"Big...bro?!" Johnny and Yosaku said in shocked unison.
"That's your captain?!" Mr. 3 shouted.
"I...think it is." Nojiko said. Everyone was gaping at Luffy's giant form before Gin asked the million berri question.
"HOW DID YOU TURN INTO A GIANT?!" he shouted.
"SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "Fight now, talk later." he said before eyeing the spinning cake. "OHHHHH! CAKE!"
"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FOOD!" they all shouted as Luffy went to grab the spinning cake, only for the it to splatter into a waxy mess all over his hand.
"Oh yeah. This is wax." Luffy said in a disappointed tone.
"You bastard! You've ruined my Candle Service Set!" Mr. 3 bellowed out.
"Who cares?" Luffy said before looking at his crew. "You guys okay?"
"Well, we can't move." Alvida said.
"And up till now, we were starting to turn into candles." Nami said. "Thanks for stopping that cake."
"No sweat." Luffy said before he looked at his wax covered hand. He then looked down at Mr. 3 before reaching down and picking him up with his other hand. "Hey 3 guy, get rid of this wax and release my friends!"
"F-f-fool!" Mr. 3 shouted before shooting more wax out at Luffy, covering his arm with more wax. "If anything, I'll add you to my masterpiece!"
"I asked nicely." he said before he looked at Mr. 3 closely before his eyes starting shining like stars. "You know, you look like an action figure!" he said, causing everyone else to sweatdrop.
"Hey...you're not." Mr. 3 said as his face turned blue before Luffy starting swinging him around in the air. "AAAHAHAHhahahahaaAHAHHHH!" he screamed as Luffy waved him roughly around in the air like a flying robot, causing Mr. 5, Valerie, Carue, and Usopp to fall over.
"WILL YOU QUIT MESSING AROUND ALREADY?!" the three shouted while Carue quacked angrily.
"Okay." Luffy laughed before bringing Mr. 3 to a stop and up to Luffy's head. "Give up?"
"Hagablablaidlbi!" Mr. 3 managed to say while his eyes spun before he passed out.
"Oops." Luffy said before putting him down. He looked back at his crew before his cheeks puffed up. "Sorry guys. I'm at my limit." he said before a strong gust of wind blew out of his mouth as he began shrinking. He kept shrinking, freeing his hand from the wax, until he was normal sized once more before falling onto his butt. "Ehhhhh. I've never gone that big before."
"Well now that you've had your fun, can you get us out of this?" Gin said.
"Sure." he said before he threw a few punches at the wax they were covered in. It slowly started to break as Luffy threw his fist back again, only to find that he couldn't throw it out. "Huh?"
"Enough of your tricks!" Mr. 3 said from behind him. Luffy looked back to see that Mr. 3 encased his stretched out arm in wax. "I'll kill you, then remake my service set!"
"Hey guys." Luffy said to Usopp, Valerie, Mr. 5, and Carue. "Free the others. I'm gonna take this guy down." he said before adding some strength and busting his arm free from the wax.
"Got it!" Usopp said before they turned to the cake.
"Oh no you don't!" Mr. 3 said as he jumped out and punched the ground around them, causing them to scatter.
"Hang on guys! Master Brogy! We'll get you guys out in no time!" Usopp shouted.
"We leave our fate in your hands!" Brogy said with a grin.
"Are we really okay?" Vivi asked Zoro.
"Don't worry." Zoro said in a calm tone. "We'll be fine."
"Get back here!" Luffy shouted as he grabbed Mr. 3 by his wax leg and pulled him close for a punch. Mr. 3 brought his fist down to take the blow as he swung with his other wax fist. Both kept exchanging blows before Mr. 3 noticed his wax gloves were starting to crack.
'Impossible! He can't be stronger! My wax is harder than steel!' Mr. 3 thought until he got an idea. "Miss Goldenweek!" he shouted. Miss Goldenweek starting mixing up some paints.
'After this, I'm going back to the wax house for a nap.' she thought as she was about to use her Colors Trap on Luffy. However, before she could get the first brush stroke out, her paint brush and palette were knock taken from her from behind.
"Kyahahaha. No you don't." said Valerie. Miss Goldenweek turned to see Mr. 5 and Valerie holding her art supplies in their hands. She looked at them both before she started to sweat.
"Nice job guys." Usopp said before looking back at the wax cake. "Now how do I deal with this?"
"Hey Usopp!" Nojiko shouted. "It's wax. Use fire to melt it!"
"Oh yeah! It is just wax!" he said before reaching into his bag of tricks and pulling out a rope. "Carue, take this and run around the cake. Quickly!"
