Raul had been right, the scaffold really wasn'tfar from his bar. The steel scaffolding stood there, a few meters away fromher. "There it is..." She simply blocked out the noise and people asshe stared at the object on which her father's life ended. "This is the place where the Pirat King wasexecuted." She swallowed a lump. "Inthis place the greatest pirate who ever lived.......died. The place of thebeginning. Did Dad know what his death would trigger?" "I wonderwhat kind of view he had before he died. I really want to see it! All right,time for me to climb that thing!" She walked up to it and started climbing upthe scaffold. Sure, she could have catapulted herself up, but she didn't wantto attract unnecessary attention. The people on the square had already stoppedand fell silent while they watched the black-haired woman. She was halfway upthe tower when she suddenly slipped and regained her balance at the lastmoment.

She breathed a sigh of relief before a voicespoke to her on the square. "Hey!" Surprised, she looked over her shoulder andsaw the man from the harbor. He had his hands on his hips as the people aroundhim backed away. "Hey, kid." "What's wrong? Can't you see that I'm busy?""Are you really the most wanted criminal in East Blue?" "I'mLuffy. What's going on?" She slid a little back down the tower beforestopping at a crossbeam. Couldn't he have spoken to her AFTER she reached thetop?! "I am the captain of the naval base here in Loguetown, name is Smoker.I'm here to arrest you." She looked at him in surprise. "Arrest me? Thanks butI forego," She replied with a cheeky grin. "I'm heading to the Grand Lineso I can become the new Pirate King!" His eye twitched for a moment. "PirateKing?" "So why should I let myself be arrested?" "Then you have to defeat me.If you don't get past ME then you have no hope of reaching the GrandLine." He cracked his knuckles. "In other words, it all depends onwhether you have the courage or not to fight me." "So I just have todefeat you to get to the Grand Line undisturbed, huh?" The anticipation inher hear voice was clearly to hear. "Then I will defeat you!""Just try." "Gomu Gomuno..." She turned around the scaffolding so that she was inside and onlyheld on with one hand while her legs clung to the metal struts . She reachedout with her arm and struck. However, her hand slipped and had to stop herattack to catch herself. The straw hat wearer grabbed her hat when she realizedthat it was about to fly off her head. This moved her backwards, with her legsstill holding her, and allowed her stomach to expand. Although she now saweverything upside down as she swayed back and forth a bit, she couldn't quiteinterpret the expression on Smoker's face. He didn't seem shocked that shecould stretch like the others present. She wounder why? "She's a...rubber human,huh?"

"Damn, my feet are stuck!" Why did somethinglike this have to happen to her NOW? "Idiot! What the hell are youdoing!?", he was rarely in a good mood, but such idiocy just made him angry.Did she do it on purpose or was she really that stupid? She stood back up andstarted pulling at her feet as she said, "I didn't mean to do that. It'smy feet that..." She was a little glad that the navy captain couldn't seehow red she was right now. Something so embarrassing hasn't happened to hersince she had control of her powers. Suddenly they broke apart. "I'mfree!" The black-haired woman turned in the air and swung her fist again. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Smokerjumped into the air, dodging it before her fist slammed into the ground. Shelanded on her feet as the Marine captain appeared behind her. "Too slow!" Hisfist hit the surprised woman directly in the cheek. Before she could hit theground, however, he suddenly stood there and kicked her high into the air. "You're really supposed to be worth30,000,000 Berries? I don't even have to use my devil fruit powers for it. Myfists are more than enough for this job." Luffy turned in the air again andsupported herself on the tower with her feet and hands before pushing off."Here I come!" She threw out her fist, but Smoker was faster and hit her squarein the face. She flew into the building behind the scaffold, bounced off itsplatform and fell to the ground, groaning. "I witnessed what happened here19 years ago." Her dark eyes widened as she heard this, although no onesaw it as her face was turned to the ground. "Even in his final moments, HEshowed pride and ambition, the Pirate King. You say you want to be Pirate King?Don't make me laugh! You can't even make it to the Grand Line." Luffy slowlybegan to get up. "It's pointless, no matter how many times you getup." But she had gotten up again and turned to him, a smaller grin on herlips. "Well, how do I know that when I haven't even tried?" He lookedat her wordlessly as she got into a fighting stance.

