The Logia Brothers Chapter 53 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of The Logia Brothers! The showdown begins! The Shandians are invading Upper Yard, looking to kill the remaining two vassals and then take Enel’s head afterwards! The Straw Hats are getting closer to reuniting as well! As the battles between Enel’s forces and the Shandians begin, night will fall on the Sky Islands, but the darkness will only be a temporary pause on this centuries-long conflict.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 53 – Battle for Upper Yard, Night in the Sky

“Yippee! Thank you, God!” Nami cheered loudly, throwing her hands into the air with a beaming smile on her face. “We struggled to get to the Sky Island, and it turns out to be where the fabled ‘City of Gold’ El Dorado is located!” She laughed loudly in joy. “This must be my reward for always doing the right thing!”

“Didn’t you say that you were afraid of this island’s ‘God’?” Zoro questioned the navigator with a raised eyebrow.

“God?! Who cares about them?” Nami retorted with an uncaring shrug. “I mean, is there anything more valuable than gold?”

“But you just said, ‘Thank you, God’…” Robin nearly deadpanned at the quick change in Nami’s words and actions.

“Half the time, I don’t think she knows what she’s saying.” Zoro rolled his eyes at the orangette’s greed.

While the three of them spoke about their findings for a bit longer, elsewhere over Upper Yard the battle between the vassals and the Shandians had already broken out. Both of the remaining vassals, Gedatsu and Ohm, had left their respective trial areas to engage the invaders of Upper Yard. The fighting was loud, resounding throughout the forest of titanic trees.

BOOM

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

Shwing

BAKOOM

“Hmm!” Gedatsu blurred and his fist knocked a Shandian warrior through the stone wall of one of the many ruins that littered Upper Yard.

“Kill him!” The other Shandians roared out, firing guns, shooting arrows, or attacking with spears, and swords.

“Hmm mhhh!” Gedatsu would’ve spoken…if he had remembered to open his mouth. Instead he dodged and weaved around multiple attacks before his arm suddenly blurred again and drilled another warrior into the dirt with a punch.

“Bastard!”

“He has some kind of Dial on his arm!”

Elsewhere, Ohm and Holy were being swarmed by Shandians as well. The loss of two vassals was clearly showing as the Shandians hadn’t needed to split their forces nearly as much.

Shing

BOOM

Bang Bang Bang

FWOOM

“Hyah!” A Shandian lashed out with his spear to attack Ohm from his blind spot.

“Futile…” Ohm drew his odd sword and all of the Shandians around him were struck by the seemingly formless blade.

“Gah!”

“Huk!”

“Ugh!”

The warriors hit the ground hard, bleeding from lacerations wherever the odd weapon had struck them.

“BARK!!!” Holy barked and snapped at every Shandian around, catching one in its powerful jaws, the dog tried to bite down and kill the man.

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Only for four rifle rounds to strike its muzzle and force its jaws open as the canine reeled back from the stinging pain.

“Keep your distance from the dog!” Raki, the one that had shot the beast, called out loudly to her fellow warriors. The fight would be much easier if they dealt with the beast from range.

“I can deal with distance.” Ohm spoke, his Mantra extending to pick up on all of his opponents. With a wide swing of his sword, the malleable blade whipped around the vassal and his giant dog, blocking every projectile fired at them.

“Damn it!”

“What the hell is that sword?!”

“Focus!” Raki yelled at them. “Surround him and hit him from every angle!”

“Like that will work.” Ohm was disappointed, didn’t these fools realize that he’d dealt with plenty of ranged fighters in his life?

“BARK!!!” Holy leapt forward and gave chase to a group of the Shandians, dividing the attacking force between its master and itself.

“Damn!”

“It’s fast!”

“Shoot it!”

BOOM

-Karasumaru-

“What’s this pace?” Luffy looked at the mostly flat prairie that the milky road had led them into.

“Probably the area for the next Trial.” Sanji looked around warily for the vassal. “Who knows where the vassal is though, stay alert!”

“I thought after passing the Trial you were supposed to be free to go?” Usopp grimaced, his sharp eyes combined with his Observation were trying to pick out any hidden enemies. “Is this one supposed to be the ‘String’ the ‘Iron’ or the ‘Swamp’ though?”