"QUACK!" Carue said before taking the rope and running around the wax figure.
"What are you making Carue do?" Vivi asked.
"Trust me." Usopp said. "HEY LUFFY!" he shouted. Luffy looked back it him while Mr. 3 looked in horror at his now broken candle champion. "Use Mr. 3's flame. The rope's coated in oil!"
"Hey, that'll work!" Johnny said with a smile.
"AND COOK US ALIVE!" Nami shouted.
"You got any better ideas?" Zoro asked.
"On it!" Luffy shouted before grabbing Mr. 3's hair and dragging him to the cake.
"OW! WAIT! STOP! NOOOO!" he shouted before the whole thing went up in flames. Everyone was now struggling to move their legs before they finally got free and ran away from the cake. Nami's shirt was burned off while the others made it out with slight burns. "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" Mr. 3 shouted before running into the jungle. While everyone was looking, Miss Goldenweek snatched her stuff before running after him.
"Get back here you jerk!" Usopp shouted.
"I got this!" Luffy said before disappearing after them. Everyone else just glared at the direction Mr. 3 and his partner ran until they heard groaning from behind them. They looked to see both giants now sitting up and free from wax.
-With Luffy-
Luffy ran after them alone through the jungle until he came across the same sight he did last time.
"Welcome to my Candle Garden!" Mr. 3's voice rang out as dozens of Mr. 3's were everywhere. "Which one is the real me? A man who relies on instict will never defeat me. Go ahead, wander on through. And when your back is to me...I'll stab your heart!"
"Gum Gum STAMP!" Luffy shouted as he threw his leg out into a direction, nailing the real Mr. 3 in the face and into a tree.
"How...did you...know?" he said before falling down unconscious.
"Insticnt." he said before looking around and seeing Miss Goldenweek moving through the woods. "Hold it you!" he shouted. She looked at him with a freaked out expression before running for it. "HEY!" he shouted before chasing her.
'Ah crap!' she thought as she ran away, desperate to get away from him. While they ran, she slipped off her luggage and left it to lighten her load and run faster. She ran aimlessly through the jungle as the occasional branch scratched her. One caught her cloud-print shirt before she slipped it off and kept running, leaving her arms to get scratched a bit more.
"I said stop!" Luffy shouted before disappearing and reappearing in front of her, causing her to run into him and be pushed back onto the ground. She stared up at him before shielding her face with her arms, bracing herself for the beating she felt was coming. She stayed like that for a moment before slowly opening one eye to see a hand held out in front of her.
"Huh?" she said before opening both eyes and looking up to see Luffy smiling down at her.
"Finally gonna stop running?" he asked. She just looked at him confused before looking at his hand. "Come on. I'll help you up." he said. She hesitated, but slowly took his hand before he lifted her to her feet.
"You're not gonna...hurt me?" she asked.
"No. Just wanted to know something." he said.
"What?" she said.
"You heard what Mr. 5 and Valerie said right?" Luffy asked.
"I heard." she said as she looked down. "If that's true, then it sucks."
"So, what will you do now?" Luffy asked.
"I...don't know." she said. They stayed quiet until Luffy bent down to eye level.
"Valerie said that a lot of you guys had dreams for this ideal nation." he said. "Do you have one?"
"Me?" she said as she looked up at him.
"Yeah you." he said.
"Well," she said. "My dream...is to be a world famous artist." she finally said.
"World famous artist?" Luffy asked in an interested tone.
"That's right. I love painting, but I'm not good enough to be known everywhere." she said. "It's been my dream to have my name known throughout the world as a master painter!"
"Is that so?" Luffy said as he stood up and folded his arms with a smile. "Sounds like a great dream." he said. She just looked up at him in awe.
"You...you think so?" she said.
"Yeah." he said. "Hey, if you're gonna fight for your dream, why not do it on my ship?" he asked.
"Your ship?" she asked. "Wait...are you asking me to join your crew?"
"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Everyone on my crew has a dream they're fighting for. Since you've got a dream that big, you'd fit right in!"
"But...I help Mr. 3 capture them." she said.
"That was when you didn't know you were being tricked." Luffy said. "Don't worry. They'll be okay." She just looked at him before looking down. They stayed like that for the moment before she looked up at him with a small smile.
"Well, I guess I have no choice." she said. "It's either join you, or stay stuck on this island." she said before sticking her hand out. "I'm in. And my name's Grace by the way."
