body proceeded to increase in size as his skin began to be coated in a tiny coarse tan fur. His shoes were gone, replaced by brown hooves. A long tail ending in brown fur poked out of above his pants as his neck elongated with more hair going down the middle of it. His nose expanded, engulfing most of his face as two small stubby horns poked out of the top of his head beneath his hat while brown blotchy spots forms along his back, the back of his neck, and on his arms and legs.

"Now you deal with the full might of a giraffe!" Kaku declared.

"I can do that, too," Heatblast smiled, slapping the Omnitrix. The flash blinded Kaku for a moment before a shadow loomed over him, "Only mine is a dinosaur!" Humungousaur roared.

"Now you're like an Ancient Zoan?" he gasped.

"Ha!" Humungousaur roared as he punched Kaku, sending him stumbling back.

"And just as strong?!" he grunted, "Yes...you are one of a kind. I'm almost glad to fight something as dangerous as you." he swung his head around and used it like a whip to strike Humungousaur.

Kaku swung his neck back before thrusting his head forward nose first, his nose striking Humungousaur's stomach and making him grunt in pain as he was sent skidding back. Kaku clicked his tongue as he realized his skin was too strong to break with an attack like that. He thrust his head forward again, only to gasp as Humungousaur grabbed him by the neck.

"You forget...I ain't alone!" he grunted, keeping Kaku from pulling his head back.

"Wha-Gah!" he cried in pain when sharp claws slashed his back and sent electricity into his body at the same time.

"Hm!" Carrot grunted as she kicked off the ground, becoming a blur as she slashed at Kaku's back once more.

"And up you go!" Humungousaur grunted as he lifted Kaku up before slamming him back down into the ground. He let go of Kaku's neck before he patted his own elbow. He grinned before leaping into the air and letting gravity bring his massive frame elbow first down on Kaku's back.

"I'll give you...you are strong...but it will take more than strength to beat me!" Kaku grunted as he wrestled around with Humungousaur.

"Then why am I beating you?" he smirked.

"You are not!" Kaku grunted, kicking Humungousaur.

"I so am!" he growled, slapping Kaku with his tail.

"Not!" Kaku launched his nose at Humungousaurs shoulder.

"Am!" the Vaxasaurian replied with a haymaker to the face.

"Wow…" Carrot awed at the back and forth, "This feels like a normal afternoon back on Zou-teria."

"Oh for the love of…" Skurd groaned as he quickly enveloped Humungousaur's arm and covered it in Heatblast's skin so the next punch detonated with a fireball upon impact, blasting Kaku back and into a building.

"Hey...I had it…" Humungousaur complained.

"And I am helping end it," Skurd sighed, covering the other arm in Heatblast skin as well.

"You...you still had even more power?" Kaku asked as he forced himself out of the rubble, "Amazing…"

"I'm just a bag full of surprises," the Vaxasaurian chuckled, "Especially compared to a guy with that big of a nose."

"?!" Kaku tensed before narrowing his eyes.

"My boy, you are an adrenaline junkie," Skurd deadpanned, earning another grin from his partner as Kaku began to spin on one arm, "And what is he doing now?"

"Eh? Did Ben anger him on purpose?" Carrot blinked.

"Well, that kick of his is just him kicking so hard, he makes a blade from pressurized air," Humungousaur pointed out, "So if a leg makes that sharp of a 'blade'..."

"...Then what is a giraffe's neck capable of producing using that technique," Skurd realized.

"So you wanted me to use my strongest attack! You are either very brave or very stupid! But I will oblige you for angering me!" Kaku declared as he kept spinning.

"I'm just curious to see if I can do what Zoro did!" Humungousaur admitted, "I pride myself on being pretty strong!"

"Then let's put that strength to the test against my ultimate Rankyaku!" Kaku responded.

"You have a plan, right?!" Skurd panicked.

"Eh...I'll wing it," Humungousaur smirked, raising a hand to the Omnitrix, "Let's see what I get."

"Really?" Skurd realized his plan was to gamble on whatever form the Omnitrix gave him.

"Oh, this feels really bad," Carrot gulped as Humungousaur slapped his Omnitrix.

"Rankyaku…" Kaku intoned as he unleashed a massive circular slash of pressurized air, slicing through everything in its circular path, "AMANE DACHI!"

