Chapter 22

"It can't be," Ace muttered. "Sabo? Is that you?"

"That's my name, yes…" Sabo looked confused. "How do you know me?"

"Because we're brothers, that's how!"

"Eh?!" Koala gasped.

Sabo himself simply raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not thinking of someone else?"

"I know who I'm looking at! I'd recognize that hat anywhere!" Ace shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the hat in question. "How are you alive?"

"Alive? The last thing I remember is waking up here in the infirmary," Sabo said to himself before asking Ace, "You know something about that?"

Taking his question as a step in the right direction, Ace smiled. "Let me start from the beginning."

I clung to the mast as we descended, refusing to let go until our landing was complete.

"Alright, guys, the Log Pose is set, so let's get to the next island!" Nami turned to the Barraki. "You know what to do."

Our alien teammates nodded. "After all that happened on Sky Island, I'm eager to see what's coming next," Pridak said as they all leapt overboard.

With the Barraki's speed and Nami's direction, we were probably moving faster than most other ships on the planet. We even managed to outrun a tsunami, watching it swallow up a random pirate ship as it grew smaller in our wake.

Soon enough, we arrived at a big grassy field of an island populated with sparse but tall trees. When we all disembarked, we quickly discovered that this was no ordinary field.

A strangely tall, skinny bear ambled by, leaving us all at a loss for words.

"Skeleton, do you know what that thing is?" Kalmah asked as Luffy and Usopp began climbing on the strange animal.

I shook my head. "I must've skipped this part while I was binging One Piece."

Chopper tilted his head. "If you were binge-reading, then how'd you skip any part?"

I shrugged. "There was so much of it, I always read summaries of arcs I was coming up on and skipped whatever didn't sound interesting," I explained to him, turning to stare at a passing deer that was just as long and strange as the bear. "Looks like I was wrong about this one."

As if to confirm my statement, a super long dachshund walked by, dutifully following the deer's scent.

I chuckled and jabbed my thumb at it, telling Fencer, "Heh, check it out. It's the world's longest wiener!"

Fencer snickered. "Wanna look around for other long stuff?"

"Oh, hell yeah."

We began walking around, searching for other bizarre animals. I quickly noticed the Barraki were following us, so after a moment I turned to face them.

"Okay, I get why Ehlek's here, evil mentor and all that, but what's with the rest of you?"

"You're not the only one who's curious about this island, skeleton," Mantax said. "I may not be human, but I'd also like to see some long creatures."

And so, we all took in the sights. I found myself wishing my bony fingers could still operate a touch screen, so I could snap a picture of a long armadillo, a long rhino, or a long ferret.

"Say hi to your cousin," I joked.

Fencer gave me a blank stare. "You think all ferrets know each other?"

Before I could reply, Pridak coughed, covering his face. "Ugh, this ferret smells even worse than yours."

"Hey, I don't smell that bad!" Fencer protested. She tapped my head with her tail. "Back me up, dude."

"I can't smell anything," I answered.

"I rest my case," Fencer grinned.

"No, I mean I can't smell anything. I'm a skeleton, remember?" I clarified.

That took the wind out of Fencer's sails, and she gave herself a sniff. "...Oh."

Suddenly, a roar shook the branches of the skinny trees.

"I know that voice," Fencer thought aloud. Her eyes widened as she made the connection.

It didn't hit me until the second I saw what was coming for us. It was big, mostly blue, and looked like a cross between a cobra and a crocodile. Plus, Fencer had said she knew his voice, so that must mean it was—

"Greg! We haven't seen you in forever!" Fencer smiled, then paused for a second. "Wait, how'd you know where to find us?"

Kalmah plucked her from my shoulder and set her on the ground before pulling me off to the side. "Fencer, you get this beast's story while the skeleton explains why you're so familiar with it in the first place."

Fencer and I nodded at each other, and so I told the Barraki how we'd met Greg back in the Calm Belt when we'd first entered the Grand Line, explaining that we owed him a favor for towing us out of there.

"Then I assume he's here to cash in?" Ehlek guessed.

"Probably." I shrugged.

Greg roared again, getting back our attention and signaling Fencer to talk.

"He said he tracked us down by word of mouth. He's spoken to just about all the marine life we've passed in the ocean," Fencer explained. "He needs our help rescuing his son."

"What exactly does your son need rescuing from?" Mantax wondered.

Greg roared again with Fencer translating. To my amusement, she used a Jamaican accent this time. "Let's just say, he fell in wit' some bad company, and now he can't get out."

