Man, this one felt like it took forever. I lost my drive for a while, and even after I got it back, I had to figure out what I was gonna do with this chapter. Anyway, here it is.

Chapter 24

"Mantax, let's go. We're towing the ship again," Ehlek ordered.

The black Barraki was initially silent but when he saw it was just the two of them standing at the railing, he decided to speak up, "Where are Pridak and Kalmah?"

"Pridak is training the captain to improve his speed," Ehlek explained. He pointed a talon at Kalmah, who was sitting at a table reading with Robin. "And those two apparently have a little book club going on, so it's just the two of us."

Mantax nodded and the two dove overboard. With their towing ropes in hand, they swam and tugged the ship along. As they went along, Mantax said, "I can't say I ever saw us in a position like this."

"You mean serving as members in an unusually heroic pirate crew searching for a possibly fictional treasure?" Ehlek summarized.

"Exactly. And while helping people in any way is counter to our nature, I must admit, following some simpering little boy is better than taking orders from Pridak…if only by comparison," Mantax stated.

"I know, right?" Ehlek agreed. "I mean, I actually stuck up for someone recently. Maybe the skeleton is the one messing with my head."

"Just keep spending time with him. Perhaps he could be the son you never had," Mantax said nonchalantly.

"That sounded like a joke," Ehlek observed with genuine shock. "Forget me, being on this crew is affecting all of us."

With that, the pair ceased talking and simply carried out their job. Their peace and quiet was eventually disrupted by an unusual sight.

"Is that giant frog doing the front crawl?" Mantax asked, describing a phenomenon they were passing by. "That's strange."

"We've seen stranger. Remember that time we saw those two crabs doing the watusi on the seafloor?" Ehlek pointed out. He perked up, "I think I hear the captain calling us."

The black and green duo stopped pulling the ship and rose to the surface. "What is it?" Ehlek asked.

"Chase that frog, guys! We're gonna roast it and eat it!" Luffy instructed.

Loving the idea of a free meal as much as anyone else, the two Barraki nodded and began pursuing the frog, joined swiftly by Pridak and Kalmah.

They all swam after the frog, slowly closing the distance.

"I wonder what the chef will do with this beast when he gets his hands on it," Pridak said.

"The mystery is making me even hungrier," Ehlek added.

"Am I crazy, or are we approaching an underwater train track?" Kalmah asked, pointing ahead with a tentacle.

Pridak nodded, "Hm, that could be a problem. Mantax, go warn the crew to put the brakes on before they run into the track. The rest of us will get the frog."

As the black Barraki made a U-turn, the rest of the team saw that the frog had taken a position on the track, which floated just below the surface.

"I'll handle this," Pridak said as he leapt from the water.

Right as he threw a slash, the frog clapped its hands in front of his face, making him freeze before it thrust its palm into his forehead, knocking him back into the water.

Ehlek charged up his spines for a lightning attack but paused when he heard a strange noise, "Is that a train signal?"

"It is. Look over there," Pridak pointed with his sword. To the shocki of the Barraki, as well as the rest of the crew, a large, green locomotive moving along the track at high speed. "Why isn't the frog moving?"

He got his answer when the frog attempted to attack the train, only to be struck and blown away.

"Was it seriously trying to take on a train?" Kalmah asked rhetorically.

"Wow, that's one dumb frog," Fencer commented.

Next thing we knew, a little girl was yelling at her drunk grandma that pirates had arrived.

"Alright, Chimney, get me the transponder snai-What the hell is that thing!?" the grandma yelled, snapped out of her stupor by Mantax appearing right beside them, ready to strike.

"Wait, Taxman! You don't need to kill them!" Luffy shouted.

"Relax, I was just going to paralyze them," the black Barraki assured him.

"Hold your horses, buddy, I won't call anyone," the old lady assured. She went on to introduce herself as Kokoro and her granddaughter Chimney.

Everyone but me listened intently as she explained about the sea train and Water 7 while giving us a letter of reference for when we got there.

Speaking of, when we did get there-

"Great Spirit above," Pridak said in awe.

I couldn't help but agree. This was another place in One Piece that looked even cooler up close than it did on a screen. A whole city sloped upward to shape like a fountain. It was crazy.

Ehlek tapped my shoulder with his claw, "We've put this off too long, Skeleton. We need to tell them now."

"Tell us what?" Fencer asked.

I sighed, "Can I get everyone's attention?" Once all eyes were on me, I just came out and said it. "The Merry is dying, and there's no way to fix her."