"Now comes the Gomu Gomu no..." She swung her leg. It flew halfway around the towerbefore she closed it. "...Muchi!"Smoker leaned just a little to the side as her foot came flying. Behind him wasa fountain that, unfortunately for Luffy, her leg wrapped around. "Damn, thatwas wrong!" Her leg tightened and spun her around. A scream escaped her throatas she held onto her straw hat. "I think I have to go now, but the fightisn't over yet!" she shouted before disappearing from the marine captain'sfield of vision. "What in the name of the devil was that?"

The black-haired woman didn't know how long or far she flew over the roofs of the city, but she had to admit that she was now able to see how big the city actually was. Doing somersaults, she slowly began to get closer and closer to the ground before she landed with a crash on the hard stone. Her legs rested on the steps of a small staircase as she looked up at the sky. "Man, that was a hell of a long flight. Who was that guy anyway?" Her eyes followed the slowly moving clouds as some passers-by cautiously approached her. "What do I do now?" A hearty yawn escaped her mouth as she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her. She pulled her hat a little lower over her face and grinned. "I think I'll take a nap now." "Hey, are you okay?" a passerby asked, but she ignored him. "She's not dead, is she?" The man slowly leaned forward when he heard a strange noise coming from her. The other passers-by who had approached also listened closely and heard...snoring.

Stretching, the black-haired woman rose from thefloor. The nap was really good. "Ah, I slept well. Okay, I'm fit again. Nowlet's go to the scaffold!" And this time she would be on the scaffold too! Shewalked a few steps before looking around, somewhat helpless. "How do I even getback?" And of course there was no one around who she could ask. Hoping for thebest, she just took a path and started running.

She stopped, a little out of breath. Somehow the streets were deserted. "Where the hell is the scaffold?!" She looked around and didn't notice someone approaching her, walking backwards. The person also seemed to be looking for something or someone. The man, who looked like one in stature, wore a long, gray hooded coat, white gloves on his hands and a round, red nose sticking out from under the hood. "Damn, I have no idea where I am." She bent over before looking the other way. The man in the opposite direction without noticing her. "Dammit, where is this brat hiding?" They both looked in the same direction, but Luffy had crouched down and was once again not seen by the man behind her. "Bung toad." "Where to go?" The man had heard her voice and asked without looking at her: "What are you looking for?" He now bent down and looked to the side as the black-haired woman stood up. "How do I get to the scaffold?" Both were now looking in the same direction. "Just that way." "Thank you!" With that she started running in that direction when she thought of something. Didn't that voice sound familiar somehow? Oh well, she must have imagined that. Undeterred, she runned down the street. "I will certainly find my way back to the scaffold! The sight that Dad had before he died...I want to see it!"