"Hm, as much as I love slaughtering enemies, what do we get out of this?" Pridak asked.

Fencer and I looked at him funny. "Dude, we don't get anything. He's asking this because we owe him," Fencer pointed out.

"Well, you have fun with that," Pridak said as he and the other Barraki began walking away.

"Wait!" I called after them. "We can't do this without you! I can't swim!"

"And I can't use my powers underwater!" Fencer added.

Before the Barraki got too far, Ehlek stopped them, whispering something to them as he turned them around. "Alright, skeleton. We'll drive this enemy onto dry land, then you kill it."

"Seriously? More of that shit? Did you forget we see through that now?" Fencer asked, annoyed.

Ehlek ignored her. "Final offer."

Fencer and I looked at each other. The Barraki really had us by the balls here. They were the only members of our crew who could realistically fight underwater opponents. I relented soon enough, "Okay. You get this thing on land, and I'll finish it."

"Very good," Ehlek nodded. He looked back at Greg. "Lead the way, beast."

As our amphibious acquaintances left for the sea, Fencer asked me, "You sure this is a good idea? You didn't like killing last time, and I doubt you'll like it any more now. Plus, you don't even know what you're gonna be fighting."

"It'll be fine. It's probably just an animal," I shrugged.

Fencer shook her head. "I don't think that makes it better."

"So, exactly what type of enemy are we dealing with here?" Pridak asked as the group dove deeper into the ocean.

Greg roared at them, releasing a swarm of bubbles, but none of the Barraki understood.

"In hindsight, we should've asked while the fire ferret was still around to translate," Mantax admitted.

Pridak huffed. "No matter. I have no doubt we can match this enemy, whoever it is. Ehlek, when we get close enough, stay behind and build up electricity. I'll signal when to fire."

Ehlek grumbled, clearly unhappy to be left out of the action. Nevertheless, he stopped swimming and began charging up his spines.

The rest of the group also stopped once they reached an underwater ruin, the entrance dark and uninviting.

Kalmah turned to Greg. "I hope you aren't expecting us to do all the heavy lifting."

Greg shook his head and let out a formidable roar. This time, even the Barraki understood what he meant. He had dared the occupant of the ruins to come out and face them.

Out from the entrance came another Lagiacrus, black instead of blue and at least twenty feet longer than Greg, who was already over one hundred. The enemy leviathan quickly made the first move, launching a small bolt of lightning at the intruders.

Greg and the Barraki scattered, only to be caught off guard when the bolt detonated, launching smaller bolts in all directions.

Pridak and Mantax managed to dodge and advanced on the abyssal Lagiacrus. The two thrust their swords and pincer, respectively, only to be shocked when their weapons bounced off the monster's head.

The black Lagiacrus spun and hit the pair with a tail swipe. It opened its mouth wide, intending to swallow them, only for Greg to ram into it from the side. The two beasts roared as lightning erupted from the spines on their backs, zapping each other.

Recovering from the earlier attack, Pridak looked around, noticing someone was missing. "Where's Kalmah?"

"Here with help!" the crimson Barraki answered, swimming back onto the scene with a giant squid he'd commanded for assistance.

The squid latched onto the black Lagiacrus, only to get electrocuted for its trouble.

"Ehlek, do it now!" Pridak ordered.

The green Barraki snuck up behind the grappling giants. "Move, beastie!" He immediately fired after shouting his warning, his lightning blast stunning all three monsters. "Everyone! In sequence!"

All four Barraki took turns swimming at full speed and ramming into the black Lagiacrus, steadily pushing it toward the surface. Greg recovered and launched himself at full speed, providing the final nudge needed for the creature to breach the surface.

I was just kicking back and giving Fencer a belly rub when an abyssal Lagiacrus came flying out of the water and onto the shore.

"Well, playtime's over," I said, standing up.

"You're not doing this without me," my little buddy said firmly.

I chuckled, "Please, I'm not that much of a drama queen."

The monster lunged to take a bite out of me, which I dodged by rolling to the side. Before it could pull back, I hit it in the face with a strong punch.

When it recoiled, Fencer leapt at its throat, slashing it with her tail. The Lagiacrus attempted to stomp on her, but I stopped it by punching it in the knee.

"I cut that thing's neck! Shouldn't it be bleeding out or something?" Fencer asked, annoyed.

"You're small and it's big. I don't think you cut very deep," I pointed out. We both leapt up. I punched while Fencer used a flaming slash. Our attacks stunned the Lagiacrus but unfortunately, they didn't do much damage.

