Proud Fantasia Echoes:

-x-

DONG!

Luffy fell downwards. The gold ball on his arm had been shattered when he'd smashed Eneru into the golden bell. Eneru had hit the bell so hard that not only did the clapper strike against the side but he and the golden bell and had been blasted off of the cloud. Eneru, the bell and Luffy all dropped down out of the sky.

"YOU LISTENING POPS!" Luffy shouted. "SARUYAMA BROTHERS! I DID IT!"

-x-

Miles below on the Blue Sea, Shoujou and Mashira boht gasped. "Eh?"

Cricket smiled as he sat on his stump and stared up at the sky.

-x-

"THE CITY OF GOLD!" Luffy hollered. "IT WAS RIGHT HERE!"

DONG!

-x-

DONG!

"Aha-ha! That bone-head!" Usopp exclaimed. "HE DID IIITT!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Y/N asked.

"Unbelievably beautiful," Robin remarked as she heard the majestic ringing of the gold bell.

"Aw!" Chopper gasped. "That sound is...amazing! What is it?"

"Oh, you're finally awake," Y/N realized. "Luffy just rang the golden bell."

"..." Aisa gaped silently up at the sky.

"The Fire... of Shandora..." Kiko mumbled.

"It's come," Gan Fall resolved. "As I always knew it would. Destiny."

"Ah, this was the ringing that Noland heard," Sanji observed. "Now I get it."

"Piiieee! Piieee!" Pierre crowed as the sound of the bell.

-x-

DONG!

"Singing..." Conis commented as she heard the bell on the Going Merry and hugged Suu to her. "Listen... the Vearth is singing a song..."

"Suuu..." Suu cooed.

-x-

DONG!

The golden bell gave another loud ring as it fell from the sky.

McKinley and the White Berets stared upward in awe. "This is proof... God is real..."

-x-

DONG!

"This is surely a miracle," the Shandian Chief announced, "I had almost abandoned hope that we would ever hear the golden bell again. After nearly four hundred ears of silent, Great Warrior Calgara! Can you hear it? The unmistakable echo of the Fire of Shandora!"

-x-

DONG!

The Skypieans that had abandoned Angel Island heard the ringing on their boats.

"Good heavens!" one of them exclaimed. "What must have happened to this land?"

"What is that strange chiming?" another asked. "Could it be?"

"The legendary bell..."

"Did the Savior ring it? Is Eneru finally defeated?"

-x-

DONG!

"Montblanc Noland..." Wyper whispered down in Shandora as Zoro sat nearby. "Can you hear the bell sounding from beyond your grave? I'm sorry you've been kept waiting so long, may these chimes reverberate all the way to your descendants. Now rest in peace, Noland."

"..." Zoro stayed silent and smiled at the sound of the bell.

JULALALALALALALALA! Nola let out a loud roar as she sang along with the bell.

"You like the bell's ringing too?" Noland had asked Nola four hundred years ago. "Yeah, I bet you do."

JULALALALALALALALALA! Nola continued to sing. After four hundred years of silence the beautiful sound of the bell that she loved had returned to the island.

-x-

Miles down below in the Grand Line, the South Birds scattered and flew frantically in the air above the forest of Jaya.

"Old man, this is it," Mashira announced as he, Shoujou, Cricket and the rest of the Saruyama Alliance stood together at the shore of Jaya. They had all gathered to listen to the ringing of a majestic bell up in the heavens.

DONG!

"Yeah," Cricket said. "There's no doubt about it. Only one bell in this world could echo so far... and with such emotion."

"Awesome," Mashira remarked.

"Absolutely," Shoujou agreed.

"You know those giants you see on the Cumuluregalus Clouds?" Cricket questioned. "The story goes a little something like this... Whenever a human inhabits the sky and the sun's rays shine upon him, his shadow is reflected on the deep mist and then cast far across the horizon. To onlookers, the shadow looks as it if it's a gigantic monster looming above."

"You mean those aren't really giants?" Masira asked. He still remembered seeing the giant monsters in the sky when he'd first met the Straw Hats. "They're actually somebody's shadow? That would mean that we've already found irrefutable proof that people do live in the sky. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Cricket confirmed. "I once thought the story was a meaningless fantasy and dismissed it altogether. But it seems there is truth to this legend."

DONG!

"My ears are filled with the resounding cries of the golden bell," Cricket continued, "Heh, if a golden bell exists then why not an entire city? Noland was telling the truth! His reputation can finally be redeemed and with it our family name."

Cricket smiled. The Noland the Liar storybook still laid behind him on his stump.

"That's the reason you rang the bell, isn't it kid?" Cricket asked the large figure in the sky. "Shrewd move. You have my thanks. I won't forget this."

Sure enough up overhead was the shadow of a familiar man.

A man wearing a vest, shorts and a Straw Hat.

Cricket chuckled as he and the rest of the Saruyama Alliance stared up at Luffy's shadow in the clouds until it faded away. That was concrete proof that the Straw Hats had made it to the sky and that Luffy had been the one to ring the golden bell.

Cricket doubled over and suddenly started crying.

"Cricket!" Shoujou exclaimed as everyone crowded around him. "What's the matter?"

"It's those kids," Cricket sobbed as tears ran down his face, "I'm just glad they're safe. I was... I guess I was just... so worried."

"Aaahahahahaaa!" Shoujou and Mashira laughed. "Ookeekee!"

-x-

SPLOOSH! The golden bell continued to fall and splashed down into the Sea Clouds between Angel Island and Upper Yard close to where Giant Jack had fallen.

The large white wave that resulted from it rocketed the Skypiean ships that were nearby.

If that wasn't enough to frighten the Skypieans, the sight of the Maxim falling out of the sky certainly was. With Eneru out cold, the Maxim no longer had its power source. The Jet Dials that had been keeping it in the air finally gave out and it started to fall down out of the sky as well.

"Look! Up there!" as the Maxim fell towards them.

"Hey that's... God's ship!"

SPLOOOSSSHHH! The Maxim plunged into the water and caused all the ships to rock sky backwards. None of them noticed Eneru's unconscious body as he fell into the Sea Clouds along with his flying ship.

The ships finally recovered and the Skypieans stared in shock as the Maxim disappeared below the surface.

"He sunk!"

"God Eneru and His ship are..."

"Falling..."

And word quickly spread, Eneru was finally defeated. Their miracle had come at last.

"The bell's ringing ignites the Fire of Shandora," the Shandian Chief recited. "That long gone city that took pride above all in its prosperity. The reverberations serve as the island's song, proclaiming the end of the battle, a melody longing to be heard by the island and generations of its natives and supporters for four hundred years."

Although the journey of this restless island seemed nearly endless, time can not fade even its most distant memory. For long ago, people entrusted their words in the sound of the golden bell, placing each ring with words of faith and hope which resounded across the distant sea.

-x-

"My friends..." Cricket sighed as he smiled and stared up at the sky.

-x-

Nami sat beside Luffy who had fallen and landed on her cloud.

"It rang," Luffy resolved. "Hey I wonder if... if pops heard it."

"Yeah, I'm sure he did," Nami assured him.

"We're... right here..." Calgara's words had echoed with the golden bell to transcend life and death and finally reach Noland in the afterlife.

-x-

The Battle Ends:

-x-

Some of the Skypieans had come to investigate Upper Yard upon Eneru's defeat.

"Bind the ropes to the strongest trees," one of the them instructed as they tied ropes to the massive trees in the forest of Upper Yard so the others in their group could climb up them.

The Skypieans stopped briefly to revel at the Vearth they now stood on before they stared ahead at the gigantic forest that was ahead of them.

-x-

"Hey kid," Y/N called out to Aisa as Usopp and Chopper ran off.

"Two-Voice!" Aisa said as she stared warily at him.

"Thanks to you Nami was able to warn me about my other voice," Y/N told her. "If it hadn't been for you, I never would've realized what it was."

"I can't hear your other voice now," Aisa admitted.

"Nami warned me in time and I was able to beat it," Y/N explained. "It's quiet now but I know it'll be back eventually. Thanks to you, I now know what I'm up against. I'll never be able to properly repay you for that so please accept my sincerest thanks and know that you've helped me more than you can ever imagine."

"Hmm..." Aisa hummed to herself as she cocked her head to the side and stared up at Y/N.

"What's the matter?" Y/N asked.

"I don't know," Aisa replied, "Nami mentioned her boyfriend a lot while I was with her. I guess I expected you to be different."

Y/N frowned. "I'm not her boyfriend."

"You're not?" Aisa questioned. "But she said you were."

"Nami was... getting ahead of..." Y/N trailed off when he turned to stare at the forest. Aisa turned and looked in the same direction and her eyes widened in surprise as Laki walked out.

"Aisa... were you scared, dear?" Laki asked. She held up Aisa's newly filled bag of Vearth, "Surprise, your treasure."

"So what!" Aisa snapped. "Who cares!" Aisa burst into tears as she ran to her older cousin and hugged her around the waist. Laki smiled a hugged her back.

Y/N turned to face Kiko. "Hey Skykama, now that the battle's over you should probably find the rest of your group. Eneru's attacks look impressive and they hurt a lot but I don't think they killed anybody. Once you find them, get Eneru's forces out of here."

"Normally I wouldn't take orders from a Blue Sea Dweller," Kiko stated. "But after what you and your crew did, I'll make an exception." Kiko turned to Laki, "Laki, he's right. We need to move on Eneru's men while we still can."

"I'll look after this kid," Y/N offered. "After what she did for me and my crew, it's the least I can do. My crew's doctor just woke up. He's the best in my world so I'm sure that he can take care of Wyper."

Laki nodded and she and Kiko turned in time to see Kamakiri stumble through the trees with the help of another Shandian.

-x-

"Uuugghh..." Braham groaned as two Shandians helped them up. "The others?"

"They're fine," one of them reassured him. "Don't try to speak."

-x-

"Who's that over there?" a Shandian called out as he spotted Genbo slumped against a tree.

"Am I still alive?" Genbo asked himself in surprise.

Despite all their injuries, all twenty-one of the Shandian Warriors and Laki appeared to still be alive.

-x-

"No, you have to be treated right away," Chopper stated as he and Usopp stood in front of Zoro.

"My wounds aren't that severe, really," Zoro told the Doctor then motioned over to Wyper "That guy, he needs more help than me. Look after him."

Chopper and Usopp turned and saw Wyper lying unconscious nearby. After he'd heard the sound of the golden bell that had signified Eneru's defeat, the Shandian Warrior had finally passed out. Chopper ran over and began to assess Wyper's various electric burns from Eneru's attacks.

"It's true," Chopper realized. "His body's worn out. He's dying."

"Yeah, but he was trying to kill us," Sanji reminded everyone as he walked over. "We don't owe him anything."

"I know," Zoro agreed. "Doesn't make much sense but he was going all out like the rest of us."

"He's a hero?" Sanji questioned, "Seriously?"

Y/N led Aisa over to the others and she immediately went over to Chopper and Wyper.

"Help him raccoon-doggie," Aisa requested.

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper snapped. "Antlers! See?" Chopper sighed. Maybe the Sky Island didn't even have reindeer. "Don't worry. He'll survive."

Aisa's face lit up with a wide smile. "Thanks reindeer!" she exclaimed.

-x-

"Pierre, you're going to overexert yourself," Gan Fall admonished his faithful steed as they followed the path from Shandora to the Maxim's hanger. "Go rest with the Blue Sea People."

"Pieee!" Pierre refused.

"Very well," Gan Fall resolved as they entered the Maxim's hanger. "Then I want you to go gather the families."

-x-

"But I guess anything's possible," Sanji remarked as Usopp finished bringing him up to speed. Y/N, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin were all together with Wyper and Aisa in Shandora. "What do you think happened with Eneru and the bell?"

"Don't know," Usopp admitted. "I guess they must've crashed."

"The bell got knocked out of the clouds," Y/N stated as he tossed a Dial in the air and caught it. "Luffy must've smashed Eneru into it. "I sensed it falling from the sky while it was ringing."

Sanji shook his head as he glanced around him at the ruins. "So we have a City of Gold but in name only."

"This just means that our adventure in poverty continues," Zoro replied.

"Poverty?" Y/N repeated as he continued to catch the Dial. "What? Is a turtle filled with ship-loads of treasure back home not enough for you?"

"Uh... well we don't have that much money here," Zoro amended.

"I'll have you know that I managed to remove a gold gear half the size of the Going Merry from Eneru's ship," Y/N informed him. "Actually, I think I'll go find it."

Y/N caught the Dial and stuffed it in his top right pocket.

