YEAH! Time to meet the Straw-hats! I love this chapter so much, but it was getting pretty long, so I couldn't introduce everyone. Stay tuned for the rest of the crew. Enjoy!

Chapter 4 –Pirate Mad House

The old lady at the apothecary took the fingernail clippings and kicked them out, telling them to be back in the morning. She was a tough old lady that Hood liked immediately; especially after she threatened to make him stay so she could feed him up right. So, with an exchanged look and a shrug the two heroes headed toward the cove the mystery lady told them about. It was a respectable walk, so it took a while and the sun was just a memory before they reached the edge of town. They passed the time idly speculating about what the pirate captain would look like.

"I bet he's a fat geezer," Robin offered. "He'll be so jaded that he picks a fight with anyone to stay amused."

"I bet he has an eye patch," Hood laughed. "And talks with lots of 'arrghs'."

"My money is on the hook hand," Robin said, trying to hide a smile.

"Like Peter Pan's Hook?" Hood said, musing it over. "Sure, I could see that. If he likes adventure so much, I bet he has lots of scars."

"He'd have to be tough," Robin agreed. "I bet he's really strong, like Bane. I heard some of stuff people were talking about in town. It sounds like this Grand Line is a dangerous place."

"I heard that to. Did you see the row of bounty posters on the wall at the bar? All of them look like crazy guys. They'd fit right in at Arkham."

They came around a bend and got their first look at the pirate ship. Honestly they would never have called the flamboyant boat a pirate ship at all if it weren't for the proud skull and crossbones on the flag and main sail. What was with that yellow hat? "Okay," Hood whispered, "I'll admit that was not what I was expecting."

Robin nodded, staring at the ship with his mouth open.

"Do you like our ship?" the woman asked from beside them. Neither hero would ever admit that she startled them. "She's call the Thousand Sunny," she continued like she hadn't just appeared from thin air.

"She's, uh, unique?" Hood offered. He was trying to figure out if the figure head was a flower or a lion. The whole thing looked garish.

"It looks dumb," Robin said testily. "Can that thing really catch up with the marines?"

The woman laughed behind her hand. "Yes, it can." She started walking down the beach toward where there was a small gathering around a big bonfire. "Come, meet the captain."

The boys shrugged and followed her. They approached a colorful group lounging around a bonfire, eating barbecue which smelled heavenly.

"Captain, these are the boys I was telling you about," the woman said, moving to sit next to a scary looking man with green hair, a scar over his eye and three katana. He wore an open green robe that revealed a horrendous scar across his chest that looked several years old, and a Japanese haramaki or belly band.

"I win," Hood whispered to Robin when he saw the scarred-over eye.

"No you haven't, he's not wearing a patch," Robin hissed back.

Hood shrugged and stepped into the fire light and addressed the man. "I'm Red Hood and this is Robin. Your friend said you could help us retrieve our brother from the marines?"

The green haired man glared at him, making Hood wonder what he had said to piss him off, but then the man turned to the skinny looking kid sitting cross-legged on the ground at his feet. The kid had his mouth full of meat, his cheeks bulging with every new bite. "He's talking to you, Luffy," the man growled. "Stop eating and answer him."

The boy swallowed and they could see the lump disappear down his throat. Hood wondered how he didn't choke. The kid didn't look like a pirate captain. He had messy black hair and a cheerful face with a small scar under his left eye. His red vest was closed over his chest, probably due to the cool sea breeze, with a bright yellow sash holding up worn blue shorts. He looked more like a delinquent high school student than a pirate. "Yosh, I got some questions," he said, trying to sound serious. He reached behind himself to pull a straw-hat up onto his head, hiding his eyes. It was a pretty dramatic move and Hood could feel the rest of the circle still to listen to their exchange.

"Seriously?" Robin snapped before Hood could stop him. "He's the captain? He looks like a wimp!"

