Honey Queen stalked through the halls of the castle, heading straight for the dining hall, where the Bear King and the others should be eating. In all the excitement of watching the ginger haired bitch work her magic on their boss, she forgot to give him a certain something.

  She needed to rectify that immediately. If he found out she had it and didn't tell him, he could get the impression she wanted to betray him. Which she most certainly did not. Honey Queen enjoyed her fairly luxurious life quite a bit.

  As she neared the room, she could hear voices, one that seemed dismissive and the other resigned. Not that she had any trouble figuring out who they belonged to. The first one was obviously the Bear King while the second could be none other than her precious Kuro.

  Knowing he was there put spring in her step. She stopped by a mirror hanging in the hall, checking to make sure she was presentable. After straightening out her hair, she gave a satisfied nod before practically skipping forward.

  Once she approached, a pair of pirate guards opened the door for her, making her feel like the queen her name suggested. She had always been jealous of the nobility as a child, who wouldn't? But right now, she felt every bit there equal.

  No, that wasn't quite right. She was their superior in almost every way. She was far better looking than most of those inbred freaks, and her body was to die for. Not only that, but she had a power that crushed any and all opposition.

  Yes, she was far better than them. The only thing they had over her was money, but such a thing was transitory, able to switch hands at a moment's notice. So really, they had nothing over her.

  Once inside the room, she saw her darling, sweet Kuro looking about as annoyed as he could be without appearing rude. Her boss, on the other hand, was gorging himself without a care in the world, head firmly in the clouds.

  "Probably thinking about those two skanks," Honey Queen thought as she approached. And what else could a man about to marry two beautiful bombshells be thinking about?

  If he weren't such a hopeless romantic, she might actually feel bad for those girls. But as unattractive as the massive man was, he was a far better choice of partner than someone like Boo Jack.

  Her approach was noticed by the room's occupants, with the Bear King giving her a giant grin befitting his stature while Kuro looked like he just swallowed something sour.

  Poor guy… Maybe she should take him up to her room and put a smile on his face? He can only play hard to get for so long before she simply took matters into her own hands.

  "Ah, Honey Queen, good to see you! I thought you'd be resting. Tell me, how are my cutie pies doing?" he asked, looking almost embarrassed to be asking such a question.

  "They're fine, merely resting up for their big day. They're awfully excited for it," Honey Queen lied. It took all of Kuro's ability not to snort in derision at that. Anybody who wasn't either blind or a complete fool could tell they were anything but excited.

  Not that he cared overmuch.

  "Good, good. We wouldn't want them tuckered out for the ceremony," he said, looking pleased with himself making Kuro want to barf.

  "Of course. So tell me, what were the two of you talking about?" Honey Queen asked, taking a seat right next to Kuro, making his eye twitch. Not only did she take the seat next to his when there were plenty of chairs available, but she also slid it right up to him until their shoulders were practically touching.

  The woman clearly had no respect for personal boundaries.

  "Oh just business, nothing to be concerned about. He simply wanted to know when Kaya would be signing the business over to him," the Bear King said, waving his hand dismissively.

  "I see. Something like that can wait until after the wedding, certainly," Honey Queen said, fluttering her eyes at the disgruntled pirate Captain.

  "Of course, that's what I told him," the Bear King agreed, holding up a large slab of meat before taking a giant bite out of it. Considering it was big for him meant it basically dwarfed the room's other occupants.

  "Good, I expect a dance Kuro my love," she said, giving him her best pleading look. Kuro could do nothing but lament his own fate. There was little chance of him forgoing the party now. Not only that, but evading the very persistent woman next to him would be practically impossible.

  If only he could kill them all. But with Honey Queen's Logia powers and the Bear King's own Devil Fruit ability, he doubted his chances in a head on fight, no matter how fast he was.

  But of course, Kuro was known for his plans, not his prowess in battle. That was a surprise most didn't live through. All he needed to do was bide his time and wait for the opportune moment.

  These people were far too dangerous to be kept alive after all.

  "Oh, and before I forget, I picked you up another little something while in Syrup Village. Skunk One helped me pick it out as well," Honey Queen said, reaching into her pocket.

  "Another gift for me? Honey my dear, you really do spoil me. I can't imagine anything being better than your last gift though," he said, looking quite eager to know what else she got him.

  "Really? Not even… this!" she exclaimed, holding up an intricately made key. The Bear King stopped eating, staring at the object in her hands with awe.

