Bellamy vs. the Saruyama Alliance:

-x-

"WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Luffy and Chopper screamed as they ran from a trio of flying Praying Mantises that were each about the same size as Chopper who was in his four-legged Walk Point form. They'd come into the forest to find a South Bird but the South Birds had taken offense and now the Straw Hats were all having trouble with the local wild life.

"CHOPPER WATCH OUT!" Luffy shouted.

SLISH! One of the Praying Mantises lashed out at them with the blade on its arm and they only just managed to avoid it causing the Praying Mantis to slash its blade through the trunk of a tree instead. KRASH! Tree toppled over from the clean cut and hit the ground behind them.

"JOOOHH!" a nearby South Bird crowed. It was different from the first one they'd encountered. It had slightly paler purple feathers while the pink feathers on its head were brighter.

Chip-chip-chip! A Praying Mantis landed on the log left behind by the fallen tree and brandished its blades at Luffy and Chopper.

"SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THESE THINGS!" Luffy exclaimed as he and Chopper ran away with the huge Mantis. "THEY AREN'T NORMAL!"

SLISH-SLISH-SLISH! The Mantis lashed out again with its arm blade and Luffy had to duck to keep his head attached to his body.

"WAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Chopper screamed.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS FOREST?" Luffyhollered.

"JOOOOOOHHH!" the South Bird crowed with an evil grin.

"ITS HER FAULT!" Chopper realized.

"WHOSE?" Luffy questioned.

"HERS! THE SOUTH BIRD!" Chopper shouted. "SHE'S CONTROLLING THE BUGS!"

"THEY CAN CONTROL BUGS AND GUIDE SHIPS?" Luffy asked.

-x-

JOOOOHHH! Two South Birds were perched on a branch looking in the same direction while a third South Bird that was perched on a perpendicular branch and had its head turned to the side so it was looking in the same direction as the other two.

"Shhhh..." Usopp hissed to Nami and Sanji. They were standing at the bottom of a hill while the trio of South Birds were perched on trees at the top. "You guys hear anything?"

"JOOOOOHH!" the three South Birds cried.

Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup! A group of large round 'rocks' rolled through the trees the South Birds were perched in and starting rolling down the hill towards the three Straw Hats.

"Something..." Sanji admitted. "But it sure doesn't sound like any bird to me." Whup-whup-whup-whup-whup! Then they saw the round 'rocks' coming their way.

"UP THERE!" Usopp exclaimed.

"What are they?" Sanji wondered. "Boulders?"

"Yeah, it looks like an avalanche!" Usopp replied as he adjusted his goggles. The 'rocks' were cloaked in the shadow from the trees so it was hard to see what they actually were.

"No you're wrong..." Nami realized as they came closer, "THEY'RE BUUUGS!"

"LADY BUGS!" Sanji gasped. They could now see the round purple shells that were marked with orange spots of a group of lady bugs that were each three times the size of a human head.

"Big ones!" Usopp added. BONK! One of the lady bugs slammed into him and knocked him over. Nami quickly used Sanji as a meat shield while the cook lashed out his leg and kicked one of the lady bugs back up the hill. THWAK!

"Joh-joh-joohh!" the South Birds crowed in what sounded like mocking laughter.

-x-

"Uggghhh..." Zoro groaned as he found himself facing off an army of crickets that were each half as tall as he was. THONK! He hit another one over the head and knocked it to the ground, only for another one to pop up and take its place. "There's no end to them! They just keep popping up!" BONK! BONK! Zoro smacked the new cricket over the head. "STUPID CRICKETS! YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?"

"Whatever you do, hold onto that bird, Mr. One Eye," Robin said to herself as she stood nearby with her back to Zoro. All around her were various piles of crickets that Zoro had bested in combat. She was currently looking through the eye she'd planted on Y/N's hand.

JOOOOHH!

"If those birds were as easy to see as they were to hear, we'd be done already," Robin stated.

-x-

"Stop flying stupid!" Y/N snapped as he held onto the feet of a South Bird as it flew them through the forest. "You're gonna get us both killed! WHOA! Look at the size of that spider!"

Ahead of them was a huge spider web stretch across two trees. And in it was a spider that was the size of both Y/N and the South Bird put together.

FWAP-FWAP! The South Bird flapped its wings and flew upward so he'd be able to fly over the web while Y/N would hit it and get stuck in it.

"Oh no you don't!" Y/N growled. He held onto the South Bird's feet with one hand and drew Akakyuuketsuki with the other. SLISH! Y/N slashed the web and he flew right through it. Y/N glared up at the South Bird, "Don't get any other bright ideas, stupid! If you try to leave me high and dry, I'm bringing you down with me!"

Skit-skit-skit! Y/N looked behind him and his eye went wide when he saw a very angry spider leaping from tree-to-tree as it leapt after them looking to avenge its slashed web. Skit-skit-skit! The huge spider clacked its pincers menacingly.