A green flash went off before something jumped over the air slash. Everyone waited as the attack went on for a while, slicing buildings and toppling them over. Carrot blinked, having ducked down at the last second, her hands going to the top of her head, checking if her ears were okay. She sighed, finding both perfectly fine. She looked around, gawking at the damage from that attack and the lack of Ben in his alien form.

"Ah! Where did he go?" Carrot asked as Kaku stood up fully and looked around.

"Masaka…" Kaku gasped, looking around.

"Not...what I was expecting…" a gruff voice somewhat like Ben's normal one spoke.

"Honestly...I expected a cool looking bunny man…" Skurd's voice spoke as the two looked up to see a figure standing atop a toppled building.

To Kaku, it looked like another Zoan-like form, but to Carrot it was clear what Ben turned into this time. He was roughly a bit taller than normal, possibly a foot or so. His form was humanoid, but coated in a rich fur with his head more like a German Shepherd's with sharp green eyes focused on Kaku. He wore what seemed to be a black and green kimono made of a tough flexible material with the sash silver and sporting the Omnitrix in the center and a pair of armored sandals on his feet.

"I could get used to the robe…" Ben's new form muttered as he looked himself over. He then looked behind himself to see the tail, "Aha! I knew it! The dog forms always have tails but Wildmutt!"

"I feel I should mess with the clothing functions more...This is oddly stylish," Skurd noted.

"Another Zoan-like form?" Kaku pondered.

"Nope~!" Carrot beamed, her tail wagging a bit, "He's a Mink now!"

"Hm…" Ben's new form punched the air a few times, "Gotta admit, this is a new one, but I kinda dig it." he jumped down to the ground, facing Kaku again, "Well...good a time as any to try and get the hang of this," he raised his arms up.

"Trading power for speed?" Kaku spoke, "What an interesting play. I only see combat skill like this from so few. You even avoided the Amane Dachi…"

"Yeah funny thing... In this form, you looked to be moving pretty slow," he explained, closing his hands into fists, "In fact...it feels like suddenly I can see all the flaws in how you fight. Must be a Mink thing."

"Flaws?" Kaku repeated as he pulled out his swords once more, "Then let's see if you can exploit these so-called 'flaws.'"

"For a giraffe using two swords-and I cannot believe I just said that-, I would recommend…" Skurd slid down to the new form's hand before producing a katana with the blade seemingly made from Rath's backhand spike, "A blade of our own."

"It can make weapons too…" Kaku blinked, "Whatever that jellyfish is...it's amazingly useful."

"That's a new one…" Skurd muttered.

With that, the two clashed swords. Kaku grunted, moving one sword back and swinging over the sword Skurd made at Ben's new form. But he missed as the new Mink form slid under Kaku's legs. Ben grunted as he spun and kicked Kaku's knee, making him buckle and fall over.

"You're taller...but your legs look a lot thinner," he noted, "That height also adds on weight, especially in one specific spot that can also act against you."

"H-How did you...? That's the sort of line someone like Lucci would give me…" Kaku awed.

"Minks are natural warriors!" Carrot cheered, "Ben's Mink form must be sugoi strong if he's this good-teria!"

"Well, this is meant to make sure the sample makes the form the best of its species," he chuckled.

"Best of…" Carrot muttered, "So like Wanda or Pedro? Come to think of it, you look like you could be related to Wanda or Inuarashi-sama..." her ears stuck up straight, "Oh! Garumaru!"

"G-Garumaru?" he blinked.

"You're a Mink now! So you should be named by a fellow Mink!" Carrot smiled.

"Ah...that's a good point…" he muttered, unable to argue her logic and sheer optimism, "I guess...I'm Garumaru now." he chuckled with a smile to make Carrot happy.

"I can't even get it, but her smile makes me feel like I'm diabetic!" Skurd dramatically shouted.

"Alright, time to end this fight!" Garumaru declared.

"Uhn!" Carrot agreed with a nod.

"I won't let you get lucky like that again…" Kaku grunted, "This time for sure...my blade will strike you both down!"

"I've heard that line often too, and I'm still standing-teria!" Garumaru shouted back.

"Same here-teria!" Carrot added as she and Garumaru stood ready.

"Hmph! We'll see soon enough! Gekirin!" Kaku shouted, charging the two as he performed a series of wild yet fast slashes at them.