As soon as we landed, the black Lagiacrus spat balls of lightning from its mouth.

We both dodged and began our counterattack. Fencer used her Fireblast attack, while I came in from the side and hit the monster's abdomen with rapid-fire punches. Thankfully, its ribs were a bit weaker than its skull, so I caused some actual pain. On top of that, as a sea creature, the black Lagiacrus clearly wasn't liking the heat from Fencer's flames.

"Skeleton, supercharge your Dial!"

I looked back to see all three Barraki standing a safe distance away. Ehlek had been the one to shout the tip at me.

Realizing it was a good idea, I leapt back and took out my Reject Dial. "Stall him for a minute!" I called out to Fencer. Placing the Dial on the ground, I laid into it with three punches, hitting it as hard as I could.

"Three more times!" Ehlek insisted.

Part of me wanted to refute his advice, but at that moment, I didn't really have a reason notto. I hit the Dial three more times. "Fencer, get back!"

"Was that a minute? 'Cause it felt shorter."

"Just get back!" I yelled at her. When she made room, I charged at the black Lagiacrus. As soon as it saw me coming, it spat out another lightning ball. When I dodged that, it swung its tail, which I leapt over. Without hesitation, I thrust out my palm, pressing the Dial against the Lagiacrus's side, triggering it.

This time, the recoil was so great that not only were my hands bones scattered, but so were the rest of my arm bones. It hurt even more than last time.

"Fuck! AHHHHH!" I screamed, clutching my now armless shoulder.

As bad as I was feeling, the black Lagiacrus was clearly worse off. Its entire midsection was sagging as if there were no bones in it. The beast gave a choked-up roar and vomited a ton of blood before collapsing outright.

The Barraki approached, applauding.

"I doubt that monster's ever getting back up," Pridak said.

"See how much smoother a fight goes when you shoot to kill, skeleton?" Ehlek asked.

I didn't bother dignifying that with a response.

The surface of the water broke as Greg emerged, crawling back onto shore accompanied by a white Lagiacrus half his size.

He growled, which Fencer translated, "I can't thank ya enough for helpin' save me son." Greg turned to the smaller creature. "Say thank you, Christian."

The small white Lagiacrus roared, which I figured was the "thank you."

"Well, now that your debt's been paid, I think it's time we headed back to the rest of the crew," Kalmah said.

Fencer and I waved goodbye to Greg and his kid, and we began walking back across the island. Soon the rest of the crew was within our sights, talking to some old guy. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I didn't care either.

"Oh, hey! What were you guys doing?" Luffy asked.

"We were just helping out Greg," I said. Upon seeing Luffy's confusion, I clarified, "That big blue monster we met in the Calm Belt?"

"Oooooh," Luffy nodded.

"You met that thing again?" Zoro raised an eyebrow. "How'd it find us in the Grand Line?"

This time, Fencer answered, "Word of mouth. Anyway, We got to fight a giant sea monster."

"You should've seen the skeleton when he killed it. It was glorious," Ehlek boasted in my place.

I carried on, "So, yeah. What have you guys been up to?"

Luffy grinned. "We met this pirate named Foxy, and he challenged us to this thing called the 'Davy Back Fight' where every time you win a round, you take one of the other crew's members."

Upon hearing that, I counted up all the crew members I saw. "Wow. Good job!"

"And here we are now," Ace finished, leaning back in the chair he was no longer bound to. He had spent a good long while explaining to Sabo how they, along with Luffy, had been honorary brothers growing up. After covering how Sabo had apparently died, he reiterated how he'd sought Sabo out for help in dealing with Blackbeard.

"Well, that was something," Sabo said. "I'm sorry, though. Nothing you've said has jogged any memories."

"Well, it was worth a shot." Ace frowned. "I guess that means you won't help me with Blackbeard?"

Sabo shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't just walk off the job for something like that."

Sighing, Ace stood up. "I understand. Honestly, it's enough just to know you're alive. You've gotta see Luffy. He'll be thrilled."

"I'll see what I can do about that," Sabo smiled.

Ace returned his smile before looking around. "Uh, so where's Takadox? The guy I had with me."

"Oh, we threw him in the falling hole," Koala said, pressing a button on her desk. "I'll let him out now."

"Falling hole?" Ace repeated.

Suddenly, a hatch opened in the ceiling—

"AAAAAAHHH!"

—and out fell Takadox. Panting, the blue alien got to his feet unsteadily. "What day is it?"