"Oh crap! It's coming after us!" Y/N warned the South Bird. "Fly! Fly faster, stupid!"

"JOOOOHHH! JOOOOOHHH!" the South Bird crowed back at the spider.

"SKIT-SKIT-SKIT!" the spider clacked back in response causing the South Bird's eyes to widen in alarm. It looked like this spider was too angry to be controlled. FWAPFWAPFWAP! The South Bird quickly heeded Y/N's orders and started flying faster.

-x-

"GAAAAAHHH!" Nami and Usopp shrieked when they found themselves faced with a big purple slug that was the size of all three of them combined.

"A slug that size needs a lot of salt," Sanji decided as he pulled out a bag of salt he conveniently carried on him and threw it on the slug.

"How can you think about cooking at a time like this?" Usopp demanded.

EEEEEEK! The slug squealed and shriveled up from Sanji's salt.

"See, salt dissolves slugs, idiot!" Sanji snapped at him.

"Joooohhhh..." a nearby South Bird crowed in a low growl.

-x-

"I'M SICK OF ALL THIS RUNNING!" Luffy yelled as Chopper ran away from a swarm of killer bees while pulling an extremely annoyed Luffy along with him. "COME ON YOU BUGS! BRING IT ON!"

"No Luffy!" Chopper mumbled around his mouth-hold on Luffy's vest.. "Just one sting and you're history!"

-x-

"FIRE FLIES!" Usopp exclaimed as a group of a glowing bugs flew passed them.

"Pretty!" Nami remarked, she'd finally found a bug she liked. "GAAAAAHH! ROACHES!"

An army of cockroaches surged out from a bush towards them.

"PIIIIIGS!" Usopp hollered as he herd of wild pigs charged them.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Nami and Usopp screamed in terror as they were subjected to one terror after another.

JOOOOOHH! JOOOOOHHH! JOOOOOOHH! The South Bird's cries echoed through the forest, all of them seemingly enjoying their torment.

-x-

"I don't see it behind us anymore," Y/N told the South Bird as he looked behind them for any signs of the angry spider.

"JOOOOOH! JOOOOOH!" the South Bird crowed.

Y/N looked back in front of us and his eye went wide. THE SPIDER WAS IN FRONT OF THEM! The spider was perched on the tree branch they were heading towards and was snapping its pinchers angrily. CLAK-CLAK-CLAK!

"Crap," Y/N cursed. Then he quickly pointed he eye on his hand at the giant spider. "Robin! Do something! Grab it!"

WHA-WHAP! Twenty arms grew out of the surrounding trees and grabbed hold of the surprised spider. WHING! Y/N threw himself in front of the South Bird and lashed out with his still drawn sword. "Red Storm: LIGHTNING STRIKE!" SLISH! A red-tinted air blade flew off of Y/N's sword and slashed the bound spider. Robin's arm released it causing the spider to fall off of the branch and down towards the forest floor.

TMP! Y/N landed on the now empty branch and the South Bird flew passed him crowing in victory, "JOOOOH! JOOOOOH!"

Y/N nicked himself with his sword and sheathed it, then pointed Robin's eye at the South Bird. "Would you mind grabbing that one too?" he requested into the ear.

WHA-WHAP! Another cluster of twenty arms grew out of the trees and caught the South Bird as it flew into them. SKISH! Y/N launched himself off of the branch and grabbed onto the bound bird. WHUMP! "You're not going anywhere, stupid!" he growled.

With its wings trapped against its sides by Y/N's arms, the South Bird could no longer fly and the two of them plummeted down towards the ground.

"JOOOOOH! JOOOOOOH!" the South Bird cried in alarm.

"No way am I letting you fly again!" Y/N snapped, "At least we'll land in that bush." And so Y/N and the frantic South Bird dropped towards a bush but it wasn't until they were right over it that Y/N's noticed one important thing: the thorns. "Damn my lack of depth perception." KRASH! Y/N and the South Bird went crashing down into the thorn bush and disappeared from sight.

-x-

Back at Cricket's house, the Saruyama Alliance was staring down Bellamy and his crew.

"If you're looking for a fight, then you've come to the right place!" Shoujou remarked.

"You're gonna regret mocking the Saruyama Alliance!" Masira growled.

"RAAAH!" Sarquiss roared as he, Rivers, and Ross charged at the man and the monkeys.

"Heh heh heh," Bellamy chuckled as he stood back watching the crew.

"Hand over the gold, old man!" Sarquiss ordered as he threw a punch at Cricket only for the 'old man' to block it. Whap! "Do it quickly and we may even let you live!"

Bellamy's First Mate lashed out with a barrage of punches but Cricket blocked them all with relative ease. Whap! Whap! Whap! "You forgot to say 'please'," Cricket taunted. THWAK! He lashed out his leg and sent Sarquiss flying.

"Uugghh..." Sarquiss groaned as he flipped over in the air and crashed to the ground. FWUMP!

