(Note: Whoops! I posted the wrong chapter by mistake. This is the correct one! My bad.)

I'm burning out a little with work, but I'm still sticking to my schedule, just as I promised. You all are the ones I do it for, my wonderful Patrons: Akamura, Alex P, Andrew Evans, Animephilosopher1, Ant Franklin, Cam Bliss, Cliford, CrazyMan, David Bowling, David Reynolds, EbayUserGreen, Emi Stafford, Fenrir ragnarok, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GODA98, Grim90, Iliasse Naji, Jacob Benson, Jacob McCarthy, JEP1010, JONATHAN VICARS, Jones4real, jordanitos, Jordem917, Joseph Morrison, julien digot, Kevin Calderon, Korakas, Lamont Hale, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Milla, Nicole Morris, Philippa Sale, Rafael Cardenas, Richard Barkley, Ricky Shaffer, Riley Bolerjack, Shiro, TheRevolutionaryRonin, Thomas Sanders, ViewtifulSoul, Willthamann, and Артем Сухоруков!

And now, without further ado!

Chapter 8:

Forces Gather

"You're where?" Nami's voice demanded through the snail, Zoro shoving his wrist as far away from his ear as he could. The walls around him were gray, a small being of some sort dressed in weird red clothing dead at his feet, the weird, black tentacles coming from it making him conclude it was some sort of small octopus fishman.

"Some sort of ship," Zoro repeated. "I'm telling you, I walked past a building and the world changed. Fishman Island has some weird landscapes."

"Th-There's nowhere on Fishman Island like that, Zoro-chin," Camie's voice offered. "In fact, the only air route from the Fishman District leads toward the open-air market near the plaza. You can't have gone any other way."

"Gihihi!" Ace laughed. "Uncle Zowo went poof! Gone! But Uncle Zowo is stwong."

"I guess you do come back eventually," Nami agreed slowly, her husband and son laughing away at Zoro's embarrassed attempts at excuses. "On to more important matters, are you ok, Ace?"

"Yeah!" the boy answered, the snail in Zoro's hand animating to copy the child swaying side to side as excited children do. "Auntie Grace and Choppy are gonna tell stories 'bout Mommy and Daddy!"

"Which one?" Luffy asked.

"Albasta! The sandy place!"

"Anyway," Grace cut in. "It sounds like the local Plaza is a central location. Any chance we can all meet there?"

"Actually, the palace wants to invite us for a feast," Coby put in. "Nami, Brook, and I are with Pappagu and some of the soldiers Nami... eh, enlisted into helping us look for Ace."

"More like forced," a voice Zoro didn't know offered, though Nami quickly cowled whoever that was.

"There is one problem," Amy muttered. "Uh, Long-Neck here was trying to get us some information and ended up losing his voice."

"He talked that much in a few minutes?" Zoro blinked as the lights above him flickered and died.

"No, more like literally lost it," Usopp answered. "There was this woman with a Devil Fruit who stole his voice. At least, we think it was a Devil Fruit."

"That's so scary!" Nami and Chopper gasped.

"Oh my," Robin chuckled. "I do hope he knows one of the silent languages one of us does. I'd rather not play charades in the midst of battle, lest we die while our foes think us to be dancing."

"I think there's another problem we need ta mention," Gin tossed in. "Everyone checked in 'cept for Sanji. Is he with any o' y'all?"

No one answered, the snail in Zoro's hand silent.

"Well that's inconvenient," Brook commented. "No bones about it."

"He is alive," Merry offered. "I can still feel him, so he's somewhere on the island, but he's, I don't know, fuzzy? My connection to him right now is a lot weaker than my connection to all of you, even Ace, and I only met him a couple days ago."

"Fascinating!" Chopper muttered. "The amount of tests we can run knowing that there are things that can even interfere with klabautermann senses-!"

"Let's focus on that later," Usopp said, cutting the reindeer off. "Let's find Sanji first. There are enough scary things here without us missing one of our monsters."

"Someone said there was a plaza, yeah?" Luffy asked. "Let's go there, then we'll find Sanji. Then we'll go to the palace."

"That's probably Gyoncorde Plaza you're talking about," Pappagu offered.

