Disclaimer: All rights to the One Piece franchise rightfully belong the Mastermind of Manga, Eiichiro Oda

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Attack Names"

Technique/Ability Names

Letter Script

"Flashbacks"

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Chapter 7: Is the Grand Line Filled With Perverts?

"Okay, let me see if we got this right. You, Nefertari Vivi, Crown Princess of Alabasta, infiltrated the criminal organisation, Baroque Works, to uncover the nefarious plot that has been put in place by its leader, a man by the name of Mr 0." Luffy recited carefully as the Blood Moon Pirates sat around the table that Shizuku claimed as her own just outside the main building of Whiskey Peak not far from where their ship was anchored. Luffy had tentatively agreed to help the princess after which she had proceeded to outline the bare bones of the plan she had started. Vivi nodded at Luffy's explanation so far. "And you worked your way up the ranks, doing goodness knows what." Luffy added, before giving her a 'look'. Vivi flushed in embarrassment before vigorously shaking her head negatively. She wasn't that kind of girl. "You eventually uncovered the identity of the big boss man, which is a crime punishable by death in Baroque Works, and in turn he found out who you really are and now he wants to silence you?" Once again, Vivi nodded affirmatively. "Wow, I must say I'm impressed. I just thought you were a slutty princess. Turns out you've got some seriously big balls on you." Luffy commented with an impressed look on his face. His girls were chuckling to themselves as Vivi's face lit up in embarrassment at the backhanded compliment as well as the language being used while Igaram looked outraged.

"You scoundrel! How dare you speak to the Princess in such a crude manner?! Show some respect!" Igaram bellowed, his face red and contorted in indignation.

Luffy just gave him a pleasant smile in return, but the bloodlust he was radiating was telling Igaram that he better sit the fuck down and keep his mouth shut. The older man, who was smart enough to recognise the signs of danger, wisely decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"I've got to agree with the boss. It's pretty damn impressive for you to have the courage to do what you're doing, Hime. But, as a former Marine, I've got to ask. Why didn't you just go to them for help? Your position as royalty certainly has a lot of sway with the World Government. That could have easily solved your problem." Bisca pointed out.

The others perked up at this as well, now that Bisca pointed out the obvious solution.

"Now that you mentioned it, why on earth would you ask a bunch of bloodthirsty pirates for help instead of the World Government?" Reiju questioned with narrowed eyes.

"She just casually referred to us as bloodthirsty without even batting an eyelash." Bisca whispered to herself in dejection.

Vivi shifted uncomfortably at the stares she was receiving from the crew, unsure as to how to proceed.

"W-Well…that has to do with the identity of Mr 0." Vivi stuttered out carefully. As she looked at the crew, all she received were expectant looks from them making her sweat nervously.

"Well? Out with it." Kuina prompted with a stern looking face.

"Yeah, I'm curious now. Who's this mysterious leader?" Luffy asked excitedly. He was always up for solving a mystery. Vivi, in response, shook her head emphatically and waved her arms in protest.

"I can't tell you that! If you found out he would hunt you down as well!" She protested vehemently. "I couldn't possibly tell you that he is one of the Shichibukai, Crocodile." She finished.

The silence that permeated the air was stifling. Crickets could be heard chirping. Vivi looked at the completely dead-pan faces of the Blood Moon Pirates and she adopted a look off horror as she realised what she had just said.

"What an airhead." Reiju jibed.

"Well, she had to have some kind of character flaw." Kuina added.

"Apart from dressing up slutty and doing weird dances." Bisca chimed in.

"Stupid." Shizuki threw in her comment.

Each one pierced Vivi like an arrow, causing her to hang her head in shame and mortification.

"Shishishi! I think she's funny!" Luffy said, laughing heartily at the princesses slip up. Vivi just buried her face in her hands, hoping to escape the embarrassment.

They all heard a squawking sound coming from a nearby rooftop. They turned to the sound and spotted a large vulture and a strangely dressed otter, holding up impressively done sketches of the Blood Moon Pirates. Vivi adopted a look of horror as she spotted them, knowing what was going to happen.

"Huh…that's a pretty weird site." Luffy commented as he gazed at the animals.

"And we've seen some pretty strange things thus far." Bisca added, impressed by the sketches they were able to make. The otter jumped on the vultures back and took off.

"Stop them!" Vivi shouted frantically, drawing the attention of the crew to her. "That's Mr 13 and Miss Friday, also known as The Unluckies. They report directly to the Boss! If he gets our pictures, Baroque's Works agents will be actively hunting us down." She warned, fear creeping into her voice.

"Eh? It might be fun to take them all on. Oh well I don't really care either way…" Luffy said as a blue lightning bolt dropped from the sky, electrocuting the The Unluckies. After about ten seconds of being fried by the bolt, they dropped to the ground. Dead. Their corpses still smoking. "Well, I guess I know what's for dinner tonight. Can you cook an otter, Rei?" Luffy commented before turning to his cook. She scoffed at his question.

"Please don't insult my skills, Captain. That vulture is nothing but an overgrown chicken and otter meat is supposedly as tender as veal. By the time I'm done with them, you will be salivating for a bite." Reiju replied with a confident smirk. Luffy looked at her with stars in his eyes. Shizuku too, had a shine to her hungry gleaming eyes at the thought of the feast they would have tonight.

Vivi looked ill at the thought of eating the The Unluckies. Sure, they were animals. But they were a lot smarter than most. Not to mention, she used to work with them. It was hard for her to separate the two. She decided that it was best not to question the antics of the Blood Moon Pirates as it may save her a lot of headaches and nausea in the future.

"So our opponent will be one of the Shichibukai, huh? That's some pretty good luck on our part." Luffy pondered out loud.

