While the rest of the crew relaxed on the Thousand Sunny, Luffy and the rest of his team neared the flaming island. They soon spotted a large gate that looked like the entrance to the island. Chase landed and went back to his usual size.

"Sorry guys," The dragon apologized. "I'm still a bit winded from earlier."

"It's okay." Luffy chuckled. The group then began to inspect the gate. Usopp spotted the world government and navy symbols on it as well as a "danger keep out" sign which was all under the large text that read "Punk Hazard" in all capital letters that was tilted so the "P" was towards the ground.

"Well, the name matches what the person on the other end of emergency signal said." Robin began with a sigh. Chase nodded while thumping the tip of his tail on the ground with his ears perked up in alert mode. Not long later, a chill ran up the long nosed sniper's spine.

"H-hey guys, let's not become criminals, okay?" Usopp shivered.

Chase rolled his eyes. "It's a bit late for that, Usopp. We're pirates, remember?" The dragon reminded. Usopp frowned and slumped over.

"Oh yeah." He stated solemnly then quickly snapped up so his body was straightened. "But I still don't wanna challenge the world government!" He growled, but no one listened to him. Zoro stepped up and swiftly cut an "x" in the gate, breaking it so they could walk through. Usopp shivered and shakily followed his crewmates. The heat quickly escalated as they entered the gate and the four humans of the crew were forced to strip down, while the dragon just hummed in contentment. As they walked onwards, the sniper stuffed his face while Robin helped the dragon eat his lunch. Usopp was to scared to eat before and Chase was too focused.

"Thanksh Wobin." Chase chuckled with a full mouth. Robin just chuckled. Luffy rushed ahead with Zoro trailing close behind.

"Hey! Anyone there?! We came to help you!" The captain hollered upon reaching a cliff. At the bottom were buildings that were melting from the flames. The others soon joined their captain and stared at the melting buildings.

"Those probably weren't people's houses," Robin stated. "They might've been government facilities." She stated. After Robin finished speaking, Chase turned his head and snarled, crouching low to the ground with his ears flattened. A few large rocks from crumbled buildings toppled as a large wing unfurled from near them. Luffy turned towards the sound of tumbling rocks and went wide eyed.

"What's wrong, Luffy, Chase?" Usopp asked while quivering. A loud stomp followed Usopp's question. Zoro growled and turned to face the sound next then Robin.

"Chase, is that..." Robin began, but Chase knew what she was about to ask.

"Yes, well, by looks anyways." Chase hissed, arching his back a bit and unfurling his wings, using an intimidation tactic which was instinct for him, at the much larger dragon. "He has an odd smell though." Chase stated.

"Odd smell?" Zoro asked while getting ready for battle.

Chase nodded. "Yeah. Dragon's have a certain scent to them, though it varies, it has a distinctive hint of something that never changes, same goes for other creatures and even those who use the devil fruit, this so called dragon doesn't have that. Either that or something's wrong with my nose."

"Wait, you can smell devil fruit users?!" Usopp gasped in shock.

"With enough practice, yes. It's the devil fruit power that adds an additional distinctive scent to the usual one of a certain species." The dragon informed. Luffy just stared in awe.

"Awesome!" He called. Chase just stared at his captain, flattening his ears.

"You'd think he never saw a dragon before." He huffed. His ear twitched towards the opposing dragon as it began to speak, eyeing Luffy.

"Who are you?" The opposing dragon asked. Chase went wide eyed as their opponent began charge at them. Everyone scattered while the large, red scaled dragon chased Usopp. Thankfully Luffy grabbed the sniper before he was caught. Soon the large dragon began to ready a ranged fire attack. Chase hissed and stared at the dragon while everyone else distanced themselves. The beast let loose a large attack towards Chase, but the smaller black dragon countered with his own attack.

"Sub zero gale!" He called, using an ice dragon technique. Chase jumped up and flapped his wings towards the other dragon, causing a large gale of icy wind to pick up and nullify the flaming breath. Luffy was in a state of awe-struck shock while Chase countered.

Zoro smirked. "Nice one."

"You really saved our skins." Usopp whimpered. Chase rolled his eyes with a wheezy chuckle, then began to feel weak.

"... So tired..." He mumbled then toppled onto his left side. Robin used her devil fruit powers to swiftly carry Chase over to her. Chase shrunk down and Robin put him on her shoulders so he was safe. "Sorry... I'm just... Ugh."

"Don't be sorry, we'll take it from here." Luffy said while pulling himself together. Zoro smirked and almost unsheathed one of his swords, but held back for the time being.

"This should be fun!" The swordsman stated in excitement while Luffy stood next to him, chuckling. The dragon roared loudly, ready to fight.

