~Third~

"You see anything Usopp?"Luffy asked as Usopp was in the crows nest keeping a lookout for Jaya "Nothing just the sky and the sea"Usopp said "I thought the Jaya island wasn't too far from where we were"Zoro said "It shouldn't be and with the weather so clear we should have spotted the cost line over an hour ago"Nami said "I'm gonna like Jaya if it's as warm as it is now"Luffy said laying in his favorite spot on the ships figure head.

"I'm finally getting to work on my tan, spring weathers the best, it looks like the seagulls are enjoying it too"Chopper said when suddenly the seagulls started falling down "They've been shot!"Chopper yelled "I don't think they could of been shot Chopper i didn't hear any gun fire"Usopp said.

Nicole started to grow a feeling and she didn't like it at all, a hunch, they would someone very dangerous on Jaya, "I found a bullet and judging from the trajectory it came from that way!" Chopper said pointing towards Jaya "Are you saying they were shot from an island we can't even see yet?"Nami asked walking over, Nicole frowned a bit as that feeling started to grow even more, Zoro noticed "You sense it too?"he asked "Yeah"she nodded.

~skip~

"Check it out! This town looks great!"Luffy grinned as they finally started to see Jaya "Is it just me or does this place look like a resort?"Usopp asked "It sure does"Chopper said "Hurry up and dock"Luffy said "It does look promising maybe we can even stay here for a while"Nami said "Either i'm starting to hallucinate or the harbor over there is full of pirate ships"Usopp said "Don't be silly Usopp since when can pirates dock their ships in a harbor without being run out of town"Nami said.

"That mark"Nicole muttered spotting one flag in particular, she knew the crossed out skull with a wide grin mark very well, her father had warned her many times to stay under the radar from these pirates boss, Joker.

The Strawhats docked their ship, Luffy and Zoro were the first ones to get off "Now this is my kind of town"Luffy said "We'll have no problem fitting in here"Zoro said  as the two were walking off "There's no way do you think those two could last an hour without getting into any trouble?"Nami asked "Well by the looks of this place i'd say fifteen minutes is a generous assumption"Usopp said.

"You really think so? I better save them, come on Nicole i'm gonna need you to keep me safe"Nami said jumping off, Nicole sweatdropped a bit "Fine"she grumbled following the navigator as the two caught up to Luffy and Zoro.

"I've got my tough face on so if anybody messes with me"Luffy was cut off as Nami pinched his ear "No fighting promise me"Nami said "Yeah yeah whatever i promise"Luffy said "Good this is serious business you two"Nami said "Fine"Luffy said "Great"Zoro said, Nicole sweatdropped 'They're not listening at all are they?' she thought "Gee thanks for the support"Nami said.

"Look if one of you causes trouble here we'll have to get out of this town and if that happens then we won't know how to get sky island right?"Nami asked "Yeah"Luffy sighed when someone fell infront of them.

Zoro and Luffy got the guy back on his horse except the horse collapsed too "We should put them out of their misery"Zoro said "Thanks again pal you know i don't have enough money for a reward these days but care for an apple?"the guy asked "Do you take us for idiots? We'd never trust food from someone like you"Zoro said but Luffy grabbed one and bit into one just as an explosion went off.

"What the? What happened?"someone asked "Some guys took an apple from that freak on the horse and when they bit into them they exploded"another said "Oh no Luffy spit it out, spit out the apple you just ate!"Nami said shaking the rubber boy around "But i already swallowed it"Luffy said "What the hell you do that for?!"Zoro asked "No worries the boy isn't hurt"the guy said.

"Just calm down"Nicole said lowering Zoro's arms "Nothing happened, so Luffy's fine"she said "Correct if he had eaten a bad one he would have died on the first bite, you're lucky"the guy said, the group moved on "What's the deal with this town?!"Nami asked being all huffy "What did you expect? This is clearly a town ran by pirates"Nicole said.

"Yeah who cares anyway"Luffy said "You should care seeing as you were almost killed for no reason"Nami said "Well that was bound to happen sooner or later"Luffy said "Have you lost your mind?!!"Nami yelled at him when they heard a laugh, the group walked off ignoring the laughter but then Luffy and Zoro came to a stop hearing one of the guys watching say something about the fighting champion.