  "I-is that? I mean, could it really be? After all this time?" he asked. Honey Queen gave him a smirk, before sliding the key over to him across the wooden table. The Bear King's hand slammed down onto it, before ever so gently picking it up.

  "Hard to believe it was on that puny little island the whole time. But now with it in our hands, we can finally activate it. I think that would make a perfect end to the wedding ceremony, don't you?" she asked, an excited look on her face.

  "Yes, Honey, I think that would be the perfect way to end things," the Bear King said, a vicious look on his face.

  Kuro could only stare at the object with irritation. If what that thing activated was true, then killing the Bear King would be far more difficult than he could imagine.

  But then again, perhaps he wouldn't have to. After all, he had a sneaking suspicion that those troublemakers from the island weren't as dead as the rest of them were hoping.

  *Line Break*

  Nick groaned as a pesky beam of light struck his face, slapping him awake with extreme prejudice. He tried to swat it away like it was an annoying fly, but by doing so, the groggy young man found himself face planting onto the floor.

  "Ow…" he groaned, before the rest of him slid off the admittedly comfortable bed. He sighed, staring up at the dull, brown ceiling with blank, tired eyes. He then looked at the window, the cause for his current misfortune, and saw the bright stands of light dancing through the window pane.

  Mocking him.

  It took a moment for his brain to wake up and realize what that meant. It was morning, which should have been obvious, but that also meant he'd been sleeping for who knows how long.

  "Shit. Didn't mean to sleep that long," he yawned. He then made his way to his feet, slowly, so as to not aggravate his injuries. He tried to stretch, but it turned out that doing so with broken ribs was not the best idea.

  He shifted his gaze downward, glaring at the bandages wrapped around his body. If there were anymore, he'd be a mummy. As it stands, he was still pretty damn close.

  "Better check to make sure nothing's infected…" he mumbled, before gently removing the bandages around his torso. He flinched at the ugly black and purple bruising covering damn near his entire upper body. The worst of it was centered on his ribs, right where Luffy fucked him up the most.

  The scraps and cuts were scabbed over and didn't look like they would start to bleed anytime soon. Not for the first time was he thankful for bullshit anime healing powers. The smaller cuts were almost gone, barely leaving a scar, and the larger ones would likely go away within a few more days.

  At least, the ones on his torso. His worst wounds, beside his shattered ribs, were on his legs. The bite from Buchi and the gunshot wound from some nameless pirate. Not like his name mattered much, given that Zoro 86'd him.

  Sitting down on the bed, he slowly undid the bandages covering his worst wounds. First was the bullet hole, which thankfully wasn't bleeding. He tended to toss and turn in his sleep, so there was a real threat on him opening up such serious wounds while sleeping. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case.

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  He did wince at the nasty looking thing though.

  Next was the bite mark from the feral furry. That was the one he was worried about the most. After all, Nick had no idea where his mouth had been. There was a serious risk of infection, more so than any of his other injuries.

  But that didn't seem to be the case, probably due to it being disinfected with what was basically moonshine. The doctor had run out of his regular sterilizing liquid and opted for good old redneck first aid.

  Hey, if it works, it works.

  Seeing that he wasn't in any danger of dying due to infection, he made his way out of the room, heading for the infirmary. Luckily for him, Merry, the man not the ship, had one built. Now he just needed to reapply his bandages and wake up the sleepy fuckers so they could get a move on. Who knows how far behind they've fallen.

  Quickly, or as quickly as the injured man could, he made his way through the small ship, stopping only to use the restroom, extremely thankful to have a toilet on this ship.

  No more going over the railings for this guy!

  Once he made it there, he made sure to dump some more alcohol on his wounds and clean them before wrapping them in bandages. He didn't bother with his upper body, as that wasn't nearly as bad.

  "There we go. All better. Sort of," Nick said. He then left the infirmary, making his way towards where everyone was sleeping. There was Zoro, of course, snoring away, with Luffy using him as a footrest. Usopp was some ways away, cuddling with a bag of beans for some reason. And Biff was still tied up, sleeping in a very uncomfortable position.

  Nick couldn't help but feel smug about the fact that he got to sleep in a bed. Less smug at realizing he was basically the only injured one there. Whatever wounds Zoro got from his battles were basically healed, besides maybe his own ribs. But they were likely in a better position than Nick's.

  Usopp was just fine, as was Luffy, neither having taken much damage, and Biff… Well, who cares about Biff. The point is, all of them were fine and dandy, except for him.

  His poor pride.

  But as he stared at them with some irritation, his stomach growled angrily, demanding sustenance. With a sigh, Nick held his poor tummy, deciding he would make some breakfast first. Hopefully there was still enough food to feed them all.