"MONKEY PUNCH!" SHA-POW! Masira sent Rivers flying with a big swinging punch.

"RAAAH!" Shoujou roared as he floored Ross with a punch of his own. KA-POW!

"..." Bellamy stood by watching silently as his crew was taken down.

"Grrr..." Sarquiss growled as he got up and pulled out the huge kukri blade that he got his 'Big Knife' nickname for. Shwup-shwup-shwup-shwup... Sarquiss twirled his blade around and glared at Cricket who stared him down while standing in a ready stance. SKISH! "RAAAAH!" Sarquiss roared as he jumped at Cricket and lashed out with his knife.

THWAK! Cricket kicked Sarquiss' wrist and sent the big knife flying away from him. SHUNK! It sunk into the ground in front of Bellamy.

"You know its dangerous for a kid like you to be playing with such a big knife," Cricket taunted.

"Looks like the boys might actually need a hand," Bellamy remarked, "Guess I'd better show 'em how it's done..." Whup... Bellamy's body sank downwards as his legs coiled up like a giant pair of springs. "SPRING... SNIPER!" SHOOOOM! Bellamy sprang off of the ground and launched himself across the clearing in an instant and slammed his fist into Masira's back while he was busy fighting Rivers. KA-POW!

"AAAAHHH!" Masira groaned as he started falling backwards. Whup! Bellamy pulled himself up on Masira's big body and pressed his feet into the monkey's face causing his legs to coil up like a pair of springs again. SHOOOOM! Masira went flying backwards as Bellamy sprang off of him and caught Shoujou off guard with a flying punch to the face. KA-POW!

"WAAAAAH!" Shoujou wailed as he was sent rolling away across the clearing.

WHUP... Bellamy touched down on the ground and his legs coiled then he sprang off again and launched himself at Cricket. SHOOOM! Cricket leaned to the side and barely managed to avoid being hit. SWISH! Bellamy kept going and landed feet first on the side of the Going Merry. WHUP... His legs coiled up again and he launched himself off of the ship. SHOOOOM!

KRAASH! Cricket stared in horror as the front quarter of the Going Merry broke off when Bellamy sprang off of it.

KA-POW! Bellamy smashed his fist into Cricket's face and finally took him down. Tmp! Bellamy landed next to Cricket and grinned to himself having taken down all three members of the Saruyama Alliance with ease.

"So what do you think of our Captain's Spring Spring Fruit Powers, old man?" Sarquiss taunted as he pressed his foot down into Cricket's back.

"Uugghh..." Cricket groaned.

"Aww, he's speechless!" Sarquiss remarked, "PAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Clean up this trash now," Bellamy ordered as he walked away and left his men to deal with the defeated opponents. "And be quick about it."

Now that their opponents were once again not fighting back, the Bellamy Pirates had no problem roughing up Cricket, Shoujou, and Masira.

THUD! Masira hit the ground. THUD! Shoujou fell next to him. THUD! Cricket dropped too. All three had been bloodied and had no way to defend themselves from the Bellamy Pirates' brutal assault.

"PAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sarquiss laughed, "Well so much for the Saruyama Alliance! Just an old man and two smelly apes! What a joke! PAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Hey Bellamy!" Eddy called out as he came out of Cricket's house carrying a big bulky sack. "We hit the jackpot." Eddy put the sack down in front of Bellamy who opened it to reveal the golden South Bird statue and the three golden ingots.

"Whoa, I'll say," Bellamy gasped, "Look at this! That's a fine piece of gold!"

"And now, it all belongs to us," Sarquiss commented.

"Ugghhh... no way..." Cricket groaned as he fought back up to his feet. Blood was streaming down out of a gash on his forehead and left three trails going down his face. "You punks have no right to take that gold."

"No right?" Sarquiss repeated as he glared at Cricket. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT GIVES US THE RIGHT!" Sarquiss charged the injured Cricket while swinging his knife at his side. SKISH! Sarquiss surged off of the ground and summersaulted through air towards Cricket.

"Ah!" Cricket started.

"Grrr..." Masira growled as he surged off of the ground and positioned himself in between Sarquiss and Cricket.

"BIIIIG CHOOOP!" SLA-SLISH! Sarquiss' big knife cleaved into Masira's back while he flipped over the monkey and landed on the other side of him. Tmp!

"You damn fool..." Cricket whispered as Masira hit the ground with a big bloody gash running down the entire length of his back. FWUMP!

"PAHAHAHAHA!" Sarquiss laughed. "We're way stronger than you and your pals, old man! I'd say that alone gives us the right to take what we want, when we want, don't you? Come on... let's dance!"

"If you don't mind... I'm cutting in!" Shoujou interjected as he pushed himself up to his feet and pulled out his microphone. "HAAVOOC SOOONAAAAR! WOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAAA!"

The power of Shoujou's voice caused the ground to crumble and the Bellamy Pirates to recoil.

