~Third~

The Going Merry was still in free fall and thanks to the octopus balloon the ship and her crew weren't being flattened into pancakes, however they discovered their ship had been blown off course as Zoro and Nicole were napping as usual.

The sun had set "Morning"Zoro muttered waking up, Nicole woke up too stretching herself out "We're still falling?"she asked "Yes this is taking longer then i expected"Robin said "I agree i'm really worried about how far we've drifted we could be anywhere"Nami said "You know what i bet ya we'll get blown all the way to Raftel"Usopp said "Don't be stupid, we're not even anywhere near the end of the first half of the Grand Line"Nicole said.

"Uhm yeah i knew that"Usopp said, he totally didn't know that, "This conversations boring, how much longer is this gonna take?"Zoro asked "Go to sleep"Usopp told him, Nicole hummed a bit looking at the octopus balloon "Hey Zoro if you're really bored i got something you could do and it's fun"Luffy said from the top of the octopus jumping around on it.

"Hey don't do anything stupid! All our lives depend on this balloon you hear me Luffy!"Nami yelled at him "Don't worry! Don't worry!"Luffy yelled back waving it off "Luffy stop get down! Right now!"Sanji suddenly yelled "Sanji what are you yelling about?"Nami asked "The octopus is shrinking if we don't do anything we'll fall!"Sanji said going up to get Luffy "So it wasn't just me" Nicole muttered, she had thought it the octopus looked smaller then before.

"What's that huh?"Usopp asked walking over to Nami "The octopus is shrinking!"Nami said "Shrinking?!"Usopp asked "You know now that i look at it, it does look smaller then it did before"Robin said "What are we gonna do? We're still high up in the air"Nami said, Sanji went to get Luffy but the rubber boy tripped and send them flying overboard, luckily he grabbed the ship and Sanji.

Just then though the octopus had depleted sending the Merry falling down "We're gonna hit the sea so hard we'll sink to the bottom!"Nami said "Only if the ship doesn't shatter first!"Robin said "Shatter no way!"Usopp said "Usopp what are you gonna do?"Chopper asked hanging onto the railing for dear life, Usopp went below the ship and attached several breath dials to the bottom of it.

The dials did slow down their decent but only for a while as the octopus shrunk down completely sending the ship plummeting down "Everybody hold on to something!"Luffy yelled, Nicole grabbed Zoro who grabbed the railing in return as the Going Merry and her crew crashed down into the sea, thankfully the ship stayed in one piece.

"Nami are you okay?"Sanji asked "That was really scary, what happened to the octopus?"Nami asked "Guess it ran out of air"Robin said as said octopus landed on Luffy "Wonder how that happened?"Sanji asked obviously being sarcastic "Hey come on, don't whine we did make it down here alive"Luffy said "You're right and we got to see an incredible place"Sanji said.

Nicole was on edge however, she could hear a ton of voices around them but the people hadn't noticed them yet so she shrugged it off "Now that we're down here it looks so far away"Robin said "Like something out of a dream"Nami said "It's a dream land think we'll see it again?"Chopper asked "Well you might see some place similar when you die"Zoro said.

"Not you i doubt you're going any place good"Usopp said "You jerk!"Zoro said "Well wherever you're going i'm going down right with you"Nicole smiled at him, Zoro blushed a bit looking away "You two can flirt later, me? I'm gonna go put on a pot of coffee"Sanji said making them both blush "Make dinner instead Sanji!"Luffy told him "Are you ever not hungry? Have some coffee first and be patient will ya?"Sanji asked.

"Hey by the way"Luffy went to say when several spotlights were aimed at them and a blaring alarm rung trough the area "Does anybody know just where the heck we are?"Luffy asked "A marine base, just our luck"Nicole growled a bit "No doubt they'll board the ship any minute now"Zoro said "We need to move!"Luffy said and the crew scattered.

~skip~

"Now where did the others go?"Nicole muttered hiding in the forest, she closed her eyes to focus, it was a bit noisy with the marines around but she did locate all of the crew members "I should keep my distance for now, the one i'm most worried about is Zoro, i'll just focus on him and if he gets into trouble i'll just bust him out"she said more to herself disappearing into the forest.

~skip~

"Zoro"Nicole muttered watching from the shadows as the swordsman got captured "Of course you'd get in trouble, now how to get you out?"she muttered before disappearing again, she snuck her way inside the base and acquired an uniform.

"Bleh, the marines have no taste at all, these are way too tight"Nicole muttered tugging at the shirt covering her eyes with her hair and a hat "At least now no one will pay me no mind, i gotta find Zoro"she said to herself, closing her eyes she focused again "This way"she muttered.

~skip~

Nicole caught up to the marines that were taking Zoro to the cells and blended into the group following them down to the cells, she watched as the put Zoro in cuffs and in the cell "Alright i leave you two on watch"the commander of the base said "Yes sir!"Nicole and the other marine saluted.