"Hey Y/N, where'd you get that Dial from?" Usopp inquired.

"Really? I just told you that I've got a solid gold gear that's half the size of our ship and you're focused on the Dial that I found?" Y/N questioned. "Why do I even bother?"

The bandages on Wyper's right hand were notably absent.

"I'd rather have Dials over gold," Usopp insisted. "That's something we just can't get from the Blue Sea."

"I'm to the point where I'd settle for some concrete news," Sanji said. "I hope Miss. Nami's alright. And where's Conis? This not knowing is driving me crazy."

"I'm sure they'll turn up eventually," Y/N said as he headed off. "When they do, tell Nami that I went to find some treasure."

-x-

The Going Merry sat silent and empty at the shore.

-x-

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave Wyper with the Blue Sea Dwellers?" Braham asked as the twenty-one Shandians gathered in the forest.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Laki reassured him. "It appears Aisa has befriended them."

"The Blue Sea Dweller was right," Kiko announced. "We have to act quickly. If the enemy awakens before we leave, we're finished. Let's banish Eneru's Priests to the clouds! HOOO!"

"Yeah!" the other Shandians cheered.

-x-

Back at Shandora, Chopper had moved onto Zoro and was wrapping bandages around his arm.

"So did you have a chance to patch him up?" Zoro inquired.

"All he needs now is rest," Chopper told him.

"HEEEEEEEEEYYYYY!" a familiar voice rang out.

The Straw Hats turned to see Luffy and Nami running towards them. They'd clearly stopped back at the Going Merry because Nami was now wearing a blue sweatshirt and they had Conis and Suu with them. Luffy had a fish stuffed in his mouth and was dragging a massive sack of food behind him.

"MISS. NAMI! MISS. CONIS!" Sanji sang out.

"LUFFY!" Usopp shouted.

"WE'RE BACK!" Conis exclaimed. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Suu..." Suu chimed in.

"I was afraid I wouldn't see any of you again!" Conis cried.

"Aaahh! She was worried!" Sanji sighed as he twirled around with hearts in his eyes.

"Oh please!" Usopp scoffed at him.

"I'm glad you guys grabbed some food," Zoro commented. "Where's it from?"

"We found the Priests' storage locker on our way back through the forest," Nami explained. She scanned the crew but couldn't find a familiar face.

"You're not-boyfriend left," Aisa informed Nami.

Nami blinked. Was she being called out by a child?

"It's a bit odd actually," Robin admitted, "You just missed him. He usually has better timing when you're concerned Miss. Navigator."

"How'd you guys get down anyway?" Usopp wondered.

"My Gum Gum Balloon," Luffy answered.

"Conis, where's your old man?" Zoro inquired.

Conis stiffened and looked down at her feet. "He... he um... well he... he protected me..." The sight of her father get blasted by Eneru's beam of lightning was still fresh in her mind. "And then Eneru..."

"I'm sorry..." Sanji apologized.

"Yeah, me too," Pagaya agreed.

"Me three," Luffy echoed.

"..."

The Straw Hats spun around and found Pagaya standing behind them.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" they yelled.

"Sorry, I'm alive," Pagaya pointed out.

"FATHER!" Conis cried out as she ran over and hugged her father.

"You were on the Lower Level of the White Sea?" Nami repeated after Pagaya explained how he'd managed to survive Eneru's blast.

"I found myself down there after being blasted from the ledge," Pagaya confirmed. "And I wasn't alone. Countless others ended up in the same spot while making their way towards Cloud End. Yet as we speak they're on their way back via the restored Milky Roads. They're returning to their homes on Angel Island now."

Yet another person had managed to survive Eneru's lightning.

-x-

"Oh wow," Y/N remarked. He arrived at the Maxim's hanger and found Gan Fall there with several members of God's Enforcers. "I didn't realize you guys were locked in here. But it was probably a good thing that we didn't get you out when we initially came by."

"Yes, all that lightning was devastating," Gan Fall admitted. "The Vearth of Upper Yard proved to be resistant to it though so being in this Vearth cave while the battle was going on was probably the safest place for them."

Just then, Pierre flew back into the hanger and was followed by a number of other Skypieans. Y/N smiled as wives reunited with lost husbands that they hadn't seen in years. He silently excused myself and went over to the gold gear that he'd come here for.

Gan Fall's formerly trapped enforcers and their wives bowed to Gan Fall. "Thank you, we owe you our lives God."

"It's just Gan Fall," Gan Fall corrected them. "I no longer go by that title. You were all forced to work in a place like this for six long years. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize Gan Fall," a woman said as tear ran down her face. "We owe you our lives and our homes."

"Oh no, that wasn't me," Gan Fall assured them. "When it came time to fight Eneru, I stood by and watched." Gan Fall turned and motioned to Y/N. "That young man from the Blue Sea is the one that saved your homes."

Y/N was in the process of rolling the huge gold gear towards the entrance when he suddenly found himself the focus of all the Skypieans.

"It's the Savior!" one of the women exclaimed as she recognized Y/N from his shadow. They dropped down bowed to Y/N.

"Whoa there," Y/N said. "I didn't save you guys. I just kept Eneru busy until the real savior could get there. If you want to thank someone, find my Captain. He's the one with the straw hat. He beat Eneru and rang the bell."

"But its thanks to you that we still have homes to return to," one of the women insisted.

"How can we ever repay you?"

"I can tell they're not going to let this drop..." Y/N realized. He looked over at the gold gear. "Well... I got this gear off of Eneru's flying ship. I know now that you guys were the ones that were forced to build this ship over the last six years... but do you think you could..."

"Carved it into a golden statue of you?" one of the enforcers suggested. "Consider it done."

"That won't be necessary," Y/N replied, "I was going to say break it up into smaller—wait, did you say golden statue?" Y/N shook his head. "No. No. That'd be vain. No statue. Could you just break it up into smaller pieces so its easier to move, store and sell?"

"Of course, Savior!" one of the enforcers quickly agreed.

Y/N shook his head, "I'm no savior."

-x-

The Shandian Chief and some of the other Shandians had joined the warriors on Upper Yard.

"God's army is gone," one of the Shandians reported. "But I don't think..."

"My Chief, do you really believe the four-hundred year rift can be mended so easily?" another Shandian asked.

-x-

"Ah, boy!" Usopp exclaimed. "I stuffed myself."

The Straw Hats had gone to town on the from the storage locker that Luffy had brought back. Luffy and Usopp were both swelled up like balloons.

"Well its getting pretty late you guys," Zoro pointed out. Night had fallen.

"It's time to hit the ship," Nami resolved.

"Whoa, you're not talking about leaving are you?" fat Luffy questioned.

"Relax," Nami told him. "All I meant was it would be a nice change of pace to go back to the ship and sleep in a warm bed."

"Usopp, can you believe what she just said?" fat Luffy asked.

"Hardly, it's sick," fat Usopp scoffed. "I mean, the thought doesn't even cross her mind to go out and look for gold. And she calls herself a pirate."

"Probably 'cause her boyfriend is already off getting some," fat Luffy remarked.

"Where is he anyway?" fat Usopp wondered. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Maybe he got lost," Zoro suggested.

"HOW'D YOU TWO LIKE FAT LIPS TO GO WITH YOUR FAT BELLIES!" Nami shouted.

-x-

Late into the night, no one noticed the Maxim as it flew upward through the dark sky.

A bloody and battered Eneru sat at his throne, "Its time," he resolved. "And soon, I will return! To the wide opened sky, the perfect home for a God! Pristine and unobstructed, yes, and best of all no rubber pests or Blue Sea Demons to get in my way! Yahahahahaha! I'll be sure no one gets near it! My own private paradise! A land boundless, exquisite, it's just like a dream which comes to life!"

Eneru's face lit up and pale light shine down on him. "MAXIM! Set sail and deliver Me to My new floating kingdom which shines brightly in the night! The land without end, THE ENDLESS VEARTH!"

And so Eneru flew straight up... towards the moon.

-x-

Down in the City of Shandora, Wyper's eyes finally snapped opened and he found himself heavily bandaged and in a beat.

"Where am I?" Wyper wondered.

"Inside the ruins of Shandora," a familiar voice answered. Wyper turned to see Gan Fall.

"Gan Fall!" Wyper gasped.

Suddenly Conis leaned over Wyper. "You shouldn't move yet," she warned him.

"You! You're a Skypiean!" Wyper realized.

"Rest Wyper," came another voice. Wyper turned again and saw the Shandian Chief.

"Chief!" Wyper exclaimed. "Please explain. Why are we here? Have we been captured by the Skypieans?"

The Chief shook his head, "We are all bound together. Made brothers by the war."

Wyper had spent his entire life at war with the Skypieans. But having spent so long in battle against the Skypieans and against Eneru, he couldn't seem to grasp that the war had ended.

"The golden belfry!" Wyper called out. "It's the Shandians sacred duty to defend it to the end!"

BONG! BONG! BONG! The sound of drums rang out in a distance.

Wyper sat up in a panic. "Listen, that's the sound of war drums announcing battle." He looked through the opening of the tent and saw a burning fire. "There's the signal fire too!"

"Patience Wyper," the Chief tried to placate him. "Rest a while longer. The heroism of our ancestors is clear. But whatever violence happened in the past, you must allow it to stay there. Our future starts here. This is our home now and we Shandians will make it a good one."

"I know," Wyper said, "But looking out there, I..."

"Yes, most often the call for vengeance can not be ignored," Gan Fall told him as he came over and helped the Chief carry Wyper out of the tent. "But today, it has been drowned out by a sea of voices screaming in celebration!"

Wyper's eyes widened shock. The signal fire was a huge bonfire. And the war drums were drums of celebration that Skypieans, Shandians, the Blue Sea Pirates and even the giant Nola were all dancing to.

"WE DID IT!" Luffy shouted as he stood by the fire in the middle of the party. Usopp and a collection of Skypieans and Shandians cheered along with him.

Sanji was dancing with a large lady, Laki was sitting with McKinley, Chopper was dancing with Aisa. Zoro was drinking with Braham and Genbo, Robin sat off to the side drinking by herself, Kamakiri was laughing, Kiko was dancing on top of Nola's head.

Gan Fall and the Chief both laughed at the sight of the joyous celebration.

Now reunited in the afterlife, even Calgara and Noland were celebrating and drinking together.

The battle was finally over.

There was only one person who wasn't happily enjoying herself. Nami sat to the side drinking on her own. Her eyes scanned the party for a familiar head of red hair.

"Hey..." Nami stiffened and realized that she'd been looking the wrong direction. She turned to see that Y/N had come up behind her without her noticing.

"There you are!" Nami exclaimed. "You've been missing for ages. Where have you been?"

"Well... I went to go get that gear," Y/N recounted, "And I had to spend a long time convincing some Skypieans not to make it into a golden statue. We eventually came to a compromise and I ended up having to bring a lot of stuff back to the ship."

"Well, you certainly know how to keep a girl waiting," Nami remarked. "But you're here now. So you can make it up to me. Come dance with me." Nami stood up then grabbed his hand and attempted lead him out into the party but Y/N stood rooted in place.

"About that..." Y/N stalled. "I think we need to talk."

Nami's eyes narrowed as Y/N's hand slipped out of hers and headed around one of the ancient buildings. Nami folded her arms across her chest and stalked after him.

Their disappearance went mostly unnoticed by the others who were celebrating. Mostly.

Nami rounded the corner and Y/N turned to face her. He opened his mouth to say something but Nami cut him off. "No."

"I haven't even said anything yet," Y/N pointed out.

"You said plenty," Nami said, "You said 'we need to talk'. That can only mean that you're about to try and break up with me. I'm not gonna let you do it, so I'm gonna save you the trouble giving me that speech you've no doubt been rehearsing since you jumped off that beanstalk."

"Nami, I can't..." Y/N started again but Nami cut him off again.

"This is obviously about the Eye, or your other personality," Nami said. "I understand. You don't need to push me away."

"No, you don't understand," Y/N insisted. "All this time I've been hiding behind the excuse that I wasn't in control of my actions when I was Red Eye. That it was the Eye that did all those horrible things. I can't hide from that anymore. It wasn't the Eye, it was me. I'm a psychopathic murderer. I almost killed you."

"But you didn't!" Nami argued. "We beat it! We beat it together! I can help!"

"HOW?" Y/N snapped. "Everything I thought I knew about it was wrong! All I know now is that I've got a psychotic second personality that's obsessed with killing as many people as possible! I have no clue how it got there or how to get rid of it! I don't even know who I am anymore!"