“It’s a prairie filled with skulls on poles…” Vivi’s disgust with the barbaric act was clear on her face. “Whoever the vassal of this place is, they’re disgusting.”

“Some people are coming!” Luffy felt multiple ‘voices’ approaching from the side of the forest that they had just left.

“They’re here!” Usopp called out, spotting the masked guerillas that had attacked them back on the White Sea.

The group of Shandians crossed the prairie rapidly, even passing over the Karasumaru on their cloud skates. It was as they were passing over the small Dial boat, that Wyper’s eyes met Luffy’s, the two men stared at each other for a split second before the Shandians cleared the boat. After clearing some distance, Wyper flipped into the air, and while upside down, he aimed his bazooka at the group of Blue Sea dwellers and fired.

THOOM

Luffy stood up and snatched the ball out of the air, much liked he’d done to the Buggy Ball back in Orange Town in the East Blue. He held the munition as if it weighed nothing while glaring at Wyper for firing it at his nakama. “What was that for?!”

“What the hell?!”

“D-Did he just catch the ball?!”

“Impossible!”

“Wyper, do we go after them?”

“No. Leave them.” Wyper ordered even as his eyes locked with Luffy’s across the distance.

“Those’re the same guys that attacked us before!” Sanji narrowed his eyes at the Shandians.

“Hey!” Luffy raised his voice. “Why’d you shoot at us?!” He held up the unexploded ball in his hand, demanding an answer.

“So you’re the ones…the Blue Sea people that’re shaking things up in Skypiea.” Wyper spoke to them for the first time. “If you value your life, go back to the Blue Sea. If you insist on interfering on this island, then we’ll erase you along with Enel.”

“Is that a threat? Bring it on, Baldy!” Luffy yelled at the other man.

“Luffy, don’t escalate the situation!” Vivi tried to calm her lover down. The entire crew knew exactly how Luffy reacted to threats against them.

“So, the guerillas and Enel aren’t on the same side, huh?” Sanji noted that information down in case it became important later.

“Of course, that assumes that you’re even strong enough to get off this island.” Wyper and his group turned away from the pirates, preparing to blast off with their cloud skates.

“Hey! You forgot this!” Luffy called out as he cocked back his arm and threw the bazooka shell back towards the Shandians.

BOOM

The ordinance wasn’t even seen as it passed between the group of Shandians to explode against one of the towering trees a good distance ahead of them. The Shandians warriors could only look on wide-eyed at what Luffy had just done. The throw was even faster than when the bazooka fired the round!

“Wh-What the…?”

“How...?”

“Th-That’s…impossible.”

“What are you?” Wyper eyed the Blue Sea dweller warily now.

“Luffy, a pirate.” Luffy answered simply. “Don’t threaten my nakama.” The warning was clear as the Shandians disappeared into the forest without a response.

The Karasumaru continued down the milky road without interruption after the encounter. The Straw Hats trying to put together all of the information that they’d gathered so far, that way they could share everything efficiently once they got to the sacrificial altar.

Occasionally, the distant sound of an explosion reached the four pirates through the dense forest. The sounds of battle rang on and on until the clouds turned red and orange, signaling sunset. It seemed that the battles would end as night fell on Upper Yard.

“I guess the sunset must be behind the clouds.” Usopp mused, seeing the clouds changing colors.

“I guess sunset happens everywhere, even in the sky.” Vivi smiled at the sight, so different than what she’d grown up with in Alabasta.

“Hopefully we get to the altar before dark.” Sanji exhaled a bit of smoke from his cigarette. “I don’t want Nami, Mikita, and Robin to be in the dark without me there to protect them!”

“What about Chopper and Zoro?” Luffy laughed, leaning against the edge of Karasumaru with Vivi leaning into his side and his arm around her waist.

-Sacrificial Altar-

“Chopper! Mikita! Are you there?!” Nami yelled out across the pond surrounding the massive altar. “Did something happen?!” She had to ask, given what looked like patches of burn marks here and there on the Going Merry.

“Something clearly happened.” Zoro remarked as he looked over their ship.

“You think they were both sacrificed?” Robin asked thoughtfully and with a straight face.

“DON’T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!!!” Nami yelled at the archaeologist, shark-like teeth in her mouth.

“HEY! CHOPPER! ARE YOU HERE?! WHAT HAPPENED?!” Zoro bellowed loudly and the three of them finally saw movement on the ship.

