FicWad

'So, she's still not coming out?'

'I'm more surprised she could stay inside a barrel for two weeks straight.'

'Well, it is the perfect way to make sure you don't touch someone with the plague.'

'But Nami, how does she poop?'

'Uuuuuuhj!'

'Nojiko says she collects a jar every morning and throws it overboard.'

'So that's where my pickle jar went! But I'm not mad at you, Vivi swaaaan!'

'Weeert!?'

'No Karoo! For the last time, none of you are convincing me to come out, and that is FINAL!' Vivi shouts from her improvised anti-Plague defensive structure (known by the Strawhat crew as "Vivi's Barrel").

'Aw, come on, Vivi!' Luffy pouts. 'It's hard enough playing games when you won't come out! Usopp's no good at cards!'

'And all of us miss your radiant presence around the dining table.' Sanji gushes.

'And you're annoying us with your raging paranoia.' Zoro grimaces.

'Weeert wwert weeert!' Karoo chastises.

Vivi looks out through a hole in her defenses; her bloodshot eye glares out at them. 'I am NOT going to touch anything that... that... mutant has touched! I am not going to get the plague!'

Zoro cringes. 'And I thought our navigator was paranoid about germs.'

Nami sighs. 'Look, Usopp rarely comes to the upper decks, and we make sure to clean up after he does his repairs. We make sure that none of his, Zoro's, or Nojiko's fluids touch anyone's bare skin. Heck, we even have separate meal sections for those with the plague and those without. So what's the problem?'

'What's the problem!? Look at him, Nami! He's a monster!'

'Hey!'

'Sorry, Usopp, but it is true.' Vivi states apologetically. 'And the more mutated someone is, the more infectious they are! His breathing on you could be a death sentence! You're probably all infected now!'

The navigator crosses her arms 'You know it has to be physical contact, Vivi. Physical contact with a part of their body is the only way to get it. None of us touch Usopp and any... residue he leaves behind is triple cleaned.'

'I'm not taking any chances.' The barrel jimmies away from them. Its eye hole is now facing away from the group. 'So until we get to Alabasta or another island, please maintain a three-foot quarantine zone around my anti-Plague defensive structure.'

'Actually, I found an Island ten minutes ago.' Usopp says. 'Why do you think we're bothering you?'

The top of the barrel explodes upwards, and Vivi, princess of Alabasta, takes in several hungry breaths. 'You found an island!? Is it Alabasta!?'

Zoro looks at her funny. 'Wouldn't you know if we were approaching your home country? I mean, you'd have to have a general idea of where it is.'

Dropping the top of the definitely-not-a-barrel to the side, Vivi addresses the swordsman. 'Traveling by Log Pose is... unpredictable. They lead you from one island to another in a chain of land masses, that's true. However, wind speed, twisting currents, and general chaos lead to widely varied travel times. It could take anywhere from weeks to days to get there, depending on our luck.'

'Hold on, you don't know what Island the log post leads to next?' Nami asks. 'You said Whiskey Peak was your headquarters for almost two years!'

'Nearly everyone we got on Whiskey Peak who followed a Log Pose was a pirate.' She sags. 'And they never got any farther, so I have no idea which Island is in the chain.'

Luffy turns to the four-legged sniper. 'Usopp? Could you tell if the island was a desert like Air-E-Barista is?'

'Alabasta Luffy.'

'What Nami said.'

'Not sure.' The keen-eyed marksman admits. 'It was pretty far away.'

Vivi looks at Usopp, somehow managing to suppress her gag reflex. '...have you ever been to the crow's nest, Usopp?'

Usopp scratches his head. 'Uh, not lately. My body is a bit big for it.'

'Good!' Vivi pops out into the fresh air for the first time in nearly two weeks. 'Then in that case I'll be up there playing lookout. If it is Alabasta, I want to be the first to know.'

Sanji smiles. 'And the fact Ussop hasn't touched the crow's nest?'

'A happy coincidence.' Vivi chirps as she climbs up the mast's rigging.

Karoo watches her climb, then turns to Luffy. 'Wert wwwert weert?'

He shakes his head. 'No Karoo. I'm not going to tell her that's where Zoro likes to change his dirty bandages.'

'AAAAAAGGGHHH!' Vivi jumps off the mast into the sea and begins vigorously scrubbing herself.

'We were kidding, Vivi!'

'Yeah!' Usopp snickers. 'Zoro changes his bandages in the barrel!'

'Damn you glib glub Usopp!'

...

'So... not Air-E-Barista?'

'No, Luffy. This is definitely not Alabasta.'