Both Mink's became a pair of blurs to avoid the incoming slashes, making Kaku stop as he tried to look for the two. He tensed as he realized they were indeed fast, he grunted when he felt two blurs slash his side and back, electricity zapping his body again as well. Kaku raised his sword up in time to block Garumaru's alien sword. Garumaru smirked as he channeled Electro through his weapon and into the metal swords, the shock taking Kaku by surprise and making him let go and jump back. As he came to a stop, he grunted as Carrot landed a drop kick to his back, sending him stumbling forward. Kaku grunted as Garumaru landed an uppercut to his jaw, the electro activating as the shock helped send his head flying back.

"So another form with electrical powers. Yes, how useful." Skurd noted, "However...the benefit of making you good at fighting...far outweighs the lack of originality."

"Well it all depends on how I use it!" Garumaru argued as he jumped back from a Rankyaku from Kaku. He then looked at his katana as an idea began to form in his mind, "...Hmm…"

"Something on your mind?" Skurd asked.

"Well...it's just for some reason, his attacks make more sense to me…" he explained, "Like...I can understand how they work...and how you use them…"

"...Oh I think I already know where this is going~" Skurd noted with a 'grin', "That training with Rook must be resonating with this form's instincts~"

"I get it...cause Minks are naturally good at fighting, they can pick up this stuff easier." Garumaru realized.

"What stuff?" Carrot asked.

"This... Rankyaku!" Garumaru shouted, swinging his leg and shooting the same air cutting wave at Kaku.

"?!" Kaku's eyes widened as he brought his swords up to block it, grunting a bit when a bit of electricity crackled off him for a moment, "B...bakana…"

"Sugoi!" Carrot gawked, "You copied his move!"

"You really are a monster…" Kaku muttered, "Rokushiki has become so easy for you in this form…"

"Yup..and I can add my own twist to them as well," Garumaru smirked

"I haven't felt this cornered since two years ago…" Kaku muttered, "I doubt even Lucci could claim you're an easy target to take down."

"The Cat guy…" Garumaru muttered.

"I suppose they told you about all of us…" Kaku muttered, "Even still, I doubt…" he tensed as the ground shook slightly.

"Footsteps?" the two Mink's muttered their ears twitching, "Elephant/Zou?!" both blinked looking at each other before the remains of a building suddenly fell over.

"That was already broken!" Makoto shouted as Funkfreed stepped over the debris.

"Funkfreed?! Ano baka...what is he thinking, losing an Akuma no mi infused weapon!?" Kaku gawked.

"Makoto? Noel!?" Garumaru gawked.

"Ah! D-wait…" Makoto began in a panic..before blinking when she saw the Omnitrix Symbol on Garumaru, "...Ben?!"

"Ah well…yeah-teria..."

"In this form he's Garumaru-Teria!" Carrot cheered.

"...no," Makoto instantly spoke as she held a hand up to Noel, "My boyfriend."

"But...he's so fluffy~!" Noel argued.

"I never agreed to being okay with that!" Garumaru barked.

"Dog Minks do tend to be fluffy…" Carrot muttered, "Especially Wanda…"

"Not you too…" Garumaru muttered.

"Ah wait...you're a Mink now!" Makoto realized as she jumped down, "Wait...why are you a dog? If Carrot is who you got the sample from, shouldn't you be a bunny?"

"But Minks are all kinds of animals-teria. His power must have picked what most reflected Ben's inner self-teria!" Carrot offered.

"...So that means my inner animal is a German Shepherd?" Garumaru asked.

"To be fair…" Noel began from on top of Funkfreed, "You are really loyal to your friends and family."

"Yeah I can see that," Makoto nodded, "I just think I would feel more comfortable with a bunny...but then that makes you like Carrot's brother wouldn't it? So this is fine too."

"Well when you say it like that…" Carrot muttered, "That would be nice to have a brother…"

"Hey hey, mine," Makoto reminded while pointing to Garumaru, who's ears shot up with a small blush.

"Ano..minna?" Noel spoke, earning the three's attention, "The giraffe man is doing something."

"Eh? Wh-" Makoto began.

"Kyoku Bigan…" the Two Minks and Beastkin looked over to see Kaku on all fours, his neck and head literally tucked into his body as he took aim, "Kirimanjaro!"

"Ahh!" the three yelped as they all jumped out o the way just as Kaku's head and neck shot out of his body, slamming into the wall as it completely destroyed the wall..and the one right behind it as it crumbled to the ground.

"Forgot that this guy's the second Strongest of 'em," Garumaru whispered.

"Ah! The Giraffe guy!" Makoto realized.

"Nearly forgot about him-teria!" Carrot exclaimed.

