I was so excited to see Film Red when it came out when this chapter was written! Currently, it's looking like Film Gold, Film Stampede, and Film Red might all take place between Wano and Egghead. I mean, they can't take place until after Wano since it's not until then that the whole crew is back together. I didn't care for Stampede, though, but you all can expect to see Films Gold and Red in this story after Wano, with the sufficient changes for narrative continuity. Ah, but you all aren't here to hear me muse and rant.

As always, a massive Thank You to my wonderful Patrons: Aaron Ashbaugh, Alex P, Andrew Bohl, Animephilosopher1, Ankhseram123, Anna Khuu, Ant Franklin, Badmr7, Christopher Mitchell, Clark Kent, Claude Walker, Cordell Sanders, Cory Johnston, Darko129, Dave Gh, David, David Bowling, David Reynolds, Emi Stafford, Eric Bandel, Eugene Malone Jr., EvilJelly, Fenrir ragnarok, FlakeTrain, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GLADIUS315, GODA98, Illiasse Naji, Inucbus, Jacob McCarthy, JEP1010, Jkat, John Mekjian, Jonathan Moh, Joseph Baty, Joseph Morrison, Joseph Vargas, Joshua Groves, Kcx1, Kevin Calderon, Korakas, Kyo Anamoto, Lamont Hale, Marielle Orff, Markoos, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Mcgin28, Milagros Peres Davila, Milla, Neridian, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Ranger Ellis, Richard Barkley, Riley Bolerjack, Ryuu, Sasha, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, Ty Chaos, and ViewtifulSoul!

Keep being awesome, amazing people!

Chapter 42:

Addiction

"Shilolololo!" Caesar Clown laughed, watching the monitors that showed the Mania Lab's arena and the fight happening within. Sure, the pirates and marines were putting up a decent fight, but the mad scientist was certain that the Manias' durability would win out over the humans' despite whatever Devil Fruit powers they may or may not have. He didn't really care if the Manias won or lost —they were Velo's main project and not his own— but watching them in action was always an entertaining distraction when he felt like one. "Shilololo!"

Monet watched the screen at his side, her burns from the explosion earlier bandaged and healing quickly on account of her Logia powers. Would she have been able to heal them instantly she would have, but whatever explosion the interloper had caused was able to damaged her severely. Such was the match against snow and fire, Caesar supposed, but if she didn't want to fight until she was fully healed, they had plenty of other pawns to use first.

"Two of them are chasing Velo," the harpy observed, her eyes on another camera. "It's going to take a while to fix all those doors they're breaking."

"Let them break a few," Caesar waved. "It's not like we can't have the materials sent to us. And it will tire them out before they get taken down."

"Are you certain about this, Master?" the verdette questioned. "Those two are the samurai 'Foxfire' Kin'emon and an ex-Cipher Pol agent. I know Velo has gotten quite skilled since her last run-in with the law, but do you really think she can outrun the pair of them?"

"One is ex-Cipher Pol?" Caesar blinked.

"Yes," Monet nodded, one slim finger indicating the long-nosed blond on the camera. "Him. According to the papers, he's been labeled as 'Spring Wind' Kaku. You really should keep up with the news more."

"That's one of the reasons I keep you around," Caesar waved off. He refocused, this time on the man as he used Tempest Kicks to slice a solid steel door into pieces. "If he has government training, then I would love to acquire whatever secrets he might know. I'm certain with his information, I could easily blackmail the World Government into leaving me alone, or at least give us more breathing room. Worst comes to worst, he would make an excellent lab rat."

"Is anyone more than a lab rat to you?" Monet asked.

"Well, there are a few," Caesar admitted. "No one here, however, and I'm not exactly fond of those who are more than that. Now then, I'm certain these Manias of Velo's won't be enough to defeat all of our unwanted guests. Monet, go prepare our other nasty surprises for them."

"All of them?"

"Prepare them all," Caesar nodded. "I don't think we'll need them all, however. We'll start with the ones that are easier to manage afterward and work our way up."

