A man wearing a blue striped vest and dress pants walked past the unconscious bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak. His top knot was tied into a visible '3' and his glasses and frail build made him looked like a nerdy office worker, only to be marred by his devilish smirk he had plastered on his face.
Beside him, a small girl carrying a paint set walked calmly, munching on a rice cracker. A large pink hat sat on her dark red hair that was tied into twin braided pigtails. She wore a dark blue t-shirt that had the word "Golden" printed on the front that was partly covered by the sky blue shirt she wore over it. Her maroon coloured skirt barely covered her blue and white striped stockings underneath it.
Both of them stopped in front of an unconscious Mr. 5 lying among the rubble of a collapsed building.
"So this is what you've been reduced to huh?" The man smirked at Mr. 5. "If only Mr. 2 had been the one beaten here, I could've been promoted!"
"Mr. 3... had Mr.2 been been defeated here, it would mean we didn't stand a chance against them in the first place…" The girl prodded her paint brush at him.
"Miss Goldenweek, you forget that I'm more superior in tactical planning than Mr. 2," Mr. 3 smirked wickedly. "As long as I know my enemy, there's no way I would lose!"
Miss Goldenweek sighed dramatically, continuing to much on her rice crackers.
Mr. 5 stirred suddenly, coughing and pushing himself up on the debris, he gasped when he saw the two standing in front of him.
"Huh, so you're not dead?" Mr. 3 rolled his eyes, disappointed.
Mr. 5 got up on unsteady legs, grasping at his chest as he spat out the blood in his mouth. Leaning against a pillar, he frowned at Mr. 3, "The spy… Contacted the Marines…"
Both Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek flinched at this.
"Tch… We have to get rid of them before they can request for reinforcements…" Mr. 3 frowned. "What do the look like?"
A screech sounded on top of a building nearby.
All three of them turned to see a vulture wearing black goggles and an aviator cap staring down at them. Beside it was an otter wearing a pair of sunglasses and a skin tight blue coat with purple dots.
"The Unluckies? What are they doing here?" Miss Goldenweek frowned.
The otter took out a few pieces of paper and dropped it towards them, sniffing at them with disdain. Mr. 3 picked up one of the pieces to find a drawing off a Marine wearing a straw hat.
"That's one of them," Mr. 5 frowned. "So you two saw everything… And you didn't help at all?!"
The otter and vulture pointedly ignored the fuming Mr. 5.
"So this is everyone of them, huh." Mr. 3 grinned wickedly at the five drawings of Marines. "They shouldn't be too far away now, if they had followed the normal route, they should be at Little Garden now."
Mr. 5 raised an eyebrow, "What do you propose?"
"You, my friend, will have your work cut out for you. If we leave now, we might still catch them before they reach Little Garden," Mr. 3 grinned wickedly.
"You mean, I'm still in? You're not going to get rid of me for failing?" Mr. 5 furrowed his brows at him.
Mr. 3 smirked, "Consider this your second chance for making up for your blunder, you still have your uses after all."
Miss Goldenweek prodded Mr. 3 with her paintbrush again, "We have yet to find Miss Valentine…"
"Tch… Where can she be? We'll be late to catch them at this rate…" Mr. 3 spat, turning to look at the rest of the town.
"Luffy… Is what you said back there true?" Vivi grasped Luffy's shoulders.
Luffy nodded quickly, "I heard their voices among the flames, though it felt weak, they were still alive."
"You heard their voices? I didn't hear anything… Were they screaming or something?" Zoro frowned.
Luffy scratched his chin, "It's not literal voices that I'm hearing, it's sort of like an aura that everyone emits and I can feel them with my haki."
"What's haki?" Sanji tilted his head.
Everyone stared at the Commodore expectantly.
"Er… It's… Hmmm…" Luffy scratched his head. "My trainer tried explaining it to me before, but I didn't really understand what he was saying either… It's some sort of power that everyone has within themselves that they have to unlock or something… It seems if you can unlock it, you will be several times stronger than before!"
"So even we can learn them?" Usopp asked hopefully.
