I'm incredibly happy with the response for last chapter. It was very exciting to see the first chapter in this fic that I feel legitimately made it over a hundred reviews. (Three of the others did as well, but they had literal years to do so. Last one popped that cherry in five days. Quite a difference IMO.)

Most of you loved it, and I'm glad about that. Reactions to our first new crew member were pretty positive. Glad you liked our little Miss Valentine.

If you guys have enjoyed my One Piece fics, check out my latest story The Emerald Phoenix. It is a My Hero Academia for those who enjoy that show. And if you haven't seen it, go watch it. it's probably the best show I've seen in years. You can also keep an eye out for a foray into Type Moon – specifically Fate Stay Night and/or Fate Grand Order.

ALSO: IMPORTANT! Last time I claimed this chapter was already written when I posted the previous one, and that was not a lie. Why then did it take so bloody long for me to post this one? Simple! The earliest chapters of this fic have been rewritten! While the most important of the edits came in chapter 1 (seriously, it's a big lore change for down the line) they all got a look. Part of the reason I decided to do some rewrites was that I was just too afraid early on of the dreaded butterfly of doom. Well that's sure as hell goddamn changed by now, hasn't it?

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Chapter VIII: And the Winds Build Up

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The next day, two of the three new girls of the crew were glaring blearily at Luffy and the others. Vivi and Valerie were not natural early-risers on their best days, and to top it off they were in varying states of being hungover from the party the evening before. "Damn it Luffy, can't we at least get something for this headache?!"

"Wow, you two are lightweights!" Nami was near the two exhausted girls and she was laughing her head off. She had drunk almost triple the amount Vivi and Valerie combined had and she hadn't even gotten tipsy.

Even Robin decided to get in on the early morning fun, which no one could have foreseen. "Don't be so hard on our Princess here, navigator-san, she is quite young."

"No comments from the peanut gallery!" Vivi hissed, before clapping a hand to her forehead, "Owwwowowowow."

"Someone turn off the sun." Valerie looked hilarious. She was smiling as was her norm, but in every other way, she looked like a zombie. She was swaying lightly, and her eyes were so lidded they were almost closed. If it wasn't for her parasol – which was currently being used as a cane – she probably would be on the deck right now.

"No slackers on my ship!" Luffy crossed his arms and stared them down.

"Yes, we heard." Robin said blithely, "Which is why I am here instead of enjoying a good book." Yes, there was definitely some irritation in her tone. Even after overhearing what she had, she still had no wish to get too close to the crew. That was too dangerous for someone like her. Really, the only reason she had agreed to participate was how shaken she had been by Luffy the previous day. It had been many, many years since her encounter with CP9 and she had grown leaps and bounds since then. To see how utterly outclassed she was by someone capable of using their techniques had driven a cold shudder down her spine. She had to know... did she even stand a chance against him? Or worse, those stronger than him? "So, what will we be doing today?" She paused, "Oh, and it didn't matter much last night since… well…" Everyone but her had basically either fallen asleep where they were during the party, passed out drunk, or – in Luffy and Nami's case – disappeared. "…But where does everyone normally sleep?"

Nami winced, "Ah shit, I forgot about that." She stopped and started to giggle, "Well, the boys all have one set of rooms to themselves. But the girl's room… well that's the Captain's quarters… which is mine and Luffy's bedroom." As the youngest and most impressionable of the lot, Vivi predictably went scarlet. Nami suddenly grinned evilly, "Oh well, I'm sure as hell not giving the room up. Hope you girls like voyeurism." She burst out laughing as smoke started rising off of Vivi's head. Valerie also started blushing lightly, though she also had a decidedly Sanji-like sparkle in her eye. Then she started giggling, her earlier zombie-like state evidently forgotten. 'Time for the killing blow.' Nami thought before pasting a leer on her face, "Who knows, if we like you enough maybe you'll get to have some fun too."

"NAMI!" Vivi shrieked, covering her face with her hands. Though for some reason, she was peaking from between her fingers.

Nami started cackling, and even Robin got some genuine amusement out of the little byplay if her giggles were any indication. "Fufufufu, perhaps our Princess likes that idea." She surprised herself when she added to the teasing. 'Oh dear, is it healthy for her to be turning purple?' The thought brought her some more amusement, "Still, I suppose we should end the comedy theater. What about my first question?"

Luffy was grinning as he watched their byplay, but the question from Robin brought them down to earth again. Though it looked like Vivi would take a few minutes to cool down completely, "Well, first we're going to see how well you fight and what moves you already know."

Usopp cut him off, "I'll also be interviewing you all." He said firmly, though he ruined his cool pose by sweating slightly as the three girls turned to look at him.

"Basically, we want to see where you're strong and where you're weak. That way we can figure out which techniques to teach you." Nami said, expanding on what Luffy had said as if Usopp hadn't spoken.

Now that caught her attention, "What kind of techniques are we talking about?" Vivi asked attentively. She still looked a little tomato-like from Nami's teasing, but at least she had forgotten about her hangover, "Are you talking about the disappearing trick?" She had an excited gleam in her eyes.

Even Robin couldn't quite muster up her usual indifferent attitude to the idea. 'Oh, what delicious irony it would be, to have one of the World Government's most hated criminals using their own techniques against them.'

"We'll teach you that if you wish of course, but we're going to prioritize the ones we think would fit you best first." Nami replied firmly, speaking for the crew, and in particular Luffy with the ease of experience.

"In Vivi and Valerie's cases, that's pretty much going to be a given." Zoro threw over his shoulder nonchalantly. They turned their heads, and of the three new girls Vivi was the only one able to contain her surprise.

"Those weights are half the size of your body!" Valerie yelled in shock and regretted it when her head thrummed painfully.

"Yeah, just a quick warm-up." Zoro shrugged before continuing his one-armed curls, completely misunderstanding her meaning.

Vivi giggled, "Did I not mention that Mr. Bushido and Luffy both put the cook to shame?"

"Why am I just 'the cook,' Vivi-swaaaaan~" Sanji cried out, tears pouring from his eyes as if coming from a faucet.

"He's right Vivi. You missed 'shitty love' in that description." Zoro smirked as the insult immediately fired up Sanji.

"What did you call me you moss-covered boulder?" Sanji almost seemed to be engulfed in flames.

"You want to go, Dartbrow?!"

"Enough! You two can have your date later!" Nami yelled, which got looks of disgust from both as well as betrayal from Sanji.

"Nami-swaaan~" Sanji went back to crying, "How could you make such false accusations against your dashing knight?"

"My 'dashing knight' doesn't have blonde hair." Her deadpanned riposte violently stabbed Sanji in the chest and he promptly crumbled to pieces. Valerie and Vivi were hanging off one another as they laughed, and even Robin was giggling behind her hand. "Anyway!" Nami went on cheerfully, "Let's get this party started! Since Longnose-kun here wants to 'interview' you-" She shot Usopp a somewhat irritated look, "Let's get his test out of the way first!" Her grin turned just a tad vicious, "Hope your reflexes are good!"

"What exactly are we going to be doi-" Valerie had to shut up as Usopp's slingshot seemed to appear in his hand out of nowhere. A dark shadow appeared on her forehead, "Oh you've got to be kiddi- AIIEEEE" An instant later Valerie dove out of the way of a Namari Boshi. Usopp blurred from sight – not vanished like Luffy or even Nami. He clearly still had the most amount of work to do amongst the veterans – and ended up behind them.

She reacted as quickly as she could, but the former Miss Valentine was still the first to take a hit. "Kya!" She cried out as a smaller pellet smacked her right shoulder while she was turning to dodge the shot to her back. At the same time, he had also shot four pellets at Vivi and Robin. The shots passed where Valentine's head had been moments ago, before passing by both Vivi and Robin, who dodged near effortlessly.

And from there, the differences between the three girls swiftly became obvious.

Valerie was the slowest of the lot. She'd spent so long using her Devil Fruit and her partner Mr. Five to do most of the heavy lifting that she wasn't the best fighter herself. She could follow Usopp's relatively slow speed visually but couldn't quite react to the pellets being fired as often. She dodged some but took the most hits of the three.

Robin was calm and collected. She didn't waste energy throwing herself out of the path of the pellets like Valerie, who quickly tired herself out. She moved quickly and surely, evading with the smallest movements possible. She also tried to keep Usopp in her sights as much as possible. But when Usopp tricked her with a flashbang, she took a few hits herself, much to her irritation. She immediately set to cheating a little bit and had formed an eye on the mast to watch her back for her, yet Usopp's eagle eyes saw something up there and he shot straight for it. That forced Robin to abandon her plan, lest she end up in some real pain. She took less hits than Valerie by a mile, but still took hits.

Vivi was the most surprising, at least to the other two newcomers. She very clearly was not as capable or as comfortable in combat as Robin was, yet she seemed to have an almost preternatural sense for when she was about to be hit. That was what caught Luffy's eye the most in the exercise. Despite Robin keeping better track of Usopp, Vivi was hit the least of all of them. Even Vivi herself seemed surprised at the fact that she was doing so well. As if she wasn't even consciously doing it.

After a few moments more, Luffy yelled out, "That's good! You can stop now, Usopp." The longnose in question skid to a halt and started panting, buckets of sweat dripping off him. Robin was breathing a little harder, but Vivi was panting with her hands on her knees and Valerie simply fell down and started rubbing the places she had been hit. "Good job girls! That was awesome! Shishishishi!"

"A little warning would have been nice!" Valerie yelled, her face transforming like she had taken a page from Nami's book.

"Oi, oi, you can't be tired already? We're just getting started." Nami giggled as Luffy stepped forth.

"What now, Luffy?" Vivi asked curiously, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she got her breath back under control.

"Shishishi…" He laughed in anticipation, "Now… you fight me."

"Eep!" The bluenette squeaked in no small amount of fear, while the other two looked on in varying degrees of wariness, "Can we not and say we did?"

Luffy turned to Valerie, "Val, did you go all out over in Sake Summit or were you hiding your skills?"

Valerie winced, "Sorry Captain, but that was all I had." She bowed her head dejectedly.

"Okie-dokie. You can go talk to Usopp first then." He said with a grin, "I already have some ideas for you, so don't worry." She nodded, somewhat ashamed but also somewhat relieved.

With that, Luffy turned back to Vivi grinning cheerfully, "Okay Vivi, you're first! Go all out. Hold nothing back." The grin vanished as he went on, "If you want to be strong enough to protect your nakama and your country, you need resolve. I saw you never tried to hit Nami during your spar. You better not try that here. This is so we can all grow stronger."

"Luffy…" She mumbled in shock, "I…" She bowed her head, "I've just never liked hurting people." She thought of Crocodile for a moment and her visage turned ugly for a split second, "Well, I've never liked hurting someone who didn't deserve it." She amended after that moment's pause, with a rueful look appearing on her face.

"Then how do you know you won't hesitate when he time comes?" Zoro called down to her and she froze, "You need resolve to fight for your beliefs Vivi!"

"Mr. Bushido! I have resolve!" She protested, "I infiltrated Baroque Works when I was fourteen!"

Zoro had been sitting on one of the ledges doing one-armed swings with one of his weights. As he responded, his voice never wavered despite continuing with his exercises, "Was that resolve or desperation?" The question pierced her but Zoro went on unfeelingly, "You need strength to back up your beliefs, and you need belief to back up your strength! One without the other is just hot air." He said seriously as he put down his weights down, before smirking and drawing Kitetsu, "You going to let that bastard Shichibukai walk all over your country? Do you have that resolve, Princess? Like we all do?" He threw Kitetsu up like he had in Ippon Matsu's shop back in Loguetown and stuck out his arm. Vivi and Valerie gasped in horror. Even Robin was looking on, wide-eyed in shock.