"Fufufu…I have to agree, Senchō. He has an entire criminal organisation under his command and I'm sure he has some pretty strong subordinates as well. There will be enough fun for all of us." Kuina said with a bloodthirsty smirk on her face.

"Heh, look at you. Getting all excited to spill some blood. You need to learn some restraint, Kuina. But I agree. At least I know that things could never be boring around our Captain." Reiju commented with a sly smile on her face

"Shishishi."

Vivi look absolutely stupefied at their reactions. Instead of being afraid…they look absolutely ecstatic at the thought of fighting one of the Shichibukai. Even if she was a bit of a sheltered princess…even she knew that a normal person wasn't supposed to react like that.

"Why do you people look so excited?! Crocodile is and extremely dangerous man! The numbered agents he has are all dangerous devil fruit users as well! There's a good chance that we will die going against him." Vivi shouted.

There was silence for a moment, before the sounds of laughter filled the small clearing. Luffy was laughing his ass off. Kuina and Reiju were chuckling along as well. Even Shizuku had something that could be passed off as an amused smirk on her face. Bisca was the only one that wasn't laughing and that's because she was busy trying to stem the headache she was getting from being around a bunch of fucking lunatics.

"Die? Shishishi…You're funny, stripper princess. There's no way we would lose to a flaky bastard like Crocodile. I mean, can you see how badass my crew is!" He exclaimed as his hand swept towards the girls in his crew, each exuding an aura of pure confidence. "Doesn't matter who that bastard has under his thumb. My girls and I will kick his ass all over the Grand Line. That's not a 'maybe'. That's a motherfucking fact!"

The confidence in his eyes and voice as he said that was almost palpable. The girls in his crew all sat up a little straighter. This is why they followed Luffy. His unbending determination as his overwhelming charisma was something that just drew you in, and before you knew it, it was too late. But they wouldn't have it any other way.

Vivi too felt her back straighten at his words. She was brave enough to admit that she was afraid. Not afraid of death though. She was afraid that she would fail her people. Until this point, she knew that she barely had a smidgen of a chance at succeeding. The odds were so heavily against her that she had almost resigned herself to be doomed to failure. But now, with these odd bunch of pirates, things had changed. They gave her something that she had thought she had lost a long time ago. A feeling called…Hope. She could feel that sweet sensation of hope blossoming in her chest as she watched the antics of the Blood Moon Pirates. They were all so strong, so confident, and so fearless. They were everything she herself wished she could be. They didn't even flinch in the face of danger. If anything, they welcomed it with open arms. She started to believe…that maybe with them on her side…she could finally free her country.

"Err, Boss. You said you were going to explain that weird brown fruit you've got there." Bisca said, breaking Vivi out of her thoughts as she focused on the rest of the group.

"I'm glad you ask, my dear Bisca." Luffy said, trying and failing to be suave. Bringing him nothing but giggles from the girls, Vivi included. "This, my friends, is one of the mystical and powerful…Devil Fruits!" He said, as he pointed dramatically pointed at the fruit. The girls leaned in with interest as they inspected it. It was the first time any of them had seen a real one. "More specifically…this is the Bomu Bomu no Mi that re-spawned here after Kuina offed that weirdo that liked to play with his boogers."

"Hoh? Do they really work like that?" Reiju inquired interestedly.

"Yup! When you kill a devil fruit user, their fruit re-spawns in the world into a fruit that is closest to its base. In this case, the Bomu Bomu no Mi has a pear as its base fruit hence it re-spawned in the nearest pear." Luffy supplemented, getting nods of understanding from the girls.

"So what are we going to do with it?" Kuina asked.

"Well, do any of you girls want to eat it?" He asked curiously.

"Eh? I'll pass." Bisca said.

"Me too." Kuina added.

"Not interested." Reiju answered

"Tastes ugly." Shizuku responded.

"Well, I kind of expected that. What about you, Hime? You want it?" He offered a surprised Vivi. Said girl was a little bewildered but quickly shook her head negatively. "There is the option of selling it…but the only people likely to buy it are enemy pirate crews or the Marines. I don't much feel like strengthening our enemies. I suppose we can keep it in storage until we figure out what to do with it. Maybe a future crew member will want to eat it." Luffy shrugged. He was about to give out some orders, but was forced to choke on his saliva at the most horrifying sight he had ever seen in his young life.

"Vivi-sama! Fear not- Mah-mah-maaah~! - because I have a plan!" Igaram proclaimed. It wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that he was decked out in the same outfit that earned Vivi the nickname 'slutty princess' from Luffy. The grotesque sight of the skimpy outfit stretched across Igaram's large body made Luffy's stomach churn as he fought to keep the contents of his stomach down.

"Igaram?! What on earth?!" Vivi proclaimed as she saw her bodyguard, having lost track of him when she started talking to the Blood Moon pirates.

"That's fucking disgusting!" Luffy exclaimed, his face turning an ugly shade of green.

"I agree." Reiju said with a look of disgust on her face.

"There are some things in this world that are not meant to be seen." Bisca said with a horrified lilt in her voice.

"Repulsive." Shizuku chimed in emotionlessly.

"It makes me want to cut him up into little pieces." Kuina said with a haunted look as she slowly unsheathed Wadou Ichimonji.

"Vivi-sama, please listen carefully." Igaram said, addressing his princess, ignoring the tears flowing down his eyes at the merciless comments of the pirates. "Even though The Unluckies are out of the equation, Baroque Works will eventually receive the report about you and who you really are. And once they learn that we are the ones that know the Boss' true identity, you understand what will happen, don't you?"

"As many as a thousand hunters could soon be coming after us." She replied. Luffy and Kuina perked up at hearing that. Being the battle maniacs that they are, the prospect of fighting off a thousand hunters was something that made their blood boil with excitement.