"Why you little..." Sarquiss growled as he readied his knife for another attack.

"Sarquiss, no!" Bellamy cut him off. "I'm going to finish him off my way!" WHUP! Bellamy sank downward as his legs one again turned into coiled springs.

"It's him again," Cricket realized, "The one with those Spring Spring Fruit Powers. SHOUJOU, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"SPRIIIING... SNIIIIPEEEER!" SHOOOOM! Bellamy sprang off of the ground and rocketed towards Shoujou who was still caught up in shouting into his microphone.

BA-BUMP! "UGGGGHHH!" Shoujou let out a pained groan.

"NOOO SHOUJOU!" Cricket cried.

Blood spewed out of Shoujou's still opened mouth as Bellamy's fist sank into his stomach with enough force to shatter the golden clasp on his way-too-small shirt as well as some of his ribs. KRASH! Shoujou went flying backwards and smashed clear through Cricket's house, burst through the wooden cut out on the back, and went splashing down into the water. SPLOOSH!

Cricket stared after Shoujou in shock.

"Old timer, look what we found!" a younger Shoujou called out years ago as he showed off the golden ingot he and his crew had found on the ocean floor. "GOLD! A bell-shaped ingot! AAAHAHAHAHAAA!"

Shoujou's battered body broke the water's surface and floated on the far side of Cricket's house.

"Nooo..." Cricket whispered.

"Look!" Masira exclaimed with a big smile as he held up the golden ingot and pointed to a passage in Noland's logbook. "It's just like it says here in the logbook! Gold bells! THE STORY'S TRUE! OOKEEKEE!"

Masira's bloody body was still lying nearby with the large wound running down his back,

"We're done here," Bellamy addressed his crew, "let's go."

"And as for you, old man," Bellamy called out as he and his men headed back to their ship. "GROW UP! HAAHAA! The City of Gold is just a fairy tale. That liar Noland dreamt it all up. If you want to be a pirate in this New Era, you've got to wise up! YOUR DREAMS WILL NEVER COME TRUE, EVER! HAAHAAHAAAHAAAHAAAA!" Bellamy's crew laughed along with him.

"The City of Gold does exist!" Masira cheered in Cricket's memories. "OOKEEKEE!"

"WOOOHOOO!" Shoujou cheered.

"Hahaha!" Cricket laughed at the antics of the two monkey brothers. "Hey guys, take it easy! You'll wreck my house! Hahahaha!"

"You know something, junior," Cricket finally called after Bellamy. Upon seeing the state the that two monkeys who had wormed their way into his heart were in, he didn't really care what Bellamy did to him at this point. Cricket pushed himself back up to his feet and lit up a cigarette. "A worthless little punk like you who's too afraid to believe in dreams... doesn't have the right to call himself a pirate."

Bellamy stopped in his tracks and looked back at Cricket with a crazed look in his eyes, "What was that?" Bellamy growled.

-x-

The 100 Million Berri Man:

-x-

"So let me get this straight..." Nami recapped, she, Usopp, and Sanji had reunited with Luffy and Chopper, "Not only did you not manage to catch a bird, but you lost Y/N?"

"The birds kept sending giant swarms of bugs after us!" Luffy protested. "We could never even get close enough. Y/N went after the first one but we haven't seen him since."

"Huff... huff..." Chopper panted as he laid on the ground beside him. "All we did was run..."

"Uggh..." Nami sighed, "It's a wonder that you two didn't end up back at Mock Town."

"Eight people couldn't even catch one bird," Usopp muttered, "That's pathetic. Come on guys, would you get it together?"

"You're one to talk," Sanji muttered.

"I believe Mr. One Eye managed to catch one," came Robin's voice as she walked into the clearing with Zoro following behind her. "But I lost contact with him when he and the bird fell in a thorn bush."

"We didn't even see one," Zoro stated, "Just an army of dumb crickets. It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"And we've been at this for hours," Nami complained, "I can't run anymore."

"Have I ever mentioned... that I hate birds?" Y/N walked into the clearing holding a subdued South Bird upside down by its feet. The two of them were covered in thorns.

"Y/N! YOU CAUGHT ONE!" Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper cheered.

Y/N turned to Robin and nodded at her, "Thanks for your help. The next time we end up in a strange forest, I'm sticking with you."

"So... did you end up naming it?" Nami asked as she eyed the South Bird.

"I never got around to it," Y/N admitted, "I've just been calling him 'stupid'."

"Works for me," Luffy and Chopper chorused. They remembered the incident with the bees.

"Jooooh! Jooooohhh!" the South Bird crowed in what sounded more like a whine.

"He says 'I don't want to leave my home behind'," Chopper translated.

"Oh great, now I feel bad," Y/N muttered.

Fwap-Fwap! "JOOOOHJOOHJOOOOOOH!" another South Bird landed on a branch above them and crowed angrily at them. It was the one with the brighter pink facial feathers that had taken over tormenting Luffy and Chopper while Y/N had gone after the original one.