The vicious blade was spinning like a buzz-saw as it come right back down straight towards Zoro's outstretched arm, "Mr. Bushido! Your arm will get cut off!"

"Then that's all my dream was worth." His eyes never left Vivi's as Kitetsu once again avoided his arm and sank into the flooring beside him. "I WILL BE THE WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSMAN!" He yelled out, and it made Vivi jump. "So, Princess?" He was grinning much like Luffy usually did as he easily pulled Kitetsu from the floorboards and sheathed it, "You going to save your country?"

Valerie sank to her knees in shock as Robin took a step back, 'These people…' Robin thought shakily, 'Their convictions! Who are they?' She licked her dry lips as her own dream rose to the forefront of her mind… as well as memories of a man she sometimes wished she could forget. 'There is nothing more ridiculous than being born in this world to be alone... Someday you will meet brave friends who will protect you…' The old words she could never forget as hard as she tried rang in her head. Once more, she clenched a fist and banished them from her mind.

Vivi too stared at Zoro in awe, before turning to Luffy and the others. None of the crew had reacted in the slightest to his possibly career-ending actions. She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, before swallowing heavily. A small bead of sweat ran down her face, her skin suddenly feeling cold and clammy. She drew a shuddering breath before she seemed to firm herself, her eyes snapping open. She stood back up and reached for her belt, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Luffy." Her belt came off and gleamed in the sunlight. They were made of the same sharp jewels her normal weapons were made of, though it was clearly longer. It was almost like a bladed whip, rather than the short twirlers she used before.

Luffy smirked back and drew his pipe. He bent his knees slightly, and the second Vivi whipped the jewel slasher forward, he was off like a shot. He easily evaded the initial thrust of the weapon but had to abort his attack as she whipped her arm to the side and it came back, violently slashing where his head used to be. He closed with her, and it became clear that she didn't have much in the way of close range offense. From the moment he closed with her, she lost the ability to attack in any meaningful way. He went through a complicated maneuver with his pipe, aiming everywhere from her head to her legs. Vivi simply dodged them all, trying to get away from him but failing.

So, he increased his speed and kept attacking, trying to find the point where her agility too would fail. A panicked roundhouse kick to his side didn't even slow him down. On a run of the mill Baroque Works member, that would have caused a fair bit of damage. To someone like Luffy? It didn't even tickle.

Instead, he trapped her leg with one arm and hooked her other leg with the hooked end of his pipe. He pulled, and she fell to the deck with a groan. A second later Luffy's pipe spun in his hand before he lightly rested the end on her chin.

He then became aware of Sanji's incensed yelling and upon turning to look, saw the blonde held captive by Zoro, Nami, and surprisingly Valerie. The other blonde was sitting on his mid back while laughing, increasing her weight slowly all the while as Zoro held him in an ankle lock. Nami merely had her foot on his upper back, pressing him down.

"Not this again, Sanji!" Luffy said, rolling his eyes.

"I couldn't do anything." Vivi sniffed, fighting back her tears. "H-how am I supposed to save my county if I'm so weak!"

"Vivi." Nami said gently as she walked over, "There isn't a person on this ship that can touch Luffy when he's going all out. Even Zoro can barely make him sweat. You're not weak. He's just a monster." She finished dryly, "Besides, that was a one-sided matchup for more than one reason. You had no close-range attacks and definitely weren't fast enough to get back to mid-range, which made Luffy one of the worst possible opponents for you." She playfully ruffled the Princess's hair, "Don't worry. That's what we're going to try to fix, remember?"

The bluenette sniffed again, "Thanks Nami…" She mumbled, still dejected but not near tears anymore.

"Then I suppose it is our turn to dance, Captain-san?" Robin's easygoing smile made a return. In fact, it looked positively saccharine, which was rather disturbing to the watchers.

Luffy smiled back as Vivi and Nami cleared the deck. "Don't hold back, Robin. Use that power of yours. I've already seen it, so you don't have to hide it." He brought his pipe in front of him, ready to go.

"Seis Fleur!" Robin commanded as she crossed her arms in front of her bountiful chest, and the rest of the crew's eyes widened as six arms popped out of Luffy's torso. Two of them grabbed his arms by the wrists, two of them grabbed the pipe, and the last two grabbed under his armpits and jerked backwards. The pipe got loose because of both his surprise and her great skill, and the arms twirled once and smashed him right across the face with his own weapon. His head jerked back, and he even took a step back from the impact.

"Holy shit!" Usopp had his jaw on the ground, "She hit him! And she hit him good too!" The rest of the crew nodded, staring in shock

Luffy's hat was shadowing his face as he stayed still, like a statue. Then he lowered his head and stared back at Robin, a positively blinding grin on his face. Then with a growl of strain, he broke free of her limbs. They vanished in a shower of pink flower petals and Robin hissed in pain as the damage transferred, "So, you get hurt if those arms get hurt huh?"

At that, Robin swallowed as he let the pipe clatter on the floor, taking a step forward. She immediately attacked once more, taking it to the next level this time, "Ochenta Fleur!" The eighty arms she spawned melded into just four immense limbs, "Cuatro Manos!" They each latched on to one of Luffy's limbs and started trying to contort his body, even break his joints perhaps. "Clutch!"

Yet no matter how much she strained, even with the strength of eighty arms, she could no longer get Luffy to budge. After a brief second, he broke free again and disappeared. Robin had no time to attempt a counter before his shin thudded into her left side. She crumbled to the floor with a gasp of pain before rolling away and back to her feet. "P-Pierna Fleur!"

This forced Luffy to abort his charge to block a foot aiming for his jaw by crossing his arms. Another pair of legs appeared to either side and landed heavy hits into his sides.

Even as she groaned and put a hand on her injured side, she had to duck out of the way of a Soru-assisted punch as he again simply ignored the hits. She created four arms that latched onto his ankles and hurriedly moved away, but Luffy broke free easily and used Soru again. As she got to the center of the deck, she turned and began another attack, "Cien Fleur! Campo de Flores!" A hundred arms rose up around her. A group of six arms working in tandem managed to slow Luffy down enough for a dozen arms to latch on to him.

But he merely flexed his strength once more and powered through them. Luffy then completely invalidated her attempts to slow him down by leaping into the air with a shout of, "Kamisori!" Literally bouncing off the air and staying well out of range of her regular-sized arms, Luffy closed the distance.

"Deiz Fleur!" Robin yelled, and two more arms appeared out of her right side, giving her three. Another eight formed into two large legs. They lashed out, desperately trying to knock Luffy's block off. But Luffy was relentless and merely knocked the big limbs out of the way. As the petals rose into the sky between them and vanished, Robin did something she hadn't tried in a long time. She just straight out punched him. One fist landed in his cheek, while the two others thudded into his chest and stomach.

For a moment, she thought she might have given him a little pause. And then a fist landed in her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She collapsed bonelessly to her knees, bending over and gasping for breath. She coughed roughly while clutching her belly. She was absently aware of him rubbing her back comfortingly, and she broke into hoarse laughter, both amused at his sudden solicitude and by her own lack of strength in comparison to this man who she had thought merely another big-mouthed rookie. "I couldn't…" She gasped out, "Do a damn thing…"

"Are you kidding me Robin?!" Nami was beside them with her eyes sparkling, "That was amazing! Not even Zoro ever gives him as good a fight as you just did!"

"I caught him by surprise." She shook her head, "After that one hit, the spar was entirely in his favor."

"You hit him more than once." Nami responded flatly, "If you had been able to follow him or if you were stronger physically, I'm sure that would have been a lot more even. Especially with your ability to bind him." This of course didn't mean much given Luffy was a Logia type. That something she wanted to keep secret for now since Luffy himself didn't appear to be advertising it, but it was still an amazing achievement.

"You're tough." Luffy was grinning madly as he helped her up, "That kick wasn't a light one. It was about what I would use on Sanji. And you got right back up and kept trying! You're awesome!"

At that, Robin smiled lightly at his honest praise and enthusiasm, "Ara, thank you, Captain-san."

"LUFFY YOU BASTARD!" The blonde in question finally made his opinions known, "HOW DARE YOU HURT A DELICATE FLOWER LIKE ROBIN-CHWAN!" Sanji's foot shot Luffy across the deck.

Nami twitched, "Oh Sanji-kuuuun?"

"Hai, Nami-swaaaan~" Sanji replied automatically, twirling in her direction.

"GO COOL YOUR HEAD!" She swung her staff and knocked him clean off of Merry.

Robin allowed herself a chuckle as Luffy hopped back up from where he had crashed into the far end of the ship, calm as you please. "Is it always this lively?"

"Pretty much." Nami deadpanned, "What's the name of your Devil Fruit by the way?"

"I ate the Hana Hana no mi." Robin replied with another smile, "As you saw, I can sprout body parts from any surface." Her smile became a little strained, "Until today, I never believed a foe could overwhelm me through simple speed or strength."

"That's awesome! It seems like an incredibly useful power!" She stuck her tongue out teasingly, "If I didn't love swimming so much, I'd be a little jealous." That got a chuckle out of the older woman. Nami then clapped her hands with a smile, "Well, time to let Usopp have his fun 'interrogating you.'" She used air quotes.

A few minutes later – having finished getting the backstory Valerie had given them back on Whiskey Peak as well as speaking to Vivi – Usopp had Robin sitting in the hot chair, as it were. Usopp had somehow found a pair of glasses and a fake, long, white beard. Which he was running through his fingers in a stereotypical pose, "So, what's your story?"

Robin had to hold back a giggle, "Well, I was an archeologist by the time I was eight. I come from a family of them, you see." She was resting her cheek on her palm.

"Wow!" Usopp couldn't quite contain his shock, "An accredited archaeologist by the time you were eight? You must have been a genius!"

"Fufufu, I simply had a lot of time on my hands and a great amount of interest. Anyone can accomplish something like that if they give it their all." She smiled at him, "But then I had a bounty put on my head, so I hid from the government for twenty years. And no child can live alone on the seas."

Nearby, Vivi was biting her lip angrily, 'What in the world FOR? What could an eight-year-old possibly have done to deserve that?'

"I joined various gangs and learned how to blend in. I became quite skilled at operating from the shadows and gathering information. On top of that, I became quite adept at dodging unsavory types and avoiding the wrong kind of attention." She smiled brightly, "You have no need to worry, Longnose-kun. I'll be a great asset to the crew."

Her tone was so saccharine Luffy was even wondering if he could find a way to eat it. Everyone else was just watching this, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"You're pretty confident, aren't you?" Usopp eyed her seriously, "What's your specialty?"

Robin's smile widened as he got to what she had been waiting for, "Assassination." Amusement bubbled in her as the boy started freaking out and she started to giggle.

"Attention!" Usopp yelled into his megaphone, "Luffy, I have concluded that this woman is too dangerous to be allowed on the ship!" When he looked over at Luffy, he was too busy laughing his head off while getting tickled by bodiless arms. "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"

"ANYWAY" Nami and the rest had to hold back eye-rolls or giggles over Usopp's antics, "Now that we have that out of the way… I think we have a pretty good idea now of what you're all capable of. So now it's time for us to show off. These techniques are part of a style called the Rokushiki." She eyed Vivi and Valerie with a grin, "And for the record, I could not do any of this before I met Luffy and neither could Zoro. About… five months ago I think, I would have preferred to run away rather than fight any of those Baroque Works mooks. Even if it makes you feel like you're dying from training, it does work."

"That doesn't fill me with anything but apprehension." Valerie replied honestly, though from her grin she certainly wasn't showing it.

"First of the six is Soru!" Nami ignored the other girl's comment, and then vanished from sight.

"Interesting." Robin commented as she got up from her seat at Usopp's 'desk' and turned to face Nami, a little smile on her face, "I could see you."