"That is why I have dressed in the manner of the Princess. I will depart with these three decoys…and travel on a straight course for Alabasta." He announced. "Once they have begun pursuing me…Vivi-sama and the rest of you can safely depart for Alabasta."

"Eh? You don't really have to do that. If those guys come after us…then we'll just eliminate them. Easy as pie." Luffy commented. The casual way that he spoke about eliminating thousands of bounty hunters sent a chill down Vivi and Igaram's spine. Not just at the casual disregard for life, but to the fact that they knew that he and his crew could do it. After all, they had a front row seat to the kind of brutality that the Blood Moon Pirates can perpetuate.

"T-There's no n-need for t-that. I'm sure that y-you could but that would just slow you down from getting to Crocodile." Igaram argued, sweating profusely at the thought of the Princess being exposed to more violence like what they had witnessed earlier.

"Well, if you're intent on going through with this little plan of yours then we won't stop you." Luffy shrugged unconcernedly, causing Igaram to release a breath of relief.

"Now Princess, hand me the Eternal Pose." He prompted, causing Vivi to hand over an hourglass with the word 'Alabaster' inscribed at the bottom. He turned to address the crew. "Now, even though I've never done it before, there should only be two or three stops before you get to Alabaster. I will leave the Princess in your care." He informed them, before turning back to Vivi. "The journey may be dangerous, so please be careful. Hurry back to Alabaster, Princess. I will be waiting."

There was a moment of silence between the two as they communicated everything that they needed to through their eyes. Vivi looked like she wanted to protest his decision, but Igaram was resolute. With a final nod, he boarded the small sailing boat and set off.

She watched him go off with a small smile. His boat had just reached the horizon when the unthinkable happened.

*BOOM*

A violent explosion ripped through the area that his boat had occupied. The sea was littered with flames and pieces of driftwood as the devastating results of the attack became apparent.

"Igaram!" Vivi shouted in despair, tears rolling down her eyes. She tried to go to him but Luffy grabbed her around the waist and her in place. "Let go of me! I have to help him!" She shouted in protest, becoming hysterical. Luffy just spun her around and pulled her into a warm embrace, her head resting on his chest as he gently stoked her hair. That was all that Vivi could take as she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. Luffy allowed her to get it all off her chest, knowing that she wasn't just crying for Igaram but also for all the pain she has had to endure that she locked away for the sake of her self-appointed mission. The others were quite as Luffy comforted her, knowing that this was a sensitive time. After her sobs became sniffles, Luffy addressed her.

"Are you sufficiently calm now?" Luffy asked gently. She let out a little sniffle before nodding. "Good, because that cross-dressing pervert is still alive." He told her. Vivi's head shot up like a rocket and her eyes were wide with disbelief. He could see the question in her eyes and gave her a little smirk. "I have a special ability that allows me to sense people. I can still sense him, he's a little disorientated, but very much alive. So you don't have to worry. Just have faith that he can take care of himself and do your part just as he would want you to." Vivi teared up once again, only instead of sadness and despair, this time it was in happiness and gratitude.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated as she buried her face in Luffy's chest. At this point, the sensitivity wore off and the girls were getting annoyed at the princess molesting their Captain. The killing intent they were giving off was pretty impressive that it actually made Luffy sweat a little. Vivi was completely ignorant to it though, being oblivious to those kind of things. "You really are a strange group of pirates." She said as she finally let go of Luffy and wiped her tears away before giving him a bright smile.

"Shishishi, thanks for the compliment." He replied. Normally she would have sweat-dropped at Lufyy taking something like that as a compliment, but now she just giggled at his silly behaviour. "Okay girls, let's gather up the supplies here and head out!" He ordered.

The girls obediently carried out his orders, emptying the island of their food supply and taking whatever money and weapons they could find.

"Wait! I need to find Carue!" Vivi exclaimed in a panic.

"Carue?" Reuji asked quizzically.

"Carue is my friend. He's a spot-billed duck." She said as she looked around frantically.

"You mean that guy." Bisca was as she pointed to their ship, where a yellow spot-billed duck with a blue helmet and a saddle was waving at them, seemingly having been there for a long time.

"YOU WERE THERE THE WHOLE TIME?!" Vivi shouted with shark teeth.

Just as they were finishing up loading their supplies on, Shizuku walked towards them dragging something behind her. As the crew got a closer look at what she was dragging, they sweat-dropped. She had the leg of Miss Valentine in her hand as she was dragging the semi-conscious body of the girl behind her with an emotionless look on her face, with the girl's face continuously bouncing off the cobble road. Luffy felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face.

"H-Hey, Shizuku. What do you have there?" He asked tentatively.

"Present, Master." She said as she lifted Miss Valentine by the same leg as she held her upside down, like an animal carcass being displayed by a hunter, with a look of satisfaction in her eyes. Luffy just face-palmed at her antics.

"Eh? That bimbo is still alive? I thought you killed her, Rei." Bisca pondered dubiously as she looked towards Reiju who was lightly scratching her head.

"Well I certainly hit her hard enough to kill her. She's sturdier than I gave her credit for." Reiju replied with a shrug.

"What should we do with her, Senchō? Should I silence her…forever?" Kuina asked as she menacingly unsheathed her katana. Luffy's sweating just increased at that, compounded by the fact that the rest of the girls looked to be on board with that idea. While he was no stranger to killing, he didn't condone the killing of a clearly defenceless enemy. He wasn't than immoral. His girls were far too bloodthirsty sometimes. They were crazier than he was…and that was a frightening thought.

'These girls are going to be the death of me!' He screamed in his mind.

"Calm down. Just slap some Kairōseki handcuffs on her and throw her in one of the cells below the deck. We'll figure out what to do with her later." He ordered, getting a pout in response from Kuina at not being able to kill the girl.