"I'm Luffy." he said as he shook her hand. "Nice to meet ya. Now let's go join the others." he said before he started walking off. He stopped before turning back to her with a serious look.
"W-what?" she said with a nervous voice.
"One more thing when we get thing." he said.
-Back with the others-
Everyone was gathered around and were talking before the giants went from laughing to a pointless arguement, causing some of them to laugh or rub their foreheads.
"Hey guys!" Luffy called from the jungle. Everyone looked to see him walking towards them with a big grin.
"Luffy!" most of them shouted before Luffy stopped and looked behind him before running back towards a tree.
"Come on." Luffy said with his arms folded across his chest. Everyone was looking at him confused until Grace peered out from behind the tree looking nervous. Soon both of them walked back towards the group until they were a few feet away.
"What's she doing here?" Gin asked.
"Go on." Luffy said. Grace just looked at everyone before she bowed, causing confusion to them all.
"I'm sorry...for helping Mr. 3 capture you all...and for nearly ruining the giants duel." she said. Everyone stared at Grace, who didn't stand up from her bow.
"Well guys?" Luffy said. Everyone was quiet until Nojiko smiled.
"Well, she did say sorry." she said. "Plus, no one died, so I'm okay."
"Same here." Johnny said.
"Me too." Yosaku agreed. Soon everyone was letting bygones be bygones.
"I'm sorry as well." Mr. 5 said.
"That settles that. Let's party!" Luffy shouted, followed by a few others. They started eating rice crackers, causing Grace to argue that those belonged to her.
"Really Luffy?" Nami asked before she winced. "Ow!"
"What's wrong Nami?" Nojiko asked before looking at her bare belly. "Looks like a bug bit you." Everyone then began to wonder how they could get off the island since the Log Pose took a year to get to the next island before Sanji came running towards them.
"Nami~, Vivi~, Alvida~, Valerie~, Nojiko~" Sanji called out in love mode before adding in a bored tone. "And you shitheads." He looked at everyone before seeing the giants. "WHOA! Are you Mr. 3?!"
"Wait, how do you know Mr. 3?" Vivi asked.
"I was chatting with Mr. 0 a moment ago on a Den Den Mushi." he said before he noticed Nami in a bra! "WOW!"
"You spoke with Mr. 0?!" most of them shouted.
"Yeah. He thought I was some clown named Mr. 3." Sanji said before giving his jacket to Nami to cover up with. "Since that was the case, I went and told him you all were dead."
"So then he won't come after us anymore?" Vivi gasped.
"Good." Alvida said.
"Yeah good." Usopp said sarcastically. "We're no longer hunted just as we learn we can't get off this island!"
"What are you all talking about?" Sanji asked as he pulled out an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. "Can't we leave with this?" he said. Everyone was stunned at that before Vivi hugged Sanji, thanking him as well. "No problem~!"
"Now we can leave!" Gin said as the others cheered while Sanji and Zoro argued about their hunting contest.
'Hunting contest?' Dorry and Broggy thought.
"Well Mr. Giants, looks like it's time for us to leave!" Luffy yelled out. "Take care!"
"Hey wait a minute." Sanji said after finally noticing the extra two walking with them. "Who are you two?"
"Oh yeah." Johnny said. "They're joining us."
"The little girl's Grace." Yosaku said.
"I'm not little." Grace pouted. "I'm nearly 14."
"Anyway, she's Grace," Usopp said. "And that's...uh..."
"Greg." Mr. 5 said.
"Okay. That's Greg." Usopp said. Soon, all of them were at the ship before stocking up all the meat from the dinosaurs they could load before they started sailing off toward Alabasta. They sailed off the West of the island, where the giants stood on each side of the river facing the sea.
"Hey, the giants came to see us off." Luffy said, now remembering what was gonna happen and grinned out at the sea.
"A great danger lies ahead of you all!" Brogy said.
"One that has always been here to try and prevent all who sail this way!" Dorry said.
"What?! Where?!" Nami cried out as some of them were looking around nervously.
"Fear not!" Dorry said with a grin. "You all fought like true warriors to protect the pride of our duel!"
"And because you all are willing to do that no matter what enemy you face!" Brogy said.
"WE WILL NEVER LET THEM DESTROY YOUR PRIDE!" Dorry shouted, his voice echoing around.
"Trust in what we say." Brogy said. "Go straight! No matter what happens, keep going straight! Understand?!"
"Right! Go straight!" Luffy yelled back as they sailed past them.
"This is farewell!" Brogy said.
"Let's meet again!" Dorry said as they both brough out their weapons.