"Yeah! It's present in everyone, you just have to unlock yours!" Luffy grinned.
"So.. how did you get yours?" Nami tilted her head.
"It took me quite a while actually…" Luffy held up his hand as he pointed at his fingers to count. "My trainer first tossed me into a cage full of lions, then had me survive a week in a jungle full of bears alone, then had me dodge a barrage of cannonballs he would throw at me, then made me fight Sea Kings by myself-"
"Ok… We get it… You're a monster…" Nami lifted up a hand to stop him.
"I guess I'll never learn haki then…" Usopp sighed.
"Oh, don't worry about that! My trainer told me that if you're exposed to more danger, the more likely you'll be to unlock haki by yourself!" Luffy grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah… I doubt any of us would be able to survive what you just listed out, Mr. Commodore…" Vivi shook her head.
"Heh… So all I have to do is expose myself to danger, huh?" Zoro gripped his swords.
"Er… Something like that, there was also something about directing your body's energy or something…" Luffy folded his arms to think.
Everyone stared at him again.
"I forgot! Shishishishi!" Luffy scratched his head in embarrassment.
Everyone sweat dropped.
"Putting that aside, I see an island ahead! Is that the next stop?" Luffy pointed to the silhouette ahead.
Nami brought her log pose up to her eye, matching the needle's position to the island. She nodded in satisfaction, "Indeed it is! That's our second island of Grand Line!"
"Full speed ahead! I smell an adventure!" Luffy yelled.
"This smell wouldn't have anything to do with that haki now, would it?" Usopp frowned.
"What did you say this island was called again?" Zoro turned to Nami who held a book in her hands.
"Little Garden," She gulped. "This place doesn't look good…"
"Why not?" Vivi glanced at Nami.
"It's an island that is trapped in the dinosaur age…"
"DINOSAURS?!" The crew yelled.
Nami nodded slowly, flipping through the book she held in her hands.
"I heard about these kinds of islands before…" Vivi's eyes widened. "Because of the difficulty in navigating in the Grand Line, there are many islands that have never been touched by man, resulting in many different cultures spanning across the Grand Line."
Usopp's legs were shaking in fear, "So… You're saying this island…"
"Is trapped in the time when dinosaurs were rampant in the world…" Vivi finished.
"Guys… Is it possible to skip this island?" Usopp clung on to the ship's mast, crying.
"Quack!" Carue agreed with him, cowering beside him.
"Not possible… We need to record the island's magnetic fields in order to go to the next island…" Nami frowned. "If we were to leave without recording it, the log pose would just point back to this island…"
"It's just a couple of giant lizards right?" Zoro smirked.
"Don't worry Nami-swaaan, Vivi- chwaaan! I'll protect you!" Sanji pirouetted around the deck.
"Let's go look at the dinosaurs!" Luffy punched the air.
"I'm surrounded by idiots…" Nami sighed.
"Listen, all we have to do is just remain on the boat until the log pose has been recorded, understand?" Nami wagged a finger at the crew. "There's no need for any of us to step foot inside the island."
"But that's boriiiiing!" Luffy protested, rolling around on the deck.
"Is he really a Marine Commodore?" Vivi stared at Luffy incredulously.
"You better believe it," Zoro nodded. "Though you already saw how strong he was."
Vivi sighed, remembering how Luffy was laughing while fighting a Sea King. No sane man could've done the same as he did.
Luffy jumped up from the deck, puffing his chest and striding to the side of the ship. Before he could jump off, Nami grabbed him by the back of the collar and pulled him back.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"I don't want to stay! I want to explore!" Luffy pouted.
"I said no! It's too dangerous!" Nami gripped his collar tighter.
"Nami… I highly doubt there's anything on the island that can hurt him…" Vivi tried to placate the fuming navigator.
The others on the crew nodded to themselves in agreement.
"What about us?" Nami cried.
Sanji pirouetted to her side, "I'll protect you Nami-swaan!"
"Can I go? Please Nami?" Luffy looked at her pleadingly.
"You… Argh! Fine! But only until the log pose is set!" Nami released his collar.