The street was slowly becoming busier when shecaught sight of something green on a staircase nearby. Zoro sat on it andlooked at the drawn sword in his hand, she could see that it wasn't the whiteone he always carried with him. She stepped closer and a shiver ran down herspine as she looked at the blade. The straw hat wearer didn't know why, butthis sword was somehow scary. As she approached she could hear her first matesaying, "Cursed sword, eh? Sounds interesting at least." His gaze was sofocused on the blade that he didn't notice Luffy. So she decided to just standin front of him and very close. Her face was certainly only a few centimetersaway from the blade when the green-haired man backed away in shock, loweringthe sword in the process. "That sword looks pretty cool," she said, now thatshe had a better look at it. It had a dark brown handle with a light brownpattern on it that looked like someone had wrapped a string in a criss-crosspattern around the handle. In the middle there was some kind of gold ring orsomething. She noticed the brown-red sheath in Zorro's hand, it probablybelonged to the katana. Behind him, the step above where he was sitting, layboth the sword she already knew and another with a black handle and blackscabbard. "What was that? Don't scare me like that!" Had he really been thatdistracted looking at Kitetsu? "What are you doing here, Zoro?" He pushed thesword back into its sheath before answering the black-haired woman: "The sameas you." "Me? I got lost," she said with pride? in her voice after scratchingher nose. "Are you proud of that?" Zoro looked at her a little stunned. Then whenhe thought she couldn't surprise him anymore and she came around the cornerwith the next thing. "Do you have any idea where the scaffold might be?" "Hey,I saw him! That's the bastard!" came a voice at the foot of the stairs. Theyboth looked down at the street in surprise before Luffy sat down on the stepsherself. A man with brown hair and a beard was surrounded by the screamer andsome friends. The man was wearing a brown hat with a red hat band on his headand his clothing was hidden under a gray and brown coat. "What's goingon?" Zoro didn't say anything and put Kitetsu next to Wado-Ichi-Monji andhis other new sword, Yubashili. "Bastard, you sold our buddies to the Navy! Youwill pay for this!" The guys pointed their guns at the man. "Die!"Four shots were heard before the guys fell to the ground, the only one standingwas a boy with reddish-brown hair who was holding a chain in his hands as aweapon and was standing behind the man. His arms were folded across his chestand he held a pistol in each hand. Neither captain nor first mate had seen himdraw it, let alone fire it. The boy who belonged to the gang took a few stepsback in fear before tripping over his feet. The man turned to him and walkedtowards him. The fear of death was clear to see on the boy's face as he shook.The man leaned down and pulled a cigarette out of the boy's vest beforetwisting it with his fingers and saying, "Go home and ask your mother tobake you a cake, boy." He threw the useless cigarette into the boy's lapbefore he jumped up and ran away screaming. "Wow, the old one is damn cool!"said Luffy, totally excited. Zoro was already calmer. "The man isprobably..." Luffy stopped admiring the man and looked at the green-hairedman. "...Daddy Masterson." The black-haired woman looked at him questioningly.She had never heard of the guy. Before she could ask him, however, her stomachmade a loud noise. She stood up and grabbed the swordsman by the wrist. "Comeon, Zoro, let's go get something to eat!" He looked at her with a raisedeyebrow. "Do you even know where you can get something to eat here?" "No, but Ijust follow my nose." Why didn't this statement surprise him anymore?

To Zoro's surprise, she had actually led them toa restaurant. "Was she half a bloodhoundwhen it came to food?" He quickly shook off that thought and entered therestaurant with her.

The two sat contentedly at their table while Luffy leaned back in the chair and rubbed her full stomach. "Phew, I'm full! It's good that we ate something before we went looking for the scaffold. I was really starving, Zoro." With a broad smile, the green-haired man put down his empty glass before filling it again with the contents of the bottle that was on the table. "I was really hungry too. I just couldn't afford to go out to eat anywhere. Well, luckily at least I have you with me, Luffy." She looked at him confused. "Huh? If you mean money, I don't have any." Zoro almost choked on the last sip of his drink before he placed the glass on the table and looked at the black-haired woman. "Excuse me?!" "Don't you have anything with you?" "What makes you think that? I'm as poor as a church mouse!" The straw hat wearing woman looked at him with a grin, her bulging stomach was no longer visible, before she started laughing and banging on the table so that the dishes clinked. "Hahaha. You can say that out loud." But the clinking of dishes could not only be heard from their table, but also from the table that stood behind Luffy and two figures wrapped in coats were sitting. Did they also have a problem like them? But Zoro's question distracted her from what was happening behind her: "And how are we supposed to pay our bill now?" "Maybe they'll just let us go." Suddenly something fell on the brim of her hat. When she lifted her head a little something came out of the bag. Reflexively she caught it and saw a gold coin. "Oh, great." She took the bag with the money in her hand and turned around in her chair. The money had to come from the nice guy sitting behind her. "It's generous of you to invite us. That's really nice!" She stood up, followed by Zoro, who put the swords in his hamakiri, and put the bag back on the man's table, the coin for payment in her hand. "Here's the rest..." She tossed the coin in the air and caught it again. "...thank you." Before she turned away she could see that the man was wearing white gloves and something red was sticking out under the hood. Well, everyone has their own taste. Zoro also came closer and put his hand on the man's shoulder as he said, "Thanks for the food." He turned away and followed his captain to the entrance. "It was an extraordinary pleasure." "Honor us again soon," said the doorman as the two left the restaurant. "It was nice of you," the black-haired woman said goodbye before she and Zorro turned the next corner to continue or begin their search.

