Another Nakama IV

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fanfic. One Piece and all the related characters are owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonnan Jump Manga and Eiichiro Oda. QPython only owns the original characters that he created for this story.'

Summary: There's another pirate on board the Going Merry. Follow the Straw Hats as they challenge the World Government and the best they have to offer in order to protect their crew and pursue their dreams.

Rating: T

Long Adventure:

-x-

Night had fallen over the Grand Line and the moon shined down on the island of Jaya where a loud commotion was emanating from Mock Town.

"What's going on?" Lily the former arm candy of the Bellamy Pirates asked as she pushed through the crowd.

Lily had quit the crew after the Straw Hats' last encounter with the Bellamy Pirates but her disheveled appearance shown that she hadn't gotten used to living without the luxury of being a Bellamy Pirate. Her blonde hair which had previously been perfectly groomed was now dirty and messy. Lily's fancy fur coat was dirty and worn, her fancy white blouse was still stained from when Nami threw her through a table during their bar fight. Lily may have left the crew but it had only been a full week and her appearance had already deteriorated to the point where she now looked like a slob.

Lily worked her way through the crowd and eventually found her former crewmates Eddy, Rivers, Hewitt, Ross and Muret standing together.

"What's going on?" Lily asked again.

"Hmph," Muret scoffed and turned her nose up at her former crewmate's horrible appearance.

"Tell me!" Lily insisted.

"Bellamy and Sarquiss are fighting each other…" Rivers stated.

Bellamy and Sarquiss stood in the middle of the street surrounded by the crowd. Bellamy's arm had been cut and was freely bleeding and Sarquiss' big kukri blade was coated in blood. It was a clear sign that Sarquiss had been the one responsible for Bellamy's wound.

But the fact that the two pirates were staring at each other in complete and utter horror made it clear that this was something that they didn't wantto do.

"I can see that," Lily stated, "But why? Isn't someone gonna stop them?"

"PLEASE!" Sarquiss screamed. "NO MORE! WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME DO THIS?"

"I… I've never seen Sarquiss plead like that," Lily said as she stared at her ex-boyfriend

"'Why' you ask?" came a voice. "Why am I making you?" The crowd turned and saw a man seated on a barrel which gave him a perfect view of the 'fight'.

The man was instantly recognizable. Tall, tan and blond dressed in flamboyant clothing which included an unmistakable pink feathered coat.

"Sarquiss, Bellamy," the man continued, "I'm making you do this because you've made a mockery of this symbol." The pink-clad man turned and slapped the white Jolly Roger on the wall behind him. It wasn't normal skull and crossbones, it was a smiley face with a line going through it. It was the same symbol that Sarquiss had tattooed on his chest and the same symbol that Bellamy practically worshipped. It was the mark of the Don Quixote Pirates.

"That… that's Doflamingo," Eddy realized as everyone stared at the man in shock.

"Don Quixote Doflamingo… the Warlord?" Muret questioned.

"His bounty used to be over three hundred million," Rivers stated.

"What's he doing here?" Hewitt wondered.

"Fuffuffuffu," Doflamingo chuckled, "Does the Sky Island exist or not? Is the legendary City of Gold real or not? The truth doesn't really matter now, does it? You play the opposing sides off each other to twist them to your will. That's what I told you, right Bellamy?"

"He's here to punish them," Lily realized.

"You've really let me down," Doflamingo said, "And I've got zero tolerance for useless punks like you." Doflamingo raised his hand and flicked his fingers like a puppet master.

"No! Not again!" Sarquiss cried as he involuntarily raised his knife up over his head. "My body's moving… on its own… I can't control it!"

"…" Bellamy stared silently at his First Mate and stood rooted in place.

"PLEASE! NO!" Sarquiss hollered as he swung his big knife down at his Captain.

SLISH! Sarquiss slashed Bellamy across the chest and he crashed to the ground.

"BELLAMY!" Eddy, Rivers, and Hewitt shouted in alarm.

"Uugghh… Please…" Bellamy groaned. He was already splayed out on the ground so it didn't take much for him to push himself up onto his hands and knees in a proper groveling position. "Just give me one more chance to set things right… I swear we'll follow your every command!"

"Bellamy!" Rivers gasped.

"Let it go Bellamy!" Eddy advised.

"I might have lost but I never once acted against your principles," Bellamy insisted. "I swear on your symbol! Please! That's just how I do things! I had to wipe out those weaklings and their foolish beliefs before they could reach you. Maybe then I could someday reach your level."

Bellamy's eyes were locked on the ground. He was so caught up with his plea that he didn't see Doflamingo flick his fingers. He didn't see Sarquiss involuntarily raise his big knife over his head for another attack.

Lily did.

"They made it, you know," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

Suddenly everyone was staring at her. Even Doflamingo.

Lily swallowed. "I went to the old man's house. They were celebrating and claimed Straw Hat reached the sky and that he was the one that rang the bell we all heard a few days ago."

"That's ridiculous," Bellamy hissed.

"FUFFUFFUFFU!" Doflamingo let out a loud laugh. He got off of his barrel and walked over to Bellamy with his signature bow-legged strut. "That sloppy wench just gave me the most wonderful idea. Bellamy, you're a worthless dog but you're still a very a loyal dog. If you want a second chance then you'll have to earn it."

"Yes, I'll do anything!" Bellamy immediately agreed.

Doflamingo's mouth stretched and formed a wide grin that nearly matched the smile on his flag. "Bellamy, I want you to go to the Sky Island and retrieve some gold from the legendary city."

Everyone in Jaya knew Bellamy's stance on the Sky Island. He insisted that it didn't exist. Doflamingo had just set Bellamy an impossible task.

"You see why this is so amusing to me, Bellamy?" Doflamingo taunted. "Either you'll fail and prove once and for all that you're just a useless punk or you'll succeed and prove to everyone that you're just an ignorant hot-headed fool. Oh, and take the sloppy wench with you. She seems to be good for a laugh."

"What… no!" Lily sputtered. Doflamingo raised his hand and flicked his fingers. Lily's legs moved against her will and dragged her out of the crowd before they gave out and she dropped to the ground behind Bellamy. "I quit! I'm not even—"

"I wasn't asking," Doflamingo cut her off.

"I'll do it," Bellamy agreed. "I'll get you your gold Doflamingo."

"Whether you do or you don't doesn't matter, Bellamy," Doflamingo announced, "Your actions don't matter. You don't matter. You're still alive simply because your new plight amuses me. But should you fail in your task, you will become expendable." Doflamingo flicked his fingers.

"NO! NO! PLEASE!" Bellamy and Lily looked back to see Sarquiss once again involuntarily raise his big knife over his head. "DOFLAMINGO! NOOOO!" 'Big Knife' Sarquiss' big knife swung down and cleaved into his own stomach. SLISH!

Lily was unfortunate enough to be on the ground in between Bellamy and Sarquiss. This put her in the splash zone.

THUD! Sarquiss hit the ground and Lily ended up covered in her ex-boyfriend's blood. The woman stared down at her blood-coated clothes and screamed in horror. "AAAAAUUUHHHH! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! AAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHHH!"

"FUFFUFFUFFU!" Doflamingo laughed over Lily's screams. "See? She's great for a laugh!" Doflamingo turned to address the horrified crowd. "The beginning is upon us! I suggest you prepare. We're drawing closer to a new world in which only true pirates can survive. The weak should run while the still can or be swept away by the tides of time as they roll back to reveal a new era of champions! FUFFUFFUFFUFFUFFU!"

-x-

The sun rose the next morning and the Going Merry sailed peacefully along the water of the Grand Line.