"Fighting champion?"Luffy and Zoro asked turning around, Nicole bonked their heads together and grabbed their collars dragging them with her "Just ignore it"she said continueing walking, after that the boys continued to walk on their own and the group wondered into a resort looking area "How about this place?"Zoro asked "There doesn't seem to be anyone around"Nicole said.

"Yeah it's pretty quiet"Luffy said "You can say that again this place is gorgeous to think such an oasis exists in the middle of such a disgusting town"Nami said "It's built above the water"Zoro said "That's great but there isn't anyone around although i can smell someone's cooking"Luffy said.

"Excuse me, excuse me i'm going to have to ask you all to leave please"some guy said walking over to them "See this entire hotel has been rented out by mister Bellamy and he's asked for other guest such as yourselves to go somewhere else so you must understand i have no say in the matter"the guy said.

"One man rented out this entire place?"Zoro asked "I can definitely see why"Nicole said looking around "If mister Bellamy sees you here he'll remove my head from my body so please leave before that mistake"the guy said fidgeting around "Come on i'm sure he won't mind"Luffy said being his ever so naive self "Who is this Bellamy anyway?"Nami asked "What's going on here?" some guy asked as he approached them.

"Who are these scumbags and what are they doing in our hotel?"the guy asked, Nicole noticed the mark on his chest and shifted to stand slightly behind Zoro, the swordsman of course noticed but decided not to question it for now, "Mister Sarquiss welcome back, i told them to leave but they won't listen"the fidgety guy said.

"I don't care just get rid of them we're paying a lot of money to have this place to ourselves"the girl with this Sarquiss character said "She's right now get out of here before i throw you out" Sarquiss said "Hey guys would you mind if i beat him up?"Luffy asked turning to Nami and the fidgety guy.

"Luffy!"Nami yelled at him "You're going to beat me up?Hilarious seriously though those are rags you're wearing, here go buy some new rags so you don't look like an orphan"Sarquiss said throwing money at the group "Sarquiss you're wasting your money by tossing them to this bunch of losers"the girl said "No kidding, i should of flushed it down along with my lunch" Sarquiss said.

"I'll take free money"Luffy said before Nami dragged him off as the group left, Nicole sighed a bit once they were far away "What's with you?"Zoro asked "I know the pirate mark that guy had on his chest, my dad warned me not to cross their boss"Nicole told him "Seriously? Maybe those guys were a serious"Zoro said "Nah those guys are small fry, it's their boss that he warned me about, Joker"Nicole said.

~skip~

"Man that really pisses me off"Nami growled as her and the others had found a pub to cool down it, Nicole and Zoro were finishing off their drinks "That's a shame cause you know Mock Town's economy depends on pirates throwing money around to show off power they may or may bot have"the barkeep said.

"HA!!!"Nicole laughed sitting between Zoro and Nami "Show of power!"she snickered "You're hilarious!"she laughed before calming down "Anyone can have a piece of paper or something metal and call it money"she said getting another drink "I suppose you have a point there"the barkeep said and went over to Luffy and some fatso giving them what they ordered.

"This whole towns a real dump you know"Nami said "Of course that's how most levelheaded people would think of it but unfortunately for you level headed people are rare in these parts, the wanted posters won't be on the walls for a couple of days so you may wanna skip town sooner rather then later"the barkeep said.

"A couple days? That doesn't give us much time"Nami muttered looking at her log pose "Now here's a question"Nami went to say but was cut off as Luffy complained about the cherry pies just the fat man sitting next to him complimented them, next the two had the reverse effect with the drinks "I think there might be something wrong with your taste buds kid"the fat man said.

"I think there's something wrong with your big fat head"Luffy said turning to the fat man "Well i'm not the cook in this joint so i don't care what you have to say got it?"the barkeep said "Hey barkeep i'll take fifty stakes to go"Luffy said and got into a bidding war of sorts with the fat man "I'm gonna beat the living crap out of you!"the two yelled at each other "Do you even have the slightest idea what you're fighting about?!"Zoro yelled at him.

"Luffy you promised remember! Besides we don't have enough money to bye dozens of stakes we aren't here to shop!"Nami yelled at him "So then are you a pirate?"the fat man asked "Yeah that's right"Luffy said "How big's your bounty?"the fat man asked "Thirty million"Luffy said still not aware it had been changed.

