After their vacation on Spa Island, The Strawhats were back on course.

Yukiko was currently with Luffy....

Who was chasing Pachi that had his hat. Again.

"Pachi! You got your own bed now! Give me my hat back!"

Yukiko giggled as she got his hat back.

"Aah, Nami!" Luffy bent over so that he was looking at the navigator upside down. "Are we gonna reach Fishman Island soon? Are we?"

"Oh, shut up!" Nami snapped back. "We're definitely getting closer!"

"Fishmen... Mermaids!" Sanji declared, spinning around in a hallucination-induced fit of love. "Those beautiful mermaids! We're going to meet the mermaids I've always wanted to see!"

Zoro glared at the spinning cook before looking away, frowning. "Idiot..."

"Aah, I'm tired of this!" Luffy threw up the fishing rod. "Sanji! Food!"

Then Usopp noticed something. "Huh? Is that...? Awesome! It's a fish school!"

Chopper giggled and Brook chuckled. "See? Good things come to those who wait!"

Luffy was back at his place, fishing. "Eheeheehee! Now we'll get something! Wow, they're headed straight towards us!"

"Nami, do you want to try?" Chopper offered as Nami walked over. The reindeer's smile faltered as Nami looked over the deck. "What's wrong?"

"Something feels off here..." Nami commented.

Luffy began to panic as the school of fish swam past the Sunny. "Hey, wait up, fish!"

Zoro looked up as well.

"Those are..." Zoro commented.

Nami looked up to see the dark nimbus clouds covering the skies. "Could it be...?"

The skies darkened and the seas turned choppy, multiple whirlpools appearing in the middle of the ocean around the Sunny.

"Serpent Currents!" Nami declared.

"Serpent... Currents?" Chopper echoed.

"Everyone, be careful!" Nami warned, just before from the midst of the whirlpools burst forth pillars of water that reached up to the skies, ever spinning, and present in every direction around the Sunny.

Usopp began screaming in panic.

"It's almost like they're alive," Zoro commented.

"This is really bad, alright!" Franky started.

"Brace yourselfs!" Yukiko said.

Brook laughed. "Well, well..."

Robin and Sanji looked concerned at the giant currents.

"Awesome~!" Luffy declared.

"Sanji Kun!" Nami called to Sanji, who had already taken the wheel.

"Leave it to me, Nami San!" he answered.

One of the currents began to dive for the Sunny.

"It won't move..." Sanji growled.

Chopper panicked as Zoro leapt up, swords drawn to chop it up, salt water raining over the deck as a result.

"Weapons Left!" Franky shot the next current.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zoro hollered to Sanji. "Steer the ship!"

"With all these waves, it's impossible to navigate properly!"

"Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"

"Pachi, Thunderbolt!" Yukiko said as Pachi targeted the currents and cut them down.

Brook slashed at the next wave that was heading for the deck. "are you alright?"

"You saved us!" Chopper exclaimed.

Brook then turned to survey the currents. "I must say, I have heard the term 'slippery snakes' before... What a perfect sense of naming! Yohohoho!"

"Hey, you!" Usopp yelled. "Is this really the right time for you to be impressed?"

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!"

"Come out, Zacian! I'll need you! Sacred Sword!" Yukiko yelled as the Crowned Sword Pokémon came out and sliced the currents.

"We can't keep cutting them forever!" Zoro growled.

Robin wordlessly summoned arms to defend her crew from the next current.

"How long is this storm gonna continue?" Usopp was holding onto the deck's wooden pillars for dear life.

"How far does it go?" Chopper screamed, clinging onto the wood too.

"Should we try to escape with the Coup de Burst?" Franky was still defending the Sunny from the crow's nest.

"We can do that, huh?"

"It won't work!" Nami's declaration cut that option off. "I can't see an end to the currents. Even if we used the Coup de Burst... we wouldn't be able to escape!"

"EEEHHHHHH!" Chopper screamed. "No way!"

"Then, we have no choice but to wait it out," Yukiko said.

------------

The Straw Hats watched, and waited, as their navigator observed through binoculars.

Nami finally put down her binoculars, smiling. "Look at that!"

Usopp started. "That's...!"

The Straw Hats all watched, awed.

"I can see it... I can see it!" Luffy declared, at the sight of the glimpse of light past the darkness, all the way to the view of a cliff of reddish stone. "It's the Red Line!"

"The Red Line!" Usopp echoed.

"After so long....." Yukiko said amazed.

"We've finally made it here!" Nami declared.

"There was a nasty storm back on that day, too," Sanji muttered.