"She says 'Let him go, you jerks'," Chopper told them.

"And now I don't," Y/N said, as he turned to face the new South Bird. The head of the one he was holding stayed pointed in the same direction whiles its body turned along with Y/N. "Look, we're going to Sky Island and we're taking this guy with us whether you like it or not." The new bird looked even angrier. "But... I'm willing to bring you along too if you want to stick together so bad. However, in exchange I don't want any trouble for either of you... got it?"

"JOOH!" the South Bird agreed with a nod. FWAP-FWAP-FWAP! She flew down and perched on Y/N's shoulder. This was made slightly awkward due to the large size of the bird. The male South Bird that Y/N was still holding by its feet grinned slightly.

"Right, now we've got two South Birds," Y/N resolved, "Let's get back to Cricket's house."

"How'd you know they wanted to be together?" Nami asked.

"The one didn't want to leave, the other didn't want us to take him," Y/N reasoned, "One's male, the other's female. I know I'd be beyond upset if someone showed up out of nowhere and took you away to some strange place where I'd never see you again. I figure these two are a set. And I guess there's nothing like out-flying a giant man-eating spider that'll bring two guys closer together... even if one's a bird."

"Teeheeheehee!" Chopper suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny?" Usopp asked.

"Big Brother just reminded me of a picture in my favorite book," Chopper answered he reached into his medical bag and pulled out a book. "This is the book about pirates that I read after Dr. Hiriluk told me about them..." The reindeer paged through the book and grinned when he found the right page, "Teeheeheehee!"

Luffy and Usopp came over and peered over Chopper's shoulders at the book and then glanced at Y/N before they both burst out laughing, "SHISHISHISHISHI! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What is it?" Y/N asked.

Sanji and Robin went over to take a look and when they saw the picture they started laughing too, "Wahahahahahaha! Fufufufufufufu!"

"Seriously, what?" Y/N asked again.

Zoro decided to see what all the fuss was about and glanced down at the book too, he couldn't help chuckling at what he saw, "Heh heh!"

"Would someone please tell me what's so funny?" Y/N requested.

Chopper turned the book around to face him and Nami took one look and immediately started laughing, "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Even the South Birds started lauging at him, "JOHJOHJOHJOH!"

The picture in the book showed a traditional pirate with a cutlass at his waist - just like Y/N, an eye patch - just like Y/N, a treasure chest that he was dragging with one hand - like Y/N did sometimes, and a parrot perched on his opposite shoulder - just like Y/N. With the exception of the shaggy beard, at this moment, Y/N looked just like a traditional pirate.

"Yar," Y/N growled resigning himself to being the butt of the joke which caused another round of laughter from the others. "Let us be returnin' to Cricket's cove, mateys." The others laughed even harder at the ancient pirate slang. "We've but one moon to reach the fabled island in the sky, yaarr. Come along crew and there'll be plenty of booty for all, yaaarr..."

"AHAHAHAHA! MY SIDES HURT!" Usopp cried, he and the other were laughing so hard.

"Booty?" Nami repeated.

"Aye," Pirate-Y/N replied, "Come along wench..." Whup! He grabbed her and tucked her under his arm and started carrying her away.

"Who're you calling a wench?" Nami complained. "Lemme go! This is so undignified!"

"Yaar," Pirate-Y/N drawled, "if ya keep strugglin' then I'll just throw ya in the brig and you'll get no treasure... Yarr..."

"Oh, well since you put it so eloquently," Nami reasoned with a playful grin as she snapped of a salute, "Aye-aye, sir!"

Then suddenly... "Dereshishishishi!"

Everyone turned to stare at Robin. Her eyes went wide and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "I haven't laughed like that since I was a little girl," she confessed.

"You should do it more often, it was cute," Y/N reassured her, finally breaking character. Despite all of Robin's self-control her cheeks took on the faintest hint of pink. Not wanting to make Robin uncomfortable under everyone's scrutiny, Y/N quickly drew the attention back to himself, "YARR! Let's go crew!" He started making his way north towards Cricket's house with Nami still tucked under his arm and the heads of the two South Birds pointing behind him.

"AYE-AYE!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper cheered as they ran after him.

"Hey wait..." Luffy suddenly realized, "Y/N! I'M THE CAPTAIN!

-x-

"HEY POPS! WE MANAGED TO CATCH TWO OF THOSE BIRDS!" Luffy exclaimed when they returned to Cricket's house.

But the jolly mood the Straw Hats were in immediately faded when the saw the state the house, Cricket, Shoujou, Masira, and the Going Merry were in.

"Pops... what happened?" Luffy asked.

"Masira?" Usopp called out as he stared down at Masira's bloody and prone form.

"Shoujou!" Sanji exclaimed when he spotted him floating in the water behind the house and immediately made his way over to him.