"Yes, I'm much slower than Luffy." She was sitting on the railing, exactly where Robin had been yesterday. She paused, "Actually, we're all slower than Luffy. He's been doing this for years. We've got under half a year at best." She hopped down, "I'll also show off the next one. All three of you attack me." She commanded.

Their eyes widened, "At once? But-"

Robin backed off, "I'd like to see from afar, if it's all the same to you."

"Ehh, your choice." Nami shrugged, "The two of them will work. Do it!" She commanded, and the two girls burst into action. "Kami-E!"

What followed left both girls gasping for breath and Robin looking on in a great deal of interest, having heard of this technique but never having seen it from this close. Nami dodged every kick and punch effortlessly, as if she were a mere piece of paper floating in the wind.

"I see Vivi likes that one too." Nami said, smiling at the eager gleam in the Princess's eyes. The bluenette nodded eagerly, "We figured you would." She grinned, "But that's two of them, so I'll let someone else continue."

"I shall demonstrate the next one!" Sanji was still a wet mess from his earlier swim via Nami Air, but was eager to impress the three beauties, "Geppō!" With each little kick, there was an audible sound almost like a 'thwack' mixed with a drumbeat. With every kick, the blonde ascended higher into the sky.

"It's not really flying," Luffy chuckled at Vivi and Valerie's poleaxed expressions. Even after seeing it multiple times in the case of the Princess, it still brought out a sense of wonder, which made her already shining eyes sparkle even brighter, "But hey, it's fun like I imagine flying is!"

"I can't wait!" The bluenette was practically vibrating in excitement. She had both arms scrunched tight to her lithe body with her fists trembling in glee in front of her.

"Please watch and be amazed, my darling ladies!" Their attention was brought back to the sky.

"Sanji has just been dying to show this off." Nami laughed, "Took him a while to get it. I haven't even gotten a whisper of it yet." That admission made her frown momentarily, a little jealous that she had been at it for longer and yet he had passed her already.

"RANKYAKU!" The blonde roared, and a bright blue blade of churning wind shot from his leg. It continued downward, striking the ocean and splitting roughly three meters of water in twain for a few seconds. The waves clapped back together to fill the void and a jet of water shot up.

At this even Robin couldn't quite hold back her impressed look and the other two didn't even try. The two of them even began cheering as if they were at a play.

Finished for now, Sanji dropped down and knelt before Vivi, "Vivi-chwaaan! How was that, my darling Princess?" He held her hand like a knight, bowing dramatically before her.

At this flirtatious act, Vivi smiled wanly, somewhat uncomfortable. "It was amazing, Mr. Cook."

"What about the last two?" Valerie was quite curious about these six powers and didn't want to get derailed again.

"Guess you're up, Zoro." Nami commented while pointing at him.

"Ehh, you do it." He shot back lazily, laying back with his arms behind his head.

"I can't do it!" She retorted hotly, "I'm a delicate flower, don't you know?"

He rolled his eyes, "You should learn it, witch. You need to be able to take a hit more than anything else now." All the same, he got up and jumped down to the deck.

"I'll think about it." She responded flatly, despite having little intention of doing so. The only thing that could change her mind was that cool body manipulation technique she saw Luffy use the previous day.

"Right. Luffy, hit me twice as hard as you hit Robin." Robin's eyes widened as Luffy shrugged. He walked up and kicked Zoro square in the chest. As the kick approached, Zoro tensed and his muscles seemed to bulge a little bit. The green-haired man slid back three feet but was otherwise unharmed. "Tekkai." Zoro let out a breath, "Allows you to harden your muscles into iron." He brushed the loose bits of dirt from Luffy's sandal off his shirt. "You can take much harder hits than you normally would, though your range of movement becomes severely limited while using the technique."

At this point the gleam in Vivi's eyes transferred to Robin, increasing in intensity as the technique was explained.

"So, that's all of them!" Nami said cheerfully, "Any favorites, girls?"

"A moment, Navigator-san." Robin interjected, "How can it be called the 'Rokushiki' with only five techniques?"

"That's because Luffy has never shown us the sixth." Zoro responded flatly, "Told us he doesn't like using it."

They all turned to Luffy, who merely stared back with his arms crossed. They had a staring contest for a few seconds, before he huffed, "Fine… but only because it would be crazy strong with Robin's powers." He walked away and came back a few minutes later with a large metal plate roughly two inches thick. And he carried it as easily as he would carry a piece of paper.

"Luffy, you're not going to destroy that are you? We got it in case we needed to fix the mast." Nami smiled sweetly at him, but there was a hint of warning in her tone too.

"Not destroy it, no." Luffy smirked back, "Watch closely because I really hate this technique." He placed it against the railing and everyone stared eagerly, "Shigan!" He said clearly and loudly. He pointed his index finger and jabbed it straight through the dense steel. He pulled it out, revealing a perfectly circular hole in the metal.

"The Poke of DOOM!" Usopp cried, looking terrified.

Sanji and Zoro groaned, realizing immediately that it wouldn't be something either of them would ever use, though for different reasons. Nami cringed and started spewing crocodile tears. Luffy had shown off a technique back on Whiskey Peak that would enable her to eat like Alvida and never gain a pound! It was bad enough that she would have to learn Tekkaito learn it, but it was also locked behind a door like that?! Tekkai looked fun in comparison to Shigan! The world was so unfair!

Robin understood immediately. Her imagination kicked into overdrive, turning into a thought bubble above her head of a chibi enemy conveniently dressed like Sir Crocodile. Then it popped, and Crocodile had six arms sticking out of him, before all six jabbed him with their fingers. And then it popped into Crocodile on the floor with 'x' marks over his eyes.

After a moment, her thoughts cleared, and she stared at Luffy, 'Would he really teach me this? Is he that naïve? I was an enemy not even a full day ago!' She bit her lip lightly, 'Or is he really just this sincere in making sure we're all as strong as we can be?'

Luffy cut across her thoughts, "Right, enough of that." He pouted, "I hate that damn move. I sprained or broke my fingers SO many times learning it!" He whined like a little kid.

At that, Vivi, Valerie, and Nami all cringed.

"So, here's what I'm thinking…" Luffy grinned and faced Valerie, "Val will be great with Soru especially, but Tekkai would probably be important too. And while she had the parasol to 'fly' we should still teach her Geppō. It's great for rapid changes in direction while in the air."

Valerie nodded eagerly to the first, but voiced confusion to the latter, "Why Tekkai?"

"Imagine that you use your fruit to make yourself super-light and charge someone super-fast with Soru. And then, right before you hit them, you use Tekkai and change to max weight!" Luffy replied, grinning madly.

Now she caught on and had stars in her eyes. She started to laugh evilly, "KyahahaHAHAHAHA!" Let it be known that her evil laughter was a hundred percent adorable.

"Anyway, your last move… will be Shigan!" Luffy declared.

"No way!" She went from cackling to shaking her head furiously while making an 'x' with her arms, "I'm not breaking my fingers! I'm a cook remember! How am I supposed to make you yummy desserts Luffy?" She gave him the dreaded puppy dog eyes.

"Shishishi! Don't worry Val. I have a plan. Do you like that parasol a lot?" He pointed towards it questioningly.

"Eh? This?" She raised it up, "I mean I like it of course, but it's just a normal parasol. I've broken dozens just like them before on missions. It's not a weapon or anything."

Luffy continued grinning, "Not yet it isn't. Usopp can fix that pretty quickly." He grabbed his pipe, "Shigan: Yari!" It shot forward like a spear, again piercing through the steel. "Shishishi, I see you like that one. I tried cheating and made that technique up to get out of learning the normal Shigan. Grandpa praised me for being creative, then whacked me a couple times and told me to get back to work." He hung his head, "Stupid Shigan."

"Wow!" She exclaimed, grinning again while the other were laughing in amusement over Luffy's Garp-shaped struggles. But soon, Valerie's smile turned into a frown, "Won't this thing be too flimsy though?"

"That's where I come in!" Usopp crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to look manly, looking over her head with his chin sticking out. "I'll have a brand-new parasol ready for you asap!"

"Make sure there are lemons on it then, Longnose-kun! Kyahaha!" She laughed like a kid in a candy store.

"As for general training…" Luffy smirked evilly at her, "Weights. Lots and lots of weights! You're going to need to build up a lot of power for these moves." A light bulb appeared over his head and brightened, "Oh, can you affect other things with your powers? And can you do individual limbs?"

A lone rain cloud appeared right over her head and started pouring rain on her at the thought of weight-training. After a moment of whimpering, she mumbled thoughtfully, "You know, I've never actually tried."

'And that's why you were so weak, before now.' Robin smiled thinly. 'You never really thought beyond the most straightforward ways of using your powers.' She then spoke aloud, "That's not good Miss Valentine. You should always know the limits of your powers."

Valerie rubbed her head sheepishly, "I guess I just never figured I could be a real front-line fighter. Jokes on me I guess. I could have been much stronger apparently. Kyahaha!"

"Shishishi!" The laughing duo brought sweatdrops to the rest, "Anyway, Vivi. You're obviously going to focus on Soru and Kami-E to start. We'll add Geppō too since you liked it so much." The girl nodded eagerly at that and he went on frowning. "As for actual fighting I'm not too sure yet. You'll definitely be sparring a lot with me and Sanji-"

This caused the blonde to start protesting immediately, but Luffy talked over the cook. "He'll teach you some of his kicks. You look like you'd be better off with a leg-based style. That way you can also keep using those whip thingies for now."

"When do we start?" Vivi asked excitedly. Flying had always been one of her dreams. She loved it when Pell – one of the Royal Guardsmen – took her flying using his Tori Tori no mi: Model Falcon as a child.

She was… conveniently allowing herself to forget what getting to that point would involve.

Something which Robin noticed, causing her to smile in amusement before she looked at Luffy quizzically. "And me, Captain-san?"

"Tekkai and Shigan." Luffy replied simply, "You're already tough as hell and have an awesome fruit power. That just means we have to keep making you tougher and stronger. We'll add Soru too since it's so useful. Other than that, you're going to focus heavily on improving your Devil Fruit. If a hundred is currently as many arms as you can go, by the time we kick Crocodile's ass I want to see two hundred. We also have to get you used to fighting people who are stronger and faster than you're used to being able to handle."

'Perhaps this won't be such a bad idea after all.' Robin mused, a much more natural smile than any she'd displayed in years on her face, 'Even when this inevitably sours, and I have to leave, I'll be a little more capable than I was before.' She bit back a chuckle, 'And at least I won't be bored. Their antics are fun.' With that she nodded and asked simply, "Shall we get started?"

Later that night, even she cursed herself for asking that question.

-]|[-

"Hey Nami, do you think it's going to snow again?" Luffy asked, smiling over his shoulder from his special seat at Merry's figurehead. "We never got to finish our snowball fight!"

"Kyahaha, how can he go from super serious and strong to such a little kid?" Valerie was giggling her head off, "Still, a snowball fight? It's been years since I've gotten to play in the snow. Sounds like fun."

Vivi hid a smile, "That's Luffy for you. As for snow… I never saw any until I joined Baroque Works. I think the last time it snowed in Alabasta, even my Grandpa hadn't been born yet. It's so beautiful, isn't it?" She turned and answered Luffy directly, "And probably not, Luffy. While the weather is crazy all throughout the Grand Line, it's especially crazy before hitting the first island. All of the different magnetic fields in such close proximity causes a huge mess with the weather patterns."

Robin took a sip of the drink Sanji handed her while twirling between the girls, "It's beautiful right up until you're the one cleaning it up." She said dryly, "One of the islands I stayed at for a long time had practically nothing but snow. Trust me… it got boring before long."