"It's has taken me fifty years..." Brook nostalgically commented.

Luffy grinned. "Let's go, you guys!"

Most of the crew started as what must be the mother of all currents rose before them.

Sparkles shone in the captain's eyes. "It's huge!"

Brook drew his sword as Zacian prepared as well.

Zoro prepared to jump. 'Make sure to steer properly!"

"I don't want you to give me any orders!" Sanji retorted.

Think we can escape with the paddles?" Franky commented as the current prepared to crash down on them.

"We wouldn't make it on time," Robin commented.

"Sanji Kun! Ride that wave!" Nami called.

"Understood!"

"Hey!" Franky yelled. "What do you mean, ride it?"

"Leave it to me!" Nami smiled. "When we went to Sky Island, we experienced a much more amazing one!"

"The Knock-Up Stream, huh?" Sanji muttered.

"That sure was fun, huh?" Luffy chuckled.

"It wasn't fun at all!" Chopper retorted.

"Of course... We'll make it... this time, too!" Usopp latched onto the wood grain of the floorboards.

"Let's do it then!" Yukiko said as Luffy hugged her.

"Let's go!" Luffy cheered as the Sunny rode the giant current up, all the while standing on its prow, smiling.

"I'm sure the Coup de Burst will work now!" Franky had taken over the wheel.

"Everyone, pull in the sails!" Nami called, holding onto the deck railings for dear life.

Brook, Zoro and Franky jumped on her orders, reeling in the sails bearing the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hats.

"Let's go!" Franky yelled as the Sunny flew off the current onto thin air. "Coup de Burst!"

Amidst the crew's laughter, smiles and some panic, Yukiko laughed alongside a smiling Luffy, as the Thousand Sunny victoriously flew out of the storm.

"We're saved..." Chopper sighed once the Sunny had landed and the sails unfurled and they were sailing on their merry way.

"Man, that was dangerous," Usopp commented.

Luffy just laughed. "We're here... we've finally made it this far!"

"I can't see the top!" Chopper murmured in awe as the cliffs came into view. "It's huge! So this is the Red Line?"

Nami smiled at the wall that separated the world. "It feels kind of nostalgic..."

"Seems like yesterday that we entered at Reverse Mountain." Yukiko said.

"Pachi."

Sanji merely lit a cigarette in answer.

"I wonder if we've matured since then?" Zoro commented.

"I kinda feel like crying!" Usopp sobbed. "A lot of stuff has happened, huh?"

Luffy giggled. "Anyway, now we're halfway there! The Twin Capes on the other side of the world, where we met Laboon, is connected to this spot! It's great that we've all made it this far, huh?"

"I came over Reverse Mountain from South Blue when I was just a kid," Franky commented. "But I guess that's a thirty-year old story."

"I came to this sea from West Blue, five years ago," Robin contributed.

"When we've crossed the other half of the world, and see this wall again... at that time..." Luffy bore a huge grin on his face. "I'll be the Pirate King!"

"But remember, We've got to be careful," Nami commented. "This place is close to the 'holy land' of the World Government and the Navy HQ, Mariejois."

As Usopp and Chopper played in the 'surprise pool' made by Franky, and Zoro was training, the rest of the crew sans Luffy, Yukiko, Pachi and Brook waited by a DenDen Mushi. Nami took the speaker-piece attached to the snail and spoke as the rest of the crew went down undersea in the Shark Submerge III.

"How is it, Brook, Yukiko, Luffy?" Nami asked.

"No use," Yukiko's voice came through. "It's completely black."

Luffy's voice was next. "It's totally black out there! Wait, I think I saw something there!"

Brook's vice came through as panicked. "Was that the eyeball of a monster?"

"A monster?" Chopper started.

"We're going to die!" Brook panicked.

The rest of the crew tensed up, awaiting the rest.

"... although I am already dead!" Brook completed the punchline. "Yohohoho!"

They all sighed in relief.

"Oh, by the way, Nami San?" Brook continued. "I have a request to ask of you... what panties are you wearing today?"

"SHUT UP!" Nami hollered. "TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!"

"Scary...!" Chopper freaked.

"He's a plucky guy, isn't he?" Usopp muttered.

"Hey, you guys!" Franky hollered. "The Shark Submerge can't go any deeper than five thousand metres, so be careful! Yukiko, make sure those two don't monkey around with it!"

"What happens if it does?" Luffy innocently asked.

"We'll all be crushed by the water pressure in a metal coffin," the whitette answered, dead-pan.