"What the... what happened here?" Nami wondered.

"I've got a better questioned," Sanji replied as he dragged Shoujou toward the shore, "Who did this." Chopper quickly ran over to Sanji. "Hey, gimme a hand..." Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point form and helped Sanji get the unconscious monkey onto the shore.

"GAAAAH! THE GOING MERRY!" Usopp shrieked when he spotted the ship. The entire front of it had come clean off. "WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHO DID THIS? WHEN I FIND OUT, THEY'RE GONNA BE SORRY THEY EVER LAID A FINGER ON HER! THE SAVAGES! DAMN IT!"

"Sorry... kid..." Cricket groaned.

"You're alive!" Luffy cheered.

"Koff! Koff!" Cricket wheezed.

"Don't try to move, okay," Luffy told him, "Just take it easy."

"I'm sorry—KOFF—about this..." Cricket apologized, "We did everything we could to stop them... but it wasn't enough... Made us look pretty pathetic..." Cricket struggled to sit up, "Gotta get moving though... the ship's not gonna patch itself up..."

"Hold on, pops!" Luffy said, "Wait, tell us what happened first. Who did this to you?"

"Calm down, it doesn't matter anymore," Cricket reassured him, "Did you have any luck finding..." Cricket's eyes widened when he spotted Y/N with two South Birds perched on his shoulders. "Huh, would you look at that, you managed to catch two South Birds. They're really hard to catch."

"LUUFFYY! YYYYYYYY/NNNNNN!" Nami called out from in the remains of Cricket's house. "Cricket's gold! IT'S GONE!" The others stared at her in different degrees of surprise. Y/N gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"That stuff... its junk," Cricket attempted to reassure them, "Just forget it. It doesn't matter. Your dream is more important. We have to get you to the Kno—"

"FORGET IT!" Usopp interrupted. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? THINK ABOUT WHAT IT TOOK TO GET THAT GOLD! TEN YEARS OF DIVING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN! SUBJECTING YOUR BODY TO ALL THE PRESSURES OF THE DEEP! COME ON! YOU CAN'T JUST—"

"Shut up!" Cricket snapped as he glared at Usopp. "I'm serious. That gold, and what happens to it is your problem, got it? Your ship's in no shape to make it to the Knock-Up Stream. If we can get all the Saruyama Alliance crew here, they'll have it fixed and reinforced by morning. You'll still be able to set sail tomorrow. Listen, everything will be alright... We will send you to the sky, I promise that."

"Old timer..." Usopp whispered.

"Hey Luffy..." Zoro called out from where he was staring at the remains of Cricket's house. Luffy turned to him and Zoro pointed to the familiar symbol that he'd been staring at. It was a smiley face with a line through it.

"That's Bellamy's mark!" Nami realized.

Luffy silently stood up.

"You want any help?" Zoro offered.

"I'll handle this one on my own," Luffy told him.

"Luffy don't be stupid!" Nami scolded him, "We have to set sail in three hours!"

"Birds, move," Y/N ordered as he pointed to Sanji. The two South Birds flew from Y/N and perched on Sanji's shoulders. Y/N turned back to Luffy. "I'm going too. I know you don't need help. But I want to make sure you get there and back on time." The two brothers stared at each other, "You know me, Luffy. I won't just stand around when someone's hard earned treasure has been stolen."

"Fine," Luffy relented, then turned to Robin, "If we follow the coast will that take us all the way back to Mock Town?"

"Yes, it will," Robin answered.

"Hey!" Cricket called out as Luffy started walking off with Y/N following behind him, "Where are you going? Don't be an idiot! You can't possibly take on this Bellamy-guy all by yourself!" He stopped when he suddenly found Zoro's sword in front of him.

"If you want to stop them, use this," the swordsman offered.

"You two, don't do it," Cricket urged them.

In response, Luffy simply cracked his knuckles.

"Wait Y/N..." Nami called out. "If you're going too, would you mind doing me a favor?" She walked up to Y/N and whispered in his ear.

"He said what?" Y/N growled. Whap! Nami smacked him on the back of the head and whispered something else. "Oh, I'll do more than that..." Whap! Nami smacked him again and whispered in his ear again. "Fine. Consider it done." Nami stepped back and Y/N turned to Luffy and nodded.

"We'll be back by morning, guys," Luffy vowed.

-x-

Cooo... cooo... Back at Mock Town the silhouette of a seagull could be seen as it flew passed the moon.

Pssssshhh... "Well lookie there..." a drunk man named Jobo slurred as he relieved himself off the end of a dock in the Mock Town harbor. "It looks like the moon's right up there over the water. Heh! Guess my eye sight's really getting bad! I'd better get my eyes checked or I'm gonna end up falling off of this dock." The drunk zipped up his pants and turned away from the dock. "Hah hah hah! Imagine that, a pirate with bad eye sight. Me, I think I'd rather lose one eye than have two bad ones! Haahaa! At least I'd get an eye patch!"

