A/N: Sorry about the delay between the last chapter and this one, I'm really trying to keep to my one chapter a month promise, and it looks like I'm keeping it for the most part. On the bright side, I was able to think up a few more tihngs for this story, even some stuff for Little Garden. But that's enough of me rambling, enjoy the new chapter.

Chapter 8: To Little Garden

-Whiskey Peak-

Groudon followed after the other Straw Hats, making a break for the ship so they could get off of the island as soon as possible. As Luffy went to go get Usopp and Sanji, Groudon followed Zoro onto the ship, quickly passing by Nami and Vivi. When the two arrived to the Going Merry, they started to pull of the anchor, preparing the ship to take off as soon as the others arrived.

"This sucks," Groudon said as he pulled up the anchor along with Zoro.

"What makes you say that?" Zoro asked.

"Everywhere I go with you guys, I become wanted," Groudon pointed out. "First those Marine guys came after me, and now this Baroque Works. You guys must be jinxed or something."

Zoro could only smirk as he said, "It's what comes with being a pirate."

"How many times do I have to tell you guys?" Groudon said as the two finished pulling up the anchor. "I'm not a part of your crew, nor will I ever be. I just need you guys to drop me off at an island where I won't instantly become wanted."

"That's gonna be kinda hard," Zoro said. "From what I know, the Marines are on pretty much every island. And if information spreads as fast as I think it does, you'll be known by every Marine in no time."

"You've gotta be…" Groudon started to say before sniffing the air a bit and looking behind them, only to see a large duck. "…The hell are you doing here?"

"Quack," was the duck's only response.

"Yeah, cause getting lost involves getting on a ship," Groudon muttered to himself.

"I got them!" Luffy yelled as he appeared at the docks, dragging Usopp and Sanji behind him, who were knocked out once again on the way there.

"Get on the boat and get ready!" Zoro shouted over to Luffy.

"But I can't leave him here!" came the voice of Vivi as she and Nami were near the ship.

"What's going on?" Zoro asked.

"Her duck disappeared, so she wants to go find him before we leave," Nami explained.

"Your duck's already on board," Groudon told them, motioning to Carue behind him. "I think he actually beat us here." After that was said, the rest of the crew quickly rushed onto the ship's deck.

"Turn the ship upstream, it'll be fastest way outta here," Vivi suggested. The crew quickly readjusted the ship's course.

"Do you know how many people are going to be after us?" Luffy asked.

"I'm not really sure, but I think about 2,000 people are working for Baroque Works," Vivi informed them. "There are also many towns similar to this one."

Soon after, Usopp and Sanji woke up, yelling how they should stay in the town until the next day. They still insisted even after Nami explained to them what happened. So to stop their shouting, they were quickly knocked out.

"The mist is starting to come out," Nami said.

"Be careful that you don't hit any of the rocks," came a new voice, drawing the attention of all those still conscious.

"Who's there!?" Vivi shouted, but she instantly recognized the person before her.

"I just got done meeting up with Mr. 8, Mrs. Wednesday," the person said, who was a woman dressed up similarly to a cowgirl.

"Did…Did you kill Igaram?" Vivi questioned, even though she already knew the answer. "Why are you here, Miss All Sunday!?"

"Who is she? And where's her partner?" Nami asked, instantly realizing that she must be a part of Baroque Works.

"She's the boss's partner," Vivi told them. "And she's the only one to know who he really is. So I followed her to learn his true identity."

"Actually, I just let you follow me," Miss All Sunday said.

"Oh, so she's a good guy," Luffy reasoned.

"I knew that!" Vivi shouted. "You're also the one who told the boss about me, aren't you!?"

"Wait, so she's a bad guy then?" Luffy asked.

"What do you want from me?" Vivi asked.

"Because you worked so hard to do all this, I've decided to help you," Miss All Sunday said. "However, you have decided to become the enemy of Baroque Works Princess, bad idea."

"Stop messing with me!" Vivi shouted, Usopp and Sanji got up from where they were lying and were pointing a weapon at Miss All Sunday's head, Usopp his slingshot and Sanji a pistol. Zoro was also getting ready, partially unsheathing one of his swords and Nami quickly assembling her staff. The only ones who didn't move at all were Luffy and Groudon.

"Hey, you know what's going on, right?" Usopp asked.

"Not a clue," Sanji admitted. "However, it seems my beloved Miss Wednesday is in danger."

"Those things are dangerous, you know. Please don't point them at me," Miss All Sunday said as Usopp and Sanji were flipped over the railing and onto the deck.

"She must be a Devil Fruit user!" Vivi realized, everyone else caught off guard by the sudden action. Nami and Zoro were also suddenly forced to drop their weapons.