Ricky sat at the base of the main mast with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He now wore the cloud shirt and the beret that the White Berets had given him before they left Skypiea.

Chopper sat dutifully next to him and copied Ricky's 'meditation pose' but opened his eyes when Zoro walked over and sat down on Ricky's other side.

"Any luck?" the swordsman asked. Chopper shook his head.

"I still don't have the first clue what I'm doing," Ricky confessed as he opened his eye.

"EMERGENCY ALERT!" Usopp suddenly shouted from up in the crow's nest overhead. "UNKOWN SHIP SPOTTED AT TWELVE O' CLOCK!"

"Oh, hey! I see it!" Luffy exclaimed as he sat on the figurehead. "Are they bad guys?"

"Well, they don't have a flag," Usopp observed through his binoculars. "Or even a sail. I don't know what kind of ship it is."

The other ship could have been a pirate ship… once. It was lined in green and had a frog with sharp teeth as its figurehead. But there was no flag and no sails flying. The ship simply drifted listlessly along with the current. Almost as if its spirit had been broken.

"It's naked?" Luffy gasped. "Who would do that to their ship? What're they doing out here without sails?"

"How should I know?" Usopp snapped back. "What's even weirder, the crew is way too small for a ship that size. There's only a dozen people on the deck. And they look like they're catatonic or something. They're just sitting around in a daze."

Sure enough, the crew on the other ship looked just as broken as the ship itself.

SPLOOOSH! Suddenly three huge shapes broke the surface behind the Going Merry. The water fell away to reveal the huge creatures that were each ten times the size of the Going Merry. Their top halves looked like monkeys while they had the tail and fins of fish. Sea Monkeys.

"EEEP! EEEEP! EEEEP!" the three Sea Monkeys screeched.

"Oh crap," Ricky complained as he, Zoro and Chopper stood up and stared at the Sea Monkeys. "Sea Monkeys are jerks."

"Why?" Luffy asked as he joined the others and gaped at the monkeys. "I like monkeys. Those other two sea monkeys helped us get to the Sky Island."

"Yes, but those monkeys were almost part human," Ricky pointed out. "These monkeys are evil creatures of the ocean that make it their mission to sink any ship they come across."

"How do they do that?" Chopper questioned.

"EEEP! EEEEP! EEEEEP!" the Sea Monkeys cried out as they started to churn up and down in the water behind the Going Merry. The sea rose and fell along with the Sea Monkeys until they had created a massive tidal wave. SPLOOOOOSSSHH!

"WAAAAAH! RUN AWAY!" Luffy shouted. "FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

"We can't, there's no wind!" Ricky pointed out.

KREK! Nami burst out of the Galley with Sanji and Robin behind her. All three of them were wearing new outfits. Nami wore a black tank top that said 'gold' on the front and a pair of snug white pants. Sanji had ditched his usual coat and now wore a white button-up shirt and a blue tie. Robin wore black pants and a white tank top with green straps and dots across the chest.

"RAISE THE SAILS AND START PADDLING!" the Navigator shouted.

The Straw Hats scrambled and got to work. Sanji and Usopp raised the sails while Chopper retrieved the long paddles from the anchor room. Zoro and Chopper grabbed one paddle while Luffy and Ricky grabbed the other and the four of them frantically paddled the Going Merry away from the tidal wave-causing Sea Monkeys.

"Hey, what's wrong with that ship?" Sanji called out. "They're heading towards the wave."

"That wave's gonna swallow them whole," Zoro noted.

"HEEYY!" Luffy called off the side of the Merry as they pulled up alongside the other ship. "WAKE UP! THERE'S A BIG WAVE FILLED WITH SEA MONKEYS! TURN AROUND!"

The crew on the other ship staggered back up. But they paid no mind to Luffy, his warning, or the giant, monkey-filled waved ahead of them and instead focused on the Going Merry.

"It's a pirate ship!" one of the crew realized.

"Everyone on your feet!" another man called out. "We've gotta raid their ship and swipe their treasure!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" a third man snapped. "You're not the captain!"

"We can't let them get away!"

"AAAHH! A GIANT WAVE!"

"READY THE CANNONS!"

"YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!"

"SOMEBODY TURN!"

"Wow… that's gotta be the worst crew ever," Luffy realized.

"There's no Captain on that ship," Ricky said from next to him. "There's no one to lead their crew so now they're helpless."

"KEEP PADDLING!" Nami yelled. "THEY WANT TO STEAL OUR TREASURE!"

Usopp and Sanji ran over and joined the others at the paddles. With six Straw Hats frantically paddling the Going Merry pulled away from the other ship and the tidal wave.

Ricky shook his head as he pumped the paddle in between Luffy and Sanji. "No Captain and they don't even have a cute navigator to yell and scream at them until they do what she wants."

"Why would they even bother setting sail without one of those?" Sanji questioned.

"WHICH WAY DO WE TURN?" the other crew continued to shout.

"WHO KNOWS?"

"WHERE'S THE NAVIGATOR?"

"WE LOST THE NAVIGATOR!"

"WHERE'S THE CAPTAIN!"

"WE LOST THE CAPTAIN TOO!"

"YOU'RE A BUNCH OF MORONS!"

"YOU'RE A MORON!"

"EEEEEP! EEEEEEEEP! EEEEEEEEEP!" The Sea Monkeys cried out as the wave came crashing down on the other ship and swallowed it up. SPLOOOOSH!

The Straw Hats had managed to get far enough ahead that when the wave crashed it sent the Going Merry rushing forward at triple its previous speed.

"SHISHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy laughed. "WOW! WE'RE GOING REALLY FAST NOW! See, Ricky, I told ya! Monkeys are great!"

"TELL THAT TO THE GUYS THEY JUST SANK!" Usopp snapped.

-x-

"Man, it's just one terrible thing after another these days," Zoro grumbled.

They had escaped the Sea Monkeys and had lowered the sails. Now they were once again sailing across peaceful water.

"At least it's calm," Sanji pointed out.

"Those huge waves were directly caused by the Sea Monkeys," Nami informed the others. "Now that we've escape them the humidity and temperature seem pretty stable. That means we've gotta be in the next island's climate zone."

"Ugh…" Usopp groaned on the deck. He still hadn't full recovered from all the paddling. "You hear that Robin, any islands?"

"We've been approaching one for a while now," Robin reported from up in the Crow's Nest where she'd taken over Usopp's post.

""WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US!" Luffy and Usopp complained.

"You are way too secretive," Usopp scolded her. "Tell us the next time you see an island. You know, like this…" Usopp turned and motioned to Luffy.

"LAND AHOY! LAND! LAND! I SEE LAND!" Luffy shouted. "YEAH! YEAH! SHISHISHI!"

"Now you say it!" Usopp prompted.

"The fog looks pretty thick," Robin stated.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Usopp shouted.

"You know Robin, it kind of defeats the purpose of keeping lookout if you don't tell us when you spot something," Ricky pointed out.

"Yeah!" Luffy chimed in now that he was done shouting. "Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting to see another island?"

Robin blinked then looked down at them. "Fog ahoy. Fog. Fog. I see fog," she dead-panned.

Ricky looked over at Luffy and Usopp then shrugged, "It's a start."

"Fog, huh?" Nami questioned as she stood on the deck in front of the galley and surveyed the approaching cloud of fog. "That's not good. Hey Chopper! I need you to stand forward watch!"

"Right!" Chopper replied as he scrambled up onto the front deck.

"You know, I can't stop thinking about that other ship," Usopp remarked. "They didn't have a captain, or a navigator or even sails. It was like they had no idea what they were doing. What kind of self-respecting pirates would head out to sea like that?"

"Maybe they didn't have a choice," Ricky suggested.