"That works for me," Nami agreed. "We can only hope Sanji is with Sunny."

"I don't think he is," Franky responded. "Some locals said they found her on one of the outlying beaches, but it's just her. There's been no sign of Cook-Bro. And honestly, I don't want to leave Sunny here even in case he wanders back. It's /super too open after our run in with those guys outside."

"You can bring her to the Sea Forest," Merry suggested. "It's out of the way and has a Poneglyph nearby, though we haven't found it yet. Robin and I can meet you at the plaza and come back when we get Sunny again. We'll read the Poneglyph then."

"I wanna see the Ponygiff!" Ace added.

"That's a super idea, Merry!"

"It's as good a plan as any," Nami agreed. "Sorry to cut your search short."

"Our expedition is only on hold," Robin replied. "We will meet you all soon."

"Well, well, well," a great white shark fishman chuckled, he and his buddies surrounding the blond human they'd found on the beach. Said fishman stood a good nine feet tall with lower, stout shoulders and a thick neck. A dorsal fin grew from his back, though he had no hair to speak of. His friends were each some type of shark, the smallest a nurse shark fishman at two feet tall. That one was standing on the shoulder of another, a hammerhead.

For someone surrounded by creatures naturally ten-times stronger than the average human, the blond didn't seem too worried about his predicament. Rather, he pat his pocket, casually bringing our a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, one of the former of which he lit with the latter.

"What's a lowly human doing all the way out here on Landshark Beach?" Great White asked, a sneer of confidence permeating into his words.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sanji sighed, loosening his tie a little, though he couldn't tell why outside of force of habit much like the cigarette he now smoked. "That is the cheesiest name for a beach I've ever heard... I think. What idiot named it?

"Ah... But..." the shark floundered, almost defensively. "You shut your stupid human mouth. You don't know anything about the names of Fishman Island!"

"Oh, so that's where I am," Sanji nodded, filing the information away. "You know, that makes sense. Anyway, what can you tell me about living ships?"

"Living ships?" thee hammerhead questioned. "What, have you been living under a rock for the past two years? Everyone in the Grand Line knows about Klabautermanns after Moby Dick showed up during the Paramount War."

"Come on, Bro," the nurse shark hissed. "It's just one human and I'm real hungry. I haven't gotten any of the stupid surface walkers since Hody started taking them all."

"A good point," the great white agreed. "There's no point talking to our food. Die for us, human!"

The sharks charged, fangs bared at the amnesiac. Sanji, however, didn't even flinch, his left foot coming up to kick the great white in the jaw. Sanji barely paused, only putting enough extra time in to redirect the largest fishman's momentum upward before he pivoted, switching legs to plow the nurse shark into the side of the hammerhead's face. The smallest shark, caught between a shark and a hard foot, coughed blood. All three attackers wallowed on the sand, dazed and confused.

"Huh," Sanji blinked. "Didn't know I could do that."

"You bastard," the hammerhead grunted, pushing himself to his knees before staggering to his feet. "We'll get you for that. We've got laws about humans who attack us."

"But you attacked me first," Sanji pointed out. "And you wanted to eat me. I know a lot about table manners, and eating people alive isn't good."

"Yeah, what do you know?" the great white growled. Sanji did not voice an answer, acting on instinct and muscle memory to flip upside-down. He caught himself on his hands, twisting his legs to catch the shark on both sides of his head before flipping him, planting the fishman's face into the sand. Said shark went rigid for only a moment before his body slumped, going limp with his head still stuck in the sand.

"What the Hell kind of monster is this guy?" the hammerhead fishman questioned. "Fishmen are naturally ten times stronger than humans!"

"Ingredients shouldn't mess with the chef," Sanji rebuffed, tapping the ashes of his cigarette loose. "Bring it on, Sushi-to-be."

The two other sharks glanced at each other before booking it without a word.

Sanji jumped, a sudden applause sounding from the water. He turned to see that a trio of mermaids were clapping for him, their fish tails mostly hidden by the water save for the ends. Sanji felt a pang in his chest as the sight, as if a dream had been fulfilled, but he couldn't tell why.