Something flashed on one of the screen behind the man, Monet's gaze on it dragging his attention there. The image was nothing but smoke drifting by the camera, said smoke slowly clearing as it was sucked into the ventilation. Behind the smoke were those whom they had subdued previously, one coughing at the particles in the air around them. Coby, Robin, Usopp, and Merry waved their arms through the dust, clearing their visions so they could take in their surroundings, while the long-nosed man tried to hack up a lung. Caesar's eyes widened at the image, gritting his teeth.

"How?" he demanded, grabbing the sides of the screen as if it would give him the information he so desired. "They were supposed to be drugged as well as bound with Sea Prism Stone."

"They were," Monet replied. "I saw to it myself, but it appears we still underestimated them. Their recovery is leaps ahead of the average pirate that comes through here."

Merry said something on the screen with a laugh, punching the air as Coby and Usopp nodded along while Robin giggled to herself, her leg seemingly mostly healed from the puncture she had received during their fight with the dragon, not that Caesar knew of such. Monet had seen the battle and informed him, but that did not mean that either understood the exemplary recovery speed most of the Straw Hats were able to manage.

"Well, It appears we will need more direct methods to ensure they do not interfere with our work," Caesar commented. "Monet?"

"We still have a few of Velo's earlier experiments," she suggested. "The ones from the petri dishes she used to see which animals' lineage factors wouldn't hamper each other too much. And while they defeated the red dragon already, we still have Vegapunk's other one here in the lab. I believe you called them 'nasty surprises' a minute ago?"

"Yes, that should be enough," Caesar muttered, "but I do not want to bank anything like this on 'should.' Monet, go insure that at least one of them does not escape at all. Am I clear?"

"Of course, Master," the harpy replied, offering a small bow. "If that is all, I will be on my way."

Taking her leave, Monet saw herself out, her thin bird legs carrying her down the hallway and around a bend. As if in response to her distance from the scientist, the transponder snail she kept at her waist began to ring, the woman swinging one wing around to answer it.

"Hello?" a deep voice questioned from the snail.

"Who might this be?" Monet questioned.

"Your liaison for the card above them all."

"Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"Maybe."

Monet took to the air, alighting on a pipe set into the wall high above. Once she was settled, she carefully pulled the snail from its place at her side and held it up with her wings.

"It is good to hear your voice after so long, Vergo," she said, keeping her voice low.

"I feel similar sentiments," the man on the other side of the call replied. "What seems to be the current situation on Punk Hazard?"

"It's a bit chaotic at the moment," the verdette answered. "We are currently being invaded by the forces of both the Straw Hat Pirates as well as the marines of G-5, and they seem to be working together. Law is still on our side as far as I can tell, but I don't trust him to remain so much longer. The children Caesar has been experimenting on with his gigantification serum have escaped as well because of the pirates."

"That is chaotic," Vergo agreed after a moment's thought. "I am due to arrive soon. Which actions should I take that would be most beneficial?"

"Recover my heart for me," Monet told him. "After Law arrived, everyone in a powerful position under Caesar had to surrender theirs for his peace of mind. I'm growing tired of this place and am ready to return home. I think Caesar may have outlived his usefulness."

"Do you know where they are being kept?"

"I don't," she admitted. "Somewhere only Caesar can normally reach, I suspect. He's not just carrying them around like he did at first. That got too troublesome for him. There are very few places I haven't gone around here, however, so I can tell you where they aren't." She listed off a comprehensive list of what areas to avoid and which places she suggested searching first.

"Understood," Vergo nodded, the snail mimicking his movements. "Only a little longer, Monet. You're eager to get home and I know the Young Master and your sister feel the same, but we need to keep up this ruse until the very end. We cannot break at the final stretch. I'll be there in half an hour."

"I await you eagerly." The snail went to sleep with a soft ca-cha as a smile wider than any Punk Hazard had seen from the bird-woman before stretched over her face. "Finally. Sister… I'm coming home."