  But he wouldn't rule out Luffy having sleep eaten. Only one way to find out. Nick carefully made his way towards the refrigerator, making sure not to step on anybody.

  As he opened the fridge, he had to stop for a moment. Not because of anything weird inside of it, but more because he was surprised there even was a fridge.

  And it was cold too! How? It shouldn't have been possible! There wasn't even any electricity! Was it powered by the sun? Devil Fruits? Black magic? What made it run?

  After a bit, he decided it wasn't worth the psychotic breakdown he was sure he was about to experience. Better if he just rolls with it and moves on.

  Looking inside the fridge, he saw several ingredients that would work for breakfast. Namely eggs, sausages, bacon, and some cheese. It wouldn't be the best thing ever, but hopeful he could make something at least edible.

  What he wouldn't give for a Sanji right about now…

  Grabbing the ingredients, he made his way over to the stove before flicking it on. Took him a minute to figure out how, but he did it. And all without questioning how it worked. He already closed that can of worms, no reason to open it again.

  He then placed some butter in the pan so the food wouldn't stick to it. Once it was good and melted, he placed the sausages on top, making them sizzle.

  As they were cooking, he prepared the eggs. He could have made an omelet, but seeing as he was feeding several hungry men, he thought, "Fuck it!" opting for some scrambled chicken embryos instead.

  He cracked them all into a bowl, adding butter, milk and some salt and pepper before whisking the shit out of it. Nodding as it all swirled together, he poured it into another pan, this one on lower heat, and began to cook.

  It was at this time that the others started to wake up. Luffy, who had the nose of a bloodhound, started sniffing the air in his sleep. It didn't take long for his brain to compute what he smelled.

  "Food…" he murmured, still half asleep. He turned to face where he could hear the sound of sizzling, before taking another big whiff of the air, his stomach gurgling at him.

  "Hungry…" he mumbled again, standing up. Unfortunately, for a certain green haired swordsman, he just so happened to stand up on top of him. Now, that wasn't enough to wake him up by itself, but the foot to the face as Luffy mindlessly wandered towards the smell of breakfast sure as shit was.

  "Gah, damn it! What the hell!?' he shouted, sitting up angrily. He looked behind him, only to see his Captain stumbling towards the kitchen, where it looked like Nick was cooking.

  As the rubber man reached the source of his desire, his stomach roared loudly in glee, ready to be fed. Luffy reached a hand towards the sizzling sausages, drool coming out of his mouth, before sharp pain made him retract it.

  "Ow! What was that?" he whined, still not fully awake. In his half awake state, he continued to try and grab some food, only to be continuously stymied. After several seconds of this, the continued stinging of his hand, coupled with the angry rumbling of his stomach, finally woke him up completely.

  "Damn it, why can't I get the food!" he growled, before realizing he was standing next to someone. That someone being an annoyed Nick. "Oh, hey Nick!"

  "Don't hey Nick me! What do you think you're doing?" he asked, irritation clear in his voice. Luffy tilted his head, not knowing why his friend was so angry.

  "Trying to get food, but something keeps stopping me," he said, before once more reaching out to claim a sausage, only for his hand to be smacked away again. But this time, he knew the reason why.

  "Hey, Nick, what's the big idea!? Why won't you let me have some food!?" he yelled/whined. Nick rolled his eyes, giving the rubber man a stern glare.

  "Because that food is for everyone, that's why. If I let you start eating it now, there won't be anything left for the others. Also, it's still raw," he said.

  "But…" Luffy tried, looking absolutely pitiful.

  "No buts, you're just going to have to wait like everybody else. Now, go," Nick ordered, pointing away from the kitchen. Luffy sulkily obeyed, walking over to the couch to wait, pouting the entire time. As he did so, he managed to step on Usopp, waking him up rather abruptly.

  "Oof," Usopp groaned, grabbing his stomach in pain. Nick ignored the new round of yelling in lieu of finishing breakfast, making sure the sausage and bacon were cooked thoroughly. No need to make everyone sick before the final battle.

  Once that was done, he decided to shove everything into a pot, adding a hefty amount of cheddar cheese to it and cutting up the meat into bite size bits. He wouldn't exactly call it the breakfast of champions, but it should at least fill them up.

  Well, maybe not Luffy. His stomach was basically a black hole to another dimension. But at least everyone else should be satisfied. And if not, well… fuck 'em.