'Even the girl knows about me…' Kaku thought as he stood up, reeling his neck back as he looked down at the group, 'Just who do these people work for, and how are they connected to the Strawhats?'

"Hm?" Garumaru's ears twitched, "Makoto, might want to take a step to the left." he spoke.

"Huh?" she blinked as hers and Carrots ears twitched, "Oh!" she jumped to the left with Carrot.

"Huh what are...what is that?!" Kaku gawked as Rex crashed the Rex Ride into the Giraffe, Naoto jumping off at the last second as they crashed into a wall.

"Ah...that should not have worked," he muttered as Garumaru helped him up, "Ben?"

"Its a new one." he explained, "Where's Ryuga?"

"Something about Sento calling him away to check on something," Naoto explained.

"And before that we ran into Jimbei and Kazumi...only for the latter to go running off," Rex grunted as he managed to get up.

"Where are those armored nutjobs off to?" Makoto wondered.

"More of your crew?" Kaku grunted, "Matte...Jimbei, ano Jimbei?" 'Strawhat managed to recruit a former Shichbukai to his crew?!'

"Yeah he's just walking here, something about being in no rush," Naoto muttered, "Guess he thinks we can handle this guy."

"What about La-chan?" Noel asked.

"Haven't seen her." Naoto said, "She must have gone off to find her pet and Bobo."

"Greetings."

"AHH GEEZ!" Naoto yelped as he jumped back, turning to see Lambda standing there with Bobo and Bluey in her arms, "...talk about timing."

"Where's...let me guess. Gentoku ran off too?" Garumaru replied.

"Correct," Lambda nodded before noticing him, "...Ben Tennyson?"

"No petting please…" Garumaru sighed as he grabbed her hand as it reached for his ears.

"...Mmm~" Lambda pouted a bit.

"That just leaves Rook, Mai, and Sari." Makoto spoke up.

"What do we do about mister savana runway model over here?" Rex asked as Kaku got back up.

"So many…" Kaku grunted.

"We already beat your buddies too," Naoto added.

"We blew up a wolf." Noel cheered.

"Knocked out a owl," Lambda added, "And not the cute kind either."

"We beat up some guy with freaky hair horns." Rex spoke, "He made doors and stuff."

"We just bullied a really annoying pigeon." Bobo replied.

'Shimatta...they managed to beat most of us?!' Kaku thought in shock, 'That just leaves me and Kumadori...and Lucci, but he's dealing with a Revolutionary before cutting the line.'

"So I've been busy with the hardest one then," Garumaru sighed.

"You mean you got the only exciting one," Rex chuckled.

"Hey. I was struggling with him a bit before I unlocked this new form," Garumaru argued.

"But now you sound like you enjoyed it," Makoto smiled, leaning forward.

"M-maybe a bit...it started getting fun…" he grumbled, his ears flattening.

'...I need to take them out here and now,' Kaku thought, getting onto his side as he started spinning in place once more, 'Just one hit from my strongest Rankyaku, and I can take them all out in one strike!'

Kaku kept spinning only for something to clatter against the ground and stop at the hand he was using for support. A crack filled their air before Kaku's eyes widened as his hand was now covered in foam which quickly hardened and disrupted his spin. He grunted suddenly falling over, as his concentration failed and a simple Rankyaku like attack fired off in a random direction.

"Sorry, but I do not think you will get another chance." Rook smirked, lowering his Proto-Tool in a grenade launcher mode.

"And what timing," Garumaru noted, noticing Rook walking in as Sari and Mai caught up with him, "Was wondering where you were, partner."

"...Ben?"

"Eeyup."

"Aw...You're so fluffy." Sari joked.

"Not the first thing I've heard this past hour…" Garumaru muttered.

"Well...least we're all back together," Mai spoke up, "...minus Sento and the others."

"I think we should worry about the giraffe man…" Sari pointed to Kaku who finally got his hand free.

"So...you wanna keep this fight going?" Garumaru asked, "Or...do you want all of us to gang up on you?"

"That hardly seems fair…" Kaku grunted, shaking his arm.

"Oh I'm sorry...I didn't know the open sea was fair?" Makoto smiled, putting her hands on her hips.

"Or that assassins should even say such a word with all your dirty tricks." Naoto added.

"And adding you guys apparently work for a corrupt world government," Sari added.

"Not to mention, you're totally the bad guys," Rex added, "You can say you're fighting for justice all you want, but...you're the only ones who believe that."