Cooo... cooo... The seagull flew closer and was revealed do be a Delivery Bird and had a bundle of papers clutch in its beak. FWUMP! The seagull dropped the bundle on the ground in front of Jobo

"Hey! Whaddaya know!" Jobo exclaimed when he spotted the bundle. "A newspaper! Must be the really early edition!" Jobo staggered over to the bundle and picked it up. He unfolded it to reveal that it was actually a stack new Wanted Posters. "Huh? This ain't no paper! It's stack of Wanted Posters! Oh boy, what is this town coming to when lowlife scum outnumber the fine upstanding citizens like myself." The drunk began paging through the new Wanted Posters. "Oh, hey, there's an eye patch. But I think I'd get a fancy one. Hah hah hah!" Jobo's head tilted to the side when he recognized the two Wanted Posters of Luffy and Zoro around the one of the pirate with the eye patch.

"Hey, it's those two spineless guys from this afternoon!" Jobo realized, "Hah! That loony kid talking about the island in the sky was a riot! What was he worth... thirty million?" Jobo stared down at Luffy's Wanted Poster. "HAHAHAHAHA! I guess my eye sight really is getting pretty bad!" Jobo squinted and began counting the zeros that followed the one on Luffy's poster. "So... one, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand... a hundred thousand? I think I'm gonna need some reading glasses! HAHAHA! One hundred thousand... one million... o-one... h-hundred... m-m-million..." Jobo's eyes went wide in horror and his flushed face paled.

-x-

Luffy and Y/N ran side-by-side along the shore as they raced towards Mock Town. The sound of their heavy breathing and their rapid foot-falls was all the sound they made. Nami's warning still rang in their head.

"Three hours," Nami had said, "that's all you've got. If you take any longer we're gonna lose our chance to go to Sky Island and its gonna be all your fault."

They didn't have much time. The crew was counting on them to get back before sunrise. Going to Sky Island was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They couldn't afford to miss it.

WHUP! Luffy's foot caught on a tree root and he stumbled forward.

Whap! Y/N grabbed his arm and kept him upright. "Speed Step..." ZZZZZOOOOOM! Y/N put on a big burst of speed and pulled Luffy along with him then threw his rubber brother forward. WOOOIIINGG! Luffy's arm stretch as he flew over a small canyon then yanked Y/N over after him. SHOOOM! Without a word they both started running again.

"He's in bad shape," Chopper had noted while Cricket laid being treated for Caisson Disease. "It looks like he's been diving dangerously like this for years, coming up too quick, and not giving the gas bubbles enough time to fully dissipate."

Luffy's eyes narrowed as he put on another burst of speed. Bellamy had gone and stolen the gold that Cricket had spent ten years putting his body through hell in order to obtain. Y/N nodded and sped up alongside him.

"All I'm doing is following what I believe to be my destiny," Cricket had told them after revealing his family legacy. "This is a battle between me and Noland."

That gold meant way more to Cricket than it did to Bellamy. Not only did it take him ten years to find it all but obtaining that gold was what the old man claimed to be his destiny.

"Sorry... kid..." Cricket groaned when they'd found him after he'd been beaten up and robbed by Bellamy and his crew. "We did what we could to stop them but it wasn't enough..."

Snort! Luffy blew a hard breath out of his nose and put on another burst of speed. He was practically growling as he ran. Y/N, normally very fast, struggled to keep up with his enraged younger brother. "BEEEELLAAAAAMYYYYYYY!"

-x-

Back at Mock Town, Bellamy and his crew were back at the same bar where Luffy and Zoro had taken their beating without raising a hand in their defense.

"Those apes really cracked me up!" Sarquiss exclaimed as he sat at a table with Eddy, Rivers, and Ross, "It was hilarious when they were all bloody and had tears and snot running down their faces and started crying! 'Old Timer!' Pahahaha! PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If he really meant so much then they should have done a better job of protecting him."

"Hahaha!" Rivers laughed.

"Hey, what did you expect?" Eddy asked. "The same thing would've happened to anyone else as stupid as them. Taking on a big time pirate worth fifty-five million berries like Bellamy, that's just insane."

Bellamy sat silently at the bar and had a drink while listening to his crew.

"Huff..." Lily sighed as she sat along in the corner. She actually hadn't left the bar since her humiliating loss to Nami. The large collection of empty mugs around her showed that she wasn't taking her loss of reputation well at all.

THUD! The doors slammed opened and Jobo came running in. "BAAAAAD NEEEEWSSS!" he screamed, gaining the attention of most of the bar. "THOSE GUYS! THE ONES THAT WERE HERE THIS AFTERNOON! THEY..." Jobo spotted Bellamy sitting at the bar. "BELLAMY! WHAT'RE YOU STILL DOING HERE? YOU'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! YOU'RE IN TERRIBLE DANGER!"