Around the corner and down the hall, Law stepped into Caesar's room, none the wiser at Monet's most recent call.

"Hey, I'm back," he said, casting a halfhearted wave at Caesar's back before dropping onto a couch. "What'd I miss?"

"We have located the boy," Caesar told him, giving the Warlord an unimpressed look. "Velo was successful where you failed, Law."

"So, she's got the kid now?" the man questioned. He shrugged after a moment. "Eh, whatever works, yeah? It's not like I could get something if it wasn't where we expected."

"You are very relaxed for having failed your mission, Law," the island's master muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Tell me, is your loyalty starting to wane?"

"Of course not," Law waved. "I'm just as loyal as I ever was. Speaking of, are you sure you didn't want me to try to get the kids while I was down there? I could have easily gotten them into the facility with my Room."

"No, that wasn't necessary," Caesar waved. "The children will return on their own soon enough, and cause trouble for the Straw Hats in the process. Have you anything else to report?"

"Ah, I did get this for you on my way back." The captain of the Heart Pirates reached into his coat, digging around for a moment before pulling out a blue, opaque cube with an organ inside. He tossed it to the man, Caesar almost fumbling it.

"To whom does this belong?" he asked, studying the rather-large heart. They did all look the same, after all.

"That?" Law blinked with a deadly smile. "To the Pirate Hunter, of course."

"We're almost there, Sunny!" Franky cheered as the smaller of their ship's two masts locked into place. As it did, the marines and children relaxed, half of them flopping over into the snow and groaning. "Come on! We super aren't done yet!"

"But we're tired, Teach!" one of the boys complained.

"I though you all were going to be my super apprentices?" the Cyborg teased. "How can you learn from me if you get super tired so easily? Besides, now that Zoro's back, he's laying you all to waste."

"Wah!"

"Oh, right," Franky chuckled. "Totally forgot. Sorry, Sword-bro! …Sword-bird-bro?"

"I'm still so confused," Amy muttered with a shake of her head as Grace in Zoro's body admired the muscles she had access to, all while Zoro in Billy's body, who had shucked off Billy's saddle as soon as he could but still wore the copper claws, continued to quietly mope to the side, glaring at all the things he couldn't do without thumbs. Billy —still in Grace's body and slightly bandaged from the burns she/they had received before the encounter with Law— was utterly preoccupied with picking things up using thumbs beside Chopper's portable lab table. This, in turn, only soured Zoro's mood further. The only thing that would've made it worse for him would be if Sanji were present to point and laugh at his misfortune. "I mean, I knew Law had some crazy powers because of his Devil Fruit, but swapping people's bodies?"

"Hey, there's nothing to it," Franky insisted. "We just have to kick his ass and force him to put them back to normal. Not like we haven't done something super similar before."

"Have we?" Amy blinked. "Well, I guess we could try to compare Moria's shadow stealing with this, but I wouldn't say it's an exact match. At least then we were reasonably sure knocking him silly would fix the problem automatically. I'm not so sure this is that simple."

"Maybe not, but we'll get through it all the same," Franky grinned, stepping forward toward his temporary work force. Amy, again, questioned how he could be walking around the snow with bare feet, but he was a cyborg, so they probably weren't his original feet anyway. "Alright you super slackers! Breaktime's over!"

"Uuugghhh," the majority of the group groaned, slowly pulling themselves to their feet. One, however, did not, a giant boy with blond hair rolling over to clutch at his stomach.

"What's the matter, Sind?" Franky questioned, making his way toward one of his self-appointed 'apprentices.' "Stomachache?"

"Y-Yeah, Teach," the boy panted. "I… I can't move. It hurts so bad."

"Come on, kid. Let's get you to Chopper." Franky reached forward, dragging one of Sind's arms around his shoulders to all but drag the boy toward Chopper's station. Mocha, another of the giant kids, a girl with curly, black hair, took Sind's other arm with worry swimming in her eyes. The human-reindeer didn't seem to notice their approach, the doctor staring at a vial of purple liquid with something akin to terror and denial. "Yo, Doc! We super got a patient over here!"