"So come on, cow boy…" Bobo began as he aimed his guns at Kaku, "Make our day…" he smirked before he noticed the looks the others gave him, "...what? Giraffes technically count as cows."

"He's not wrong," Makoto, Garumaru, Carrot, and Naoto nodded.

"..." Kaku frowned before looking in the distance, seeing the giant golden Tesoro fighting back a small figure, "...it's lose-lose either way…" he whispered to himself before he began to change back into his human form, "Fine...you win."

"Well you're not dumb, that's for sure." Makoto smirked.

"I can tell each of you are powerful in your own ways...If I fought all of you, I'd be decimated."

"...well he's not wrong," Mai and Noel muttered to themselves.

"So go and tell your boss you lost." Naoto spoke.

"That probably stings worse than the butt kicking you avoided." Rex smirked.

"Kids in this day and age are so cruel…" Kaku chuckled awkwardly, despite agreeing with it deep down as he walked off.

"We may as well hurry off as well," Rook advised before looking in the distance, "Though...should we stay and help Luffy take care of Tesoro?"

"Eh? He's got it," Garumaru shrugged as he changed back into Ben.

"You should get back to Jimbei," Makoto turned to Carrot.

"Hai! We need to go and help the others-teria!" Carrot nodded as she prepared to run off, only to stop for a moment, "Oh! One more thing before I leave…"

"...and that i-" Makoto began before Carrot nibbled her ear, "Ahh!"

"Garuchu~!" Carrot beamed as she became a blur, nibbling at each of the group's ears before ending on Bluey, who's body became a bright red as his ears shot up, "There we go! Bye~!" she waved to them as she ran off.

"...did she just give us hickies?" Bobo was the first to speak.

"I think it's a thing she does." Makoto muttered, holding her ear.

"...I think Bluey's sleeping," Noel whispered, lightly poking at the currently frozen Bluepee.

"Do not poke him, sister," Lambda frowned.

"Uh...what do we do about...him?" Naoto motioned to the literal Elephant in the room.

"Oh! That's right…" Noel whispered as she walked up to Funkfreed, "Funkfreed, will you change back into a sword please?"

"Paon…" he trumpeted.

"...I'll treat you to some tasty fruit later," Noel offered.

"We need you to be travel sized for a bit!" Makoto added, "We'll let you go back to full size when we get some space~"

"PAON~!" Funkfreed bellowed out as he changed back into his sword form, letting Noel catch him by the handle.

"Also may need to get him a proper sheath..one that feels comfy for him," Noel whispered to herself.

"Also true!" Makoto nodded.

"So we're letting Noel keep a pet magic sword that becomes an elephant?" Ben asked.

"Ah the original owner doesn't deserve him." Makto smiled.

"Also he's just a big old softie, he'll be good!" Noel cheered.

"Is our backyard back home even big enough for him?" Sari asked.

"Well Ben could…" Noel began before blinking, "...eh?"

"What?" Ben asked.

"Wow…" a voice spoke, making Ben and Makoto tense for a second, "Here I thought you were above piracy." Everyone turned to a table that somehow...survived all this carnage and was standing fine with Kaito sitting at it with a smoothie in hand, "Hello~"

"...AH! YOU AGAIN!" Ben, Makoto and Rex exclaimed.

"He's the guy who started all this!" Mai realized.

"Konbanwa~" he greeted again, taking another long sip.

"W-who?" Naoto asked.

"Oh...you picked up a new member, fantastic~" Kaito sarcastically cheered the last part in purposely bad Japanese accented english.

"What are you even doing here?!" Ben snapped.

"...you're not trying to steal from Tesoro are you?" Makoto asked.

"Well...whatever will be left of him." Kaito smiled.

"...wait…" Naoto began in realization, "You're DiEnd!"

"Bingo~" Kaito pointed with his finger as a gun, "I'm waiting for the climax of the battle, after which time...I can claim a rare Akuma no mi." He then held a hand up just as Makoto opened her mouth, "And no...not the Blackbeard method."

"So...you're just here to wait?" she asked.

"Trust me, this dimension is already vastly different." Kaito smiled, "Carrot and Jimbei are already aboard the Sunny-Go, I can only assume...this is the one I want to get a Goru-Goru no mi."

"So you can make, turn and control people with gold?" Sari frowned.

"No...you just want it in your collection…" Ben sighed.