“We’re okay!” Chopper called back, in his hybrid form as he often was. “Just a fight against someone calling himself a vassal!”

“We took care of him!” Mikita waved to the group with a smile.

“Um…okay.” Nami blinked at the information. “Can you tell us everything?”

“How’re we going to get back over there?” Zoro suddenly seemed to realize that the three that had left by swinging from a vine, couldn’t get back the same way.

“Hey, look! It’s the Going Merry! That’s the altar!” Luffy’s loud voice got everyone’s attention.

Coming from the river that connected into the huge pond was the Karasumaru. Vivi, Usopp, Sanji, and Luffy all waved at their found nakama happily. The sun was still setting, but they at least had enough light to see by for now.

“Nami! Mikita! Robin! I passed the Trial of Love!” Sanji called out to the three women with heart-shaped eyes.

“Huh? We passed the Ball Trial.” Luffy looked at Sanji like he was dumb for forgetting so quickly.

“Shut it, shitty Captain!” Sanji barked back at him.

“Were you guys scared? Never fear, for Usopp is here!” Usopp called out, raising his fist into the air as if in triumph.

“I’m so glad everyone is okay!” Vivi beamed at her nakama happily, waving to them all as relief flooded her body.

“They seem to be in good spirits. That’s a relief.” Nami sighed out, just happy that her friends were safe and well.

“I’ll make a platform.” Vivi offered after looking between the altar and the bank of the pond. Sand flowed from her body and formed into a flat square that was roughly three square meters in size. Under her power, it floated over to Zoro, Nami, and Robin, allowing the three to stand on it safely as the princess levitated it over to the altar.

“You’re control is really improving, Vivi.” Nami praised her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, Nami.” Vivi returned the kiss on the cheek and hugged the navigator back.

“Those bastards tried to burn our ship?!” Usopp clenched his fist, seeing the burn marks here and there on the Merry.

“Sorry, Usopp, we couldn’t stop all of the damage that vassal guy caused.” Chopper apologized, looking down.

“Are you two alright?” Usopp looked at Chopper and Mikita questioningly.

“We’re fine, no real injuries.” Mikita confirmed with a nod, patting herself down a bit to prove it.

“Yeah, we’re both okay.” Chopper agreed having checked over Mikita himself.

“Then it’s fine.” Usopp smiled at the reindeer. “We can repair Merry together, but we can’t replace either of you two.” The gunman waved off the damage to the beloved ship. It made him sad and a bit angry, but it wasn’t the same as losing Mikita or Chopper.

“I’ll help!” Chopper instantly perked up with a smile. “We’ll make Merry look as good as new!”

“Yeah!” Usopp agreed as the two fist-bumped with bright grins on their faces.

“Getting the ship fixed isn’t going to happen while we’re stuck in this forest.” Sanji mentioned to them both. “The only problem is, how’re we getting the Going Merry down off this altar?”

“That’s going to be difficult.” Robin remarked, looking over the edge of the ship and seeing the height the altar stood at. “The lobster that put us up here wasn’t exactly gentle about it either.”

“It wasn’t?!” Usopp whirled around to look at Robin. “Did it damage the hull?! The keel?!”

“We don’t have a ton of time left before nightfall. Now’s not the time for an inspection.” Zoro shook his head at Usopp.

“Chopper! Quick! We’ll do a fast, but thorough, inspection of the hull at least!” Usopp declared, already climbing down the ladder on the side of the ship.

“Right!” Chopper followed after him quickly.

“Let’s go into the forest and set up camp by the pond.” Sanji pointed towards the forest. “If anyone tries to sneak up on us at night, it’ll be easier to fight out there.”

“Yahoo! We’re going camping! Fun times!” Luffy cheered, his normal exuberance and excitement returning now that all of his nakama were back together.

Almost an hour later and the entire crew was sitting around a large fire together. Tents had been set up, mostly for the girls though Luffy would definitely be dragged into the one occupied by his lovers. A few of the Sky Sharks from the pond had been fished up by Luffy and his Devil Fruit. Sanji had taken care to prepare them properly and cook the large fish over the fire for everyone. Now they were sharing information about what they’d all discovered over the course of their separation.