Valerie and Vivi especially were both still wary around the black-haired beauty but allowed themselves to make small talk over the past few days. If nothing else, their shared misery (read: training (read: torture)) started a bond between the three.

Nami grinned and slung her arms around Vivi and Valerie, taking the opportunity to sip from their drinks and ignoring their indignant shouts. She smiled brightly and giggled, "Don't your cares just melt away on a ship like this?"

'Yes…' Robin privately agreed. It made her uncomfortable. For so long, she had been utterly alone in the world. Her paranoia combined with sheer luck was really the only thing that had saved her life on far too many occasions. And yet, after only a few days on the ship, she was alarmed to find herself looking over her own shoulder a little less.

For the first time in a long time, she felt – if not happy – then at least content. For the first time in a long time, she was starting to fear the other shoe dropping. She was starting to dread the day when her life would return to nothing but monotony and chasing dead leads.

Both of the other girls let out content sighs of their own as a warm breeze brushed them, "It's funny to think that when I first met him, I threatened to drown Luffy." As the others looked at her in shock, Nami giggled sheepishly, "Especially since he's been the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Even Robin looked at her wide-eyed at that, "Whatever for?"

A melancholic smile crossed the mikan-haired girl's lips, "An old nightmare…" She said softly, still hanging off the other two, "I hated Pirates with the burning passion of a thousand suns for almost my entire life." She closed her eyes as her hair blew gently, "I must have robbed half the scum in East Blue. Even left some of the weaker scum trussed up with pretty little bows for the Marines after I got through with them." She started to giggle self-consciously, "And then one day, this little idiot drops into my getaway dinghy after smashing a five million Beli head and roars to the sky that he's going to be the Pirate King." She started laughing outright, "And then he claims he's going to recruit the Scourge of Pirates, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro himself."

"Kyahaha!" Valerie laughed, "And now not only are you both on his crew, but you're his woman too. How cute."

"Yep!" Nami confirmed cheerfully, seeing no point denying it. Indeed, she was rather proud of that fact.

She was about to go on and start teasing the lightly-blushing Vivi some more when Luffy's voice broke through the cheer, "Whoa! A dolphin!" They all turned to the breeching animal with calm (or in some cases; faux-calm) looks on their faces. "Hiiiii dolphin!" He waved at it.

"IT'S HUGE!" Usopp cried out, as the mammoth animal went right over Merry and back into the water. It had been at least ten times the size of their ship.

"No, come back dolphin!" Luffy cried out, before slumping over.

-]|[-

Nami lined up the Log Pose with her eye, "Yep, that's the next island alright." She lowered her arm, "Anyone know anything about this, what did you call it again Robin?"

"Little Garden." Robin answered calmly, "And what I know is that most crews that enter this place never make it out."

This caused the rest of the crew to sweatdrop. None of them knew how she made such an ominous statement sound so cheerful, or why she would in the first place.

"So, it's a mystery island!" Luffy grinned as they got closer, "I smell an adventure!"

Robin chuckled, "I figured you would say something like that."

"Why in the world is this place called Little Garden?" Vivi wondered out loud, "Look at this place. It's an overgrown jungle! There's nothing little here!" Indeed, they could hear the sounds of wildlife all around them and as they drew closer, they began to see that the trees were all giants, dwarfing the ship's masts.

"You're right! Everything is gigantic! And I've never seen plants like these in any book before!" Nami exclaimed, eying a really strange-looking shrub.

"We'll have to stock up on provisions before we leave." Sanji said, taking a drag of his smoke, "Why did we leave Whiskey Peak before doing that? It's not like we were in any danger." He said flatly.

CAW

Valerie cringed alongside Vivi, while Nami merely flinched, "What the hell was that?!"

"Just a bird." Sanji said, eyeing the girls with a disturbingly loving look on his face, "Valerie-chwan and Vivi-chwan are so cute when they're scared."

"That doesn't look like a bird." Luffy said, "It looks like a lizard with feathers."

BOOOOOOOOM

At that, even Nami and Robin couldn't hold back a flinch, even if only for the sound, "Was that a volcano? What kind of island is this?"

"It's an island untouched by time." Robin replied softly, "A prehistoric island."

"Prehistoric?" Usopp frowned, then his eyes widened in recognition of the term, "You mean DINOSAURS!?" He brought out his megaphone and started speaking into it, "Attention please! May I have your attention please! This island is too dangerous to land on. Please keep all limbs inside the ship as we turn-"

"CAN YOU STOPP POINTING THAT AT MY EAR!" Zoro knocked the tanned boy across the ship.

Luffy started to vibrate in utter glee as he ignored his crewmate's antics, "SANJI! I NEED A PIRATE LUNCH BOX!"

Note: A Pirate lunch box is a vegetable-free boxed lunch for quick energy.

"AD-VEN-TURE! AD-VEN-TURE!" He started chanting.

"Okay, okay, keep your hat on." Sanji rolled his eyes as he walked into the kitchen.

"Luffy! This island is too scary!" Usopp got in his Captain's face, "Look at that giant tiger!" He pointed at the majestic beast…who then flopped right over, dead. "WHAT THE HELL DID THAT TO THE KING OF THE JUNGLE?!"

"Ehh, I saw bigger back home." Luffy picked his nose.

'He's hopeless!' Usopp began to cry.

"Nami, want to come?" Luffy grinned at the orangette.

"Why not?" She sighed, then smiled at her man, "Not like there's anything we can't handle, right Captain?"

"I think I'll come too. Carue can keep us safe." Vivi smiled as she hopped onto Carue, who was suddenly scared quackless, "If I just sit around I'll probably do nothing but brood. This should keep us busy while the Log Pose sets."

'Should I tell them?' Robin said nothing as she wondered about that, 'Even if I have the Eternal Pose to Alabasta with me, I doubt Luffy will care.' Yes, letting him have his fun before dropping the bombshell and the solution on them would probably be best, if she read his personality right. 'I wonder if there are any ruins around here? I doubt it, but who knows?' She stretched lightly, pushing her chest out – she was suddenly quite thankful that the chef was gone for the moment – and feeling a small, delightful little pop in her back, "I believe I'll do some exploring on my own. An island this ancient… hopefully there will be some secrets to uncover."

"Ah right, the archeologist thing." Valerie and Usopp put their fists into their open palms as one group charged straight into the jungle along the river while Robin went into the trees.

"Well, I'm not going to lay here and wait." Zoro cracked his neck and followed the others off the ship, "I'm going for a walk."

"Wait a minute Zoro!" Sanji yelled, making him stop, "We're definitely going to run out of food at this rate. If you run into anything that looks edible, bring it back."

"Sure thing." Zoro waved carelessly over his shoulder, "I'll bag something you could never kill."

"Hold on a minute!" Sanji's foot stomped onto Merry's railing. "Thems fighting words. You think you can bag a bigger beast than I can?"

Zoro stood there with his hands in his pockets, giving Sanji a superior smirk, "Of course."

"A challenge then!" Sanji snarled, "Let's see who can hunt the biggest and tastiest thing on the island."

"And then there were two." Valerie chuckled while Usopp cried. "Well, the sun is shining pretty brightly. I think I'm going to just relax here on the deck for now."

"How can you be so calm!" Usopp roared at her with shark teeth.

"Kyahaha! I may be nothing when facing Luffy or the other monsters, but I was still an Officer Agent. I can handle this!" She said confidently, "And if I can't, I have you to leave behind as bait. Kyahahaha!"

"VALERIE!" Usopp's roar overwhelmed her laughter. She still giggled on, before a tick mark popped up on Usopp's head, "Maybe I should have you train instead!"

Valerie flinched at the dreaded word, her muscles immediately screaming at her, but she refused to back down. "It was just a joke! You want to go, Longnose?" Lightning shot between their eyes.

-]|[-

"Wow, an armored squid!" Luffy picked up the animal to admire it.

"It's an Omanyte!" Vivi exclaimed excitedly.

"No, no, not lord helix. It's an ammonite." Nami corrected the both of them. There went that wall. Suddenly, Carue's frantic quacking and snot-nosed-brat-look drew their attention. "…" Nami deadpanned, "That's a dinosaur." She said flatly.

"Robin was right!" Vivi exclaimed, "How is it possible for an island this untouched by time to exist?! Even here on the Grand Line, that's completely crazy!" She whispered to herself, wide-eyed, "I know several islands are incredibly ahead of their time and others are stuck in the stone age… but these died out eons ago!"

"He's climbing it." Nami giggled as Vivi started turning blue, her monologue interrupted, while Nami watched her man in amusement, "Of course he's climbing it." She yelled up at him, "How's the view, Luffy?"

"This island is awesome!" Luffy shouted down at them, "There are gigantic caves and even volcanoes!"

"Be careful Luffy! It may look gentle right now but it's still a dinosaur!" Vivi yelled at him.

Nami on the other hand just kept giggling, "Let Luffy have his fun, princess. The sooner it's out of his system the sooner we can go back to exploring."

"It's fine. He just wants to eat trees." Luffy cackled excitedly, "Probably doesn't even know I'm here."

They all failed to notice the growing tick mark on the Titanosaur's head from all the yelling. That was, until the dinosaur flicked its head up and flipped Luffy into the sky before swallowing him whole.

"Luffy!" Vivi and Nami screamed.

A moment passed. And then the sauropod's head separated from its body from within, bright blue blades of wind slashing outward. The head slid off and revealed a hole and gore spewing forth, from which Luffy sprang out of, somehow not looking very dirty at all. "Meany!" He pouted outrageously.

Below, the two girls and the duck let out sighs of relief. Those sighs turned into gasps of shock as Luffy landed in an absolutely gigantic palm. Luffy looked excitedly up at the giant, "Gegyagyagyagya! What a funny human! I've never seen a little guy like you take down one of them so quickly!"

The giant had a long, dark beard that reached his navel. He wore a war helmet, slacks and combat boots with an armored belly warmer in the same vein as the one Zoro wore. He had a blue cape on, which made Luffy want one himself. Over his shoulder was a massive longsword with a straight blade that completely dwarfed Merry.

"You're huge!" Luffy yelled in glee, "Are you a human?! Want to join my crew?!"

Nami and Vivi unconsciously facepalmed without even realizing it. Vivi was then forced to comfort Carue, who collapsed and started foaming at the mouth.

"Gegyagyagyagya! I'm Dorry! The greatest warrior to ever come from Elbaf!" The giant roared, "You're all invited to my home! I haven't had a guest in ages! Let's have a feast, shall we?!"

-]|[-

"So… got any sake? Can you hear me, little guys?"

"Well little miss Officer Agent?" Usopp snarled at her, "Do something!"

The equally-terrified Valerie nodded in determination, a steely look in her eyes, "Yep! We have a few barrels left!"

"THAT'S IT?! What about all that big talk?!" Usopp snarled at her, his tongue flapping out of his mouth while his eyes popped out.

"Gabababababa! You little humans are funny!" The giant fat man laughed. He had a long, blonde beard shaped like an axe's blade and was dressed in overalls and various leather armor pieces, complete with a cape. He wore a red, horned helmet on his head and a wide, dumb grin on his lips. "GababaARGH!"

Valerie and Usopp practically had their souls escape their bodies as the giant suddenly screamed like a little girl. They looked around and saw a freaking T-REX biting the giant's ass! The giant turned his head, his eyes shadowed, and stared darkly at the suddenly-sweating dinosaur.

And then in a movement they almost couldn't follow, he whipped around, and his equally massive axe took the beast's head clean off. "WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Valerie and Usopp started to scream in terror.

The giant turned back – thinking they were battle cries – and grinned before letting out one of his own, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He raised his axe in triumph, "Behold, THE MIGHTIEST WARRIOR IN ALL OF ELBAF! BROGY!" His voice thundered through the jungle. He hefted his attacker's decapitated head in his other hand, "We have plenty of meat and you guys have grog!" Brogy grinned, "Let's have ourselves a feast! Gabababababa!"