"Thirty million? For you? I wouldn't believe it even if i collected it!"the fat man yelled "Are you calling me a liar you fat hairy ape?!"Luffy yelled back "Enough!"Zoro yelled at them both "We got rules in this place and one of them's no fighting here's your fifty cherry pies no please just walk away"the barkeep said, the fat man did just that, Nicole watched him go, that guy, she REALLY did not like the vibe he gave off.

"I'm looking for a pirate that wears a strawhat"a guy said walking into the pub "It's Bellamy"one of the patrons said 'That's him huh? Seems a little weak for someone on Joker's payroll' Nicole thought quickly analysing the blond man "So you must be Strawhat Luffy with a cool thirty million"Bellamy said walking in further.

"Who's this guy?"Luffy asked "Looks like he's got a bone to pick with you Luffy"Zoro said "That must be that Bellamy guy that rented out the hotel we were at"Nami whispered "How come everyone i meet in this town is so tall?"Luffy asked "Maybe cause you're short"Nicole said making Nami and Zoro snort a bit "Hey!"Luffy protested.

"I'll take a glass from the top shelf and give the kid whatever he wants"Bellamy said "Right"the barkeep said walking away "Look at this place this joint is packed solid"Sarquiss said, Nami gasped hearing a familiar voice and looked over to see the rest of Bellamy's crew, Nicole got a hunch that they were up to no good.

"Look Zoro it's those guys from earlier"Nami whispered as Bellamy's crew took some seats, the other patrons promptly ran out, the barkeep gave Luffy and Bellamy their drinks before walking away "Cheers"Bellamy said "Hey thanks for the drink pal you know what you're alright"Luffy said drinking his drink before he was slammed through the counter by Bellamy, 'Yup i knew something was going to happen' Nicole thought.

"What are you doing huh punk?"Bellamy asked as Zoro had his sword at the blonde's throat "That's the question you should be asking yourself"Zoro said "Zoro don't do it we still need to get some information"Nami said "Quiet this guy wants a fight i'll give it to him"Zoro said "Put the sword down Zoro, he's not worth it"Nicole said just casually as ever chugging back a third drink, Zoro huffed but knew she had a point and put the sword back in its sheathe.

"So that's all you've got for back up?"Bellamy laughed "Now are you ready to take me on or not?" Luffy asked "No way the kid just challenged Bellamy"some guy said "He'll be slaughtered" another said "You've got it all wrong kid this isn't a fight it's a test now come on let's see how strong you are"Bellamy said "Luffy hold on"Nami said before turning to the barkeep "Mister we're trying to get to sky island do you know anything about that?"she asked as Nicole paid for her drinks and got up, ready to fight just in case.

The pub went quiet "Like i was saying if you know how to get to sky island"Nami was cut off as the whole pub laughed at her "What the? You can look at the log pose yourself it's pointed to the sky plain as day!"Nami said trying to defend herself only to get laughed at again.

"You got me there kid i can't believe you're putting up with such a ridiculous legend as an island in the sky"Bellamy laughed "Especially considering how little you know like of the many weird occurrences on the Grand Line is called a knock up stream, looks to me like this is the first you've heard about it, any ship that gets caught up in the knock up stream is catapulted into the sky and later slams back into the ocean"Bellamy said.

"Years ago a bunch of ignorant sailors saw a bunch of ships falling from the sky and assumed there must be an island up there somewhere in their minds how else could a ship get up that high? Ridiculous anything that seems super natural always has a rational explanation anything a man can dream will eventually be explained and let me tell you the truth will hurt"he said.

"What a shame look i was gonna let you join my crew if you past the test of the new era but it seems like you're a lost cause thing is the time of pirates dreams are over, the city of gold, the emerald ruins and the great One Piece, the fools that chase these fictional treasures don't realize the real treasures that surround them"he said.

"In this age of oceans the very men who are brave  enough and capable of navigating currents end up chasing these ridiculous dreams and die in the process when people speak of these dead idiots they always say he was happy because he died living his dreams, Ha! No he died because he was a fool so when i see people chasing dreams of One Piece i get disgusted!"Bellamy yelled and punched Luffy who just took it.

"Luffy!"Nami called to him "You're a weak pirate just like they were and for as long as you're around you'll make us the real pirates look like trash"Bellamy said the other patrons started throwing things at them and jeering "Luffy Zoro forget all that passivity crap i was talking about earlier and take this jerk out"Nami said "No matter what happens don't fight back, you too Nicole"Luffy said, Nicole was quite for a bit as if thinking it over "Understood captain"she said.