Everyone was stunned. "You're not joking," Robin observed.

"So the damage really is that bad," Zoro lowered his head.

"Come on, dude, you've gotta know some way around this, you-" Fencer cut herself off, her black eyes widening as she realized, "You know what's gonna happen in your little comic-"

"So I know there's no way around this," I finished for her. We all stood in silence, not knowing what to say.

"Then it's a good thing we're heading to a world-class shipyard," Kalmah stated indifferently.

"You think we're going to replace the Merry just like that!?" Usopp shouted angrily.

Before Kalmah could reply, I put a hand on his shoulder, whispering, "Keep your permanently-open mouth shut."

Seeing the island get ever closer reminded me of a precaution I had in mind. I walked over to Mantax and whispered to him, "When the crew goes into town, follow Robin and be stealthy about it. Just trust me."

"What do you-"

"Catch you guys later!" I told the crew. Moving to the far side of the deck, I got a running start and leapt all the way to the shore, landing right on the edge of the dock. "Well, that was a bit closer than I'd like."

"Dude, what are you doing?" Fencer finished her question.

I shrugged as I began walking into town, "I don't really know."

"You must have some plan." We yelped when Ehlek appeared right beside us, "Otherwise you wouldn't have whispered suspiciously to Mantax. What did you say to him, anyway?"

"I don't wanna give away-" I was cut off when Ehlek's spines crackled.

"The captain isn't here. You can give as many details as you want," the green Barraki growled.

With Fencer looking at me intently, I explained. "Robin might desert us."

"What do you mean 'might?' Is she gonna or not?" Fencer prodded.

"I don't know. She left because she feared the crew would ditch her anyway in canon. I think we've made a better impression here but I'm not sure," I said. "But hey, with Mantax on the watch, maybe this won't be an issue."

Ehlek shook his head, "I believe you've made a grave miscalculation, skeleton."

"What do you mean?" I wondered aloud.

"With all your knowledge, I'm sure you know Mantax is still bitter about the last being who betrayed us," Ehlek explained. "You told him to watch Nico without giving him any additional context. If he sees what looks like desertion, I doubt he'll be nice enough to ask what she's doing."

Fencer and I stood in silence for a moment before my ferret slowly turned her head to me, "You messed up, dude."

"Shit, we've gotta stop him," I conceded.

"Calm down, skeleton," Ehlek waved me off, "The ship hasn't even docked yet. Once they do, you can give Mantax the specifics."

That made me and Fencer sigh in relief. Once I'd ensured I hadn't accidentally ordered an assassination, I was able to relax a bit. Though, that only lasted a second as Ehlek nagged me once again. "I doubt that could be the only issue we'd have to deal with on this island, so out with the rest. What can we expect?"

I paused for a moment to wrack my brain. It then occurred to me that the Franky Family would mug Usopp, prompting my "coach" to come up with a course of action.

"Alright, I'll be right back." He leapt away from us and returned 30 seconds later with Luffy in tow.

"What'd you bring him for?" Fencer asked.

"We're going to pay a visit to this 'Franky,'" Ehlek answered.

'What even goes through that skeleton's mind?' Mantax wondered. Honestly, possible threats and the target's motivation were basic details for any recon mission. How could the skeleton not have thought to bring that up on his own? Nonetheless, he kept his as peeled as Chopper ran into a bookstore, leaving Robin alone. This would be the perfect time for someone to go after her.

Robin perked up as a masked figure passed her by. She began walking away from the store.

Mantax followed them, making sure to keep out of sight all the while.

"Ah, here we are," Ehlek said, gesturing to the Franky House. "And you're sure it's a bad idea to simply kill them?"

"Yes," I insisted.

Luffy nodded with a stern look on his face, "I'm not killing a bunch of guys who haven't done anything to us yet."

"Same here," Fencer agreed.

Ehlek groaned, "Fine. Skeleton, open it up for us."

Rolling my nonexistent eyes at the order, I opened the door and we let ourselves in. All eyes were immediately on us, creating an awkward moment.

"Let me do the talking," Ehlek whispered to us. He then addressed the Franky Family, "We came here to speak to Franky. Which one of you is him?"

"That'd be me," answered a voice. Out from amongst his followers stepped Franky, with his pompadour and Hawaiin shirt and all. "How'd you guys find us?"

"How do you think? We just asked around where the infamous gang is based," Ehlek pointed out.