The two had been walking through the streets fora while when suddenly a gust of wind ripped the straw hat from Luffy's head."Hey, my hat!" She immediately began pursuing her treasure. "Wait!"If she didn't know any better, she'd say it was almost like the wind was tryingto direct her somewhere with her hat. However, she was so focused on the chasethat she didn't notice how Zoro stayed behind and took a different routebecause he hadn't seen her turn. "Come back, hat!"

She breathed a sigh of relief when the hatlanded on the floor and she picked it up. "I am so happy. I thought I hadlost you hat." Grinning, she put the hat back on and opened her eyes. She wassurprised to see that she was back on the scaffold. "I'm back!" A grin spreadsacross her face. This time she would climb the tower, now she knew how to doit.

In an instant she had climbed the scaffold andwas now standing on the platform with one hand on her hip and one over her eyesto block the sun, admiring the view. "Wow, so that's the view Dad hadbefore he died!" She could see the whole place. Three wide streets led toit and two fountains stood parallel to each other. She could even see a fewstalls here and there. A touch of melancholy touched her joyful spirit as shelowered her arm. "If his last thoughtswas about me and Mom?" The wind gently caressed her face and hair when shesuddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly turned her head in thatdirection and saw...no one. The straw hat wearer couldn't quite describe it, butshe felt a certain warmth in her heart. It felt like she was closer to herfather than she had ever been in her entire life.

Luffy was brought out of her thoughts when apolice officer spoke into a megaphone in the square below her. "Get downfrom there. Now!" She turned her head to him and saw a bunch of civilianslooking at her with curiosity or amusement. When did they show up? "Why?" "Thisis a World Government Historic Site! So get down of there right now!" "Come on,police officer. Don't be a spoilsport," she replied mischievously. She knewexactly WHAT the scaffold was a monument to and that was exactly the reason forher behavior. "If you don't come down, I'll have to arrest you!" Theman had just lowered the megaphone and taken a step towards the scaffold when alarge iron club with spikes struck him, sending him to the ground. The audiencebacked away in panic, revealing a young, slim woman with long, wavy black hair.On her head she wore a white cowboy hat with a red feather attached, herclothes were hidden under a pink coat decorated with hearts. "You have to waityour turn, little man," the woman said before placing the club on her shoulderand looking up at the straw hat wearer, "I missed you, Luffy. It's been awhile." The woman in question frowned as she looked at the older one. Thevoice sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't remember having met that personanywhere before. The woman's coat had opened slightly, revealing her clothing.She wore a white bikini top, tight, ankle-length, white and pink striped pants,and a long, dark purple coat that had the same color pattern as her pants onthe cuffs. She had tied a blue and purple scarf around her waist. What caughther eye were her full, red lips and her red nail polish on her fingers. Thewoman noticed that Luffy was having trouble recognizing her. "Now don't tell methat you've forgotten THIS face." The civilians had gathered around the scene,keeping enough distance, and they all looked rapturously, both men and women,at the mysterious black-haired woman. "What a beauty!" "Sopretty!" "An incomparable example of perfection." "She'slike a silky flower!" "I've never met anyone who looks likeyou," Luffy said, a little uncomfortable feeling her skin. While she couldn'talways remember people's names, she usually didn't forget faces. "Who areyou?" "I'll never forget it. After all, you're the first person whomanaged to hit me." Angry looks were thrown at Luffy, but she ignoredthem. "Huh, I hit you?" She would definitely remember that. The woman rubbedher stomach in circles. "At the time your mighty punch struck me..."She placed her hand against her cheek. "...and threw me away." Thepeople around her started to turn red, while Luffy really didn't know what thewhole fuss was about. The woman was definitely an oddball. There was a slightsmile on her lips as she asked a question that Luffy was VERY sure she hadheard before. "My dears, WHO is the most beautiful woman in thesewaters?" Everyone had gotten down on one knee and pointed at the womanbefore saying, "That's YOU, of course, madam!" "Yes, that'sme." She had one Hand outstretched. "There is no man in this worldwho wouldn't kneel before me because of my beauty and I love strong men."Luffy looked at the woman incomprehension. And that interested her because...?"But I have to say, your strength is also impressive. Why don't we join forces?I could even show you how to turn men's heads so that they do what youwant." "No way! Why would I even want to do that?! WHO are you?!"thundered the brown-eyed woman. She couldn't stand people who manipulatedothers, especially when it came to avoiding a fight or something similar. Wherewould be the fun in that? "You still don't recognize me?" said the woman inshock. Before the straw hat wearer could reply, three armed police officersburst into the scene. "Here is the police! Ma'am, we ask you to follow uswithout resistance!" "You are under arrest for attacking a police officer!" Theman looked up at Luffy. "And YOU, joker, get down off the scaffoldIMMEDIATELY!" "Don't shout like that! Who did you say will be arrestedhere?" "Y-Of course you are." But the woman's beauty hadcompletely captivated the police officers. "I'm curious to see whether YOUsleepyheads can do it." The three swallowed. The woman smiled at her."Inspector, we can't do that! She's a beautiful woman!" "I don'tcare! Go arrest her!" "When she looks at me like that, my legs feel so weak."

