The Straw Hat's Red Devil - Sky Island Saga (No 3)

by DeadGirlEtarnal

She's the Daughter of Red-Haired Shanks; she was dropped off to live with Luffy. She met Ace & Sabo, but when Sabo died, it was the last for her as she vows to take revenge. Years later she leaves the island and sets on adventures of her own, she soon meets up with her baby brother and travels with him, finding love in more than one place. I ONLY OWN MY OCS!

21. Bounty Hunters Nest of Secrets & Reveals

BOUNTY HUNTERS' NEST OF SECRETS AND REVEALS

Alabasta Saga - Whisky Peak Arc - Episode 64-67

A/N: Hey, glad to be back; anyway, I wanted to ask if you'd like me to do the One Piece Movies as well, I'll do them at least three at a time, but that's up to you, Readers. Also, thanks for your help, and I've rewritten the previous chapters and the character profile.

Dakota's POV:

"It's a list of all my hits," I tell them, not looking them in the eye. I hear the pages flicking, and I look up as the others are too silent to see them all looking at me, not in fear but something else. "I guess those days are behind me now. Huh?" I look at my baby brother, and he nods as he looks at the first name on my list; he hugs me close, and I hug him back. I know these people won't judge me like others will; these people are my friends, my Nakama, and we have each other's backs even after the short time we've had together.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

3rd POV:

Crocus smiles as he watches the pirate ship sail further away with Laboon and sits down before getting out a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and calling a certain male red-haired pirate.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

I walk out of my and Nami's room in a warm grey woollen winter coat as it's snowing as we're further into the Grand Line; I walk out as Usopp shouts in anger as he kicks Luffy's snowman. "What the hell are you doing?!" He screams at Luffy as he destroys the snowman, antagonising Luffy to retaliate.

"Ahh! Mr Snow Barrel!" Luffy cries angrily at the long-nosed Sniper. "How dare you…!" He throws himself at Usopp, head first; I watch them fight each other with a sigh and shake my head as I go back into my room, not wanting to get hit by a stray snowball. I really don't like the snow.

I wait for the two fools outside to calm down as I finish the painting of our previous adventure, looking at Apis and Grandpa Ryu and my portrait of our growing crew, and I hear the unmistakable sound of lightning and freeze for a second. I look down at my hands, seeing blood; I close my eyes as I force the memory out and stand on my feet as I run out of the room.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

I walk fast to the kitchen as the wind picks up; I close the door behind me and look at our two unwanted guests shivering at the table in red blankets, not looking happy. "The seasons, as well as the weather, go around randomly. It's just like what you said, Dakota." Nami says and looks at me in disbelief; I nod as I step over to the helm and feel it shift and shift the other way so we stay on course.

"That's how it is in the Grand Line." Miss Wednesday's comments from the table.

"It seems that you guys're clueless about the Grand Line." Mr 9 adds they seem to have an attitude toward hitchhikers.

"Oh, be quiet, I was raised on these seas, so I know what I'm doing." I snap at them as I steer.

"I see. But you don't seem to understand where you're going, you don't have a Log Pose and yet your steering?" Miss Wednesday replies, and I look at Nami as she looks down at her Log Pose.

"We're fine." She answers, and I turn to the bluenette with a smirk at her annoyed face.

"Yeah, I've already told her not to trust the sea, the winds, sky, waves, clouds, anything because I know what I'm doing." I smile as I steer, feeling the helm fight me back. "Seems we're heading into bad water," I warn our Navigator, she looks out of the window, but it seems calm. "Remember, trust only your instincts if you have to." She nods as she gets out, and the weather worsens; the strong wind makes it difficult.

"Boys!" She screams to gain their attention; she turns around, pulls our 'guests' out of their cosy blankets, and kicks them out to help us. "Brace the yard! Usopp! Take care of the lateen sail!" She shouts her orders from the railing.

"Got it!" He shouts back as he runs across the deck.

"Sanji-kun! Take over at the helm!"

"Leave it to me, Nami-san!" He coos as he runs up towards us.

"Dakota! Help stabilise the mainsail!"

"Roger!" I leave the kitchen and run towards the mainsail.

"You guys! I'm counting on you!" She shouts at the Miss and Mr below as I climb the mast.

"She's such a slave driver." Mr 9 complains below.

"You have no idea," I mutter as I fasten the ropes securely.

"Hey, wait! The wind has changed." Usopp announces as it seems to be getting close now the weather around us is changing so much.

"No way!" Nami cries, and I look up to see the dark looming clouds, disappearing clear skies replacing them, and a refreshing spring gale washes over us.

"It's the first spring gale!" Mr 9 announces happily as he stands with Miss Wednesday, both arms crossed, enjoying the breeze.

"Why?!" She complains about the sudden change.

"Don't just sleep there while the snow accumulates on you!" Usopp shouts over at Zoro as he sleeps soundly as usual. I jump down as everyone runs around the deck. Luffy looks out into the waters.

"Hey! I saw a dolphin jump over there! Let's go there." Luffy says, but I smack him over as I take my coat off, now feeling the heat.

"That's enough, help us out," I order him, and I look out ahead to see a large iceberg sitting in front of us.

"The waves are getting high!" Usopp cries out as he keeps a hold of the rope ladder.

"Usopp, grab some rope, there's an iceberg ahead, we need to steer away before we hit it, but we're too close," I order him, and he jumps down to search for some rope. He passes some over, and I tie it around my waist safely and give him the other end.

"You're not going to jump over, are you?" He asks me, and I nod.

"Nami, Sanji, steer us away from the iceberg as much as you can!" I shout over to them as I hop onto the side, as we sail closer. "Usopp, keep a hold of that as tightly as you can," I warn him as I climb down the ship's side as the iceberg gets closer and a fog rolls in. We get closer to the side of the iceberg, enough to leave damage if we're not careful, and I lean my legs out to touch the iceberg and push with all I've got to shove away from the side as Nami and Sanji steer the helm away too. We make it without a scratch. "Usopp, pull me up!" I yell up to him and feel the rope moving as he pulls me up to the side; I climb up and over to the deck. "Well, that was fun."

"The clouds are moving fast!" Nami yells as another storm rolls in. "W-Wind's coming!"

"It's strong!" Luffy gulps as the storm clouds roll closer.

"It's coming!" Miss Wednesday gasps as the strong winds stir up the ocean, waves grow fast as it rains down on us,

"Unfurl the sails! That wind is too strong!" Nami orders as she screams, the Going Merry rocking from side to side violently. "If we take it directly, we'll overturn!"

"Everyone!" Sanji calls out from the kitchen; I look over as he comes out with a tray of rice balls. "Eat this! Let's gather our strength!" I race over as Luffy pops up and grabs a couple before joining Nami to unfurl the sails, I grab the other rope, but Nami seems to be struggling as the sail tears.

"Oh, crap! The sail is gonna be torn!" Usopp cusses as he begins to panic.

"Forget about things up here. Go fix the bottom of the ship!" Nami orders him.

"There's another part of the bottom of the ship damaged!" Miss Wednesday shouts before us as she looks down into the ship's hull.

"Dammit!" He curses as he runs over and jumps down to stop the leaking, leaving the rest of us to handle the storm; Nami continues shouting orders as we fight through the strong winds. Sanji and I switch as I keep the ship on her course as everyone fights with the elements outside.

I drop to the floor, sitting against the mast as everyone else lies along the wooden floor, all of us exhausted from the weather changes, and that's when Zoro decides to wake up from his nap. "Ahh, that felt good." He yawns as he wakes up and gets to his feet, walking over to us. "Hey, no matter how nice the weather is, you guys shouldn't be so lazy. We'd better be on the right track." He says to Nami.

"Shut up, you bastard…" I think to myself as I glare at him, and he turns, noticing the two hitchhikers lying on the floor.

"Why're you guys on this ship?" He asks them; I guess he was asleep when Luffy invited them.

"You're slow!" Mr 9 yells, seeming to have some energy, and I get up, standing, but I still need to lean against the mast.

"We're heading to their town right now. It's called Whisky Peak." Luffy answers for them from the railing behind me.

"You mean we're taking them back? We don't owe them anything." Zoro points out, and Luffy nods as if he understands.

"Right, we don't." He agrees with his First Mate.

"Well, not like it matters to me…" He sighs, looks down at the two bounty hunters, and kneels before them; they seem intimidated by him. "Yeah, your faces say that you're thinking bad thoughts. What were your names again?" He asks them.

"I-I'm Mr 9." He answers with s stutter.

"I'm Miss Wednesday." She answers with a quiver; both are scared of the Swordsman.

"Right… something has been bothering me ever since I first heard your names… I feel like I've heard them somewhere before, or maybe not..." Zoro plays with them; I smirk; they are definitely part of that ridiculous group. "Well, either way -." Nami steps behind him angrily and smacks him hard on the back of the head. His head hits the floor, and he bounces back in pain.

"How dare you sleep comfortably all this time…" She seethes in anger, looking down at him. "You kept sleeping no matter how many times we tried to wake you up…" Zoro looks up at her angrily, but Nami doesn't have it as she keeps hitting him on the head; I pull her away, leaving Zoro in pain. "I'm calm," She assures me, and I nod, letting her go. "Don't let your guard down, everyone! We don't know what else might happen." She warns the others. "I was finally able to realise the danger of this sea just now. I was able to understand the reason why it's called the Grand Line. there's no doubt about it since my navigation skills don't work at all."

"How blunt… are we gonna be okay?" Usopp asks, and I hang my head at her as I can't help but shake my head at her.

