(A/N: NEW ART AND CHAPTER BE UPON YE!!! Also, a huge thing happens in this chapter, which also slightly implies that in this fic, a certain headcanon of mine is canon here, so yeah, do with that what you will. And for future reference, I'm also skipping a few parts from the original story for the sake of pacing. ENJOY THE CHAPTER!)

Chapter Five:

" Opening Up "

(ISAAC'S POV)

Luffy and the Franky Family were quick to goof off and almost got blown away in the process before they finally settled inside the train car. "Hold on a sec, there's way more people in here than there should be..." Zoro spoke up. "Huh, who do you mean!?" Asked two men clearly not from the crew or the Franky Family. "He means you!" Shouted Paulie, who wasn't intended to be there either. "I mean you too!" Zoro retorted. I eyeballed the two men. One was of huge stature with a brown ponytail and a lighter brown beard with a tattoo on his chest that I couldn't translate, the other was shorter wearing sunglasses and when he tried patting down the one strand of black hair sticking out of place, that strand somehow reappeared on the back of his hand. 

'Is that some kind of witchcraft...Or is this just another one of this world's greatest mysteries?' I thought. "So, who are you two, and why did you and Paulie stowaway?" I asked. "I'm Lulu." Said the man with the weird hair strand. "AND I'M TILESTONE!" Shouted the other man. I covered my ears, cringing. 'Too loud!'

"I decided to go with you guys. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop 'ya. And the enemy you're going to rescue your friend from is the same as the ones who tried to kill Iceburg. I got a word or two of my own to say to those bastards."

"PAULIE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE! WE FIGURED IF WE SNUCK ONTO THE TRAIN WE'D BE THERE WHEN YOU GO HEAD TO HEAD WITH THOSE NO GOOD ASSASSINS!"

"And we were right."

"Sounds like we've got the same enemy! Those guys are the same ones that took our big bro Franky!" Interjected Zambai of the Franky Family. "Yeah, that's right! There's no use hiding it, we know exactly who they are!" Added Kiwi, the curly square-shaped-haired woman of the Franky Family. "Hey, Galley-La! If anything happens to Big Bro, it'll be on your shoulders!" Warned Mozu, the other woman with square-shaped hair. 

"Shut it! Iceburg's the one who's endured the most!" Paulie argued. The two groups argued over who had gotten the worst out of everything until Luffy spoke up; "Man, that hit the spot! I was starving!" He got on his feet, "Listen, we might've all gotten into fights with each other before, but now we're all after the same enemy. The strongest out of all of them is definitely that pigeon guy. He's mine. I'm gonna beat the crap out of him." Luffy explained. Zoro nodded, "Luffy's right. This is a battle to get back what those five goons took from us. So we either reach them in time, or this will all be for nothing." 

 I frowned, clasping my hands together and looking down, 'Going up against CP9 means I'll probably cross paths with Dell again...They're stronger than I am as a witch and as a combatant...They even broke my sword. So not only will I have to fight them at their full power, I'll also be fighting at less than half of mine...' I thought to myself. I pulled out my spellbook, flipping through the pages before I heard Chimney shout to Kokoro, "Granny! It's Aqua Laguna!"

"Let me take a look," Nami said before opening the window and poking her head outside before gasping and pulling it back in. "Kokoro, shouldn't you be in the engine room? We've gotta dodge that gigantic wave!" She cried. Kokoro shook her head, "Can't. There's no way to stop Rocketman, change its speed, or change course. It's moving at full throttle. My job ended the moment I got on the train on the railway." She explained. Nami turned to Luffy worriedly, "Luffy, if we don't stop the train and fast, we're gonna-"

"From now on, we're gonna fight as comrades. You got it? We have friends on the other train, so with that, our forces are even stronger!" Luffy declared. Zambai and Paulie nodded, "Got it."

Kokoro laughed, "Alright, boys! Show me what you've got against that wave!"

The Franky Family began shooting cannonballs at it from their giant yagara-pulled ship, but were actively failing. Meanwhile, a ringing transponder snail sounded on Nami's person. She pulled it out, "Hey! It's from Sanji!" She exclaimed. Sanji had taken initiative and gotten onto the last train before it left for Enies Lobby while also reporting that Franky and Usopp had been taken too. "Nami! Nami, can you hear me?" Sanji's voice said from the other end of the snail. "What's going on, Sanji?"