"It's our turn!" Luffy called then brought his right arm from horizontally over his chest to its usual downward position, some of his skin scrunching up and then recoiling like a spring. "Second gear!" The captain called as he began to emit steam. He then vanished and appeared above the dragon. "Gum-Gum..." He began. "Jet bullet!" He yelled and hit the dragon in the jaw with full force, sending out a loud clap from the impact. The dragon groaned in pain but not much else happened. It was ineffective in defeating the dragon. "He's well armored." Luffy growled in slight annoyance. The dragon growled then lifted his tail and got ready to swat Luffy like a gnat.

"Luffy, behind you!" Zoro called, but he was too late as Luffy was sent flying into a building. Usopp rushed towards the rubble of the now toppled building to see if Luffy was okay, but the dragon was in his way. The large dragon turned and looked at the four behind him.

"Crap, he's looking at us!" Usopp called in distress. Zoro just smirked and unsheathed two of his swords.

"Come on then!" He called then Usopp panicked and smacked the swordsman on the shoulder.

"Don't provoke him, moss-head." The sniper growled. Zoro payed no mind to Usopp and then eyed down the opposing dragon, accepting the beast's challenge. Robin and Usopp quickly fled while the red dragon charged at Zoro.

"I sense your presence -bu." A voice called. This threw everyone off guard as they looked towards the dragon, which was where the voice was coming from. The dragon attacked Zoro, but the green haired man dodged quickly.

"Luffy was right. That thing can talk." He huffed.

"No surprise. Dragons are able to talk after a few years of being hatched, but not many speak in your human language." Chase called from a distance. Zoro glared at the now puppy sized dragon he called a crewmate.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS THING WASN'T A DRAGON!"

"He's not a TYPICAL dragon! I can't quite put my claw on it though! Just consider this thing as a not-so-dragon for the time being!" Chase hissed. Zoro grumbled and began to fight, now using three swords. Luffy soon joined in the fight and the dragon took off.

"Hey Chase you m--" Luffy began then looked to the still exhausted Chase. "Oh, uh, nevermind."

"Sorry." Chase pouted with a small yawn, flattening his ears. The opposing dragon spoke again.

"Bu! Are you guys allies of the seven warlords too?" He asked in slight rage. The group was taken aback at the statement. Chase flattened his ears.

"This so called dragon isn't like others. Dragons almost never get involved with things like that, they know about it but don't get involved. And the way he's structuring his question makes it sound like he's involved." Chase informed weakly. Robin glanced down at Chase and nodded. Moments later Robin, Usopp, and Chase watched from a safe distance as Zoro and Luffy battled the dragon. Within minutes the dragon was defeated when Zoro swiftly beheaded it. Somehow Luffy found the lower body of a man attached to the dragon's back and it was not attached to him, making the young captain look similar to a centaur. The group had a feast of the now dead dragon for the time being, even Chase took part.

"Chase, aren't you being a cannibal?!" Usopp asked in shock while Chase stuffed some of the dragon meat into his mouth.

"It's not uncommon. In fact, dragons eat corpses bit by bit. It's usually a sign of respect for the fallen. A ritual, saying that the fallen will live on in those who ate his or her flesh." He informed. Usopp went wide eyed. "It's even done for those that are enemies."

"Really?!"

Chase nodded. "Yeah. But there is another reason." Chase wagged his tail. "I'm just really hungry. It's not uncommon for this to happen in situations like these, regardless of the species."

"You're terrible." Usopp mumbled while Chase continued eating.

----------

On the Thousand Sunny, everyone was doing their best to stay cool even though they were next to a giant fireplace for an island. Kari was the only one on the ship who could stand this heat. She attempted to make it cooler, but quickly got tired so she had to lay down. She laid near Franky since he would pour her some cola every so often in an attempt to keep her fueled for the time being.

"Ugh..." Kari complained and covered her nose with her right hand and hugging Celes in a death grip in her left arm as an odd fog rolled in. "What's that smell?" She whined.

"I don't smell anything." Nami stated. Moments later the navigator began to sway tiredly. Chopper gasped. Pretty soon everyone was out cold except for Sanji who was cooking, but he too eventually passed out. Once everyone on the Thousand Sunny was asleep a few beings dressed in odd yellow suits that had a circular glass window that did not show the beings' faces as well as black rubber gloves, black rubber boots, and odd tubes connecting to a weird hose which was fitted on a large cylindrical pack that was tied on their backs with the letters "PH" on it.

"Alright, round them up." One ordered and the others brought everyone on to the main deck, except for Brook who they thought was just a corpse. "This all of them?"

"Yes. Two humans. One cyborg. One pet. And one government weapon of mass destruction." One of the others reported.

The supposed leader nodded. "Tie them up and take them to master. He'll decide what to do with them." He stated. "Good thing they're pirates, no one'll miss them." They then steered the Thousand Sunny towards the western side of the island.