"We'll be fine! Things will still work out for sure. In fact…" She says, and I move off the mast to face our heading. As she looks ahead, the fog around the island begins to lift the closer we are. "Look! Our first journey is over." I walk off as we continue slowly to reach the island; I once did a job here not long ago; a couple of bounty hunters were wanted by a client, and I may have been seen. I open my room door and quickly grab hold of my black crop hoodie with devil horns on the hood to hide my hair; I walk over to the ship's bow with the others looking excited at their first Grand Line island.

"It's an island!" Luffy cheers from his favourite seat, holding onto his hat with the two bounty hunters beside him.

"So this is Whisky Peak." Sanji comments, and I look at the landscape; it hasn't changed, it seems. "But it's really a funny-looking island."

"Those cacti are huge!" Luffy gasps in glee as Mr 9 and Miss Wednesday hop onto the railing next to us in stupid poses.

"Well then, we'll be leaving now." Mr 9 announces.

"Thanks for taking us home, honeys." Miss Wednesday adds in.

"If We're linked by fate, we'll meet again!" He continues.

"Bye-bye, baby!" They say their farewell, and I walk over to them and push them into the cool water, swimming towards the island ahead of us.

"Bye-bye, hope not to see you again!" I yell after them; Nami giggles with Usopp behind me as I lean against the railing.

"Who on earth were they?" Usopp wonders as he stares after them.

"Who cares! We're landing!" Luffy cheers.

"There's a river that comes through here. So we can go inland by ship." I tell them and stop, seeing them looking at me. "I may have been here a couple of months ago," I answer their unanswered question.

"I-Isn't it possible that there're monsters of things like that?" Usopp asks in fear, shaking a little.

"Though it is possible being that this is the Grand Line, there aren't any monsters on the island," I assure the cowardly Sniper.

"If we come across monsters, we can just leave the island." Luffy tries to assure his crew member, but it doesn't work like that.

"Hold on a sec. Don't forget that we have to stay on this island for a certain period of time." Nami cuts off the dream.

"Why?" Luffy asked her as he wasn't listening again.

"Unless we store the magnetism of this island in the Log Pose, we can't go to the next island. Since each island requires a different amount of time to store the Log, some islands require only several hours while others require days." She explains to the boys.

"Th-then even when we reach an island full of monsters that we want to escape from right away, it's impossible because we have to stay there for days until the log is stored?" Usopp asks her.

"That's right." She nods, and Usopp starts to freak out.

"Well, we can think about that when it happens. Let's go already!" Luffy cheers happily with a goofy grin.

"Luffy's right. Let's go. It's not worth thinking about it." Zoro agrees with our Captain.

"No matter what happens, I'll protect Nami-san and Dakota, My Love." Sanji agrees with our First Mate.

"I can look after myself, thanks, Sanji," I tell him, and he nods with a doughy look.

"He-Hey, wait. Listen, everyone. My chronic illness is suddenly… my 'don't go to the island' disease is-" Usopp tries pulling a lie on us as he croaks from holding his neck.

"Then we're going in." Nami agrees, and I nod.

"Seems so." I agree, but Usopp groans in protest.

"Listen. Make sure you're prepared to run as well as fight." Nami warns them, and I look at the others.

"Also, they're Bounty Hunters, all of them," I tell them, but it's too late to explain fully. "I know because I was sent here on a job. also, they'll recognise my hair, be aware of your surroundings; they pull you in till you're asleep and sell you off." They all look at me as I pull my hood up, tucking my hair out of my face and making sure none of it is on show as we move through the fog towards the town.

"Huh? Something's moving." Luffy announces as he looks into the fog; I look over to see the figure of the bounty hunters, most likely watching us.

"Must be Bounty Hunters," Sanji comments as we look out across the shore as more pop up.

"Everyone, be careful," Nami warns them.

"Remember, play into it but stay alert." I remind them, and they nod as the fog begins to clear to a crowd of bounty hunters cheering our arrival.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!" They all cheer, waving their arms around with fake glee.

"Welcome to our town!" Another shout from the crowd on either side of the river.

"To the welcoming town, Whisky Peak!" More cheers come from the crowd, and the others look in shock, but I hope they remember they are acting for their own benefit, to play us till we fall asleep.

"Man, they're really trying," Usopp mutters as he looks around.

"What's going on?" Sanji wonders.

"They're trying to lure us in, make us feel welcomed before they capture us," I tell them from under my hood.

"Pirates! Welcome to our town!" They continue to cheer as we pass, "Hurray for the heroes on the sea!"

"Whoa! There're lots of cute girls!" Sanji falls under the spell of all womanisers.

"Sanji, they're all Bounty Hunters." I snap as a reminder, but it seems to go through one ear out the other.

"Ahh! Look this way! They're handsome!" A flock of girls cheer; I shake my head at the idiots and look at Usopp to see him waving at them, enjoying the attention.

"Hey!~" Luffy cheers from the figurehead as we dock at the side of the main town.

"Remember we stay on alert." I remind all of them, and they nod as we come to a stop and anchor. I unroll the Jacob's ladder, and we climb off slowly to see the crowd coming to greet us.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

We all stand before the crowd of bounty hunters, acting like ordinary townspeople and a guy I remember to be Mr 8 walks over with his saxophone, coming to greet us. "Welco -." He coughs, trying to clear his throat and sort his throat out some more. "Welcome. My name is Igarappoi. I'm the Mayor of Whisky Peak." He introduces himself,

"Okay. I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you." He replies and points at him. "Pops, you went overboard on curling your hair."

"Whisky Peak is a town that thrives on making liquor and music. Hospitality is the pride of our town. As for our proud liquor, it's as bountiful as the seawater. Would you allow us to throw a party for you so that we may hear your tales of..." He stops to cough, needing to clear his throat again. "... your tales of adventure?"

"We'll be glad to!" The three idiots cheer; I hope they remember the plan.

"Morons." "Idiots." Nami and I complain as we look at the three of them cheering as we three sensible ones, stay behind.

"Say, by the way, how long will it take for the log of this island to be stored?" Nami asks Mr Mayor as she points at the Log Pose.

"Log? Forget such boring stuff. Please just rest after such a long journey." He places his arm on Nami's shoulder as he turns to face the rest of the bounty hunters. "Now, everyone! Prepare for the party! Sing to entertain the adventurers!" He cheers along with the rest of them, and they direct us into one of the buildings bigger than the others.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

The party goes on for hours, I almost had my hood ripped off, but I managed to keep it on as I sit in the corner playing another round of poker with some unhappy bounty hunters. I finish another bottle of their famous liquor, as I call, and a few of them fold as another woman flirts as she fills my cup again; I smell a sweet scent, meaning they've put something into the drink to get us drunk faster. I chug it down, it's my fourth mug, and again they fill it up.

I drink my 9th mug as everyone stops to watch the competition; I smirk a little, feeling the effects of the drink. "Whoa! Amazing! He finished his 10th cup!" A guy cheers as we watch, and another goes down next to Zoro.

"This girl's downing her 12th cup!" Another one gasps as they watch our Navigator, chugging them down quickly.

"Whoa! The Captain finished a meal for 20 people!" "

"The cook is down!"

"Whoa! This young man is trying to hit on 20 girls at the same tie!"

"What's with this gang?!"

"Hey, look, she cleaned out those guys!" One says as they look at me as I hold my cards away and put the money in my hoodie pocket.

I sit by Zoro and feel my flirty side come in as I am drunk; I move my hands up his muscular bicep as he continues drinking with a blush over our cheeks. "This is it. I quit. I'm gonna sleep." Zoro gives in as he places the cup on the table, and I giggle a little as he falls face-first onto the table.

"Whoa! The young man is finally down after his 13th cup!"

"What? You're hopeless, Zoro." Nami complains, and I sigh as I run a finger lightly up his back, earning a shiver, and I take another cup full, chugging it down fast and close my eyes to pretend to fall unconscious.

I wait over an hour for the party to stop as everyone on our crew sleeps; the bounty hunters turn out the lights, the so-called mayor leaves quickly outside, and I continue to wait. Another couple of minutes and the nun leaves on shaky legs, leaving us alone with a few bounty hunters. "Go time," I whisper loud enough for the others to hear as the two bounty hunters talk; Zoro and I take out the two bounty hunters and tie them up. I breathe in and out, slowly trying to turn off the alcohol from all the drinks; I stop once the fuzziness settles. "Nami, get all their valuables and return ours; they've probably taken them. Luffy, lose the gut and stay with Usopp until all of the Bounty Hunters are taken care of; there are higher numbers around here, and we'll need you later. Sanji, you go with Nami; keep her safe." I order them, and they all nod. "Zoro, we'll head to the roof; we'll have a better vantage point and the element of surprise. Stick to the shadows as best as you can." I warn them, and we split up; Zoro and I leave and head for the stairs to the roof.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

Zoro and I make it to the roof, though Zoro takes a few wrong turns, and I end up holding his hand as we sit on the rooftop; I look down at the four people on the ground below; Igarappoi is holding up Luffy's bounty poster and all three of them look in shock at the amount he's worth. "Th-Thirty million Berries?!" They shriek in surprise.

"Them?!" Mr 9 shrill voice asks.

"It's foolish to judge a pirate's ability based on their looks, Miss Mon..." Igarappoi warns her but stops to clear his throat. "...Miss Monday." He puts the poster in his jacket pocket, and she apologises sheepishly. "But we've already settled. Looks like we can send a good report to the Boss. Confiscate all the money and other valuables on the ship immediately."

"So what about them?" Miss Monday asks him. Good question.