Chimney, her rabbit, and Chopper were panicking and screaming. I closed my book and put it away, unable to concentrate from their screaming and my own panic. 

"I've got bad news. Things have gotten complicated." He began explaining how he was on top of the train, hiding from the navy and other members of CP9, and how they still had Robin. "Listen, Sanji, I need to tell you why Robin did all this, and why everyone's screaming- WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP!" Nami shouted. 

Zoro and Luffy stood up, "Luffy..." 

"I know what you're thinking. That wave's asking for it. Let's go."

I looked at them, "Cap, Zoro, what are you guys gonna do?" I asked, a little concerned. Luffy looked back at me and grinned, "How about you come find out?" I blinked a few times before shrugging, "Sure, why not?" I followed them to the roof of the train, the strong gusts of wind almost enough to drown out the panicked screams of the foreman and the Franky Family. 

"Hey, keep firing those cannons!" Zoro shouted. "What are you guys gonna do?" Paulie asked. "We're gonna fire our own cannon." I ran to assist the others with the cannon fire. "Hey, how much is 108 times 2?" Luffy asked Zoro. "216," Zoro replied. "That's too long, can't we round it up?" "Fine, 300, then."

I raised a brow, 'What the Hell are they talking about?'

One of the Franky Family looked at me, "What are they doing? One's got no weapons, and the other has swords. What good are those against a wave?" He asked. I smiled, "Don't worry, if anyone can make it work, it's those two. Now, keep firing!"

"Gum-Gum..."

"300 Caliber..."

"CANNON!"

Using their combined strength, Luffy and Zoro blew a hole through the wave, the train zooming through, and before I even realized it, we were on the other side. "WE MADE IT THROUGH!"

Once we were back inside the train, Nami held up the snail, "Sanji wants to talk." Luffy took the snail, "Hey, Sanji! What's up? You saved Robin yet?" He asked. "I'm afraid not, she's still in their custody," Sanji replied solemnly. "Nami just explained to me everything about why Robin left. I know everything that's going on." 

"I see. Well, you know what's next. Go ahead and give 'em Hell, Sanji." Luffy said, surprising me and the others. "Hold on, Luffy! He'll die if he fights them on his own. He's gotta wait for us." Zoro protested. "Hey, Cook! Listen up! Some of the guys on that train are really tough, so you shouldn't-"

"Zoro!" Luffy interrupted. "Would you wait? If you were on that train and we'd just told you that Robin sacrificed herself to protect us, would you sit there and do nothing?" Zoro remained silent. "It's no use trying to stop him, Zoro. Sanji's been given the Captain's approval. However..." I leaned into the snail. "Sanji, it's Isaac! Can you hear me!? Listen to me, there's something you need to know! There's a witch on that train who's sided with CP9! They're really tough, you have to be careful with them! Their magic is off the charts, and they won't stop until you're down for the count! Please, be careful!" I warned. 

"Thanks for your concern, Isaac, but I'll be okay," Sanji replied. 'I hope so...' I thought. "And Moss-Head! Thanks for worrying about me, too!" Sanji added in a slightly teasing manner. "I hope they kill you!" Zoro retorted. "Anyway, that settles it. I was willing to fight for Robin even before I knew the truth, but now that I know how she feels, nothing's gonna stop me from saving her!" 

The line then went dead. 

"Well, I'm gonna change," Nami said. "WHAT!? YOU CAN'T CHANGE IN HERE, YOU IMMORAL WOMAN!" Paulie protested. My cheeks flushed, "N-Nami! I know there's only one train car, but maybe we should find something for you to use as a curtain or something-"

"You've already seen me naked back in the Alabasta baths, Isaac so I don't see why you're freaking out." 

"BECAUSE WHAT IF SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE CREEPS!?"

"If they are, I'm charging them 100 thousand for watching."

I sighed in defeat. "Well, do you have a spare top at least?" I asked. Nami looked at me, slightly confused, "I think I have one, but like you said, there's only one train car, so you'd have to change here." 

"I-I know! But I'm ready to be open!" I insisted. 

"Open about what?" Luffy asked, and I looked at him and Zoro. I took a breath, turning to them and getting ready to speak. "Captain, Zoro. It's time I'm honest about myself. And I don't care about the others in this train car, I just need to get it out! I'm transgender!" I declared. Luffy and Zoro tilted their heads slightly. 

"What does that mean?" Luffy asked. 