"I do," Nami replied. "You're the noble IDIOT that thinks breaking up with the girl that loves him is going to HELP HIM!"

"I'm sorry... if I led you on..." Y/N apologized, "But I'm trying to do the right by distancing myself from you as soon as I realized how messed up I am!"

"SCREW THE RIGHT THING!" Nami shouted. "What about Kitsune? You promised you'd take me shopping!"

Y/N hung his head. "I'm afraid that's something I can no longer do... Not until I've pulled my mind back together..."

"So what? I'm just supposed to wait around for you like an idiot?" Nami demanded.

"No, I don't expect you to do that at all," Y/N answered. "I don't have the first clue how I'm supposed to pull myself together. It would be cruel to make you wait for me. You've spent too much of your life held captive already. That's the absolute last thing I ever want to do to you. So I'm setting you free. Move on with your life. Find someone new to take you shopping."

WHAP! Nami slapped him across the face. "I DON'T WANT SOMEONE ELSE! I WANT YOU!"

Y/N held his cheek, "I deserved that."

"YOU'RE MY BROTHER'S TREASURE!"

"This can't be what you really want!" Nami berated him. "You love me! I know it! Luffy knows it! EVERYONE KNOWS IT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?"

"You're right... I love you," Y/N confessed. Nami flinched back. She'd been dying to hear him say those words. But now they were like a knife to the heart.

"But that's why I do have to do this," Y/N resolved. "You said it yourself, I have to take responsibility for my actions."

"THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Nami yelled.

"But that doesn't make it any less true," Y/N told her. "I killed so many people... There's so much blood on my hands... I owe it to them to pull my mind together and make sure it doesn't happen again and I don't go on another psychotic murdering spree. That's why as much as I don't want to, as much as it hurts, I have to do this. I can't be with you until I've pulled myself back together. I'm in no state to be with anyone now."

Nami's eyes watered but she refused to let any tears fall. "YOU'RE A JERK! WHY DON"T YOU TRUST ME!!" she screamed.

Y/N nodded. "You're probably right. But this is something I have to do. I'm sorry." Y/N turned away from her and started to walk away.

Nami refused to cry. Not in front of him. Her chest hurt. Probably from her broken heart. But she wouldn't cry. Instead, she settled for anger. She needed to do something to make him hurt as much as he'd just hurt her. Nami scanned the area for something hard to throw at him.

TONK! Something hard struck the back of Y/N's head.

"Was that a rock?" Y/N asked as he rubbed his head and then he looked down. "Oh." For some reason the sapphire raindrop on Nami's necklace instead looked like a teardrop. "I see. I guess I deserved that too." Y/N reached down and scooped the necklace up.

He looked back at Nami and saw that she had turned away from him. "I'm sorry Nami."

Nami bit her lip as she listened to his retreating footsteps. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure he was gone. Once she was sure she was alone, her tough façade shattered. She dropped to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. The dam finally burst and she cried her eyes out.

But she had forgotten to look up. A shadowed figure watched the crying Navigator from up on the edge of a ruin. A small plume of smoke hovered around the figure's mouth as they turned to look in the direction that Y/N had gone.

-x-

Aftermath of the Celebration:

-x-

THWHAM! A foot slammed into Y/N's face and he slammed into a tree.

Sanji stood there with his hands in his pockets, "You know, I was coming to terms with the fact that Nami-swan chose you over me. As much as I hate to admit it, you made her happier than I ever could. And at the end of the day, as long as Nami-swan's happy I'm happy."

"I probably had this coming," Y/N as he pushed himself up off the ground and to his feet.

"You're damn right you did," Sanji growled, "Because you're not making her happy anymore. You just broke her heart. So now I'm here to perform my duty."

Sanji reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"What's that?" Y/N asked as Sanji unfolded it.

"A list of people that asked me to kick your ass if you ever hurt Nami," Sanji answered.

"And you just carry that around with you all the time?" Y/N questioned.

THWAK! Sanji's foot slammed into Y/N's chest and drove him back into the tree. "That was from the old man with the pinwheel in Nami's village." Y/N fell forward onto his knees. THWHAM! Sanji slammed his foot down on Y/N's back. "That one was from Nami's sister Nojiko."

"Hah-ha..." Y/N laughed and spat up blood. "You know what the funny thing is? I know you're kicking me as hard as you can. But I can barely feel them. I'm already numb inside."

"Then I guess you won't feel these," Sanji resolved. THWAK! Sanji foot connected with Y/N's chest and blasted him up into the air. "That was from Mana." Sanji jumped up after Y/N and hit him with a big spinning kick. THWHAM! Y/N was blasted back into the tree and crashed to the ground in a heap. "And that one was from Vivi."

Tmp! Sanji landed in front of Y/N. "For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing. You're unstable and the last thing any of us want is for Nami to get hurt. But you should trust her." Sanji turned and headed off. "Pull yourself together. I don't want her to be sad for long."

Y/N was left alone. Almost.

"HEH-HEH-HEH! That was priceless!"

"Great... alone with the psychotic voice in my head."

"First you break up with the girl you love! Then you stood there and let him kick the crap out of you! HEH-HEH-HEH!"

"Once I'm rid of you, maybe I can fix things..."

"Rid of me? Cat's out of the bag now, I'M A PART OF YOU! You'll never be rid of me!"

"That's not gonna stop me from trying."

Y/N suddenly felt a strong presence with his treasure sense and began to follow it.

-x-

The celebration had gone on for four days. But it had finally winded down. Everyone was now asleep.

Well... almost everyone.

Luffy carefully snuck over the sleeping Shandians, Skypieans and even some cloud wolves as he made his way through the city. Luffy's face lit up with a wide smile when he finally spotted his crew.

"Great, there they are!" Luffy dashed up onto the raised platform and nudged Nami until she woke up. "Hey!"

Nami rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Whaat?" she whined.

"I know you've been upset the last few days," Luffy said, "But I thought of something that'll cheer you up."

"What... do you have another brother?" Nami dead-panned.

Luffy scratched the top of his hat. "You already met Ace."

"Then leave me alone," Nami complained as she laid back down.

Luffy frowned. Nami was sad. So if she needed a clown to cheer her up then that was just what he'd be.

"But this is our chance to steal the gold and run away!" Luffy exclaimed.

KA-CHING! Nami shot back up. "GOLD? WHERE?"

"Hey!" Luffy snapped at her. "QUIET LOUD-MOUTH!"

BONK! Nami clubbed Luffy over the head. "LOUD-MOUTH? YOU'RE A WHOLE LOT LOUDER THAN ME!"

"NO WAY, JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" Luffy shouted back. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE NAMI? LOUD!"

"WHAT?' Nami shrieked as she grabbed Luffy's collar and started shaking him. "YOU'RE CALLING ME LOUD? YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE YOU HYPOCRITE!"

Across from them, Usopp twitched until he couldn't take it anymore. "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP OVER HERE!" Usopp hollered and slammed his hand down beside him. WONK! It slammed down on Chopper's chest.

"YAAAAHH!" Chopper wailed in pain. "USOPP! YOU JUST HIT ME!"

"WHAT? THERE'S NO WAY I HIT YOU!"

"YEAH, YOU DID!"

Meanwhile, Luffy and Nami continued their screaming match.

"I'M A LADY, THERE'S NO WAY I'M LOUDER THAN YOU!"

"YEAH YOU ARE, BIG MOUTH!" Mission accomplished. She wasn't sad anymore.

Predictably, Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Chopper's loud shouts woke up some of the Skypieans and Shandians.

"Boy those Blue Sea People sure do like to party," a Skypiean remarked.

"After four days of this, you'd think they'd be worn out," the Shandian that had been sleeping next to him commented. "There's no way they can be human!"

-x-

After nearly waking everyone in the process, all eight Straw Hat Pirates had been gathered.

"So that's the plan guys," Luffy announced.

"I think he's right, gang," Usopp commented. "It's not every day we get to come to an island in the sky so let's make this trip worthwhile."

"Wow, he's so cool!" Chopper gushed to himself. "And this is so exciting!"

"I still don't think it's necessary," Y/N stated. "We could just ask. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to give us gold."

"What kind of treasure hunter are you?" Nami snapped at him.

"A good one?" Y/N replied.

"Could've fooled me!" Nami berated him. "If you're just gonna sit there and throw away a chance at a good thing, then you don't get a share!"

"Fine, I don't need one," Y/N retorted.

"Did I miss something?" Zoro wondered as he watched Y/N and Nami argue.

"He broke up with Nami-swan and she's upset about it," Sanji informed him.

"I'm still curious where all those new injuries came from," Robin chimed in. "I'm almost certain they're not from Eneru.

Y/N turned away from Nami. "I already told you, I fell."

"I've never known you to be all that clumsy," Zoro noted.

"I guess I was due then," Y/N reasoned.

"There is a foot shaped bruise on the side of your face," Robin pointed out.

"It probably came from an oddly shaped rock," Y/N said. "There's a bunch around here. Oh look, here comes Aisa. Now we can change the subject."

-x-

Early the next morning, a Shandian ran into the Chief's tent with urgent news.

"Chief! We found it!" he exclaimed. "We have just found the golden bell!"

"Ah, what?" the Chief gasped.

"Are you serious?" one of the warriors who had been with the Chief asked.

"Yes," the first Shandian Warrior confirmed. "It's hanging off of Giant Jack. But I don't know for how long. We're trying to pull it up now. We need every able bodied warrior at the western shore right now. We need to hurry."

"Let's go! Gather the tribe!"

"To the western shore!"

-x-

Word had quickly spread to Shandora and the Shandians ran off to find the bell.

"The belfry's been found!"

"Where?"

"This way! Come on!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, hurry!"

Robin walked down one of the many streets as two Shandians ran by. She now wore purple pants, an opened purple floral-patterned blouse and a darker purple laced up corset-like top under it.

"They found the belfry," one of them said to the other. "Get to the western shore."

Robin stopped in her tracks. "The belfry?"

"Robin!" Robin turned at the sound of her name and saw Y/N. "There you are. Did you hear? They found the golden belfry. I hear there's a Poneglyph on it."

Robin nodded and the two Straw Hats followed the Shandians to the western shore.

-x-

At the western shore, the Shandians had gathered near the fallen Giant Jack and had four long vines draped over into the Sea Clouds and were trying to pull the gold bell out of them.

"ONE MORE TIME!"

"One, two... UUUGGHHH!"

The Shandians had been struggling for a while now but had thus far only succeeded in pulling the golden bell up out of the Sea Clouds. They were still a long way off from getting it onto Upper Yard.

The Shandians had formed four long lines as they pulled and the vines struggled to pull the bell. Kiko, Braham, Kamakiri and Genbo were among the lines and were all pulling with all their strength.

One of the Shandians Warriors took his bandaged hand off of the vine and saw that his wounds had come open again. He ignored it and went right back to pulling.

"Damn it, we still need more people!" Genbo complained.

"It's the pride of Shandora," Braham stated, "We can't lose it."

"FOR SHANDORA!" Kiko shouted as he gave another hard pull. "HOOUUGGugggghhh..."

"Give it everything you've got!" Genbo called out. "ONE MORE TIME!"

The Shandians continued to struggle and groan but were making no progress.

Then the Skypieans appeared. Previously, this would have been a cause for hostility. But now the war between the two races was over. The Shandian smiled at the sight of their new friends and the Skypieans quickly joined the lines and started to pull along with the Shandians.

With the two formerly divided races now working together, the Shandians and Skypieans finally succeeded in pulling the golden belfry back up onto Upper Yard.

-x-

Back in Shandora, a group of Shandians and Skypieans stared in amazement as one of them stretched a rubber band that Usopp had shown them.

"Oh! You call this a rubber band?" the Skypiean exclaimed as he stretched the rubber band in between his hands much to the amazement of the others.

"Yeah," Usopp the salesman replied, "And here's some inside information about 'em, those babies are the primary thing that took down Giant Jack."

"Oh, my word!" one of the Shandians gasped. It appeared that Usopp had finally found a group that believed his lies.

"And I'm the only one in the world that has them!" Usopp boasted.

"Oh, wow!" the Skypiean remarked as he continued to tug on the rubber band.

"But wait, there's more!" Usopp contiued. "Namely..." Usopp chuckled to himself as he picked up a roll of sheet metal. "This piece of metal! Gather around folks and take a gander! This is no ordinary piece of metal, no siree! It came from our valiant vessel the Going Merry. It's withstood the Grand Line and Eneru's attack with barely a scratch! This here's the King of Metal Sheets! And just thing, it can all be yours! How 'bout it? Wanna trade some of your Dials for this?"