"Hmm?" Chopper blinked, turning toward them. His eyes widened as he comprehended what he was seeing, the reindeer hopping from his seat and running over. "Lay him on his side in the recovery position! That'll make it easiest for me to check his vitals!"

"Sure thing!" Franky gave Mocha a quick "thank you" before laying Sind down on his side, Chopper squirming his way between the boy's appendages to press his stethoscope against his torso. "Is something super wrong, Doc?"

"I'm afraid it might be," Chopper replied. "Mocha, what do you children usually do around this time of day?"

"W-Well…" the girl muttered, her eyes squinting as she tried to think. "We hadn't had our daily check-ups yet when Big Sis Nami and the others got us out. I think we'd be about done with those."

"And what usually happens during those check-ups?"

"Well, nothing really," Mocha answered. "They bring us in one by one and ask how we're feeling. You know, growing pains or fevers and stuff like that."

Sind muttered something.

"What was that?" Franky questioned.

"W-We get candy," Sind repeated, a little louder. "A-After the check-ups."

"Oh yeah, the candy!" Mocha nodded. "When we're done, they give us this really cool candy. It's swirly and tasty and smokes a little, so we like to pretend we're dragons."

Chopper froze. "It… smokes?" he echoed. Mocha nodded. "You're sure? Is the smoke purple?"

"How'd you know that, Mr. Reindeer?"

"Shit!" the reindeer doctor hissed. "You've been drugged! The Master's been drugging you all!"

"Drugged?" Franky gasped, the rest of the pirates and marines gathering around to hear the explanation more clearly.

"What's happening to them?" the present leader of the marines demanded. "Did you pirates do this?"

"Please," Amy scoffed, unable to hold back her sass at such a ridiculous accusation. "If we did, it would be affecting you all, too."

"Then what is it?"

"There's a chemical known as NHC10," Chopper explained. "It's a stimulant, but it's also highly addictive. So addictive, in fact, that only a select few doctors around the world are allowed to work with it. I know this because Doctorine is one of them. It took her eight years to get through the application process."

"NHC10?" Zoro-Grace blinked, eyes widening. "Wait… You don't mean Imidogen Hydrocarbide, do you?"

"You know about it, Grace?"

"I'm a chemist; of course I know about it! I also know how dangerous it is! I might not care about the World Government's rules and laws, but even I wasn't willing to touch that stuff even with a whole lab under my command! It's extremely reactive, unstable at the best of times, and toxic in even medium-sized doses! My book actively discourages working with it unless you're approved for it! If it's in these kids' systems then we have a serious problem!"

"Uh," Brook blinked (or he would have if he still had eyelids). "Care to explain it to those of us without knowledge of chemistry?"

"This is one of those things where the knowledge best remains secret," Z-Grace said. "Luckily, I should be able to counter it with…" She trailed off, sucking in a breath. "Fuck!"

"Grace!" Amy admonished.

"I don't have my powers, Big Sis!" Z-Grace said, rounding on the blonde while chewing on her lip. In any other circumstance, Zoro calling Amy "Big Sis" with such an expression would be funny. Here, the humor was easily overwritten by the panic from the information Z-Grace had just spouted.

"Wait, but Billy—" Chopper tried.

"Has my body but doesn't know how to use my Devil Fruit," Z-Grace replied. "I have my knowledge, but I'm practically a book here. I've got information but no way to implement it! Godadammit!"

"C-Candy," Sind muttered. "P-Please, give me candy."

"We can't," Chopper told him. "The candy they've been giving you all is toxic."

"Is that why we've been getting bigger?" Mocha questioned.

"What do you mean?" Z-Grace asked. "You mean you aren't natural Giants?"

"No," Mocha answered with a shake of her head. "Sind, me, and everyone else were all normal before we got here. We thought the disease that the Master told us we had was making us all get big."