"What do we do?" Mr 9 asks him,

"If we kill them, the bounty drops by 30%. The Government wants to hold public executions. " He tells them, and there's a tense moment among them as they don't move from their spots. "Go! Capture them alive!"

"I have to say…." I announce myself, and they all look up at us in shock. "The Government they do love a public execution, but you won't be there to see it."

"You bastards…! I thought you were completely asleep." He threatens us.

"Swordmen never make the mistake of letting their guard down that much," Zoro says as he stands beside me and more bounty hunters crowd below us.

"So, let's see if we've got this right. This is the next of Bounty Hunters. You dupe Pirates who are in high spirits after having just entered the Grand Line." I pretend to guess.

"Looks like they're about 200 Bounty Hunters here. We'll fight you all… Baroque Works!" Zoro promises, and I grin at the name as they freeze in shock at knowing the name of the mysterious Organization.

"You bastards! How is it that you know our company's name?!" Igarappoi demands of us.

"When I used to be in a similar line of work, I was recruited by your company once," He tells them. "Naturally, I rejected it."

"Same with me but I'm already with another company that specialises in dead people," I answer.

"Employees don't know each other's identity and are called by cheesy code names," The sexy Swordsman says, and I scoff at him.

"Of course, the loser Boss' whereabouts and his entity are also a mystery, even to them," I add, and the looks they all give us mean we're on the money. "Baroque Works is a criminal group that just faithfully carries out their orders like the pathetic losers they are."

"Humph…! Was it a secret?" Zoro teases them, and I giggle a little as he gives them a sexy, sinister grin.

"This is surprising… if you both know our secrets, then we have no other choice but to kill you two." Igarappoi snaps with venom. "Another gravestone… will be added to the Cactus Rocks…" He looks away long enough for us to disappear.

"Teleport," I whisper, grabbing Zoro as they all seem distracted.

"Kill them!" Mr 8 yells as we pop up in the middle of the group, and I hear them all gasp in surprise at our disappearance.

"Th-They disappeared…!" Miss Wednesday whispers in surprise.

"Th-they disappeared!" A man stutters in fear.

"Wh-where the heck did they disappear to?!" Igarappoi asks as they look around, and three men spot us as I place my hand around my metal chain razor belt and take it off; it falls onto the ground with a clanging sound alerting the rest.

"Ahh!" "What?!" They freak out as they look at us.

"All right then." We nod at each other as the bounty hunters around us take a step back and raise their guns at us.

"How dare you mock us!" They snap at us in anger. "Fire!" They shoot, but I hold onto Zoro again.

"Teleport." We disappear before the first bullet can hit us and appear in another spot among the bounty hunters, in plain sight.

"Idiots! They shot each other!" Igarappoi snaps in anger as he looks at the fallen bodies of the bounty hunters.

"Th-They disappeared again!" Mr 9 stutters, his fear showing.

"Darn! Kill them already! It's just a single swordsman and a chain user." He snaps at the others and turns around; Zoro calmly steps over and leans against his back as he moves his blade by his ear; he stiffens in fear.

"Let me ask you a question. Are you sure you need to add only one gravestone?" Zoro asks.

"There they are!" Bounty Hunters corner us with their guns drawn.

"I-Idiots! Don't! Are you gonna shoot me, too?!" Igarappoi freaks out, and they click the safety off. "Stop! Igarappa!" He grabs something and leans back a little, and it's his sax; he blows into it, and bullets fly out; I swing the chain around, knocking away the shot so I don't get hit. Igarappoi takes out a row of Bounty Hunters, and I jump forward to grab Zoro's hand again.

"Teleport." I gasp as I feel the effects of continuous teleporting, and we drop down a dark alleyway a little distance away from them as they try to find us.

"Where did those two disappear to?" He snaps at the idiots, and I try to catch my breath from the continuous teleporting.

"Kota, you okay?" Zoro asks me, and I nod, calming my breathing.

"Yeah, I will be, teleporting takes it out of me a little. I can't do another one or I'll probably pass out. So that's a shotgun? That thing sure is dangerous." I comment, and he nods in agreement.

"If it comes down to it, we'll run." He assures me, and I nod as we watch them grow angrier, and I hope the others are sticking to the plan.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

3rd POV:

Inside the building, Nami watches with the others from the window, careful not to be seen by the other bounty hunters and keeping an eye on the unconscious bounty hunters in the corner; Sanji watches by her side as Usopp helps Luffy try losing weight.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

Dakota's POV:

"Where did they go?! Find them!" Igarappoi yells at the bounty hunters, and I look at Zoro as he grabs one of his newer swords with glee. "Don't hold back." We agree, and a laugh comes from above us.

"There you are." He yells and points his gun at us. "Die!" I push against the door, and it opens as he shoots at us; I pull Zoro inside, but there are more behind us.

"Split up," I yell and whip my chain towards the right; the two hunters cut their stomachs in the window, swallowing enough to make them fall. I jump back out of the door with the lion as he shoots, and I run down the alleyway with a hail of bullets trying to hit me; one grazes my shoulder, but I turn a corner, hiding. I catch my breath and jump up to one of the higher windows and climb inside, it's empty, and I wait for them to run past before I sneak back outside.

I drop down and slice at their backs, and they fall to the floor; a blade swings towards me, but I duck down onto the ground and kick my legs out to trip them; I turn to see a woman holding the knife. I kick her up into the air as she floats for a second; I jump up and kick her in the side, sending her into the wall; I look around quickly to see if anyone is about but don't see anyone and run out into the open to see them following Zoro. I watch as a kid comes running towards him with a small dagger; I jump up the side of the building as Zoro turns and knocks the kid away gently. The kid falls to the floor and starts crying, and one of the fake nuns comes running to his safety.

"Lord have mercy!" She prays as she cradles the child. "I beg you for mercy. Lord have mercy! Please save us!" She pulls out across, and the kid smirks as she's about to spray him. I race over and kick the woman down.

"The Lord doesn't have mercy," I remark as I stand over them. "Otherwise, there wouldn't be people like me." I pull my hood down, allowing my hair to fall free; I hear a collecting of gasps as they look at my scarlet hair. Zoro and I climb the ladder as the bounty hunters close on us.

"They went further up!"

"Corner them!"

"They're over there!"

"Cut them off!"

"Go around the back!"

"Okay!" The bounty hunters all yell at one another.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

3rd POV:

Inside the party room, the door opens, and the two remaining pirates quickly fall to the floor as a group of bounty hunters rush through; stepping on the pirates without a care, they leave out through the back the same way Zoro and Dakota excited, and close the door behind them. "Man, that hurt," Usopp complains about footprints scattered over him and Luffy.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

In another room above the other two, Nami and Sanji search the room for valuables, but nothing of interest catches the attention of the Navigator. "Darn… is this all the treasure they have?" She complains as she looks into a safe box with half of it empty. "Some Bounty Hunters' nest this is! Whisky Peak sure is a crappy town."

"Right you are, Nami-san!" Sanji coos as he looks at the woman with hearts in his eyes.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

Dakota's POV:

"There's nowhere to escape up there!" They continue to shout as they climb up the ladders to the top, I walk over as one makes it up the final wooden ladder and kicks it hard, and it falls back.

"Bye-bye!" I wave as they fall.

"The ladder's falling!" Zoro picks me up suddenly, causing me to let out a yelp of surprise as he jumps towards the falling ladder and over to the next building full of Bounty Hunters; he throws me into the air as we get closer.

"Ahh! They're jumping over here!" They panic as he gets closer.

"Shoot him!" They start firing Zoro, but none hits him as he grins.

"Two Sword Style: Hawk Wave!" He slashes his swords around in a circular motion, and I land behind him on my feet.

"I don't like being thrown around like that," I warn him.

"Sorry," He apologises, and I nod as more Bounty Hunters jump from above us; they land in front of me with their guns drawn.

"Watch out. It's a little unstable there." I warn them and stomp my right foot into the stone roof, and the force causes a crack to appear under my foot, spreading towards the four Bounty Hunters, and it gives out on them. We begin to walk away when I see a shadow appear on the wall in front of us and duck in time as a ladder comes swinging towards us and splinters on impact with the wall.

"That was close. That almost got us!" Zoro snaps, and I look up to see Miss Monday as she throws away the ladder and puts on a knuckle duster; I get to my feet along with Zoro.

"Don't try our patience. There's no man who can best my strength." Miss Monday boasts; I gotta say, I know a lot of men twice as strong as her. She grabs Zoro by the throat and dangles him in the air. "This is the end of you."

"I don't know; I mean, I know the World's Strongest Man," I comment, and she falters, looking over at me. "And I'm not a man." I get out my own knuckle dusters and put them on. "Drop the Swordsman."

"I don't think so." She replies, and I rush at her, elbow her in the stomach, pushing her away from Zoro; she lets him go. "Impressive."

"I know."

"Superhuman Brass Knuckles!" She yells as she punches at me, I cross my arms out in front of me, and the impact causes a cloud of dust as I dig into the roof, which cracks more under her strength and mine. I do a roundhouse kick into her side, distracting her as she grunts in pain, and I uppercut into her chin, and she falls back onto her knees.

"Akuma-Akuma no Human-Demon Form: Agarmon - Fears." I place my hand over her forehead, and she opens her eyes, seeing something that deeply terrifies her and lets out a scream that cuts through the night.

"M-Miss Monday!" The agents below yell up as they watch their fellow agents cry in horror.

"What's the matter, Miss Monday? Scared of something?" I ask her, but I don't expect an answer.

"You're the Devil." She shrieks, and I laugh with no emotion.