The jungle around them is dense. No dense is too tame. The greenery encompassing their tiny vessel is all-consuming. Other than the small, algae-filled river below their vessel and the scraps of blue sky above them, all that can be seen is green. Miles and miles of tropical trees, bushes, and ferns surround them. Millions of branches are layered into a canopy so thick the sun struggles to pierce it. The ever-present chirp of insects, the mating call of birds never before heard in civilized lands, and the rustling of the undergrowth stimulate their hearing. Smells of fragrant fruits, rotting wood, and the occasional breeze of pollen-filled air fill their senses.

What surrounds the crew of the Strawhats is a jungle more primal and ancient than anything these explorers have yet to see. Its sight alone fills every last person (and duck) on the ship with awe.

'Wow.'

'Amazing.'

'Beautiful.'

'Uuuuuuuu!'

'Wert.'

'...well.' Luffy claps his hands. 'Enough standing around. Let's explore!'

'Luffy?' Vivi asks, looking around. 'Are you sure this island is safe?'

'Of course not, Vivi!' The captain exclaims. 'That's what makes it so fun!'

Nami pulls on Luffy's ear. 'To be serious for a moment, even if the Island is a death trap, we need to stop and scavenge for food.'

Zoro looks at Sanji. 'It's that bad?'

The chef nods. 'Unless we go on starvation portions, we won't make it to the next Island without resupply.'

Nami lets go of Luffy's ear, causing it to snap back to his head. 'The biggest irony of our little situation is we have plenty of valuables.' She begins to count off their haul on her fingers. 'Almost one hundred and eighty million Belli. Masterwork weapons from Whiskey

Peak. Medicine from Crocius, as well as a formula to recreate them (which I can't make heads or tails of). And of course, we still have a few of those Purity Division plague suits.'

Usopp looks at the ship. 'We also have a lot of spare parts from those... monsters.' The sniper says with a pointed barb aimed at Vivi. 'I picked up lots of nails and spare planks to keep Merry nice and healthy.'

Luffy rubs his sore face. 'But not enough food?'

Nami sighs. 'Yes, Captain, we need more.'

'Well, it's not like we can eat Belli-' Vivi suddenly stops. She slowly turns to the navigator. 'Nami, what was the last thing you said we had?'

'A lack of food?'

'No, Luffy. It's something we have!'

'Wood and nails?'

'Ussop, I know we have that! I wasn't blind to you repairing the ship!'

'Uuuuuu?'

'Nojiko, you didn't say anything.'

'The formula for creating Crocius' medicine? But that's useless without a doctor...'

'No Nami! The anti-plague suits like the one you and Nojiko wear!'

Luffy shows off the gauntlets. 'Actually, most of us wear parts of those. Makes it easier to hit people!'

Vivi stares at Nami with a shell-shocked glare. 'You have Purity Division quality anti-Plague suits. Suits that cover every part of your body and prevent infection.' She bares her teeth. 'And you didn't OFFER ME ONE!?'

'Well, I was going too...'

'I peed in a jar, Nami! I slept in a barrel for two weeks! Do you know how boring it is living in a barrel!? Do you!? Do-'

Nami places a hand over Vivi's mouth. 'Then I remembered how you lied to us, led us into a den of cannibals, and compared people suffering from the plague to disgusting monsters.' She removes her hand. 'So consider that two weeks, your hazing.'

'...oh.' The princess takes in a deep breath and steadies her frayed nerves. One breath. Two. Three. She is calm again. 'Nami, may I please-'

'Plus, we all thought "barrel Vivi" was hilarious.'

'I'll kill you!' Vivi tackles the navigator and wrestles her to the ground.

The entire crew laughs for a full minute as the two women wrestle on deck.

Eventually, Luffy, of all people, pulls them apart. 'Okay. The fight's over. Nami, Vivi? Have you worked out your issues?'

Nami salutes. 'Aye aye, captain!'

Vivi grumbles, but nods "yes" turning away from the cheeky navigator. 'I'm still mad at you, Nami.'

'All right then, crew!' The Strawhats' captain cheers. 'Then, without further ado, operation "Let's explore the cool Jungle and get lots of food" is a-go!'

The mention of eating some good quality food rather than the scraps they salvaged from Whiskey Peak perks up the crew.

'And as our captain, I'm putting our

resident expert on what we should and shouldn't eat in charge!' He steps aside as the familiar blonde chef takes center stage. 'Let's hear it for Sanji!'

The entire crew (even Zoro) offers the man polite applause.