"That's terrible!" Brook exclaimed.

"Oh! The monster from earlier! It's still here!" Luffy grinned at the sight.

"Watch out!" Luffy and Brook screamed. "It's gonna eat us!"

"Here it comes again!" Brook called, his voice relayed to the surface via DenDen Mushi, Luffy laughing in the background.

"How can you as a captain continue laughing when you're about to be eaten?" Nami yelled at the DenDen Mushi.

"This sounds pretty bad..." Franky commented.

"I don't want to ride the Shark Submerge..." Chopper whimpered.

"Me neither..." Usopp added.

"Nami-Swan~!" Sanji came out in a tizzy of hearts. "The 'Horror-Nashi Tarte' from Thriller Bark is done!"

"Oh, it looks good!" Nami exclaimed as Sanji set the tart done.

"Oh! Look behind us!" Brook's voice poured from the DenDen Mushi.

"Here it comes!" Luffy's voice switched over. "We're gonna be eaten!"

"But, this is a problem..." Nami took a bite of the tart. "It tastes great!"

"It's good!" Usopp, Chopper and Franky celebrated from the background.

Robin merely smiled as she ate her tart.

"Luffy, honey, stop hogging the DenDen Mushi. Nami, I see nothing but black, and we're currently under pursuit by a sea-rabbit creature. I'll try to shake it off before we break surface."

"It's the same problem we had with Sky Island," Sanji commented.

"That's right..." Nami sighed, looking at the Log Pose on her wrist. "We know the direction we have to take, but we have no idea how we're gonna get there. How are we gonna reach Fishman Island?"

The blue Shark Submerge III finally broke the water surface as the hatch opened. "We're back!" Luffy called.

"That was fun!" Brook added.

"That was the first time I drove a submarine..." Yukiko commented.

"Welcome back! Good work!" Nami called from the deck.

"It's no use!" Luffy said. "We can't see anything on the bottom of the sea at all. Is Fishman Island really there?"

Brook laughed, throwing his arms up. "That was my first time riding a submarine."

"The Log Pose is certainly pointing straight down, but..." Nami mused. "This is no good... I should have gotten more info from Kokoro and the others."

A part of the water began bubbling, before a giant rabid-looking rabbit with a fist-tail leapt from the water.

"IT'S THAT THING FROM EARLIER!" Luffy freaked.

"IT FOLLOWED US!" Brook screamed with him.

The Sea King roared at them in answer.

"Don't think you can beat me when we're above the water!" Luffy grinned as he leapt to the figurehead.

It merely roared in answer.

"Gomu Gomu no... Rifle!" the impact hit true on the Sea King, which went down quickly.

"Somehow, it didn't seem all that huge," Usopp commented.

"Because we dealt with Oz!" Chopper pointed out, laughing. "Seems like we're fine."

Two figures fell out of the Sea King's mouth as it toppled over back.

Sanji was the first to notice. "Something came out."

"A fish?" Luffy looked up.

A scream rang through as the figures approached.

"A person?" Usopp shouted.

"No, that is wrong..." Brook commented as the scream got louder.

Robin looked up. "That's a..."

Sanji had hearts on his eyes. "Could it be?"

Almost in slow-motion, the mermaid collapsed into him as the other, much tinier figure, landed on its feet, or flippers. It wobbled slightly like a jelly before it recovered. "We're here!"

The pink-tailed mermaid with short green hair panted as she got to her hands, recovering. "We were saved!" She then noticed her surroundings. "That was incredible!"

"Don't act impressed!" the tiny orange... starfish scolded. "A little longer in there, and we would've been goners. How could you not run away from a monster like that?"

The mermaid now looked chastised. "Well, I didn't notice it..."

"How can you not notice something as huge as that?" the starfish yelled. It then blinked as it noticed something. "Hey, not like it matters to me, but it looks like there's something under you..."

"Huh?" the mermaid looked down to see Sanji. "AAAHH! I CRUSHED A HUMAN! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about it~!" Sanji crooned. "Anyway, who are...~"

The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates merely looked at the scene, surprised.

"Please pull yourself together!" The mermaid was shaking a Sanji with hearts flying from him in panic. "Are you okay?"

Nami was the first to recover. "That's..."

"I can't believe I did something like that! Please pull yourself together!"

"Could it really be...?"

"It's a mermaid." Yukiko gasped in surprise.

"A mermaid?!" the rest except the stunned and love-slave Sanji yelled.
----
Plz comment!

We'll be at Sabaody Archipelago soon!

When the crew separates, should Yukiko go with Luffy?