Vivi watched the scene with a morbid fascination. The way they so casually spoke about killing was something that both disgusted her and fascinated her at the same time. It was like watching a train wreck. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn't look away. The way the girls looked put out that they couldn't kill Miss Valentine made her wonder whether she would be okay with this clearly mentally unstable group of pirates.

"I'm scared." She whispered to herself.

"Me too." Luffy replied piteously from beside her, making her jump in shock. As she tried to get her heart under control, Luffy started belting out orders. "Okay, that's enough fun! Kuina, help Bisca finish loading the supplies. Shizuku, plot our course. Rei, I could go with something to drink." Vivi dead-panned at that last order.

"How does a cool banana milkshake sound?" She asked.

"You're the best, Rei!" Luffy praised with a thumbs up. Reiju just smirked superiorly at the other girls, making them fume silently. Vivi watched this display and once again questioned herself whether it was going to be okay following these weirdo's.

Once everything was pack and ready, they set sail. The Artemis smoothly gliding across the water as they casually lounged across the deck. It was quite early in the morning and there was a cool fog hanging in the air.

"It's a good thing you were able to shake off your pursuers." A melodic voice carried through the air. "You should watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull."

The crew plus Vivi looked up to see a women in skimpy cowgirl outfit casually sitting on the upper railing of their ship. She had lightly tanned skin, blue eyes and shoulder length straight black hair. Vivi, though, recognised the woman and her face turned to one of fear.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Bisca yelled as she pointed her finger at the mysterious woman.

"M-Miss All-Sunday!" Vivi shouted in fear. The woman gave an indulgent smile at Vivi.

"Miss Wednesday. I saw Mr 8 not too long ago." Miss All-Sunday commented airily.

"YOU!" Vivi seethed silently as she glared at Miss All-Sunday with hatred. While she would have normally raged at the woman, she managed to remain composed for the most part thanks to Luffy already telling her that Igaram was fine. It didn't mean that she felt any less anger at the woman.

Miss All-Sunday looked around the ship to see Kuina still casually leaning against the railing. Reiju was sitting on a chair, enjoying the banana milkshake she prepared. Shizuku was sitting in front of an easel, painting something. They were completely disregarding her presence. She wasn't sure whether to feel impressed or annoyed. Normally she got some kind of reaction out of people. She looked towards the Captain to see him staring intensely at her. She shrugged it off at first, but the longer it went on the more uncomfortable she was becoming. She was starting to wonder if this man had recognised her.

"Senchō? What's wrong?" Kuina asked when she saw her Captain staring intently at the women. She drew the attention of the rest of the crew who also looked on curiously at what he was doing. Luffy took his eyes of Miss All-Sunday and turned his serious expression towards Kuina.

"No…I was just wondering if all the girls on the Grand Line are this scantily clad." He answered with an expression of genuine intrigue on his face. The girls couldn't hold back their snickers at the serious face he was making while asking such an off-topic question. It was simply adorable to them

Despite her cool and unflappable demeanour, Miss All-Sunday almost face planted at hearing that. Here she was wondering if her identity was uncovered and he was actually focused on what she was wearing.

"What prompted this sudden thought?" Reiju questioned with an amused smile.

"Well, think about it. Vivi was dressed like a stripper when we first met her. Then there was that cosplaying nun. Then there was the partner of that booger guy, she was wearing the tiniest dress I've ever seen in my life. She didn't even need to jump in the air for us to see her strawberry panties. And now there's a weirdo in a slutty cowgirl costume sitting on the railing of our ship." Luffy explained earnestly before pointing to Miss All-Sunday as he finished. Miss All-Sunday had a tick mark on her forehead at being called a weirdo. It was like the pot calling the kettle black.

Vivi buried her face in her hands at being reminded of her, as Luffy put it, 'stripper' attire. The girls on the other had were highly amused at their Captains observation. He could be surprisingly innocent at times. It also didn't escape their notice that their uninvited guest was getting a little worked up by Luffy's comments as well as the fact that they were ignoring her.

"Don't think about it too much, Captain. I'm sure we'll come across some conservatively dressed woman soon." Reiju said.

"Eh? Why the hell would I want that? I'm a 17 year old boy in the midst of puberty, you know. I mean, can you see how sexy that cowgirl is?!" Luffy exclaimed. There were dead-pan stares directed at him as his crew withdrew their previous thoughts about his innocence. Miss All-Sunday didn't even know how to react to that. Sure it was flattering. And Luffy was a handsome man, of that there was no doubt. But he, along with his crew, seemed so far off the deep end it wasn't even funny.

"Our Captain's strange fetish for skimpily dressed cowgirls' aside…" Kuina started with a stony look on her face, causing Luffy to crouch in the corner of the ship with a raincloud over his head as he drew circles in the ground with his finger. "You called her Miss All-Sunday, right? Well whose partner is she?"

"Mr 0." Vivi replied, never taking her eyes of Miss All-Sunday who once again looked amusedly at her. "She's the only one allowed to know the Boss' true identity. We shadowed her in order to find out who he really was."

"Or to be more precise…I let you shadow me." Miss All-Sunday interjected.

"I knew that! And then the one who informed the Boss of his exposed identity was you, wasn't it?!" Vivi demanded. Miss All-Sunday just closed her eyes and chuckled softly.

"Correct."

"Just what exactly are your intentions?!" Vivi thundered.

"Who knows? But you were so serious about it…I just had to cooperate. A Princess who actually thinks that she can make enemies of Baroque Works and save her country…it's just so ridiculous." Miss All-Sunday said. The rage on Vivi's face was almost palpable.

"What an unpleasant woman." Reiju commented.

"I already hate this bitch." Bisca spat.

"Senchō called her sexy…She needs to die." Kuina said with a murderous look in her eyes.

"Eliminate cosplay pervert." Shizuku added with a slightly maniacal look in her eyes.