“Attention! Everyone, thank you all for your reports!” Usopp declared a stick in his hand that he used to point to a chalkboard he’d brought over from the Merry and hung on one of the huge trees. “Many things are becoming clear thanks to the data.” He tapped the chalkboard with the stick loudly before continuing. “It turns out that this island is the very ‘City of Gold’ that the Saruyama Alliance has been searching for!”

“No kidding?!” Luffy exclaimed, looking up from the skewered shark that he was eating from, half the massive fish was already nothing but bones.

“I told you that already!” Nami reminded him with a sigh.

“Oh yeah!” Luffy recalled, his mind having been preoccupied with the cooking fish when Nami had told him earlier.

“What’s this Mantra thing all about?” Zoro questioned after swallowing his food.

“I’m not sure where the name comes from, but it’s clearly Observation Haki.” Mikita pointed out with a shrug.

“I hypothesize that the guerillas all come from this island originally, and when it was launched up here into the sky, they came into conflict with the Skypieans.” Robin gave the crew her best theory as to why the guerillas were fighting against Enel and his forces.

“That makes sense.” Vivi agreed, her hand on her chin as she thought about the current situation on Skypiea that they were now in the middle of. “They had no qualms about attacking us either. To them we all probably just look like invaders of their homeland.”

“We’re just passing through, though!” Chopper exclaimed, nearly choking on his food and having to slap his chest a couple of times to clear his airway.

“Still…” Luffy smiled widely. “A city of gold, huh? Now this is the kind of adventure that I’ve been waiting for!” He cheered and raised his skewered shark into the air above his head.

“That’s the spirit!” Nami winked at him flirtatiously. “You catch on quick!”

“Hey, now, are we really going to get involved in this war of theirs?” Usopp questioned, not liking the idea of joining a war they had no stakes in.

“I’m not sure we’re being given a choice.” Mikita reminded him of what they’d all been through already.

“Fufufu…sounds fun.” Robin laughed lightly, a smile on her lips. “I’d love a chance to explore more of this island and look for ruins and artifacts. We might be able to learn something important.”

“Come on, we’re pirates!” Sanji grinned, handing out more plates of food to the crew. “We can’t just ignore it when Fate drops a treasure trove like this in our laps, right?”

“We’re in enemy territory and vastly outnumbered.” Zoro mentioned as he leaned back on the giant root that he was sitting on. “I like those odds!”

“Alright! Let’s do it!” Luffy stood up and threw his hands in the air with a big smile. “Let’s find that gold!”

“Yeah!” The crew cheered as one.

The rest of the evening was spent cooking and preparing things for trying to get out of Upper Yard tomorrow. Mikita helped Sanji cook up a filling stew for the night’s dinner, the Sky Sharks not nearly enough to satisfy Luffy’s appetite. Nami had brought out a blanket and a wooden crate to use as a makeshift table. The navigator had put on a pair of glasses as she showed her cartography skills. She was drawing up a map and wanted to see if what had been scrawled in the back of Noland’s Log Book would make sense based on her hunch. Luffy was put to work helping Vivi purify water, the two taking filtered water and then zapping it with electricity to kill any bacteria, parasites, or viruses that might remain after filtering, before putting it in a pot to boil a final time. After the boiling, the water would be put into their individual canteens and left to cool for the night.

“Sanji! We got some yummy things!” Chopper called out as he and Zoro entered the clearing that they were camping in. “Garlic, bananas, aloe, walnuts!”

“A couple large rats and a big frog.” Zoro held up the larger than normal animals they’d hunted.

“Great! Chop ‘em up and we’ll put ‘em in the stew!” Sanji pointed over at the large stew pot that other ingredients were already simmering in.

“Wait a minute!” Nami snapped at Sanji. “There were some weird ingredients just mentioned!”

“Oh, right! No garlic, right, I forgot!” Sanji smiled at her brightly.

“No! That’s not the issue!” Nami denied, looking like she was about to throw something at the chef. Her attention was completely taken off Sanji when Robin walked back into the camp. “Wow! What’s that blue thing, Robin? Is it a gem?!” Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at it.

“Fufu…isn’t it pretty?” Robin giggled at Nami’s interest, and the fact that she was about to burst her bubble. “But it’s not a gem.”

“Oh! Is that rock salt?! That’s a good find!” Sanji praised Robin’s discovery of the large salt crystal.