"What kind of power is this?" Nami wondered.

"Calm down, I haven't received any new orders yet," Miss All Sunday said. "So, there's no reason for us to fight right now." Luffy's hat then suddenly floated off of his head, and went straight to Miss All Sunday who caught it with ease, twirling it around on her finger. "You're the captain, Monkey D. Luffy, right?"

"Give me back my hat!" Luffy shouted at her. "Do you wanna fight with me! You really are a bad person after all! Why don't you come down here and face me!"

"You really are unlucky," Miss All Sunday said as she placed Luffy's hat atop of hers. "To be involved with the Princess who is against Baroque Works. And you too Princess, to only have a few pirates to help you. But worst of all, is the direction that you're going. You're next destination is Little Garden. We won't even have to do anything if you make there. You probably won't even make it to Alabasta. You'll all disappear before you can even meet Crocodile."

"Do you really think we'll listen to you!" Luffy shouted. "Give me back my hat!"

"Will you be quiet already?" Miss All Sunday asked as she flipped Luffy's hat back to him. "You know that you're going to face many obstacles, but you still plan on going, you must be crazy." Miss All Sunday then tossed something over to Vivi, who easily caught it.

"An Eternal Pose?" Vivi questioned.

"If you have that, you'll be able to bypass all other islands," Miss All Sunday informed them. "After all, that Eternal Pose leads straight to Alabasta. Our boss doesn't even know about it, so we can't follow you."

"So, she is a good person?" Nami asked.

"Why are you doing this?" Vivi asked Miss All Sunday.

"I think she's sending us to a trap," Zoro said.

"Whether you think it's a trap or not is up to you," Miss All Sunday told them.

"Don't worry about that," Luffy said after a small moment of silence, reaching over to Vivi and taking the Eternal Pose from her, instantly breaking it in his hand.

"Are you insane!?" Nami shouted as she kicked Luffy in his face. "She just gave us an easy way to get to Alabasta! And you destroyed it! If she really is a good person, then we just lost a bog opportunity!"

"You don't have the right to decide our route!" Luffy said to Miss All Sunday, completely ignoring what Nami was shouting at him.

"Really? It's such a shame then," Miss All Sunday said. "I don't mind a person with a great spirit like you. If you're lucky, maybe we'll meet again. Howver…" Miss Sunday said as her attention shifted over to Groudon, who had yet to move or say anything this entire time. "What's your deal? You haven't done anything this entire time."

"I don't care what someone like you does," Groudon said. "Whatever happens to these guys doesn't affect me in the slightest. I'm not a part of their crew."

"Is that so?" Miss All Sunday asked. "Well then, I look forward to seeing what becomes of you all. Let's go Banchi." Miss All Sunday then jumped off the side of the boat, landing on the back of a very large turtle as it then began to swim off.

"What a huge turtle!" Luffy said in amazement, forgetting all his previous rage.

"That was really cold of you Groudon," Usopp said. "Ironic given how high your body temperature is."

"I meant what I said," Groudon said as he walked to the front of the ship, taking his normal seat against the ship's mast. "I don't care for you guys at all. I've just been stuck with you and unable to ditch you guys since me we've met."

"That woman…" Vivi said as she fell to her knees. "I have no idea what she's thinking."

"Try not to think about it then," Nami suggested.

"We have someone on our ship just like that on our ship," Zoro said.

"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" Usopp asked.

"Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't a good idea for me to join you guys," Vivi said. "I'll bring you all nothing but trouble."

"What did you say?" Nami said as she walked up to Vivi and poked her forehead. "It's all you fault. If you really didn't want to follow us, you shouldn't have let your boss's name slip out. Isn't that right Luffy?"

"It's morning!" Luffy shouted, completely oblivious to what they were talking about. "Sanji! Make breakfast!"

"It seems like he doesn't even care," Zoro said."

"It is morning already, so let's get going," Nami said.

"Little Garden…" Groudon thought as he looked over the side of the ship, watching the last bit of land pass by. "Why do I already have a bad feeling about this?"

"Hey, Groudon," Nami said as she walked up to him. "Can you do something for me?"

"Depends what it is," Groudon responded.

"Since you can control how intense the sun's rays are, I was wondering if you could turn them back to normal," Nami asked.

"Define, 'normal,'" Groudon requested.

"You know, just don't use that power of yours," Nami said. "You can turn it off, right?"

"What would me canceling my Drought ability do to help?" Groudon asked.

"For one thing, it literally puts us in the center of a target," Nami explained. "If we want to get anywhere without getting any unwanted attention, it'd be smart to sail around in the normal conditions of the Grand Line."

"…I guess that's a fair enough reason," Groudon reasoned, holding his chin as he thought over what Nami said. "We're being hunted down by a criminal organization, the less attention we bring ourselves, the better."

