One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Six [Rewritten]

"You're right..." I muttered. "Poor thing looks so distressed" I noted, brows furrowing as I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor reptile the longer is continued to cry and thrash about in frustration like a child having a breakdown.

"What's the meaning behind this ridiculous outburst? Just what are you getting yourself all worked up about?" a new voice suddenly spoke up as a strange man now appeared.

"Wow...I didn't know earlobes could stretch that far..." I muttered, taken aback by the man's elongated earlobes. I had difficulties pulling my gaze away from the way they would dangle and sway every time he moved. "By the way, who's that?" I whispered to Nami, wondering if she knew the answer.

"I don't know" she shrugged as we closely watched the strange man who seemed to almost appear out of thin air.

"You've always been an annoyance to me, but no longer" he curtly said as his body began to glow a soft electric blue before finally, a bolt of lightning struck the reptile's head.

"Aisa!" I heard Wyper scream from nearby as Nami covered her mouth in horror.

"Oh no—Nami! Skylar! They're dead—there's no way either of them could survive that!" I heard Zoro cry out in distress next which finally caused Nami and me to poke our heads out from our hiding spot.

"Robin?" Nami questioned the minute she spotted the raven-haired woman.

"Zoro?" I perked up just a little upon seeing the swordsman.

"When did you guys get here?" we curiously asked.

"What are you doing there?! How did you get out of the snake's stomach?!" Zoro snapped as he came rushing right toward us, clearly looking irritated as if he was angry with us about something. Nami frowned at the behavior, looking just about ready to snap right back at him before owlishly blinking when he seemed to only walk right past her and scoop me up into his arms.

-Everybody's P.O.V-

It was rather sweet and the gesture was pleasant, that was something Nami didn't have a problem admitting as she looked at the two sword users. Closely watching in silent amusement how Zoro held the brunette like a man who hadn't seen his wife in decades as Skylar only grew stiff. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she now looked like she didn't exactly know what to do—like she didn't know whether to pat the swordsman's back or cover her face out of embarrassment...

It really was quite a cute sight to behold.

"Glad to see you both alright, Navigator, Swordswoman" Robin smiled.

"Yeah...I think we're alright, but I'm not so sure about the others" Nami admitted as she tore her gaze away from Zoro's bold display of affection and flickered it toward the archeologist.

"I'm so glad you're alright..." Zoro quietly muttered as he slowly pulled back, hands still clasped over the brunette's shoulders as he softly peered down at her in relief. Skylar said nothing as she started back, jaw moving as if she had something to say yet didn't know how. She looks surprised—almost startled really by his gesture as if she hadn't expected such a strong reaction from the swordsman. Sure, neither of them were strangers to open displays of affection...but the idea of someone being so concerned for the brunette's safety and so relieved to see her alive and well was...

Odd.

She barely even registered the tight squeeze the swordsman gave her shoulders before he finally pulled away completely, hesitating for only a split second before turning and walking over to where he had sat Chopper's body down earlier. Lifting the unconscious reindeer up, he brought him right on over to the group. Nami watched how Skylar instantly snapped out of whatever daze she was in the minute she saw the doctor as she quickly followed after the young man. Worry now etched onto her face as her gaze became glued to the injured reindeer.

"Luffy was still in there" she finally thought to mention after a second or two more of silence, quietly watching how her statement slowly dragged the brunette's gaze away from their injured friend and toward her.

"Yeah" Skylar slowly nodded. "He wasn't able to make it out with us" she informed the other two.

"What was he doing in there?" Zoro frowned, raising an eyebrow at this sudden revelation that his captain was inside the belly of a snake and not just mindlessly wandering around the island as he had initially thought.

"I tried to get him out—but he fell off the waver!" Nami was quick to defend, acting as if the swordsman had just accused her of being the one responsible for their captain's unsavory predicament.

"That brat is nothing but a pain in the ass—does he realize how much of a hassle he is?!" Zoro snapped in irritation.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Nami snapped right back.

-Skylar's P.O.V-

"We haven't even reunited for that long and you two are already at each other's throats" I sighed before my nose scrunched up as the sudden smell of burning reptile finally hit me. Casting a quick glance toward the snake, I sadly watched how its charred body hit the ground—it was difficult to tell if it was even still alive at this point with how still it had gone...

Despite the trouble it had caused us, I didn't feel comfortable with the fate it had suffered nor do I feel comfortable knowing there was a high chance that Luffy and Aisa had possibly perished within the animal's body. I could only hope with how gigantic and thick it is, not much electricity had been able to seep its way through the reptile's scales and into its innards.

"Just one hit, that's all it took!" Wyper gaped in shock. "Eneru's destroyed it when my bazooka couldn't even scratch the snake and Aisa...I can only hope she somewhat survived!" his distraught and frustration was clear as day and before anyone could really react, he suddenly shot off his bazooka. Aiming it right at the man who I could only assume is Eneru at this point. Eneru dodged each of the attacks, a look of boredom on his face before finally, he jumped back and tossed a dial into the air.

"Ball Cloud" and just like that, a cloud in the perfect shape of a ball was created.

"Eneru!" Wyper snarled as the man took his place atop the spherical cloud.

"That's no way to treat your host, now is it, Shandorian Warrior?" Eneru laughed as he spun his staff around. "I'd have thought that you'd be happy, after all, it is I who brought you here and returned you to your homeland" he grinned before raising an eyebrow as the Shandorian pointed his bazooka at him once more. "Don't get so worked up, there's time for that later—this is the beginning! You don't want the fun to end so soon, do you?" he asked.

"This is a game to you?!" Wyper sneered.

"Yes, and truly a petite game at that, for all of you will be competing against one another for my entertainment" Eneru explained as we cautiously approached him—gathering up in a straight line so that we could hear what he had to say. Nami was the only outlier as she took off the other way with Chopper's body, hiding somewhere safe where she could watch us and not get hurt. "Well done, I'm happy that so many of you have made it this far—I extend my welcome to you survivors, and now the fun truly begins! This is a survival game to see how many people out of the original eighty-two, including myself, are still standing after three hours on this island" he praised as he seemingly started to almost ramble. "The last person left will of course be the winner—among you are a few participants that entered late into the game, but I decided to allow them to stay.

"It will make it even more interesting" he grinned. "Now, the six of us will continue to the final stage of the game—in just a few minutes, the three hours will be up which means that the seven people we have present here are one too many" he said, narrowing his eyes.