Fuck this shit
The incessant pounding in my head was almost nauseating, the intensity of the pain leaving me weakly groaning on the cold metal ground I found myself, along with my crewmates, thrown across. From what I could tell, Chopper, Franky, Sanji, Nami and I were trapped in a plain white room, the sealed door providing no way out. The other four were still unconscious, and I guess my senses were still muddled from the knockout gas, because what seemed to be several cut body parts were placed in a pile on the opposite side of the room we were trapped in.
This was starting to get ridiculous, the amount of trouble we found ourselves in has long lost its novelty. We hadn't been in the New World for even a day, and half of the crew, including myself, were kidnapped to who knew where, with the rest of our crew probably clueless to what had happened to us. I couldn't even guess how long we were knocked out for, seeing as there were no windows in our makeshift prison. I stood from my position, but having to quickly hunch over to try and push down the wave of nausea. After a moment, when the sick feeling had passed, I walked over to Sanji, who was beginning to show signs of waking, his gruff moans and grunts increasing in volume as he shifted to sit up.
"Hey Sanji. Come on, get up" I nudged his leg weakly with my foot, before turning to scrutinise the room, to see if there was anything of use for us to try and escape, and maybe for a better idea as to who had taken us. The blank room was quite secure, with no windows or vents and only one door which was bolted closed, leaving our options limited. However, knowing us, we would probably result to smashing right through the walls, with little regard in trying to make a quiet escape.
The others were slowly starting to gain consciousness, and after everyone had managed to deal with the side effects from the sleeping gas our kidnappers had used to knock us out. We managed to converse with the severed head we'd been trapped with, who claimed we were on a frozen wasteland.
"What are you saying? Last we checked, we were on a burning island. The fires were so intense, the surrounding waters were aflame" I stated, still wary of the body-less head, wondering if the person was senile with all his injuries.
"No Lana, it might be true. I spotted a winter sky from the ship; it could be possible that this island is separated by two climates. That would mean that we're on the arctic side" Nami stated, fully convinced on her very doubtful theory.
As the samurai, whom I assumed was who was being mentioned in the emergency Den-Den Mushi transmission, informed us that his body had been cut by an unknown swordsman, he asked for our assistance in piecing his body back together. Though his request for aid was quickly thrown aside when he'd found out we were pirates, explaining that he wanted nothing do do with us 'disgusting' pirates. He's conviction in refusing help considering the circumstances was bizarre, seeing as we were the only ones nearby who could help, but I wasn't willing to argue against his pride-filled vendetta.
"Well we can't sit here like squatting ducks. I'll agree to help you, you ungrateful samurai, but if you give us any trouble, I'll throw you away. Franky, can you get us out of here?" Sanji begrudgingly grabbed the Samurai's severed head, before turning to Franky, who merely saluted him and proceeded to blow the metal door of its hinges, the bend metal clattering against the opposite wall.
"Why was I even expecting anything different?" Sarcasm dripping from my voice as we all ran away, and considering we had to choose to escape using the most conspicuous method possible, we were quickly swarmed by people donned in yellow quarantine suits, who were ordering us to surrender as they gave chase, shooting bullets at us from behind.
With no particular direction in mind, we found ourselves trying to navigate the maze-like structure for an exit, until we found ourselves cornered at the end of a long corridor by our pursuers. Our only option was to go through the large door that lay ahead, its size looming at great heights that even our tallest crewmember, Franky, was dwarfed by its size. We all rushed in, slamming the door behind us, as we all panted for breath, the chase leaving us winded and exhausted.
As we took a moment to rest, what we found within the room was perhaps one of the most astonishing and unexpected things we could have been faced with in all our adventures.
Why were children being kept on this island?
~Time Lapse~
Curtsy of Nami's kind nature, something we weren't used to ever seeing from the money-hungry women, we were now running away with the children in tow, who had begged us to take them away from what they informed us was a treatment facility.
According to them, they had been diagnosed from an early age with a deadly disease, and that the people of this facility had taken them from their homes with their parents' permission to be treated. As we meandered through the metal clad corridors, I rushed ahead to catch up with Chopper, who was now in his Kung-Fu Point, and taking point range of the group.
"Chopper, those children said they were sick. Do you think we should really be taking them away from this facility? We don't know if these kids are really cured, and if they aren't, we might be making their conditions worse" I whispered quietly, not wanting to draw any attention from the others. He turned back to glance at the children, and he made eye-contact with Nami, who ran a little closer to be within hearing range of our conversation.