"It means I wasn't born a man like you guys were, but I choose to identify as one," I said. "I still don't think I get it..." Luffy mumbled. "I think I've heard of the term, but I'm not entirely familiar with it..." Zoro said. I grumbled before taking off my shirt revealing my bandaged chest, "DAMMIT YOU TWO! I'M A MAN WHO WAS BORN WITH BOOBS! I WAS ORIGINALLY BORN A GIRL!" I shouted in frustration. Both of their eyes widened as they looked at me. "I haven't been able to get rid of these stupid things before, and I don't even know if the things I need to get rid of them are in this world, too! But I thought I'd been keeping this a secret for too long now, and I wanted to tell you!" 

"Oh! Now I get what you mean! Ace is trans too!" Luffy replied before grinning. "He is?" I asked. "Yeah! He got rid of his boobs years ago! And if you're trans too, then that's okay with me!" He exclaimed. I looked at Zoro anxiously, "I know we hadn't been together long, so I'm sorry for not telling you beforehand, I just-"

I was suddenly pulled into a hug by him. "Hey, it's okay. You had zero obligation to tell me in the first place. But I'm glad you did. And know that I support you, too, Isaac." He said. "Hey! I want in on the hug, too!" Luffy whined before wrapping his arms around both of us and bringing Nami in. I smiled, "Thanks, guys. You're the best friends a guy could ask for." 

(NO POV)

Nami changed clothes while Zoro and Isaac changed shirts. "Okay! Now I'm ready for battle." Nami said with a grin. "I'm starting to think you guys can actually pull this off! You do seem pretty riled up!" Kokoro exclaimed. "Of course we are! Those jerks got away with Robin last time, but this time they don't stand a chance!" Luffy replied

"I sure hope you're right! Because if you get stuck in something again, there's gonna be Hell to pay." Nami warned him. "Hey, did you change your weapon, Nami?" Zoro asked. She shook her head, "Oh no. It's still the same as before, Usopp just improved it with some dials after we got back from Skypiea." "So Usopp made it, huh?" Nami nodded, "Yeah, it's his...His last work..." Nami and Luffy's expressions turned sad. "HEY DON'T GO GETTING ALL BUMMED OUT!"

Zoro then turned to Isaac, who was looking through his spellbook again, "Are you gonna be okay without your sword?" He asked. Isaac looked up and sighed, "I sure hope so. This is my first time fighting without one since I fought that hypnotist... I wish we had more time beforehand so I could've replaced it..." He then closed his book and put it in his bag, "But with what's at stake, I'll have to fight with all of my magic power! That's why I'm studying more spells before we get there."

"Well, just be careful." Isaac smiled at him, "Don't worry, I will. But thanks for your concern." He then got on his tiptoes and kissed Zoro's cheek. "I knew it! You two are dating!" Nami gasped. Zoro and Isaac both blushed before nodding. Nami grinned, "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you two!" Isaac then looked around, "Wait a minute! Where's Luffy!?" 

Zoro shrugged, "Beats me." 

"That idiot! What if he fell into the water!?" Nami exclaimed. "He couldn't have gotten that far, after all, he was just here. Right, Chopper?" Zoro looked over at Chopper, who didn't seem to have paid attention. "Huh? Oh, yeah." Isaac put a hand on his hip. "That's the problem. Luffy was here, and now he's not." Chopper started giggling, "Maybe he's stuck in Rocketman's chimney. It happens, right, Zoro?" He teased. Zoro glared at Chopper, picking him up by the throat and shaking him, "Oh sure, and choking you happens too!"

Isaac grabbed Chopper and held him protectively. "Zoro! Don't go hurting my son!" He exclaimed. There was a moment of silence before Isaac's cheeks flushed in embarrassment, "I-I mean Chopper! Don't go hurting Chopper!" He stammered. Chopper looked at Isaac with his wide, adorable eyes, "You think of me as your son?" He asked. Isaac averted his gaze, flustered. "Y-Yeah..." He admitted. Chopper hopped down and did his little dance while smiling, "Hearing you think of me as your son doesn't make me happy or anything, Jerk!" Isaac smiled. 

Nami opened the window and found Luffy on top of the train and shouted, "LUFFY, GET BACK INSIDE BEFORE YOU CATCH A COLD!" 

"I DON'T CARE, BESIDES IT'S AWESOMER UP HERE ANYWAY!"

Nami rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. "Whatever, as long as he doesn't fall..." She muttered. 

CRASH !!!

TO BE CONTINUED...