Miss All-Sunday started sweating lightly at the killing intent directed at her and murderous looks in the eyes of the female members of the crew.

"Oi oi, calm down girls." Luffy placated with a sweat-drop. He really needed to be careful with his words in the future. His girls could be surprisingly possessive at times. He was starting to wonder if being stuck on a boat with four very powerful and hormonal women was a good idea. It seemed like it at the time…now though, he was wondering whether he would survive this journey. His crew looked at him strangely when they saw the waterfall of tears roll down his face as Luffy contemplated his life choices.

"Those…unpleasant…thoughts aside, you can relax a little…I'm not here on any orders. So I have no reason to fight you." Miss All-Sunday said. Suddenly Luffy ended his little comedy skit and straightened his posture. His body language radiated authority and his mesmerising purple eyes were drilling a hole into Miss All-Sunday, seemingly stripping away all the barriers she put up and peering into her very soul. The change was so sudden that Miss All-Sunday was honestly caught off guard. She got so caught up in their pace that she had completely forgot how dangerous these pirates were supposed to be. Looking at the Captain now, the once silly goofball was gone. In his place stood a man with the commanding presence of a king. She felt a bead of sweat on her face as she came to understand just why they World Government put such a high bounty on his head. This was no normal rookie. He was something dangerous. It wasn't just him either, the four members of his crew snapped to attention when their Captains authoritative presence filled their ship. They knew the time for games was over. Their Captain meant business. Miss All-Sunday was starting to question the wisdom of her decision to invade their ship tight now. It was a seemingly good idea when she thought of it, but as she sat there and faced down the Blood Moon Pirates…it didn't seem like the most intelligent decision anymore. "There's no need to be so hostile. I simply came to observe that man who caused such an uproar amongst the Marines. Fufu…so you are the infamous Monkey D. Luffy." She said with a cavalier look as she tried to cover up the nervousness she was felling as Luffy never took his unnerving stare off her. After staring at her for a little while, Luffy gave her a knowing smirk, something that set her on edge.

"That's me. I'm a little flattered that someone as famous as you came all this way for little old me." Luffy said with a large smile on his face as he never took his eyes off her. Miss All-Sunday felt her back went rigid at his words. She now had no doubt that he knew exactly who she was. He didn't seem to have any hostility in his eyes though, which confused her a little. His eyes showed nothing but curiosity.

"It was just a little stop on my way. You have really bad luck though…You picked up a Princess that Baroque Works wants dead. And that Princess being protected by such a small number of pirates…But your worst luck of all…is the route that Log Pose is leading you on." Luffy quirked an eyebrow at her, wondering where she was going with this. "The name of the next island is…Little Garden." She said ominously. The Blood Moon Pirates looked around at each other, wondering if they were supposed to be afraid or something. "My dears, even if we did nothing to stop you, you won't make it to Alabaster. You will be annihilated. Rushing towards a place where you will die. Doesn't that sound awfully foolish?"

"It sure does." Luffy agreed. Miss All-Sunday gave him an approving smile before throwing what looked like an Eternal Pose at him which he deftly caught.

"With this, you can avoid Little Garden. This needle points to Nanimonai Island just short of Alabasta. Since none of our members know this route, you will not be followed." She said with an indulgent smile. Vivi looked shocked at the offer on the table. The girls on the crew didn't react much, for they simply didn't care. They would follow only what their Captain ordered.

The sound of glass shattering and hitting the ground could be heard as all eyes moved to Luffy who crushed the Eternal Pose on his hand while never taking his intense eyes of Miss All-Sunday. Vivi looked on in horror and even Miss All-Sunday looked a little incredulous at this turn of events. The rest of the crew though, just smirked…having expected something like this.

"As you said, it's a foolish thing to do. Unfortunately for you…those are the kinds of fools we are." Luffy said with a smirk. "I'm the Captain of this ship, as such I decide the route we take. It doesn't matter what danger awaits us or how badly outmatched you think we are…Because in the end…we will win." It was said not as a possibility, but as a fact. Pure and undisputable. The amount of conviction in his words made Miss All-Sunday widen her eyes in surprise and a little apprehension. She had never met a man like this before. "It doesn't matter how many hunters you throw at us. It doesn't matter how many of your numbered agents will stand in our way. It doesn't matter how strong you think your Boss is. Because once his all said and done we will make sure Vivi succeeds… and Crocodile will be lying in a pool of his own blood…defeated. The only question is…how much time he has until that eventuality and whether or not you will be joining him."

Vivi held her hands to her mouth as tears started to leak out of the corner of her eyes. Even though she was ready to follow the path she chose to the very end…until this point…there was still a bit of lingering doubt in the deepest recesses of her mind. But now…listening to Luffy proclaim the absolute guarantee of their success…she felt her doubts crumble away. She felt her resolve renewed and she felt her confidence rise. He was right. She…no…They would do it! She wasn't alone now. She had found her place among this small and strange crew. Never before had she felt more belonging than when she was with them. She would not disappoint them. Not when Luffy had placed his confidence in her. Failure was not an option.

Miss All-Sunday could honestly say that she felt a little fear. The strength of Luffy's conviction and his unbendable willpower blew away any doubts she may have had about the validity of his claims. She couldn't help but think back to another 'D' that had impacted her life. He was much the same. So confident and resolute…even in the face of death. He never backed down. She wondered what it was with them. Was there something special about that initial? She didn't know, but she was curious. Along with the fear she felt, came a bit of excitement. She wanted to see more. She wanted to watch this man. She wanted to see the kind of impact he would have on this world.