"So that's what they've been using the NHC10—"

"Candy!" Sind roared, throwing everyone away from him. His eyes were bloodshot, a pained snarl tugging at his lips. "I need it! Give it to me! Give me candy!"

"Candy…" another of the giant children, a girl with brown hair, echoed. She looked up slowly, her eyes, too, going bloodshot. "It hurts… I need it!"

"Ally!" Mocha cried, her voice audibly straining as the same symptoms of withdrawal started to eat at her own insides. She grimaced, clutching at her stomach as the rest of the children, one by one, began to succumb to their unknown addictions. "D-Doctor Chopper… help us…"

"I can't!" Chopper cried from his place in the snow. "N-Not without time! If Grace had her powers, it would be so much simpler, but because she's in Zoro's body—"

"Candy!" The children starting going berserk, Ally smashing Chopper's portable lab table as Sind and some of the other children started trying to pick up and throw Sunny's figurehead. Thankfully, her Adam Wood was too heavy for them to move alone even with their enhansed strength, but that was no comfort to the pirates and Marines that needed to dodge stomping feet and flailing fists.

"What do we do?" the marine with the bucket hat on his head demanded, diving away from where he would have been stomped into a pancake. "We can't attack them! They're kids!"

"We'll need to find a way to painlessly subdue them!" Chopper shouted.

"Easier said than super done!" Franky commented.

"I've got nothing without my powers!" Z-Grace yelled.

"I can't use her powers!" G-Billy added.

"Wah!" B-Zoro quacked. He sped over, grabbing Wado Ichimonji in his beak. He pulled it from its sheath, black smoke starting to swirl around the blade.

"No!" Amy cried, coating her own hand in Haki to grab the blade and stop the swordsduck. "You'll hurt the kids, even with the blunt side!"

"Wa-wahwah!"

"We don't care what the blunt side's called!" G-Billy yelled, narrowly avoiding another grabbing hand. Sind got ahold of Franky, shaking him like prankster might do to a cola before throwing him. The Cyborg hit the side of Sunny's hull with a cough.

"Someone do something!" a marine screamed, his face inches away from the salivating mouth of one of the giant children.

"Yohohoho~! Yohoho-ho~!" The familiar melody drifted over the shoreline and through the snow, slow and calm in a way that nothing else could be. Two voices sang together, both rather high but one at a greater pitch. A violin, adagio and legato, accompanied soft guitar as the tune swelled. "Yohohoho~! Yohoho-ho~"

"That's Brook," Grace muttered, using Zoro's strength to keep Sind at bay as best she could, "but who's the other voice…?"

Z-Grace stumbled as Sind, as if in a trance, released their struggle and started walking toward where he'd thrown Franky. Worried, she studied the other children —and some marines— who were doing the same.

"Gather up all of the crew~ It's time to ship out Bink's brew~ Sea wind blows, to where who knowa? The waves will be our guide~ O'er across the ocean's tide, rays of sunshine far and wide~ The birds, they sing of cheerful thing in circles passing by~!"

"I don't get it," one of the marines muttered. "Bink's Sake as a funeral dirge?"

"That's not a dirge," Amy replied as she realized her crewmates' intentions. "That's a lullaby."

Following the entranced crowd, the pirate and marines reached the point where the falling snow did not obscure the Sunny. Upon her deck stood two figures, the first tall and thin with a violin held to his boney chin, and the other shorter by comparison, Brook's guitar in her hazy arms and her head resting on the railing because her figurehead had yet to be reattached.

"Woah," G-Billy muttered as the crowd started to sway in time with the music. "I'll admit, I didn't expect that."

Mocha, either the least addicted to the NHC10 or the one with the strongest will to resist, was the first to succumb to sleep, a smile on her lips. The smaller kids followed as the combined voices of Brook and Sunny lulled them down from their craving-induced rage. Sind was the last, his huge body causing a small rumble as he toppled, snoring lightly.

"After all is said and done, we'll all end up as skeletons~ So spread your tale from dawn 'til dusk upon the foamy seas~! Yohohoho~ Yohoho-ho~!"