The kid, Luffy, stared at Robin from under the brim of his hat for a long moment, building the tension. Then the bubble broke and he fell backward laughing with his legs kicking in the air. The green haired man bristled at Robin's words and put a hand on his swords. Around the fire, the other members of the crew also looked combative. The mysterious woman just grinned though. Hood thought that was the scariest reaction.

"I like you," Luffy said when he calmed down. He wiped tears from his eyes. "Have a seat and some meat. Sanji, more meat!"

The blond who was manning the barbecue waved a hand at the captain. "Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on. You're lucky I found all this on sale or Nami'd have your head."

Appeased for the second, the young captain looked at his guests. "Okay. Questions: first your brother. Why was he arrested?"

Hood shrugged as he sat in the sand, trying to pick a position where he could still get at his guns. "Sounds like Golden boy tried to be chivalrous and poked his nose where he shouldn't. He's not the type to leave injustices unanswered."

"Good, good," Luffy nodded sagely. The red head across the fire snickered into her hand. "Next question, are you related by blood?"

"What do you care?" Robin demanded, angrily. "Are you going to help us or not? We can't be wasting time!"

"No," Hood answered, his anger quieter than Robin's but no less apparent. "None of us are related. We have other ties that keep us bound whether we like it or not." Personally, he had some issues that would probably never be truly resolved about those ties.

Luffy's grin shone like the sun. "Awesome! My brothers aren't related to me either." Apparently the pirate captain didn't care about the batfamily drama. He leaned forward, suddenly serious again. "Are you heroes?"

"What?" Robin snapped, throwing up his arms in frustration. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's wearing a cape and you have cool names," Luffy said, grinning literally from ear to ear. "So, are you heroes?"

"Yes," Hood said, staring Luffy in the eye. He decided to humor the strange captain. Maybe it would end this weird interrogation. "We even carry masks."

Luffy whooped excitedly before sticking his finger in Hood's face. "That's so cool. But I'm a pirate, okay? So don't expect me to share my meat with you."

"Um, okay?" Hood said, confused. He batted the finger away. "So are you going to help us?"

"Of course. We'll kick their ass! No one takes anyone's brothers while I'm around!" Luffy jumped up and shouted, showering sand on Hood and the green haired man.

"Knock it off!" the man growled, knocking the captain in the head with a sheathed katana. Luffy didn't seem to feel it. "Welcome to the Straw Hats," the swordsman said to Hood and Robin. "Hope you survive the experience. I'm Zoro. You met Robin," he gestured at the creepy woman. "Over there is Nami, Ussop, and the bastard with the freaky eyebrow is shit-cook."

"What did you say, marimo?" the blond shouted. He stomped over to kick Zoro in the head. Zoro tsked at the attack and just moved to the other side of the fire with his bottle of something. The cook sniffed in disdain before offering Hood and Robin some of the barbeque. He was a tall man and he looked taller in his tailored pants and blue dress shirt, though his sleeves were rolled up so he could man the cooking fires. His hair was a bright blond and he did have a weird eyebrow which swirled. Hood couldn't tell about his other eyebrow because his hair fell over his right eye. "I'm Sanji," he explained as Hood dug into his food. The meat was as delicious as it smelled. "Enjoy the food."

"I'm vegetarian, peasant," Robin snarled, batting away the food.

Sanji caught the meat before it hit the ground. "Don't waste food, short stack," the cook said coldly. Behind him Luffy declared that he'd eat Robin's share of the meat. Sanji rolled his eyes but tossed the meat to his captain, who ate it in midair and spat out the skewer. "Wait here," he ordered Robin. In less than a minute he was back with a handful of skewers of grilled vegetables. "Don't waste food around me, but I won't let anyone go hungry, not even a shitty brat like you. Eat up." Without another word, he returned to his cooking. Robin was pleasantly surprised at the taste of the vegetables and quickly ate as much as he could.