"I'm guessing they got in a battle and lost," Zoro said. "Their captain probably got killed and then their ship got plundered."

"That can't be it," Usopp argued, "I got a look at their ship. It was in perfect condition. No signs of battle. But it was still stripping clean of everything a pirate would need to survive."

"They probably weren't even pirates then," Sanji decided. "Forget it."

"They looked like pirates to me," Usopp grumbled to himself as he wandered over to the railing. "Crummy pirates, but still… I've got a bad feeling about this somehow."

"Have you ever had a good one?" Sanji retorted as he went to join Chopper on the front deck.

"Anyway!" Luffy chimed in, "I hope there's a town!" He stretched his arms out and shot himself onto the front deck along with the others. "Maybe they've got a shipyard!"

"Be careful Luffy!" Nami called after him. "Don't just jump off when we get there!"

"…" The others had all wandered off and now Ricky and Nami were standing alone on the deck.

Nami folded her arms across her chest, "Got something to say?"

"I… I'm glad we have you on the crew," Ricky replied. "We'd be sunk without you. That other crew showed us that."

"I guess that means you're sunk then," Nami retorted as she turned and stalked away.

"Looks like we're still in troubled waters," Robin observed. Her binoculars were pointed down at the deck. "We might need to watch out for oncoming storms."

The Going Merry sailed onward into the cloud of fog towards the island that Robin had spotted.

"I hope we can find a Shipwright," Chopper said as he hung on the front railing and peered through the thick fog.

"GET THE ANCHOR READY! WE'RE NEAR THE SHORE!" Luffy shouted.

"I'm on it," Zoro agreed.

"Ahh!" Usopp yelped as he dropped to his knees, "The bag feeling just got worse!"

"Hey Chopper," Sanji called out, "Usopp's come down with another case of scaredy-cat-itis."

"No cure for that!" Chopper chirped.

"Right, let's go, let's go!" Luffy exclaimed.

The fog cleared and the Going Merry reached the shore.

"Huh?" Zoro grunted.

"You're kidding?" Sanji growled.

The island was made up of mostly flat grassy meadows. The flat land allowed the Straw Hats to see all the way across the island to the small mountain range. Other than the tall thin trees it was clear that were no villages on this island.

"THERE'S NOTHING AT ALL!" Luffy blurted out. "IT'S LIKE A BLANK SLATE! COOL! ALL I CAN SEE IS GRASS AND TREES!"

"Uggh…" Sanji groaned. "This place is kind of depressing."

"I wonder if anyone actually lives here," Robin commented.

"YAHOO!" SKISH! Luffy eagerly jumped from the Going Merry to the shore.

"HEY!" Nami snapped. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?"

"ME TOO!" Chopper cheered. SKISH! He jumped off the ship after Luffy.

"WAA-HAA!" Usopp laughed as he jumped after Chopper. SKISH!

"SHISHISHISHISHI!""AHAHAHAHAHAHA!""TEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

The three Straw Hats laughed as they rolled back and forth through the soft grass.

"Geez, it's like they have no concept of unknown danger," Nami complained.

Behind her, Zoro tossed the anchor off the side of the ship. SPLOOSH!

"We can see clear across the island," Zoro pointed out. "There's no threat in sigh. Why do you think Usopp went after him?"

"Aaaahh!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all sighed happily as they finished rolled and relaxed on the soft grass.

Chopper was the only one to open his eyes so he was the one that spotted the bear. "WAAAH!"

"See something Chopper?" Luffy asked as he and Usopp sat up.

"Whoa!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all gasped as they stared up at the bear. It was white, furry and walked on its hind legs. But what stood out about the bear was that its long thin body and limbs made it nearly as tall as the tall thin trees.

"Is it… a human?" Chopper wondered as he watched the bear walk on its hind legs.

SKISH! Luffy jumped up onto the tall bears back. "Have you ever seen a human this furry or enormous? It's gotta be some kind of bear!"

"Grrr?" the bear growled as it suddenly found Usopp hanging off of its neck along with Luffy and Chopper perched on top of its head.

"Whoa!" Usopp exclaimed. "It's so long! It's a long bear!"

"I'm getting dizzy up here," Chopper remarked from way up on the long bear's head.

SWUP! Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed a fruit off of a nearby tree. The red fruit was long and thin and was shaped vaguely like a big pepper. Chomp! But when Luffy bit into it, the fruit was crunchy and pale yellow inside.

"IT'S AN APPLE!" Luffy realized. "It's a long apple!"

"Whoa!" Usopp gaped at the long fruit. "I'm just realizing it but the trees are long too."

"Grr… grrrrr…" the bear got tired of the three pirates hanging on it and gave a wild shake. SWISH-SWISH-SKISH! Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were thrown off and landed on the ground.

The pulled themselves back up as the bear stomped off and Usopp pulled down his goggles.

"Hey, is that a house over there?" Usopp called out. They hadn't spotted it at first because unlike everything else on this island the building was remarkably short.

"Yeah, I guess it kind of looks like a house," Luffy remarked as he finished off his long apple and then ate the long core. "Let's go check it out."

"YAAAAH!" Usopp yelped as they song a fox run across their path. The fox was taller than all of them but its long body stretched onward for a good thirty feet.

A large long deer walked passed in the opposite direction of the fox. But like the fox it had a long body that stretched for about twenty-five feet.

"Are you guys related?" Luffy asked as he looked from the deer's antlers to Chopper's.

"That's a deer! I'm a reindeer!" Chopper corrected him. "Don't be racist!"

They continued onward and watched seagull fly overhead. The seagull had a long swan-like neck and a big body that made it over ten feet long. Its wide wing span was a good twelve feet.

"Whoa!" Chopper gasped as they saw a furry white dog next. It was white and furry and its head came up to Usopp's waist. Its long body stretched back down the meadow with no end in sight.

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed as he ran over to the dog. He crouched in front of it and held out his hand, "Shake."

"Ruff," the dog barked as it raised its paw and shook Luffy's hand.

"Hey Chopper, check this out," Usopp boasted. "Back home I was the Limbo Champion!" Usopp stretched himself then bent backwards on his legs and carefully started to crabwalk under the dog's long body.

"Teeheehee!" Chopper chuckled, "Go for it Usopp!"

"Now down," Luffy instructed the dog. FWUMP! The dog's long body dropped to the ground right on top of Usopp.

"UUGGHHH!" the sniper groaned underneath the long dog.

"Now beg," Luffy ordered.

"Reeff," the dog let out a chuckle as he reared back onto its hind legs. SWISH! Its head and front paws went up and up and up until they couldn't see them anymore.

"IT'S MILES LONG!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Wow, I can't even see its head!" Usopp commented.

"Good dog!" Luffy called up to it.

-x-

Back on the Going Merry, Robin was still up in the Crow's Nest.

"Huh?" Robin said as she stared through the fog and spotted movement. She squinted and spotted a large ship-like shape with sails.

"Where'd they run off to?" Zoro wondered.

"They were here just a minute ago," Nami replied.

"Hey Robin, do you see anything?" Ricky called up to her. "I thought we went over this."

Robin looked down at him. "Ship ahoy. Ship. Ship. I think I saw a ship."

"Now I feel like you're mocking me," Ricky stated.

Robin crossed her arms over her chest, "There's just no pleasing you, is there? I didn't realize you were so high maintenance."

"I'm high maintenance?" Ricky turned and asked the others.

"No, I'm high maintenance," Nami retorted. "You're a stubborn jackass."

"Is this what we're doing now?" Ricky questioned. "I'll say something and then you'll make a snarky comment?"

Nami glared at him, "Maybe."