"I am. The Red Devil." I grin as I look over at the other agents. "Shall we continue our little game, Baroque Works?"

"Nice one, shall we Kota?" Zoro asks as he wipes away the blood from his forehead, and we walk calmly towards the edge of the roof, looking down at the remaining bounty hunters.

"M-Miss Monday was overpowered…"

"I-Impossible! This can't be true…!"

"Did she say Red Devil?"

"It can't be; I heard she was captured?!"

"She's worth 35 million Berries!" They all whisper among themselves as they look up at us.

"I-I got it! The Marines made a mistake on that Wanted Poster." Mr 8 concludes, and he is very wrong.

"I see. It makes sense if this guy has the 30 million Berry bounty on his head. He is the real Captain. And this must be the real Red Devil the way she took out Miss Monday." Mr 9 agrees with the higher agent, but again he's wrong about Zoro.

"Right. I thought it was strange that such a namby-pamby guy was worth 30 million Berries." Miss Wednesday agrees with the two men.

"But, even so, how disgraceful… if we lose against one pirate swordsman and a so-called assassin, we'll be held responsible since the boss put us in charge of this town." Mr 8 tells them.

"It seems that it's finally our turn to fight." She grins, but it seems a little fake.

"You may know this, but with members of Baroque Works, the smaller their number, the higher their level and destructive power are." Mr 9 starts to explain. "The three of us, Mr 9, Mr 8 and Miss Wednesday, are agents with a single-digit number, which means we're powerful people who are beyond comparison to those you just beat."

"Humph. Aren't titles useless when it comes to fighting?" Zoro asks him; he looks down at them. "The stronger one wins. That's all."

"Iggarapa!" Mr 8 shouts as he goes to blow into his sax, firing a hail of bullets at us; I pull Zoro back as we run for cover.

"Let's go, Miss Wednesday!" Mr 9 yells at his partner.

"Okay, Mr 9!" The bluette replies, and we run over roofs behind one of the taller parts. Then I hear a high pitch whistle from behind us; Zoro stops, and I look back to see Miss Wednesday on a duck; I tilt my head and grin; I think she looks familiar.

"What the hell is that?" Zoro wonders as he looks at the creature.

"Can you afford to let your guard down?" Mr 9 chuckles as he catches up to us. "Follow my acrobatics, if you can!" He rolls down from the top roof towards us. "Hot-blooded Bat of Guts!" He pulls out two bats and swings one at Zoro, but he blocks one with his katana, and Mr 9 jumps over us, landing behind us. "There're metallic bats. Be careful not to chip your blades on them." Zoro grows serious as he holds up his sword with a glare. "What's the matter? Are you so frightened you can't move?" Zoro turns quickly and swings his blade around fast so that Mr 9 can't seem to catch up with each swing as they step towards the edge of the roof.

"What happened to your proud acrobatics?" The Swordsman teases the moron.

"If you wanna see it that bad, watch carefully!" The juggler yells before jumping into the air and crashing into the street below.

"Guess he didn't see he was at the edge of the roof, nice one." I compliment the Swordsman.

"Thanks. Don't they have anyone better?" Zoro asks, and I shrug.

"Anyone better? That would be me!" Miss Wednesday announces herself; I look over to see her standing on her duck. "Be prepared… Mr Bushido! Now, take in my allure to your heart's content!" I look up at her as she reveals that she is holding a perfume bottle. "Charming Perfume Dance!" I plug my nose at the pungent stench of the fragrance, and Zoro falls to his knees from the overpowering smell of the perfume. "Good boy…" She purrs and gets something out of her pocket. "I'll finish you off with… Peacock Slasher!" She yells as she spins the small chakram on strings around her pinkie finger. "Go, Karoo!" She orders the duck, who cries before trotting towards Zoro and running past him. "You went too far!" She cries out, and the duck doesn't stop as he runs off the roof.

"That was entertaining." I joke as I walk over to Zoro, who smells a little of the perfume.

"Fighting these guys is starting to get embarrassing", Zoro complains, and I can't help but agree when I hear the off-tone sound coming from a sax and push Zoro out of the way as bullets come flying towards us, and I roll us into the hole in the stone from earlier.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

I fall on top of Zoro as we land on the ground, and I look into his eyes as he looks up at me; I feel myself lowering my head, our lips almost meeting, but I stop myself as I get up, allowing him to his feet, and we race out of the room into the streets.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

"Get a good taste of how frightening I really am!" Mr 8 yells as we duck behind a building.

"That sax of him is a pain… how can I close the distance?" Zoro complains when Mr 9 jumps out of the destroyed crate, a little beaten up, still holding onto his bats.

"How dare you beat me like that earlier! You won't get away with it!" He snaps at the Swordsman.

"You fell on your own!" I reply, but he doesn't seem to be listening.

"Home Run Sneaky Bat!" Mr 9 yells and swings his bat in his right hand, and the top pops off, attached to a chain that wraps around Zoro's arm. "I tied up one of your arms!" He chuckles with glee.

"It's an iron chain…" Zoro comments as he looks at it, and Mr 8 turns up along with more bounty hunters.

"You caught him." Mr 8 states as he watches them.

"Mr 8, do it now!" Mr 9 yells as he wraps the rest of the chain around his arm. "I won't let you two escape!"

"That's right. Don't move." Miss Wednesday warns him, and I feel her wrap an arm around my throat and a knife in her other, pointed at my stomach. "If you make a stupid move, I'll have to take your precious girlfriend's life as well." He looks behind us, and I narrow my eyes at their dirty tricks.

"Good job, Miss Wednesday. You can't escape or attack now." Mr 8 chuckles but doesn't realise they're in more danger than we are right now.

"You idiots." Zoro cusses as he looks at them.

"Prepare to open fire!" He announces and pulls the ends of his tie, and gun muzzles appear out of each roll of his hair. "Preparations completed!" He yells, and Zoro looks over behind us.

"What?!" Zoro shouts as he looks, and I shake my head in worry as I watch Mr 8 loosen his thumbs through his tie's bows.

"Igarappappa!" Mr 8 shouts as he pulls on them, and the guns all fire towards Zoro, who draws on the chain, trying to break away.

"Is he a toy?!" He yells as he keeps pulling on the chain and pulls Mr 9 towards him in time for the bullets to hit the acrobat, and he starts running, still holding onto the chain; I use the distraction to headbutt Miss Wednesday, and she pulls away, cradling her face. I duck down as Mr 9 comes sailing towards us and smashes into the female agent.

"Igarappappa!" Mr 8 goes again, aiming down at us, and we run over; I turn quickly as Zoro runs, and I knit my fingers, and he places his foot down, and I push him up high towards Mr 8; he slices into his chest, shallow enough to knock him down.

"Okay! Done!" He calls down, and I jump up to join him as he walks to the roof's edge and sits looking out over the river; I join him, sitting next to him.

"It's finally become a quiet, nice night," I comment as I look over the town; you can hear the crickets playing their music peacefully.

"Yeah, it's nice." Zoro agrees and gets a bottle of wine that we share when an explosion sounds from some distance behind us, I look over my shoulder, but I don't see anything and look down into the street to see Mr 8 struggling to claw away with Miss Wednesday and Mr 9.

"I can't fall in a place like this; I've got an important mission…" Mr 8 mutters as he tries to crawl away.

"How pitiful…" A voice cuts in, and I look over to see a man in a dark red trench coat and a woman in a lemon-yellow dress; man, do the Baroque Works agents have a terrible sense of fashion. "...losing against just two pirates…" The three wounded agents look up at the two newcomers.

"Mr 5, Miss Valentine!" They exclaim in surprise at the new arrivals.

"Are you guys kidding around? Huh?" Mr 5 asks them but doesn't care for a response.

"After all, this is the difference between our rank and tours, isn't it?" Miss Valentine asks them another rhetorical question in a shrill voice.

"Did you come to laugh at us?" Mr 8 asks them with a spit of attitude.

"That, too, but…" Mr 5 says, and Miss Valentine gives out a shrieking laugh.

"Of course, we're here under our mission." She tells them, and it relieves them a little.

"Thank goodness. If you help us, those pirates are no match for us!" Mr 9 exhales, in some pain.

"That's right. Please beat those pirates right away." Miss Wednesday says, and Mr 5 seems to find it a little funny.

"Huh? Enough with the bad jokes. Us help you?" Mr 5 snaps at the lower agents.

"Did you really think that we'd come all the way to the end of the Grand Line for that?" She points out with a sick grin.

"What? Then what mission did you come here for?" It seems Mr 9 asks them, clueless of the two people next to him with so many secrets.

"You really have no idea?" Mr 5 asks him to assure himself, maybe. "THere're criminals here that are big enough for the boss to send us here to deal with." The three agents look at them, and they know why the two agents are there for. "These're the Boss' words: 'They've found out my secrets.' Of course, I don't even know what kind of secrets they are, but… our company's motto is 'mystery.' No matter whose identity it is, the rule is that you never nose around. If someone finds out the boss' secrets, that's, of course, a sin worthy of death."

"So, when we very carefully investigated who learned his secrets-" She laughs shrill. "Oh, boy, we found out that a VIP from a certain kingdom sneaked into Baroque Works." She explains, and I look at the bluenette, who glares at the two agents; I raise my hand in the air, but Zoro stops me from doing anything.

"A certain kingdom? W-Wait a sec! Although I'm wearing a crown, I'm not a king or anything!" Mr 9 protests, and I can't help the scoff leaving my lips. "It's just my hobby!"

"We're not talking about you!" Miss Valentine snaps at him; her shrieking is getting on my last nerve.