Sanji, of course, hams it up. 'Thank you, ladies! Thank you! Thank you.' The chef ceases his bowing and clears his throat. 'All right, guys. I won't say we've hit the jackpot, but we're pretty close to it.'

The chef looks around him at the savage jungle. 'Deep tropical forests are home to plenty of edible plants and animals, but also many poisonous creatures, predators, and worst of all, tropical diseases. So when harvesting food here, you'll need to follow some important guidelines.'

'First priority is fruits since they're low energy to collect and provide a lot in turn. Avoid any plants with white milky sap, hairs on their stems, thorns, or flowers that are shaped like umbrellas. Especially avoid any that smell like bitter almonds or rotten peaches. Those will kill you.' He looks at the trees. In this environment, look for fruits like bananas, mangoes, and pineapples. They're distinctive and easy to identify.'

'Next veggies.' Sanji watches Luffy's hungry face with a smile. 'There's a lot of greens around here, but telling spinach from poison ivy would be hard for most of you. So try to stick to leafy, wrinkly-looking plants with heart-shaped leaves. If you have a good eye, though, try to find Sweet Potatoes by looking for uneven, earthy clumps on the ground with thin stalks and heart-shaped leaves. They're easy to preserve and even easier to cook.'

Sanji looks around at the crew. Luffy, Karoo, and Zoro actually look like they're trying to pay attention. Vivi, Usopp, and Nami seem to be taking notes on paper pads. And Nojiko...

'Uuuuuuhhh?'

Nojiko is rubbing the paper against her helmet.

The chef sighs. Now for the difficult part. 'And last but not least, Meats.' The captain's eyes sparkle. Meats are the most risky food source we have access to, and not just because of the plague. The animals on this Island are no doubt carriers of countless diseases we have no immunity to, so I don't recommend it as a food source, but if you have to...'

Sanji watches Luffy and Zoro lean in. 'Remember to treat every animal like it is infected with the Plague. Avoid contact with their blood, avoid any that act strangely, and especially avoid any with obvious growths. Once you kill them, you need to make a sled and drag their bodies back on it. Dragging them on the ground is liable to cause parasites, illnesses, and scavengers to cling to the meat. Hang the meat from a tree a distance from the Merry, and when I come back, I'll take a look at what you found. If I'm satisfied it isn't too spoiled, I'll butcher it properly.'

The chef claps his hands. 'And that about covers it. Questions?'

Luffy raises his hand. 'Yeah. Can you repeat all the parts about meat again?'

Sanji kicks him in the face. 'Any other questions?'

Zoro raises his hand. 'Yeah. I don't speak shitty cook. Can you repeat everything you just said in a language people can understand?'

'Okay!' Nami jumps between the two men about to tear each other apart. 'Enough fun, you two! I'm dividing you into teams.'

She first points to Zoro. 'Zoro, Vivi, and Karoo. Vivi has a good sense of direction, Karoo can carry a lot of produce, and Zoro can kill anything that gives you trouble.'

She points to the chef. 'Sanji and Usopp. Usopp can put his big body to work moving food, and Sanji can identify it.'

'But the Merry's...'

'Going to be fine!' Nami cuts the sniper off. 'There's nobody around to steal it, and you need the fresh air anyhow.'

Nami clears her throat and points to Luffy. 'And the final group. Me, Luffy, and my sister Nojiko. Because I'm the only person on the crew who can keep him in line.'

'That's fair.' Luffy admits honestly.

'I actually have a question, Nami.' Vivi raises her hand. 'This jungle is incredibly thick. How are we even going to find our way back?'

'I'm glad you asked!' Usopp places a large tubular object on the deck. ‘Introducing the Usopp super fireworks special! With a range of two hundred meters and producing a bright light capable of being seen for miles, this baby can guide anyone...' He looks at Zoro, a man whose sense of direction is so bad he can get lost trying to find the ship's bathroom. 'And I mean anyone back to the Merry when it goes off.'

'In short, Usopp sets up the firework on a timed fuse.' Sanji nods, 'It goes off, and we all follow it back.'

'Wert!?' Karoo raises his wing. 'Wert wert wert!'

'Uhhh... who understands the duck?' Usopp asks.

'Karoo, you don't need to worry about being colorblind.' Vivi smiles. 'I'll make sure to keep an eye out for the flare.

That is assuming SOMEONE gives me a plague-proof suit to wear!'

Nami groans. 'Fine! It's yours! Just stop complaining!' She looks over the group. 'Now does anyone else have stupid questions!?'

Luffy considers raising his hand. Then he thinks again when he sees Nami and Sanji glare at him.