"Exactly~" he sighed after taking another sip, "I'm no hero...but I'm no villain either...well...except for one time. But to be fair, Tsukasa really pissed me off that time."

"You're just a treasure thief…" Naoto spoke, "But you don't hurt people unless they get in your way."

"Which nobody will this time," Kaito smiled, "Mugiwara will leave Tesoro to his defeat...and with any luck, a random pear on this island shall become the new Goru-Goru no mi."

"A pear?" Rook blinked.

"Does he not know how this works?" Kaito arched a brow to Ben and Makoto, "Soka...you never told him what happens when a fruit eater dies."

"Basically the Fruit of said passed-away user would go to the fruit the original Devil Fruit is based on," Makoto explained to Rook.

"So...he's going to wait for Tesoro to die?" Rook realized.

"The world of pirates is a brutal one. You either sink or swim." Kaito smiled.

"GOMU GOMU NO….!"

"Speaking of pirates…" Kaito began as he and the others looked up, seeing a massive, Haki-covered fist reeled back as it aimed at Tesoro's Golden Giant.

"KING KONG GUN!" Everyone tensed as a powerful ringing filled the air, the Golden giant suddenly punched with such force its head began to crack and crumble.

"Oooh...yeah. That's a definite loss for Tesoro," Makoto cringed.

"And now I wait." Kaito smiled.

"You're one weird guy…" Ben muttered, "You have all this power...and you go around stealing stuff."

"I told you, I'm not a hero. Not everyone is so willing to risk their life for others. I'm not like you or Tsukasa." Kaito smirked, "I'm a master thief…"

"Yeah...a petty master thief," Rex countered.

"Oh come on. Are you all still mad I dropped Tager-san's gauntlet on that little device used for your multidimensional road trip?"

"Of course we are! Now we can't get home!" Makoto complained.

"That one isn't my fault actually." Kaito spoke in a much more serious tone, with a slight edge to his voice, "If you want anything from me then it's these words of advice; Be careful...someone has learned to lock up the Multiverse…"

"We know that...we just don't know who they are," Ben sighed.

"Then be angry at them. It's not my fault. And it's not like I'm happy about it either." Kaito responded, that edge still in his voice.

"You...seem...oddly different when it comes to this subject…" Makoto noted.

"I put freedom above all things; this goes against the one thing I believe in." Kaito explained, before he let out a long sigh and returned to his usual demeanor, "Besides, fewer worlds means fewer chances at rare treasure…"

"I can't get a read on this guy…" Rex muttered, "Is he bad...is he good...is he...what?"

"Believe it or not, I'm not even the most annoying version of myself. Some of my variants...can differ wildly." Kaito chuckled, "I can't count how many times I've shot at another version of me…"

"How did you find this place anyway?" Makoto asked.

"I followed someone." Kaito replied while standing up, "Someone...you probably don't want to meet."

"...oh that can't be good if he's saying that," Naoto whispered with wide eyes.

"You probably will only have one chance to help, but that might just be so you can get off this world." Kaito spoke, "That monster is after those Four...their battle hasn't been decided yet. And he won't wait till they are done helping you."

"...oh crap baskets…" Makoto whispered as it dawned on her, "I know who Sento and the others are dealing with."

---

"This way!" Ben shouted as they made it to their temporary base, only to stop when an explosion blew its doors down. The Four Kamen Riders they traveled with sent tumbling along the ground.

"Hahahaha…" a voice laughed as a fifth Rider walked out. His armor was red and blue in color with black and white armor covering a majority of his torso with large shoulder pads with spikes and a spinning section, and what seemed to be a blackhole design in his chest. His visor looked like two cobra's as he chuckled and stepped on Build, "Oh?" he turned to the others, "Sento, you never told me you made friends...what a naughty boy you've been, exploring the Multiverse while I was waiting at home doing nothing. You upset Papa...and now...you get the belt…" he picked Build up before slapping him across his helmet, sending him spinning through the air.

"Run!" Grease grunted.

"Get out of here now!" Rogue growled trying to get back up.

"We better do what they say," Makoto said to the others with a light gulp, "That's Evol...and he's not someone you wanna mess with."

"Oh that's sweet...you told them about me. Too bad...you boys angered me...and as punishment…" he held up his hand as something began forming between his fingers, a mass of pitch blackness, "I kill everyone you consider friends!"

"Is he...creating a black hole?" Rook whispered with wide eyes.

"Stop it!" Cross-Z grunted.