"Yaaayy!" Luffy leaped over the ship, disappearing into the forest.
Usopp tapped Nami on her shoulder, "Nami… Do you actually know how long it will take the pose to set?"
Nami grasped her head as she let out a silent scream.
"I thought so…" Usopp sighed.
Just as they were deciding on what to do, Zoro hopped over the railing on to the island as well.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Nami yelled at him.
"Seeing as we might be here for awhile, I might as well go see if I can find some danger to get myself into." Zoro shrugged.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Nami yelled, a tick forming on her head.
"Yeah you stupid marimo! Don't just run off on your own!" Sanji yelled after him.
Nami sighed in relief, finally someone else who actually had some sense on the ship.
"If you're going, at least hunt some animals to bring back, we're almost out of food!"
Zoro waved back in acknowledgement while Nami collapsed on the deck, finally giving up. Vivi knelt down to hug her, trying her best to console the weeping navigator.
Sanji turned just as he heard a soft pop coming from below deck, he frowned as he strained his ears, catching the soft thumps of footsteps coming from below.
"You guys hear that?" Sanji stood protectively in front of the girls.
"Hear what?" Usopp looked around, frightened that a dinosaur might come out.
"Footsteps… There's someone else on the ship…" Sanji frowned.
A soft thump emanated from below their feet.
Usopp hid himself behind the mast, "It can't be… Dinosaurs snuck themselves on to the ship?!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Vivi frowned. "The footsteps sounded human."
Sanji threw open the hatch that lead below deck to the storage, "I'm going to check it out."
He descended the ladder carefully, eyes scanning the darkness for movement. He tiptoed quietly to the storage room where most of the alcohol was stashed.
Pushing the door slowly, he peered through the crack to see a figure hunched over one of the barrels, dropping something inside it.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sanji bursts into the room, finding Mr. 5 inside.
"Tch, just had to be you… Fancy Nose Cannon!"
Sanji flung himself out of the way as the explosive snot sailed past him, exploding on the pillar behind and throwing up a cloud of smoke.
"You bastard!" Sanji kicked his leg at where he had last seen him but Mr. 5 was already gone.
"Sanji! What's going on?" Usopp called out from above the deck.
Sanji clucked his tongue as he checked the barrels filled with alcohol, some of them had their lids pried open before it was covered back hastily.
"I think a Baroque Works agent tried to poison our alcohol…" Sanji started identifying the ones that had been tampered with and pushed them aside.
"Baroque Works? They're on the island?" Vivi gasped.
"I guess they caught up to us sooner than we thought…" Nami frowned.
"What should we do? As if having dinosaurs around us isn't bad enough already…" Usopp groaned.
A stomping sound came from the shore as the ship shook from each stomp. All three humans and one duck on the deck turned just as a giant shadow loomed across the ship. All of them gasped at the giant that towered over them, a wicked looking axe in his hands.
"Hey, you guys got any rum?" The giant grinned.
"This place is awesome!" Luffy grinned, looking at the dinosaurs all around him. "They're almost as big as the bears in the forest Gramps had dumped me in!"
Luffy spotted a brachiosaurus with an especially long neck grazing on the tree tops. He immediately jumped on its back and climbed up to its head, using it to take a look around the island.
"Wow! Nami was right! This whole island is full of dinosaurs and volcanoes! This place is so cool!" Luffy grinned.
Just as he was about to climb back down, the dinosaur flipped its head upwards, sending Luffy into the air in an attempt to bite him.
"You want to eat me? Like hell I'd let you! Rankyaku!" Luffy kicked the blade of air at the dinosaur, slicing its neck clean off.
Luffy landed on one of the tree tops, hands on his hips as he huffed indignantly.
"Gegyagyagyagya! Aren't you a strong one!" A powerful voice laughed from behind.
Luffy turned to see a helmet wearing giant laughing down at him. He had a cape draped around his shoulders and a viking helmet sat proudly on his head. In his hands he carried a chipped sword that had seen many years of constant use and a battered shield strapped to his other hand.