Kuina, Shizuku, Bisca and Reiju all had smirks on their face at hearing their Captains words. They never expected anything different. That was the kind of man he was. That was the man they had decided to follow. They were never once afraid. Not of Baroque Works and not of Crocodile. Their Captain was with them. He placed his confidence in them and their power. That meant that they would succeed for failure was never an option. They would carry out his orders and ensure that he is victorious. They were his sword and his shield. They would remove whatever little obstacles were in his way and make sure that he reached his objective. In this case, it was Crocodile. They would deal with those numbered agents and clear the path for their Captain to go on and eradicate Crocodile. The inevitability of that was already set in motion. Crocodile was living on borrowed times.

"I see. It seems nothing I will say can change your mind." She said as she got off the railing and walked to the side of the shit. "Let us meet again, Monkey D. Luffy." With that said, she jumped off the edge and landed on a giant turtle with a riding straddle strapped to it. Without a word, it started swimming off. The Blood Moon Pirates just watched her leave, having no interest I stopping her.

(Scene Change)

It took the gang a surprisingly short amount of time to reach Little Garden, much of which was spent relaxing on their deck, soaking up the sun. The weather, for the most part, seemed to have calmed in the last few days and paved way for beautifully bright sunny days. There were lots of ice-cream being eaten and bonding being done. The crew got to know Vivi a little better and came to understand and respect the depth of her love for her country.

They realised that Little Garden was on the horizon when an abnormally large dolphin sailed over their ship. It was the size of a large whale. They didn't know what kind of island Little Garden was, but they were smart enough to realise that there was something odd about it.

As they docked in a river mouth on the edge of the island. There were enormous trees and littering the island. It looked like an adventurer's paradise. There was so much natural beauty on offer that the island could be thought of as an untamed jungle. Unsurprisingly, there didn't seem to be any human settlements on the island.

"Okay crew, listen up!" Luffy announced as their ship dropped anchor. "We don't know what kind of dangers this isl-"

He was cut off as he turned to see the biggest bird he has ever seen in his life descend towards their ship, intent on plucking one of them for lunch. Things didn't go his way though, as Shizuku jumped into the air and nailed him with a punched that sent him rocketing to the other side of the island. After landing on her feet, she made a show of dusting her hands off, getting a small applause from the rest of the girls.

"Like I was saying…we don't know what kind of dangers this island possesses. Evidently though, it has larger than average wildlife. So be careful of any hidden dangers and tread carefully." Luffy warned. "With that in mind…Rei! Make me a pirate lunchbox! I'm going exploring!" He exclaimed, getting dead-pan looks from the rest of them.

"Hai hai." Reiju said before getting to work.

"Um…Is it okay if I come with you, Luffy-san?" Vivi asked timidly. Luffy looked at he in a little surprise before giving her a smile and a thumbs up.

"Sure you can, Vivi."

"This might actually be a good opportunity to fill up our pantry. If the animals on this island are all the size of that dolphin we came across or that bird…we can stock up on enough to last months." Kuina pointed out.

"So you mean we should go hunting? Hoh? How interesting. I'm definitely game!" Bisca said.

"Shishishi…Good luck girls! Bring us back something good!" Luffy cheered them on. Upon getting his validation of their chosen activity, the two of them locked eyes for a moment before a look of rivalry passed through them.

'I will impress Boss/Senchō with the biggest trophy.' They both thought competitively.

"Are you coming as well, Shizuku?" Luffy asked his navigator. She looked at him blankly for a few seconds, before nodding in acceptance.

"Okay, here you go. Five pirate lunchboxes. I'll stay here and watch the ship. Just make sure you guys don't go and do anything stupid." Reiju said, causing Luffy to innocently tilt his head and point to himself. "Especially you!" She shouted.

With that said, they all took off. Kuina and Bisca raced off in different directions, intent of finding the best game to hunt. Luffy, Vivi and Shizuku took off at a leisurely pace as they scoped the place out.

They were getting deeper into the jungle when Vivi stopped on the bank of the river they were passing.

"Is this what I think it is?" She asked in shock as she held up a strange shell-like life form.

"Ammonite." Shizuku clarified.

"These are supposed to be extinct! What kind of island is this?!" Vivi shouted in shock.

"A prehistoric one." Luffy calmly pointed out, nodding his head sagely.

"How do you know that?!" Vivi asked hysterically.

"Well…there's a Brontosaurus over there." Luffy laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, pointing towards a towering Brontosaurus. Vivi's eyes widened in shock and horror at the sight.

"Cool." Shizuku commented with sparkles in her eyes.

"Oi! Look over here!" Luffy waved his arms as he tried to her the Dinosaurs attention.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Vivi shouted with shark teeth as she smacked him in the back of the head.

"Eh? I thought it would be fun to have a little fight with him. Plus…it looks like it would taste really good." Luffy argued with a pout. Shizuku's back straightened when she heard that, a small trail of drool escaping the corner of her mouth and a glazed look in her eyes.

"Master is a genius." She whispered deliriously before charging at the Brontosaurus and clocking it in one of its tree-trunk sized legs, causing it to howl in pain. She kept on attacking with alarming ferocity, but the Brontosaurus was built like a tank and was surprisingly able to take a lot of abuse.

"Ah ah…Looks like Shizuku smells blood in the water. I actually feel a bit sorry for the big guy. Drawing Shizuku's attention is never a good thing." Luffy lamented with a look of pity directed at the dinosaur. Vivi rubbed her forehead in annoyance, hoping to stem some of the headache from hanging around the Blood Moon Pirates.

As Shizuku continued her furious assault, the Brontosaurus that she was attacking had its head lopped off cleanly. Shizuku froze in place, her body starting to tremble lightly. There was silence for a moment before strange laughter filled the air.

"Gyagyagyagya!"

The biggest man any of them have ever seen entered the clearing, carrying a sword with remnants of the dinosaur's blood on it along with a shield. He also wore worn leather armour.

"You're a funny bunch of humans. I saw you guys playing with the long-necks." He heartily commented.