"Hmph," Bellamy scoffed in annoyance, "What are you talking about? How am I in danger?"

-x-

"Huff... huff..." Luffy panted as he and Y/N continued running along the shore. They were running by the forest on the south end of the eastern half of the 'U' shaped island.

Chip-chip-chip! A familiar trio of Praying Mantises came flying out of the trees and rushed forward to meet them.

"Friends of yours?" Y/N asked.

"We don't have time for this," Luffy growled.

"Agreed," Y/N said as he drew his sword. "Red Blade... HURRICANE!"

-x-

KRESH! Back in the bar at Mock Town a shocked man dropped his glass causing it to shatter on the floor. Jobo had just revealed the bounties he'd discovered on the heads of Luffy and Zoro. The bar was shocked silent at the thought of such a huge bounty. And the fact that they'd beaten on a pirate with such a big bounty was even more worrying.

"Sixty..." one man gasped.

"One hundred..." another whispered.

"THOSE TWO TOGETHER ARE WORTH A HUDNRED AND SIXTY MILLION!" Jobo shouted, it was pretty easy math. "THEIR BOUNTIES ARE HIGHER THAN YOURS BELLAMY! Know what that means? YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! AND SO ARE WE!"

-x-

Luffy and Y/N kept running, leaving the southern forest behind as they raced along the southern shore of Jaya. Lying in their wake was a trio of unconscious Praying Mantis that Y/N had taken down with just one attack.

-x-

"WE WERE LAUGHING AT THEM!" a man at the bar shouted as he shot to his feet. "I THINK WE MESSED WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE! THEY'LL KILL US!"

"You think they remember what we look like?" another frantic man asked as he stood up next to the first man. "WE SHOULD GET OUTTA HERE NOW!"

Bellamy's response was a low chuckle. "Heh heh heh heh heh!"

"I've never heard of anybody having a bounty worth a hundred million before," a third man admitted. Jaya was in the first half of the Grand Line where higher bounties weren't common.

"Hahahahaha!" Bellamy's chuckle had turned into laughter which slowly rose in volume, "HAHAHAHAHA HAAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAA! Hey, hey, hey, HEY! All it takes to scare you big tough guys are some little scraps of paper?" Bellamy spun around on his stool to face the rest of the bar. "What? Do you all have empty sockets for eyes? You saw their scrawny little leader."

-x-

"Huff... huff... huff..." Luffy panted. He and Y/N finally stopped running. They had reached Mock Town, "Made it."

"Now we just need to figure out where they are," Y/N reasoned.

-x-

"This is nothing but a sham!" Bellamy continued, "Here, I'll explain it to you morons. See, there are pirates like these losers who fake their own Wanted Posters just to make a name for themselves. The fakers win fights without throwing a single punch. Their enemies take one look at their bogus bounties and just turn tail and run. JUST LIKE YOU SORRY EXCUSES FOR PIRATES ARE DOING RIGHT NOW! You saw them! They're weak! They didn't even fight back! BUT NOW YOU'RE ALL SCARED! Pathetic."

"Thanks Bellamy!" one of the previously scared men exclaimed, "Hey, they almost pulled one over on us, huh?"

"Yeah, he's right," another man agreed, "Besides, someone with a bounty of one hundred million would've had to pull off some pretty big capers. He looked pretty young if you ask me. If that kid's so wanted, how come we've never seen his face in the papers before?"

"Good point," a third man remarked, "I've never heard of any kid in a straw hat, have you?" Relieved chuckles echoed through the bars as the pirates laughed at almost being fooled by an obviously fake poster.

"ALRIGHT! BACK TO THE PARTY!" a man cheered. "CHEERS!" Everyone relaxed and went back to drinking.

"BEEELLAAAAMYYYYYYY!" a loud shout sounded into the bar from outside. "WHEEEEREEEE AAAAREEEE YYYOOOUUUU!" The 'relieved' men promptly spat out their drinks in alarm. Luffy had actually come. Jobo was whimpering as he hid behind the bar.

"Heh, excuse me gentlemen," Bellamy announced as he got out of his seat and walked out the swinging doors. He stood on the front steps of the bar but didn't see Luffy anywhere. The only one out on the wooden streets at this time of night was a red haired teen with an eye patch that was leaning against a building across the street. "Who the hell are you?"

"It's not me you need to worry about," Y/N replied, "he's up there." Y/N pointed up at the top of the Wild Cherry bar where Bellamy had beaten Roshio earlier that day.

"HEY!" a loud yell came from above them.

Bellamy looked up and found Luffy standing on the roof of the familiar five-storied bar.

"Well speak of the devil," Bellamy remarked, "We were just talking about you. You got something to say to me, kid?"

"I do," Luffy answered, "Give back Pop's gold, every bit of it, right now."

"Heh heh heh heh heh..." Bellamy let out a dangerous chuckle as he stared up at Luffy who was staring down at him.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!