"Wow! Are you a giant?" Luffy's eyes sparkled at him.
"Gegyagyagya! Indeed I am! My name is Dorry, Elbaf's strongest warrior!" Dorry laughed heartily.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! A Marine! Nice to meet you!" Luffy grinned back.
"I haven't had guests around here in a long time! Why don't I invite you to my place?" Dorry stretched out a palm for Luffy to ride on.
"Sounds good!" Luffy hopped on to the open palm.
"I need to become stronger…" Zoro gripped his swords. "That haki thing seems like a useful skill… I'll need to expose myself to more danger then…"
A triceratops stomped into his tracks, stopping to regard Zoro with hostile eyes.
"Huh… You'll do... for a start," Zoro unsheathed his swords.
"Gababababa! I haven't had guests in a very long time! My name is Brogy, greatest warrior of Elbaf!" The giant laughed, sitting in front of his home.
Vivi, Nami, Usopp and Carue shivered as the giant laughed, while Sanji was off to the side, watching over a spit roasting a huge chunk of dinosaur meat.
"Brogy, how did you get these spices? They smell exquisite," Sanji pinched a few plants from a large pouch that sat beside the cooking spit.
"Gababababa! You're a cook I see? They're quite common around the island! It gives the meat a very tangy and spicy smell, does it not?" Brogy laughed.
"Indeed, and I never thought dinosaur meat could taste this good! I wonder if there's another way to replicate this taste?" Sanji scratched his chin.
"Gababababa! Aren't you an interesting one?"
"They're already acting like friends…" Usopp nudged Nami.
"How is he so calm about this?" Vivi flinched at every one of Brogy's sudden movements.
"Quack!" Caure slurped nervously on his drink, eyes not leaving the giant in front of him.
"That's because he's an idiot…" Nami sighed.
Sanji brought them plates of meat that he had cut himself, "Please help yourselves, Nami-swan, Vivi-chwan."
"Er… Thanks, Sanji…" Vivi took the plate from him hesitatingly, eyes still watching the giant.
"Mr. Brogy?" Nami raised her hand timidly. "May I just ask… How… How long will it take for the log pose to set?"
"One full year," Brogy deadpanned.
Everyone gasped in shock.
"So take it easy while you're still here! Gababababa!" Brogy laughed.
"Thhish dinoswaur mheat ish rweally ghood!" Luffy stuffed his mouth full of the meat.
"Gegyagyagya! You have good taste, my friend! Have as much as you want! That dinosaur you killed has more than enough for the two of us!" Dorry laughed.
"So what are you doing living alone here?" Luffy gulped down his food.
Dory grinned, "I am currently engaged in a duel with another giant from my village, and until that duel is settled, I cannot leave this place."
"Oh?" Luffy tilted his head. "What's the duel for?"
Dory looked fondly towards the direction where Brogy was staying, "You see, in our village there's a certain rule, if two warriors get into a quarrel and neither side can settle it, we'll have to engage each other in a duel under our god Elbaf's judgement. He will ensure the one that was right will survive the duel and the one who was wrong shall be slain."
Munching down on the meat in his hands, he glanced back at Luffy with a huge grin, "I, myself got into a quarrel with another giant, so this island has been our battleground since then. Although this duel hasn't been settled for the past hundred years!"
"Wow! You've been fighting for the past hundred years?!" Luffy gasped.
"It's nothing to be surprised about, we giants live three times longer than normal humans after all! Gegyagyagyagya!" Dory thumped his chest proudly. "To be honest though, we've fought for so long that both of us have forgotten the reason as to why we were fighting in the first place!"
"I see… It's a battle about your pride now, isn't it?" Luffy grinned.
"Indeed!" Dory grinned back, just as a volcano erupted nearby.
Dory dusted his legs as he stood up, gripping his sword, "I don't know when it started, but that volcano has turned into our signal to begin each of our duels now."
Luffy watched in awe as the giant stomped his way towards the other giant that was coming to meet him.
"Why am I surrounded by idiots…" Nami cried.
"He's no idiot! He's a true warrior!" Usopp protested, his eyes watching Brogy in awe.