"Bravo!" the mermaid in the center called. She was beautiful with blonde hair and an angular face. "It's about time someone put those troublemakers in their place."

"Why, thank you," Sanji responded. "I didn't know we had an audience."

"Actually, we came here looking for you," the mermaid explained. "We don't get many humans around here, so you must be one of the Straw Hats. Boss has us looking for you."

Sanji's eyes shrunk, the name Straw Hat triggering something in his memory. He blinked, everything rushing back. The beauty of the mermaids before him struck, but it was dulled because this wasn't first sight. Rather than a gushing nosebleed, a trickle of blood dripped from his nose. He approached the edge of the sea, pulling a flower from within his suit while kneeling before the three merfolk.

"Greetings, my name is Sanji, and I am the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates. To make your acquaintance is a dream come true."

The mermaids who had not yet spoken giggled.

"Handsome and suave," the leader smiled. She reached out, taking his hand in one of hers. "Come along. Boss has been waiting here a year for your visit. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer!"

Without giving Sanji time to reply, the mermaid pulled him into the water. Together, the three merfolk dragged the human along, taking him to an unknown destination.

The whole time, his nose never stopped the trickle of blood.

"Captain, the Straw Hats have arrived on the island," a fishman announced, getting down on one knee as if bowing to the man he was speaking to. Said man was a fishman himself, a shark of some sort, on the wider side with a long mane of curly, black hair and skin of a pale purple-blue. The announcement caused his expression to harden, an angry grin crossing his lips.

The room they spoke in was flooded, packed with fishmen of all types and breeds. The only similarity they all shared was a tattoo design somewhere on their person, a circle with a diagonal slash over a simple, beheaded corpse. Anyone on Fishman Island would recognize it as the symbol of the New Fishman Pirates.

"So they are alive like the rumors claimed," the captain sneered. "Tell me more."

"They are currently split into groups," the man explained. "Our contacts have reported at least five groups of two or three, and the new Sea Prism Stone handcuffs you ordered from Challenger Deep are ready for us."

"Excellent. Send some men to retrieve those and a few more to go keep tabs on the pirates. I don't want Neptune or his stupid spawn getting hold of them before we do."

"Right away, Captain!" The man stood, running out of the room even as a new fishman entered. This one had dirt-brown skin and four legs along with a noticeable hunch in his back. A zigzagged mustache of black hair seemed to accentuate his age, but the bubble around him separated him from the rest of his kind. He was dressed in neutral clothing, though one webbed hand was covered in a red glove.

"Baaahohoho!" the man laughed as he entered, his eyes carrying a maniacal gleam. "So, you know who those pirates that slipped past me were, Hody?"

The larger shark, Hody, leaned forward on his throne, eyeing the newcomer with a tired gaze.

"Vander Decken," he greeted. "We weren't expecting you so soon."

"No, but I had some news I wanted to share with my ally," Vander Decken responded, spreading his arms wide. "Rather, I've had an interesting encounter that will tip the balance even more to our favor!"

"What is it?" Hody demanded, tired of the fellow captain's constant circumnavigation of the point. "We've got some revenge to be planning."

"Oh, I know you wish to avenge your role model," the four-legged fishman nodded, "but we need more than just that slave army you've built up if we want a chance against the Straw Hats in a straight fight, and you can't help me reach my dear, sweet Shirahoshi if you lose." Hody's hand clenched over the armrest of his seat, cracking the stone it was carved from, but Vander Decken continued, undeterred. "That is why I've found a group willing to work with us so they can claim the heads of the Straw Hats. There is... one little snag, though."

"Ohoho!" a new voice commented, steps echoing though the water as a pair of humans in flutter kick coatings stepped into the room. Instantly, over two dozen swords and spears were trained on them, though only Caribou noticed. His brother was looking the other direction, back down the hallway they had come from. The darker brother raised his arms, his hands covered by his sleeves. "Oh my, this sure has us in a bind."

"Yeah, Bro," his brother agreed, still looking the wrong way. "I agree, Bro."

"What is the meaning of this?" Hody demanded, the armrest shattering in his grip. "You dare to bring humans here without chains? Who the Hell are they?"