“I thought it might come in handy.” Robin smiled at him.

“It will, salt is essential for a lot of things.” Mikita elbowed Sanji to get him to refocus on cooking. “We can use it for seasoning, drying meat, and some other things while we sail.”

While Nami appreciated having the salt without having to buy it, her interest in the ‘not gem’ quickly waned as she returned to her map-drawing. It was shortly before the stew finished cooking that Nami finished her map. “Alright! Done!” Nami smiled at her finished map.

“You look so cute in glasses, Nami.” Mikita giggled, hugging Nami from behind.

“Why, thank you!” Nami laughed as well, leaning back into the hug for a moment. “Okay, everyone! I now call the official Straw Hats ‘What’re we going to do tomorrow?’ meeting to order!”

“Right!” The crew agreed as they all sat around while Sanji served up bowls of the just finished stew. Naturally, all of the ladies got there food first from the chivalrous cook.

“This stew is delicious!” Luffy approved as he started eating as soon as the bowl was placed in his hands.

“Earlier, you ate a whole grilled Sky Shark.” Usopp reminded his Captain with a deadpan expression.

“That was just a snack to tide me over!” Luffy waved off eating the entire fish by himself.

“Ready? First, we’ll go over what we know about Noland’s discovery of El Dorado.” Nami had a feather pen in her hand along with a small stack of paper filled with notes she’d taken. “He first discovered El Dorado four-hundred years ago. Several years later when he returned to Jaya, there was no trace of the golden city to be found.” She got a few nods of understanding as she continued. “In other words, during those few years, this island, which is a fragment of Jaya, wound up in the sky.”

“On the Knock Up Stream?” Chopper guessed, having experienced the tremendous power of the mysterious current firsthand, he thought it could lift an island.

“Yes, that’s the only explanation.” Nami pointed at the reindeer. “Cricket said that the location of the underwater explosion differs each time.”

“An explosion like that would send any island flying.” Usopp agreed with a nod before eating another spoonful of stew.

“Or at least part of it.” Vivi nodded along, given that Upper Yard was only part of the island of Jaya.

“It’s just hard to imagine this insanely huge forest is the same one we saw back on Jaya.” Zoro shook his head as he ate.

“That’s probably due to the difference between ‘sea clouds’ and ‘island clouds’.” Robin offered after enjoying another bite of stew. Such good meals had become a part of her daily life after joining up with the Straw Hats. “It seems that there’s something about the environment of Skypiea that has the power to rapidly speed up the growth of flora and fauna. Which would explain why all the remains of the Jayan Civilization have been swallowed up by the forest.”

“But how does that help us find the gold?” Sanji asked curiously as he enjoyed the stew he’d made now that everyone else had been served.

“Think back to what was written in Noland’s Log Book about El Dorado.” Nami replied to the chef.

“He said it was full of gold!” Luffy smiled brightly.

“That’s obvious, idiot!” Usopp retorted to Luffy’s comment.

“He mentioned ‘gold ingots shaped like a bell’ and the South Birds.” Mikita recalled after a moment to think.

“And on the last page was scrawled a seemingly nonsensical sentence, supposedly the last thing he wrote before he died. ‘I saw gold in the skull’s right eye.’” Robin easily recited what she’d read back on Jaya.

“That’s it!” Nami smiled at Robin while arranging the papers in her lap. “Look at this! I rescaled the map of Jaya that Robin picked up for us while we were there, and then paired it up with the old map of Skypiea.” She put two of the papers together. “It’s an approximation, but when you line up the house on the seashore…” She held up the two papers to show everyone. “See! This is the shape of Jaya four-hundred years ago!”

“It’s a skull!” Luffy exclaimed with excitement after seeing the old shape of the island.

“Amazing!” Chopper cheered at the combined maps.

“Then ‘The right eye of the skull’…” Usopp gaped at the full map.

“Is right here!” Nami pointed to the old Skypiea map where the right eye on the skull-shaped island would be. On the map, what looked to be a stone temple was depicted. “Noland was talking about the shape of the entire island! But there’s only half an island left, so it’s no wonder the mystery couldn’t be solved.”

“You figured this out just from a scrawled note in the Log Book and a little bit of surveying of this island…you’re amazing, Nami!” Vivi praised the navigator as she looked at the two maps put together.