Nami smiles as she said, "I'm glad you understand." After that was said, she, and everyone else on the ship, felt the temperature around them start to drop.

"Geez…why did it get colder all of the sudden?" Usopp said as he rubbed his arms.

"This is the normal temperature of the Grand Line," Nami informed him and the rest of the crew. "Groudon let go of his control of the sun's intensity, it might be a bit colder than what we've been used to the past couple of days, but this is what we'll be sailing in for the time being."

"Are we going to run into any of that crazy weather Vivi mentioned on our way to Whiskey Peak?" Luffy asked, a wide smile on his face.

"We aren't going to be running into anything as bad as the first part of the Grand Line," Vivi explained. "That part is special since there are seven magnetic fields. Because of that, the sea there is very chaotic. But you still need to be careful, even though you won't face anything as bad as that, there are still many obstacles that you'll have to face. The most important thing to remember, though, is to never underestimate this sea."

"Hey! Anyone want my special drink!?" Sanji shouted as he came out carrying a try full of several colorful drinks, resulting in most of the crew to ask for them. This somewhat annoyed Vivi, as she thought they weren't going to take any of this seriously.

"Is this alright?" Vivi asked Nami as she pointed to everyone else.

"If something happened, they'd be able to handle it, none of them want to die after all. Here's your drink by the way," Nami said as she handed Vivi her drink, also taking some sips from her own.

"You may be right, but are they too relaxed?" Vivi asked as she looked over the rest of the crew.

"Staying on this ship gives you a stress-free feeling, right?" Nami asked with a grin.

"I guess that's true," Vivi said as a small smile graced her lips.

As they continued to sail to their next island, the Straw Hats started to admire admiring the scenery of the open ocean.

"Hey look! It's a dolphin!" Sanji said as he saw a dolphin jump out of the water. But everyone's heads continued to tilt upwards. It turns out, the dolphin was much bigger than their ship.

"Let's run away!" Luffy cheered as everyone started to run around the ship, getting into position to avoid that dolphin.

"That fish is too damn big!" Groudon shouted as he assisted Sanji in pulling the ropes of the mast.

"That's a mammal too you idiot!" Usopp shouted back. After making a quick escape from the giant dolphin, the crew was once again relaxing around the Going Merry.

Making sure they were heading to the correct island, Nami was keeping a close eye on the Log Pose, even as the next island started to come into view.

"So this is our next stop, our second island of the Grand Line," Nami said. The ship was soon sailing through a water way that went through the island, and everyone took the time to observe that the flora and fauna weren't as little as the name implied.

After a few moments, Luffy decided that he would go and explore the island, having sensed an adventure waiting to be found. Vivi decided to go with him, and she ended up dragging Carue along with her. After the two were out of sight, Zoro decided that he would simply go for a walk. Before he could leave though, Sanji asked him to hunt for some animals. After making a remark about how Sanji couldn't do it himself, the two got into an argument which resulted in the two of them getting into a hunting contest. This only left Nami, Usopp and Groudon on the ship.

"How can they all be like this?" Nami asked.

"I completely understand your feelings," Usopp commented. "I will be here for you." After a moment of silence Usopp then said, "So I can't really rely on you then?"

"I should be the one who says that!" Nami shouted.

"Hey, on the bright side, Groudon's still here, right?" Usopp suggested. "I'm sure he'll protect us is anything tries to attack us."

"You're right, looks like we were worried over nothing," Nami said smiling, looking over at Groudon to see him once again asleep sitting against the mast. "…We're gonna die here, aren't we?"

"More than likely," Usopp agreed, crying to himself a bit.

"Still…I can't help but feel I've heard if it somewhere before," Nami said, slightly confusing Usopp. "Is it possible that I read it somewhere?"

"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked.

"Little Garden," Nami said as she got up and went to her cabin, going through all the books she had to try and find any reference to their current island. "Where is it? I just read it, so how could I have forgotten?" After looking through one more book, Nami found what she was looking for, quickly running back out to the deck. "Usopp!"

"What? Did you find the book?" Usopp asked.

"We have to leave as soon as possible!" Nami shouted. "This island is…!" Anything else she was about to say was interrupted they they saw an extremely large figure walking towards their ship, shocking the two still conscious on the boat, making them scream in fear.

A/N: So that's another chapter down. I hope you guys all enjoyed it, and don't worry too much about Groudon's attitude towards the Straw Hats, he'll warm up to them...eventually. I'm just going to say this now though, don't expect me to update this for a month or two, I have another story I've been neglecting, and I think it's time I updated that. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the form of a review or PM, and I'll answer them as best I can if I can. Seeya later.