"No, not really," the Skypiean with the rubber band refused. "But I'll gladly trade you for this rubber hand!"

"So will I!" a Shandian cut in. "Got any more?"

"Me too!"

"I want three!"

"Ahahahahaha!" Usopp smiled wide and laughed to himself. They might not have bought his story about the metal sheet but the sky people were suckers for his rubber bands.

-x-

Zoro closed his eyes and focused on his training.

"Water... Light... Fire..." the swordsman thought to himself. "Their shapes can change. But even they..." "CAN BE CUT!" SLA-SLISH! Zoro slashed his sword and cut up a chuck of rock.

"AHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed loudly as he practically danced his way over with a sack filled with Dials on his back. "I'M SO LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY!"

"You sure are in a good mood Usopp," Zoro observed. "I'm assuming your trading went well."

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp giggled. "Oh yeah! And how! Just look at all the Dials I got! Just one little press... and voila!" Fwooosh! A small burst of flame came out of the shell in Usopp's hand.

"Well, good for you," Zoro said.

"You mean great!" Usopp exclaimed. "I can do so many things with 'em! The Usopp Workshop is gonna be totally revolutionized! Ahahaha! You know what? I could use one to store smells in your sword. That way you'd smell fresh cut melons every time you train! Sound good?"

"No thanks," Zoro declined.

"Oooh!" Usopp gasped. "Speaking of weapons! I'm gonna use these to make Nami's ClimaTact stronger! Not to mention my slingshot! I can't wait!"

Zoro sighed as he sheathed Kitetsu III and went back to training with Wado Ichimonji.

"So... where's everybody else, huh?" Usopp questioned.

"Luffy and the others are still inside," Zoro told him. "And Y/N and Robin went off to see about some rock." He sheathed his sword and resolved himself to the fact that he wouldn't get any more training done with Usopp bugging him.

"Inside?" Usopp repeated. He turned and stared at the massive, sleeping form of Nola. "That snake's still out, huh? It must be really tired."

"You'd be too if you danced for four days straight," Zoro pointed out. "I wonder what he was so happy about. Anyway, I hope they come out soon. When he wakes up I don't know how friendly he'll be."

"Huh?" Usopp asked. "Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Easy for you to say," Zoro retorted, "You didn't see him when he was mad. He's dangerous."

"Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Like I said, you didn't see him," Zoro insisted. "Just wait till he tries to eat you. You'll see what a pain he can be."

"Who? This well-mannered snake?"

"Usopp! Are you even listening to me?" Zoro snapped.

Usopp grinned as he turned to face Zoro and showed off his Tone Dial. Klik! "Who? This well-mannered snake?" "FOOLED YA WITH A TONE DIAL!"

"STOP BEING SO STUPID!" Zoro yelled at him.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed. "Me, stupid? But you're the one who got fooled! Ahahaha!"

-x-

Inside Nola, Luffy led Nami, Sanji and Chopper through the ruins in search of the gold that he'd seen inside the snake before.

"What the..." Sanji remarked as he stared at all the huge rocks that Nola had in her long belly. "And I thought Luffy ate too much."

"Are we there yet?" Nami complained.

"Hey, look! I told ya!" Luffy pointed out.

"WOW!" Nami gushed as she hugged a gold crown to her chest.

"This is the real deal!" Sanji noted as he held up a big gold cross.

"It's a bell!" Usopp exclaimed as he held up a gold bell-shaped ingot. "Just like the ones the big monkeys showed us!"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed as he held up a gold necklace. "See? See? See? There's so much stuff! And it's all ours!"

-x-

I Made It Here:

-x-

The Shandian Chief, the Shandians, Gan Fall and the Skypieans all stared at the beautiful golden belfry that they'd managed to pull back up onto Upper Yard.

"Wow..." one of the Shandians gasped in amazement. "So that's it? Amazing."

"It's beautiful!"

"I didn't expect it to be so big!"

"It's magnificent!"

"Aw but look... one of the side columns has broken off..."

"Yeah... what a shame..."

It was true. One the massive golden pillars that framed the two-story tall golden platform that the bell was on had broken off when they'd pulled it up out of the Sea Clouds. The gold column was now propped against one of the trees.

"Hey look, over there!" a Shandian pointed to the block that was embedded in the front of the golden platform. "Under the bell! It's the Poneglyph."

"That thing? So that's the stone our ancestors gave their lives to protect?"

"Chief, the words that are inscribed on it, what do they say?"

"It's an ancient text," the Chief told them. "Impossible to read."

"We shall know the true meaning and mutter it to no one..."

The Chief stiffened when he recognized the words and the group turned to see Robin and Y/N approaching.

"Make way," Y/N called out, "Best Archeologist in the World, coming through."

Robin shook her head as they stopped next to the Chief at the front of the group.

Robin continued, "It's our legacy to be the inheritors of history and our duty to protect it with the sounding of the Grand Belfry."

The Chief stared at Robin in shock, "Those words... how do you know them?"

"They were inscribed on a wall in the ruins of Shandora," Robin explained. "Generations ago, your people were entrusted to be its guardians, correct?" Robin continued forward and read the Poneglyph.

"You... you can actually read them?" the shocked Chief sputtered, "Those ancient characters?"

"Didn't I just say she's the best archeologist in the world?" Y/N questioned. "She can read anything." Y/N walked up next Robin. "What's this one say?"

"It mentions Poseidon," Robin answered, "And ancient weapon named after a God. It even gives its whereabouts."

"Are you certain?" a Shandian asked as the crowd murmured, "An ancient weapon?"

"But why would it say something like that?" another Shandian wondered.

"Another weapon, huh," Y/N noted, "First Pluton, then Poseidon. I guess this Void Century of yours really was a time of great and terrible war."

"To think there are dangerous things like this out there in the world, all just waiting to be found," Robin commented. She turned away from the Poneglyph, "Just another dead end."

"This isn't what I was looking for or what I wanted to know," Robin thought to herself.

"Hey Robin, what's this stuff on the side say?" Y/N called after her.

Robin stopped in her tracks and turned to see similar characters carved into the gold platform of the Grand Belfry.

"Gol D. Roger..." Robin read off of the additional inscription.

"Wait... you mean Gold Roger... right?" Y/N asked.

"No," Robin replied. "I know these characters. It's broken up. 'D' is the middle initial."

"Hm... I've gotta tell Ace," Y/N remarked. "What's it say?"

Robin recited the Pirate King's addition to the Poneglyph. "'I have made it here and I will guide this passage all the way to the farthest ends of the Earth. The stormiest seas will not stop me. Pirate Gol D. Roger.'"

"The Pirate King... this can only mean that he came to the Sky Islands," Robin realized. "But what in the world could his words mean? Any more importantly, how was he able to understand this ancient language?"

"So it says 'Roger' does it?" Gan Fall inquired from where he was sitting on a tree root.

"You know him?" Robin asked.

"Ah yes," Gan Fall replied, "A Blue Sea Pirate. I met him when he came to this land over twenty years ago."

"I have no idea how he reached this bell," Robin admitted, "But somehow he did. And this inscription was proof that we has here."

"..." Robin was silent for a moment but then an idea struck here, "Now that I think about it. There are two kinds of Poneglyph stones. Ones that provide information and others that tell how to reach other Poneglyphs scattered throughout the world. This Poneglyph obviously has information. 'I made it here and I will guide this passage all the way to the farthest ends of the Earth.' Guide this passage... guide..."

Robin's eyes flew wide opened, "Could he... could he mean the Rio Poneglyph." Robin turned to face the Shandian Chief. "Chief, this Poneglyph... its duty has been fulfilled."

"Its duty?" the Chief repeated.

"Yes, I have a hunch about these Poneglyphs," Robin explained. "As I've said there are certain ones spread across the world that contain information. By reading them as one I believe they will form a passage that will reveal the True History of the Void Century. In other words, the passage completed by connecting them will make up a final Poneglyph that's yet to be discovered. The Rio Poneglyph. Gol D. Roger must have taken the text from the Poneglyph here to the island where the Rio Poneglyph may very well be located."

"Raftel?" Y/N supplied. Robin nodded and a wide smile spread across Y/N's face. "Do you know what that means?" Robin shook her head and Y/N surprised her when he slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "That's where Luffy and I are heading to find Roger's legendary treasure the One Piece. If you wanna achieve your dream and find this Rio Poneglyph, that means you're stuck with us all the way to the end." Robin smiled.

"Does that... does that mean that our duty as been fulfilled as well?" the Chief spoke up. Y/N slid his arm off of Robin's shoulders. The Chief stared to cry. "Does that mean... we... don't have to fight any longer? Then our ancestors' wish has been fulfilled." The Chief dropped to his knees and his sobs grew in volume which worried some of the Shandians. "Thank goodness! Our war is finally over!"

"Well, I have to get back to fulfilling my duty," she resolved as she turned to leave. "Like Roger before me, I must guide this passage and the other ones I've read all the way to the end of the Grand Line to the island of Raftel."

"And Luffy and I will be beside you ever step of the way," Y/N assured her.

"Well, then, where were we," Gan Fall mused as the two Straw Hats came passed him. "I was about to tell you how much your friend in the Straw Hat reminds me of Roger."

Y/N crossed his arms. "You've been holding out on us, old man," he complained. "Do you know how much Luffy would have loved to hear about the Pirate King? The guy's his hero."

"You remind me of someone that was with him," Gan Fall noted, "His First Mate. He went by the name 'Silvers'. Interesting how you and your friend with that hat remind me of those two."

"His name's Monkey D. Luffy," Robin stated, "And I find very interesting as well."

"D.?" Gan Fall repeated. "So the lad has the same middle initial as Roger? Hahahahaha!"

"Yes, and I'm sure there's got to be some historical significance to that," Robin replied.

"Pardon me," the Chief spoke up. "But I recall you and your friends saying you sought gold. Didn't you say it was more valuable than Vearth on the Blue Sea?"

"Yes," Y/N answered, "That's why we came here in the first place, to find the City of Gold."

"We obviously can't offer you the belfry..." the Chief pointed out then he looked over at the gold pillar that had broken off. "But how about the broken pillar?"

"That's a great idea!" a Shandian exclaimed. "We have to give something to our heroes! That's a perfect token of our appreciation."

"Please take it. We insist."

Y/N turned to look at the pillar and his jaw dropped opened at the sheer size of it.

Robin reached up and closed his mouth for him. "I believe we'll take it... if you're sure."

"Yes, of course," the Chief agreed.

"Alright everybody!" Genbo called out once they'd laid the massive gold pillar on the ground. "Let's bring this gift to our friends in the Blue Sea."

"If we wrap it up, it'll be easier to carry," another Shandian suggested. "It'll take every one of us to move it."

"Yeah, you're not kidding."

Y/N grinned as he stared at the gold pillar, "And she said I wasn't a good treasure hunter."

-x-

Luffy tapped his foot impatiently back in Shandora. He had a big sack of gold tied on his back. "Aww... come on Y/N... Robin..." he complained. "We can't wait too long!" Luffy's stomach rumbled. "Oh, I'm so hungry..."

"There's not a soul in sight," Sanji pointed out as he held his own large sack of gold. "I've gotta admit, this is pretty weird. I wonder where all those angels and warriors ran off to and why."

Zoro sat on the ground while Chopper stood next to him with his own big sack of treasure.

"Hey, be thankful they're gone," Usopp pointed out as he held his sack of Dials. "Trust me, if they see us making a run for it with all the loot you pulled from their favorite giant snake, well they're not gonna be too thrilled. Nami and Conis probably have the ship ready to sail so Y/N and Robin had better hurry and get back here quick. We've gotta go."

"What did they say they were doing together anyway?" Luffy wondered.

"Alright, enough," Zoro decided as he stood up. "I'm tired of just sitting around. You guys can wait for them. I'm gonna go to the ship."

"MORON!" Usopp yelled at him.

"JERK!" Luffy yelled.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" Sanji demanded.

"STUPID HEAD!" Chopper chimed in.

A comedic dust ball brawl ensued that saw Chopper go down with the first punch, Luffy laughing and Zoro and Sanji furiously trading blows while Usopp whimpered in pain. BONK! Usopp was knocked out of the dust ball and hit the ground in time to see Y/N, Robin, the Shandians and the Skypieans approaching with the massive wrapped pillar.

"MISS. ROBIN! YOU'RE BACK!" Sanji called out.

"HEY! ROOBIIIIIN!" Luffy shouted. "HURRY UP!"

Y/N looked over at Robin, "Seriously. I've been his brother for years and you're the one he calls out for."