"Now now, they know their place," the captain of the Flying Dutchman placated. "One has a Devil Fruit like I do, and they both know that they couldn't survive the pressure down here. One hole in their bubbles and they're dead."

"'Wet Hair' Caribou at your service," the dark-skinned human grinned, dropping into a bow with one arm stretched to his side, though his eyes never left the shark fishman. "And this is my little brother, 'Blood Splatter' Coribou."

"And where are the rest of you?" Hody's voice dropped to a growl. There were two human pirates standing in front of him, but they could not have made it to Fishman Island alone. The little bastards were like rats; where one was, there were certainly more in what seemed to be a never-ending tide of filth.

"Back on our ship!" Caribou answered. He straightened before the front of his torso turned to mud, the man ejecting a trio of fishmen from his insides. The sight of said fishman caused Hody to launch to his feet, though the once-prisoners showed that they were still alive by groaning. "Some of your men were very rude and tried to essentially enslave us as we were coming in, so I had to rough them up a little. I bet this makes you wonder why we wish to ally with you even though you attacked us, right?"

Hody did not answer, though his eyes narrowed. He was sure he could take this human since he had the home field advantage, but to capture three of his collectors was no small feat. Begrudgingly, he silently admitted that this human's power could be helpful, if it was worth the risk.

"You see, Hody Jones," Caribou offered, taking Hody's expression as a go-ahead to continue. "I have something of a vendetta against Straw Hat, just like you if what Decken tells me is true. So let me help you. There are only a few things I want, things that you don't need, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"And what," Hody spat, "would those things be, human?"

A sick smile stretched over Caribou's face. "As many of the Straw Hats alive as I can get, and the heads of the rest. They are worth quite the beautiful Beri on the surface."

Silence followed Caribou's request, the tension building as Hody considered his demand.

"Baahohoho!" Vander Decken laughed, breaking the silence. "Didn't I tell you he would make a good ally?"

"That's it?" Hody asked, being sure to double-check. "You only want the humans?"

"Yes, that's correct," Caribou answered, lying through his teeth. Of course he wanted more, but he could not fight the Straw Hats and these fishmen at the same time. No, better to pit them against one another and take out the winners when they're weakened. Only then would he have free reign of Fishman Island.

"So...?" Vander Decken urged. "Do we have an agreement?"

Against his better judgement, Hody nodded, pulling a bubble coral from his pocket. He clicked the top, allowing the bubble it made to fill the room and a little more, replacing the water with breathable air. The bubbles surrounding Vander Decken and the two humans popped as air filled the space around them.

"You will stand beside us, for now," the shark fishman growled, "but just remember that I will kill you without a moment's hesitation if you step out of line."

"Understood," Caribou responded. Hody nodded, accepting that, before he jerked his hand. "Bring in the other humans."

A lacky bowed before running off down a corridor. No one spoke for another minute or two before the rattle of chains began to echo from the hallway. A crowd of humans, all bound in chains and looking hollow and underfed, were marched into the room. Their dress varied between pirate and merchant garb, with even a few marine underlings mixed in, though no one but they were quite sure how they got there.

Caribou didn't bat an eye. He cared not for the suffering of others or of the racism that plagued the lives of fishmen. He cared only for himself, and keeping himself out of similar chains.

"So what's the plan?" Caribou grinned, eager to get started. "Perhaps we track them down and kill them one by one? Or maybe we poison their food and lie in wait?"

"The Straw Hats are not our main priority," Vander Decken denied, his eyes turning to the ceiling as tears welled up. "No, we are going to collect my dear love, Shirahoshi!"

Caribou's smile froze, locked in place, before it slowly fell from his face. "Who?"

"Princess Shirahoshi, the daughter of King Neptune," Hody Jones explained, since Decken was still lost in his fantasy. "Decken has been obsessed with her since he met her years ago. Taking her will demoralize the Ryugu army and the royal family enough that the New Fishman Pirates can establish a new government in their place. If the Straw Hats wish to interfere, then we will crush them, though I don't intend to let them just leave. Not after what they did to Big Bro Arlong almost three years ago."