"Not now, Son. Daddy's working," Evol replied, charging the sphere up more.

"Leave them out of this…" Build coughed.

"And that's exactly why...I won't~!" Evol laughed, "Because killing them...will bring you the ultimate pain!"

"I...I can't move…" Ben whispered, as if the pure evil coming of Evol seemed to freeze them all in place.

"I said stop it!" Cross-Z shouted as he shot up and grabbed Evol's arm, Grease and Rogue joining soon after.

"Gomen…" Build coughed as he forced himself up. He then reached for some sort of white panel, "This is where our journeys diverge…" he grunted as he tapped it a few times before he rushed and slammed it into Evol's chest.

A portal suddenly opened behind Evol as the Four strained and pushed him through. The portal fizzled for a moment before vanishing. Everyone gasped, letting the breath they didn't know they were holding go.

"Okay….dat….dat legit scared me more than any EVO," Bobo gasped out as he held a hand over his chest.

"Wh-what was that?" Rex asked.

"K-Kamen Rider Evol...the final enemy...a monster…" Makoto panted, "In the show he spooked me...but...I never thought...seeing him in real life...would feel...so…"

"Soul vicing?" Ben asked, 'Only time I felt that was when I first fought Vilgax…only this was amped up times ten!'

"Sento...and the others...what happened?" Noel asked.

"They...they took him away...to fight him somewhere else." Naoto figured, "They...saved us…"

"But...now we're stuck here…" Sari pointed out.

"I mean as far as worlds go...this one doesn't seem too bad." a new voice spoke, making them turn to see another familiar figure sitting down with a smoothie in hand, "I mean you just need a ship, and a jolly roger and boom, world famous pirates on the open seas~" Tsukasa muttered, "I got it...a Skull...with the Omnitrix symbol...surrounded by a giant Gear?"

"...Hmm…" Ben, Makoto, and Rex pondered at that.

"You're seriously considering it?" Mai deadpanned.

"Sorry…" the three chuckled.

"You're...Kamen Rider Decade?" Naoto realized upon seeing the camera.

"Tsukasa is fine." he sighed, taking another sip, "I swear if one of you says 'Damn you Decade' even once...I'm dumping you in the Zombie apocalypse world…and I mean full on Biohazard here!"

"Yes sir!" Naoto and Makoto meeped at that.

"Why are you here?" Ben asked.

"Sento called in a favor I owed him." Tsukasa replied simply, "Besides I'm not saving any worlds at the moment. I dumped that work on a Kohai, so what the hell, I'll take you around for a bit." he tossed his smoothie away and got up, he then walked up and got uncomfortably close to Ben, "But...now you owe me a favor, Benny-boy~"

"Yeesh. I'll owe you two if you never say Benny-boy ever again or a variation of it."

"Hmm...nope." Tsukasa smirked, "I like to make people squirm. It amuses me." he leaned in closer. He then took a step back as Ben stumbled and fell over, "Now get inside," he motioned with a thumb to the shop.

"G...good idea…" Mai whispered as the group began to head back into the smoothie shop, "I need to change the bandages on my shoulder anyway…"

"..." Tsukasa put a hand on her shoulder, making her yelp, "There…" he muttered simply as he walked inside.

"...my shoulder doesn't hurt," Mai blinked as she moved her shoulder a bit, "...how did…?"

"I am a lot of things. Thanks to that, I can do some...let's say magic," Tsukasa explained, "I've been on a lot of adventures, to lots of worlds. But I've only ever been to singular worlds. At the moment, my investment is in...oddities. I dub them Xross Worlds…" he motioned everyone in as he closed the door.

"Xross Worlds?" Rook blinked.

"Like...worlds that are crossing over each other?" Sari asked.

"As in worlds of two different variants mixing and crossing with each other to form a bonded world so to speak?" Skurd added.

"Exactly." Tsukasa replied, "My other variants don't care much for them. Most of them even think they are best left ignored. And one or two...think they should be...pruned from the trees." he used his index and middle finger to emote scissors, "But I like weird stuff. So...I'm investing time in making sure they bear some interesting fruit."

"I...see," Rook whispered, "..Interesting choice for a hobby."

"I don't think this...counts as a hobby…" Naoto muttered.

"You'd be surprised what counts these days…" Tsukasa spoke as he was suddenly between Rook and Naoto, making them jump in surprise, "As for why...well the strangest of branches get snagged together. Yours was one I fount out of place...till I realized it was Ben stitching and putting several together into something real weird." he walked over and stood next to Ben as he put his arm around him, "I understood in the moment it was heroic, but well...you did something really naughty."