"Whoa! You sure are big, Ossan." Luffy commented as he shielded his eyes with his hand in an effort to get a better look at the guy. Vivi was terrified out of her mind at the sight of a giant. Shizuku though, was glaring daggers at the man. If looks could kill, he would be a giant pile of smouldering ash right now.

"Gyagyagya! I am Elbaf's mightiest warrior, Dorry!" He shouted.

"Oh? Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King. Nice to meet you." Luffy introduced himself with a casual wave of his hand. Vivi looked at him in shock at his casual dismissal of the dangerous situation they were in right now.

"Pirate? That's great! Gyagyagya! Come, let me show you to my place!" Dorry said as he picked all three of them up and carried them off.

"Neh? Are we being kidnapped right now?" Vivi asked gloomily.

"Shishishi! Don't sweat the small stuff, Vivi!" Luffy told her with a hearty slap to the back. He looked over to Shizuku and sweat-dropped. She never once took her murderous gaze of the giant. She was clearly upset that he stole her lunch that she was so looking forward to.

(Scene Change)

"Gyagyagya! This pirate lunchbox of yours is quite tasty." Dorry said as he ate the lunch Reiju prepared for Luffy. They were currently situated in Dorry home, inside a large cave.

"Shishishi! Of course it is! My cook prepared it after all. If you had said any different I would have kicked your ass." Luffy said cheerfully. Vivi wanted to be shocked at the outrageous thing he said to a fucking giant of all things, but at this point she was just tired. Which was why she was softly banging her head against the wall, hoping this nightmare would just end.

"Kick my ass?" Dorry said with a serious look on his face, causing the tension to rise slightly before he started laughing. "Gyagyagya! What a funny little man!"

While this was going on, Shizuku was completely ignoring them as she was too busy in fantasy land as she tore through the feast of dinosaur meat that Dorry prepared for them. As soon as he presented them with the feast, all the anger she was feeling at him went away and she gave him a robotic thumbs up before digging in.

The gang got on splendidly after that…well Luffy and Dorry did. Vivi was still scared out of her mind and Shizuku didn't care for much beside the delicacy of dinosaur meat. Eventually though, a volcano went off in the middle of the island. Dorry picked up his weapons and said that it was time to fight and that his new friends were welcome to watch. Luffy, Vivi and Shizuku watched as Dorry fought another giant in a fierce battle that eventually ended in a draw. Dorry eventually hobbled back to the cave.

After calming down, Dorry began to tell the story of himself and Broggy and their fight in an effort to settle their 100 year dispute according to the rules of Elbaf. It made Luffy's respect for them go up but Vivi was horrified that people would fight to the death for such a thing, especially when Dorry said that he forgot what they were fighting about.

"Errm…Mr Dorry? How long does it usually take a Log Pose to set on this island?" Vivi asked with some trepidation.

"One year." The answer was immediate with absolutely no hesitation. Vivi's face morphed into of dismay.

"Well…that certainly is a problem." Luffy commented as he scratched his chin is thought.

Luffy suddenly snapped his head to the right. The signatures he picked up as soon as they set foot on this island were suddenly giving off a very pleased vibe. Luffy wasn't really going to do anything about them, but considering that they have a criminal organisation after them, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to check.

"Dorry, can I leave my friends in your care? There are some ants scurrying around this island that I need to squash before they do anything stupid." Luffy asked the giant.

"Gyagyagya! Sure thing my friend." He replied.

"Thank Dorry!" Luffy thanked before turning to Vivi and Shizuku. "Girls stay here while I go take care of this." He ordered.

"Is it Baroque Works?" Vivi questioned perceptively.

"I'm not sure yet, so I want to go check just in case. But at this point, I would be surprised if it wasn't." He told her honestly.

(Scene Change)

An arc of blue lightning rocketed through the forest before stopping at a certain spot, congregating into the shape of a human. Luffy gazed from his spot perched on the branch of a tree, peering into a small clearing in the middle of the forest. There was a conspicuous looking igloo sitting in the middle of the clearing. It looked to be made of some smooth, malleable substance that clearly wasn't ice.

He felt the two signatures that he was looking for calmly sitting inside, unaware of the beast that was currently hunting them. They didn't feel particularly powerful to Luffy, but he decided not to take any chances. He walked up to the door of the igloo and kicked it open.

"Wha!" A masculine voice shouted from inside. "Who the hell are you?!" A man with a blue and white striped vest, blue pants and blue shaded sunglasses shouted. He had the strangest hairstyle Luffy had ever seen. It was in the shape of the number 3. That basically gave away his identity to Luffy who looked at him like he was an idiot. There was a little girl with him as well. She had a blue and white check shirt and blue pants with a wide brim red hat on her head covering her auburn hair that was done in two pigtails. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but your luck has run out today. You just intruded on two agents of Baroque Works. Prepare to die!"

"Candle Lo-"

That was as far as the man got as Luffy appeared in his line of vision, introducing the man's face to his fist…painfully. He went flying back into the wall of the igloo, crashing into it hard before slumping to the ground. Luffy looked to the little girl, who was sweating bullets at this point. He didn't feel like hitting a little girl, so he used a small burst of Haoshoku Haki to knock her out.

He walked over to the man he had punched, grabbed him by the hair and sat him back down at his previous position before taking a seat next to him.

"Now, judging from that stupid hairdo you've got going on there…I'm assuming you're Mr 3, yes?" Luffy questioned.

"I-I won't t-tell you anything!" Mr 3 said defiantly, though there was an undertone of fear in his face.

WHAM!

"Wrong answer!" Luffy exclaimed as he grabbed Mr 3 by the hair and slammed his head face first into the table they were sitting at. "So let me ask you again, even though I already know the answer. Are you Mr 3?" Luffy asked in a pleasantly menacing tone of voice as his killing intent flooded the air.