"Unfortunately," Decken picked up, "my love intimidates my lovely Shirahoshi! I send her gifts every day, but her brothers and father refuse to allow her to meet with me like I know she wants to. We can't just walk up to the palace as things stand, which is where my powers come in." He spread his arms wide, indicating his hand covered in the glove. "Any person I have touched becomes the target on one of my hands, and ever since this one touched Shirahoshi, I have never allowed it to touch another human to become the target! However, my powers have since grown stronger."

"You, humans!" Hody barked, seeing that Vander Decken was getting impatient. "We are going to send you to the Ryugu Palace. If you want to live, assuming you survive the trip and the guards, you will open the water bridge that connects the palace to Fishman Island. Do that, and I'll allow you and one friend each to leave."

"Y-You mean that?" a merchant stuttered.

"Oh good, a volunteer!" Decken grinned. "Let's show them how it's done, though I doubt you'll survive crashing into the door of Shirahoshi's room!" Grabbing the man by his arm with the glove still on, the pirate captain threw the merchant into the air with considerable force his small arms didn't seem to have. Upon reaching the apex of his arc, the man stopped before his body twisted, rocketing down the hallway with a scream that turned to a gurgle when he exited the bubble.

Humans panicked as Vander Decken started throwing more and more of them, the human missiles disappearing in the same direction. Caribou watched in fascination as people vanished, a mad grin widening. Soon, he and his brother were the only humans left in the room.

"Hahaha!" Caribou laughed, dragging attention to him and Coribou. Hody seemed surprised, as if he expected fear rather than mirth. "What a plan! Using your prisoners as projectiles, brilliant!"

"Yeah, Bro!" Coribou agreed.

"You seem surprisingly... calm," one of Hody's underlings commented.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Caribou responded. "Because they're human? I don't know them, so their lives are meaningless to me. And I could survive such, so if it happens to me, I won't die. My only question is, when will we fight the Straw Hats?"

"We will take over the palace, first," Hody said, no room in his voice for argument. "You will come with us, because I don't trust you."

"You'll find no objections from me," Caribou smirked. "Straw Hat and his little band are mine. But I do have one question."

"And what would that be?"

"Was that all the prisoners you had? I'd think you'd need more to beat an army."

"There is one more," Hody admitted with a frown. "He's not going anywhere, though. He's a traitor and a fool. A disgrace to all fishmen."

"Finally!" Franky grinned, looking up at the beached ship of the Straw Hat Pirates. Nodding to himself, he turned to his companion, a merman with a brown tail and a hat similar to a fedora. "Den, allow me to introduce you to the Thousand Sunny, the most super ship in the Grand Line. Sunny! I'm back!"

"Rahh!" The rumbling coming from the ship took on an almost desperate sound as her ropes reached for Franky. Tears, or something very much like them of a spiritual nature as Franky had learned, flowed from her eyes as the ship tried to turn herself to no avail. "Rahar!"

"She is alive," Den muttered in awe, the metal man beside him striding toward the Sloop. When one of his brother's former apprentices had come to him saying he'd built a living ship, Den had been excited, but still harbored the nugget of doubt. Seeing this, however, proved that Franky's boastings had not been fiction.

"Did you super think I was lying?" Franky asked, stepping into the range of Sunny's ropes. They wrapped around him desperately, like a lost child hugging a family member. "It's super ok, Sunny."

"R-Rahi!" the ship cried, trying to form audible words she no doubt had thoughts of. There could be any number of reasons for this, ranging from not having the vocal chords of a manifestation or simply her current distress at having lost Sanji. Coby had said she knew some words and Merry could communicate with Sunny telepathically, so it wasn't that Sunny had the mind of an infant or anything like that. Still, there was much Franky did not know about the growth patterns of klabautermanns, so any guess was a good as the next. "Rahi gaow, Rahar!"

"Sanji left, didn't he?" Franky asked, easing himself out of the ropes to run his metal hand over Sunny's hull. He couldn't understand her words currently, but he understood her emotions. Anything less and he would have failed her as her maker. "Something happened."

"Rah!"

"We need to get her back in the water," Den announced. "I'm no ship, but as a merman I understand the feeling of being stranded on land. The sand can't feel good to her."