-]|[-

"And, finished!" Brogy grinned, "Help yourselves, guys!" He hefted a massive leg and bit right into it.

"I'm not hungry." Usopp lied, thinking that the giant was just trying to fatten him up after eyeing the skulls and other human bones around the place.

Despite her fear of the same, Valerie smacked him on the head, "Don't waste food. Sanji would kick your ass. After I got through doing it too." She hesitantly cut a large piece off and put it on a plate she had procured from… somewhere.

"Oh right, you're a chef too." Usopp mumbled, before doing the same. 'Please don't be a cannibal. Please don't be a cannibal. Please don't be a cannibal.'

"Wow, this is great!" They both exclaimed after the first bite, "Luffy would love this!"

"Gabababababa!" Brogy started to laugh again, "Yeah, this meat is second only to Calm Belt Sea Kings. There was a reason my friend and I chose this island."

"Luffy was talking about those! Are Calm Belt Sea Kings really that delicious? He was sobbing when we ran away instead of trying to catch one." Usopp blurted, slowly becoming more comfortable despite himself.

"Yes, they're the greatest." Brogy had a far-away look in his eye, "Oh, what I wouldn't do for one of those. It's been so long…" He had a wistful look for a bare moment, before it vanished, "They practically melt in your mouth even when prepared by a mediocre chef."

Valerie finished chewing the piece she had in her mouth and swallowed, "Your friend? Is there another giant from Elbaf here?" She paused, "How long have you been here?" She asked curiously.

"That's right!" Brogy shook himself and let out a grin, "As for how long we've been here…" He paused for a moment, which came out as being for dramatic effect even if it wasn't his goal. Usopp and Valerie leaned forward as he went on, his grin widening if that was possible. "It's been one hundred years."

-]|[-

"It's so goooooood!" Even Nami and Vivi – who were not nearly the connoisseurs of meat that Luffy was – had happy tears leaking from their eyes as they ate the Titanosaur. For his part, Luffy was practically insensate from meat overload.

"We're NOT leaving this island without at least three dinosaurs!" Luffy declared like he was giving out a commandment from god. "Say, Dorry, do you guys have one of those Eternal Pose thingies to Little Garden? I want to come back to hunt dinosaurs every once in a while!"

Nami and Vivi did not sweatdrop for the sole reason that they were completely expecting it. Dorry laughed again, "I'm afraid not, little guy." He held up his hand, "This Pirate lunchbox of yours was pretty good too."

"Of course, it is!" Luffy laughed, "My chef made that lunch. If you said it was bad, I'd have to kick your ass. Shishishi!"

"Kick my ass, you say?" Nami and Vivi twitched at the jolly giant's dark tone. The he immediately ruined it by laughing, "What a funny human! Gegyagyagyagya!"

"They're like old friends already. What is he, a magnet?" Vivi sweat-dropped, a weak chuckle escaping her, "

Nami leapt on the opportunity like a lioness after a gazelle, "Ohohoho! A magnet? Are you saying you're feeling some attraction, Vivi-hime?" She teased, while hugging the girl from behind, her grin that of the Cheshire cat.

"N-Nami!" Vivi yelped in shock, red dusting her cheeks at both the suggestion and the feel of the other girl's bust pressed into her back. She then burst out in unwilling shrieks of laughter as she started getting tickled. "Nooo! Nami! Stooop! Ahahaha!"

Luffy snickered as the two girls started a tickle fight, "Anyway Dorry, are you here by yourself? Why aren't you in this Elbaf place?"

Dorry chuckled, a wide grin on his face, "Ahhh, home. It's been so long." His grin widened, "I wonder if any of them remember us?" That put all attention on him, the two girls stopping their fun, moving apart as Dorry went on. "Elbaf is deep in the Grand Line… past the Red Line in fact." He leaned forward, "See, on Elbaf there is a certain custom that must be followed. When there is a dispute between two giants and neither side will give any ground, we leave it to our God to decide who is right. The two will be locked in righteous combat until one side is declared the victor!"

His serious face cracked into another grin as he burst out laughing once more. "But we've already been at this for a hundred years! And nothing has been settled!"

"A HUNDRED YEARS?!" Vivi blurted in shock, "But why?!"

"Gegyagyagyagya! A hundred years is nothing to us." Dorry revealed, "Our lifespans are three times longer than you pipsqueaks."

"But what's the point after such a long time! Do you really want to kill each other that much?!" Vivi really couldn't help herself at this point. The idea of fighting someone that long was simply horrifying to the gentle princess. "What was the dispute about! What kind of hatred keeps you hacking away at each other for a century?!"

"Hatred?!" Dorry blinked at her, "I don't hate him at all. He's my greatest friend."

Vivi slumped to her knees, utterly stunned at that revelation, causing Nami to place a hand on her shoulder. "I don't really get it myself, Vivi." She admitted, "Too macho for me." She then ruined her attempt at commiseration by giggling as she hooked a thumb in Luffy and Dorry's direction, "But this is who they are."

"That's right." Luffy nodded, a grin matching Dorry's on his face, "It's not about hate or anything stupid like that at all. It's about honor."

"You got it, little guy!" Dorry laughed, before looking up as the center volcano on the island erupted, "That's my cue. I guess I better get going."

Luffy grabbed the two girls and leapt up into the trees, following the giant after he picked up his blade and slung it over his shoulder and moved off, "Miss Vivi… the reason for our dispute… IS LONG FORGOTTEN!" The equally massive shadow of Brogy appeared in their sights. The two of them met with a clash that blew the palm leaves off of several trees in the vicinity!

"Don't you long for home, Dorry?!" Brogy roared as he deflected a slash with his shield, kicking his friend in the chest.

"All the more reason to defeat you, my friend!" Dorry merely took a single step back from the impact. He parried the axe with his own shield and spun, looking to take Brogy's head off with what amounted to a bladed spinning back fist.

Brogy ducked under the swipe and jumped back. As Dorry found his footing once more, he leapt into the air with his axe raised over his head. Dorry leapt back as Brogy slammed it into the dirt, a massive scar opening up in the very earth. Dorry jabbed his sword forward, impaling the rock cliff behind Brogy and causing it to shatter, the pieces sliding to either side.

Brogy swiped out with one-armed blow and a massive clang rang through the air as Dorry deflected the blow with his helmet.

Meanwhile, Usopp was still at Brogy's home staring at the fight. His entire body was trembling. In terror. In awe. In exhilaration. In every emotion he could think of. "A-amazing! The smallest blunder could mean death!"

Valerie had tear tracks running down her face, "'I'm an officer agent. I can handle whatever is on this island.' Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut?"

Usopp swallowed, "This… this is the greatest fight I've ever seen." He admitted. Not even any of Luffy's exploits could match this. Not when Luffy so outmatched even the toughest of his prior opponents. An evenly matched fight like this… this was it. This is what he so dearly wished for.

Valerie paused in her self-absorption for a moment and silently watched along with him, "This fight is crazy… They've been at this for a hundred years? How have they possibly kept going for so long?"

"That doesn't matter to them!" Usopp declared, "This is a true battle between men! It's as if each of them planted a flag on their chests, and defeat means it falling! And neither of them will ever let that flag fall! They refuse to allow it! That flag means more to them than their very lives!"

Valerie didn't really understand any of that herself, much like the other girls on the crew. But clearly, Usopp was getting fired up. This was the most excited she'd seen him in the week she'd been with her crew.

Indeed, Usopp wasn't moving a muscle, "This is it… this is what I always dreamed of being! A proud warrior! A man of honor like them!"

Now that Valerie understood. From the short time she'd known him, Usopp had come across as a coward with big dreams. And he put in the work. He worked far harder than any of the others, in her opinion. Nothing but pure will kept him upright during their spars and their workouts. Even when he faltered, he still persevered. But his mindset… that wasn't something hard work could change in a day. He was self-depreciative to an extreme, not seeing any improvement because the others around him had equal or greater growth rates and because of his own cowardly streak.

Of course, he would see something like this as proof positive that his dream was an actual possibility.

Still, she couldn't pass up a chance to mess with him, "So you want to be a giant?"

The slinky tongue made a comeback, "DID YOU LISTEN TO A THING I SAID?!"

"Kyahaha!" Valerie laughed and laughed. And yet when he declared his desire to see Elbaf a second later, she could only smile. 'Good on you, Longnose.'

The fight was winding down to a close as both Dorry and Brogy lost their primary weapons. The final climactic clash ended with their bucklers smashed into each other's faces. "73,466 battles…" They both collapsed to the ground, which quaked slightly around them, "73,466 draws…"

"Shishishi! That was awesome!" Luffy made himself known, landing with Nami and a blushing Vivi in his arms beside them, "You guys are strong! I want to spar with you too!"

"Of course, he does." Nami and Vivi both said, deadpan, before looking at one another and laughing.

"Oh, you must be little Longnose's Captain." Brogy grinned at him as they sat up, "A spar eh?"

"Do you guys ever take a break?" Vivi asked curiously, "Who knows, maybe you're so used to each other and how you each fight that you'll never break the stalemate."

"Another hundred years on this rock?" Dorry started to chuckle, "Well, wouldn't that be awful. I've been salivating for a Sea King for decades."

"I can't recall us taking a break since we decided to use the middle volcano as our signal." Brogy admitted.

"Brogy here has the better memory, so if he doesn't remember us doing it then we probably haven't." Dorry grinned, "Though seeing as even he can't remember why our fight started, maybe that's wrong too. Gegyagyagyagya!"

Luffy grinned, "Why don't we have a giant party then? I'll go gather the rest of the crew-"

"Won't that mean we have to find Mr. Cook and Mr. Bushido?" Vivi asked, "They were having their hunting contest, weren't they?"

The two giants had sat up, and now both of their heads quirked, "Hunting contest…" They looked at one another, before grinning as that sparked their memory.

"Not to mention Robin. With those two meatheads we can at least follow any noise. Who knows where she went." Nami added, though she wasn't sure if Vivi hadn't missed Robin's name on purpose. While Vivi had forgiven Valerie mostly after seeing how Mr. 5 had been willing to kill her to get at Luffy, she still didn't trust Robin.

"Oiii!" They turned as Usopp and Valerie arrived, "That was amazing, Master Brogy!"

"Master?" The other Straw Hats mumbled in confusion.

"Kyahaha, looks like these two inspired him. He wants to go to Elbaf now." Valerie informed the others.

Luffy grinned, "Should be fun. Make a note of it, Nami."

She rolled her eyes but complied.

Vivi giggled, "Anyway, Mr. Dorry, Mr. Brogy… will you guys be willing to have that truce for the party?"

"Sure!" Dorry grinned, before laughing, "Especially since you pipsqueaks actually reminded us about what our fight started from!"

"Gabababababa!" Brogy laughed in tune with his friend, "It was a hunting contest, just like your crewmates!" At that Vivi, Valerie, and Nami all deadpanned while Brogy went on, pointing behind him at the massive caves. "Those are their skulls!"

Everyone's eyes but Luffy's bugged out. The other's eyes were now like long little cones, pointing directly at the giants, "EHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"Awesome!" Luffy crowed in exhilaration, "You guys are awesome! You sure you don't want to join my crew?"

"They wouldn't even fit on the ship!" Nami, Vivi, and Valerie yelled at him, eyes white with their shark teeth in full display. The giants could only laugh in response.

"Anyway, Luffy, hold your hand out." Valerie told him with a giggle.

"Ehh, why?" Luffy blinked at her.