“Hehe!” Nami grinned at the praise.

“It all makes sense now.” Sanji agreed as he looked at the ‘complete’ map.

“I see.” Zoro got the gist of it at least. “So, we know where to go tomorrow, right?”

“Uh huh! Tomorrow we can head straight for this point.” Nami pointed at the ‘stone temple’ on the old Skypiea map. “But we can’t just abandon the ship. So, we’ll either have to figure out how to get Merry off the altar first, or we’ll have to split into two teams.” She looked at the crew as a whole as she laid out their options. “Make no mistake! A vast treasure trove of gold awaits us at this location!”

“TREASURE!!!” Luffy cheered loudly, his voice swallowed up by the dark forest around them.

“Phew! A delicious feast tonight and tomorrow gold!” Chopper was all smiles now.

“I hope it’s a clear day.” Usopp mentioned, looking up at the forest canopy as best he could.

“We are above the clouds. Kyahahaha!” Mikita laughed at Usopp worrying about the weather.

“It’s late.” Robin spoke up once some of the revelry from Nami’s discovery had died down. “We should extinguish any unnecessary fires or we’ll just be letting the enemy know our position.” She had the last two decades of her life to thank for her cautious nature.

“That’s so ridiculous.” Luffy hung his head at Robin’s words. “Did you hear that, Usopp? Put out the fire, she says!”

“Give the poor girl a break, Luffy! Robin’s lived in the dark. She wouldn’t know.” Usopp pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Robin looked genuinely confused at their words.

“When you go camping, it’s natural that you have a campfire!” Luffy declared strongly.

“At camp at night, even if your life is about to end, you gotta have a campfire! That’s just the way it is!” Usopp agreed with a firm nod.

“You two are total idiots.” Nami facepalmed at the childish reasoning.

“Robin has a point, you know how dangerous this forest is.” Vivi reminded them both of what they’d all been through today.

“Dangerous how?” Luffy questioned with a childish pout. To be fair, nothing on the entire island was much of a threat to Luffy so far.

“Let me make a list!” Nami put her hands on her hips. “The vassals, the guerillas, whatever beasts lurk in this forest, and for all we know there could be literal monsters around here!”

“MONSTERS?!” Chopper cried out in alarm at the potential threat.

“Hey, Luffy!” Zoro called out, getting everyone’s attention. “How’s this for a bonfire?” He presented a square of stacked logs taller than he was. Sanji was standing on the other side with a smile. The two had apparently worked together without any bickering for once.

“Not you guys too!” Nami had fangs in her mouth as she snapped at the pair.

“It’ll be alright, Nami-swan!” Sanji assured her as he held up a freshly lit torch to start the bonfire. “Giant beasts are afraid of fire!” He didn’t notice the dozens of glowing eyes behind him in the darkness of the forest.

“There’s already a bunch of things behind you!” Nami pointed out as she took a few steps backwards.

What emerged from the trees were pure white wolves with bushy tails. The largest one growled at Sanji, but the chef just stared the beast down for a long moment. The wolf made a few more growls and barks before Sanji got an idea.

“Hey, Chopper, I think he’s trying to talk…can you translate?” Sanji requested of the reindeer.

“I’ll try, I can usually understand the gist of what other animals are saying, though there are some barriers because of species.” Chopper walked over to stand next to the wolf and began to translate as best as he could.

“You loud humans! Shut up already! You’re making so much noise we can’t even hunt!” The wolf was translated by Chopper. “Everything in this forest belongs to us! How dare you like fires here! Get the hell out already!”

BAM

Nami clocked the lead wolf over the head and flattened it on the forest floor. “No one is keeping me from that gold!”

“You’ve…got one hell of a punch, girl.” Chopper translated the wolf as it staggered back to its feet. “Maybe we’re a bit outmatched here?”

“You definitely are! Kyahahaha!” Mikita laughed, looking at Luffy with a smile.

“I have an idea!” Luffy grinned as he took the torch from Sanji and lit the bonfire. “PARTY WITH US!!!”

“AWWWOOOOO!!!” The entire wolf pack howled in response.

“Sky Wolves! Tonight we party!” Chopper translated for the lead wolf as the wolf pack quickly joined in on the merriment the pirates were making.