A whistle caught Luffy's attention, just beforethe fountain around which the police officers were standing was blown up by acannonball and a voice was heard that also sounded familiar to her. "I'm gladyou feel that way!" Pieces of debris flew straight towards the woman, but shedidn't make the slightest move to avoid them. The moment the debris hit thewoman, it seemed as if they simply slide off her and instead fly into thebuilding behind the scaffold. Suddenly the civilians were torn out of thespell. "How is that possible?!" "The fountain slipped off her!" "Hey, what kindof trick was that?" the woman wearing the straw hat wondered aloud. A laughrang out as a group of people approached the woman. But...that was the one whopayed her and Zoro the food...she thought. The woman with the club ran her freehand through her hair before looking at the newcomers. "Wasn't that alittle dangerous, partner?" "I'm really sorry, but your alabasterskin can't get a scratch anyway. So please don't make a fuss here, my dear LadyAlvida!" Luffy thought he had misheard. "What Alvida?" THAT was supposed to beAlvida?! But she remembered her completely differently. Much...voluminous. "Idon't see Alvida here!" "But it's me personally! Remember that, you idiot!""Really? But I remember you a little differently," she said with one hand onher hip. Alvida smiled. "I changed after eating a devil fruit." Shetook off her coat and revealed her new, alternate body. "It is called the SubeSube no Mi." Once again, those present were completely delighted at the sightof her. "Attacking me makes no sense. Everything slides off my body like soap.Nothing can hurt my beautiful, smooth skin since I ate the fruit. I'minvincible." The younger woman rolled her eyes. Where was the Berry-glass? "Andsomething else has changed. I've finally got rid of my freckles." Theblack-haired woman raised her hand and waved it from one side to the other."That's not the only thing that's changed." Alvida ignored thecomment, continued and pointed to the cloaked figures. "I was born again andhave only one goal in mind. I want to hunt YOU down and this gentleman here ishelping me." A laugh came from the figure, whose round, red nose shone out fromunder the hood and who led the others.