Franky shrugged, "Yeah, guess that was a stupid question. Now, what gave you the idea to just let yourselves into our house?"

"We know that you have a habit of taking what you want when you want, so we thought we'd nip the issue in the bud and ask you to leave our crew alone during our stay at Water 7," the green Barraki explained.

Some of the Franky Family laughed at the request while Franky himself folded his arms, "And why should we listen to you? Hell, we could just rob you and kick you outta here right now."

"Resisting urge to kill," Ehlek whispered to himself. "Alright, how about we settle this like men? Our captain here will face you in a good old slugfest." He patted Luffy on the back. "If he wins, then you leave us be."

Looking Luffy up and down, Franky nodded, "Hmm, alright, but if I win, your whole crew has to join the Franky Family."

"Deal. Now get to it, Captain," Ehlek said, shoving Luffy forward.

"We sure about this, guys?" Fencer asked with a worried look.

Without taking my eyes off the ensuing fist fight, I answered, "Well, Luffy's made of rubber, so as long as Franky doesn't use any tricks, he should be okay."

True to my word, Luffy was thankfully doing well. His smaller size and natural strength meant he could avoid Franky's blows while dealing plenty of his own.

Then Franky decided to pull a fast one. He pointed to the side, "Hey, Straw Hat, look! It's your mom!"

Luffy's eyes widened, "I have a mom!?"

Franky grinned and used the distraction to land a free hit. He paused, though, when he saw it barely fazed Luffy at all, "Damn. What are you made of?"

The boy in the red vest answered the question by stretching his arm back. "Gum-Gum Bullet!"

Franky blocked the impending punch with his forearm, which expanded into a shield.

Changing tactics, Luffy stretched his arms outwards. Once he had a grip on two of Franky's freakishly larger goons, he slingshotted himself into the gang leader, "Gum-Gum Rocket!" The impact was so strong that it launched them through a wall and onto the streets nearby, where they stopped just short of the river.

"Alright, guess we're moving around now," Franky commented. "Works for me!" He ducked under another stretchy punch from Luffy and got in close. The gangster grabbed the pirate by the feet and swung him around before slamming him into the ground.

Luffy stretched out his hand, grabbing something to yank himself away. Franky held on, though, and the two found themselves in the seat of a brown yagara bull, made cramped by the guy already there.

Me, Ehlek, and the Franky Family ran outside and spotted our leaders speeding away down the river.

"Uh, this how you saw this going, dudes?" Fencer asked from her spot on my shoulder.

"No, I didn't," Ehlek and I answered in unison.

"What in the hell?!" the original rider yelled as the two fighters punched it out.

Luffy and Franky held each other by the shirt and traded punches.

"You're going down, Straw Hat!" Franky yelled. He swung his fists inward, bashing either side of Luffy's head.

Growling, Luffy looked at the passenger on the yagara, "Get down!" He then grabbed Franky and, with a heave, started swinging him around, returning the favor from earlier.

After flinging Franky as far as he could, Luffy leapt after him. "Gum-Gum-" he put his feet together and thrust them into the spot Franky had landed in. "-Spear!"

Luffy landed near Franky to check the damage when-

"Luffy?"

The captain turned to his right to see Nami, Usopp, and Kalmah. "Oh. Hi, guys. What are you doing with those bags?"

"We're going to cash in the gold we got from Sky Island," Usopp explained.

"More importantly, what are you doing? Nami asked.

"I'm fighting a gang leader so he won't bother us," Luffy answered with a smile. A hand attached to a chain shot in from the side and grabbed him by the collar. "See?" He was quickly yanked away, leaving the trio alone.

Kalmah lightly shoved Usopp and Nami with his tentacles, "Let's get going. People are starting to stare at us again."

"You've got an extendo-arm?" Luffy observed. "And it didn't feel like I was punching a regular guy. Are you a robot?"

"Close," Franky raised the young pirate up and chokeslammed him. "I'm a cyborg."

"Does that mean you breathe?" Luffy rasped. "Then this should work." He swung his arm and coiled it around Franky's head.

The gangster stood up and stumbled around, trying to pry Luffy's arm off his face.

Suddenly, Luffy felt a sharp pain in his arm and quickly yanked it away. His eyes widened as he saw what was sticking out of his arm. "Nails?"