"YOU GUYS! RUN!" Luffy continued to holler. "WE'VE GOTTA LEAVE! WE STOLE SOME GOLD!"

"STOP SHOUTING THAT WE STOLE GOLD!" Sanji berated him. "Moron! There are people right behind them! They can see and hear you too!"

"AAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed. "IT'S AN ARMY!"

"AAAAH!" Usopp shrieked along with Chopper as he saw the side of the crowd carrying the giant wrapped pillar. "NOT GOOD! THAT BIG THING CAN ONLY BE ONE THING! A CANNON!"

"WAAAHH!" Chopper wailed. "I HATE CANNONS!"

"Just our luck," Zoro muttered, "They'd all come back at once."

"ROBIN! Y/N!" Luffy hollered. "GET THE LEAD OUT! WE'VE GOTTA GET BACK TO THE SHIP NOW!" Luffy turned around to show off the gold in the sack on his back. "CHECK OUT THIS GOLD! I BET WE FOUND EVERY PIECE ON THE ISLAND!"

Whap! Y/N slapped himself on the forehead. "Idiot."

"From here it looks like they've already packed their bags," a Shandian noted.

"Oh no! They're not leaving already!" a Skypiean exclaimed.

"Hold on you guys!" a Skypiean called out. "DON'T GO! STOP!"

"Oh great," Sanji complained. "Here they come. Start running!"

"RUUUUUNNN!" Luffy shouted to his crew as he turned and took off running to keep the crowd that was trying to give him a massive column of gold from discovering the small sack of gold that he'd stolen.

"Well... I guess it's up to me to handle this one," Usopp realized. He jumped up onto a raised stone then struck a pose and shouted to the 'attacking army' and their 'giant cannon'. "STOP? STOP YOU SAY? LIKE HELL WE'LL STOP!"

"YEAH, YOU TELL 'EM USOPP!" Luffy cheered.

"WE RISKED LIFE AND LIMB TO COME TO THIS ISLAND IN THE SKY!" Usopp yelled. "AND THEN WE FOUND THE CITY OF GOLD! SO IF YOU THINK WE PIRATES ARE LEAVING EMPTY-HANDED YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING! YOU'LL NEVER CAPTURE US!"

Whap! Y/N slapped himself again. "He's an idiot too."

"Capture them?" a Shandian repeated. "What's he talking about? The only thing we're trying to do is thank them."

Another Shandian addressed Y/N and Robin, "Is there a problem? You and your friends want this gold, right?"

Robin shrugged, "I guess we don't." She turned and ran after the others.

"WHAAAAT?" the crowd of Sky People shouted.

"LET'S GOOOOO!" Luffy shouted as he, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper took off running with Robin running after them to catch up.

"I CAN'T TURN AROUND!" Chopper cried. "I KNOW THEY'RE CHASING US!"

"Aahaha!" Usopp laughed, "Zoro, did you see me take care of 'em back there?"

"Heh heh," Zoro chuckled, "Yeah, not bad."

"HEY MISS ROBIN!" Sanji called back to the archeologist. "Better hurry up!"

"HEY! COME BACK!" the Sky People yelled. "WAIT!"

"DON'T STOP!" Luffy urged his crew. "LET'S GO TO CLOUD END!"

"AYE!" his chew chorused.

And like that, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin ran off.

Whap! Y/N stood next to the gold column and slapped himself on the forehead a third time. "Idiots. They're all idiots."

-x-

Heartfelt Finale:

-x-

Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin ran through the forest of Upper Yard towards the Going Merry.

"Sanji! Did we lose 'em?" Usopp called out.

Sanji turned back to look behind them, "Looks like they gave up. I don't see anyone."

"Really?" Usopp sighed in relief. "Well that's good. To be honest, that giant cannon really scared me. Where were they hiding that thing? And how come they didn't use it against Eneru?"

"Their cannon?" Robin repeated.

"Yeah, you know, that huge thing the warriors were carrying towards us!" Usopp exclaimed. "Didn't you see it!"

"Oh, you mean that thing," Robin said with a smile.

"Yeah, that thing!" Usopp replied. "What's wrong with you? Its not funny! Why do you think we're running?"

"Yeah Robin!" Chopper chimed in. "Usopp's right! Don't laugh, okay?"

"We made it!" Luffy announced from the front of the group. "There's Nami and Conis."

"Where?" Sanji asked with hearts in his eyes. WHAM! He promptly ran into a tree branch.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked as she ran passed him.

"OH YEAH!" Sanji answered as he jumped back to his feet.

They reached the Going Merry where Nami, Conis, Pagaya and Suu were waiting.

"I see you've got the gold," Nami noted. She was wearing a sleeveless gray top with 'Evil' written across the front and blue short shorts. "But it looks like you're missing someone."

"SHIT!" Zoro cursed. "WHERE'S Y/N?"

"WHAT?" Luffy shouted. "THAT ARMY MUST'VE CAUGHT HIM!"

"BIG BROTHER'S BEEN CAPTURED?" Chopper shrieked.

"NOOO Y/N!" Usopp cried. "THEY GOT HIM! I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM!"

"Maybe I kicked him too hard..." Sanji mumbled.

"I believe Mr. One Eye elected to stay behind and deal with that... cannon," Robin supplied. "I'm sure he'll catch up."

"Yeah, Robin's right!" Luffy agreed. "Y/N's gotten outta tons of tough spots before. He's even gotten me out of a bunch of them."

"Whatever," Nami grunted. "We've gotta set sail while we still can. If he can't catch up to us and gets left behind then it's his own fault."

"What, no way!" Zoro protested. "I'll go back and get him."

"Idiot!" Nami snapped at him. "With your sense of direction you'll get lost and you'll never be seen again! Hurry up and get on the ship. Y/N can take care of himself."

-x-

"Alright, alright, put it down," Y/N instructed. "We'll never catch them at this rate."

"Does this mean you still want the gold?" a Shandian questioned.

"Yes, I still want the gold," Y/N confirmed. "We just need a more efficient way to carry it. Don't you guys have some kind of Dial that you use to move big vehicles? Eneru had a bunch on the bottom of his ship. Can't we use some of those?"

"He's right!" a Skypiean realized. "If we set some Breath Dials to the bottom of the pillar they should blow it up into the air so we can just pull it along."

"We should have some left in our skis," one of the Shandian Warriors realized.

"Quick, let's grab some! Gather as many skis as you can!"

"Don't go anywhere Sky Savior!"

The collection of Shandians and Skypieans ran off in the search of Breath Dials.

"I told you I'm not the..."

"Sky Savior!" Y/N shook his head and turned to face McKinley and the White Berets. "Heso!"

"Oh, you guys," Y/N noted. "I haven't seen you around the last couple of days. And I keep telling everybody. I'm not the savior. Luffy was the one that beat Eneru."

"We've spent the last three days helping Skypieans return to their homes on Angel Island," Captain McKinley told him, "Homes that they wouldn't have any more if it weren't for you." McKinley turned to one of the other White Berets. "Present the gift!"

One of the other White Berets ran forward and held out a folded piece of blue and white fabric. Y/N took it and it unfolded to reveal that it was a blue button up shirt with cloud designs on it make from the same material as the White Berets' pants.

"Oh wow, a cloud shirt!" Y/N exclaimed as he pulled it on over his black t-shirt. "I've always wanted one of these."

McKinley stepped forward and took off his beret and placed it on Y/N's head.

"The duties of the White Berets are to defend the people of Skypiea," McKinley stated. "You saved Angel Island. Consider yourself an honorary White Beret."

With the White Beret on his red hair and the opened cloud shirt over his black t-shirt and cargo pants, Y/N almost looked the part as he held his hand behind his head and extended his index finger and pinky upward. "Heso."

"HESO!" The White Berets chorused as they returned Y/N's salute.

"What's this? Have your friends ran off without their gift?" Gan Fall asked as he and the Shandian Chief arrived.

"They thought it was a cannon and ran away," Y/N dead-panned. "But because I'm in charge of their finances, I couldn't let your gift go to waste.

"How disappointing," the Chief remarked. "After all they did for us. I wonder if they realize how much we appreciate them."

"I agree," Gan Fall said, "They don't know how we feel."

"I'll be sure to tell them when I catch up with them," Y/N assured them. "Although... I may need a ride to Cloud End."

"CONSIDER IT DONE!" McKinley barked. "The White Berets will provide you with a full escort to Cloud End so you can reunite with your crew."

"Oh, thanks guys," Y/N replied.

"And when you reach them, be sure to express our sincerest thanks for everything they've done for us," the Chief requested. "This land will always be in debt to your crew of heroes from the Blue Sea World."

"I'll be sure to pass that on," Y/N assured him. "But you know... you do have that giant bell now... I think if you rang it you could send them that message yourself."

-x-

Off to the side, Laki was behind Aisa and was cutting the girl's hair.

"You know Aisa," Laki remarked. "It's not fair that you were the only one that got to say goodbye to the others. Everyone's really upset that we let our heroes just run away."

Aisa giggled, "Sorry, Luffy and the others told me that they were going to steal some gold. They made me promise to keep it a secret."

"Did you say anything to them before they left?" Laki inquired.

"Yeah," Aisa replied as she thought back to the night before when she'd said goodbye to the Straw Hats. "I said 'thank you all'."

Laki smiled as she continued to cut her young cousin's hair.

"Hey Laki, did you see what Luffy can do?" Aisa asked excitedly. "He can stretch! And he's really strong! He's an awesome warrior!"

"Aisa, please, you've got to hold still," Laki reminded her.

"I never knew there were warriors like him in the Blue Sea," Aisa admitted. "I wanna be just like him when I grow up. A super strong warrior!"

"Aisa, I'm just going to trim your hair a little," Laki informed her. "You need to let it grow. I think you've forgotten you're a girl and girls should look cute."

"What?" Aisa squeaked. "Cute? Me? Are you nuts? I told you, I'm gonna be a strong warrior!"

"But Aisa, the war is over now," Laki pointed out, "Now there's no need for girls like you to become warriors. Now you can enjoy life as a proper young lady."

Aisa grinned cheekily, "I never knew you were so ladylike!" Aisa teased her then shouted. "LAKI'S LADYLIKE!"

"Aisa!"

-x-

Wyper sat in front of Calgara's statue. His body was still covered in bandages and his arm was in a sling. Kiko, Kamakiri, Braham and Genbo all stood behind him.

"Great Warrior Calgara," Wyper addressed his ancestor's statue. "We were told that that Shandian's role has been fulfilled. As for your last wish, it was delivered to your best friend. Our future generations will no longer have to shed blood. We're finally at peace. The war may be over but one thing that will never end is our pride. Please, continue to guide us mighty Calgara and watch over us as well. We solemnly swear, the Fire of Shandora will never die."

"Wyper, this may be a bad time," Kiko spoke up, "But I believe one of the Blue Sea People may have stolen your Reject Dial."

"That's probably a good thing," Kamakiri told him. "Wyper used it three times and look at the condition his arm's in. If he used it again he could've lost it completely... or worse."

"Let them have it," Wyper said. "The war is finally over. We'll continue to defend Shandora from any others that would do it harm but we no longer need such weapons. Something tells me those Blue Sea People will need it more than us."

-x-

"READY, WHITE BERETS?" McKinley shouted.

"READY!" Y/N and the White Berets shouted.

WOOOOOSSSHHH! The Breath Dials on the bottom of the gold pillar came to life and it lifted up off of the ground. Y/N, McKinley and the rest of the White Berets held onto the eight ends of the four vines that had been wrapped around the pillar.

SSHOOOOOM! The White Berets used their Dial Skis while Y/N had reclaimed the skyboard that he'd stolen from Kiko. Together, Y/N and the White Berets pulled the pillar through the city towards the forest.

"Goodbye!" the street was lined with Shandians and Skypieans that all waved as they passed.

"Thanks for everything!"

"Thank you Sky Savior!"

"I told you, I'm not the Savior!"

"Good luck!"

"Come back some day!"

The last of the gold pillar disappeared into the forest and Gan Fall suddenly found the Shandian Chief grinning at him.

"I already told you," Gan Fall said, "I can not abandon my duties. I am the Sky Knight after all."

"Yes but this land no longer has any need for that role," the Chief told him. "What it does need is someone that can govern it, someone who is kind and just. I believe that duty is best suited for you."

"Perhaps you should be looking at yourself," Gan Fall suggested. "Remember, this city originally belonged to your people."