Laughing, they threw their coats into the air."The final act, my grandiose return!" Buggy and his crem appeared. Luffy tiltedher head slightly. The guy looked familiar, but she couldn't remember his name."Portgas D. Luffy, since the day you threw me away, I have been aiming totake revenge on you! In order to achieve this, however, me and my crew first hadto find each other again. It was really a great adventure." Oh, then she helpedhim find an adventure, that was great. However, his men wept as he spoke. "Forme, who was still weak at heart, the laughter, the hellish, the familiar,little Buggy's big adventure! But now Buggy...WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NOT SAYINGANYTHING?!" Did she have nothing to say to him? No shock that he returned totake terrible revenge? He can at least get a little stirring! The black-hairedwoman crossed her arms thoughtfully and closed her eyes as she thought outloud: "What was his name? Stupid? Boogy? Buhii? or Baggy?" She was sure theclown's name started with a B. She opened her eyes again and slammed her fistinto her open palm as realization hit her. "Ah, I got it! Your name is Buffoon!"He just looked at her speechless. Was that a joke or had she really forgottenabout him, the dreaded Captain Buggy? Somehow he would like to hide in acorner, a little depressed. But that thought was quickly forgotten as heshouted angrily, "What was that?! Buffoon? Be careful what you say! You're asobnoxious as ever, you little brat!" One of the civilians recognized the angrypirate and took a frightened step back. "That's Buggy the Clown!""The...the Pirate!" "That's the Buggy Pirates!" Panicked, thecivilians tried to escape while Buggy got his anger under control again. Soonthe straw head would have nothing to laugh about and his revenge would becomplete. He had calmed down a little before he said to the panickedpopulation: "Good people of this city! Don't you dare move a muscle!" His menaimed their weapons at them, which made them freeze. "I will now show allmy cruelty and YOU will all witness it!" Luffy had only half listened tothe older man before she smashed her fist against her palm again whilegrinning. "Oh yes, it was Buggy!" Why had she forgotten the name of the formermember of her father's crew again? It was true, he had made her angry back thenand she didn't want to think about him anymore. "IT REALLY TOOK THAT LONG FORYOU TO REMEMBER?!"

Before she could respond, she felt something wooden on the back of her neck, pushing her down onto the platform. She had reflexively used her hands to support herself, which turned out to be a mistake. Before she knew it, she was stuck on the scaffold with some kind of pillory. "What's this supposed to mean?" "We haven't seen each other for a long time, rubber girl," came a voice to her right, "How is Roronoa Zoro doing?" She turned her head as best as she could and looked at this acrobat heini that Zoro had fought to sit on her bonds. "Good job, Cabaji." Buggy started laughing with his arms outstretched. "Citizens of Loguetown, now you see what's in store for the one who dared to attack Captain Buggy! We are now beginning the public execution!" She tried to lift the thing, only to realize that it was stuck deep in the wood. "There must have been thorns or something on it!" "Portgas D. Luffy, you can't get out of this trap, I swear to you, hahaha! You should feel honored! You're going to die on the same scaffold as the Pirate King, hahaha!" That was the worst joke she had ever heard. She certainly wasn't planning on dying yet! And wasn't it a little macabre of him to want to kill her on the spot where his captain had also lost his life or did he have no respect for him? Nobody noticed how dark, heavy clouds slowly gathered and began to cover the sky.

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~ Somewhere in the city ~ 

Nami looked worriedly at the air barometer inher hand. Several bags of clothes hung over her shoulders. Most of it was forher, of course, but she also got a little something for Luffy and the boys.Something special for the black-haired woman, even if she might not be happyabout it. "The air pressure has dropped." Her gaze wandered to the increasinglydark sky and the clouds passing by far too quickly. "But I've never seenit sink so drastically." "Now that you mention it, the wind isunusually strong too," said Sanji, carrying the back end of the elephanttuna he won in the cooking competition on his shoulder . "A storm is on its wayto this island," said the orange-haired woman seriously. "A storm?" said Usopp,who was carrying the front part of the fish. On his head was a frame withglasses that he could use like binoculars. "We have to get back to the ship assoon as possible." "How big is it going to be?" "Hey!" The three looked at theperson who had spoken to them. "Zoro!" "Have you seen Luffyanywhere?" the green-haired man asked while scratching his head. "Wasn'tshe with you?" asked the black-haired man. "Yeah, we kind of lost each otherand..." He lowered his hand. "...I have a very bad feeling." Thefeeling had appeared shortly after he lost sight of Luffy and it was gettingstronger by the minute. "Something big..." He couldn't describe it,but he knew it somehow. "...something big is going to happen soon!" A deep rumbleof thunder could already be heard in the distance.