"If Miss. Robin saw a ship, maybe we should disembark?" Sanji suggested. "Maybe there's food on this island."

"Might as well," Ricky agreed. "If there's another ship here we'd be better off on land. This way if they turn out to be hostile we can fight them on land and keep from damaging the Merry."

-x-

"Everything on this island is so long!" Usopp remarked. "How did it get this way? Maybe it's the gravity?"

"My body feels all stretched out just from thinking about it!" Chopper replied.

They had finally made it to the house which was shaped like a short one-story dome.

"Heellooo! Anyone home?" Luffy called out as he opened the red wooden door and walked in.

"Hey! What're you doing?" Usopp snapped as he grabbed Luffy and tried to hold him back. Luffy ended up dragging Usopp into the house I with him. "You can't go in there! For all we know the Boss of this island lives in this house and he's probably some terrifyingly long man-snake-monster that'll swallow us whole!"

"I was already swallowed by a long snake-monster," Luffy reminded Usopp. "So don't worry! Besides, it's empty. No one's home."

"Huh?" Usopp grunted as he stared around the one-room house.

"Hey Luffy! Usopp!" Chopper called out from outside. "There's a giraffe out here!"

"Really?" Luffy and Usopp gasped as they ran.

Neeeiiggh! The giraffe reared back and let out a whinny. It had long legs and a long neck that made it taller than the house they'd just come out of.

"Whooaaa…" Luffy gaped up at the giraffe. It was solid white giraffe. A solid white giraffe with hooves, a mane and a purple saddle.

"Chopper, that's not a giraffe that's a horse with a long neck," Usopp stated, "A long horse!"

"You're a horse?" Chopper asked the horse.

Neeigh! The horse confirmed as it craned its long neck down and nuzzled Chopper.

"Wow! It's a girl horse!" Luffy exclaimed as he stood directly underneath the horse and stared up at its underbody.

NEIGH!

"Luffy, don't stand there!" Chopper scolded him. Luffy stepped out from underneath the horse. "Her name's Shelly."

"Going by the saddle, her owner must be close by," Usopp reasoned. He turned and saw Luffy staring off passed the house. "What're you looking at?'

"Over there," Luffy said as he pointed at two tall bamboo stalks that hadn't been there before. "There's something up with those bamboo trees."

They went over to the bamboo and craned their necks up.

"Wow, you're right!" Usopp exclaimed. "Talk about tall! I can't even see the top!"

"That's not it," Luffy said. "Look closer."

"Huh?" Usopp said as he leaned in and peered at the bamboo. SWIIISH! The left bamboo stalk moved forward. "WAAAAAAHHH! "THEY'RE MOVING!"

"They must be part of some long animal!" Luffy decided. SWIIISH! The right bamboo stalk moved forward and slammed into Luffy from behind. THWAK!

"THAT THING'S ATTACKING LUFFY!" Usopp shrieked as Luffy tumbled across the grass. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

Luffy spun into his roll and pushed himself back up to his feet then spun to face the attacking bamboo trees. "GET BACK HERE BAMBOO!"

"BE CAREFUL!" Usopp warned him.

"GUUUUUM… GUUUUUUUM…" SHOOOOOOOM! Luffy stretched his leg back and whipped it around at the bamboo stalk that had attacked him. "WHIIIIIIIIP!" KER-RACK! Luffy's leg smashed through the bamboo stalk.

"ALRIGHT! YOU DID IT!" Usopp cheered.

"YEAH! NO TREE CAN BEAT ME!" Luffy boasted.

"Why are you along?" Chopper asked Sherry. "Where's your owner?"

Neeii…

"You don't know where?" Chopper questioned. "That sounds awfully lonely."

KRAASSHH! Chopper and Sherry looked over at the other side of the house and watched the bamboo stalk crash to the ground.

"It might be bad guys!" Chopper realized, "You say here and hide!"

Neeigghh… Sherry agreed as she ducked her head down to hide behind the short house.

"What's going on?" Chopper called out as he ran over to Luffy and Usopp.

"Well… uh…" Luffy said as he, Usopp and Chopper stared down at… an old man. "I think that bamboo tree was possessed by this old-man-spirit."

-x-

BOOOOM! BOOOOM!

Ricky, Zoro, Nami, Sanji and Robin stood on the shore and watched as two claws shot out and sank onto the shore around the Going Merry. SHUNK! SHUNK!

The five Straw Hats stared passed the Going Merry which was easily dwarfed by the huge galleon-sized pirate ship.

"Hey, what's the deal?" Sanji wondered. "They blocked in our ship."

"This can't be good," Nami realized.

"That's the ship I saw earlier," Robin observed.

"You guys looking for a fight?" Zoro growled.

"'Cause we'll give you one," Sanji added.

The ship was massive and lined with gold. It had a silver fox for the figurehead and the two chained claws that it had shot onto the shore around the Merry were shaped like fox paws. The first of the three masts was adorned with black sails. The bottom one had a Jolly Roger that had slanted fox eyes, fox ears on top of the skull and an oddly shaped red nose. The word 'FOXY' had been painted onto the black sail around the Jolly Roger.

"WE ARE THE NOTORIOUS FOXY PIRATES!" a loud voice called out from on the ship. "WE WANT MORE THAN JUST A FIGHT FROM YOU! WE WANT A SHOWDOWN!"

"Just what we need," Nami growled, "More annoying foxes.

"I take offense to that," Ricky stated.

"You were meant to!" Nami snapped.

-x-

"A tree spirit?" Chopper questioned as they stared down at the old man. He had a round wrinkled forehead, small round eyes, a bulbous round nose and a bushy white round beard. He wore a brown fur had with cloth that went down around his ears and a yellow tunic that was lined in a green and had a pale purple sash around the waist.

"Yeah," Luffy replied. "What else pops out of a tree?"

"Hey, can you speak?" Usopp asked the tree spirit.

The old man sat up, "What do you mean I don't remember you? Of course I do. What have you been up to all these years?"

"Huh?" Usopp questioned. "You guys know him?"

"Never seen him," Luffy stated.

"Same here," Chopper agreed.

"Well, that would explain why I don't remember you then," the old man replied.

"WHO ARE YOU OLD MAN?" Usopp demanded. "AND TELL US THE TRUTH!"

"If you want my name, it's Tonjit," the old man answered as he rubbed his finger under his nose, "But what I intend to give you is my gratitude. I've been hoping someone would knock me down off those stilts."

"Off what?" Usopp inquired. He turned and saw that the 'bamboo trees' actually had foot holds on them. "Oh, they are stilts!"

"We didn't realize 'cause they were so long!" Luffy stated. "We couldn't even see you!"

"I'm not surprised," Tonjit replied. "I couldn't even see the ground up there."

"So let's get this straight," Luffy tried to clarify, "You're not a tree spirit. You're just some old guy whose stilts I thought were attacking me. What were you doing walking around on those stilts anyway?"

"Well I've always been a stilt enthusiast," Tonjit explained. "I wanted to break some records and make the world's tallest stilts by using the bamboo on this island. I managed to get on them with a little effort but then I was too scared to climb back down."

"That's just plain crazy!" Luffy exclaimed.

"I was up there for ten years," Tonjit stated.

"THAT'S EVEN CRAZIER!" Luffy shouted.

"WAIT!" Usopp shrieked. "YOU WERE ON THOSE STILTS FOR TEN WHOLE YEARS?"

"That's right," Tonjit confirmed, "And to make matters worse, the bamboo kept growing the entire time. It just kept getting harder and harder to climb down. So terrifying!"

"HOW DID YOU LIVE UP THERE FOR TEN YEARS?" Usopp shouted.