"It did, long ago," the Chief agreed. "But that means nothing now. In fact, with this battle, all of us realized something. Vearth belongs to no group. It must be shared. Our world has two sides, two nations, the Shandians and the Skypieans. We have been torn apart by war for ages. Only a man who has long lamented that war can unite us. And that man is you. So Sky Knight Gan Fall, I'd like you to take Skypiea's throne again. Only you can heal the deep wounds that scar this land of ours."

"We'd like you to do it too sir!" a Skypiean called out.

"Gan Fall, please!" another one pleaded.

"We Shandians are behind you all the way," a Shandian announced.

"Yeah!" another Shandian agreed.

"Please come back God!" someone shouted.

"Well, well," Gan Fall remarked, "And here I was thinking that I'd finally be able to get some rest and tend to my pumpkin patch."

"YEEEEAAAAHHH!" the Skypieans and Shandians all cheered at Gan Fall's agreement to take up his old position of God of Skypiea. They all knew he would be fair and just as a leader.

-x-

Pagaya's horn blared as he, Conis and Suu sailed alongside the Going Merry to Cloud End.

"Okay! We're almost there!" Conis called out to the Straw Hats on the Going Merry. "Everyone, see that up ahead? That's Cloud End?"

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper raced to the front of the ship. Up ahead of them was a small collection of buildings but the main focus was the large tunnel with a rainbow going over it. The tunnel was marked with a sign that said 'Cloud End'.

"Oh, so that's where we go back down from?" Luffy questioned.

"We got here sooner than I thought," Usopp noted.

"Good, then we can wait for Y/N here," Luffy decided. "Drop the anchor."

Zoro spun and threw the anchor off the side of the ship. It hooked on the front of a path that ran alongside the entrance to the tunnel. The Going Merry slowed to a stop in front of the tunnel.

"It sounds crazy but I'm really gonna miss this place," Sanji admitted.

"I think it's time we said goodbye to the White Sea," Zoro decided, "Once Y/N gets back."

"The Sky Island sure is fun," Chopper commented, "But scary too."

"So we just go through that gate there'll be a Milky Road that'll take us to the Blue Sea?" Usopp recounted. "We just have to wait for Y/N..."

"I still say we should just go without him," Nami grumbled. "It's his fault he couldn't be here in time."

"WHAT?" Chopper shrieked. "We can't leave without Big Brother! He's First Mate!"

"Easily fixed," Nami replied, "Zoro, you're a useless lay-about, it's time for you to take some responsibility. You're First Mate now."

"Like hell," Zoro snapped. "I quit. Being First Mate would mean having to deal with you more than necessary. Without Y/N around to distract you, you'd be an even bigger pain in the ass. I think we should leave you behind!"

"WHY YOU!" Nami yelled. She started towards Zoro but Robin caught her by the wrist.

"Come with me," Robin instructed as she pulled Nami to the storage room.

"He started it!" Nami complained.

"No, you did," Robin corrected her. "You've been a lot more irritable lately the last couple of days and I think we both know the cause. Clearly, you've got something on your mind so let's talk."

Robin pulled Nami down into the women's quarters but then stopped short at the bottom of the stairs. "Those are new."

Across the room where Nami's bed used to be, were two new slightly narrower beds that faced towards them instead of sideways against the wall like Nami's bed had once been.

"He got them from the Skypieans," Nami stated. "They're made of the same cloud material that they use on their furniture. He also got three cloud bunk beds for the guys."

Robin crossed the room and sat down on one of the beds, "Oh my, this is heavenly."

Nami flopped down on the bed next to her, "Does this mean you'll actually sleep down here for a change?"

"With a bed like this it would be a waste not to," Robin remarked.

Nami folded her arms under her chin. "I don't wanna talk about him. I don't care about him. I hate him. I just wanna forget about him and move on."

"Oh good," Robin replied, "In that case once he pulls himself together, I'll date him."

"WHAT?" Nami shrieked.

"He's good looking, intelligent, he's made it his mission to help me find Poneglyphs," Robin pointed out. "I've got ten years on you, I know how to wait for what I want. Since you're no longer interested maybe I'll try my hand once he's ready."

WHUMP! Nami tackled Robin on her bed. "LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"

Robin smiled. "See?" she said. "If you didn't care about him, you wouldn't be angry."

Nami scowled then slipped off of Robin and sat on the side of the bed. "It hurts..."

Robin sat back up, "And how do you think he's feeling? He'd sooner cut off his own arm then intentionally hurt you. He let Mr. Cook kick the stuffing out of him that night because he hurt you. He even covered from him."

"..." Nami bit her lip.

"He didn't say you could never be together, did he?" Robin pointed out. "He broke things off because he needs time to pull himself together. But he should trust you."

"NAMI! ROBIN!" Usopp shouted from up in the storage room. "Y/N'S BACK! AND HE'S GOT THE CANNON!"

Robin got up and made her way over to the stairs but stopped short from going up them. "Not that I'm really interested in such things but that cannon that he stayed behind to get is a pillar of solid gold that's over five times as long as this ship." Robin disappeared upstairs.

Nami laid back on Robin's bed and smiled faintly. "Damn it, I can't even hate him."

-x-

Robin came out onto the deck and saw the others had gathered on the rear deck as Y/N and the White Berets sped up to the Going Merry while pulling the wrapped gold pillar between them.

"Hold onto this for a second," Y/N requested. SHOOOOM! Y/N used his skis to jumped from the Sea Clouds onto the back railing of the Going Merry.

"Wow Y/N!" Luffy exclaimed. "You escaped from the army and stole their cannon!"

"Yes Luffy..." Y/N growled, "I escaped from a hostile army that was upset that you stole meaningless and forgotten gold from the belly of a snake, turned the White Berets against them and together we all stole their giant cannon and came after you."

The only one who didn't pick up on Y/N's sarcasm was Luffy.

"WOW! REALLY?"

"Oh yeah, really, but one the other hand..." POW! Y/N socked Luffy in the face and knocked him on his back. "You could stop being an idiot and behave like a rational person for two minutes! That giant cannon is a pillar of solid gold that broke off of the Grand Belfry. They were giving it to us as a gift! That army that was chasing you was a group of eternally grateful people that wanted to thank you for everything you had done for them!"

"You serious?" Luffy asked.

"Its true Luffy," Robin spoke up. "I was there when they presented us with the pillar."

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "Ooops! Guess we didn't have to run off anyway! Isn't that funny guys? Guys?" Luffy looked behind him to find his crew glaring at him.

"YOU IDIOT!" Sanji yelled at him.

"YOU MADE US WORRY FOR NOTHING!" Usopp shouted.

"I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE!" Chopper shrieked.

"WHY DO WE EVER LISTEN TO YOU?" Zoro demanded.

And so the angry male Straw Hats attacked their Captain and another dust ball brawl ensued.

"Guys, quit playing around," Nami called out from the top of the stairs. "Y/N's back so we have to get going."

Robin took a big step to the side and left Y/N and Nami staring at each other. Nami leaned to the side and eyed the gold pillar that was bigger than their ship. KA-Nami snapped her eyes closed to keep the usual berri signs from appearing.

"You have a plan to get that thing back to the Blue Sea?" Nami asked.

Y/N rubbed the back of his neck, "I was going to ride it..."

Nami nodded then lowered her gaze to the dust ball. "KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!" Nami reached into the dust ball and pulled out a laughing Luffy. The other four kept fighting for another couple of seconds before they realized that the person they were all attacking was gone. Nami spun and threw Luffy down the stairs to the main deck. "Let's get going already!"

Nami turned to follow Luffy down the stairs but stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "That cloud shirt looks good on you."

Y/N stared after her in surprise then looked over at Robin. She smiled faintly and shrugged. "I did what I could."

"Thanks," Y/N replied. He looked off the side of the Merry at the path. Pagaya had parked their boat next to the Going Merry's anchor and he, Conis and Suu were on the pathway. "Conis, Pagaya, Suu, thank you for everything."

Conis shook her head, "Like I was telling your friends. It's us who should be thanking you."

Y/N jumped off the Going Merry's rear railing and landed on the gold pillar. "White Berets, thank you for your help." Y/N put his hand behind his head and saluted. "Heso."

"HESO!" McKinley and the White Berets returned. They let go of their vines and went up onto the pathway with Conis, Pagaya and Suu. The gold pillar hovered in place thanks to the Breath Dials underneath it.

"Wait! Big Brother!" Chopper called out from the Going Merry. The other Straw Hats had returned to the main deck.

"What's wrong Chopper?" Y/N inquired.

"I wanted to go with you..." Chopper said.

"You sure?" Y/N asked. "There's less to hold onto here." Chopper nodded. "Alright come on." SKISH! Chopper jumped from the railing and Y/N reached out and caught him then placed him on the pillar behind him.

"I was worried we were going to leave you behind," Chopper confessed.

"Nope, you're still stuck with me," Y/N stated.

"Zoro told me you beat the scary bald guy with the dog," Chopper told him.

"Of course I did," Y/N replied. "He had the nerve to hurt my little brother. Did you really think I was going to let him get away with that?"

THWAK! McKinley kicked the Going Merry's anchor off of the end of the path and Zoro pulled it back up. The Going Merry started to sail forward toward the tunnel while Conis, Pagaya and Suu ran alongside it.

"How do we move this thing?" Chopper asked.

"Just hold onto these vines," Y/N instructed as he motioned down to the vines that had been wrapped around the pillar. "I'll take care of the rest." Y/N jumped up and ran along the pillar to the end of it then reached down and hit the two Breath Dials that they'd attached to the back. WOOOOSSHH! The Dials activated and blew the gold pillar down the Milky Road after the Going Merry.

"I'm sorry," Pagaya called out as he, Conis and Suu ran alongside the Merry. "But this is as far as we can go. Goodbye my friends!"

"Take care of yourselves!" Conis exclaimed.

"Suu!" Suu cooed.

"We will, thanks for the escort!" Nami called back.

"Conis my angel! Don't forget me!" Sanji swooned.

"Say goodbye to the others for us!" Usopp requested.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Luffy addressed them as he sat on his special seat, "Thanks for everything."

"I told you already, thank you," Conis replied. "We'll never forget you! Thanks to you all!"

"Goodbye Conis, Old Guy, Fur-ball!" Luffy said as he waved. "Take care now!"

"BYE!" Conis and Pagaya chorused.

"Now take in your sails and hold on tight!" Pagaya instructed. "You're in for a bumpy ride!"

"Right!" Usopp resolved. "Let's do what the man says! It feels like we're already picking up speed!"

"Yeah, and we're sliding down from thousands of feet in the air," Luffy pointed out as he jumped from his seat to the deck. The Straw Hats scrambled to raise the sails. "Hurry up!" The Going Merry went down the first part of the slide-like Milky Road and entered the tunnel.

"BYE!" Chopper shouted to Conis, Pagaya and Suu.

"Heso!" Y/N added as he ran back up the pillar behind Chopper.

"JOOH! WHAM! Y/N was tackled by two familiar South Birds.

"Yup... I still hate birds," Y/N realized and the two South Birds stood on his back.

"Joooh! JOOOH! JOOOHH!" the female crowed.

"She says 'Don't leave without us'," Chopper translated.

"Alright, alright," Y/N resolved as he pulled himself over to the vines and grabbed onto them. "All three of you hang on then."

"Captain, the Log Pose has the coordinates for the next island," Nami reported as she glanced down at the glass ball on her wrist.

"Great! Let's go!" Luffy replied. "Once we get to the bottom we're gonna start a brand new adventure! GUYS! GET READY!"

The Going Merry came out the end of the tunnel and Luffy gave a loud shout, "BLUE SEA HERE WE COME!"

"AYE!" Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji chorused.

Conis and Pagaya ran out from a doorway that went alongside the tunnel and reached a ledge just as the Going Merry went down the huge drop from the Milky Road.

"WHOOOA!" the Straw Hats cheered as the Going Merry whizzed down the slide.

"Bye-bye! See ya! Maybe we'll come back some day!" Chopper waved to Conis and Pagaya.

"Chopper, stop waving and grab onto the vines," Y/N instructed.

"How come?" Chopper asked. The pillar shot down the slide. "WEEE! It's just a slide!"

Y/N sweat dropped, "They didn't actually tell you guys how we were getting back down to the Blue Sea... did they?"

"No, why?" Chopper questioned.

"Just... hold on tight," Y/N advised as he gripped the vines behind Chopper while the two South Birds perched on his shoulders.

The other Straw Hats laughed as the Going Merry continued down the slide.

"EVERYONE! GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!" Conis shouted after them. "THE FREE FALL'S ABOUT TO START!

The slide abruptly ended and became a straight waterfall. WHHHIIINNG! The Going Merry flew right off the end.

