A bright light engulfed the whole group making them close their eyes shut. Once they opened their eyes again, they all found themselves in a forest. Ace and Sabo immediately recognized where they all were, after all, they had been raised there.
"We're back on Dawn Island!" Shouted Ace as he ran around but was stopped when Sabo grabbed him.
"Ace, stop." Sabo said with a disappointed look on his face, though he was also happy to be back in the forest they practically lived in. "Remember what we are here for."
Ace gathered his composure again and fake coughed. "Right. But we should go visit Dadan later when Luffy is with us."
Sabo nodded, but the strawhats were confused.
"Who's Dadan?" Asked Chopper.
Ace and Sabo grinned. "Our caretaker. She's a woman among men."
Nami cringed at the last sentence. She didn't think that this Dadan person wanted to be called that if she was a woman, though she did wonder what she was like.
"Does that mean she was the one who had to feed Luffy?" Sanji sweat dropped. It seemed that Luffy had a huge stomach when he was younger as well.
"Well, no. That was us hunting for our food." Ace answered. "So, we were the ones to fill our own stomachs."
Sanji paled. "Are there anymore animals on this island?"
Sabo shrugged. "There should be. The tiger king should be alive, since we never killed it."
"The bear that nearly killed Luffy should be still around too." Ace answered.
"WHAT?!"
"When did that happen!?" Sabo shouted while shaking Ace.
"After you 'died'. We had a fight and Luffy was the trouble magnet he was and got into a battle with a bear." Ace answered breaking the grip Sabo had on him.
Sabo sighed. "That's what Luffy is. A trouble magnet."
The whole strawhat crew nodded their heads. Their captain had luck, but it only happens when his bad luck kicks in. They couldn't count how many troubles their captain had caused, but somehow, they all managed to get out alive. He had twin star luck.
"We better go find out where captain-san is before he loses the battle to the demon." Robin reminded them. "He would probably attack Luffy now, as he is tired from the war he was in. You remember the state captain-san's clone was in, and Silvia said they were connected, so Luffy would be in trouble."
"Let's go." Zoro said. He faced the brocons and all the rest of the crew did to. They were going to follow the lead of their vice-captain, as he was in charge while Luffy is away. "Lead the way. You should know the way since you have been living here."
They both nodded, but they had to figure out what cave Luffy was going to be in. They went through their memories and thought about a particular cave. The cave they would sleep in when it was raining hard, and they couldn't get back to the hut or the treehouse. It was probably the cave that he would go to.
The brothers started to walk and the strawhats followed him. As they were heading over, they all had a conversation and just in case, Sanji and Nami made sure that Zoro didn't get lost. When he was starting to head in the wrong direction, they would hit/kick him.
"This is SUPER!" Franky exclaimed as they headed towards the cave.
Brook laughed, "YOHOHOHO, we have learnt more about Luffy-san and now it's our turn to save him."
"But remember that we only know more about this because we went through his memories." Stuttered Usopp. "Won't he be mad at us for that?"
Sanji puffed out a bit of smoke. "Remember we're going to apologize to him and maybe tell him more about ourselves to make it fair."
"It will strengthen our bond as a crew." Added Robin with a smile. "It will be good for the crew. It will help us understand each other, and out trust will grow stronger."
"I'm sure Luffy wouldn't mind." Sabo said, catching all their attention. "I mean, he will be mad and upset. Maybe not talking to you for a while, but that's it."
Ace added with a grin. "If it goes on for too long, you can just bribe him with meat, and he forgives you straight away."
The crew sweat dropped knowing that their captain was probably going to do that, and when they were walking, Nami noticed something. A treehouse. It was small and there was a flag onto of it. ASL.
"Hey guys, there's a treehouse here." Nami pointed out.
All of them looked at what she was pointing out. At the sight of the treehouse, Ace and Sabo smiled fondly. It was their base and hideout. They built it to escape Garp's training and get away from Dadan. They would play pirates and be free. They were now free, though Sabo wasn't a pirate and Luffy wasn't entirely free.
"That's our treehouse." Ace said remembering all the times they had called that treehouse home. "We would use it to get away from the bandits and Garp."
"Bandits? Why did you have to get away from bandits?" Usopp asked.
Sabo answered, "You know Dadan? She is a bandit. She also lives with other bandits. Like we said, a woman among men."
"Wait." Nami stuttered. "Luffy was raised by bandits?"