"The sinners are those who're missing from the Alabasta Kingdom right now…" Mr 5 says, and Igarappoi and Miss Wednesday stand to their feet.

"Die! Igarappappa!" Mr 8 yells as he pulls the bow around his neck and fires at the two higher agents. "I won't let you lay a finger on our Princess! On my name as Squad Captain of Alabasta Kingdom Security!"

"Thought he looked a little familiar," I mutter as I watch them.

"Igaram!" Vivi cries out at her loyal friend.

"Know them?" Zoro asks me, and I nod.

"Watch," I tell him as the cloud of smoke clears a little leaving the two higher agents intact.

"Igaram, the Squad Captain of Alabasta Kingdom Security. And it's Princess Vivi Nefertari. In the name of the Baroque Works' Boss, we'll eliminate you two." Mr 5 announces.

"This isn't good…" Zoro comments as he grins while we watch the outcome.

"Indeed." I grin as I look at the picture Mr 5 is holding; Igaram starts to hail bullets at the two of them. "Come on, we should move away." I get up to my feet, and Zoro follows as we climb down the ladder behind the alleyway out of the line of sight.

"Igaram!" I hear the Princess cry out from the street as we carefully walk towards them when an explosion blows in front of us; Igaram is hit directly by Mr 5. "Igaram!"

"It's no use!" Miss Valentine laughs as she floats in the air; I watch as she comes closer to the bluenette; she kicks out but only gets her hairpiece letting it fall around her shoulders. Vivi gets out her chakram on strings, swirling them around her right pinkie and tries going for Miss Valentine, but she moves back towards Mr 5.

"You monsters!" Vivi spits at them.

"You're a Princess, Miss Wednesday?!" Mr 9 asks her as he lies on the ground.

"Quit being dumb, Mr 9!" She snaps at him as she turns her back on her opponent's rookie mistake.

"This is one screwed-up night! You guys can do whatever you want!" Zoro exclaims as he drags me across the battlefield to the other alleyway. I smack his arm as we duck away from them, trying to keep out of their business as we watch what they do.

"P-Princess Vivi…" Igaram moans in pain; I have to say he's a fighter.

"Igaram! Are you all right?" She asks him, though looking at him, he should be dead.

"Princess Vivi! Never mind me! Just please… escape from here! For our homeland… without you, our Kingdom of Alabasta will be… Please! Hurry!" He begs her, and Mr 5 picks his nose, gross.

"You think you can escape from us?" Mr 5 warns her as he continues to pick his nose.

"Don't mess with me!" She yells as she gets out another chakram on a string and swirls it around her other pinkie, and Mr 9 gets up, struggling a little, and stops her.

"I'm having a hard time swallowing what's going on here, but we've been a pair for a long time. I'll buy you some time! Get going! Miss Wednesday!" He tells her, and she smiles in gratitude.

"Thank you, Mr 9!"

"Pretty manly, wouldn't you say? Bye-bye, baby!" He somersaults towards the higher agents with a war cry. "Hot-blooded Bat-!"

"Mr 9!" She yells after him.

"All we need is the will to accomplish our missions. Apathetic sense of camaraderie will only bring you about death. Time to learn that the hard way! Nose Fancy-"

"-Guts!"

"-Cannon!" Mr 9 and Mr 5 finish, but before Mr 9 can swing his bat, Mr 5 launches his assault, sending the acrobat flying in a cloud of smoke into the river behind the shocked Princess.

"Mr 9!" She calls out to him, but she won't get a response, and she knows that.

"Whoa, now! That's some dangerous snot he's got!" Zoro marvels a little at it but is also disgusted.

"Gross," I comment, and a hand wraps around my ankle; I go to kick whoever is touching me but stop when I see it's the beaten-up Igaram. "What are you doing?! Get off of me!" I try shaking him loose.

"You're an Assassin, correct?" He asks me, and I nod, technically still accurate. "Sir Swordsman. Upon seeing your skills, I have a request of you both, unreasonable as it may be!"

"What, no way, I'm not a mercenary, I kill people, I don't help them!" I pull my ankle out of his grip.

"As both of those people possess Devil Fruit powers, I can't stop them! Might I ask you to protect the Princess in my place?! Please!" He begs of us, and I feel for him I do, but getting involved in their mess could be bad for us. Only if Luffy accepts will I help the little Princess. "If you can safely deliver the princess to the Great Kingdom of Alabasta far east of here..." He coughs a little. "... I promise that you will be rewarded immensely! I humbly beg of you! Please, keep the Princess safe!"

"Screw that! You were trying to kill us until just a minute ago!" Zoro snaps at him angrily. "Don't make me cut you some more!"

"Is this 'immense reward' for real?" Our money grub Navigator asks him; I see her sitting up on the lower roof across the street, watching us. "I'll take up that offer! How does one billion Berries sound?"

"Really, Nami?" Knowing we'll have to do it, I sigh, especially if she involves Luffy.

"O-One bullion Be-?!" Igaram gasps and coughs, clearing his throat.

"I thought you were collecting the valuables with Sanji?" Zoro asks her, and Igaram looks between all of us.

"Come on now. We've already collected everything of value, and I had Sanji put them on the ship right away, he's there now." She answers. "Just as Dakota asked us to do."

"That so? Not much was there?" I ask her, and she shakes her head. "Fine, go get Usopp and Luffy; we need to talk now if you're volunteering us to save a damsel in distress; we need the Captain," I tell her, and she nods.

"Luffy, Usopp! Get here now!" She shouts, and I hear a crash as they seem to have heard her.

"I didn't mean like that." I sigh and look down at Igaram, who seems a little confused.

"So, will you promise us the one billion, Squad Captain?" Nami asks him as Usopp and Luffy, still big around the stomach, jog over to us, a little out of breath. "If you don't ask for our help, your princess probably will die." She warns him, and the two argue with her wanting to know what's happening.

"A mere soldier like me can't promise such large sums of money." He mutters, and Nami crouches a little before him as Usopp asks Zoro what's happening.

"You're not suggesting a Princess is with less than that, are you?" She asks him. "Pay it." She demands him, and Luffy scolds her a little but doesn't stop her for now.

"Now she's threatening him." Zoro catches Usopp up, who glares at him a little for the last bit.

"In that case, if you're willing to safely deliver the Princess there, it would be best if you negotiate the terms with her directly!" He yells, and I hang my head.

"Yeah, and that means we've gotta start by saving her, right?" I snap at him, seeing the grin on Nami's face.

"Even as we speak, her life is in danger!" He begs with a cough.

"Alright, then. I'll save your Princess for now." Nami assures him, and I look at her. "I mean, our Captain seems to wanna fight, so it's a deal. For now."

"Whoa, whoa, I need to hear Luffy say that first, not you," I tell her, and we all look at our big-bellied Captain.

"Yeah, let's go!" Luffy cheers, and I huff a little.

"Okay, fine, but we're gonna need a plan," I inform them, and they all nod in agreement. "Nami, stay with Captain Security while Usopp, you go back to the ship, Nami said Sanji should still be there, get everything ready for a quick escape. Zoro and I will head over to find the dear little Princess and try to take out the two agents when Luffy, you'll come in for a distraction."

"A distraction?" He asks, a little confused and annoyed at being unable to fight.

"Well, if three of us go in, they'll be on their guard, you and Zoro are gonna fight to loosen them up, we'll take out the agents and get Vivi to the ship. Nami can negotiate a price once we have her. Agreed?" They all nod in agreement. "Good, Luffy give us a 5-minute head start and walk towards us, and look really mad." Zoro and I run after the Princess and her oversized duck.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

"Man, Nami is pushing it again." Zoro spits in anger as we run after them.

"Agreed, but hey, least we're having a little fun." I joke, and he scoffs a little; I hear an explosion to our right and dash through one of the alleyways onto another street with Zoro fast behind me.

I hear another explosion up ahead, and immense flames erupt into the sky; it must be Mr 5's doing; I stop to see Zoro running in the other direction and run after him. "Zoro, that's the wrong way!" I yell after him, and he stops, turning to see me. "Come on!" A significant tremor shakes through towards us; I look to see giant clouds of dust and run with Zoro towards the edge of town, we jump up onto the roof of a building and see the ones we've been looking for, and Zoro jumps up into the air.

"Tae this! Nose Fancy...!" Mr 5 yells as he aims his snot at the Princess and fires, Zoro lands in front of her and splits the booger in half, causing it to miss them both, and it explodes off to the side and behind them, causing some damage. I jump as the explosion goes off behind the Swordsman and before the Princess.

"T-The street!" Vivi stutters in shock, but Zoro looks at his sword in disgust.

"Who are they?" Mr 5 wonders about us, and I pat Zoro on the back, trying to comfort him.

"I cut his booger!" He gasps in anger and disgust.

"Damn you! You never give up!" Vivi snaps and swirls her chakram on a string towards us. "Now, of all times!" I turn around and grab it, letting it cut my skin a little.

"Don't get hasty. We're here to rescue you." I tell her, looking her in the eye.

"Eh? Me?" She echoes, and I nod.

"So you're the two pirates who cut down all the lowly employees in this town." Miss Valentine points out.

"Why would you want to protect the Princess of Alabasta?" Mr 5 asks us, it's a good question.

"We got some circumstances of our own, you see," Zoro answers him a little vaguely,

"Well, no matter. You're our enemy one way or the other." He replies, figures. "You're in our way."

"Yeah! They are!" Miss Valentine giggles next to him.

"There you are!" Luffy growls as he walks towards us; he seems angry enough to convince the agents as he stomps towards us from behind them. "Zoro!"