'All right then.' Sanji steps forward. 'We'll have Usopp set the fireworks timer for four hours. Just make sure to stay safe while exploring. Remember that this is the Grand Line.'

The crew nods in comprehension, their last stop having dispersed any notions of the Grand Line being a harmless sea.

'We'll meet back here then, and I'll get to work making everyone here a dinner you won't forget.' He smiles broadly. 'So make sure to collect a lot of food. The more variety, the better.'

They all smile at that. The thought of a massive feast greeting them at day's end, raising the mood ship-wide. Splitting into their groups, the teams start preparing for their trip. Their moods having dramatically improved, they set out with happy hearts, choosing their own direction and embarking into the unknown.

Each and every one of them is missing the small pair of human eyes watching their ship with curiosity.

...

Vivi fiddles with the skintight outfit as she walks through the jungle. She adjusts parts of the black rubber-like substance that seems to stick to her skin. The suit hugs her curves in a way that causes her to feel exposed as it presses firmly into her chest and buttocks. But worst of all was how hot it was! She had thought she was used to the heat here, but the wet, oppressive heat of the jungle was entirely different from Alabasta's comforting, warm dryness.

Walking through a jungle while wearing an insulated suit in retrospect was a very bad choice. Despite the outfit's protective nature, she was beginning to regret putting it on. The only part exposed to the air, other than her head, was the stump of her right arm where flesh met metal.

She looks over to the three inches or so of exposed skin adjacent to the black suit. The metal arm was Spartan and functional, and its augmentation had saved her life countless times. But right now, she'd trade it and its functionality for skin that could feel a cooling breeze. The scarring from where she lost her arm aches in the warm heat, made worse by the heated metal frame.

'Wert? Weert?'

Vivi wipes a handful of sweat off her brow. 'I'm fine, Karoo.' She looks over to her friend, watching as the duck picks up a massive crate and places it on its back. 'Just getting used to the heat.'

'The left glove.'

'H-Huh?' Vivi looks over to Zoro, who is looking up at a tree twice as wide as he is.

With a swing of his sword, a tree goes down, crashing against an aged log.

'Remove your left glove.' The swordsman states as he calmly cuts off a bushel of bananas from the collapsed tree. 'You can remove parts of the suits by using the zippers.'

Vivi looks at her upper arm. Sure enough, up near the top of her shoulder is a small black zipper that goes all the way around.

Putting up his blade, Zoro picks up a bushel of fruit larger than he is. 'The suit's itchy and uncomfortable as hell. That's why Luffy and the cook only wear parts of it. Nami's the only one of us who bothers wearing the whole thing.'

Karoo slumps a little as his cargo is filled with kilograms of fresh bananas.

Vivi looks over to the zipper. On one hand, taking off the gauntlet would expose her one remaining arm to the open air and possible infection from whatever foul illnesses were rife on a tropical island.

On the other hand, it was hot.

On the other hand, she really didn't want to lose another arm to keep the plague away. She keenly remembers the horror of being stabbed with a pus-covered spear, her failure to clean it in time before she dispatched her foe, and the sheer agony of cutting off her own arm with a rusty blade. If she hadn't had Igaram around to patch her up...

On the other hand though, it was sooooo hot!

'Well? What are you waiting for?' Zoro asks. 'To die of heatstroke?'

'I'm thinking.'

'Thinking about how pissed Nami will be if I have to drag you back instead of fresh food?'

Vivi looks at him with narrow eyes. 'Thinking about the pros and cons of possibly getting my arm infected for a moment of comfort.'

'Well, you're not wearing the fishbowl thing.' The swordsman comments. 'So obviously you're okay with exposing your body a little.'

Vivi blushes crimson. 'Mr Swordsman!?'

'Weeert!' Karoo glares at Zoro angrily.

'You know what I meant, princess.'

Vivi groans. 'Zoro. I appreciate your... candor, but the risk of plague exposure supersedes any issues with the heat.'

'Plague exposure?' Zoro looks around. 'We've been walking for hours and haven't seen one infected person or animal. There's nobody to get the plague from.'

'There's you.'

Now it's Zoro's turn to glare at her.

'I'm just stating facts!' Vivi backpedals. 'It's nothing against you but...'

'But I'm just looking for any excuse to give you an infectious disease.' Zoro spits out with angry sarcasm.

'It's not like that! I'm merely saying you're recklessly endangering the crew by not covering up!'

'So I'm a bad person for not wearing a giant condom on my face?'

'It's not UGgghhh!' Vivi rubs her eyes. 'Look, I haven't seen Nojiko's bare body once since getting on your ship...'