“It’s a party the night before the gold hunt!” Usopp pulled out a makeshift drum he’d put together from a barrel and some leather and began to beat out a rhythm.

“Yeah!” Luffy and Chopper cheered as they started dancing around the bonfire with the wolves.

“These guys are great!” Luffy laughed, pulling Nami and Vivi into the dancing with him. Mikita quickly followed and a ring of dancers surrounded the bonfire.

“Ahahahaha!” Nami just threw herself into the festivities, drinking straight from a bottle of booze like Zoro usually did.

“Nami!” Vivi laughed before being pulled close and kissed soundly by the navigator. “Mmm~”

“Luffy~” Mikita spun Luffy around and French kissed him.

“Hahaha!” Luffy quickly picked Mikita up and spun her around as the party got more raucous.

“That gold is as good as ours!” Vivi and Nami declared before bursting into giggles together.

“Gold, here we come!” Sanji laughed, dancing around the bonfire with his nakama.

“Heh!” Zoro snorted before tossing back almost half a bottle in one long pull.

Robin watched all of this from where she was sitting a little off to the side, a smile on her lips. ‘They’re so carefree. It’s…nice.’ She had no illusions that she’d be able to do the same. Eventually, a time would come that she’d have to part ways with the Straw Hat pirates, just as she had to jump from group to group over the last twenty years to survive. ‘But…I’m getting stronger, thanks to Luffy, and I now have Haki as well. I’ll be able to continue on with more certainty, once this all comes to an end.’ Robin sighed to herself as she watched the party.

What she wasn’t expecting was for Luffy to suddenly run over to her with a huge smile on his face.

“Robin! Dance! It’s a party!” Luffy beamed at his newest nakama.

“No…I’m fine here.” Robin smiled and waved him off.

“Nope!” Luffy took her hand (surprisingly gentle Robin noticed) and pulled her to her feet. “Your our nakama! That means when we party, you have to party too!” He explained with such simple logic that Robin almost laughed.

“I’m not much for dancing and parties, Captain.” Robin shook her head, a small smile on her lips. She was pulled into his arms and they spun all the way back to the area where everyone was dancing before Robin could even try to stop him. “But I guess I don’t have a choice, huh?” She looked at him with a bemused grin.

“Shishishishi! Nope!” Luffy laughed before taking hold of her hand again and spinning her around once.

“Very well, Captain.” Robin relented and danced with him. Regardless of her outlook on life, or her decades of experience, Monkey D. Luffy continued to surprise her. Perhaps his words back in Alabasta weren’t mere boasting or the claims of a fool? ‘Time will tell, I suppose.’

“What’re you thinking about?” Luffy questioned, seeing that Robin wasn’t smiling as they partied.

“Fufufu…nothing, Captain.” Robin laughed and let him dip her. For just a short time, she’d put her thoughts to the side.

“Ooh~ What’s this?” Mikita giggled as she pressed herself against Luffy’s back. “Making the moves on Robin, Luffy?” The chocolatier winked at the other woman. “Let me help too!”

“Help?” Robin blinked, only to suppress a yelp as she was suddenly the filling of a Luffy and Mikita sandwich.

“Kyahahaha!” Mikita laughed brightly as the trio continued to move together.

“Shishishishi!” Luffy joined her laughter as his hands settled on Robin’s hips.

“This crew…I swear.” Robin sighed playfully before wrapping her arms around Luffy’s shoulders.

The world fugitive, Nico Robin, would soon learn that there were no downers on the Straw Hat crew! Not even she was exempt from this unspoken rule either! For the first time in a long while, she laughed freely as she truly enjoyed herself.

-End Chapter-

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The Shandians and the two remaining vassals fight over Upper Yard.

But strangely enough, Enel himself seems rather quiet during all of this? What could the megalomaniac ‘God’ be plotting?

The Straw Hats reunite and now that everyone is okay and back together, Luffy decides that it’s party time!

The Sky Wolves show up, only to quickly join in on the sudden festivities!

Even Robin can’t just sit on the sidelines! Luffy won’t allow it! KEK!!!

For the first time in a long, long time…Robin is actually able to laugh and enjoy herself, at least for a little while.

She certainly wasn’t expecting to be in the middle of Luffy and Mikita while dancing though! Lol!

What’s next for our favorite pirate crew?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!