"Now what?!" She wonders as we all look over at the rubber boy. Still fat from his feast.

"Luffy! Thanks, but we don't need any help!" Zoro yells, acting like we talked earlier; they seem to be buying it.

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did! Let's fight!" Luffy shouts, full of anger; I hope he remembers it's all a part of the plan.

"What?! What nonsense are you spewing this time?!" Zoro replies, and both of them are pretty good at acting.

"Shut up! I'm gonna kick your ass for being such an ingrate!" He snaps, and I look a little wide-eyed at the choice of word for his friend.

"Ingrate?!"

"That's right!" My Baby Brother growls and lies about what happened before he followed us. "Everyone in town welcomed us and gave us lots of yummy food! But you cut down every last one of them!"

"Well, yeah, but -." Zoro tries to explain himself, and I look at the two, unsure if they're acting any more.

"You will pay for this!"

"W-What a dull-headed person!" Vivi complains, and I look over my shoulder with narrow eyes as her duck nods in agreement.

"Internal strife, huh? Talk about lame." Mr 5 complains, and I fight the smile on my face as they play into the scene around them.

"Let's just get rid of everyone who interferes with our mission!" Miss Valentine giggles.

"Hold on, Luffy. Listen to me. They were actually bounty hunt -." Zoro explains as Luffy starts running towards us.

"Don't make excuses!" Luffy yells and jumps over towards the Swordsman; I stop back as he appears in front of him.

"What?!" He exclaims as Luffy tries to punch him but misses him as he stretches his arms. "Are you trying to kill me?!" he looks at the hole left in the rock, and I shake my head at them.

"Yeah! Die!" Our Captain agrees with a nod.

"Dammit! Listen to me!" Zoro yelps as he dodges a kick that shakes the rocks as Luffy hits them. "Hey!" He jumps away as Luffy uses his head to try hitting him, but he lands in the rock face. "That idiot! He's serious!" He warns me, and I step towards them when Luffy pulls himself from the rock and lets out a battle cry before starting to attack the Swordsman.

"Mr 5, it doesn't seem like they're here to stop us." Miss Valentine states as they watch the two fight, and they fall into the trap.

"It would seem not. Then let's accomplish our mission quickly." Mr 5 tells her, and she puts her umbrella away. "Our mission to eliminate Princess Vivi of the Kingdom of Alabasta."

"Why, you! Quit running away!" Luffy snaps at the Swordsman as they cross in front of us.

"H-Hold on, Luffy! Hear me out!" Zoro begs, and they crash down, creating a smokescreen.

"Let's do it, Miss Valentine!" Mr 5 orders.

"Yes, Mr 5!" Miss Valentine agrees, and they come running towards us.

"Quit screwing around, dammit!" Zoro yells and kicks Luffy into the two Baroque Works agents; all three fly into a building wall and through the house.

"That went well," I comment and get a strange look from the Princess. The dust from the hit settles, but a second later, six explosions come from inside, destroying the buildings, and Miss Valentine comes flying out of the crimson smoke.

"Now, I'm really annoyed! Time to die at the hands of my Kilo Kilo no Mi power!" Miss Valentine laughs, and I cringe at her voice. "Get ready! As I ride this explosive blast, I weigh only 1 kilogram!"

"Mr Bushido! You have to dodge! She's -!" Vivi tries to warn him.

"It's fine; he can handle her," I assure her.

"This isn't the time for that right now!" Zoro tells her, and Luffy comes out of the crumbles of the building with a badly beaten Mr 5 in hand,

"M-Mr 5! No way! He took out a Baroque Works officer agent?!" Vivi gasps in surprise.

"Now I can fight for reals," Luffy announces with a dark look; he's gone too far to reason with till he burns off some steam.

"Hold on, Luffy." Zoro explains that we can change now, but it won't work.

"Here, I come!" Miss Valentine says from overhead.

"Calm down and hear me out." He tells Luffy.

"I can change to 10,000 kg!" She keeps getting ignored.

"Everyone in town was a Bounty Hunter, our enemy. In other words." He explains, and I nod to Luffy, who nods back.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" The blond woman snaps at them, and Luffy puts Mr 5 on the floor. "Take this! 10,000 Kilogram Press!" She starts to fall towards Zoro, but he just steps away.

"Hold on! What's going on!" Vivi demands. "Weren't those two people friends?" She asks me, and I look over my shoulder at her.

"Of course," I answer her and walk towards them. "Now, boys, they're down; for now, we should get the Princess back safely to the ship. I'm hoping Sanji and Usopp have it ready by now." I tell them as I walk. "Nicely done." I kiss Luffy on the cheek and Zoro. "My little Brother, so good at acting." I coo as I hug around his shoulders.

"What now?" Vivi gasps as she watches us. "I want to escape, but will we be all right if we pass through here, avoiding the other three?" She seems to decide, and they start moving towards us as if we don't know it yet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warn her, and the duck makes a yelp as it passes us. "It's dangerous out there."

"Damn it!" I hear a curse behind me; I don't look behind me, knowing it's Mr 5; I guess Luffy didn't know him out long enough. "The title of Baroque Works Officer Agent will be shamed if we let these guys make fools of us!"

"Mr 5! Let's show them how truly terrifying we can be!" Miss Valentine tells him.

"Let's do it, Miss Valentine!" He agrees, and he comes running towards us.

"Right, Mr 5." She runs after him, towards us.

"Don't mock us! We're Baroque Works Officer Agents!" The bomb man shouts as he comes running towards us.

"Oi, be quiet, you morons!" I growl, feeling my eyes glow red, and I kick Mr 5 as he's the closest to me. Then I roundhouse kick Miss Valentine in the head, sending them flying. They fall into the buildings creating clouds of debris. "What a pain, I was talking to my Baby Brother." I sigh as I look at the damage done.

"This can't be! What strength! Unbelievable!" Vivi gasps, and I see Nami walks towards us.

"Zoro, Luffy, don't forget the plan; now they're taken care of. We can take little Miss Princess to the ship, and we can get out of here." I tell them, and Nami steps into our little group.

"You betcha, and I'll get my money. It's just a good thing you managed to keep the girl safe. I hope you didn't cause me to almost lose a billion Berries!" She scolds the boys.

"What are you talking about?" Vivi asks the strawberry blond. "Why did you save me?"

"Right! We need to talk about that! It's like this… won't you make a contract with me?" Nami explains, leaving out a lot of details.

"Contract?" She asks, and Nami pulls her to the side as the boys talk; Nami explains everything Igaram told us and what deal we made with him. Luffy laughs too loud for Nami, and she turns to him angrily.

"Shut up, you two!" The money-grubbing ginger snaps at them angrily, Luffy cowers a little along with Zoro, and I sit by the barrel Luffy sits on. "So there you have it! As compensation, I'd like one billion Berries. You saw how strong these guys are." She points to all three of us. "It's a pretty good offer if you ask me."

"I can't." Vivi declines but seems to feel bad about it. "I do appreciate your saving me. Thank you."

"Why can't you?! You're a princess! One billion shouldn't be much." Nami whines a little at her decline.

"Do you know of the Kingdom known as Alabasta?" She asks us, and the others all say the obvious answer, 'No'.

"Alabasta is a giant sandbox, peaceful for the most part, but at the moment is, in an act of civil war with each other," I answer, and she looks surprised I knew anything. "I've been a few times before for work. I even met you, though I was in all black, so you didn't pay me much mind. That's how I recognised you before."

"I see, for years now, signs of a revolution have begun to appear. The people revolted, and the kingdom fell into total chaos. Then one day, I heard the name of an organisation… Baroque Works! I learned that the populace was being manipulated by this group. But there was a tight lid on any other information than that, and there was nothing I could do. That's when I asked Igaram, who always meddled in my business since childhood, for help." She explains in detail what happened.

"The old tube hair guy?" Luffy asks him, moving a gesture with his hands.

"Tube? Oh, yes. I asked him if there was a way I could infiltrate Baroque Works. Because that would let us see who was pulling the strings, and what their goal was." She continues to explain.

"Not bad for a Princess," I smile, thinking of the nickname my Aunts and Uncles used to call me.

"You're a pretty, high-spirited Princess." I feel a little peg from that but push it away. "So? Did you figure out this goal of theirs?" She nods in confirmation.

"'The founding of an ideal nation.' That's what Igaram said, anyway. Oh, does that mean -." Nami asks her.

"Yes. The Boss says it's to create an ideal nation, but it's an enormous lie! The true goal is to take over Alabasta Kingdom!" Vivi reveals that whoever it is, has some balls. "I have to hurry back, tell everyone the truth, and stop the fighting! If I don't do something- if I don't do something -." She can't bring herself to finish that thought and sobs a little.

"I see. So that's the deal. Now everything finally connects." Nami agrees but is a little disappointed in the no-money part. "There'd be no money during a civil war, huh."

"Hey." Luffy perks up a little and looks over at the Princess. "Who is pulling the strings?" She stiffens at even the thought of revealing his identity.

"T-The Boss' identity?!" She asks him in a shriek. "You shouldn't ask that!"

"You know who it is, right?" He asks her.

"Don't ask me! Anything but that! Your lives will be put in danger, too!" The Princess warns us in a panic.

"I think I'll pass on that!" Nami laughs, not wanting more danger than usual. "After all, these are guys trying to take over an entire country! They're obviously insanely dangerous people!"

"Yes! They are!" Vivi agrees with her. "As strong as you people maybe, you'd never stand a chance against one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Crocodile!" She reveals the name with a slip of the tongue; I knew about him, never met him, but what I've heard doesn't sit well with me, and now he'll be after all of us.