The red haired woman came over to sit next to Hood. She wore a tight blue jacket that just barely covered her bright bikini top. Her jeans were skin tight and on her hip, Hood noticed three short staffs that were probably her weapons. She was very pretty too, with long orange-red hair and a cheerful smile. She had more of a girl-next-door look than the mysterious Robin. "Hello, there. Like Zoro said, I'm Nami. Chopper and Franky are on the ship. Brook is over there," she pointed at a really lean looking man just outside the fire light, strumming on an oddly shaped guitar. It was hard to make him out, but he looked almost skeletal, he was so pale and thin. "And I don't know where Jimbe wandered off to."

"Tch," Robin sniffed haughtily. "Small crew, you have here. Are you sure you can help us get Nightwing back?" He glared around at the circle of pirates. Oddly enough, none of them looked insulted, a couple even looked amused.

"We might not look it, but we're a pretty infamous pirate crew," Nami promised. "We have had our share of entanglements. Don't worry, one warship is barely a challenge for these muscleheads."
"Your words are music to my ears, Nami-swan," Sanji said. He danced over and went to one knee, holding out a shish-ka-bob of cubed meats and vegetables cut into hearts. "Let this be a token of my unending love."

Nami sighed and accepted the skewer, leaving Sanji to skip over to Robin (the pirate, not the hero) and make the same declaration. This got Luffy's attention and Sanji had to return to the barbeque to keep his gluttonous captain happy.

Hood shook his head in disbelief. He'd see a lot of strange things in his life, but these pirates were throwing him for a loop. He wasn't sure how to react to their antics. "I guess I should thank you for your help," he admitted, though it came out gruffer than he intended.

"Yo ho ho ho," a spooky voice said from behind them. "We'll save your brother, cross my heart. But I don't have a heart! Yo ho ho ho."

Hood turned around and squealed like girl because he was staring death in the face. A tall skeleton was bending over to talk to them, his ghastly skull grinning at them as his laugh echoed through his lipless mouth. Hood backed up until he could feel the bonfire at his back and had his gun up and trained on the monster before anyone could react. He didn't know what his rubber bullets would do to a living skeleton, but he would not go down without a fight. The part of his mind that wasn't terrified wondered why no one else was frightened.

Nami stood up and smacked the skeleton upside the head. "Brook, knock it off. You scared the poor man. Apologize right now!" she scolded harshly.

The skeleton bowed low. "My deepest apologies. I didn't mean to startle you and I understand how you feel. I forget that I am a skeleton sometimes and I scare myself when I look in a mirror. Yo ho ho ho"

"Wha…how?" Hood gasped. He looked over at Robin who was snickering behind his hand, the little creep. Hood stood up and dusted himself off, trying to regain his dignity. Interestingly enough, none of the pirates had laughed at him, not even the care-free Luffy.

"I ate the revive-revive fruit and came back to life after I died," Brook explained. "But I got lost in the fog and by the time I found my body, I was reduced to this." He waved a boney hand over his body. Now that Hood had calmed down, he took the chance to actually look at the skeleton. Brook towered over them; he must have been over seven feet tall including his impressive pitch black afro. He wore a mix-match of bright colored clothes topped by a feather boa. His black top hat even had a crown on it. Actually, he wasn't scary at all. He looked kind of festive, if bizarre.

"Good thing that didn't happen to you, Hood," Robin snarked.

Hood glared at him but Brook's attention was caught. "You too have been revived?" he asked innocently, his head cocked to the side.

Hood bit back the bile that rose at the question. "Yes, but it wasn't my choice. I've had a lot of things to deal with."

"I understand, my friend," Brook said taking a seat. "We'll have to swap stories some time. I've learned that letting it out can have a great healing effect."

"Whatever," Hood brushed him off, not wanting to deal with this right now. He still had a lot of bitterness from his death and resurrection, as well as all the drama afterwards. "What will be the plan tomorrow? We have to catch the marines and they have a two day head start."

Nami waved a hand, making her bracelets chime musically. "Don't worry about it. I'm the best navigator on the Grand Line; I'll get us there in no time."