Zoro snickers.

The princess ignores him. 'So obviously you should do the same to protect the crew from you accidentally infecting them!'

'I understand Usopp cannot wear the suit with his... body.' She looks at the swordsman's right arm and face with fear. 'But you have no excuse for not preventing the plague from infecting others.'

Zoro simply holds up his bandaged right arm.

'Those are permeable! If you get wet or they get torn off, you might as well be stabbing your crewmates with dirty syringes!'

Zoro glares at her.

'D-Don't look at me like that!' Vivi shouts back. 'I'm just saying that it'll be far easier to keep everyone safe if you prioritize their safety over your comfort.'

An uncomfortable silence fills the glade. Nothing is heard save the three creatures breathing. All is quiet.

'...do you know why Nojiko never takes off that suit, Vivi?' Zoro looks at Vivi with an angry expression. 'It's because she can't. Her tumors have fused to the suit. It's literally stuck to her body.'

The princess's eyes widen in cruel comprehension.

'It happens to those with the plague sometimes.' Zoro states coldly. 'You place something over your infected skin. The tumor grows around it, and suddenly you can't remove it.'

He points to the bandages over his right eye.

'If you try to yank it off the bulbs, just grow back faster than you can damage them. Then you're stuck wearing your last outfit forever.' The swordsman chuckles darkly. 'I've even heard some people have weapons stuck in them that they can never remove cause they fell asleep holding them.'

'...oh.'

'Good. Now shut up.'

'Zoro i'm...'

He raises his finger and looks around. His eye scans the surroundings, growing more frantic with every passing second.

'Werrrrt?'

'Karoo?' Vivi looks at the duck, who she now notices is becoming more and more agitated.

'You notice it too, duck?' Zoro curses under his breath. 'Damn. I must be losing my edge if I didn't notice till now.'

Now Vivi's beginning to share in her friend's worry. 'Notice what? Zoro, what did we miss?'

'Nothing.' The swordsman places his hand on the pommel of his sword. 'And that's the problem.'

Zoro takes in a deep breath through his nostrils. 'I thought something was wrong. We didn't hear anything. We didn't see anything. Abyss, we don't even smell anything!'

'Smell anything?'

Zoro looks straight through her. 'You're a bounty hunter, right? Use your senses. Look around. Listen. Tell me what's missing.'

Vivi looks around her in confusion. It’s strange; there is an absence of noise that is particularly unnerving. She can hear the rustle of trees and the occasional insect call, but overall, it feels hollow. Like something critical is missing. But what could be missing from an abnormally quiet forest?

And she suddenly realizes what it is.

'There's no life, Vivi. No mating calls. No animal droppings. No marked territory. No nests. Nothing.' Zoro looks at her with an uncharacteristic expression of fear. A bead of sweat dribs down his brow as he looks around for any sign of danger. 'There are no signs of living creatures on an island with plenty of food and a livable climate.'

She looks around again, scanning the trees, ground, and branches.

Zoro is right.

There are no broken branches from a large creature passing through. No footprints other than theirs. No bird nests, no holes filled with burrowing creatures. There aren't even bones from the dead. The island is empty of all life that isn't a plant or an insect.

The swordsman takes in Vivi's look of dawning comprehension and horror. 'Which means someone or something got rid of every animal on it.'

...

'This is amazing.' Sanji says with glee as he walks through the forest. So much food surrounds the astute chef that it puts markets to shame. He brushes dirt off the cluster of tubers bigger than his head and whistles. 'There's so much food!'

He looks back at Usopp, whose knees are starting to quake from Sanji's massive haul. Star fruit, durian, tropical almond, black pepper, turmeric, mustard seeds, and more are piled on the back of his pack mule (crewmate). All of it was just lying around, almost waiting for someone to harvest it! Forget dinner, he could make a feast that would sate Luffy from this one load! And it hadn't even been an hour!

He tosses the cassava into Usopp's crate and hums a merry tune (ignoring the sniper's grumbling). He hadn't seen any animals he could hunt, but honestly, that was a blessing. No animals meant no meat, but it also meant no hostile creatures, no plague, and no hours of butchering and inspection of every shred of flesh. Luffy would be upset, of course, but he'd change his tune quickly when his chef showed off a new dish.

And as if things couldn't get better, they'd probably be here for a while. They didn't know how long it would take for their Log Pose to lock onto the new Island. It could be a day like the last one, but something told him that the crew wouldn't want to leave a source of delicious food so easily. He'd have plenty of time to experiment with the massive variety he had at his disposal!