"Who. now?" Luffy asks her, and Vivi covers her mouth too late as Nami looks ready to faint on the spot.

"Well, that was clever," I comment as I look at her, shaking my head and looking up to see a vulture with sunglasses and an otter in a white with purple polka-dotted onesies also wearing sunglasses. They quickly escape, probably to warn their Boss about us knowing; Nami cries as she shakes Vivi violently and apologises.

"What was that bird and sea otter?!" Nami demands as she shakes the Princess, who keeps apologising to her. "Are they going to tell someone?!"

"Hey! A Warlord!" Luffy gleams at the thought of a strong opponent.

"Not too, shabby!" Zoro agrees.

"Seems to be getting interesting." I agree with the boys.

"I-I'm very sorry! It just slipped out!" Vivi apologises as Nami keeps shaking her.

"Like that really fixes things now! Why did you have to drag us down with you?!" Nami shouts, and Luffy chuckles with glee; she lets the Princess go and starts crying again. "Being hunted by a WarLord the moment we enter the Grand Line is too much to handle!"

"We're lucky we can see him so soon!" Zoro wonders.

"I wonder what he's like! Sis, have you seen him before?" Luffy asks me, but I shake my head.

"Nope."

"Shut up, you three!" Nami spits at us in anger at our gleeful conversation. "It's been a short acquaintance, but I thank you for everything!" She says as she walks away as if she can escape.

"Where are you going?" He asks her as she walks off, leaving us behind.

"They don't know what we look like yet! I'm running away!" She yells over her shoulder and stops for a second. "Wow! That's so good!" She compliments, and I see the bird and otter again flying off with an angry Nami cursing at them. "I guess this means there's nowhere to run now, huh?!" She stomps back over to us, grumbling under her breath.

"I'm sorry." Vivi apologises again.

"It's fine; it was bound to happen," I assure her.

"Where was she planning to run to, anyway?" Zoro pinders as we watch her. "Guess that means all four of us are on Baroque Works' hit list now."

"That sounds awesome!" Luffy cheers happily though Nami is south of that, as she sits in the fetal position, depressed, as Vivi tries to console her.

"Fear not!" A voice cuts in, and I turn to see Igaram dressed in a terrible disguise of his dear Princess with dummies under each arm as he clears his throat. "It's all right! I have a plan!"

"Igaram! What are those clothes?!" Vivi asks him, and I look back at her pointedly as she looks down at her clothes before walking over with Luffy to the older man.

"You look hilarious in those, old guy!" Luffy giggles as he looks at them with a grin.

"It's idiot after idiot…" Nami scoffs as she looks at Luffy and Igaram; she's not wrong in some respect.

"Princess Vivi. Please listen to me carefully. Once Baroque Works' intelligence network learns of something, pursuers may come after you almost immediately. On top of that, if you know the Boss' secrets… you know what happens." Igaram warns her.

"A thousand or so people will come after me." Vivi agrees, and Nami looks even more scared.

"Therefore, I will pretend to be you, like so, and sail straight to Alabasta with four dummies onboard." He finishes explaining.

"These are us?" Luffy asks him after finishing poking them.

"A decoy, huh?" Zoro questions.

"Never gonna work," I mutter to myself.

"While the pursuers are busy with me, all of you will head to Alabasta via the normal route," Igaram answers, but Nami seems upset as she jumps.

"Hold it!" Nami cuts in angrily. "Who said we were gonna take the Princess there?! We still haven't come to an agreement, you know!"

"Take the princess there?" Luffy asks and looks down at me. "What now?"

"You remember, don't you? Pops here wants us to take her home." Zoro tells him as he gets to his feet.

"Oh, that's what this is about? Sure!" He agrees happily, and I get to my feet, seeing as our dear Captain decides to take the princess home.

"Crocodile is gonna come after us, you know!" Nami screams at us in fear for her life.

"Is Crocodile really that strong?" The goofball asks Igaram.

"He's one of the Seven Warlords of the Seas. He's a legally-recognised pirate, and thus has no bounty on his head. However, the bounty he did have long ago was 80 million Berries." Igaram informs us.

"Warlords, like my Uncle, all had bounties on their heads till the Government asked them to work for them against pirates like us and their previous bounties are frozen at what they were before they turned into what some call 'Government Dogs'." I further the explanation, and Luffy nods, seeming to understand.

"Whoa." Zoro seems impressed.

"80 million?! That's four times Arlong's bounty! Say, no!" Nami begs in fear, but it's too late now.

"Will you do it?" Igaram asks our Captain.

"Yeah! It sounds like fun!" Luffy agrees too readily, probably happy to fight Crocodile.

"I am forever grateful!" He nods, and we look at the path to the ship, blocked by rocks from Luffy and Zoro's fight.

"Move over." I walk over and breathe in, feeling my arm coat itself in Armament Haki, and I punch through the rock the first time, clearing the path quickly. I look at all of them in shock as I walk off through. "Coming!" I yell after them and hear them walking behind me.

Igaram clears his throat, trying to imitate Vivi's voice as we stay a little away, letting them have a goodbye. "Now, then. I, Vivi, will leave from here." Igaram says in a feminine voice.

"That's a perfect imitation, old guy!" Luffy giggles between Zoro and me.

"Imitation of who?!" Zoro jokes, and I point to Nami, and he gives a hearty laugh but stops when she glares at him.

"Now then, Princess. Please give me the Eternal Pose." Igaram requests, and she plucks it out of her back pocket and hands it over.

"Eternal Pose?" Nami questions and looks at me for an explanation.

"You've never heard of it?" He asks, looking at our Navigator. "I suppose you could say it's a permanent version of a Log Pose. Whereas a Log Pose always leads ships to the next island, an Eternal Pose will never forget the magnetic energy of the island that is stored inside. Meaning it will forever point to that island alone. And this one is set to Alabasta." He explains to me.

"You're going to use this to go to Alabasta?" Vivi asks him with sadness; she must want to go home more than anything; I know what that feels like, but sometimes the right time is a long way in your future.

"Princess Vivi. please take the indirect island-hopping route to Alabasta. I've never taken the path myself, but it should only be two or three islands if you follow the Log. please take good care of the Princess." He asks us; I've only heard talk about this route as I always used an Eternal Pose myself for every mission.

"Yeah!" Luffy agrees happily.

"Igaram…" Vivi holds in her tears.

"I expect it will be a harsh journey. Be careful on your way." Igaram tells her.

"Iga -." She tries to say but can't bring herself to say anything and composes herself; she holds her hand for him to shake, but he also appears to have himself together.

"You, too!" The Princess replies, and he walks onto the ship and begins sailing ahead.

"There he goes." Luffy comments and chuckles. "He was a funny old guy to the very end!"

"He really is reliable." Vivi agrees, and we watch him sail off when suddenly, a blinding white light is coming from in front of us; it's silent before a colossal explosion detonates around the ship, burning everything onboard, no doubt. The sea looks as if it's on fire as we watch the large crimson clouds loom over us as we all watch in horror.

"That's impossible! They're already after us?!" Nami yells over the crackling of the large fire; Luffy walks behind to grab his hat that fell off from the explosion.

"He was a great person!" Luffy yells in anger.

"Nami! The Log should be set, right?" I ask her, and she looks down at her wrist at my old Log Pose.

"We're okay! It's stored up!" Nami answers.

"Bring her with us! We're setting sail!" Zoro orders, and Nami nods as she runs to the frozen Princess, staring into the flames.

"Vivi! Vivi! Hurry! If they find us, it'll all be for nothing!" Nami snaps at her and hugs her suddenly; I smell blood in the air and look at the Princess with sadness as Nami hugs her. "Don't worry! We will get you there!" She promises her. "I know they don't look like it, but they saved the East Blue! Just the five of them! Baroque Works?! Give me a break! Crocodile?! Ha! The Seven Warlords are nothing at all!"

"Nami, come on!" I yell at her, and she pulls away from Vivi. "Luffy and Zoro have gone ahead to see if the ship's ready! We need to get out of here!" She nods, and we run back the way we came as the boys run ahead towards the ship.

"Hurry Vivi!" Nami yells at her as we run.

"R-Right!" She yells back, looks over her shoulder at the flames licking the sky, and we make it to the ship.

"Are we ready, Usopp? Sanji?" I ask them as I jump on, as Zoro places the anchor down.

"We're ready, Dakota, My Love!" Sanji answers.

"Good, we need to get out of here quickly," I reply, and Luffy gets up too.

"There's no time to look for him!" Nami snaps at the Princess.

"But I can't just leave him here!" Vivi argues with the stubborn woman.

"Still!" She argues back.

"Hey! What's the problem?" Zoro asks the woman.

"She says her duck is missing!" The Navigator yells up at the Swordsman. "He won't come when we whistle for him!"

"This him?" Usopp asks and points at the duck next to him.

"You're there?!" The girls yell in anger at the duck,

"He was here even before me," Zoro tells them, and the girls come onto the ship.

"There's a tributary just up the river! We can use it to get out to sea a little faster!" Vivi informs us, and we get ready to set sail, Sanji and Usopp having finished most of it while we were fighting.

"Alright! Let's go!" Luffy orders as we unfurl the sails catching the wind, and we set off.

ONE PIECE - WHISKY PEAK ARC

"Hey," Zoro calls out to Vivi, catching her attention.

"Mr Bushido." She greets him.

"Just how many people are gonna be chasing us down?" He asks her, and Usopp starts freaking out as we haven't explained everything yet.