"Free fall?" the Straw Hats repeated.

WOOOOOOSSSHHH! The Going Merry no longer had anything under it and started the thousand mile fall down to the Blue Sea.

"HESO!" Conis called out and waved.

"WAAAAAHHHHH!" the Straw Hats screamed as the Going Merry plummeted downward.

"DID THEY JUST FLY OFF THE END?" Chopper shrieked. "I CHANGED MY MIND! LET'S STAY ON THE SKY ISLAND! TURN THIS THING AROUND!"

"Too late now," Y/N replied. "Here we go..." WHHHHIIIINNNGG! The gold pillar flew off the end of the slide and shot out into the air. WOOOOOOOOSSSHHH! Then it started to drop after the Going Merry.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!""JOOOOOOOHHHHH!" Chopper and the South Birds screamed.

"Just hang on," Conis instructed as she pulled out a silver whistle. "Two Octopus Balloons, on the way." SWEEEEEEEE!

SPLOOOSSHHH! A dark shape slid through the clouds then burst out to reveal that it was a huge pink and purple octopus. WAH-WHAAAP! The octopus quickly wrapped its tentacles around the Going Merry.

"AAAAAAHHHH! OCTOPUS!" Usopp screamed.

"What the..." Zoro growled as he prepared to draw his sword.

WOOOOSSSH! The Going Merry gave another lurch and all the Straw Hats fell over.

SWEEEEEEEEE! Conis let out a second whistle.

SPLOOOSSSHHH! A second octopus burst out of the clouds and wrapped its tentacles around the wrapped golden pillar. WHA-WHAP!

"YAAAAAHHH! MONSTER!" Chopper cried.

"Nope, not a monster," Y/N corrected him. "Just look down."

"THAT'S THE LAST PLACE I WANNA LOOK!" Chopper yelled.

The Straw Hats down below gasped as they stared up at their octopus.

Luffy ran to the railing and stared upward, "HEY GUYS! GET A LOAD OF THIS!"

"What is it?" Zoro wondered.

Chopper finally looked down and saw that the head of the octopus on the Going Merry had inflated to the size of a balloon that was three times the size of the Caravel.

"A BALLOON!" Chopper cheered.

WOOOOOOOOSSSHHH! Their own octopus inflated and the pillar lurched upward as the two octopus balloons slowed the pillar and the pirate ship down to a slow downward drift.

"SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "ISN'T THIS GREAT!"

"We're not falling!" Nami realized.

"Oh good," Usopp sighed in relief. "For a minute there I thought we were goners."

DONG! The familiar tone of a beautiful bell rang out over the sky. DONG!

DONG! The Straw Has all stared upward at the Sky Islands that were already far behind them. DONG!

DONG!

-x-

DONG!

DONG!

"Keep ringing it!" the Shandian Chief instructed as they rang the golden bell. "Let the departing heroes of this land know how we feel about them!"

"YEEAAAAHHH!" the Shandians, the Skypieans and even Nola all cheered.

"LUFFY! COME BACK SOON!" Aisa yelled along with the bell.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME!"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"WE WISH YOU SAFE PASSAGE TO THE BLUE SEA!"

DONG!

The newly reinstated God Gan Fall looked over at the Grand Belfry. They had given the front pillar that had broken off to the Straw Hats a gift. But now that one that remained looked odd.

"You know," Gan Fall said to the Chief, "The bell looks uneven now with only one front pillar... What do you suppose we should do with it?"

"We could always trade it to another Blue Sea Pirate," the Chief suggested. "I'm sure there are more like them down in the Blue Sea."

DONG!

"Oh, I just remembered!" a Skypiean realized. "We forgot to tell the Savior about the statue."

"We did that on purpose," another Skypiean reminded him. "He insisted he didn't want it."

"Do you think he'll know that we only have him half the gold from that gear of his?"

"Probably not and if he does, he won't miss it."

DONG!

In Shandora where the Grand Belfry had once been was a golden statue. Each of the two pirates represented in it were two times the size of a normal person. The first pirate was a lanky man with a straw hat, a vest, shorts, sandals and a wide smile. His left fist was out and it joined the right fist of the other pirate. He was taller, had short hair that stood up in spikes and wore a t-shirt, baggy pants and boots. A curved sword was in his left hand and a grin adorned his face underneath two mismatched eyes.

Under the statue was a gold plaque that read 'the Saviors of Skypiea'.

DONG!

When you look up, you see the sky. Though some believe it to be only a legend, there is an island floating thousands of feet in the air. If you listen carefully, you can hear the toning of a bell. It rings today and it will ring again tomorrow. That bell rings from the heavens, from a land that wandered, it sings of its pride and proclaims to the rest of the world... "WE... ARE... HERE..."

-x-

Back to the Blue Sea:

-x-

Back at Jaya, Montblank Cricket had just made an important announcement to the rest of the Saruyama Alliance.

"YOU'RE CALLING OFF THE SEARCH?" Shoujou repeated in surprise.

"Of course," Cricket replied. "The City of Gold has been in the sky this whole time and there's nothing else to be found in the Blue Sea. Sorry fellas. This dream's over. No point in staying here anymore."

"Old man..." Shoujou gasped.

"Cricket!" Mashira protested.

"I want to thank all of you for helping me pursue my dream for all of these years," Cricket addressed them. "You never stopped believing. That means a lot."

"Does this mean..." Mashira started.

"You're leaving the Alliance?" Shoujou finished for him.

Cricket sat on his stump and closed the book on Noland the Liar.

"Yes guys," Cricket said as he stood back up. "Since this dream's done which one are we gonna pursue next?"

"YEEAAAHHH!" the Saruyama Alliance cheered.

"We'll all follow you to the ends of the Earth, old man!" Masira declared.

"YEAH!" Shoujou agreed.

-x-

The Going Merry and the gold pillar both floated downward with the two Octopus Balloons. Y/N had turned off the Breath Dials under the pillar so they could keep pace with the Merry.

"GOLD! GOLD!" Luffy and Usopp cheered in the galley as they went through the chest of gold treasure that they'd gotten from inside Nola.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "We finally struck it rich! What should we buy with all this loot? HEY! I KNOW! A HUGE BRONZE STATUE!"

"MORON!" Usopp scolded him, "Only an idiot would exchange gold for bronze! How stupid! What we need are more cannons! Ten of them!"

"Miiisss. Naaaamiii!" Sanji sang as he danced over to Nami. "Can I please buy more locks for the food storage?"

"Aw, but I had such a hard time breaking the other one!" Luffy complained. "If you get new locks there'll be no way for me to get a midnight snack!"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I WANT ONE, YOU PIG!" Sanji shouted at him.

"Would you guys hold on a second," Nami instructed. "You forget. Y/N's the Financial Manager. He's obligated to buy all that stuff for you. Once we land, we can divide up the gold between us and spend it however we want."

-x-

"OH NO!" Chopper suddenly exclaimed. "I'm stuck up here! Luffy and Usopp will take all the treasure we found and I won't be able to buy medical books!"

"Chopper..." Y/N said, "You do realize that we're sitting on a pillar of solid gold that's worth over a billion berries, right?"

"WHOA!" Chopper gasped. "That much?"

"Yes," Y/N answered. "If you need medical books, all you have to do is tell me. I'll buy you a whole library of books or I can give you some money and you can pick out the ones you want."

"Really, oh boy!" Chopper cheered. "I can get my books once we get to the next island."

"Before we do that, I need to stash this gold in my turtle," Y/N said. "OH! I've gotta get my Transponder Snail so I can call Sheldon when we land." Y/N glanced at the two South Birds that were still perched on his shoulders. "Hey, hitchhikers, I'm giving you a ride, now I need you to give me one."

-x-

"Ms. Navigator!" Robin suddenly called from outside the galley. "The ship... Just where is it headed exactly?"

"Where else?" Nami asked. "The next island of course..." Nami looked down at her Log Pose and went pale. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Luffy, Usopp and Sanji raced out of the galley after Nami. "Are you okay?" Usopp asked.

"What's wrong?" Luffy questioned.

"Need a hug Nami-swan?" Sanji offered.

"Damn it, we've been blown off course," Nami informed them. "We must've hit an air current."

"Well I definitely feel a breeze," Sanji noted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Luffy inquired.

"Of course it is," Nami told him. "We have no idea where we are or where we're gonna land. And with octopus up there we can't unroll the sails or control the ship. What're we gonna do?"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luffy reassured her. "Once we touch down we'll just head to the next island. Easy as that."

"There you go running off with the mouth as always," Nami growled. "

"Hey..." Sanji suddenly called out. He held his fingers in a square and stared through them as he looked upward at the octopus.

"Sanji, what is it?" Nami asked.

"Ah, guess I was wrong," Sanji said.

"About what?" Usopp wondered.

"Never mind," Sanji replied.

"WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!" The Straw Hats all jumped at the sudden shout from Zoro. They looked across the deck and saw that the formerly sleeping swordsman had sat up. "Oh yeah... I was just a dream." He let out a yawn and went back to sleep.

"THANKS FOR SCARING US!" Nami berated him as Usopp held her back.

"I'M GONNA FILLET YOU FOR THAT!" Sanji threatened.

"MOR—" Nami trailed off as Y/N suddenly flew down onto the deck with the two South Birds on his shoulders. TMP! "Are those the South Birds we caught on Jaya?"

"Yeah, Stupid and his girlfriend didn't want to be left behind," Y/N answered.

Nami twitched at the word 'girlfriend'. "He doesn't look so stupid to me. He managed to land himself a girlfriend and even stayed with her. He knows what's important."

"Jooh jooooh joooh!" The South Birds crowed and laughed at Y/N.

Y/N frowned, "I just came for my transponder snail..." He raised the flap in the deck and dropped down into the men's quarters.

Y/N returned a moment later. "Nami, there were three chest filled with gold bars down there. Do you have any idea why there are only two now?"

"Nope, no clue," Nami replied.

"So if I searched your room I wouldn't find a chest exactly like those two?" Y/N questioned.

"The chest in there is completely unrelated to those other two," Nami insisted. "It's filled with... um... my underwear. You broke up with me so you're not allowed to look in it."

"Wait, where's this chest?" Sanji inquired.

"Whatever..." Y/N muttered. "I've got to get back to Chopper." Y/N ran to the railing and jumped off then the two South Birds carried him away.

"Feel better?" Robin asked Nami. The girl shook her head. "I thought we talked about this?"

"I couldn't help it," Nami admitted as she wrapped her arms around herself. "He said girlfriend."

Luffy looked over at his sad Navigator and quickly called out, "HEY! JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA!"

-x-

Y/N landed behind Chopper on the pillar. He promptly sat down cross-legged and closed his eye.

"Did you get your snail?" Chopper asked.

"Yes," Y/N answered simply.

"Um... what're you doing now?" Chopper inquired.

"I'm meditating," Y/N told him. "Or trying to anyway."

"Oh... uh... how come?" Chopper questioned.

"Because I need to pull my mind back together," Y/N explained.

"Why?" Chopper queried.

"Because I don't want Nami to hate me," Y/N whispered.

"..." Chopper stared at Y/N for a moment then crossed his legs and closed his eyes. "I'll meditate too."

"Human relationships are complicated," Chopper thought to himself.

-x-

The ship and the pillar continued their slow drop out of the sky as the sun set and the sky began to turn dark.

"The sun's completely set now," Usopp remarked, "Still a nice view though."

Zoro sat up and yawned, "Morning already?"

"It's still evening, dummy!" Usopp snapped at him.

"This is taking longer than I expected," Robin admitted as she sat against the mast.

"I agree," Nami said as she sat on the railing and softly kicked her legs. "I'm really worried about how far we've drifted. We could be anywhere."

Sanji spun in between them, "What is I sang you girls a romantic song to take your mind off..."

Sanji didn't get to finish or start singing before Nami slugged him. POW! "BUZZ OFF!"

"Hey, you know what, I betcha we get blown all the way to Raftel!" Usopp called out.

"Mr. Long Nose, unfortunately that's impossible," Robin informed him. "We'd have to sail across over half the Grand Line just to get there."

"Uh... yeah... uh... Usopp mumbled, "I knew that..."

"This conversation's boring," Zoro complained. "How much longer is this gonna take?"

"Go to sleep," Usopp growled at him.

"HEY ZORO!" Luffy called out. He was nowhere on the deck. "IF YOU'RE REALLY BORED, I'VE GOT SOMETHING YOU CAN DO! ITS FUN!"

"Luffy? Where'd his voice come from?" Usopp wondered.