Once the commander and other marines were far away and it was just Nicole and the other marine, she first made sure no one was coming in, she knocked out the marine in one swift blow "You sure have a knack for getting into trouble"she said taking off the hat and tossing her hair back "Nicole!"Zoro grinned "Shush!"she shushed him taking off the marine coat and pants "Much better"she said to herself before drawing her sword and easily cutting down the cell door.

Nicole caught the door before it fell though and gently lowered it so it made no noise, she then went over to Zoro and cut the cuffs on his wrist "You're hopeless without me you know"she said tossing the swordsman his swords, Zoro caught the three swords and put them back in their place "Yeah i know"he said.

"Alright now stay close and don't you dare wander off"Nicole said giving him a harsh glare before leading the way out "Yeah yeah"Zoro said following her, Nicole just knew he'd wander off anyway and grabbed his hand to make sure he stayed close, Zoro blushed at this.

~skip~

"Commander!"the lieutenant yelled barging into the office "What is it lieutenant?"the commander asked "It's Roronoa he escaped!"the lieutenant yelled "What?! There's no way!"the lieutenant commanded yelled.

"And what's more the cell door was cut clean off!"the lieutenant yelled "What?!"the lieutenant commander asked, the commander hummed looking at the third poster on his desk "It appears the She Wolf has freed her mate"he said "Sir?"the lieutenant commander asked.

"Lieutenant make sure none of the men know about this, we can't have rumors spreading and the Strawhats catch wind of this, we'll let them think we have their friend still caught and lure more in"the commander said "Yes sir!"the lieutenant saluted.

~skip~

Usopp yelled as he was tossed into the cells and he noticed Zoro wasn't there "What the?"he trailed off "Oh you didn't hear? Your friend Mihawk freed the pirate hunter some time ago but not to worry, we will capture them both, you'll have plenty of company in the cell"the commander said before walking off.

~skip~

"We've captured another strawhat, a man with a long nose over"the mini transponder snail Nicole had swiped off of some marine said, she closed it "Shit"she muttered "What should we do?"Zoro asked, Nicole hummed closing her eyes "Sanji and Luffy are headed to the cells, the commander will probably lay a trap for them, we don't have to worry about Nami, Chopper and Robin they're safe for now and clever enough to stay out of trouble"she said and opened her eyes.

"What do you think we should do?"Nicole asked looking at Zoro "We go help Usopp and the others"he said "Alright then"Nicole smirked grabbing his hand again and leading him over to where she was sensing Luffy and Sanji.

~skip~

"There they are!"Nicole called jumping down with Zoro "Zoro! Nicole! Why are you here?"Luffy greeted them with a grin as the group ran together across the bridge "Oh you know just hanging out"Nicole shrugged as the group continued running, Nicole could sense marines all around them just waiting to pounce.

"Whoa we're really high up, that's a long way to fall yikes"Usopp said, the marines finally showed themselves as the group was nearing the end of the bridge "Alright there they are"Luffy said as even more appeared stopping the group in their tracks, Usopp screamed "See i told ya but you wouldn't listen to me!"he said running away but more marines showed up surrounding them.

"Nice"Sanji said "Just as many behind us looks like we're all gonna get a work out"Zoro said "Pfft these guys don't seem that though"Nicole said "Listen up we're getting out of here no matter what"Luffy said "Please allow us to introduce ourselves we're the legendary unit 55 and you pirates will never cross this bridge on our watch"the leader of the unit said walking forward.

"I already crossed once today but i guess you guys were off the clock then huh?"Sanji asked "I'm gonna make you eat those words pirate"the leader guy said and the marines attacked, each of the group got to work beating the crap out of them except Usopp who just ran away and used an impact dial to absorb attacks.

Then Luffy did his gum gum battle axe move destroying the bridge and everyone fell down in the water, Zoro dragged Luffy to shore while Sanji dragged Usopp, Nicole didn't drag anything but a ton of water in her hair "Moron you never think about the consequences do you?"Sanji asked "I'm sorry"Luffy said "Well let's go where's the dock?"Zoro asked "Uh that way"Usopp said pointing towards it.

~skip~

"Are you sure it's this way Usopp?"Zoro asked as the group was running towards the dock where Merry was, Nicole could hear a ton of marines waiting for them but she didn't know another way in so she said nothing "Trust me it's just around the corner"Usopp said and the group ran into an ambush.

The marines had all their guns pointing at them "We're busted"Sanji said "I knew it was an ambush"Zoro said "Sniper team seven to the front shooters take aim!"the lieutenant commander ordered "Fire!"he ordered but Luffy send the bullets back with his gum gum balloon "What the hell are you doing?!"Sanji and Zoro yelled at him.

"Cannon team twelve to the front, fire!"the lieutenant commander ordered, at first the ammo seemed like duds but they released a gas that burned the groups eyes "Sword unit to the front attack!"the lieutenant commander ordered but the group dealt with them regardless until Luffy used his gum gum whip taking Sanji, Zoro and Nicole with the marines.