"Yep." Ace responded. "We all were."
Sanji cursed under his breath. "No wonder Luffy doesn't have manners."
They continued to walk and then found a cave right in front of them. Even though it was still day out, the cave was dark. It gave them a mysterious aura, making the strawhats gulp. Their real captain was in there. They were nervous and unsure of what to do. Would he be the same? Would he still accept them?
Ace and Sabo headed into the cave and the strawhats quickly followed them. They stayed close with their guard up. Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Brook held their weapons close, while Robin and Franky were ready to support them. Sanji and Chopper didn't get ready for the battle but were on guard. It was the same for Sabo and Ace.
They strolled through the cave, and nothing came up. Studying their surroundings, they saw a dark glow. They slowly walked up to it and once they reached it, they saw a woman. She had green hair and black eyes. They all recognized her from the memories. She was the one who escaped, leaving her village, and loved ones behind.
"Makino!?"
She turned and placed her hands int front of her. She said, "Nature: Bind."
Vines started to pop up from the ground and wrap around them holding them in place. Their arms and legs were spread apart, making them stand in a star pose. It was so that they couldn't use their weapons, nor abilities.
Once realizing who the intruders were, she spoke.
"Ace? SABO!?" She questioned. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be in Marineford for the war and Sabo aren't you supposed to be dead?!"
Sabo gave a weak chuckle. "Surprise? I wasn't dead and Dragon saved me. Then I had amnesia for the past 10 years."
Makino nodded and looked at Ace for his explanation.
Ace sighed and explained. "A goddess appeared during the war, making us watch Luffy's past and after watching she said to save him and brought us all here."
Makino paused and froze. "Does that mean you know about the island and Luffy?"
"Yep." Zoro answered. The crew was totally forgotten, and they didn't want to interrupt the reunion, but they needed to get to Luffy.
"Oh, sorry." Makino apologized. "You must be Luffy's crew."
"That's right!" Sanji sang with love hearts in his eyes.
"It's nice to meet you." She bowed and released the bind on them. "I hope you can forgive me for that. You see, I'm here to protect Luffy. He's been here for 2 years after all."
"2 YEARS?!"
"That's correct. Luffy noticed my presence when he was here for that long and made a clone for me to run the bar, so I can focus on protecting him from any... unwanted visitors."
Ace questioned, "So he was actually there when he saw me off?"
Makino smiled and nodded. "Yes, but a year after you left, he felt the seal of his abilities break. Then felt the darkness overcome him. Since we met up after a few months of the incident, he told me everything because we were from the same island. He told me what he was feeling, and I wanted to protect him, since he was Clare's last wish. He went to this cave and created clones to make sure no one was suspicious. We were able to control the clones to make sure that people didn't get suspicious of their attitudes and stuff. He's been here ever since we came."
"What about food?" Asked Sanji, not liking the idea of starving.
"Whatever the clones eat, we eat." She answered. "We're connected."
Sanji nodded, happy to know that his captain actually ate his cooking and loved it.
"Makino, can you let us get to Luffy?" Sabo questioned while staring he straight in the eye. "We need to help him. We have to save him."
Makino frowned. "What would you do to help? If you watched Luffy's memories of that event, you should know how terrible that thing was. To save him you would have to free the demon and kill him. Can you do that? Are you going to risk all the lives on this island? Are you going to make Luffy suffer all of that again?"
"What?! No!" Sabo answered.
"I'm sorry, but I will not allow you to pass." Makino declared. "Nature: Bind!"
They all moved out of the way, but some of them got caught up in the vines. Zoro drew out his swords and tried to cut the vines trapping Usopp, Nami, Chopper and Robin, but they were thick. Then if he cut some of it, the vines rewrapped themselves to make sure that they were trapped.
Zoro growled and looked towards Makino. "It's no use. We have to defeat the source."
"Do not hurt the lovely lady!" Demanded Sanji with an anger face.
A tick mark appeared on Zoro's head. "Oi! Ero-cook! Do you want to save Luffy or not?!"
Sanji was silent and sighed. He bowed to Makino and apologized. "I'm sorry miss, but it seems that I have no choice but to fight you. I need to save my idiot captain, that means going pass you."
Makino didn't respond, but she frowned as Sabo and Brook charged at her. She dodged. She wasn't as good of fighting as the others, and she knew she was in a disadvantage with being outnumbered, having swordsmen and Ace being a fire user, but she had to at least try.