"To be honest, I don't know. Other than their abnormal size, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them, well nothing I can see. Their physical health seems to be good though, they're managing to keep up with our running pace. I'll check in on them later" He stated with a worried yet thoughtful expression, clearly anxious in whether we had made the right choice in taking the young children with us.
"Do you think we shouldn't have let them out of that room?" Nami asked, clearly conflicted with her previous decision. Considering what Chopper had said, I evaluated the consequences of what we'd done carefully before coming to a resolve, looking in the direction we were heading with a hard and determined glare.
"No, I think we made the right decision. Something about this doesn't seem right. No matter how we look at it, those children were being held there against their will. There's also another thing I've been considering, and that's the fact that these children's parents don't know where they are" Nami and Chopper turned to me with wide eyes, clearly horrified at what I was insinuating.
"You think these kids were kidnapped?" Nami asked, her jaw hanging as she turned to observe the group that followed us. We were quickly approaching a dead end, which forced us to deviate down a much darker corridor that appeared to be in an abandoned part of the facility.
"Those people didn't give a shred of care for the kid's well-being. Not exactly the behaviour you would expect from caretakers looking after ill children. There's also the possibility that they may have lied to their parents, convincing them that they were sick when they were fine to begin with. We'll have time to discuss this later, let's first try to get out of this goddamn place first" I uttered, just as Chopper knocked down the door that blocked our exit.
"It's freezing in here" Nami mumbled, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to keep warm, the rest shivering in agreement at the chilling wind that blew harshly from the other end of the hallway. Before they could move forward, I held my hand up in a gesture to stop, which caused our small group to move backwards at what had caused my hesitance and weariness.
"What the hell..." I muttered with disgust, finally seeing our surroundings in a better light. Everyone gasped in shock at what lay in the walls, or what was trapped behind them. "Out... Now. Everyone, back out the way we came!" I shouted, ushering the children back out the way we came, Sanji and Franky who was been defending the group from the back now leading the way as we rushed to leave the haunting room as quickly as possible.
One thing was for sure, we needed to get out of here, and fast.
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"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" All five Straw Hats screaming at the predicament we were now faced with.
Having to see both Smoker and Law, just about gave me a heart attack. As I was taking the flank of the group, it allowed me to stay hidden from the eyes of the marines we had stumbled across when we'd finally escaped the facility and into the frozen tundra, but it seemed my attempt at staying hidden were only partially successful, as I hadn't been able to evade the eyes of a certain pirate captain. Curse you Trafalgar.
It didn't take a genius to realise this the situation we found ourselves in was his doing.
"Okay roll call. Chopper?" Nami, now in Franky's body, exclaimed and Chopper, who was now in my body, stepped forward. It was surreal, seeing my body moving around with the mind and heart of another.
"Lana?" I stepped forward, albeit a little disorientated at having to move around in the body of a male. I was now in Sanji's body, which left me to awkwardly pull at the necktie that was tightened around my neck, the buttons on his blazer pulling the material against my sides. It was certainly a new experience, albeit uncomfortable experience, but at this new height, the viewpoint was extremely different as I looked down on Nami, Chopper and my own body.
"Franky?" Chopper's body exclaimed a catchphrase that could only belong to our peculiar shipwright.
"Sanji-Kun?" Nami-Franky muttered, anger pooling out of her voice at the sight of Sanji, who now in Nami's body, was ogling at her breasts. This of course earned the confusion of the children, who could only stare on in uncertainty at this scenario playing out before them. We'd begrudgingly decided to see to this matter later seeing as there was nothing we could do until we ran into Trafalgar again, our first priority being to escape the weird research facility and meeting up with the rest of our crew.
We eventually found ourselves behind the facility, exposed to the harsh winds and snow of this arctic climate. Samurai-San had helped us with our attire, conveniently having eaten a devil-fruit that aided in the art of disguise, though he'd initially failed to inform us because he apparently enjoyed the view of Nami in her 'breast-band'. That earned him a harsh beating from Nami, which would have hurt more seeing as she was now in Franky's metal-clad body.
As we tried to find shelter as far away from the facility as possible, we'd managed to spot our remaining four crew-mates, who where being carried over towards us by some sort of lizard-man hybrid, which only brought joy to our little freak-show, glad that nothing had happened to them in our absence.
"Zoro, Luffy, Robin!" Chopper exclaimed, clapping his hands around in glee though it came across a little strange, seeing his antics in my body. The four tilted their heads in confusion, clearly having no idea what had happened as they regarded the odd behaviour they were witnessing. I had sunken into the snow, imaginary dark clouds hovering over my-Sanji's head as Nami-Franky proceeded to knock out Sanji-Nami who yet again, admired his/her breasts.