'All right. Let's get our haul back to the ship.' Sanji slaps the container.

'Uuugh. You mean... your haul.' Usopp begins to trudge.

'Chin up. Tell you what...' the chef smiles. 'If we make it back in ten, I'll let you be my taste tester for any new dishes.'

'You mean I'd get first dibs on tasting...'

The sniper's eyes widen. 'Before Luffy?'

'Sure!' Sanji nods, knowing they'll never make it back in under ten minutes. 'So long as...'

Usopp bolts through the underbrush.

'Ussop! Don't run so fast! You'll lose the merchandise!' Sanji runs after his packmule (crewmate) with a smile.

Who could blame Usopp for his excitement? No hostilities. No navy. No purity divisions. And all the food you could eat. Despite the agitation of picking up after Usopp, Sanji was happy. Any island with plentiful food was a good island.

Sanji spies Usopp's centaur-like body through the leaves.

Now he decides to wait?

Sanji pushes past the last of the brush, stopping right next to the sniper. 'Usopp, I told you not to go too...oh. Oh, fishsticks.'

Ussop and Sanji come to a stop in a clearing. No trees. Very little grass. Giant skull adjacent. They stare at the massive mountain of bone and bits of discarded metal lying in a field. Pillars of white stick up from the earth in a world of green. The creature's massive bones are scattered in the muddy ground, each one without any trace of fat or muscle. A time-eaten shield lies half-buried in the ground next to the remains. Around the skull are pieces of what looks like a horned helm of some kind. And reaching high into the sky, buried in the skull itself, is a large pillar of steel. The rusted-over blade, five times the length of the Merry, looms over them like a skyscraper.

Sanji's jaw drops along with the bundles of vegetables in his arms.

'Wow. A giant.' Usopp looks up at the remains in awe. 'Or what remains of one.'

Sanji reaches his hand into his suit pocket, pulls out a Cigarette. He drops it. He’s shaking too much.

The sniper inspects the blade to the skull with clinical precision. 'He must have been fighting something really strong. Sanji, do you...Sanji?'

The chef grips his shaking hand. 'Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true.' He cracks a broken smile. 'A safe island in the Grand Line? That was always a fantasy.'

'Sanji? It's just a skeleton.'

The chef reaches over and picks up his cigarette. 'There's never just one giant Usopp. They hunt in groups of eight that are further divided into pairs. It allows them to compete for who can make the most kills.'

Sanji lights up his tobacco. He takes a deep inhale and lets out a cloud of smoke. 'We have to leave the island.'

'Leave? But Sanji the Log Pose hasn't...'

Sanji grabs Usopp and pulls him to stare into his eyes. 'We. Have. To. Leave Usopp! Giants are monsters! A single giant can butcher a fully armed country! A small crew like ours would be a speedbump!'

He lets go of the sniper and begins to pace back and forth. 'We'll get back to the Merry and set off the flare early. The crew will understand when there's been a giant sighting. We'll leave the Log Pose on shore for it to lock onto a new Island and sail far enough away that the island is barely in sight.' He takes several puffs of his vice of choice as he constructs a plan. 'We'll send a scouting party weekly to check on the pose and smuggle just enough food to keep us alive. I can stretch out what little we get. We'll post guards. If they find the boat, we'll sail away, take our chances at sea. It's dangerous, but it can work. It has to work. We need it to work.'

'Hey Sanji!' Ussop points away from the skeleton. 'There's another one over here! Looks like you were worried for nothing!'

Sanji sees that their sniper is a distance away, having run off while he was monologing. He quickly runs up to him, his eyes following the trace of his pointing finger.

Sure enough, there is another pile of stripped clean bones lying a short distance from the first giant's. It lies sprawled against a large This one wrapped in a dirty blue rag larger than a hundred flags. A large rusty axe head is lodged in its sternum. Just like the first skeleton, small rusted metal bits that look like they were once a helm surround its skull.

Ussop adjusts the goggles on his head, looking keenly at the tattered cloak. 'Plague juice residue, erratic weakened areas on the bones... this giant or both of them more likely had the plague.'

Sanji turns in shock to look at his crewmate. 'That's impossible. Giants are so massive that any infection would take a literal lifetime to affect them!'

The sniper takes another look, walking over to the ratty blue fabric stained black with age. 'I'm sure of it, Sanji.' He breathes in and out. 'Take it from a guy who spends half his time... cleaning up after himself. This stuff is aged, but it's plague residue. Plus, the bones show areas of weakness where their tumors sapped their strength.'