"I don't know," Vivi answers. "There are about 2000 people in Baroque Works, and I've heard there are several town-like bases like this one nearby."

"They really might send 1000 people?!" Nami and Usopp freak out like the usual cowards they are.

"What is going on exactly?" Sanji asks us.

"We'll talk about it later, once we get out of here," I tell them.

"We should be able to leave this island soon," Vivi says as the fog rolls around the island.

"Cool! There's fog now!" Luffy cheers.

"It's almost morning." Nami sighed in relief; it was a really long night for all of us.

"It's good we managed to escape the people chasing us." A woman's sultry voice says.

"That's for sure!" Nami agrees.

"We need to be careful not to crash the ship into the rocks." The unknown woman says, and she looks over at me as she sits on the railing next to me; I raise an eyebrow at her as she smiles at me.

"Just leave it to me!" The Navigator replies with certainty. "Wait. Dakota, did you say something?"

"Nope," I answer her, and she grows pale.

"This is a nice ship." The stranger comments, and everyone looks our way.

"Who're you?!" Zoro demands with his hand on his sword at the ready.

"Y-You're -!" Vivi stutters in fear at the sight of the beautiful woman sitting beside me.

"I ran into Mr 8 a short while ago, Miss Wednesday." She remarks with a smile, taking a dig at the Princess.

"You killed Igaram!" She states, growing angry.

"Who cares about that! What're you doing on this ship?! Who are you?!" Luffy demands angrily.

"What are you doing here… Miss All Sunday?!" She demands, and I look at her closely, wearing a purple cowboy hat to hide her eyes.

"Miss All Sunday?! What number is she partnered with?!" Nami asks the Princess.

"She's the partner of Mr 0… the Boss!" Vivi answers her, which causes her to freak out more.

"The Bo - Crocodile?!" Nami lets it slip that we know the identity of someone who can relay it back to the WarLord.

"Is she bad?" Luffy asks, a little confused.

"She was the only one who knows the Boss' identity. We found out who he is by following her!" Vivi informs us as she glares at the woman clad in purple.

"More accurately… I allowed you to follow me." Miss All Sunday corrects the Princess, and it seems she has her own motives.

"Oh! Then she's good!" Luffy guesses.

"I know that! You're also the one who told him we discovered his identity, right?!" Vivi asks her with a raised voice.

"Correct." Miss All Sunday admits, but it still seems she has her own motives for letting them know the identity of someone trying to take over Vivi's homeland.

"So she really is bad!" Luffy grumbles to himself.

"Pipe down, you!" Zoro whispers at my dork of a brother.

"What exactly is it you're trying to do?!" Vivi demands an answer.

"Good question. You were all so intent and serious that I found myself helping out. The idea of a princess trying her hardest to save her kingdom while making herself an enemy of Baroque Works… it was just so ridiculous, you see…" The raven-haired beauty smirks, and it sets the Princess off.

"Don't you mock me!" Vivi screams at her, and I see Sanji walk over and raise a pistol to her head, and I get out my own from my back holster; all of us par, Luffy, aim our weapons at the intruder.

"Hey! Sanji! You do realise what you're doing?!" Usopp asks him, shaking a little in fear.

"No, not really. I just sense that my beloved Miss Wednesday is in danger." Sanji answers, and I shake my head at his answer.

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't point such dangerous objects at me." Miss All Sunday says, and it all happens so fast, my gun is thrown out my hand with Sanji being thrown over the railing, Usopp's slingshot and Nami's staff are slapped out of their hands.

"You don't mean -." Zoro gapes up at her as his sword is thrown to the floor, and I'm thrown backwards onto the floor.

"A Devil -." Vivi stutters.

"A Devil Fruit!" I growl as I look up at her.

"Which one?! What's her power?!" Nami shrieks, and I return to my feet, rubbing my ass at the hard landing.

"Wow! Upon closer look, you're actually a beautiful lady!" Sanji swoons at the raven-haired beauty.

"Now, now. Don't be so hasty. I haven't been given any orders. I have no reason to fight." Miss All Sunday assures us, but I stay on guard when Luffy's hat flies into her hand. "So you're the straw hat Captain I've heard so much about… Monkey D. Luffy. And the notorious Assassin with scarlet hair… Dakota Le Roux." She purrs as she looks into my eyes, my purple looking into her blue eyes.

"Hey, you! Gimme my hat back! Are you tryin' to start a fight?!" Luffy goes postal at her; no one touches the hat.

"I deem you an enemy! Leave this instant!" Usopp says as he cowers behind the mast.

"How unlucky you are… you people who picked up a Princess Baroque Works is out to kill. And a Princess being protected by a mere handful of Pirates. But what's, even more unluckier is the course your Long Pose indicates. The name of the next island is… Little Garden." The raven-haired woman announces, and I groan; the others look at me as I hang my head in disappointment. "We don't even need to do anything; you'll be wiped out long before you can even reach Alabasta."

"Will not! Gimme my hat back!" Luffy demands in anger.

"You wish! You big dummy!" Usopp cries out from behind the mast.

"What are you, a kid?" Zoro asks him as he looks at the cowardly Sniper.

"Do you not think letting yourself get wiped out is a bit foolish?" Miss All Sunday asks and throws an Eternal Pose towards Vivi, who catches it and gives Luffy his hat back.

"An Eternal Pose?" Vivi questions as she looks down at the object in her hand.

"You can skip past Little Garden with that. It points to an island just before Alabasta: Nanimonai Island. None of our employees knows that course, so no one will chase you." She informs them; I look at her; she's right; it's an uninhabited island close to Albasta, but why is she helping us?

"What? She's a good person?" Nami mutters to herself.

"Why are you giving this to us?!" Vivi demands an answer.

"It's a trap, isn't it?" Zoro questions her.

"Is it now?" The supposed enemy replies with a grin, and I watch Luffy walk towards Vivi and grab the Eternal Pose.

"Who cares about that!" Luffy snaps and crushes it in his hand, and Nami smacks him to the floor.

"Are you an idiot?!" Nami screams at him angrily as she looks down at him, lying on the floor from her hit. "She just went out of her way to show us a nicer course! What if she's actually a good person?" She points back over towards our unwanted guest and me.

"You're not the one who decides this ship's course!" He says and looks Miss All Sunday in the eye.

"I see. That's too bad." Miss All Sunday sighs in disappointment, and Nami growls at Luffy as he sits up.

"She blew up the old tube-hair guy, so I hate her!" Our Captain replies as if that's a reasonable answer for our Navigator.

"I don't hate high-spirited people," She remarks as she walks past me towards the other side of the ship. "If you survive…" She stops to look down at the others. "... let's meet again."

"No!" Luffy yells back at her, and she jumps over the side.

"Let's go, Banchi!" The raven-haired woman orders, and I walk to the side to see a giant turtle wearing a hat and smoking a cigar.

"W-What is that?!" Zoro gapes as we all look over the side.

"Don't tell me it's a Sea King!" Usopp stutters in fear of being attacked. "No…"

"Whoa! A turtle!" The boys gasp as we watch them leave.

"What a huge turtle!" Luffy beams, and I walk down the steps with the others and look at Vivi with Nami as she falls to her knees; it seems everything has caught up to her.

"I can't tell what that woman is thinking one bit!" Vivi cries.

"Then there's no point in thinking about it," I tell her.

"We already got someone like that on this ship, anyway." Zoro comments and we all look over at our Captain, still looking back at the turtle.

"Hey! Explain what's going on! None of this makes sense!" Sanji demanded as he was on the ship at that point. "Oh, Miss Wednesday! Don't tell me you've joined the crew?!" He swoons over her; at least he's not doing it to me.

"We need to explain to the Lovesick fool what's going on while he's not so distracted and catch Usopp up a little more," I tell them, and the others look at me as I start to explain from the start what we know already and what the plan is and look at Luffy. "Also, you should have kept the Eternal Pose; they can be useful as well as valuable." I look as Nami grows angry at Luffy and starts shaking the rubber idiot around and yelling at him as we exit the fog, heading to Little Garden.

"I see, it's too bad I missed out on it, but there's still opportunity for me to shine, too. Don't worry." Sanji boasts as Nami and Vivi come back from our room with a change of clothes. "Now that this sleeping Prince has awoken, your safety is guaranteed!"

"Glad that wasn't me." Usopp sighs in relief.

"Nami-san, jealous any?" Sanji asks her.

"Nope," Nami answers, and he looks over at me.

"Not a chance," I answer before he can get any words out.

"Is it really all right for me to be on this ship?" Vivi asks us, a bit late for that. "I'll only trouble you all…"

"What're you talking about?! We know who you are now!" Nami snaps as she walks over to the Princess and pokes her on the forehead. "If you didn't want to trouble us, you should've done so from the start!"

"I'm sorry." She apologises with a gulp.

"Right, Luffy?" The Navigator questions, looking at our Captain.

"Yeah! I'm hungry!" Luffy cheers, obviously not listening to anything.

"For now, it looks like our next destination is set." Zoro comments.

"Little Garden, huh…" Sanji repeats the name of our next island.

"H-Hey, now! Will we be alright there?!" Usopp gulps with nervousness and looks over at me.

"Who knows! Let's go, man!" Luffy cheers.

"Yeah!" We all agree, and Usopp still looks scared.

"It's a misnomer, Little Garden is more like a giant jungle island," I tell them and walk off with Usopp screaming about death as I walk down the steps.

"Dakota! No! Tell me you're lying! Is it dangerous! Dakota!" Nami and Usopp cry after me, and I walk into my room to get changed.