"Just do it!" Once Luffy had done so, she plopped down on his hand as if it were a stool. Nami and Vivi eyed her a bit flatly, wondering why she had just planted her bum on Luffy's hand. She grinned and jabbed her finger at the sky, "Pull!"

Luffy started to laugh as he realized what she wanted. He wound up, and then tossed her like a spear straight into the sky. Her light weight actually was giving her more height than she wanted, so she increased it to slow down. Right at the apex of her flight, she opened her parasol while going to minimum weight. She twirled around in the sky, looking for her crewmates. A massive tree falling in the distance followed by three others behind her told her where Zoro was. On the other side of the island, she saw Sanji jump above the trees and kick a Pterodactyl right out of the sky. She shouted out as much to those down below.

Vivi giggled, "Wow, that power is even more useful than we thought. She's great at recon."

Nami nodded, "I'll go grab Zoro. Knowing him he'd get lost without someone holding his hand."

Vivi and Valerie – when she landed again – looked quizzical, "What do you mean?"

Nami grinned and leaned forward conspiratorially, "He set out to find a certain man, and never could find his way home after that. One time he even booked passage to his home island and ended up somewhere entirely different. That was the whole reason he ended up doing bounty hunting!"

"Kyahaha! That's so precious!" Valerie was now having trouble containing her mirth, and Vivi showed how she was quickly growing to like the former Baroque Works agent by using her to lean on as she laughed.

Usopp started to grin as well, one finger rising to the side of his long nose conspiratorially, "Hey, remember when Zoro did the sword throwing thing? What if the sword cut his sense of direction instead of his arm?" At this, everyone fell over and started howling in laughter.

-]|[-

In contrast to the two boys, Robin proved herself easily the most difficult to find. Luffy had spent hours searching for her without success, which made him quite cranky when she simply showed up at Dorry's house right as they were starting to prepare for the night ahead. She eyed the two jolly giants in some surprise, though she quickly regained her look of passive amusement, "Ara? Did I miss something?"

"No, but you almost missed our banquet." Nami put a tankard into Robin's hands, "Still, you showed up in the end which is perfect! Let's party!"

"Robin-chwaaaan!" Sanji pirouetted in front of her, "May I interest you in this little appetizer while we wait?" They were simple – though also beautiful, befitting Sanji's artistry – sandwiches. They were even her favorite kind of bread.

Robin smiled genuinely, "Thank you, Chef-san. They look delicious." She took one and bit into it, "Amazing as always." As Sanji was off in his own little world, she brushed past him and gained a look of bewilderment over Luffy seemingly glowering at her. "Hmm? Is something the matter, Captain-san?"

"We searched for you for like four hours! We thought you were going to miss the party!" Luffy pointed at her angrily, "We even found Zoro AND somehow managed to get him here before you!"

Robin smiled lightly and held back a giggle, "Oh, is there something wrong with swordsman-san?"

"Let's put it like this…" Nami said dryly, "Even with me telling him exactly where to go, he somehow managed to end up on the other side of the volcano. We had to find him two more times before we got him here!"

At that, everyone started to laugh at the directionally-challenged swordsman, even Robin.

"Shut up!" Zoro seethed, "Don't make me cut you, woman!"

Nami pulled her eyelid down and stuck out her tongue, "Maybe we should have you navigate instead. We'd probably find One Piece by accident!" Once more, everyone but Zoro burst out laughing. The giants practically caused earthquakes in their mirth.

Even Robin couldn't contain her mirth for long, though she gave Luffy a rueful look, "To be honest, I would have been better off just staying with you instead. This island is completely untouched by man. There wasn't a single ruin to explore." She wasn't quite pouting at that, but with her it was probably the best they were going to get, "It was a total waste of time. I would have preferred to see swordsman-san get lost." The rest of the crew once again began laughing, much to Zoro's frustration. He did not have a poor sense of direction, damn it!

The lead-up into the festivities had only one minor snag, which came when Vivi remembered something she wanted to ask Dorry, "Mr. Dorry, how long does the Log Pose take to set?"

"Hmm?" Dorry turned to her, "Oh, just one full year."

"EHHHHHHHH?!" Even Luffy stared at him with his mouth hanging open, his eyes popping out of his head and pointing at the giants.

"Gabababababa! You guys better get comfortable here!" Brogy laughed at their panic, "Or maybe try to find an unbroken Log Pose that has already reset."

Dorry laughed himself, "You can always try picking a direction and sailing away! Who knows, your luck may be good! Gegyagyagyagya!"

"There's no need!" Robin's smile was serene as she held up an Eternal Pose with the word ALABASTA written on it.

"Did you have that the entire time?!" Vivi yelled angrily, "Why did you wait until now to show us?!"

"Of course, I did. How else was I supposed to find my way back, Princess?" Her voice playful in the face of Vivi's anger, she continued, "As for why I waited to show you…" She pointed at Luffy, "Do you think this guy would have cared about that if I had just said so right off the bat?"

Luffy picked his nose in amusement, "Nah, I probably would have crushed it. Only I choose our route. I'm not looking for a boring adventure!" He grinned, "Besides, we wouldn't have met Dorry and Brogy if we took it! Shishishishi!"

Vivi deflated and watched as Robin carefully handed it over to Nami, who cradled it protectively. "Thanks, Robin. That was a good call." Vivi looked rather displeased at having to offer Robin praise.

"Not a problem." Robin smiled pleasantly back at the younger girl. She turned to Dorry and Brogy, looking at them with some renewed surprise, "You're the Red and Blue Ogres. You both disappeared without a trace over a hundred years ago."

Dorry grinned, "Well now, aren't you the informed one. Yeah, that's us!" He chuckled down at her.

Robin had a genuine smile on her face as she stared at the two ancient giants. The things they must have seen in their lives… She was staring at living legends. "How come you both are here? I had long believed the both of you to be dead." Luffy quickly caught her up on their duel and how long it had been going on. "My word, a hundred years of fighting? You both are certainly… robust." She chuckled, "I've always been fascinated by history and other cultures. Have your people never been allowed to declare a tie? After all, if your duels normally last days at best and you've been here for a hundred years, perhaps it means your God has blessed the both of you, no?"

Dorry and Brogy looked dumb, as if the thought had never occurred to either of them, "Huh… now that you mention it…" Dorry mumbled, running his fingers down his long beard.

"The longest duel ever recorded still only lasted about a week." Brogy scratched the back of his head in befuddlement. "As far as I know, anyway. It has been a hundred years."

Vivi smiled at the possibility Robin had just created, even if unintentionally. Her happiness crashed and burned as Dorry spoke up again with a shrug, "Well, even if that's the case, it isn't up to us to decide. Someone closer to Elbaf's God would have to declare our Divine Battle ended. We can't make that decision ourselves. And of course, our Den Den Mushi have long since left us, so we have no way to contact home. Gegyagyagyagya!"

"But hey!" Brogy spoke up through his own chuckles, "If you guys ever make it to Elbaf and tell our story, you can always shoot us a message! Gabababababa"

"We'll do it!" Usopp sprung to his feet, "We'll sail all the way to Elbaf and let them know you're still alive and battling for your honor, master Dorry and master Brogy!" Usopp looked as fired up as Sanji sometimes did when thinking of the ladies.

"Shishishishi, sounds like fun!" Luffy declared with a gleeful grin, "I bet Elbaf is going to be a blast!"

Robin was also smiling, but now did what she did best; gather information, "You both sailed over a hundred years ago and lived even longer than that. Did you ever come across any ruins on your travels? I am an archaeologist you see. I separated from the crew to see if I could find any here." She carefully regulated her voice, making sure she did not appear too interested.

Dorry frowned, "Well, we did come across one or two ruins during our travels. But in those cases, they were real ruins. As in, they had already been plundered or destroyed."

"I see…" Robin tried not to be too disappointed, "And how about any relics from the past?"

Brogy looked at her a little shrewdly, "You wouldn't happen to be talking about the Poneglyphs, would you?"

Robin kept herself from reacting with the ease of years of practice. Inwardly she was a different story entirely, with excitement welling up within her. Unbeknownst to her, Vivi's eyes had widened the second the word was spoken, before she carefully regulated her features, "They do interest me, yes. Such fascinating objects. I've heard they are indestructible." She kept her tone light, not at all allowing her eagerness to show on her face.

"We did come across one, yes." Dorry confirmed, "And I can confirm it is as indestructible as you've heard. One of our crew members tripped and smasher face-first into it when he saw it. Gegyagyagyagya!" He started to roar with laughter, "And with his hard head, there's no way that thing should have survived! Damn near split his skull open right through his helmet!"

"Course, we couldn't read the damn things." Brogy shrugged, "So we have no idea what was on it or even if it remains where we found it. Dorry and I could lift it, so it probably isn't there anymore."

Robin held back a sigh. One step forward, two steps back. Still, this was more than she'd heard about any other Ponegyphs in years, barring the one in Alabasta. "All the same, may I know where it was found?"

Brogy shrugged, "Sure. It was in an archipelago in the New World." He saw all of their confused looks, and suddenly chuckled, "Right, right, you guys are mostly new to the Grand Line. Even back then, people who crossed to the other side of the Red Line claimed it to be a whole new world. They even took to naming the first half of the Grand Line Paradise because of how much worse the weather was on the other side." More than one Straw Hat turned blue, though predictably Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro all looked to be getting fired up. Paradise? That nightmare they sailed into on the trip to Whiskey Peak was Paradise?! "Anyway, the island's name was Paradiso."

Despite making every attempt to, Robin simply could not suppress her reaction. Not hearing that name. Everyone who ever had to go on the run in the Grand Line knew there were certain places you just had to avoid. "It's not called that anymore…" She swallowed heavily. "Nowadays it goes by Whole Cake Island…"

Dorry snorted, "Who the hell renamed it to that monstrosity? Paradiso was a good name!"

"Charlotte Linlin…" Robin cursed her momentary lapse of control, knowing she'd given more away than she ever wished to, "One of the Yonkō… Big Mom."

"Who the hell are the Yonkō?" Brogy asked her. They had long since lost contact with the outside world. Linlin hadn't even been born yet when they began their duel. They would have been more than just furious if they knew who Linlin was and what she'd done.

It was Luffy who answered, "The four strongest pirates in the sea." He was grinning at the thought, "All four of them are so strong even the Marines won't go after them without some serious backup."

"Huh? How about that?" Dorry started to chuckle, "Wonder how we'd stack up against them? How big are their bounties? They must be bigger than ours, huh Brogy? We never had that kind of response."

"Probably. How big are they then? Three hundred million? Four?"

"Fufufufu!" Robin started to laugh. Clearly these giants had never heard of inflation, "At the current value of Beli, I'd say you two would be worth about that much if you were discovered to be alive. Captain-san here is worth fifty. You need to start thinking Billions just to start."

Brogy and Dorry both looked like snot-nosed brats at the thought. When they shook themselves, they grinned at each other, "Huh… I'm feeling a bit fired up. What a fight that would be!" The two began to laugh merrily, joined by Luffy and Zoro especially. The womenfolk just rolled their eyes. Men. "Anyway, this bonfire isn't going to light itself and we need more food! Let's go guys!" Most of the men cheered and raced and set to their tasks with a gusto.

Vivi kept eyeing Robin when she wasn't looking, debating on confronting her. Robin had indeed given away more than she wished to. She was fairly certain now that Robin was much more interested in the Poneglyphs than she was trying to let on. She was sounding far too shaken for someone with only a cursory interest in them. No, she sounded like someone who had been gifted something she wanted but told she'd have to walk over a volcano to get it. She had to use all of the acting skills she had developed over the past few years to keep her features schooled. The Princess now suspected she may have figured out what Robin's goal in Baroque Works was. And it wasn't quite that thought which worried her, but the thought of just what it meant for Crocodile's plans. She was quite glad that the former Miss Valentine offered a distraction which took the issue out of mind entirely. She wasn't sure she would have been able to keep her feelings hidden otherwise.