'Still seems unlikely.' Sanji says in a cutting manner. 'They probably just got bored without anything to kill.'

Usopp looks between the two giants. 'Maybe one of them got the plague from eating infected wildlife and passed it to the other. Maybe that's why they were fighting each other.' He shakes his head in pity. 'These honorable warriors...

deserve better than to have their bones rot here.'

'Honor... HONORABLE WARRIORS! Sanji exclaims. 'Giants don't have any honor, Usopp! They're bloody monsters who kill and eat people for fun! They... what are you doing?!'

'Praying for them.' Usopp cups his hands together for a moment of silence.

Sanji throws up his hands. 'Sure! Why not?!'

The sniper gives them a moment of silence before dropping his arms. 'I don't know how they died, but they definitely don't deserve to rot here in a field.'

'Usopp, take this from someone who actually saw how the Giants act. Rotting in a field is far too good for them.' He takes another drag on his cigarette. 'Cannibals are one thing. Despite how sick in the head they are, they became monsters out of desperation and hunger.'

'But Giants? They are born monsters. They live to kill others. Abyss, they literally had to lobotomize themselves so they could pretend to be civilized.' Removing the smoke from his mouth, he spits on one of the nearby bones. 'Far as I'm concerned, two dead giants are never a bad thing.'

Usopp shoots Sanji an angry look. 'For someone who hates giants so much, you sure know a lot about them.'

'Yeah, Usopp...'

...

'SANJI RUN!'

'MOMMY! NOOOOOO!'

...

'Yeah, I do.' The chef admits bitterly . 'Now let's get back to the ship. We need to warn the others and tell them to watch out for possible giants.'

'So you want us to abandon all this food and sail blindly out to sea? Luffy and Nami will love that.' Usopp says with a sarcastic tone.

'We'll scout out the island to see if there are any more of these things and only flee if we find signs of a war party.' Sanji drops his smoke and stomps it out. 'Though if you ask me, I have a feeling that this island is about to get a lot more dangerous.'

...

'I'm telling you, Luffy, I saw someone or something go this way!' Nami hacks through the brush. She is followed by her captain, Luffy, munching on the giant sack of fruit tied to his back, and Nojiko being pulled on her leash.

'Uuuuuhhh?'

'Nojisho...' Luffy finishes off the melon he's chewing with a huge chomp. 'Nojiko's right. We haven't seen any meat at all on this island!'

Nami glares back at him. 'Is that all you care about? Finding meat?'

'Of courhse nosh!' Luffy swallows another fruit. Its juices drip down his face before he wipes them on his gauntlet. 'There's exploring too!'

Nami groans. 'Just keep up. If there is someone on this island, I want to grill them for info.' She cuts through a large fern with a downward slash from her machete. 'Specifically, how long it'll take for our Log Pose to lock onto the next Island.'

'Wsh dosh u ant thash?' Luffy downs another kilogram of their supplies. 'Sure, we haven't found meat yet, which is a bummer, but there's fun stuff to see and lots of food! Why do you want to leave?'

Nami grunts as she makes another cut. 'Because, in case you forgot, Vivi needs to get back to her country. I don't know what this info is, but the sooner she gives it to her father, the king, the more lives she can save.'

'Shi shi shi! And I thought you didn't like her.'

She cuts down again. 'I still don't, but nobody deserves to die from the plague.'

She hacks a bush to pieces in a cold fury. 'Nobody.'

'...' Luffy offers his navigator a peeled banana.

Nami looks at the offered fruit with a smile. 'Thank you, Luffy. Sorry for being on edge. There's something about this island that's giving me the creeps.'

'Any time! Gotta keep up your strength!' He watches her eat the fruit with a smile before turning to the girl on the leash. 'Nojiko! Are you hungry?'

'Uuuuu!'

Nami throws the peel to the side. 'Well, she'll have to wait to get back to the ship if she is. I left her feeding tube there.'

'Oh. Sorry, Nojiko.'

'Uhhhh! Uhhhh!' The girl pulls on her leash.

'Nojiko, we can't go back yet. We still need...'

'Uuuuuuhhhh!' She points in the direction she was pulling, and the two Strawhats look through the brush.

'What the?'

'Is... that?'

'Uuuuh uhhhhh!'

The crew walks through the last of the brush between them and the incredibly interesting sight that caught their attention. Not a word is said before they reach the sight which they never expected to find in the middle of a tropical jungle.

A multicolored wall.

Like a fortress made of stained glass, the castle wall was painted in a collage of contrasting colors. Seemingly without rhyme or reason, it is painted in hundreds of different shades. Black, brown, green, blue, purple, yellow, red, and every hue in between can be found covering the wall in front of them.