  Once everything was more or less combined into what someone could generously call slop, Nick began the process of plating. If he left it up to them, Luffy might eat the whole thing and the rest of them would starve.

  And Nick was not going to starve after slaving away on a hot stove.

  Everyone seemed to be awake and waiting at the table, which was good. He grabbed some bowls from the cupboard and filled them up, one for Zoro, one for Usopp, one for him, and a small bowl for Biff. Just because he didn't like the guy, didn't mean he would let him go hungry. Once he was sure everyone would get their share, he was more than happy to let Luffy have whatever remained.

  Which was about four or five times what the rest of them would get.

  After that, he made sure to give Luffy his share first, which seemed to make Usopp angry.

  "Oi, why does he get to eat first?" he complained, watching as Luffy horked down the food.

  "Mmm, so good!" Luffy shouted with a happy grin on his face.

  "Because if I didn't, Luffy would target your food first and I don't think you want to fight him off," Nick responded, heading back to get the others their food.

  "Oh, right. That makes sense," Usopp responded, sounding more than a little sheepish. Nick only rolled his eyes before walking over with his and Zoro's bowls.

  "The hell is this?" asked the green haired swordsman as Nick set the bowl in front of him.

  "Eggs, sausage, bacon, and cheese," Nick explained before giving Usopp his bowl. The long nosed man happily started to dig in, and though his appreciation wasn't nearly as vocal as Luffy's, he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

  "You sure it's edible?" asked Zoro, giving the food a suspicious look. Nick rolled his eyes before making his way back to the fridge and pulling out something that should shut him up.

  "If not, choke it down with this," Nick said, slamming a couple of beers down in front of him. Zoro's eyes perked up at the sight.

  "Now that's more like it," he said, grabbing one of the bottles and removing the cap with his thumb. He took a great big swig of it before releasing a satisfied sigh. Nick was starting to think that booze was to Zoro as water is to plants. Well, if he doesn't eat the egg bowl, Nick was sure it wouldn't go to waste.

  Not with Luffy around. No food goes to waste with Luffy around.

  Nick then made sure to give Usopp and Luffy something to wash it down with as well, and seemingly in the nick of time as well, as Luffy started choking on his food.

  He grabbed the glass of what Nick hoped was orange juice, before drinking the whole thing in one go.

  "Make sure you chew, Luffy," Nick chastised, placing Usopp's glass down in front of him. Luffy said something in response, but Nick for the life of him couldn't make it out. Not with the rubber man's mouth full of food.

  Not bothering to dignify whatever Luffy said with an answer, Nick went back to give their prisoner his food. But considering he was still tied up, with his hands behind his back, Nick had to be a bit creative in his method of service.

  By dropping the bowl onto the ground, along with one filled with water. Biff tried to complain, but that didn't last long. Not when Nick told him to be a good boy and eat his food, otherwise, they might just have to neuter him.

  After that, he was finally able to sit down and enjoy his own breakfast. Taking a bite, he nodded in satisfaction. It wouldn't hold up in any five star restaurant, or even a two star restaurant really, but it was good enough for him.

  And for the rest of the uncultured swine surrounding him.

  The group ate their meal and chatted a bit, with Nick antagonizing Zoro a bit and Usopp making an ass out of himself. All in all, Nick was enjoying his time with the crew. It was surreal in a way he hasn't experienced yet. Not even on the trip to the Gecko Islands.

  Perhaps it hadn't really sunk in then. You'd think it would after getting tortured by a clown, but Nick never claimed to be the smartest cookie in the oven. Or maybe it had to do with the ship they were on. There was just something about sailing on Merry that he couldn't describe.

  Once everyone's hunger was slated, or close enough in Luffy's case, it was time to get a move on. The group checked the ship for damage, but much to their surprise, there wasn't any. Nick expected Merry to have suffered some kind of injury considering they sailed right through a storm, but it seems like she was tougher than he thought.

  Once that was done, it was time to head out. Hopefully they wouldn't run into any more enemy armadas and that most of them were destroyed or lost in the storm.

  Fingers crossed.

  "Alright guys! Who's ready to save our friends!?" Nick shouted, getting enthusiastic cheers from the others.

  Except for Zoro, who halfheartedly raised his hand into the air with the most pathetic shout of, "Yeah…" Nick had ever heard.

  "Let's kick their ass!" Luffy shouted, as he and the others went to raise the anchor and unfurl the sails. Nick was back at the helm, once more irritated by its placement.

  "What about you Merry? You ready to fight?" Nick asked, staring at the whipstaff.

  "Hell yeah! Let's kick their ass!"