"Luckily, I super planned for a situation like this," Franky grinned. "Sunny, help me up."

At his order, a rope ladder descended for him to grab. Doing so caused Sunny to retract them, pulling Franky upward until he could drop to the deck. She did the same for Den a moment later. After all, her creator brought him here, so he can't be bad.

Franky took a moment to check the kitchen, confirming that Sanji was not there. The old pool of blood and the sleeping snail were concerning, but only confirmed that the cook was absent. Filing that information away for later, Franky walked to the steering wheel.

"Alright, Sunny! Let's super see if your Paddleboat Mode works on land just as much as it should! Channel 0: Pa-"

A horn echoed over the island, interrupting the cyborg. Den looked up instinctively, recognizing the sound of a royal announcement as a sense of foreboding gnawed at his stomach. That gnawing proved accurate when the horn turned to angry feedback, forcing them to cover their ears.

Something was wrong.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Smiles widened over Luffy and Nami's faces as the voice of their son reached them from across the plaza. They turned just in time to see Ace wiggle out of Grace's arms and run with a smile as bright as the sun. Luffy knelt, scooping Ace up as he reached them.

"Did you have fun, Ace?" the young father asked.

"Lots!" the child answered. "Uncle Zowo and Auntie Grace and Choppy beat up these bad people like BAM, POW! Then Uncle Zowo went poof! And Auntie Grace and Choppy talked about..." He paused, as if trying to remember something. "A-la-bas-ta!" he finished, being careful to sound out the name correctly.

"Very good, Ace," Nami praised.

"Sounds like you had a great time," Luffy chuckled, lifting Ace into the air. His son laughed, enjoying himself.

"It's true," Camie blinked, watching the small family as Grace, Chopper, and Billy (who now sported his copper claws that Franky had made) joined her and the other Straw Hats that had arrived already. "I... huh."

"I know, right?" Gin agreed. Standing with them were Coby and Brook while the quintuplets floated around Camie and Pappagu sat on Brook's shoulder.

"I think he's cute," Ichika offered.

"He's cute!" Nika agreed.

"He's not cute," Sanka denied.

"Maybe he's cute," Yonka shrugged.

"Who cares if he's cute?" Yonka Two muttered.

"Honestly, I'm surprised how quickly Luffy took to being a father," Grace commented, desensitized to the Grand Line to the point that the Medaka Mermaid Quintuplets' comments didn't phase her. "I mean, he only learned this morning."

"This morning?" Pappagu blinked. "I thought he'd known all along!"

"After everything we learned about his childhood with Garp, I wasn't sure what to expect," Coby added. The others turned to him, confused. "What?"

"Don Luffy never told us 'bout his childhood," Gin clarified. "Y'know, other'n not knowin' his dad and some stuff 'bout eatin' big cats."

"I..." Coby blinked, trying to remember where the information he had about their captain's past had come from if not from the man himself. The answer struck him a moment later, the scar that covered his back throbbing at the memory. "Oh, that's right. Ace told me stories while we were in Impel Down."

That comment, though offhand, brought the conversation to a screeching halt. The air around them seemed to plummet in temperature as the pirates were reminded of the results of their separation. Camie, ever innocent of the world, didn't seem to understand the significance of his words even as the other merfolk with them gaped at the casual mention of having been inside the Impenetrable Underwater Fortress.

Luckily, the tension broke as a new group stepped into their view, Amy, Usopp, and Kaku reaching their destination. The pirates raised their hands in greetings while Kaku kept glancing over his shoulder as if worried they were being followed.

"That was some entrance, huh?" Amy began, the trio coming to a stop beside the group. "Geez, it's like Sabaody, just waiting for the rest to get here."

"Except now we have actual problems to deal with," Usopp put in, gesturing to Kaku. The Zoan seemed to take offense the that, making gestures with his hands that neither Usopp nor Amy understood.

"Well that's rude," Grace commented, Kaku turning to her with wide eyes. He wasn't aware that any of them knew Thieves Cant. "Besides, you losing your voice is a problem to be solved. We don't have to help since you yourself said you aren't part of the crew."

"But we will," Chopper added. "What do we need to do for that?"

"I don't understand," Camie blinked. "What happened?"

