Two chapters in one day! Who took over my body?!

Haha. HAve fun - this chapter is slightly longer than the last one.

Chapter 9

The marine felt sweat pour down his brow as he studiously aimed the cannon, once again, at the pirate ship.

Three. Two. One.

Boom.

The small, deadly metal ball rushed straight towards the group of colourfully dressed individuals on the deck of the ship, who were fending off a barrage of marines and weapons.

The green haired swordsman leapt up and instantly sliced the cannonball into pieces.

Again.

The marine manning the cannon groaned in frustration. Damn it all! Stupid Pirates.

He ran back to the stock of gunpowder filled death spheres and heaved one into his arms, slowly rushing back towards the hunk of ugly mechanical iron. Stupid machine.

He turned back to the window just in time to see something rush right past, in a flash of white and blue.

The soldier stilled.

The white unfolded to reveal a taller, more confident looking Wendy, with long blue hair and a determined gaze. She swept her hands forward, and before the marine could curse, he was sent flailing out of the window.

Stupid Marine life. He should've quit when he had the chance.

Above him, Wendy peered out worriedly, then sighed in relief as she saw him floating. "Sorry," She called out loud before she jumped back onto the Thousand Sunny.

Nami rolled her eyes at her as she hit a man over the head with her staff. "You're too nice, Wen! You need to be meaner!"

"Oh, leave her alone, Witch," Zoro grunted. "She's better off not like you."

Nami's eye twitched, but she needed to do not a thing, not when Sanji was in hearing distance.

"Why, you Sword Freak!" Sanji yelled, kicking his opponent into the sea, and turning to the green haired swordsman. "Don't you dare insult Nami-swan!"

Before they were able to devolve into their usual daily fighting ritual, the ship rocked and rose in the water, a sudden wave rushing in towards it.

The more uncouth members of the crew swore.

Luffy looked at it excited. "Do you think the mermaid will give me a ride this time?" He asked eagerly.

Wendy frowned. "But you can't swim, Luffy-san!"

Robin smiled at the fifteen-year-old. "He's just being a child, Wendy, why don't we see if we can get rid of the rest of the marines?"

Wendy nodded and slipped back into the fray.

The wave was almost upon the group, and the marines were shivering in repressed fear. The straw hats, though, were having a normal, usual day, full with fighting between teammates, Wendy spending time with everyone, Brook making lame skull jokes and singing to a merry tune, and chopper and Franky rushing about wildly.

"Clashing swords, Shielding kings – Barrier Magic!" Illeva's voice, in stark contrast to three years ago, was much louder. Much more confident. The shimmering gold of the barrier was translucent and spanned across the entire ship, brilliantly powerful in its immensity.

The wave crashed into the shield and fell backwards, only sweeping away the Marine vessel. The golden sheet of magic sputtered out.

A grinning Illeva jumped down from the top of the viewing board and quickly rushed to hug Wendy. "I did it!" She squealed.

Wendy started laughing alongside side, before Franky exuberantly swung them around in a well-deserved hug. "SUPER!" He shouted happily.

Zoro let a smirk cover his face. The little tag-along wasn't so bad, after all. She had managed to impress the entire crew at just ten years old. That was an accomplishment if he ever heard one. Then again, there was also Wendy…

Zoro settled back against the cabin wall. The teenager had made them proud. He couldn't understand why those 'friends' of theirs would call them weak – Lucy and Wendy had been strong even when they arrived, and they had kept on getting stronger. Sure, Lucy wasn't completely perfect at swordsmanship, but she could hold her own against him for at least half an hour. Twenty minutes, even, if he actually tried to kill her with the blackbeard pirates in mind (Those bloody stupid- Ahem.).

Speaking of the devil, Lucy jumped out of the water and onto the deck, completely soaking wet and dressed in the set of clothes that she donned with Aquarius's combination attack. She tried to scowl at everyone's unrepentant dry faces, but at the end, she just rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"So much for maturity," Robin remarked in amusement.

Lucy snorted. "In this crew? I'd like to see this fantasy you speak of."

Half the members burst out laughing.

Lucy's clothes burned away in a cloud of glitter to reveal her normal outfit. "So," She stretched. "What happened?"

"Why do you think the boat hasn't been swept away?" Usopp asked. "Illeva-chan did it!"

Lucy's eyes widened, and then Illeva was swimming in a hug again, though this time, she felt even more warm. It was wonderful to have the acceptance of all of her family, but for her, Lucy was still the first one to accept her. The most important.

"Oh my god, that's amazing!" Lucy exclaimed. "I'm so happy to hear it!"

Illeva blushed. "Thanks…"

The rest of the crew internally 'aww'ed. Except Book, who openly made sounds of sobbing, saying something along the lines of crying. Except he had no eyes. Skull joke!

Lucy groaned good-naturedly.

Nami rolled her eyes. "Alright people, enough loiter-" She broke off as a bird landed on her shoulder. The orange haired beauty raised an eyebrow, but took the proffered letter. "Huh." She muttered, reading the name on the front of the envelope. "It's from Vivi."

Lucy frowned, racking her brain as she let down Illeva. "The princess?"

Sanji nodded in confirmation, hearts already the place of his eyes. "Has Vivi-swan finally asked me to come back to her?!" He asked in exceitement.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "I doubt it, Ero-cook."

"Why, you-"

Zoro was about to take out his sword when Nami cleared her throat. The swordsman scowled, but turned his attention back to the missive.

Nami ripped it open. "She says hi, of course," She muttered as she skimmed. "And-" She stopped.

"What happened?" Robin asked worriedly.

Nami swallowed. "Vivi's kingdom was attacked."

There was a shocked silence.

Chopper was ashen. "I thought the security had increased?"

"It did," Nami confirmed. "It seems that this enemy was much, much worse than crocodile's organization."

"We need to go back," Sanji proclaimed. His eyes were hard and unforgiving. The same could be said for the captain.

But before Luffy could agree with the cook, Nami shook her head. "The people have already left." She frowned. "It seems this 'Ram' guy is still at large and has even amassed a massive following of more than a thousand soldiers – and apparently the generals are monsters."

Lucy and Wendy stilled. "But-" Wendy protested. "He's supposed to be back in our dimension!"

"What?" Nami asked.

Lucy inhaled sharply. "We met the man three years ago," She explained. "He's probably the one who put those thoughts into… their minds." She swallowed. It was still hard to think about them – about how they would probably never even see them again.

Robin's eyes turned thoughtful. "Does he have control over the mind? Does any magic do that?"

Lucy started to shake her head, then stopped mid-disagreement. "That… may just be what happened. Oh my god." Horror blossomed on her face. "They… we…"

Wendy swallowed and shuffled next to the blonde. "It's not your fault, Lucy-san," She mumbled, though she could feel the same sinking feeling in her gut that Lucy probably was.

Illeva's eyes widened in fear. What was going on…? Why was Lucy... What was going on?

Nami scowled. "It's neither of your faults," She nearly shouted when she realized what exactly was happening. "Don't you dare blame yourself. Sure, those idiots may have been influenced or something, but you can't just make someone do what they don't want to do – not completely." She frowned. "So maybe they don't deserve all the blame, but they're the ones who broke your heart, so don't you dare to forgive them before giving them each a punch in the stomach that they earned." She paused for a breath. "Understood?"

Lucy and Wendy could only nod. They'd often seen Nami angry – just never at them. They sympathized with the boys now.

Nami was scary.