The tune slowed to a stop, Brook and Sunny looking over their work. It was not only the children that had been affected, a quarter of the marines and Franky snoozing away in the snow.

"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed, lowering his violin as the music's echo died away. "That was excellent, Sunny!"

"I just had to do what Merry said and focus on the skill I wanted," the Klabautermann replied, her headless, mostly-corporeal body handing the skeleton his guitar. "Once we got started, it just felt natural. Like I'd been playing for years."

"That would probably be because I have been playing for years," Brook smiled (as much as a skeleton with no lips could smile, anyway). "I say, it warms my heart to have such a wonderful playing partner once again. Ah, not that I have a heart to warm, much less in this snow. Yohohoho!"

"Raahahaha!" Sunny agreed, launching forward to hug the undead musician. She let go quickly, reaching up to scratch the back of her head only to realize it was still detached at the moment. She chuckled. "Er, sorry, Brook. I didn't mean to hug you out of nowhere. Not sure whose influence that was."

"You needn't concern yourself about it, Sunny," the old skeleton waved off. "Though there is something I would like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Could you please show me your panties?"

"Dammit, Brook!" Sunny hissed, doing her best to keep her voice down lest she wake the kids. "We were having a nice moment! And I don't even need to wear clothes, yet!"

"Well, that's ruined," Z-Grace huffed as Amy gained a fire in her eye, Armament Haki condensing around her fist as she seriously considered knocking Brook's soul out of his body. Again. Only her little sister's act of putting Zoro's hand on her shoulder held the blonde back, and not as well as Grace's normal body would have.

"I'm gonna kill him," the chocolatier swore.

"Easy, Big Sis. You can't kill a skeleton that's already dead."

"I can damn well try, though."

"I think we have more important matters to discuss," Chopper offered, gesturing at the sleeping children with his hoof. "How are we going to counteract the NHC10 in their systems without access to Grace's Chem-Chem powers?"

"I can try to work on them," G-Billy suggested. "We have time and need, so there's no time like the present."

"As unreliable as it is, I'm afraid you're right," Chopper commented. "Billy, Grace? Shall we go in and get started?"

"Maybe with a little more practice, I can copy Wind's Four-Sword Style that he told me about," Coby commented as the last of the dust from the broken door cleared away. "Maybe that's what I need to finally give Zoro-sensei an even fight. I mean, it didn't quite work out for Wind last time, but I've got way more experience with my Fruit. And unlike Wind back then, I won't have a reason to surrender midway through."

"Do not forget that you are not the only swordsman who has grown stronger in our separation, Coby," Robin warned. "You may possess unparalleled Observation, but Zoro still has far more experience than you do."

"I didn't say anything about winning," the roset pointed out. "I just want to be able to push Zoro-sensei to the point where he'll be breathing hard. That's sort of my goal for the future."

"And my goal for the future," Usopp muttered, "is to survive this freaking island!"

"Yeah, let's get going!" Merry agreed. "We've got some serious fights ahead and I'm all for dishing out some recompense for that Master guy's underhanded tactics!"

"S-Serious fights?" the sniper stuttered. "A-Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah," Merry nodded with a grin. "I can feel it in my bones, shivering me timbers."

"That…" Coby started. "Ah, nope. I don't want to ask. You're as much a battle maniac as Captain Luffy and I don't want to go anywhere near Klabautermann physiology."

"Well, you see," Merry started with a smirk. "When it comes to a Klabautermann's timbers—"

"Come along, all," Robin urged. "It would behoove us all to travel as a single group as our separate destinations are in the same general direction. We may continue to converse as we travel."

"I'll carry you, Robin," Coby offered, shifting into his Dino Mode. "Your leg seems mostly healed, but there's no point in putting undue strain on it just for travel."