"They already forgot the reason this duel started in the first place! So why do they keep on fighting?!" Nami protested with Vivi nodding beside her.
"A man's pride is a complicated thing…" Sanji puffed on his cigarette, watching as the giants greeted his other with their weapons drawn.
"Is that something that you would risk your life for?" Vivi asked, unable to tear her eyes away as the giants clashed against each other.
Usopp nodded, "A true warrior would rather lose his life than his pride… Had a warrior lost his pride, he would carry that shame with him for a lifetime, whereas if he had lost his life defending his pride, his legacy would carry on for generations…"
"Well said," Sanji grinned, while the girls only shook their heads in disbelief.
The earth shook as the giants both clashed their weapons again and again, each aiming to kill the other.
"To think there's a whole village of them… They are truly great warriors of the sea… If I could visit them, maybe I could learn a thing or two…" Usopp stared longingly at the giants.
The giants let out a loud roar as they punched each other across the face with their shields, knocking each other sprawling on to the floor, ending the fight in a draw.
"Hey, Dory! I've got rum from my guests! Why don't you drop by for a drink?" Brogy laughed.
"Gegyagyagyagya! Perfect! I haven't had rum in a long time! I'll go get my guest over too!" Dory laughed.
Zoro stood amidst a herd of dead triceratops, each one having various slash marks across their bodies.
"Huh, still nothing..." Zoro frowned, staring at the triceratops. "Maybe I'm not in enough danger?" Zoro looked around, trying to find another bigger opponent to fight.
"Isn't it great to have guests, Dory? Gababababa!" Brogy laughed, slapping his old friend on the back.
"Gegyagyagyagya! So all of you are Marines in the same crew? What a coincidence!" Dory laughed, pouring a barrel of rum down his mouth.
"I thought you guys didn't want to leave the ship?" Luffy pouted at Nami, munching on a piece of meat he got from Sanji.
Nami looked away, a bead of sweat dropping down her forehead, "Well… Mr. Brogy there was rather convincing…"
"I don't mean to interrupt Mr. giants, but is it true it'll take one whole year for the log pose to set?" Vivi frowned.
"Indeed," Both Dory and Brogy said at the same time.
Vivi flinched, "We don't have that much time… Is there any other way?"
"Hmm… We do have an eternal pose, but it only points towards Elbaf. Are you guys going to take it from us?" Dory frowned at them.
Luffy grinned up at them, "Nope! We only need to get to Alabasta, so we don't need it!"
"Gababababa! You humans are so interesting!" Brogy chuckled.
"Is there really no other way to get to Alabasta?" Sanji crossed his arms.
"Well… If I had a den den mushi, I could probably request an eternal pose from Headquartes…" Luffy frowned.
"And you just had to lose it to that exploding guy…" Nami wailed.
"Ah! Speaking of which, isn't he on the island right now?" Sanji hammered his palm.
Nami and Vivi gasped, "We totally forgot!"
"What is it? You guys have more friends on the island?" Dory raised an eyebrow.
All of them shook their heads in unison.
"You can say they are assassins after my life…" Vivi frowned, now watching the trees around her carefully.
Both Dory and Brogy huffed in indignation, crossing their arms.
"You hear that Dory?" Brogy frowned.
"Indeed, there's someone on this island that dares to try to harm our new friends!" Dory furrowed his brows.
"I say we go root them out from the forest!" Brogy got up, grasping his axe.
"Agreed!" Dory brandished his sword, just as the volcano erupted again.
"Ah, I guess we'll have to settle another round first," Dory glanced at Brogy.
Brogy lowered his head, grinning, "Fine with me!"
Both giants lunged at each other as the Straw Hats ran for cover, hiding in the forest.
"Those guys are crazy!" Nami cried. "You'd think they'll at least remember we were in the middle of them at least!"
Everyone watched from the edge of the forest as both giants clashed once more. No one would have guessed that those two had been laughing and eating beside each other moments ago by the ferocity of their fight.
"There they are," Mr. 5 frowned at the Marines that were watching the fight while hiding behind some bushes. "They haven't seem to have noticed us yet."