As the ladies sat down to have drinks, Valentine asked something which had been on her mind for a couple days, ever since their discussion on the Going Merry. "Nami, you never explained why you hated Pirates. What happened to make you want to drown Luffy after just meeting him?"

Robin started to pay closer attention. This was likely to be a heavier topic and she could learn more about her temporary crew.

She watched as Nami sighed, before downing her drink in a few gulps – whereas she had been sipping at it slowly before then – and grabbing one more from the bin Sanji had left them. "Well, you already heard from Luffy about what happened to his brother. Truth be told, even I don't know the full story there. I know about as much as you do, actually. He rarely talks about it." She sighed and looked to the sky, which was painted a gorgeous magenta as the sun slowly dipped lower towards the horizon. "But the truth is, as far as I know, none of us had a great childhood."

"What happened?" Vivi placed her hand on her friend's hand, drawing a smile from the mikan-haired young woman.

"Well you can ask the rest of them yourselves. They're not my stories to tell." Nami said calmly, taking another large sip, "As for me, I never knew my parents. My sister and I weren't related by blood, nor were we related to our mother." Robin let a little bit of surprise show on her face, having not expected that. She had at least known her mother, even if they spent so little time together that they may as well have been strangers once she had left on her journey. "She found the both of us on a battlefield. I was just a baby at the time. She hung up her Marine coat to raise us. She loved us and encouraged us to follow our dreams. She encouraged my love of the ocean and navigation and stoked my passions for drawing maps." She smiled a little bitterly, "It was because of her that I dreamed that I would one day map the entire world."

A little smile appeared on the younger ladies' faces, though not on Robin's. The more mature woman had the sinking feeling she knew where this story was going. Still, it was interesting to hear from the woman herself that she dreamt of mapping the world. She doubted the World Government would be happy with her for it, "We were poor. Bell-mère often ate only her tangerines so that Nojiko and me would have enough to eat." And now the smiles on their faces vanished. "I was such a brat. I often got in trouble for stealing things because I knew we didn't have any money. I always got hand-me-downs, after all. I knew I was adopted it. She never hid it from us. I never understood her because of it, thinking she thought of us as hassles. That if we weren't around she'd be able to afford stuff for herself." Vivi's jaw was lowering and Valentine and Robin were looking at her with varying degrees of reproach, "We had an argument one day, and I ran away after saying some nasty things." Nami had no more tears left to cry. All that remained was bitterness as she thought of those days, "I've never regretted anything as much as I regretted that day. I had rushed home to apologize later on… but they arrived."

Both of the younger ladies around her flinched back, while Robin narrowed her eyes. The sheer amount of vitriol in the Navigator's voice almost felt like a physical slap to their faces, "The Arlong Pirates. Xenophobic Fishmen from the Grand Line. They were strong enough that they could throw giant boulders around, and Arlong himself could lift an entire house and sink ships single-handedly. They set up shop in the Conomi Islands and demanded a monthly sum of 100,000 Beli in exchange for keeping our heads. 50,000 for children."

"WHAT?!" Vivi and Valentine shrieked in outrage, while Robin did nothing more than clench her jaw. "How cruel can someone be?! How DARE he!" Vivi was nearly breathing fire. She looked like an angry dragon.

Nami snorted humorlessly, "Yeah. And of course, the first payment was due that day. Bell-mere's life savings amounted to 100,000." Even Robin couldn't quite contain her inhalation of horror. Nami closed her eyes, "They didn't know about us. She could have saved herself and kept us hidden until we could escape. But she wasn't like that. She would never deny being our mother. She gave Arlong the money and told him it was for us." Her eyes snapped open, "Her last words before he shot her between the eyes was that she loved us."

Vivi looked like she was actually going to have a stroke. Nami hadn't thought such a look of hate could ever appear on the gentle girl's face. Valentine wasn't much better, "I'm sorry I asked, Nami." She hugged the other woman, and Nami patted her on the back. Even Robin put a hand on her shoulder, her face like ice.

"It's alright." Nami said wanly, "You guys were bound to find out eventually. Might as well be from the horse's mouth, ne?" She chugged the rest of her drink once Valerie let her go and grabbed yet another. "But even that wasn't the end of the story." She turned and spat on the dirt, "One of the bastards found my maps, and Arlong decided he liked them."

"Oh no!" Vivi was a good listener. She clapped her hands to her mouth in horror.

"Yeah, he decided he loved them. He grabbed me and tattooed his hideous Jolly Roger onto my arm. Then he chained me to a desk and told me to draw until my fingers fell off." With every word, a dark rage fell down her features, "He forced me to draw and draw until I hated my dream. Hated my skills. Hated myself."

At this, even Robin couldn't contain her anger. How could she? It was practically like looking into a lighter, twisted mirror of her own past. She contained her growing anger to the clenching of one fist.

Nami continued softly, "I tried to kill him dozens of times. Poison, knives, the works. It just amused him. Eventually he struck a deal with me. He'd set us all free if I gave him a lump sum of a hundred million Beli. Keep in mind I was nine when this all started." Valentine's drink went down the wrong tube and she started to choke. "I agreed. What else could I do? I pretended to be his friend, and the rest of my town in turn pretended to hate me, attempting to keep the pressure off my shoulders. Nojiko sang like a canary to them about the deal the first time I left home, and I never knew. I set out and for eight years, I slaved away. I robbed Pirates. Looked around for treasure. Turned in weak bounties. Fleeced rich idiots who had far more than they deserved. I did everything short of prostituting myself raising that a hundred million. Eight years and I had raised a mere eighty million."

She started to chuckle depreciatively, "And then my little idiot dropped into my dinghy." Her chuckles turned gleeful, "Within a couple months, not only did I get to watch him feed Arlong his own fucking nose-" Even kind, gentle Vivi couldn't help but allow herself to feel vindictive at that, "But he also wiped out all of the corrupt Marines Arlong had sent to steal away the money I had raised." She grinned as they again looked outraged at her tormentor's audacity, "We raided a Base as well as Arlong Park, took back every single Beli that bastard had ever extorted from anyone, and we saved my home! The three of us earned our bounties that day." She raised her glass, "Enough of that dreary shit now! We have a party to prepare for! To my idiot!" All three of the other women laughed with her as they clinked their glasses.

"Yeah!" Vivi and Valerie cheered, pumping their fists into the air. Robin merely smiled and raised her own – full once more – glass. All of them threw their heads back and downed their drinks. As they once more fell into small talk – all tapped out on the heavier topics for the day – Robin slowly returned to earth.

In spite of the shared moment of comradery, Robin couldn't help but feel even more uneasy than before. That story had more than just dredged up memories of her own past… that story had made her forget that she was supposed to be on guard. Their circumstances were different, and the younger girl hadn't been hunted the way she had, but Nami had suffered in a remarkably similar way to her own. Losing her mother… having her dream turned into a nightmare… Hating the skills she possessed… Being forced to do things she never wished to just to survive and be free…

A lighter, twisted mirror indeed. She couldn't help but empathize with the orange-haired navigator. And that worried her. Empathy was dangerous for her. She knew what inevitably would happen. The world wouldn't allow her to be happy. Yet everything on that boat seemed designed to make her want it. If any of their other stories were half as tragic as Nami's, she'd be fitting in perfectly with the rest of this band of misfits. 'Someday you will meet brave friends who will protect you…' Once more, the words rose unbidden in her mind. Only this time, she couldn't quite quash them immediately. That thought both terrified and exhilarated her in equal measures.

-]|[-

As day turned to dusk, a massive conflagration rose in the center of their celebration. The bonfire almost rose above even Dorry, the taller of the two giants. The crew was currently dancing around the fire with the giants. Even some of the dinosaurs had come out of the woodwork to join them, with the raptors proving remarkably adept dancers. Usopp had made a drum and Luffy, Dorry, and Brogy were leading off on a very off-key song they figured was called Binks' Sake from the lyrics.

Even Robin was bobbing her head, since she knew the song from long ago. Despite that, she wasn't with the main group. She was sitting on a stone somewhat far away.

At the end of the song Luffy came over and pulled her to her feet, "Come on Robin! Join the fun!"

"Huh! Ah! Captain-san!" She protested, but Luffy's grip was way too strong to break, "Captain-san! I'm on lookout!" She simply tried to make an excuse.

"Ehh, just use your powers. Shouldn't be that hard right? There's only that direction to watch out for. Nothing is going to come out of the skulls." He replied, pulling her into the mess.

"Just give up, Robin!" Nami laughed as she grabbed the dark-haired woman from Luffy, "You gave up all claims to sanity when you signed on with us."

"Evidently." Robin huffed, "I was perfectly fine on my nice, comfortable rock. We're probably being hunted by Baroque Works, you know." She chided the navigator, even as she was spun around.

"Just do what Luffy said. Your powers can do that, right?" Nami grinned, "If you can do arms and legs, there's no reason you can't do eyes and ears."

Vivi then got spun right into Robin, a bright grin on her face. Her smile dimmed as she realized who she was with. She was still worried over what she suspected after the earlier talks, and that Robin would pick up on that. She backed off and made to return to the others, and Robin suddenly felt awkward. Not only was she feeling a tiny bit claustrophobic – she had literally never let down her hair like this in all her twenty-eight years of life – but she evidently was ruining Vivi's fun as well.

"Oii, none of that!" Luffy wasn't having any of that, and now Robin and Vivi ended up as the filling of a Luffy and Nami sandwich. Robin twitched in shock.

"Wahh! Luffy!" Vivi cried out in embarrassment, temporarily forgetting her feud with Robin, feeling the body of the Pirate captain against her back.

"You're crewmates now, dummy!" Luffy chided the youngest, his arms around her. Despite themselves, the foursome danced and twirled away. Robin rolled her eyes but allowed herself to go with the flow for the moment. Evidently, she'd be having fun whether she wanted to or not. Vivi on the other hand was blushing the whole time and was quite glad for the alcohol she could use as an excuse. Their fun came to a halt when suddenly Robin stopped entirely. The whole group destabilized, and they almost tumbled over, "Ehh, Robin?"

"I'm not feeling so well." She said calmly, making up an excuse, "I'm going to go back to the ship."

Nami and Luffy let go of them, "Are you okay?" Luffy looked worried, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine." She gave them a reassuring smile, "Don't mind me. Enjoy the rest of the party." She melted into the shadows before she closed her eyes and crossed her arms. Her powers spread, and an eye appeared where she knew the ship to be.

She carefully started examining it, seeking out what she knew would be there, 'They're placed bombs on Merry.' She thought, wondering what her path should be. She had spotted Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek a second ago, which meant she needed to get out of sight before anything else. 'Now what to do?' She mused, efficiently dodging the criminal duo and moving far from them while also creating arms to toss all of the explosives on Merry overboard from over a mile away. 'Mr. 3's greatest power is his mind. Behind that, he is a coward at heart. He won't attack the crew when they're all together. Especially not with the giants there. Do I make contact?'

The duo stopped where they were, entirely unaware of the eyes and ears watching them from above. Robin continued to walk away and leaned on what she thought was a tree – due to the low light – as she watched them. What was actually a giant mushroom started shaking at her light touch, sending spores floating downward. She didn't even really notice it until what she thought was pollen started falling on her, drawing an involuntary sneeze and a cough. She gagged and pulled out a bottle of water, taking a healthy swig before moving away from the annoyance.

She focused once more, "Damn, damn!" She overheard Mr. 3 talking, "There's no way we can take them here. I don't even feel comfortable going any nearer than this with those giants there. Even if we manage to get our poison into those barrels the giants probably won't be affected enough to do more than weaken them slightly." He then snarled, "Damn that Mr. Five! Things could have gone so smoothly if that idiot hadn't gotten himself killed."