"Now that was fun, huh where're the guys?"Luffy asked "You whipped them along with everyone else!"Usopp yelled at him "Sorry"Luffy said "You think next time!"Sanji yelled at him before turning to Zoro and getting into a fight with him for some reason, until Nicole bonked their heads together "In case you two forgot we're surrounded by the enemy!"she yelled at them.

"Fire!"the lieutenant commander yelled trapping Luffy in a sea prism stone net "Luffy!"Usopp called "Stay right where you are, it says dead or alive on your wanted posters here at G-8 we lean towards alive however if you insist on meeting us with further resistance i'll be forced to amend that policy"the lieutenant commander said.

"Luffy you gotta try harder we're in real trouble here"Usopp said "I'm trying but it's no use it won't budge and i'm all worn out"Luffy said "Sea prism stone?"Zoro asked "Precisely, especially designed prison net bomb, so Strawhat what do you think?"the lieutenant commander asked, the marines closed in on the group.

"Look at this there's a sea of them left after all the ones we took out"Sanji said "Make this easy and give up, escape from here alive is impossible"the lieutenant commander said and just as it seemed they were done for Nami and Chopper came running with a stretcher "What the hell?!" Nami asked seeing all the marines.

"Usopp?"Chopper asked peaking out of the blanket as the long nose crashed on the ground "Somebody call a doctor"Usopp muttered "Usopp!"Chopper yelled changing forms and grabbing the sniper "Look what they've done to him, he could die, it's all because of those solders"Chopper growled "Not quite right"Sanji, Zoro and Nicole said waving it off.

The other woman that came crashing in let out a loud scream and pretended she was a hostage along with Nami, Chopper went along with the act, the other Strawhats caught on and played along "I would do what he says the neck snap thing is pretty messy"Zoro said "How would it look if you the righteous arm of justice let two women die?"Sanji asked.

~skip~

The marines let them pass, Nicole still kept her guard up as the Strawhats passed by, she nudged Zoro a bit and ever so slightly gestured over to the marine following them among the crowd, Zoro nodded ever so slightly having noticed that as well.

"Nicole, Nami, Chopper, lover boy run to the ship on my signal, Luffy i'm gonna need your help to get us out of this you gotta stretch your arms and get everyone on board"Zoro muttered under his breath "Okay"Luffy said, Sanji noticed the marine following them as well "I get it"he said.

Someone dropped their gun which gave the lone marine the perfect opportunity to get the female doctor, they were about to grab Nami too but she punched him "Make a run for the ship!"Zoro said just as the said ship started to leave, Luffy grabbed the crew slinging them over to the ship before following with Zoro as the ship touched down in the water.

~skip~

"Why are we hugging the edge of this cliff?"Zoro asked as the Merry and her crew were sailing "Protection we'd have cannons blasting us from both sides if we went through the middle"Nami said "Where am i?"Usopp asked waking up "Oh he's awake"Luffy said "This is Merry how'd we get back?"Usopp asked "With a hostage and a quick flight"Luffy said.

"I see Nami was the hostage nice touch"Usopp said "Wasn't it though?"Nami asked "You are good at tricking people"Usopp said only to get a bonk on the head "Still Nami didn't make the ship move on its own how'd that happen?"Zoro asked "If i had to guess i'd say it was the old maintenance guy"Usopp said "Why that?"Zoro asked "Just a feeling"Usopp said.

Robin came swinging in and gave Nami a map of the fortress "They're shooting at us"Luffy said as cannon fire came from every direction "Seems they finally caught on to your act Nami"Nicole said "There's warships after us!"Usopp yelled spotting three of them following "Look there's out exit the sea gate!"Nami said as the gate came into sight.

"Usopp prepare the bow cannon, Chopper make extra certain you follow my order"Nami said "No problem"Chopper said "This is the bases only way out we'll have to brake through that gate"Nami said but something on the map didn't make sense to her "Nami we're all out of cannonballs!"Usopp reported "Are you kidding me we don't have a single cannon ball?!"Nami asked.

"Not a one, no explosives of any kind not even the boxes they came in"Usopp said "Well that's hardly surprising given that they confiscated the Going Merry"Robin said "No matter i can cut that gate like hot butter"Nicole said "We can't just rush into this though"Zoro said "All we gotta do is gain control of that gate house"Sanji said.

"Don't say that like it's gonna be easy"Usopp said "It is cause i have a great idea"Luffy said with a grin, the marines fired at them but Luffy caught the cannon balls with his gum gum balloon and sent them hurling at the sea gate destroying it "It worked!"Usopp said "That's one way to do it good job Luffy! Now lets sail out of here!"Nami said however she then realized something, if all the cannonballs were taken, she went to check, all of the treasure was gone as well.

The Going Merry and her crew used the smoke from the earlier attack on the sea gate to disappear so the Strawhats could get their hard earned treasure back, they hid the Merry in one of the old docks within the base.