'Wow.' Luffy reiterates. 'I didn't expect to find something like this when exploring.'

'This... is definitely strange.' Nami states the obvious.

'Uuuuug.' Nojiko expresses her feelings.

The captain walks towards the wall. 'I wonder why someone made this?' He raises a hand to touch it. 'Maybe it's some kinda fun vacaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'

Luffy falls to the ground laughing his face off.

'Ugh! Luffy! This is no time for jokes.' Nami kicks the boy. 'Get up and stop laughing.'

'HA HA HA HA HA NAMI I HA HA HA HA! I CAN'T HA HA HA HA STOP! HA HA!' He rolls on the ground in hysterics, his right gauntlet covered in paint.

'Luffy!?' Nami watches as her captain rolls about, tears pour from his eyes. 'Luffy, what's wrong!?'

'HA HA HA HA CAN'T HA HA HA STOP! PLEASE HA HA HA HA HELP HA HA HA HA!'

She looks at the wall like she has suddenly encountered a dangerous beast. Only to notice too late her sister walking towards it.

'Uuuuu?'

'Nojiko! Get away from there!' She pulls on her leash only for her sister's suit to scrape against a blue section.

Nojiko falls to the ground, her body having no will to resist. 'Uuuuuu...'

'Nojiko!' She looks at the blue substance covering her sister's left shoulder. Whatever is causing these reactions is obviously due to the gunk on her body.

Thinking quickly, Nami reaches for her canteen of water. Unscrewing the top with a fluid movement, she pours clean water all over the offending blue smudge.

Nami watches as whatever the oily stuff was dissolves quickly off Nojiko's body.

'UuuuuUUUU? Uuuuu.' The girl in the suit seems in much higher spirits.

Nami takes a closer look at the wall. Unfolding her staff, she strikes a section, watching as dark red paint covers the tip. 'This is... paint? How is paint causing this?'

'HA HA HA NAMI! HA HA HA HA LAUGHING HA HA HA HA! HURTS HA HA HA HA!'

The navigator pours the remaining water on Luffy's arm, washing away the emotion-manipulating paint. The captain is freed from the yellow stain, and his fate takes several deep breaths in. 'T-

Thanks... Nami...'

'Thank whoever made this paint for making it water-soluble.' Nami puts up his empty canteen. She looks across the wall, trying to imagine what effect the other colors could have. The color black in particular causes a cold shudder to travel up her spine.

'Uuuuh Uhhhhh!'

'You're right, Nojiko!' Luffy snaps to his feet, his shortness of breath driven out by his rage. 'Whoever made this wall is a huge jerk!'

'It's an effective defense if nothing else.' She glances to her right and left. 'A surrounding wall that no creature can touch without being driven crazy. Unless you had a projectile attack capable of demolishing a barrier that's... let's see...' she hits the wall with her staff and listens for the reverberation through the metal. 'Around twenty meters thick, you're out of luck.'

'So. No punching?'

'No. No punching Luffy.'

He snaps. 'Darn. I'll have to think of something else.'

'I await your no doubt genius plan with bated breath, Captain.' Nami turns around. 'But until then, we should mark this location and regroup with the others. If this is an enemy stronghold of some kind, it will take a great deal of effort... Nojiko, what is it?'

'Uuuuuhg!' The suited girl tugs on Nami, pointing to a section of the wall.

A section of the wall that has an open door leading inward.

With a set of colored keys in the doorknob.

And it is completely unguarded.

'Uuuuuhhhh!'

'Nojiko, are you trying to tell me there is an easy way inside that all of us missed?'

'Uggghh!'

'... well, we still have a few hours left. I suppose we could take a quick peek inside before...'

'I've got it!' Luffy shouts. 'Nami! Let me borrow this!'

The captain grabs Nami's staff from her hands.

'Hey!' Nami protests. 'Luffy, that's mine!'

'Gomu no Pickaxe!' Stretching his arms backwards, Luffy slams the tip of the steel pole deep into the wall above him. The metal holds as Luffy pulls back on it with his one arm.

'All right! I've got a handhold!' Using his dexterity as a rubber man, he wraps his other arm around Nami and Nojiko. 'Hold on tight, guys! We're going up!' He pulls the arm above him tight, building up potential energy in his rubber arm. 'Gomu no...'

'Wait, Luffy! There's an open-'

'ROCKET!'

Luffy jumps and shoots up and over the wall, dragging a screaming Nami and Nojiko behind him.