Franky grinned, holding a spare nail between his teeth, "Yep. One of the perks of being a cyborg." With that, he chokeslammed Luffy again. "Well, this has been fun, Straw Hat, but-" he raised up his free hand for a finishing blow, "-it's time to wrap this up."

"You wish!" Without looking where he was aiming, Luffy stretched his arms outward, grabbed onto a lamp post across the stream and pulled, slingshotting himself and Franky once again. The two of them slammed against a wall before taking a second to right themselves. Luffy recovered first.

"Gum-Gum Gatliiiing!" the young man shouted as he unleashed his flurry.

Franky raised his guard, but against such an attack, he was pushed against the wall. He could even feel it cracking behind him. Soon enough, the wall gave way, making him stumble back a bit.

Luffy didn't waste the chance, stretching his arms backwards, "Gum-Guuuum-" and flinging them forward, "Bazooka!" The double palm strike launched Franky through the adjacent wall of the house.

As Luffy followed his opponent, the resident couple looked around their busted up living room, jaws hanging open.

Luffy was about to continue his attack when he noticed another of his crew standing right next to him. "Hi, Pridak." The white Barraki said nothing and looked back and forth between his captain and Franky, prompting Luffy to explain, "I'm-"

"I don't care," Pridak said, turning around to walk away.

The two pirates' exchange gave Franky time to recover, "How many weird-looking things do you know?"

"They're part of my crew," Luffy answered. "There's also two others like them."

"You've got all that plus a living skeleton?" Franky commented. He chuckled, "Heh, I'm starting to feel kinda plain." He puffed up his cheeks before spitting out a stream of fire.

Luffy yelped and narrowly avoided the blast. "Hey, I thought this was a fist fight!" he complained.

"Come on. You're rubber and I'm a cyborg," Franky grinned. He took the skin off his right hand, revealing a metal hand underneath, "This fight was never gonna stay normal for long."

With a battle cry, the two fighters charged at each other once again.

"Those guys are still going at it?" Fencer asked as we walked.

"That's what the locals have been saying," Ehlek answered.

The sun had almost finished setting as we finally found our captain. He and Franky were battered and clearly exhausted. They barely even had the strength to throw punches at this point.

"Uh, Luffy? How're things going? You think you got him?" I asked.

"He doesn't need to," Franky said, holding up a hand. "This was a good fight. Whaddya say we call it a draw, Straw Hat?"

Luffy looked uncertain, "You're not gonna mess with my crew, are you?"

Franky shook his head, "Nah, I've had my fun. We're all good." He held out his fist, which Luffy bumped.

"Well, now that that's settled, come along, Captain. We should be getting back to the ship," Ehlek walked away, beckoning for us to follow.

We returned to the Merry to find the rest of the crew had gotten back.

Chopper, in his Human form, paused his weighted squats when he noticed us, "Luffy looks pretty beat up. I'd better take a second and-"

"Nice try. No breaks," Zoro cut him off.

"So, how did that fight turn out?" Usopp asked.

"It was a tie, but the gang leader decided to honor the deal anyway. There will be no attempted muggings during our stay," Ehlek reported.

If that's true, then why is Robin still gone?" Zoro asked.

"Mantax is gone too," Pridak added. "Can you explain that, Skeleton?"

That put all eyes on me, making me feel awkward, "Relax. I just asked Mantax to keep an eye on Robin in case anyone decided to mess with her."

"You mean like a secret bodyguard?" Luffy surmised.

"Yeah, kinda like that," I nodded. "I'm sure they'll both be back soon enough."

The others looked uncertain about my words but decided to mind their business. Unfortunately, their worries proved to be warranted. It was well into the night now, and neither of our two missing crew members were back yet.

"Alright, we've waited more than long enough. I'm going out to look for Robin. Anyone with me?" Sanji asked.

Needless to say, pretty much the entire rest of the crew joined up with him.

"You do what while we search for Mantax," Pridak announced with Kalmah at his side.

And so, everyone left, leaving me, the ship guard, along with Ehlek and Fencer.

"I must admit, I'm curious. If Nico had run into trouble, Mantax should've been able to deal with it, and even if he couldn't, he would've reported back by now," Ehlek commented.

"Yeah, I'm worried too," I had to admit.

Fencer looked concerned, "So, what should we-"

Suddenly, a bullet-sized burst of air hit Fencer in the chest, knocking her off my shoulder. Ehlek was hit by several rounds of razor wind. And me? A dozen arms appeared all over me, covering my eyes, clamping my mouth shut, and restraining my limbs.