"WHAT'S THAT?!" Nami shouted in terror as an enourmous goldfish surfaced in front of them with it's mouth wide open. Everyone was now looking at it in horror as some of them started screaming.
"Hello Island Eater!" Dorry said.
"Upon the name of Elbaf, you will let them pass!" Brogy said.
"That thing's huge!" Nami shouted.
"Look! A goldfish!" Luffy shouted.
"A g-goldfish?!" Usopp stuttered. "W-where have I heard of that before?!"
"Turn the helm before it eats us!" Nami yelled.
"N-no!" Usopp said. "We keep going straight! R-Right Luffy!"
"Right!" he said.
"This isn't like with Laboon!" Nami yelled.
"Calm down." Luffy said. "Here, have the last rice cracker." he said before throwing it to her.
"I don't want it." she said as she caught it. "Turn the ship already!"
"Give it up Nami." Zoro said as he leaned against the cabin of the ship while Carue ran inside. She bit down on the cracker with tears in her eyes while leaning against Nojiko. Johnny and Yosaku tried to keep calm like Zoro, though they were sweating and turning blue as the rest of them were hoping to get out of this alive while Luffy grinned from his seat on the Merry's head. Soon they entered it's mouth as it closed around them with both Luffy and Usopp yelling for them to go straight ahead.
"Well we're in it's mouth! Now what?!" Nojiko yelled.
'Wait for it.' Luffy thought. Suddenly, they were flying out of a giant hole in the fish as it was ripped apart.
"HAKOKU!" both giants yelled as their weapons broke with that final attack. "GO FRIENDS! AND GOOD LUCK!" they shouted as the ship flew through the air.
"WE'RE FLYING!" Luffy shouted in amazement, still in awe at how strong the giants were.
"They split...the sea...itself." Usopp said with a smile as tears flowed down his face. "The strength...of Elbaf Warriors...is AMAZING!"
"AWESOME!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted.
"Now that...is impressive!" Greg said. While they were all talking, Dorry and Brogy were chatting about a hunting contest of their own until the volcano erupted, signaling their battle to begin. Shortly afterwards with the crew, Luffy, Usopp, and even Gin were dancing on the rails about going to Elbaf while Carue ran in circles, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku were each training to get stronger, Sanji and Valerie were in the kitchen, Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi were near the mast looking at the Eternal Pose, and Alvida was showing Greg and Grace around the ship. Nami was leaning against the mast looking a little red in the face as she watched the trio dance.
'Heh. He used to be so serious.' she thought as she looked at Gin. She then looked at Luffy before smiling. 'He's been hanging around Luffy too much.' she thought before Sanji came out with a plate full of snacks.
"Are you ladies hungry?" he asked in a suave voice.
"They look nice Sanji." Vivi said.
"Well, I must confess," Sanji said as Luffy, Usopp, and Gin were eyeing the plate. "Only half of them were made by me." he said before glaring at them. "Your food is inside." he said.
"Thanks!" they said before racing up and into the cabin.
"Kyahaha." Valerie laughed as she turned to them all. She was wearing an apron over her usual outfit that had chocolate spots on it. "The food's on the table over there." she said as the boys started eating.
"These chocolates taste great!" Usopp said with a mouthful of food.
"I'm glad you like them." Valerie said.
"You made these?" Luffy asked.
"That's right." Sanji said as he walked in the door. "The lovely Valerie here made all the chocolates you idiots are shoving down your craw."
"Not bad." Gin said.
"I'm glad." she said with a sigh. "If they were terrible, I'd have no hope for my dream."
"Your dream?" Luffy said after swallowing his food.
"Yes. I dream of being a chocolatier." she said. Sanji started saying how she could since she's lovely while Luffy smiled at her.
"By the way Luffy," Usopp asked. "How'd you turn into a giant anyway?" Luffy was about to answer but was interrupted by Vivi.
"Everyone come quick!" Vivi shouted in a panic stricken voice.
'Oh no!' Luffy thought as he remembered what happened here. They all raced out the door and looked down at her.
"What are you yelling about?" Gin asked.
"Nami has a horrible fever!" she shouted as Nami lay on the deck covered in sweat and breathing hard as Nojiko knelt down next to her in equal panic.
"WHAT?!" Sanji shouted as he kicked the men out of the doorway. "NAMI'S SICK?!"
"She's not the only one!" came another voice. Everyone looked to see Alvida come out from below deck with Greg carrying Grace in his arms looking just as bad as Nami. "The kid's sick as well!"
A/N: And we'll stop there. Hope you all enjoy it and please leave a review.