"I'll get that damn Commodore back for punching me so far away…" Miss Valentine gritted her teeth.
"Now, now, you'll both have your revenge soon enough." Mr. 3 smirked. "My plan's already in motion."
"What about the giants?" Mr. 5 glanced back at Mr. 3.
Mr. 3 only smirked wider, not even looking at the fight, "They're not our priorities, we just need to make sure these Marines and the princess don't escape alive. The boss will reward us greatly if we can complete this mission. Now listen as I tell you my plan."
Miss Goldenweek munched on her rice cracker while watching the giants fight, not paying attention to the Mr. 3 explaining his plan to the other two.
"Now, as soon as I give the signal, we all move out together, understand?" Mr. 3 grinned devilishly.
The other two nodded before moving to their respective positions.
"We're not alone…" Luffy frowned.
The others glanced at him before widening their eyes.
"There's one on each side and another two behind, don't let them know that we know." Luffy crossed his arms, pointedly looking straight ahead.
"What do we do?" Nami leaned towards Luffy, trying her best to not move her lips.
"As soon as they attack, I need all of you to make a dash for the clearing and bring them out of the forest, I'll cover our backs." Luffy lowered his head.
Everyone nodded an affirmative, readying themselves.
Using his Observation Haki, Luffy saw the figure of Mr. 5 with his hand ready to flick his explosive snot at him. Just as his fingers twitched, Luffy yelled, "Now!"
Everyone ran out of the forest and into the clearing, turning around and readying themselves for a fight as the trees behind them exploded.
A smoking but otherwise unharmed Luffy leapt out from the dust moments later, his back towards them. Before anyone could say anything, another snot fired towards Luffy, encasing him in another explosion, tossing up another dust cloud.
"Look out for the wax!" Luffy yelled from within the smoke just as another explosion blew in front of him.
The crew looked around in confusion until they saw a trial of wax flying straight towards Vivi.
"Oh no you don't!" Sanji stepped in front of Vivi, attempting to kick the wax away.
"Candle Lock!"
Sanji found his leg that came into contact with the wax bound in a candle-shaped restraint. He stumbled on to the ground as he lost his footing, just as another wax trial appeared from within the trees.
Vivi could only gasp as the wax trail reformed itself into a spear and shot itself towards her.
"Armament!"
Luffy stood in the path of the spear, his skin fully black. The wax spear shattered against his hardened skin the moment it came into contact.
Sanji kicked his foot on the ground, smashing the wax restraints into pieces.
"Heh, you guys are stronger than I thought…" Mr. 3 emerged from the forest.
"Mr. 3…" Vivi furrowed her brows.
"Ara, ara, Miss Wednesday, I don't believe we've met face to face." Mr. 3 grinned. "Too bad it has to be under such harsh circumstances."
Luffy stepped towards Mr. 3, blocking Vivi from his sight, "Back away now, unless you want me to kick your ass."
"Heh, you're not really convincing, Marine. You don't seem to have the brawn to back your words up." Mr. 3 laughed. "I would usually offer you guys a chance to leave with your lives, but all of you know our boss's secret, so I'll have you die here."
Mr. 5, Miss Valentine and Miss Goldenweek stepped out from the forest behind Mr. 3.
"We're not going to allow any of you to leave this island alive," Mr. 3 smirked.
"Oh? What's a house like this doing here?" Zoro poked at the house made of wax. Behind him, a decapitated corpse of a tyrannosaurus rex lay on the ground, blood spilling out from the neck.
Zoro pushed open the door to find the room empty short of the wax furniture and a porcelain tea set on the table in the middle of the room.
He walked in just as a den den mushi rang on a side table in the corner of the room. He walked up to it and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" Zoro tried.
"It's me, how's the mission?" A gruff voice replied from the other end.
"Who's this?"
"It's Mr. 0…"
Zoro felt a grin crawling past his lips.
______________________________________________
And cut. so that is it for this chapter hope you guys enjoyed and see you in the next chapter.bye
Chapter 14: A Lurking Darkness