3rd Person's POV
"So let me get this straight. You're Chopper, Lana, Nami, Franky and...Sanji" Usopp pointed out to Lana, Sanji, Franky, Chopper and Nami respectively, a sweat drop forming on his forehead at the sight of Sanji-Nami leering at her boobs despite having only woken up from his unconscious state.
Lana-Sanji was pacing, continuing to dishevel his/her hair, both eyes exposed for the world to see. It was unusual for both Lana or Sanji to appear in such a frenzied state, but considering the situation, it was understandable.
"You're finding this hard to believe, try us. This is so goddamn uncomfortable, how am I supposed to fight like this? In this lanky body?" Lana-Sanji muttered as she continued to pace gesturing wildly to Sanji's body. Zoro's expression was almost laughable as the whole situation was taking a while to process, watching him/her pace anxiously as his expression remained blank.
Sanji yelled in protest at Lana's comment, taking offence as he tried to defend himself, claiming that his body was ideal for any fight, which was quickly ignored by the women, who continued to pace.
Usopp in the meantime decided to resolve the Straw Hats' identity issue by making 'mini-masks', to hopefully help the others in knowing who they were addressing. The issue was quickly becoming worse by the minute, seeing as Chopper-Lana had tried to examine Sanji-Nami, which had caused the cook to quickly faint with a nosebleed, seeing as the sight of Lana trying to undress his/Nami's body had been too much for him to bare. The fiasco had sent Lana-Sanji into a fit, angry at what Sanji had implied with the act.
"What? I didn't know Law had joined the Shichibukai" Lana mused, rubbing her chin at the news they had been informed them of, though feeling Sanji's scruffy goatee made her quickly recoil. The sensation of having a beard was going to take some getting used to, as well as having ... Lana decided to leave that to the deepest darkest pits of her mind, never to be addressed again.
Luffy went over to interrogate the hybrid human/crocodile they had brought along with them, who was an ex-pirate captain, Brownbeard, who was now in service to the Master of the island.
"You're all going to be dead soon. Law is going to save me" Brownbeard guffaw echoed across the destroyed research facility, his loud claim drawing the rest of the groups attention to him, including that of the brooding strategist, who turned to see Zoro and Luffy seated before the chained pirate as they questioned him.
"I hate all the pirates of your generation, but Law is different. He actually cares about us, seeing as he went through the trouble to help our injuries and help us walk again" He continued praising the dark-haired pirate captain, though his rambling was quickly paused, scrutinising the tall blonde male that had come to stand next to the green-haired swordsman, their arms crossed as they glared heatedly at the large hybrid. The dark glare sent shivers down the ex-pirate's spine, something about the blonde wanting them to turn away and cower.
"Generation? What are you talking about?" Luffy questioned with a blank look, which brought the hybrid's attention back to the oblivious pirate.
"Don't you know? You fool. It consists of the twelve rookies worth over 100 million Beli who met at the Sabaody Archipelago two years ago, and Blackbeard. People have begun to call you the 'Worst Generation', problem children in the eyes of the world. Your crew being the most formidable, having three of the twelve supernovas on your crew," the crew turned in curiosity at his loud outburst, even garnering the attention of the semi-put together Kin'emon, the disassembled samurai, "'Straw Hat' Luffy, 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro and 'Kawatora'* Lana" Brownbeard stated with a sense of foreboding.
He proceeded to give a recount of the events that took place on this island four years back, the only thing going through Lana's head at that moment being the gut-wrenching feeling that overtook her as the story unfolded, realising how much the World Government had covered up. At this point, she'd told herself that she shouldn't be so surprised, having experienced their manipulating and conniving prowess first hand.
The hazardous wasteland they found themselves on wasn't meant to have been inhabited for at least the next 100 years, its very climate de-stabilised by the catastrophic explosion that had occurred here.
It was strange to consider, how over the course of a few hours, the Straw Hats had met with a hoard of presumably kidnapped children, the G-5 battalion of the Navy, a Shichibukai and a band of ex-pirate cross-hybrids on an island that was supposedly abandoned? One thing was for sure, Lana was completely convinced that they'd done the right thing of breaking the kids out of the facility, seeing as something dark and foreboding was a work.
Whatever was going on, the Straw Hats had yet to meet the mastermind behind it all, and when they do, which was only a matter of time, Lana was afraid it would be too late, for both the children and her crew.
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Hey everyone, sorry for the late update, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. Comment 'cause you all now I love hearing from you.
*Kawatora - river tiger, is a yokai demon or imp found in traditional Japanese folklore.