"Kaku had his voice stolen by this Finwater woman," Usopp offered.

"Madam Finwaters?" Camie and Pappagu asked, each with a different tone. The starfish sounded scared while the mermaid seemed happy.

"You know her?" Amy asked, Kaku signing something the others suspected was the same question.

"She's nice," Camie nodded. "She and Madam Sharlay, my boss, have tea sometimes."

"She's terrifying," Pappagu shivered. "I met her once at a party and I swear it was like she wanted to eat my soul the way she looked at everyone. She's been called a queenpin by some friends of mine because she can ruin a person's reputation and life in a night with a single sentence! She's that powerful!"

"Yohoho!" Brook chuckled. "That sounds very serious. What must we do to remedy this silence of yours?" Kaku waved his arms, quickly signing out the details of his deal.

"We have to entertain her until she decides it's been worth it," Grace translated. "Sounds easy enough. I bet trouble will come to us."

"I-!" Coby began, only to pause, closing his mouth. He knew the world's curse brought trouble to those who who said there would be none, but did reverse psychology work? Luffy had tempted fate on their way down, but that trouble may have already passed with their wreck of an entrance.

Well, knowing how the Grand Line worked, he was sure there would be plenty of chaos in the near future, one way or another.

As if on queue, a horn echoed overhead. The horn was, however, interrupted by an artificial screech of feedback that assulted the ears. Whatever it was, Coby knew the chaos he'd been fearing was about to begin.

Sea Level, Sabaody

"Brats," Monkey D. Garp grunted, tossing the unconscious body of 'Gashed' Albion to the side the same way one tosses an empty bag in the trash. The pirate and his crew had thought the Vice-Admiral had come to Sabaody to capture them and attacked preemptively. Garp would have left them alone otherwise, though that didn't matter now. "Honestly, I can't go anywhere without some upstart trying something. Well, that was at least something of a warm-up."

Cracking his neck, first to the left, then to the right, Garp stripped off his Marine coat and loosened his tie. He blinked, patting the den-den shell he could feel in his breast pocket.

"Should I tell them where I'm going?" he asked himself. A moment passed. "Nah. It doesn't matter that much."

Nodding to himself at that flawless logic, he tossed his snail onto his coat and, after taking a deep breath, dove into the ocean, completely missing the sound of his den-den starting to ring with a peculiar Badup! ...Badup!

Sanji was just beginning to black out when the trio of mermaids that had abducted him pushed him out of the water, throwing the pirate onto the sand at the feet of another fishman. The mermaids that had brought him waved, accepting thanks from the fishman, before diving back into the surf and swimming away.

"My mellorines, wait!" Sanji cried, water still caught in his lungs making the words gurgle. It was too late, though, the women already long gone.

"Sorry about that," the fishman apologized, bending down to help Sanji to his feet. The cook tried to shake himself off, wiping his sad tears as best he could with his soaked sleeve, before taking in the sight of whomever the beauties had led him to, lighting a new cigarette as he did.

The man stood as tall of Sanji, though it should have been taller given his slouch. His skin was a shade of blue and his black hair spiked upward. He was dressed in a cream-colored shirt with the Crimin brand logo and brown slacks, the former contrasting against his skin, helping the tattooed 8 on his neck show. The man grinned, showing off his mouth of sharp teeth.

"And you are?" Sanji questioned.

"Sorry, I suppose you wouldn't know me," the fishman commented, holding out one hand. "I'm Namur, captain of the Whitebeard Eighth Division, though a lot of people around here seem to call me Boss. I've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Sanji asked, accepting the handshake.

"Specifically, I've been waiting for Luffy, but you're a member of his crew, right? It's about time you all came through. Captain's been getting really excited about forming an official alliance with you all."

"Wait, you said you're a Whitebeard Pirate?" Sanji blinked. "But I thought Whitebeard died two years ago. In the war."

"He did, exactly the way Pops wanted to go out," Namur nodded. "I meant Captain Moby Dick, the Klabautermann of our flagship. He revealed himself during the war and Pops named him his successor. Since then, we Whitebeards have been trying to maintain our peace in the New World while waiting for the ones everyone believes in."