She didn't want to hurt them, just trap them, or knock them out, so she yelled, "Nature: Plant dome."
Sticks and twigs covered all of them separately. Quickly making her move, she covered the entrance to Luffy covered with the hardest wood she could make. She knocked at it making sure it was stable and focused back on the battle. Two bursts of fire came out of domes, revealing Sanji and Ace. Slowly after Sabo, Franky, and the swordsmen came out.
The lady sighed as she created wooden swords and clashed with the group. Around her vines and plants shot up defending her and attacking the group. She wasn't going to let them release the demon once more. They were risking the destruction of the island and the world. Luffy and herself had already lost too much already. She wasn't going to let them make Luffy suffer anymore.
The group was going easy on the woman, yet not. They didn't want to hurt her, as she had a reason to protect the trapped child. She was right. To save Luffy they must get the darkness out of him, meaning releasing Kai. While they were trying to not fight back with all their effort, they could feel that they were all being pushed back. They had no choice but to release their attacks, as if she was an enemy.
Sabo was attacking next to Ace with his dragon claw. He whispered to him, "Set free the others with your fire. We will distract her."
Fire fist nodded and exited the fight. He rushed to the vines holding the strawhats. He started with his work, slowly and carefully burning the vines. While looking at the vines, he spoke of a plan.
"Robin, once I set you free knock her out." Ace said. "We can't get close to her without hurting her, so use your devil fruit to knock her out."
Robin nodded. "But are we really going to free Kai? You know Luffy doesn't have that much energy from the war. He might not have the energy to fight, then Kai would be destroying the world and this island."
Ace's expression grimed. "Then we have to buy time. We are the ones who will set him free, and we should be the ones responsible to delay it. We have to buy time for Luffy to recover his strength. If he still can't fight, I will call up my crew and the Revolutionary Army. I'm sure they will help. Whitebeard also has a lot of allies, so they can help. I'm also sure that if we ring Shanks, he would also help. We buy time for them to come and then we all wait for Luffy."
"I guess you're right." Robin replied. "Though, that should only happen if Luffy can't fight. Meaning plan B."
Ace's smirked appeared. "Correct."
"We're really fighting a demon?" Stuttered Usopp.
"It sounds like it." Nami stuttered back.
"But it's for Luffy." Chopper pointed out.
Nami sighed. "Always for the stupid captain. Trouble magnet I tell ya!"
Robin giggled. "But we wouldn't want him any other way."
"Done!" Announced Ace as the vines fell of the four. "Robin, your turn."
"Of course." Robin answered. She brought her arms up and closed her eyes. Her arms crossed activating her devil fruit. "Seis Fleur: Twist."
Makino's top part of her body twisted, giving them an opening, they all needed. Sabo dashed towards the woman and chopped her in the neck, knocking her unconscious. She started to fall to the ground, but Sabo caught her. Everyone in the room had a breather and Sabo placed Makino on the ground gently.
"She was one hard cookie." Joked Franky.
"YOHOHOHOHO, she sure is. She must really care for Luffy-san." Brook commented.
Sabo replied, "Well, we are trying to set the same demon who killed her friends and family, taking everything for Luffy and her."
"This is getting interesting." Stated Zoro.
"You're crazy!" Exclaimed the cowardly trio with shark teeth. "Who wants to fight a demon?!"
Zoro sighed. "We just have to set it free and wait for Luffy to do his... um holy thing and done. We win."
"It's not that easy!" Countered Nami. "Remember Luffy was in the Marineford war?! He should be tired. Sure, the time goddess gave Ace and that to recover, since I don't know, she stopped time? But it wasn't like that for Luffy! What do we do when he can't fight?!"
Ace responded with the same answer he had given Robin. "We will buy time for Luffy to recover. In plan B where he still can't fight, we call the Whitebeard pirates, Revolutionary Army and Shanks. They will help and help us buy time."
Sabo's eyes widened. "Ace, did you come up with that yourself?"
"Yes." Ace answered. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I never thought you would come up with a good plan." Sabo replied. "You always rushed into things like Luffy. You actually used your brain."
"OI!"
"Enough fighting." Nami ordered. "Are we getting this over and done with?"
"Fine. Let's done this."
They all faced the blocked entrance. Zoro lifted his swords and struck the wood blocking their way. It was sliced in half and there was a gap for all of them to enter. They all strolled in and was met with a sight.