"Y-Yes." Mr 3 stuttered out. He could feel his nose was likely broken and he wasn't looking forward to more of the treatment.

"Good answer! Next question…What are you doing on this island?"

Seeing the hesitation from Mr 3 made Luffy sign in annoyance. He grabbed him by the hair once again, preparing to give him a little reminder as to why it's in his best interest to answer.

"Wait! Wait!" Mr 3 said anxiously. "We came here to claim the bounties on those two giants! They have bounties of 100 million beli each. I thought the Boss would be happy if I brought that much money in!" He explained frantically.

"Hmmm…So you're saying that you didn't know we were on this island. That you have no orders to impede us?" Luffy asked.

"Huh? I don't even know who you are?!" Mr 3 exclaimed.

"Hoh? Is that so?" Luffy commented with a smirk on his face. "That's good. You should be thankful Mr 3. If you were here on orders to get in my way…I would have had to kill you." Luffy said with a friendly smile that made Mr 3 almost shit himself. "As it is, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time." Mr 3 breathed out a small sigh of relief. "That being said, your main base of operations is in Alabaster. So the question is, how were you planning on getting back?" Luffy questioned as he wrapped his arm around Mr 3's shoulders in a friendly gesture, but to Mr 3, it felt like being in the constricting embrace of an anaconda. He felt a nervous bead of sweat roll down his face, recognising that he had no choice in the matter here if he wanted to see tomorrow.

"T-There's an Eternal Pose in the briefcase o-over there." Mr 3 said nervously, as he pointed to the side of a room where a black briefcase sat.

"Hey! That will be really helpful in the future. You're a good guy Mr 3." Luffy praised as he gave the man a hearty pat on the back. Said man lot out a relieved chuckle as well, glad that he would be spared. He would have to find a way to get information about this man to the boss as soon as possible. He was far too dangerous to be left alive. He didn't get much time to think about anything else though as Luffy grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed to down on the table with the same friendly smile on his face.

WHAM!

"Urg-g..W-wh-y…" Mr 3 asked pitifully.

WHAM!

"S-s-sto-p…"

WHAM!

….

"Oi? You still awake?" Luffy asked as he cupped his ear and leaned down close to Mr 3. There was no response.

WHAM!

"You can never be too sure." Luffy said to himself as he nodded sagely.

He left Mr 3 face down on the table and went over to the briefcase. He checked inside and found the Eternal Pose he was looking for. He pocketed it quickly along with the wad of cash that was rolled up in the briefcase. He looked around the place and spotted two Den Den Mushi. He help up his fingers in the pose of a gun and zapped the both of them with his lightning, rendering them useless. He couldn't have Mr 3 contacting Crocodile anytime soon. Normally, he would have just killed the guy…but seeing as though he was just here by coincidence…Luffy decided to leave him be. It was done on a whim. Besides, he had a little girl with him and Luffy wasn't up to killing her. If he left her alive and with the corpse of her partner in the middle of a prehistoric jungle…well…that wasn't any better than death. He thought about taking them prisoner…but he already had one and wasn't up to deal with the headache of feeding them all. So he decided to leave him here to the whim of fate. If he survived, then good for him. If he didn't then…well…it was no skin off Luffy's back.

He left the igloo without a word, heading towards the direction of Dorry, to pick up Vivi and Shizuku. He hurriedly gathered them, bidding goodbye to his new giant friend, before heading to the ship. He found Kuina and Bisca already back from their little hunting expedition. Kuina was displaying a huge triceratops and Bisca was showing off the T-Rex she bagged.

"Shishishi…Good job girls…but I think it's time to get off this island." He said, getting a confused look from Vivi.

"But Luffy-san. Mr Dorry said that it takes one year for the Log Pose to set on this island." She pointed out dejectedly.

"Well…it's a good thing that I found this conveniently placed Eternal Pose to Alabaster then." Luffy replied with a mischievous grin as he held up the Eternal Pose for all to see. The happiness that bloomed on Vivi's face was warming to see, not to mention infectious as they all hurriedly packed away all that they needed to for them to set off.

"Everything ready?" Luffy called out, getting affirmatives from his crew. "Then let's set sail!"

As they were leaving the river mouth of Little Garden and re-entering the turbulent Grand Line waters, Bisca's sharp eyes noticed something.

"Hey Vivi, it looks like you were bitten by a bug. Are you going to be okay?" She asked concernedly.

"Hai. It was probably just a mosquito or something." Vivi replied, before looking to the horizon. She couldn't wait to get back to her country and stop this pointless war. She would do everything in her power to stop Crocodile from making a mockery of her people.

xxxxxxx

Author Note:

Another chapter out. I was actually planning on combining both the Little Garden Arc and the drum Island Arc in this chapter…but I got a bit carried away with the first half of the chapter. Oh well…

As you can see…I pretty much glossed over Little Garden. I was actually planning on skipping it entirely but then I remembered that I needed them to get the Eternal Pose and I also needed someone to get bitten by the bug or there would be no reason to go to Drum Island.

I picked Vivi because…well…I honestly can't see any of the others coming down with any ailment. I've kind of written them as inhuman monsters as such I don't think a bug bite would put them out of commission…even if it is one from a prehistoric bug.

Next chapter will be some Chopper goodness…I love that little guy. Some people have questioned whether or not it would be a good idea for someone as innocent as Chopper to join the Blood Moon Pirates….I admit…I also had my reservations….but I think he will be a good foil for them…providing the balance for the more crazy members of the crew. Of course, they will tone back some of their more bloodthirsty tendencies when he is around…but it won't go away completely.

Also…a very special thank you to Vruon (Midystus on deviantart) for his fantastic work in drawing the Jolly Roger of the Blood Moon Pirates that is currently the cover art for this story. You are a legend my friend!

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Your reviews are much appreciated.

Lionheart021 out!