"Why not just separate them?" Miss Goldenweek asked nonchalantly. The young girl with pigtails to either side of her head didn't care about any of this and was just enjoying her lollipop at the moment.

"How? We would have had to have caught them before they grouped up. That way we could have taken them one by one. We don't have the manpower to deal with all of them. Especially with that traitorous bitch Miss Valentine there." He let out a sigh, "Even idiots like these won't let their guards down and just sleep in the middle of the jungle. We'll have to rely on the bombs."

He was quite wrong about that, from Robin's estimations. Luffy and his crew would probably happily fall asleep in the middle of the jungle without a care in the world. Not that she cared to enlighten him of course.

"Let's go, Miss Goldenweek. We need to hide. Even I feel wary about that kid in the Straw Hat. How the hell did he manage a fifty million Beli bounty in East Blue of all seas?" Mr. 3 finished, leading his younger partner off.

Robin calmly set her powers to follow them, again wondering if she should make contact with the agent. In the end, she shook her head and continued towards the ship. At this point in time, she wasn't due back in Rain Dinners for another few days. Crocodile had no idea she had betrayed him yet and it would be an awful idea to plant the thought in his head herself. Her lack of contact would destabilize things more than putting the man on edge over a potential betrayal. It may even make things easier if he was forced to dedicate manpower to finding her. If he had even an inkling that she had truly betrayed him – and she doubted he would really trust any story she could feed him. That man was almost as paranoid as she was – he would become too unpredictable for her tastes. Better to keep him guessing.

She made it back to the ship and carefully examined it for any bombs she may have missed and was glad to find none. She then made her way into the Captain's quarters and laid down on her bed, which was disconnected from the others. She closed her eyes and went into a light rest, years of training keeping it from deepening too much. If an enemy approached again, she would wake instantly.

-]|[-

"No, MINE is bigger damn it!" Zoro and Sanji were predictably in each other's faces. Zoro had bagged a giant crocodile and the cook had killed a… giant lizard-chicken? It even had feathers!

"Luffy wins." Nami taunted them as Luffy dropped his massive T-rex onto the ship. Zoro and Sanji jawdropped and choked on their words.

"Kyahaha! And it's a dinosaur too so it automatically wins on taste alone without even measuring!" Valerie got in on the action.

Both Zoro and Sanji fell to their hands and knees, "We're failures."

"Now, there is something you need to know before leaving, my young friends." Dorry interrupted them, "There is one last obstacle keeping you from the rest of your journey." The giants were standing to either side of the Going Merry, "A massive Sea King named the Island Eater prowls these waters. Its poops have been mistaken for islands themselves."

The girls all cringed at that delightful image.

"Gabababababa! We once landed on one thinking it was an island ourselves!" Brogy confirmed the disgusting tale.

"No problem!" Luffy grinned, "We're not letting some stupid fish stop us!" He held up a fist for both of the giants to pound, "Don't go killing each other! I want you on my crew some day!"

Both giants grinned massively, "Goodbye, my young friends! No matter what, sail straight ahead! We'll clear your path for you!" The ship sailed on past them and into open waters. A massive deluge of water rose up in front of them, revealing a massive goldfish!

Usopp's knees chattered, even as he frowned in thought, "A giant goldfish that shits out little islands? Where have I heard this story before?"

"It's going to swallow us! We need to turn the ship!" Even Nami's scaredy-cat side made a resurgence at the sheer size of the beast.

"Weren't the ones on the Calm Belt bigger?" Luffy asked, beginning to roll up his sleeves, "I'll kill this thing easy!"

"I'll cut it." Zoro drew a sword without hesitation.

"I'll sauté it nicely." Sanji said, lighting up a cigarette.

"Wait!" Usopp yelled, "Remember what master Dorry and master Brogy said! Sail straight ahead!"

Valerie looked up at the sky, "I'm going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots on the planet."

Dorry and Brogy were each glowing behind them, blue and red respectively. "Watching this takes me back to the old days. Its poop was so colossal we landed on one."

The ship got swallowed, all the while a sobbing Usopp yelled, "Straight ahead! Straight ahead!"

"We were already eaten dumbass!" The three girls all took turns smacking him.

"Take this!" The giants roared and swiped their weapons at the sea. The titanic goldfish blinked, before it split right in half, along with the sea and the very sky itself. "HAKOKU SOVEREIGHNTY!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Everyone but Luffy and Zoro screamed as they sped through the sky before landing on the waves below.

"We're flying!" Luffy started to cheer and clap like an excited little kid.

"They ripped it apart!" Usopp sobbed in joy, "What power! The warriors of Elbaf are too amazing!"

Back on the island, Brogy and Dorry stared at their weapons with their eyes bugging out, "MY AXE! IT BROKE!"

"MY SWORD DID TOO!" Dorry gasped, watching as the spinning blade dug a crater in the earth as it landed.

They stared dumbly at the broken weapons in their grasps, before they both burst out laughing, "I guess it had been a couple decades too late for a sharpening!" Dorry laughed as he tossed the hilt over his shoulder.

Brogy matched his throw, "Well old friend, what are we going to do now?"

The volcano erupted.

They looked back at it, before looking at each other. Blinding grins lit their faces, "Fists it is!"

The earth shook.

...

"Elbaf! Elbaf!" Luffy and Usopp hadn't stopped chanting and dancing since they had last seen their new giant friends.

"Look at them go! They're exactly like little kids! Kyahaha!" Valerie watched her morning entertainment with a giant grin. She didn't even mind being the one to make the drinks.

"You happy Vivi?" Nami grinned at the youngest member of the crew, "You get to go home soon!"

"Y-yeah…" Vivi said, a light flush on her face. Her skin was all sweaty and she looked rather pale. Perhaps most worryingly of all… her eyes were almost unfocused. "W-we can… save…" She couldn't even finish the sentence as she began swaying.

"Vivi!" Nami's eyes widened and she hurried to attend to the young girl, catching her by the waist and lowering her gently. The rest of the crew stopped all of their antics and hurried over, "Vivi are you alright?" She placed her palm on Vivi's forehead and she swore she heard some sizzling, "Vivi! You're burning up!" She turned around and screamed at the rest of them, "Hurry up and get a wet towel! We need to lower her temperature!"

"I… I'm okay." Vivi whispered, "I don't feel tired at all." The poor girl was wide awake and couldn't even feel how sick she was.

Luffy and Usopp hurried inside, with Luffy going off to the Captain's quarters to find Robin. Maybe she had some more medical knowledge? Usopp gave Vivi a cup of water to drink as Nami pressed the wet towel to her forehead. She had moved the girl into her lap.

CRASH!

All but Vivi jumped as Luffy nearly knocked the door off its hinges. "Bad news guys!" He yelled in panic. They all turned to him and saw an equally-sickly-looking Robin in his arms. The dark-haired woman was incredibly pale and though her eyes were open, there didn't appear to be anyone home, "Robin is down too!"

- ]|[-

The room was shadowed. Only the dim light of the setting sun provided any illumination. A man with slicked-back, dark-purple hair wearing luxurious clothes sat in an expensive, high-backed chair. His left arm rested on the arm-rest, though it was unusual in that it ended in a hook made of a tough, golden alloy rather than a flesh and blood hand. This was the Royal Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile. His other hand was tapping on a decadent oaken desk. The only other sound in the room was a soft "Purupurupuru." coming from his Den Den Mushi.

Finally, the person on the other end picked up and the snail warped. It grew dark hair, which styled itself into a '3.' Crocodile spoke, "Mr. 3… report. Have the Straw Hats been assassinated?" When the Unluckies had failed to report, he had phoned in to their last known location; Whiskey Peak. And much to his irritation, not a soul had answered. His irritation grew as he was even forced to experience the indignity of leaving a message for his lackeys. As hours passed, he was even tempted to travel there for the sole purpose of exterminating them himself. Then, finally, one of his underlings had called back with truly abominable news.

A Pirate crew had landed there, one from East Blue. The one that had so caught his interest as the Captain racked up a bounty only thirty-one million short of his own. The foolish idiots had attempted to capture the crew to cash in the hundred-million bounty on them. The end result was an entire cell decimated with the added misfortune of the loss of Mr. Five, whose body had been recovered. Miss Valentine had gone missing and some others such as Mr. Nine and Miss Monday had evidently gone native to top off his organization's losses. And that was without mentioning the Princess and her minder going missing.

Clearly, there would be no alliance with this crew, so the kill order had been put through. He eyed the snail, which was sweating lightly. "Well?" He asked dangerously after letting out a puff of smoke from his cigar, "Has the mission been accomplished?"

The snail swallowed heavily, "No boss, it hasn't." Crocodile's fist clenched, and he nearly bit through his cigar, "With only myself and Miss Goldenweek, I was unable to formulate a plot to take them out on Little Garden. We had intended to utilize a strategy of divide-and-conquer and pick off their members one by one. However, by the time we arrived on the island, they had not only banded together for a party of all things, but they had also joined up with two legends thought long dead! The Blue Ogre Dorry and the Red Ogre Brogy! Each of them went missing a hundred years ago with bounties of a hundred million each! With those two there and without Mr. Five, we decided to let them go for now. We have no idea if poison would have worked on those giants and even if it did, we never had the opportunity to deliver it. They never let down their guard while together and our 'bomb their ship' plan somehow failed. Not one explosive went off after they sailed away. Miss Goldenweek and I are currently tracking them. We've been following their ship for the past day or so. They were headed back to Alabasta judging from our own Eternal Pose, but they veered off course a few hours ago. We also confirmed that the Princess herself is on board with them!"

Crocodile resumed tapping on the desk, "Very well Mr. 3. Under the circumstances, I can understand your failure." The word was very much stressed, and the snail flinched, "You have ONE more chance. Kill them, or your life is forfeit. Even if the Pirate King himself comes back to life and stands in your way, I will accept no excuses. They must not arrive in Alabasta. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Zero!" The snail let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, boss!" The snail hung up and returned to normal.

Crocodile got up and glared at a much smaller, more down-to-earth table. Miss All-Sunday was late. Several hours late, as a matter of fact. He'd expected her back early in the morning. His expression darkened, "Where is that accursed woman?" A vein bulged on his head, "If one of her fancies delays the plan, I'll kill her myself!" The desk dried up in front of him before turning into dust.

-]|[-

Dun Dun Dun!

Hope you all enjoyed. This chapter was waiting quite a while for my rewrite to finish, and I'm glad I never posted it beforehand because I expanded it by round about 3k words here in the final version.

The one part of the previous chapter that had more than a cursory complaint over was Luffy… err… 'mind reading' Robin, to use some of your words. And I did understand the complaint. I knew I was being a bit ham-fisted with it, and I'm glad that it wasn't too huge of a sticking point. However, despite that, I did make some edits. Tried to make it a bit more natural, or at least give a bit more explanation to it.

Some small things to note: With Whole Cake Island not having an original name that we know of, I called it Paradiso. Seemed fairly appropriate. With that in mind, one of the Poneglyphs in Big Mom's possession was found here. Not the Road Poneglyph, one of the normal ones. It's one of the ones we saw in Mom's treasure room.

Huge shoutouts to Thanatos, Seerking, LordDraekai, and Vimesenthusiast for their help, whatever form it may have taken.

I'd also like to plug Vime's Stallion of the Line. It's one of my favorite One Piece stories, period. It IS a Ranma crossover, but you really don't need to know that series to read it. I knew barely anything about that series and I can still follow it perfectly fine. There are quite a few big risks taken in the story and I love how often the butterfly of doom shows up. Give it a shot!