"Why thank you, Coby," Robin said, crossing her arms and activating her powers. Bloomed hands sprouted from Coby's torso, undoing the rinky-dink mei dai carrier that held the dragon egg. "I shall hold this while we travel. We'd rather avoid the off-chance something unfortunate befalls little Ace-chan's souvenir, yes?"

"I suppose," Coby responded. The archeologist settled herself on Coby's neck sidesaddle before the group set off down the corridor. They rounded a corner, Coby nearly bowling over a man in a yellow hazmat suit who just managed to jump out of the way.

"Wha— Hey!" he yelled behind them. "Get back to your cell!"

"Green Star: Devil!" Usopp countered, his floral projectile sprouting upon contact with the floor, growing upward to swallow the man whole despite Usopp having to throw it manually rather than from his missing Kabuto.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Coby commented as they left the plant behind. "How'd you do that, Usopp?"

"What's not to understand?" the sniper questioned. "Plants grow from seeds. That's just how it works."

"Yeah, when they have soil to work with," the dinosaur countered. "You just threw that into a steel hallway. There should have been nothing for it to grow from!"

"But these are seeds from the Boin Isles," Usopp pointed out. "They tend to have rapid growth to coincide with their short lifespans."

"That doesn't help!"

"Why are you complaining?" Merry asked. "It worked and that was a bad guy."

"But…" Coby sighed, shaking his head. "Whatever. Let's just find the others. I'll take care to avoid any other guys from here on out, I guess."

The group twisted and turned through the hallways, barely avoiding more than half a dozen other yellow-clad minions before they reached a large, open space. Machines of various make and look lined the room, though none of them seemed to be active. Still, Coby frowned, something not feeling right about the place.

"Guys, I don't like this," he muttered, his head on a swivel as he kept his eyes peeled for anything that didn't seem to belong. "Something reeks of abnormality."

"Is it us?" Merry asked. "I think it's us."

"How do you know what abnormality smells like?" Usopp wondered at the same time.

"I don't literally smell it, smartasses," Coby huffed. "Something just doesn't feel right. It's like they were corralling us in this direction."

"The inhabitants of this location do seem the type to stock their habitat with a plethora of nasty surprises," Robin commented. "Oh, I do hope we don't encounter a hideous, ravenous monster that overpowers and devourers us one by one, leaving us little more than chunks, memories, and four whispered screams on the chilling wind, digested and passed on without a secondary thought."

"Would you stop‽" Usopp demanded, a shiver not caused by the cold running down his spine. "Honestly, what's with you and morbid humor about us getting eaten‽ Are you into that crap?"

"Poor choice of words, Uncle Usopp," Merry laughed.

"I don't think now is the time for this conversation," Coby muttered, the lights starting to dim. "I have a bad feeling they know exactly where we are right now."

"GRRROOOWWWHH!" something screeched, a BANG coming from somewhere deeper in the room. Other hissing sounds came from other directions ahead, prompting Coby to spin. He was too late, however, the door they'd come through closing with a hiss.

"Correction," the Zoan muttered. "They know exactly where we are right now."

Something large and green started to slither over the machines, the sounds of other creatures slinking through the machinery out of sight coming from either side. The creature they could see lowered its head, another dragon staring at them through small eyes. It was an acidic green with spots of a darker hue, small wings tucked against its back as two long, spindly arms carried its thin body over the metal in an almost snake-like movement.

"A drago-snake?" Merry wondered as a forked tongue licked the creature's lips. "No, wait. It's got appendages, so it can't be a snake."

"Who cares‽" Usopp screamed, grabbing at his hair. "We're dead! I knew it! This is it!"

"Usopp," Coby muttered as he took a single step away from the reptilian monster. "I don't mean to scare you, but you aren't going to want to look to either side."

As one does when told not to do something, Usopp instantly turned his gaze away from the dragon and immediately regretted it.

To the right prowled a cat that was blue in color with dark stripes leading from the top of its back to all six of its legs. Its face was pulled back into a snarl, two fangs longer than the rest of its sharp teeth extending downward from its mouth. Unlike the last incarnation of this creature the pirates had seen —which only had two tails— this one had four, each one lashing through the air like a whip. To make matters worse, it stood at a full nine feet in height.