"Well most of the trees on this island are just as tall as my stilts," Tonjit answered, "if not taller. So I was well fed from their fruit."

"He talks about it like it's no big deal," Usopp remarked, "Ten long years of his life."

"And speaking of long stuff," Luffy said, "How come all the animals here are so insanely long?"

"It might seem crazy to an outsider but there is a reason," Tonjit told him. "As I'm sure you've noticed the island is nothing but grass and trees. It's dull. So everything grew long out of a longing for excitement."

"He can't be serious…" Luffy thought to himself.

"See that over there?" Tonjit pointed out a bird really long beak. "Plaaaatypuuus."

"You just said it longer!" Usopp scolded him.

"And that one," Tonji turned and pointed to the long white dog that Usopp had tried to play limbo with earlier, "That's a daaaachshuuund dooooog."

"Is that the same dong?" Chopper wondered.

"You mean it's still passing us!" Usopp exclaimed. "Oh man!"

"And there are dangerous animals as well, "Tonjit added. "See, over there? It's a snoooow leeopaaaard. I'd steer clear of it."

"Oh yeah," Usopp agreed. "Leopards sound like bad news. I don't wanna run into one of those." Usopp turned and his eyes bugged out when he saw the snoooow leeopaaaard. It had a normal body but its head was stretched really wide. "WHY IS IT'S HEAD THE ONLY THING THAT'S LONG?"

But while Tonji continued to point out the long animals on the island, the three Straw Hats didn't realize that they were being watched.

A pair of binoculars and split hair that looked like fox ears poke out of a nearby bush.

SWISH! Two other figures popped out of the bush behind the first person. The first was big and fat while the second was small with womanly curves.

"Fehfehfehfehfeh," a man with a long red nose and a fox-like grin laughed as he stared through the binoculars at the three pirates. "Hello… We've found the Captain!"

-x-

Reunion on Long Ring Long Land:

-x-

"I'm in your debt," Tonjit told the Straw Hats after they'd helped him down from his giant stilts. "Let me show you some hospitality. Come to my house."

"AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

"Me too!" Chopper chirped.

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper followed the old man back into the small round house.

"Finally home after all these years," Tonjit remarked. "It's a custom in this village to treat visitors to treat visitors to extra delicious milk from our farm animals."

"Village?" Luffy repeated. "I didn't see any village out there."

"Or farm animals," Chopper added.

"Now that you mention it…" Tonjit muttered. "Gaaaah…" the old man's eyes widened in shock. "THE WHOLE VILLAGE IS GONE! ALL OF OUR ANIMALS TOO!"

"You're nuts old man," Usopp remarked. "I know it's been ten years but whole villages don't just disappear."

"Yes, but this is a special case," Tonjit replied. "I'll save the explanation until after we've had a nice cold drink. I believe I had some mild tucked away somewhere."

"Did you say 'milk'?" Usopp questioned. "You do realize you were stuck on those stilts for ten years, don't you?"

"Gaaaah…" the old man's eyes widened in shock. "In that case would you like some cheese?" Tonjit poured a plate of smelly, lumpy dairy out onto a plate.

"THAT'S THE MILK, ISN'T IT?" Usopp snapped.

"If you don't want to eat it I won't force you," Tonjit said as he placed the 'cheese' on the table and helped himself to a little pinch of it. "But far be it from me to let cheese go to waste."

"Wait, so you're saying it's okay to eat this stuff after-all?" Luffy asked.

"Are you out of your mind?" Usopp scolded Luffy as he slapped Luffy's hand away from the plate of expired 'cheese'.

"What's the big deal?" Tonjit inquired. "Some cheese tastes better when its finely aged. Your high-stress lifestyles have made your stomachs week. Whereas laidback fellows like myself can eat whatever we like. You kids go on your fancy adventures but you're shy when it comes to new food."

"Gaaaah…" the old man's eyes widened in shock and he dropped to the floor and held his belly. "Someone… call a doctor…"

"WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?" Usopp demanded. "MORON!"

"DOCTOR! SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR! HURRY!" Chopper shouted then he trailed off. "Wait! That's me!" Chopper quickly pulled a stethoscope out of his backpack and held it to Tonjit's stomach. "It's food poisoning."

"YEAH, YA THINK!" Usopp snapped.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "You're funny, old man!"

"Are you gonna be okay?" Chopper asked Tonjit.

"Yes," the old man answered, "Except for the fact that the entire camp packed up and moved on without me."

"I see now," Chopper realized. "The village didn't disappear, it moved. That means the people here are nomads."

Tonjit nodded. "Indeed. And Long Ring Long Land Island is our home. You are welcome here."

"Oh, uh thanks," Luffy replied.

"Long Ring Long Land Island got its name from its ring-like shape," Tonjit went on to explain. "Although its technically one bit circle, the tides divide it into ten small islands. You'd probably never guess that all of the islands are connected but once a year when the tides are at their lows you can see Long Ring Long Land Islands true form, if only for a couple of hours. We use this time to migrate from one island to the next every three years, circling the ring again and again."

"Oh, so everyone moved to the next island while you were stuck up in the trees," Usopp noted. "What rotten luck."

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "That's a good one! You're a real rebel old man!"

"Hmm…" Usopp mused out loud, "If they stay on each island for three years then subtract the ten years that you were living on those stupid bamboo stilts then it'll still take a good twenty years for them to come around and meet up with you again. That's assuming you don't eat that cheese again and die of food poisoning of course."

"Well it's sad but true," Tonjit agreed. "I just wish I had my hoooorrrse to ride again. Then I could cross to an island every time the tides were low and catch up to the other villagers in only five years."

"Hoooorrrse?" Chopper repeated.

"That's right," Tonjit said. "They're the most graceful and beautiful animals on the whole island. Once tamed, they can be used to gross the grassy planed with the greatest of ease. Without them it would be impossible for our people to migrate. After all, our belongings are far too heavy to carry on our own. And even if we were strong enough to move all our luggage the tide would still rise and drown us before we could make it across."

"Wouldn't it be easier to take a boat instead?" Luffy of all people suggested.

"Yes, of course," Tonjit answered. "But unfortunately we don't know how to sail. And besides, even if we could charge a Log Pose here that doesn't mean it would point to the next island. The land may be split into ten pieces but its all part of the same place. I suppose I'll just have to wait twenty years."

"You'll be lonely," Luffy pointed out. "That's a long time."

"Oh, wait a second!" Chopper exclaimed. "Is a hoooorrrse like a horse?"

"Hey, I almost forgot about that!" Luffy realized. "We saw a horse here earlier!"

"Gaaaah…" the old man's eyes widened in shock.

-x-

Neeeiigh! Neeeigh!

"Oh, my sweet little Shelly!" Tonjit cried as he reunited with his lost horse.

Neeeigh… Shelly craned her long neck down and nuzzled Tonjit while the old man hugged her.

"You waited for me all these years!" Tonjit gushed. "You're such a pretty girl! Such a good girl! Look at you, I missed you so much. You've sure grown long since I've been away. Good girl. I'm so sorry you were all alone while I was gone. It's all my fault. I'll never leave you again!"

Neeigh-neeiigh! Shelly reared up onto her rear legs.

"She wants you to ride her," Chopper translated, "Don't leave her waiting!"

And a moment later, Tonjit was sitting in Shelly's saddle as she raced through the meadow. Both the man and his devoted horse wore wide smiles.

"What a pal, huh?" Usopp remarked as he, Luffy and Chopper sat together and watched the happily reunited duo frolic through the meadow. "Even though everyone else left, she still hung around all these years."

"That's my kind of horse," Luffy commented.

"I don't know which one of them is happier right now," Chopper noted.

"Hahahahaha!" Tonjit laughed as he and Shelly raced by again/

"Man, that horse sure is fast!" Luffy exclaimed. "I wanna ride it too!"

"I see why that old man likes horses so much," Usopp added.

"Now that I'm back let's cross the sea together, Shelly," Tonjit said to his loyal steed. "As soon as the tide is low again, okay? You've waited through rainy days and you've waited through snowy days as well. But from now on we'll have nothing but sunshine!"

Neeiiigh! Shelly replied as she thought back to what she had been through.

-Shelly Flashback-

"Shelly, are you sure you want to wait here for Tonjit all alone?" the leader of the nomads asked. "We're taking all your friends with us."

Shelly looked to see that all the other hoooorrrses had been saddled up with the nomads belonging for the upcoming migration. That was her herd but Tonjit was her human.

"Please, come with us Shelly," the leader pleaded with the dedicated hoooorrrse. "We won't return to this island for twenty-seven years. You're going to be lonely if you stay here all by yourself. We don't know where Tonjit ran off to but its not worth waiting here. He may be gone for good."

Tonjit's young granddaughter ran over. "I'm gonna stay here too!" the little girl insisted. "Grandpa's coming back! I just know it!"

"Don't be foolish, you can't stay here alone," the leader scolded her.

"I don't wanna leave Shelly and grandpa all alone!" the girl cried. "Grandpa's coming back! I know it! We have to wait for him!"

The leader picked up the girl and carried her back to the others. "Good luck, old girl," he told the dedicated horse. "Live well."

"SHELLY!" the little girl called out.

The nomads set off and Shelly was left behind. She waited alone on the island for any sign of Tonjit. She waited through the rain, through the snow. She waited ten long, lonely years.

-End Shelly's Flashback-

NEEIIGH! Now all that waiting was worth it because Shelly had been reunited with her human. Those long lonely years were all behind her now.

Shelly galloped with an extra spring in her step. Happy to finally be reunited with her human.

"Whoa there, Shelly!" Tonjit warned her, "You know this old man's afraid of heights, don't ya? Hahahahahaha!"

"Shishishishishi!""Ahahahahahahaha!""Teeheeheeheehee!" The three Straw Hats all laughed from seeing such a joyful happy reunion.

BANG!

Tonjit went flying off of Shelly's back and the horse dropped to the ground.

"GAAAH! OH NO!" Usopp yelped as the pirates jumped to their feet.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Chopper called out as they ran over to the nomad and his horse.

"Grrr…" Luffy growled and clenched his fists as he searched the source of the gunshot.

"Uuuuggghhhh…" Tonjit groaned as he held his back.

Neeeeiiggh… neeeeiiigghhh…

The old man turned and saw that Shelly hadn't been shot but that there was a net tangled around her long legs.

"SHELLY! WHAT HAPPENED!" Usopp shouted as he and Chopper ran over.

"WE HEARD A GUNSHOT!" Chopper added.

"What's with this net?" Usopp wondered as he dropped down and got to work untangling it. "Here, I'll get it." Chopper ran passed Usopp and went to check on Tonjit.

"Fehfehfehfeh!" Luffy whirled around to see three people. A small man, a big gorilla, and a woman. "Sorry suckers, but that horse is mine!"

"Yeah, you tell him boss," a woman chimed in. "Put those losers in their place!"

"Whoever you are…" Luffy snarled, "YOU'LL PAY!"

-x-

Davy Back Fight:

-x-

"Whoever you are?" the man repeated. He was a short, chubby man with skinny arms and legs. He had bushy black eyebrows that looked like a series of triangles, he had a long red nose and slick grin plastered across his face. His black hair was split into two tuft that were designed to look like fox ears but had unintended consequence of making his head look like it had been partially split in half. He had six-pack abs but was also wearing a green girdle that peek out under his yellow-orange suspender pants. He wore an elaborate fox themed necklace and a purple fur-lined coat with a high collar. The man was Foxy the Silver Fox the Captain of the Foxy Pirates with a bounty of 24,000,000 berries. "You mean, you don't know?"

"My goodness," the woman next to Foxy remarked. She was a curvy young woman with long dark blue hair, a pointed nose and blue eyes. She wore a black domino face mask with slanted fox-like eyes and a red and pink striped had with a big white puff ball on it. She also wore a pink jumpsuit with a pale pink sash tied around her waist and long elbow-length gloves that were cuffed with white fluff. The top of the jumpsuit was unzipped to reveal a pink bikini top. The woman was Porche the Idol of the Foxy Pirates. "How rude."

"Pupupupu!" the huge man laughed and held his hands over his face. He towered over Foxy and Proche at nearly twenty feet. He upper body was huge and muscular while his legs were relatively skinny which made him look like a gorilla. He had small eyes and a round nose but a large round lower face with thick lips that made him look like a monkey. He wore a black and blue striped cap with eye holes cut in it so it served as a face mask. His chest was bare but he wore blue pants and a pale blue sash around his waist that matched Porche's and blue elbow-length gloves with a round pale blue 'Foxy' emblem on the cuffs. The big man was Hamburg a Foxy Pirate and the leader of the Groggy Monsters.

"Don't tell me you've never seen this face before!" Foxy called out to Luffy.

"THE ONLY THING I KNOW ABOUT YOUR FACE IS THAT I'M GONNA BREAK IT!" Luffy hollered back.

But then he blinked in surprise when Foxy dropped to his knees and whimpered. "He… he really doesn't know me…"

"Oh no!" Porche gushed as she patted Foxy's back to console him. "Don't get depressed boss! He's just saying that! It's a joke! Everybody knows that!"

"Not that he'd have an reason to know him," Hamburg remarked then laughed, "Pupupupupu!"

"YOU'RE GONNA MAKE HIM CRY HAMBURG!" Porche snapped at the big gorilla-man.

"My name is Foxy the Silver Fox," Foxy introduced himself as he regained his confidence. "What's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine! Fehfehfeh! You should see the looks on your dump faces! What kind of pansy gets so worked up over a stupid horse? If I didn't steal that thing myself, then somebody else would do it!"

"That's enough!" Luffy snapped and stretched his arm back. SHOOM! "GUUM… GUUUM…"

"Hold it Luffy! Not yet!" Foxy called out.

"Huh, how'd you know my name?" Luffy asked.

"Because unlike some people we did our homework," Foxy boasted.

"'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates with a bounty of one hundred million berries," Porche recited. "Thanks to the latest Marine intelligence we know that your First Mate is 'One Eye' Ricky a former Whitebeard Pirate with a bounty of eighty million berries. Your crew also consists of 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro with a bounty of sixty million berries, 'Demon Child' Nico Robin with a of seventy-nine million berries and four other pirates that makes a total of eight pirates. For such a small crew you're worth a big lump of cash."

"Now with introductions out of the way," Foxy said as he held up three gold coins in is fingers, "As Captain of the Foxy Pirates I challenge you to a Davy Back Fight!"

"I don't know what that means," Luffy admitted, "But if you wanna fight, bring it on! I'm sick of hearing you talk!"

"A Davy Back Fight?" Usopp repeated as he watched Luffy confront the three Foxy Pirates. "Now it makes sense. I bet that crummy crew we saw got challenged to a Davy Back Fight too. That's why their ship was in perfect condition but the crew itself was in tatters. This is bad! I've gotta stop him or we could end up like them!"

"LUFFY NO!" Usopp shouted at Luffy. "WE'LL END UP LOSING OUR CREW!"

"What're you talking about, Usopp?" Luffy asked.

"I know what a Davy Back Fight is," Usopp told him as he ran towards Luffy, "And I know that this guy's a jerk. But you can't agree to his challenge!"

"Fehfehfehfeh!" Foxy laughed, "Too bad kid! NO TAKEBACKS! He already agreed. He said 'bring it on', remember? Ain't that right, Porche?"

"That's what he said," Porche confirmed. "And once you accept a challenge there's no turning back. That's the rule."

"Shoulda kept your mouth shut," Hamburg taunted, "Pupupupu!"

"What's wrong?" Foxy taunted. "Don't tell me you aren't man enough to keep your word."

"AM TOO!" Luffy insisted. WOMP! Usopp finally reached Luffy and clubbed him on the head.

"YOU'RE FALLING INTO HIS TRAP!" Usopp berated him.

"But what about the horse?" Luffy protested. "Come on! I wanna kick this guy's ass!"

"Shelly… oooh…" Tonjit groaned.

"You landed on your back pretty hard," Chopper warned the injured old man, "Don't push yourself too much."

Neeiigghh… Shelly was caught in Foxy's net. Usopp had abandoned untangling it to stop Luffy.

"Uggh…" Tonjit grunted and pushed himself back up to his feet. "Both of you step aside!"

"Wha-" Luffy gasped.

"Are you crazy?" Usopp exclaimed as they looked back to see Tonjit pointing a gun at Foxy.

"Shelly waited ten years for me to come back!" Tonjit growled. "I won't let you take her!"

"I know that you're angry," Luffy said, "But those are pirates, old man!"

-x-

"What do you mean the fight's already started?" Nami asked as the rest of the Straw Hats stood on the shore and stared up at Foxy's pirate ship the Sexy Foxy. Every member of the Foxy crew wore the same black face mask with slanted eye holes that Porche wore.

"A Davy Back Fight begins as soon as one Captain accepts a challenge from another Captain! No takebacks! You've just gotta deal with it!"

"I don't get this," Zoro growled, "If it's a fight, why do I have to sit and wait? Let's do this right here, right now."

"You don't know anything, do you?" Sanji complained. "It's not a real fight. It's more like a sports match between different pirate crews."

"Supposedly the game originated in a faraway place called Pirate Island," Robin recalled. "The main purpose of a Davy Back Fight is to plunder desirable members from another pirate's crew."

"Pirates plundering other pirates?" Nami questioned.

"Winning a match allows you to pick a member from your opponent's crew," Ricky explained. "The matches are different kinds of challenges. Races, sports, fights, all sorts of fun things."

"What's fun about losing a crew member?" Nami retorted. "Why would anyone agree to that?"

"Once both captains agree to the challenge they take an oath on the name of Davy Jones the Pirate of the Deep," Ricky answered. "So because of that oath when a pirate is plundered from another crew that have to immediately swear an oath of loyalty to their new captain."

"And that's not all!" one of the Foxy Pirates taunted. "If there's no one worth take on the other crew, the Captain can add insult to injury by robbing the crew of its Jolly Roger."

"You're not just risking your crew members but the pride of your crew as well," Sanji stated. "Winning might make you stronger but losing can leave you with nothing at all. You might as well be betting your life."

"That explains that other ship," Nami realized. "They had no Captain, no Navigator, they didn't even have a pirate flag or sails. They must have lost everything in a Davy Back Fight."

"Oh, so you saw the Fanged Frog Pirates, or what's left of them at least," a Foxy Pirate noted. "Here, meet our newest recruits."

"Long live the Foxy Pirates!" a large man with a gray mustache called out as he walked over with a group of pirates. "Before I came here I was the Captain of the Fanged Frog Pirates."

"A was the Doctor," another man added.

"I was the Navigator."

"And I was the Shipwright."

"We played five Three Coin games and lost 'em all," the Fanged Frog Pirates' Navigator recounted. "Thirteen crew members, our captain and our Jolly Roger. With so many of our crew members jumping ship it was more like a merger."

"What about your crew, huh?" Zoro asked. "You don't care? Just join a new crew and leave 'em out to dry?"

"Yeah, no kidding," Sanji said. "Those poor saps got a one way ticket to a watery grave."

"Watery grave?" the former Fanged Frog Captain repeated. "That's their problem. Don't look at me. I'm a Foxy Pirate now."

"You're nothing but scum!" Nami snapped. "We're not playing your stupid game! Got it! T'ere's no way we'd ever sink to your level!"

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice in the matter," Ricky informed her. "The decision to accept the challenge is the Captain's to make. Nothing any of us say will make a difference. And you know how impulsive Luffy is. Foxy either goaded him into a fight or told him that he wanted to play a game. Do you honestly think he could turn down an offer like that?"

"That's stupid!" Nami snapped. "You're stupid! Luffy's stupid! I refuse to play a game where I'm the prize!"

"We don't have a choice Miss. Nami," Sanji warned her. "If we turned our back on this fight now we'll be sailing away in disgrace."

"Who cares?" Nami exclaimed. "That's better than losing!"

"Maybe for you," Zoro retorted. "But I'd rather die than live in disgrace."

"The same goes for me," Sanji agreed.

"Get over yourselves!" Nami complained.

"Fufufu," Robin chuckled, "You know how men can be. There's no point in arguing with them."

"And who said anything about losing?" Ricky asked. "I play to win."

Nami growled at him, "If you're not going to take this seriously then I'll stop Luffy myself!"

"Don't bother!" one of the Foxy Pirates scoffed. "All that's left now is to wait for the Captain's to fire a shot to signal the beginning of the match."

BANG! A gunshot rang out before Nami could even get three feet.

"Ohh… no way!" Nami gasped.

"Guess that settles it," Sanji resolved.

"I'm not complaining," Zoro stated.

"Should be interesting at least," Robin remarked.

"HE'S AGREED TO THE GAME!" the Foxy Pirates cheered.

"Don't worry Nami," Ricky reassured her. "We may have to deal with Luffy's impulsiveness but you still have me."

"IN WHAT UNIVERSE DO I HAVE YOU?" Nami yelled at him.

"…" Ricky stared at her for a moment then answered. "This one. Where we're on the same crew and I'm a former Whitebeard Pirate that used to compete in Davy Back Fights all the time."

"Wait… you've actually done this crazy pirate pillaging competition?" Nami asked.

"We used to hold Davy Back Fights between Divisions," Ricky explained. "For us they were friendly competitions and a way to shake up divisions with occasional batches of fresh blood. With Ace, the other Spade Pirates, and Division Two I was undefeated. Twenty-one and oh."

"You call that an undefeated streak!" a Foxy Pirate shouted. "Foxy's undefeated too! He's won nine hundred twenty Davy Back Fights and has a crew of almost five hundred pirates!"

"Sounds like a challenge," Ricky replied as he flashed the Foxy Pirates a fox-like grin. "He's undefeated because he hasn't faced me yet. I'll break his streak."

-x-

Luffy held the smoking gun that he'd taken from Tonjit and just fired up in the air.

SWISH! The round exploded and became a net then dropped down out of the sky and snagged Foxy, Porche and Hamburg. SWASH!

"WAAH!" Foxy yelped as he and his cronies struggled to get out of the net.

"STUPID!" Usopp yelled at Luffy and slapped the back of his head. WHAP! "WHY DID YOU AGREE? YOU COULD END UP LOSING YOUR CREW! YOU COULD LOSE ME!"

"Nope, I'm gonna win this thing!" Luffy insisted.

Foxy slipped out from the net and stood back up. "NOW THE DAVY BACK FIGHT'S OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY!"

"Good!" Luffy retorted. "The sooner I can pound your face in the better!"

"Fehfehfeh!" Foxy laughed. "I'd like to see you try!"

"BRING IT ON SPLIT-HEAD!" Luffy snapped.

"He… he doesn't like my haircut…" Foxy whimpered as he dropped to his knees.

"HEY!" Porche snapped as she and Hamburg slipped out of the net. "HE'S VERY SENSITIVE! APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW!"

"He's sensitive about everything," Hamburg confessed, "He's got a heart of glass. Pupupupu!"

"DON'T LAUGH AT HIM!" Porche scolded Hamburg.

"Luffy, just listen!" Usopp urged his Captain. "I'm as angry about the old guy's horse as you are but this is madness!"

"Good, use that anger to thrash 'em!" Tonjit chimed in as he flashed Luffy a thumbs up.

"AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE INJURED!" Usopp yelled at him.

"LEAVE IT TO ME!" Luffy hollered.

Foxy smirked as he stood up and regained his confidence again. "You don't know what you're getting into."

-x-

The Foxy Pirates showed that they were more than used to their Captain challenging other crew's to Davy Back Fights. In a matter of minutes they had erected a stage and surrounded it by gift shops and foot carts that made it look like a fair.

This was the Davy Back Fight Opening Ceremony.

Ka-BLOOM-BLOOM! Fireworks exploded overhead.

"Sausage on a stick!" a Foxy Pirate with snack box called out. "Get your sausage on a stick!"

"ITS TIME FOR THE OPENING CEREMONY!" a Foxy Pirate on the stage called out. "EVERYBODY SIMMER DOWN! ALL COMPETITORS GET READY!"

"Huh, split-head may be a jerk but he sure knows how to party," Luffy remarked as he, Usopp, Chopper and Tonjit wandered into the Opening Ceremony. "And check out all the people he invited. Is that his crew?"

"Wow!" Chopper exclaimed. "There's so many."

"Five jumbo yakisoba please," Tonjit requested as he stood at a noodle stand.

"Whose side are you on, old man?" Usopp snapped at him.

"Oh, there you guys are." The Straw Hat trio turned and saw Ricky approaching with four sticks of cotton candy. He handed the cotton candy out to Luffy, Usopp and Chopper then took a bite out of his own. "Couldn't resist the challenge, huh Luffy?"

"Oh, yummy!" Chopper gushed as he ate a chunk of pink fluff.

"Split-head's a jerk!" Luffy insisted. "I'm gonna kick his ass in this Black Fight-thing!"

"Davy Back Fight," Ricky corrected him. "Luckily, I've played this game before with Ace. They're still going to explain the rules though. You need to go on the stage and pick how many matches you want to do."

A moment later, Porche stood on the stage with a microphone while Pirate Captains Monkey D. Luffy and Foxy the Silver Fox sat behind her.

"Now let's calm down boys," Porche told the Foxy Crew that had gathered in front of the stage. "We're about to start!"

"I LOVE YOU PORCHE!" a Foxy Pirate called out to the idol of the crew.

"MARRY ME!" another Foxy Pirate called out.

"Since most of our challengers have never played this game before, let's go over the rules," Porche addressed the crowd. "First, whatever you lose in one of the matches whether it's your crew, your Jolly Roger or anything else the only way you can take it back is with another Davy Back Fight. Second, any crew member taken must swear undying loyalty to their new captain on the spot. No exceptions. Third, if your Jolly Roger is taken you can't ever fly it again."

"Are you sure you don't want some more cotton candy, Miss Nami?" Sanji offered.

The other Straw Hats had gathered around a crate at the back of the crowd.

"I don't know how you can all be so calm about this," Nami whined as she sat on the crate and held her head. She once again ignored Sanji's offered cotton candy.

"It's already settled," Zoro pointed out, "So you might as well stop complaining."

"Finally," Porche concluded, "If you break any of the rules you'll be labelled a disgrace to all pirates and banished to Davy Jones' Locker. So do the Captains swear to uphold them?"

Foxy stood up, "I swear!"

Luffy stood up too, "I swear!"

"YEEEAAAH!" the Foxy Pirates cheered.

"Alright Straw Hat," Foxy called out as he held up three coins between his fingers. "I'll let you choose your fate! One coin, two coins, three coins, it's all up to you kid."

"That's our boss for you," Porche remarked, "Always a good sport."

"What do the coins do?" Luffy asked.

"They decide how many games," Porche explained. "The boss is letting you choose how many matches you'll have. You can quit after one or you do as many as three if you're feeling lucky."

"EEEP!" Nami and Usopp squeaked in alarm.

"Well, the more games we have the more fun we'll have," Luffy reasoned. "So let's…"

"LUFFY!" Nami and Usopp called out. Luffy turned to see them at the back of the crowd. They were each holding up one finger.

Luffy smiled and stared at the fingers. "Okay, got it," Luffy said. "I'll take three!"

"Gaah!" Usopp gasped. He and Nami turned to see Hamburg standing next to them also holding up one finger.

"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO ADD THEM!" Nami and Usopp snapped. "AND WHY'D YOU COUNT AN ENEMY TOO!"

"That was easy," Hamburg remarked. "Pupupupupu!"

Hamburg walked away and Nami and Usopp saw Ricky standing behind them eating his cotton candy with one hand and holding up three fingers with his other.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?" Nami demanded.

"Its strategy," Ricky answered. "We don't know anything about these guys. So in case we lose, we'll have the second match to win back anyone we lose and a third to win the whole thing."

"OR WE COULD LOSE THREE PEOPLE!" Usopp shrieked.

"Lose? Three times?" Ricky questioned. "Don't be ridiculous."

"YOU'RE RIDICULOUS!" Nami snarled. SWIPE! Nami snatched Ricky's half eaten cotton candy out of his hand. "You don't deserve this cotton candy!"

"But I paid for it…" Ricky muttered.

"SO IT'S SETTLED!" Foxy loudly announced. "THREE COINS, THREE GAMES, ORTHODOX RULES!" Foxy turned and threw the three coins off the stage and into the water. "LET DAVY JONES BE OUR WITNESS!"

"Who's Davy Jones guy?" Chopper asked. He'd long since finished his cotton candy and was licking the stick. He turned and eyed Robin's cotton candy.

Robin smiled and gave the reindeer her untouched cotton candy. "Davy Jones was a pirate who was cursed by the Devil and forced to spend all of eternity at the bottom of the sea."

"I've never heard of people living under water," Chopper replied.

"Well, that's that the legend says," Robin told him. "And all of the ships and treasures that sink beneath the waves go to Davy Jones' Locker, never to be seen by anyone again."

"I knew the ocean was scary but that's crazy!" Chopper commented.

"Davy Jones has been taking his picks from all sorts of pirates for as long as anyone can remember," Sanji said. "That's why it's called a Davy Back Fight, in honor of the pirate who may someday claim your crew as his own."

"I can't believe you'd gamble your Nakama!" Nami growled at Ricky as she tore off a chunk of his cotton candy.

"Gamble?" Ricky repeated. "Good idea. Since they're Captain's on such a long winning streak, I bet I'll get great odds if I put money on us winning."

"THE STAGE OF BATTLE IS SET STRAW HAT!" Foxy shouted. "ARE YOU READY?"

"YOU BET!" Luffy hollered back. "LET'S GO!"

-x-

And that's the first chapter of Another Nakama IV. No Disclaimer Hunts this time around. But they'll be back for Another Nakama V when I have more characters to play around with.

I've already said this to a few people through PMs but I'll publicly announce it now. I'm going to be doing the filler version of the Davy Back Fight Arc. I need something fun and light-hearted before I get into Water 7, Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark. I will not be doing the Oceans Dream or the Foxy's Return filler arcs.

Next chapter the Davy Back Fight begins with Round 1: the Donut Race.

'Till Next Time…

Peace!