"...It involves that Omniverse thing you mentioned back when we first met in Rex's world, right?" Ben guessed.

"Exactly, right on the money." Tsukasa spoke as he spun Ben around suddenly, "Now normally such...an event horizon would mean...Decades would have to destroy the anomaly. But...yours balanced out. It worked, so...I talked them into letting it go on. Now...I have to find it again, someone took it and locked it up somewhere."

"That's what we've been trying to figure out," Makoto spoke as she caught Ben.

"That's what more or less motivated us to continue in our journey," Noel added.

"And in turn become stronger for an incoming battle back home," Lambda added.

"Hmm...for the record I already know where to go." Tsukasa blurted out.

"Eh/nani/beg pardon/que/what?" Everyone blinked at that.

"It's a rather...underwhelming method of explaining." he sighed, "But I know what dimension to go to in order to fix this." he sat down, "However...its not that simple. I still have work to do, so I'll drop you all off in a safe world till such a time as I'm done."

"...honestly, that would be great," Sari admitted as she sat down, "Outside of Hawaii, we've been caught in a lot of huge battles…"

"So...you're just gonna ditch us?" Ben asked.

"Eh?" the others blinked.

"I work better alone, you'd all just mess things up," Tsukasa replied, "I can handle saving your world for you."

"..." Ben said nothing as he and Tsukasa stared each other down, "...I'd appreciate that, but...it's my…" he paused as he looked at the others, "Our world that's been captured."

"Hmm…" Tsukasa stood up as he walked over to Ben. He then suddenly slapped his shoulder, "Okay, let's go then sidekick~"

"Wait. S-sidekick?" Ben blinked as Tsukasa walked past him.

"I mean...I'm the dimensional hero. Obviously I'm the lead hero." Tsukasa joked as he looked into his camera, "Okay, I'll take you with me. But you need to put up with me making a few stops for work. Then I'll take you to what I call Dimension SZ-45."

"Which is where the guy/gal that's taking worlds is hiding," Makoto spoke.

"That's the plan." Tsukasa nodded, "If you're gonna be my adventuring buddies...there are rules to follow though!" he declared, holding his hand up, "First, when you travel with me, the dimension will accept and give you a role in this world. It might also change your clothing and maybe even give you a random skill to fit in with the world we go to!"

"Wait wait...so we're gonna be changin' clothes and get jobs in dese other worlds?" Bobo asked, "...I swear if one of them sticks me with a grinder guy…"

"Second: You technically can't get as involved as before." Tsukasa added, "My job is to check on failing worlds, and see if they can survive...or…" he sighed, "Not…" he sadly finished.

"Failing?" Ben asked.

"A world where the bad guy won…" Tsukasa replied, "To give an example…" he shook his head, "Third: Try not to ruin things...I'm looking at you closet otakus…"

"...why….are you looking at me specifically?" Mai asked as Tsukasa looked at her, "...wait...I-i'm not a…!"

"Denial is the first phase…"

"I like kaiju movies, but I'm not as big into anime and toku as Makoto and Ben are!" Mai argued.

"You know you'd be cuter if you were more honest." Tsukasa replied as he held his camera and clicked something, "And...we're here."

"Wait. Already?" Rex blinked.

"My method is a little more...effective." Tsukasa smiled.

"So where is this?" Noel asked.

"Hmm...who knows?" he mused as he walked over to the door, "Step out...and see for yourself." he tempted as he slowly opened the door.

---

SZ: Phew….that….was a monster to finish! Also sorry folks…*takes straw hat off head*no world preview this time, so you'll have to speculate to guess what world is next. The mystery will keep you all in suspense~..ahem! But just to be clear..next time will definitely be a rest chapter because...good lord this is the biggest chapter we've written yet!

Z0: We felt it was earned. We...really went big on this one. So...we're gonna...crash for a bit…

SZ: Aye….very well earned rest. So...hope you all enjoyed this chapter folks. If you did, leave a like, review, and hope you enjoyed it.

GT: I wonder if they've been surprised by what happened at the end.

Z0: Shh...no one cares...go to sleep…

SZ: Hai...till next time...Seanzilla1988 and Team X-Over...signing out!*collapses onto the couch*

Z0: *rips off normal clothes to reveal PJ's as I fall asleep on the floor*