Robin (the pirate) turned a kind smile on the two heroes. Robin (Damian) had returned to glaring banefully at the others but the dark haired woman appeared unaffected by his hostility. "The marine ship had one other port to visit before returning to base. Since we will be heading straight for them, our journey will pass much quicker."

"Yosh!" Luffy crowed. "As captain I have decided that we leave first thing in the morning to rescue our new friends' brother. The Thousand Sunny is the best ship in the New World. We'll catch up to those dumb marines and kick their butts." He had stood up and struck a pose that was probably supposed to look heroic, but it just looked kind of awkward and funny, though the look on his face was very intent. "In the meantime, we need to build up our strength for the battle. Sanji, more meat!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. "Let the ladies have seconds first, you shitty rubberman. Learn some damn manners."

Nami smacked the back of Luffy's head. "We already decided that, you moron," she reproached, sounding exasperated. "You agreed as soon as Robin told us the story."

"Do what you want," Zoro said from the edge of the firelight. "I'm going to get some shut eye to be ready for tomorrow. The rest of you better do the same."

"Um, Mr. Hood and Mr. Robin?" the guy who hadn't spoken yet said. He had a ridiculous long nose and a bushy ponytail covered by a floppy hat. "We have some extra bed rolls if you want to sleep on the beach with us, tonight?" He sounded really uncertain and scared as he asked. He held out two rolls of blankets as far from his body as he could get. When Robin glared and snatched the rolls from him, the man (probably named Ussop) squeaked and scurried away to hide behind Zoro.

Robin rolled his eyes contemptuously. "We'll sleep over there," he declared, shoving one bedroll at Red Hood. "Stay away from us until dawn unless you want to lose your head."

Hood rubbed a hand over his face. When did he become the level headed one? "What he means to say is 'Good night and thank you for the food and for your promise of assistance.'" He put a hand on Damian's head and forced him into a quick bow, though he was probably risking his hand to do that. Surprisingly, Damian just tched and mumbled, "What he said."

"Good night, young heroes," Robin said smoothly. "Hopefully you won't be eaten by a beast before morning."

"Robin, that's terrifying," Ussop complained.

"Night!" Luffy waved excitedly, but his new friends couldn't hold his attention while Sanji was still cooking.

"We'll see you in the morning," Nami called to them.

"Yohohoho! Sweet dreams, new friends," Brook sang out. Soon the apparition was softly singing a song about sake that drifted over the small cove, blending with the sound of the waves.

Retreating into the night, the Bat-brothers found a place away from the fire and high above the tideline where they could bed down and talk privately, shedding their vigilante personas for the time being.

"What do you think?" Jason said, laying back to study the stars. They were beautiful but nothing like the ones visible from Earth.

"I think they are all insane," Damian groused. He was sitting crossed legged on his bedroll, his sword across his knees. "I don't like trusting them with Grayson's life."

Jason sighed heavily. "It's not like we have a choice." He rolled over to look at Damian, but the kid was staring resolutely into space. "We can't rescue Golden Boy on our own, not across an ocean. And no one else seemed eager to help."

"I agree," Damian said, nodding to himself. "We don't have a choice, Todd. The mission comes first, and if we have to rely on these ruffians to get it done, so be it. I still don't like it though."

"You said that already, demon-spawn," Jason pointed out. He laid back and gazed at the alien stars. "I wonder what B and the others would have done."

"Kent would have flown after the ship, retrieved Grayson and been back for dinner," Damien scoffed. "Assuming the muscle bound fool had figured out where Grayson had been taken."

"B would have been with them, remember?" Jason argued, his old insecurities rising again. "They probably wouldn't have to rely on pirates."

"Doesn't matter," Damian declared, shoving his sword into the sand. "They aren't here and we are so we make do with what we have. Now shut up and go to sleep, Todd."

Jason smiled to himself, but didn't let the younger boy see it. "Fine, you too, Damian. A boy your age needs a full night's sleep so he can grow big and strong."

"Tch," Damian scoffed. But after a minute, Jason could hear him getting into his bedroll and falling asleep.