On the other side moved an animal that looked closer to its base, though the hopping, purple deer looked like it should have been top heavy considering how massive its antlers were. Steam puffed from its every breath, its body rippling with enough muscle to counteract its horns as it glared at the pirates, bouncing.

"Usopp?" Coby muttered. "You looked, didn't you?"

"Yeah…?"

"Is it just me, or is that cat familiar?"

"N-No, it's not just you," the other male replied. "I-I think we aren't the only ones who made a pitstop at Meriville."

"You mean Shiki's floating islands?" Merry blinked. "Oh Hell yes!"

"You mean 'Hell no!'" Usopp corrected, his aversion to cursing lost in the situation.

"Come on, Uncle Usopp!" Merry laughed. "We beat monsters like these things two years ago!"

"Merry, do recall we are currently trapezing through a laboratory," Robin pointed out. "In Meriville, Shiki was content to let natural selection do its bloody work. Here, I imagine select genes have been combined and mutated under careful observation."

"And maybe the fact that we don't have our weapons is, you know, bad‽" Usopp added. "I'm lucky enough to still have my seeds, but I don't think they'll help too much with these!"

"That does put a bit of a damper on things, I'll admit," Merry admitted. "Well, who wants what?"

"Obviously we need to run!"

"We can't run," Coby pointed out. "They shut the door on us. They purposely locked us in here."

"Then I hope they don't care about these animals or the machines," Merry grinned, punching her palm as she glared at the blue, six-legged sabertooth. "I'm feeling hungry and destructive."

"So… like Captain Luffy?"

"Like Captain Luffy, yes, despite being vegetarian."

"What a coincidence," Coby grinned, growing into his Armor Mode as he stared down the bouncy deer. He popped his knuckles. "After our imprisonment, I'm starting to feel the same way."

"This is a bad idea!" Usopp reiterated, he and Robin watching the dragon as it eyed the egg in the woman's grip. It hissed something the pirates suspected was a warning. "We can't fight a mutant dragon, tiger, and deer unarmed!"

"Then I supposed it is a good thing I can bloom more than each of our standard two," Robin joked.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

Unamused by their back and forth, each of the creatures released their battle cries and charged.

"Master!" a deep, pained voice hissed, fingers trying and failing to drag themselves across the floor. The man, or the pile of parts that use to be a man, shifted, but his momentum came to naught, his own pieces' movements counteracting each other. "Master, please! Betrayal! Betrayal!"

No one answered the voice's cries, hidden away as they were. A foot, the closest thing to the doorway, tried to smack against the metal in the hope that someone would hear the noise on the other side, but even if there was someone there to hear, the only noise the voice's pieces could make was a dull thump that did precious little to stand out amidst the rest of the laboratory's ambient sound. Even then, unknown to the voice, the keypad to the door was broken beyond repair, a single stab of a sword having severed every wire within.

No one would come for the voice, so all it could do was agonize over its own powerlessness, a feeling all too familiar.

"Master, please! Hear my voice! Betrayal! Betrayal from the Warlord of the Sea!"

Against all odds, the door started to open, a claw forcing its way into the crack between the doors. Light streamed into the room, green and orange identifying the person to the mass of parts.

"Monet! You're here! I need you to bring a message to the Master! It's Law! He's chosen to betray us!"

"Oh, I know," the harpy said, her smile turning cold as frost started to fill the small room. "I had a feeling he would eventually."

"W-What are you doing‽ The Master—!"

"Doesn't need to hear your report." The frost began to crawl up the fleshy pieces. "Be a good popsicle and quiet down now. Goodnight~"

"N-No..."

Monet closed the door, leaving the room in cold and darkness, her own betrayal set in motion. That sliver of light was the last thing Brownbeard ever saw before darkness claimed him forever.

End of Chapter 42

Hoooo boy, things have begun! Let me know what you think and, as always:

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods