Chapter 1

Zoro watched helplessly as Kuma grabbed Luffy by the bandages stretching across his chest. The Warlord's bomb had wreaked havoc on Thriller Bark and sent stones flying everywhere. From what he could see from beneath the giant boulder, none of his crewmates were even conscious. Damn it, he thought. I can't stop him. He's going to take Luffy.

He heard a noise about ten meters to his left. He couldn't move his head to look, but his ears told him the cook was also stuck and couldn't gain enough leverage to break out from under the rubble. Zoro tried reaching for at least one of his swords, but not even a single finger would respond. Kuma stood with Luffy in one hand, staring at the wreckage he had created. Zoro tried frantically to do something – anything. But then Kuma vanished into thin air, taking Luffy with him. His eyes widened, Zoro couldn't even scream in rage or twitch. What seemed like hours passed before he finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

Sanji finally pulled his leg out from underneath the massive stone in front of him. With a cry of triumph, he began kicking away the rubble obstructing his view from the rest of Thriller Bark. When he finally broke out from the debris, he ran toward where Luffy had been. When he realized Luffy was missing, he turned to where Kuma had been and saw only an empty crater caused by the bomb blast. He began to search for people – at this point finding anyone would be helpful. He found Franky first, strewn over a giant stone and clearly unconscious. A few feet away, he saw Chopper's bag and started looking under rocks until he revealed Chopper; also unconscious. He scanned the surroundings again and discovered Robin, Nami, and Usopp. As he was uncovering Usopp, he heard Chopper beginning to stir.

He rushed over to Chopper and told him who he had found. "No Luffy?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"Not yet. But we haven't looked everywhere," Sanji responded.

"Oi! Is someone awake and can get us out?" called a voice from behind a massive chunk of stone.

"Are you guys okay?!" Chopper responded. "Who's with you?"

"Thank goodness. I have the skeleton here with me and most of us forest-dwellers. Is everyone okay on your side? Is Kuma still here?"

Chopper and Sanji shared a look. Chopper called back, "We found everyone but Luffy and Zoro. Check on your side."

Chopper transformed into his human guise and helped Sanji look under the debris. He picked up a boulder and saw Zoro's unconscious form underneath it. "Sanji! I found Zoro!"

Sanji ran over and saw that Zoro had been essentially trapped under a dome of rock: that is, assuming he could move at all. "Okay, great. But we need to find Luffy. It isn't a good sign that Kuma is gone and Luffy is the only one we haven't found," Sanji said. Chopper swallowed hard and nodded.

They continued searching and found a few more of Lola's group, but still no sign of their captain. Even after Franky, Nami, Usopp, and Robin woke up, they found nothing. Eventually, they broke down the barrier between the Straw Hat crew and the Thriller Bark residents, and they joined in the search as well. At least three hours had passed when Zoro awoke. Chopper had bandaged him, but he could still barely move. He got to his knees before Usopp noticed him. "Guys! Zoro's awake!" he yelled and ran over to help him up.

Everyone else quickly joined him. "How long?" were his fist two words.

The crew exchanged glances before Chopper said, "At least three hours."

"Damn it!" exclaimed Zoro.

They all looked at him curiously. "Do you know something?" Sanji asked.

Zoro sighed. "Yes," he said, "They're gone. I couldn't reach my swords. I tried to do something but Kuma took him and left. Vanished into thin air, just like before. Luffy's been captured. For real, this time."

Tension filled the air as everyone held their breaths: their captain, gone. Somehow it had never seemed like a possibility – they would find a way out as they always had before. But reality slammed into the crew in full force. Suddenly no one cared any longer about their individual dreams. It wasn't even a choice; getting Luffy back was there only option.

They left immediately, taking turns manning the deck and recovering from their injuries. They had taken all the food they could find inside Moria's castle and loaded it on the Thousand Sunny. The atmosphere on the ship should have been one of triumph after finally defeating Oz and Moria and retrieving everyone's shadows. But nobody was ready to celebrate with the shadow hanging over their heads. Before they left Thriller Bark, Brook asked the Straw Hat crew if he could accompany them.

"Luffy wanted you on our crew anyway. We can make it official once we get him back, if that's what you want," Sanji told him.

"Thank you. Even though I'm dead, I feel I have to help," Brook said.

"All right, everyone. We can't stay here any longer. We have to get to Sabaody and figure out where Luffy was taken," Nami piped in.

"Yeah!" the crew responded, setting sail.