"Pirates!" "Pirates!" "Pirates are in the city!"The four suddenly heard some passers-by screaming. Had they been recognized?No, this could not be. The only one who was wanted was Luffy. "Run foryour lives!" "It's Buggy the Clown!" Nami and Zoro gave eachother a usual look. Buggy was in town? "What did he say?" the navigator askedagain, hoping she had misheard. If it really was Buggy and he ran into Luffy,all hell would break loose and from what she had heard from a saleswoman, thecaptain of the naval base, 'White Hunter' Smoker, was not to be trifled with."Buggy the clown!" replied the swordsman. Why did he get the feeling that hiscaptain was in huge trouble? "Maybebecause you know the guy is cunning and sneaky and Luffy is naive and gullible!"

"An execution!" "They want to execute someone!" "Buggy the clown is planning to execute Straw Hat Luffy!" The eyes of the four widened as Usopp said in shock: "They want to execute Luffy!?" All four had the feeling that an ice-cold hand would wrap around their hearts. "These idiots!" "Come on!" Zoro shouted and started to run in the direction from which the panicked crowd had come. He would not allow his fun-loving captain's life to be ended! "Take care of it for me!" said Sanji before disappearing into the crowd side by side with the green-haired man. Usopp had a hard time not collapsing under the weight of the huge fish, let alone losing his balance. "H-h-h-hey, S-S-Sanji!" "Treat it like a lady! Got it?" his distant voice called. "We have to hurry too!" Nami said and grabbed the black-haired man by his oversized backpack before pulling him behind her. "H-hey Nami, where are we going?" "To the docks. That's obvious!" "The docks?" he wondered, until he understood, "Oh, I see!" When Zoro and Sanji had punched Luffy out , they had to get out of the city as quickly as possible.

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~ On a tower near the scaffold ~

The marines had positioned themselves near the place where the scaffold was located. "Captain Smoker, you have to see this! Something strange is going on down there," one of the soldiers shouted. The person addressed raised a pair of binoculars and looked down. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the straw hat wearing woman trapped on the scaffold and a laughing clown with one foot on the wood. "The girl?" He lowered the binoculars again. "What the hell is going on?" Next to him stood a young woman with short, dark blue hair and black eyes. She was looking through binoculars, she had pushed up a pair of purple glasses with rectangular lenses. She wore a red blouse with pink dots, purple pants and a jacket of the same color with a white fur collar. She had gray gloves on her hands. "Portgas D. Luffy, but it looks like she's going to be killed at any moment," the woman said, lowering her binoculars. But Smoker continued to watch what was happening on the pitch. "The guy is definitely after her head." He remembered meeting her at the docks. "'Because I want to see the place where the Pirate King died.'" Thick gray and black clouds slowly piled up over their heads. "For some reason I thought she was different from the rest of the rabble. As if she was a woman to be wary of. But she's no different than the rest of the scum." "Captain, should we give the signal to attack?" "No, that would just cause chaos." "But just sitting here..." Smoker turned his head and saw the soldier darkly. "I'm the one giving the orders here!" "Y-yes, sir!" "Pirates taking down other pirates, that's exactly what we want. We don't even have to get our hands dirty." He turned to his men. "Listen! Once Straw Hat Luffy's head is cut off we will arrest Buggy, Alvida and the rest of their crew! Any more questions?"

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Wow, Luffy is in real trouble there, but anyonewho knows the story already knows how it ends.

What did you think of the idea of the ghost handon the scaffold? This was one of the first ideas that came in to mind when Iwas thinking about what was happening in Loguetown. I really wanted to have ascene like in Naruto Shippudden (when Jiraiya died) and I thought it would fitbest in this location. 

I hope to welcome you to the last chapter in the East Blue saga and wish you a nice rest of the week.