"Good question," Nami replied, "He did sound kinda far off."

"LUFFY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sanji shouted.

BOING! BOING! BOING! "SHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed as he bounced up and down on top of the Octopus Balloon. "I'M UP HERE! COME ON GUYS! THIS THING'S A BLAST!"

"IS HE NUTS?" Usopp exclaimed.

"You already know the answer to that," Zoro grumbled.

-x-

Up above Luffy, Chopper looked down with stars in his eyes, "That's so cool! I wanna try!"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Y/N advised, "These octopuses are keeping us from crashing down into the sea. I don't think we should mess with them." Y/N leaned over the side of the pillar. "LUFFY! KNOCK THAT OFF!"

"NO WAY!" Luffy yelled back. BOING! BOING! "THIS IS TOO AWESOME!" BOING! He flew up into the air and nearly came level with the gold pillar. "HI GUYS!" Then he dropped back down again. BOING!

-x-

"LUFFY DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!" Nami shouted up at Luffy. "ALL OUR LIVES DEPEND ON THIS BALLOON! YOU HEAR ME LUFFY!"

"Don't worry! Don't worry!" Luffy reassured her. "Nami! You should come up here and bounce! It's really fun!"

"WHY WOULD I WANNA DO THAT?" Nami demanded.

"If you jump high enough on this thing you can see Y/N and Chopper!"

"FORGET THAT!" Nami hollered. "NOW GET BACK DOWN HERE!"

Sanji stared up at the octopus and held his fingers in a square as he stared through them.

Sanji's eye widened in horror, "LUFFY! STOP! GET DOWN! RIGHT NOW!"

"Sanji, what're you yelling at him about?" Nami asked.

"The octopus is shrinking!" Sanji exclaimed. "If we don't do something we'll fall!"

"AH!" Nami gasped in surprise while Sanji jumped passed her onto the railing and started to climb up one of the octopus's long tentacles.

"LUFFY!" the cook shouted.

"What's that?" Usopp asked as he came over with Zoro.

"The octopus is shrinking!" Nami warned them.

"SHRINKING!" Usopp shrieked in alarm.

"You know," Robin remarked as she stared upward, "Now that I look at it, it does look smaller than before."

"Oh, what're we gonna do?" Nami wondered as she stared down off the railing. The Blue Sea and even some low clouds were still far below them. "We're still really high up in the air!"

Sanji finally reached the top of the octopus where he found Luffy still happily bouncing on it. "LUFFY! SOMETHING'S WRONG! YOU'VE GOTTA COME DOWN NOW!"

"SHISHISHISHI!" BOING! Luffy laughed as he did a flip. "Huh?" He came down with his feet together and they sunk into the top of the slightly shriveled octopus' head. SHUNK! Luffy lost his footing and tumbled down the octopus' head. "WAAAAH!"

"GAAH!" Sanji yelped before Luffy rolled right into him. KRASH! They both went flying off the octopus balloon and the other Straw Hats stared in shock as Luffy and Sanji whizzed by.

Sanji's pack of cigarettes fell down into the Blue Sea... but not the cook himself. WHAP! Luffy had grabbed onto the railing with one stretched hand and had caught Sanji with the other.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed loudly. "That was scary! I wonder why the octopus isn't bouncy anymore?"

"I TOLD YOU, ITS SHRINKING BONEHEAD!" Sanji berated him.

Nami and Usopp sighed in relief as they looked over the railing. WOOOSH! They suddenly floated up into the air as the Going Merry picked up speed and started to fall faster.

"That's weird," Luffy noted as the Going Merry fell down passed him and his dangling cook. "How'd the ship get below us?"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

-x-

"OH NO!" Chopper exclaimed. "THEY'RE FALLING!"

"See why I said jumping on the octopus was a bad idea?" Y/N asked. "Luffy accidentally drove all the air out of it."

"WHAT DO WE DO?" Chopper shrieked.

"I don't know," Y/N admitted as he looked up at their octopus balloon. "Ours is shrinking too, probably because the pillar's bigger and heavier than the ship... I doubt it would support the weight of both for long but we've gotta try. Quick, undo some of the wrappings, we can only hope that they can find a way to slow the ship down...."

-x-

"WE'RE FALLING! WE'RE FALLING!" Usopp cried.

"WE'RE GONNA HIT THE SEA SO HARD WE'RE GONNA SINK TO THE BOTTOM!" Nami shouted.

"Only if the ship doesn't shatter first!" Robin 'optimistically' pointed out.

"SHATTER?" Usopp repeated. He wouldn't let his ship shatter! "NO WAY!"

"What're you going to do Usopp?" Nami asked as she clung to the railing.

"What I always do," Usopp replied as he slipped on his grappling belt and octopus shoes. "Save our lives of course!" Usopp jumped up onto the railing and his long nose curled upward from the wind that rushed up while the Going Merry dropped downward.

"DON'T BE CRAZY USOPP!" Sanji warned him. He'd made it back into the ship and was now standing protectively next to Nami.

Usopp's legs were shaking but now wasn't the time to be scared. His ship and his crew were in danger. "USOPP..." He hooked his grappling hook on the railing then jumped backwards off the side of the ship, "AAAAH-AAAAH-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The rope extended as Usopp fell down passed the ship and swung underneath it. SQUISH! Usopp flipped and stuck to the bottom of the ship with his octopus shoes.

"Hey, look, it worked!" Usopp exclaimed. He quickly fished a bunch of Dials out of his bag and slapped them on the bottom of the ship. Whap-whap-whap-whap-whap! "Alright Breath Dials, do your thing!" WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH-WOOOOSSHHH! "NOW FLOAT! FLOAT I SAY!" The Breath Dials activated and blew downwards with highly compressed air which pushed up on the ship and succeeded in slowing down the falling ship.

SQUICK! Usopp's octopus shoes gave out and he fell downward and dangled from his rope.

"WE'VE SLOWED DOWN!" Nami realized.

"ALRIGHT!" Luffy cheered from his perch on the railing.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Usopp laughed as he floated up passed the side of the Merry on his rope.

"NOW CHOPPER!" came a shout from overhead. Y/N and Chopper dropped down on opposite sides of the ship. They were each supported by a South Bird as they flew down with several lengths of wrappings bundled in their arms. "Usopp, gimme a hand! Robin, help Chopper on his side! We'll tie our pillar to the ship and hopefully between our balloon, your deflated one, and both our Dials we can stay in the air long enough to land safely."

Y/N and Chopper threw the wrappings outward and started to tie them to the ship. Usopp swing inward and helped Y/N tie his side while Robin crossed her arms and a half a dozen arms sprouted around Chopper and secured the rest of the wrappings on their side.

"Alright... that should do it," Y/N concluded.

"You're safe now!" Chopper chirped.

"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "I was actually scared there for a minute."

"Me too," Nami admitted, "But we're finally safe now."

Y/N nodded at her, "This should hold as long as..."

POP! The octopus balloon on the Going Merry finally gave out and shrunk down to the size of a normal octopus.

"...that doesn't happened..."

WOOOOOOSSHHH! The weight of the golden pillar and the Going Merry was too much for the pillar's mostly-inflated octopus to handle and as a result everything started to fall again. The remaining octopus balloon started to rapidly deflate. PHHHHISSSSHHHH...

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" the Straw Hats screamed.

"LUFFY! CATCH!" Y/N called out as he grabbed Usopp and tossed him onto the Merry. WHUMP! Luffy caught Usopp and they both crashed to the deck. "Crap, crap, crap! This backfired..." Y/N pulled out his sword and slashed it through the wrappings on his side. SLISH! "ZORO, CUT THE BINDING ON THE OTHER SIDE! CHOPPER, WE'VE GOTTA GET BACK UP TO THE PILLAR!"

"WAAAAHHH-WHHHYYYY?" Chopper cried out as he clung to the Merry.

"BECAUSE IF OUR PILLAR FALLS ON TOP OF THEM, THEY'LL BE CRUSHED!"

Nami looked up at the mostly unwrapped shining gold pillar. "TOO MUCH GOLD!" she shrieked. "I DON'T WANNA DIE CRUSHED BY GOLD!"

"I don't want you to die, period!" Y/N called back. "COME ON CHOPPER! LET'S GO!"

"RIGHT!" Chopper agreed. They launched themselves upwards and the South Birds took off.

Zoro ran across the deck and slashed his sword through the remaining wrappings on the ship. SLISH! But now with only the Breath Dials on the bottom to support it, the Going Merry plummeted downward. WOOOOOOOSSSHHH!

"HANG ONTO SOMETHING!" Luffy screamed.

-x-

Y/N and Chopper flew up onto the gold pillar and landed on top of it. Y/N quickly ran along it to the back end. The octopus was mostly shriveled and the pillar was falling out of the sky. Fortunately, the Breath Dials on the bottom still going and were at least slowing it down.

"Y/N!" Chopper called out. "THERE'S A RING-SHAPED ISLAND DOWN THERE! I THINK THEY'LL BE OKAY!"

"Ring?" Y/N repeated. His eye widened in horror. "Oh no..." He jumped down and activated the Breath Dials on the back of the pillar. WOOOOSSHH! The two Dials flew the pillar blew compressed air and the slowly falling shining gold pillar drifted forward.

"WAIT! BIG BROTHER! WE'RE GONNA MISS THE RING!" Chopper warned him.

"I'M NOT AIMING FOR THE RING!" Y/N shouted back.

-x-

The Going Merry rocketed down out of the sky and splashed down in the Blue Sea. SPLOOOSSHHH! The Going Merry was rocked by the strong waves that it had caused and blue water – not Sea Clouds washed onto the ship and knocked the pirates around.

"Miss. Nami, Miss. Robin, are you okay?" Sanji asked.

Nami looked up in time to see the gold pillar rocket off overhead. WOOOOSSHH! "THEY DID IT! WE'RE NOT GONNA BE CRUSHED! WE MADE IT BACK SAFE!"

"Phew, that was a close one!" Luffy sighed in relief. SHOOO... Their octopus fell out of the sky and landed on his face. SPLAT! "You're right Nami! We made it back alive!"

"It's your fault we were in that situation in the first place!" Sanji snapped at him. He shook his head and sighed. He knew better than to hold a grudge against the Captain. The same sort of thing was just going to happen again. He searched in his suit jacket for his cigarettes but then remembered that they'd fallen out when he'd fallen off the balloon. "Damn it I need a smoke. But at least we got to see an incredible place."

Robin looked upward, "Now that we're down here, it looks so far away."

"Like something out of a dream," Nami agreed. "Think we'll see it again?"

"Maybe when we die," Zoro suggested.

"Not you," Usopp piped up, "I doubt you're going any place good."

"YOU JERK!" Zoro yelled at him.

"You guys keep discussing the afterlife," Sanji told them, "Me, I'm gonna go put on a pot of coffee."

"MAKE DINNER INSTEAD SANJI!" Luffy called out.

"Are you ever not hungry?" Sanji scolded him. "Have some coffee first and be patient, will ya?"

"Okaaayyy..." Luffy conceded as he got up. "Hey... by the way..."

CLICK! The Going Merry was suddenly engulfed in a floodlight.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! More floodlights turned on and lit up the caravel.

RIIIIINNNGG-RIIIIIIIINNGGG-RIIIIIINNNGGGG! A loud alarm rang in a distance.

A familiar blue seagull insignia could be seen on some of the buildings as marines rushed out of the buildings around them. A large metal gate blocked the exit of the ring-shaped landmass that they'd landed inside and prevented any escape.

"Does anybody know... just where the heck we are?" Luffy asked.

The Straw Hats had finally landed in the Blue Sea. But they'd also landed in big trouble and were now trapped in a Marine Base.

-x-

Y/N, Chopper and the South Birds held onto the gold pillar as it crashed down into the Blue Sea outside the Marine Base. SPLOOOSH! The Breath Dials on the bottom pushed the pillar back up to the surface.

SHOOP! The octopus balloon suddenly snapped off of the pillar and shrunk down.

"You alright, Chopper?" Y/N asked once they'd settled on top of the Blue Sea.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chopper answered. He didn't seem to notice the octopus that had landed on his pink top hat. "But what happened to the others?"

"As is a pattern with our crew's luck, they landed in one of the worst possible places that they could," Y/N told him. He scooped the octopus off Chopper's hat and tossed it into the water. "This little brother is known as G-8 and the Navarone. It's one of the most fortified Marine Bases in the entire world."

"THE MARINES?" Chopper shrieked. "WHAT DO WE DO?"

"The only thing we can do," Y/N resolved, "We go in and get them out."

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!