"I'm confused," the chef admitted, taking a seat on a nearby rock. "We've each been training on our own for two years, so a lot of us don't know what's been going on. At least, I don't. I didn't get much free time in... Hell." He shivered, every horrible memory passing through his mind at the same time.

"Then I guess I'll need to explain the situation in the New World," the fishman said. "Well first of all, Fishman Island is under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates, which is why I'm here. It's an unfortunate necessity to keep rival pirates from causing havoc, but when the King and his sons are trying to fulfill the late queen's wish of being recognized as an official nation to the World Government, a Yonko's protection is a detriment."

"I can see why," Sanji agreed. With how hard it was to get to Fishman Island, keeping a Marine base here would be incredibly difficult, even if it would probably catch plenty of pirates and improve relations with their fellow sentient race. Based on all the racism and the money there is in the trade of Merfolk, the government probably doesn't want to include Fishman Island despite their attempts. "What does that have to do with us, though?"

"Luffy didn't tell you?" Namur blinked. "He made a lot of allies with his stunt in the war including all of the Whitebeards, Moby Dick, and Queen Ivankov of the Revolutionaries, but he made a lot of enemies, too. Big Mom has made several attempts at claiming Fishman Island in an attempt to waylay your crew. Everyone's watching you. Waiting for you."

"Knowing Luffy, if he knows -which I bet he doesn't- he wouldn't think that's important."

"Yeah, well, Big Mom isn't the only person in the New World looking for a chance to get their claws into your crew. The Marines have moved their headquarters into the New World and are regularly sending out their Admirals to carve out their own territory. On top of that, Warlords like Doflamingo expressed interest in your captain during the war, too."

Sanji almost lost his cigarette at that information, but managed to catch himself. The crew knew there were going to be fights with big names when they got back together, they just didn't know exactly which names they would be.

"Speaking of," Namur continued, reaching behind him. He pulled out an orange hat with a pair of blue buttons on it. "I believe this belongs to your crew."

"I..." Sanji paused, studying the hat. He recognized it from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it. "Does it?"

"I delivered this hat to Luffy a few years ago," Namur explained before tilting his head. "...Someone told me to get it to him. It's important to him. Belonged to his brother, you know. I was told that Ace's last words to Luffy promised that he'd come back somehow. Personally, I don't think it works that way, but they hoped that giving Luffy this would help him emotionally, or something."

"Who told you to do that?"

"I... don't remember," the fishman confessed slowly. "Maybe it was a call from Ivankov to Captain Moby? Long story short, this hat belongs to your captain now."

"Fine, I guess I'll get it to him," Sanji said, taking the hat from his fellow pirate. "I don't know where the others are, though. I was out of sorts when I left our ship and dropped my den-den mushi."

"That's fine," Namur responded, pulling out a snail of his own. "I've got the Ryugu Palace on quick call. They wanted a meeting with you all anyway, so we can meet with them there." Nodding, Namur quickly input the number and the snail started ringing.

The snail kept ringing.

"That's odd," the fishman muttered.

"What?"

"They usually answer by now." The snail kept ringing. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Just then, a horn followed by a horrible, ear-piercing screech covered the island, forcing Namur and Sanji to cover their ears. The sound lasted for only a couple seconds before dwindling away.

"Check check," a deep voice called, said voice echoing over the entire island. "Am I live? Perfect. Greetings, residents of Fishman Island and all unwanted guests. Talking to you is Hody Jones, captain of the New Fishman Pirates. And by the end of the day, that will be King Hody to all of you."

"Hody Jones," Namur hissed. "Dammit. I knew I should have kept a closer eye on him!"

"Now I'm sure you all are wondering what I mean," Hody continued. "Rest assured that your beloved king and princess are not too harmed, and they will remain that way as long as I get what I want. On this island currently is a certain human crew of pirates known as the Straw Hats, the same group that destroyed the dreams of my role model, Arlong of the Sun Pirates. When all of them are at my feet, captured or dead, then I will return King Neptune and his family safely. If you fail to do so, I will kill them all and take the title by force. People of Fishman Island, you have until midnight. May the hunt begin!"

End of Chapter 8

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods