It took almost a day and a half for the crew to reach the island, which was, according to Biff, called Clockwork Island. But even after hearing its name, Nick had no idea what to expect.

  But it certainly wasn't what he saw.

  "Woah, it's huge!" shouted Luffy, staring at the strange sight in front of him. His eyes lit up with excitement as he took in the bizarre island they found themselves at.

  "That's what she said," Nick mentioned, almost offhandedly as came to stand by the others. He thought they'd have to be in the Grand Line before they found something as weird as this, but he was wrong.

  The island itself was about a mile in the sky, give or take. Nick didn't exactly have a way to measure it. But that wasn't the weird part, at least for him. Knowing about the Sky Islands kind of removed the thrill of seeing land in the sky.

  However, this island wasn't floating, which is where the weird took center stage. It was connected to a massive, spiraling rock formation. It was like the island was resting on a unicorn's horn.

  "What the hell is that?" Usopp said in both fear and awe. Luffy, who had been leaning back, trying to see the top, found himself falling onto his ass. Not that anybody was paying much attention to him at the moment.

  But laying on his back did give him a great view of the island, so he wasn't all that upset about it.

  "That's the Spiral Tower. It's what holds up the island," stated Biff, sitting next to the crew, still tied up. His words caught the attention of the others.

  "And just how are we supposed to get up there!?" asked Usopp in disbelief. Did they come all this way for nothing? Was he going to lose the love of his life because he couldn't reach the island?

  In his mind, he could see Kaya reaching out to him, eyes pleading with him to save her. "Usopp, please save me! You're my only hope."

  As Usopp was having a mental breakdown, Nick turned to his captive, figuring he would be the one with all the answers.

  "Well, Biff? Want to answer the man's question?"

  Said man stared at Nick, obviously nervous. Zoro, who had been watching from the corner of his eye, couldn't blame the man. He'd been there when Nick convinced him to help.

  "Of course! You know me, happy to help! Let's see, um… right, there are two ways to reach the top," he said, finding at least one of his balls so he could answer. Luffy sat up and stared at the man and Usopp's mental crisis abated, at least for the time being.

  "The first is the elevator. It's a massive structure that lifts the ships up to a small port on the island. That's the safe method," he started.

  "And what's the not safe method?" Zoro asked, sounding bored.

  "There's a staircase that leads to the top as well, one that spirals around the outside of the elevator. But no one's ever been able to make it to the top that way," he said, which caught their attention.

  "How-how come?" Usopp asked with a gulp. Biff's eyes took on a menacing glow to them as he addressed the sniper.

  "Because of all the traps. Everyone is killed before they make it."

  Hearing this caused Usopp to panic. "I vote for the elevator! Who's with me!?" he shouted, raising his hand. Looking around, he was shocked to see that only Nick had his hand raised as well.

  "What's wrong with you two!? Didn't you hear him!? Do you want to die!? Is that it!?" Usopp shouted. Zoro rolled his eyes at the younger man's cowardice.

  "What I heard is a challenge," he said, getting a disbelieving look from the long nosed man.

  "Yeah, sounds like fun," Luffy stated, making Usopp despair. He had this horrible, sneaking suspicion that they were going to take the hard road, just to prove they could. Why did he have to be surrounded by such meatheads?

  "At least Nick isn't suicidal," he muttered, getting a look form the man.

  "I mean, I wouldn't mind stomping all over their traps and asserting my dominance, but broken ribs and a gunshot wound prevent me from doing so," Nick stated with a shrug. Usopp fell to his knees while Zoro gave a smirk.

  "Guess it's just you who's the scaredy cat," he said, making Usopp angry.

  "What did you say!?"

  "I said you don't have any balls."

  "Oh yeah!? How about I show them to you!?"

  "Get the hell away from me!"

  As Usopp and Zoro were bonding, Nick turned his attention to none other than Biff.

  "So, how exactly are we supposed to get on this elevator?" he asked.

  "You can't. Only members of the crew are allowed to take the elevator," he said. Biff thought that would be the end of it, seeing as how there was no way they could hitch a ride topside without a member of the crew…

  Oh… he was a member of the crew. And judging by the evil grin Nick was sporting, he figured that out too.

  "No, please! They'll kill me if I help you get on!" he cried. Too bad his words reached the ears of someone who didn't give a fuck.

  "And what do you think I'll do to you?" Nick asked. Seeing as he wasn't about to get out of it, all he could do was cry.

  "Why me!?"

  Seeing as his prisoner was sufficiently cowed for the moment, Nick turned his attention back to the two, squabbling man-childs to his left. Usopp was right in Zoro's face with the latter trying to shove him away.

  And Luffy was egging them on.

  Nick could only sigh, wishing Nami was here to put them in their place. But alas, it was down to him to keep this motley bunch on track.

  "Oi, that's enough you two! Save it for the enemy," he chastised, making them stop. But if he thought they would just listen to him, he was sorely mistaken.

  "Huh? Why should we listen to you?" Usopp asked, his tone mocking, making Nick's eye twitch.

  "Yeah, stay out of it, Mr. Shattered Ribs," Zoro quipped, making Nick's other eye twitch.

  "That's it! Killin' you both!" Nick shouted, charging at them, ignoring the pain screaming at him to stop. He jumped at them and an epic battle ensued, with Luffy cheering. Not for anyone in particular, just for the violence in general.

  Biff couldn't help but sweat drop at watching them fight each other, wondering how on earth they lost to such idiots. He would be the first of many to ponder such a thing.

  One epic fight later…

  "Alright, so here's the plan," Nick started, a piece of cloth stuck up his nose to stop the bleeding after getting cheap shotted by Zoro. "We get Biff here to convince his buddies that he stole this ship from Syrup Village, bringing it back as a gift for the wedding."

  "But Nick… I want to go up the stairs…" Luffy whined, making the other man sigh.

  "Tell you what, Luffy. Once we beat up all the bad guys, you can go up the trap infested stairs. Hell, you can even race Zoro if you want," Nick said. The rubber man and the swordsman locked eyes, a challenging gleam in them.

  That's one problem solved.

  "Ok, but do you really think they'll believe it? Seems pretty far-fetched to me," Usopp said, his left eye black, courtesy of Nick's fist. He did his best to ignore how excited the other two were to race up a death trap.

  "Would you rather we tell them we have a million more people on the way and if they don't let us up now we'll swarm the island?" Nick asked, sarcastically.

  "You're mocking me, aren't you?" Usopp asked in a deadpan.

  "Who, me? No, of course not," Nick said, clearly lying. He gave Usopp a smirk, showing he knew exactly what he was doing.

  "Are to, you jerk! I'll have you know my lies are legendary world wide! No one able to tell fact from fiction!" he shouted, puffing out his chest.

  "The whole world is not Luffy," Nick said in his own deadpan, making Usopp splutter.

  "Anyway, I think this is our best bet. And if it doesn't work, then there's always the death trap route," Nick said with finality. Plan made, it was now time to put into action. The first step, freeing Biff from his chains.

  Walking over to the man, who had been listening with an aura of despair surrounding him, Nick gave him his best, if you try anything I'll murder you to death stare. Seeing Biff freeze up, it seemed like it was super effective.

  "Alright Biffy-Boy, I'm going to untie you now. If you try anything, well…" he said, lifting his shirt and showing off his piece, like a gangster. "I think you know what'll happen."

  Biff did, in fact, know what would happen, and he would rather avoid such a fate.

  "Alright, but if I do this, you'll let me go, right?" he asked, or more like, begged. He didn't know if Nick's word meant anything, but it was better than nothing.

  "Of course. I'm a man of my word. Once we're up there, safe and sound, I'll let you go," Nick assured him. Biff sighed in relief, only to freeze in fear as Nick got right up in his face.

  "But if you even think about betraying us or taking our ship, I will hunt you down and break every bone in your body before feeding your nearly lifeless corpse to the pigs to be eaten alive. Understand?"

  "I think I peed a little," Biff thought to himself, not that he said that out loud. No, outside the privacy of his own mind he nodded furiously, sweat falling from his brow like he was jogging through the desert in the middle of summer. Seeing he put the fear of God into the man, Nick gave him a happy smile.

  "Good. Glad we understand each other."

  With that said, he untied the man. The four Strawhats would hide in the ship while Biff bullshitted his way onto the island. Everything was perfect.

  "I don't see why we have to hide from these weaklings," Zoro grumbled.

  Well, almost everything.

  "It's called strategy Zoro. No reason to wear ourselves out before the final battle," Nick said, sounding exasperated with the man. Zoro continued to bitch under his breath, but Nick was content enough that he couldn't hear the words.

  He doubted it was anything nice.

  The ship approached the massive structure at a slow pace. The group, mostly Usopp and Nick, could feel their nerves rattle the closer they got. Usopp's from fear and Nick's from hoping his plan didn't go awry.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  He did not want to climb a mile-long staircase full of deadly traps. Just because those two crazy fuckers did, did not mean he shared the sentiment. Sure, he said he didn't mind, but that was a lie. He minded. He minded a lot.

  However, it became abundantly clear that there was one giant hitch to the plan. Namely, no way to communicate with whoever was in charge of the elevator. If only they had a snail!

  Just as Nick was starting to think they'd be taking the stairs, the large metal structure that guarded the entrance to the elevator began to rise. From inside came two small boats, little bigger than a dinghy.

  It brought back memories. It seemed like just yesterday they were traveling by dinghy, and now they had the best ship ever. Ah, how the times change.

  The pair of boats approached their ship, with Biff going out to meet them. Zoro clenched onto one of his swords, ready, maybe even eager, for a fight. Usopp was biting his nails in worry and Luffy was simply watching with curiosity. Nick held his trusty shovel, ready to bury some motherfuckers if he had to.

  Biff took a deep breath as members of his crew approached. This was it. If he screwed this up, he was a dead man.

  "Hey there! Mitch, is that you!?" he called down, recognizing one of the people in the boat. That was good. It would be much easier to trick someone he knew rather than a stranger.

  "Barry? Well I'll be damned, thought you were dead!" called back the man. Biff, who had nearly forgotten his own name, gave them a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his head.

  "Yeah, it was a close one. I managed to slip away and steal this ship. Figure it would make a good gift for the boss, ya know?" he called down.

  So far so good. Everything was going according to plan. More or less, anyway. The group of four watched with bated breath, hoping the plan would work. Well, two of them anyway. The others wouldn't mind the plan failing and having to fight their way through.

  Damn battle maniacs.

  "I see. That why you didn't use a Den-Den Mushi?" Mitch called back.

  "Yeah, sorry. Looks like this old girl doesn't have one," he said.

  "Old girl! How dare he! I'm in the prime of my youth!"

  Nick could have sworn he heard an offended voice. And was it just him, or did the Merry give a violent jump just then?

  "Right. Well I guess I can let you through then," Mitch said. Nick, Usopp and Biff let out simultaneous sighs of relief. However, there was someone who just had to poop on their party.

  "You sure about this Mitch? Somethin' don't seem right," said one of the other pirates.

  "Shut up you stupid asshole! I don't want to climb those fucking stairs!" Nick screamed in his head. Seems like the universe heard his plea, and chose to be magnanimous that day.

  "Ah, come on Phil, I Know this guy. He's one of us. You worry too much," Mitch said.

  "If you say so…" muttered Phil.

  "Alright, we'll open the gates the rest of the way. Just give me a sec," Mitch said, reaching into his jacket to pull out a Den-Den Mushi. All he had to do now was make a call and it was smooth sailing.

  Of course, it was that moment the universe decided to pull the rug out from under them in the form of a Luffy. Its earlier magnanimity nothing more than a facade to lure them into a false sense of security.

  "I think they bought it," Luffy said.

  Loudly. Luffy said that loudly.

  "Hey, did you hear something?" Mitch asked, looking confused. Biff, who had turned around to stare at his kidnappers in disbelief, flipped back around to face his friend.

  "Uh, nope. I didn't hear anything. Must have been the wind," Biff said.

  "Right… the wind…" Mitch said, slowly. For a second, it looked like he wasn't going to buy it. But luckily for the crew, Mitch is an idiot.

  "Yeah, that makes sense. Hearing ain't what it used to be, on account of the cannon fire. Alright, I'll let them know to let you through," Mitch said, making the Strawhats sigh in relief once more.

  All except for Luffy, who was currently struggling to breathe due to Nick and Usopp clamping their hands over his mouth. Naturally, the more he struggled, the harder the others tried to keep him quiet.

  Until, of course, Luffy couldn't take it anymore. Using strength far surpassing the two holding him down, he flung them away.

  "Are you guy's trying to kill me!?" he shouted.

  Mitch, who was just about to give the go ahead to fully open the gate, stopped, turning back to stare at the no longer silent ship.

  "Damn it Luffy, they heard that for sure! No way those morons believe it was the wind a second time!"

  "Don't blame me! You were the ones trying to kill me!"

  "We weren't trying to kill you, we were trying to keep you quiet!"

  "I was being quiet!"

  "No you weren't!"

  Biff, who was getting more and more nervous as the yelling continued, gave his former friend a look.

  "Any chance you didn't hear that?"

  "No."

  "Yeah, I didn't think so."

  For a second, everything was calm, with nothing but the sound of the breeze to disrupt the silence. Until, of course…

  "Close the gates! We have intruders!" shouted Mitch. Biff watched as the gate started to slowly close. There was no way they would be able to reach it now, even if someone tried to make a swim for it.

  "You see, I knew something was fishy!" shouted Phil.

  "Not the time Phil!"

  Hearing them shout drew the attention of those hiding inside Merry, making them stop their bickering. Nick was pulling apart Luffy's mouth by the cheeks, stretching them a couple feet, while Luffy was pushing up against his chin, forcing his head back and away.

  "Now look at what you morons did," casually stated Zoro.

  "Me, it was him!" shouted Nick and Luffy at the same time, glaring at each other.

  "What are we going to do!?" yelled Usopp in a teary eyed panic.

  "Isn't that obvious? We fight," Zoro returned with a blood thirsty grin, partially unsheathing his sword with his thumb.

  "Why!? We were so close!" Usopp lamented. They could hear the pirates getting closer, ready to board them at any moment.

  "Ah, fuck it! Let's just kick their ass. I need to work off some frustrations anyway," Nick said, pulling out a pistol. As much as he wanted to whack them with his shovel, given the state of his legs, he felt it was better to just shoot them instead. Especially now that he was going to be climbing all those goddamn stairs!

  The four of them exited the cabin, or three did at any rate. Usopp, being the coward that he was, stayed behind to cheer them on. Biff, resigned to his fate, made himself scarce, not wanting to be caught in the middle.

  As soon as Nick saw the head of the first pirate climbing over the railing he opened fire, splattering his brains into the ocean below, turning the chump into chum. But he was just the first of many, as several more soon made their way onto the deck of the Merry.

  Though the Strawhats may have been outnumbered, they were far from outmatched. If the other crew knew just what they were getting into, they would have never tried to fight in the first place.

  It only took a few minutes for the smaller, yet stronger group to prevail. Luffy and Zoro took out those dumb enough to get near them, while Nick stood back, shooting at anyone he had a clear shot at. Hell, even Usopp managed to get a few of them.

  Once the battle was over, the victorious few stood among the carnage. Mostly due to Zoro and Nick. Luffy pretty much knocked away everyone he punched or kicked, but the victims of the other two just fell over and died where they stood.

  "Well that plan was a bust," Nick said with frustration, casually using his shovel to push a corpse off the ship. You'd think he'd be more squeamish at the sight, like Usopp, but he wasn't. Getting rid of dead bodies was just one more chore that had to be taken care of.

  "I didn't like sneaking around anyway," Zoro commented, helping Nick get rid of the bodies. It was the worst part of a fight, the cleanup. Although he doesn't usually have to worry about this part, only needing somebody's head to collect a bounty. The crows could have the rest of them for all he cared.

  Nick sighed as the last of the bodies were thrown overboard. "Whatever. Usopp, bring the ship around to that rocky outcropping over there. It looks like that's the entrance to the stairs," he said, pointing to where he wanted the sniper to go.

  "Do we have to?" he whined. But the glare he received from not only Nick, but Zoro as well spurned him into action.

  As the ship started moving, Nick sat down on the railing, resting his legs. He didn't have to run around too much in that fight, but it was still aggravating for his injuries. And they were about to get even more aggravated.

  Looking out to sea, he saw a curious sight. It was one of the dinghies, rowing away as fast as it could go. Looking closely, he could just make out who the person rowing was.

  "Guess he didn't want to stick around," Nick muttered, seeing as it was one other than Biff fleeing for his life.

  "Should we go after him?" Zoro asked, glaring at the fleeing man.

  "Naw, we don't need him anymore. Doing so would just waste more time," Nick answered with a shrug. Zoro grunted in response, his way of agreeing.

  As the ship came up beside the shore, Luffy, with his boundless exuberance, could no longer keep his lust for adventure under control. Once he was close enough, he leapt onto the shore, rushing towards the entrance to the tower.

  "Woo, let's go!" he shouted.

  "Luffy! Get back here!" Zoro yelled, but it was clear Luffy had no intention of stopping. "Damn it."

  "No use getting angry about it, that's just the way he is," Nick sighed, as he tossed down the anchor into the water. Didn't want Merry to get lost.

  Once the ship was settled, it was time for the rest of them to disembark. Only problem was, Nick had no real way of getting off. The ramp was currently busted and in serious need of repair. Whether that was due to pirates of Luffy he didn't know. He just knew it created a problem.

  And for every problem, there is a solution.

  "Hey Zoro?" he asked.

  "What?"

  "Carry me?"

  "Hell no."

  "So this is where the bromance dies, huh?"

  "There is no bromance!"

  "Search your feelings Zoro, you know it to be true."

  *Line Break*

  Nami glared spitefully at the mirror in front of her. Not because there was anything wrong with it, if one didn't count the image it was currently reflecting. Under normal circumstances, Nami would be thrilled to stare at her reflection as she tried on a beautiful dress.

  She was an absolute bombshell after all.

  But seeing her in a wedding dress, no matter how beautiful, was not at all thrilling. Not when her groom to be was a giant, hairy, ugly, gorilla. That kind of put a damper on the whole mood.

  But she did have to admit, rather begrudgingly, they had good taste. The dress was pure white, obviously, with flowery frills circling the top of the dress around her whole torso. It was also extremely low cut, showing off far more of her chest then she wanted. Normally, that wouldn't really be a problem, except…

  Her babies were not for the Bear King's eyes!

  The rest of the dress was rather form fitting as well, accentuating her curves. The sleeves were nothing but see through lace, and she had a large bow tied behind her. To top it all off, she was also given a brand new shiny set of pearls to wrap around her neck.

  She was keeping those. Call it a beauty tax.

  Nami shifted her gaze towards Kaya, who was in a similar predicament. She was also shoved into a wedding dress that left little to the imagination. It hugged the girl like a second skin until it flared out at the bottom. Her top was also low cut, which was far more mortifying for the shy girl than it was for Nami.

  She also had white gloves that ran all the way up to her biceps, rather than the lace that Nami had. Kaya's neck contained a new necklace as well, though this one was a dainty silver thing with a sapphire in the shape of a teardrop.

  As beautiful as she looked, Kaya couldn't be more miserable. Not that Nami could blame her, given the circumstances. But seeing the girl looking like the world was ending just rubbed her the wrong way.

  "Hey, cheer up. I know things look bad but it's not over yet. The guys will be here before you know it," she said, trying to cheer her up. Nami wished she didn't have to rely on them, but she has yet to find a way to escape, no matter how hard she looked.

  "Come on you guys. Where are you?"

  Meanwhile…

  "Why do they have a snake pit!?"

  "Fire! I'm on fire!"

  "Is that a boulder!?"

  "Oh god now there's spikes!"

  "My ass!"

  "We're all gonna die!"

  Back with Nami

  Well wherever they were, she was sure they were fine. Probably doing something stupid.

  "I know. I just have to be strong. But it's easier said than done," Kaya said, trying to hide her shaking hands. Not well enough to escape Nami's eyes. She gave the younger girl a soft smile before sitting next to her and taking her hands in her own.

  "Try thinking about something else then," Nami suggested. Kaya tilted her head, confused.

  "Like what?"

  "Like Usopp's reaction to seeing you in this dress," Nami said with a knowing grin. Kaya's face went red, and she felt herself covering up her chest as Nami gave it a lewd grin.

  "Nami…" she whined, making her ginger friend laugh.

  "You should see your face!" she said, making the blonde haired girl pout. Before a thought entered her mind. If Nami thought she would just accept her teasing, she was in for a surprise.

  Payback is a bitch.

  "Oh well, what about Nick? What would he think of you in your dress?" she asked. Now it was Nami's turn to blush.

  "Why would I care what he thinks? Probably just start drooling like an idiot," she said, making Kaya giggle. Hearing this brought a smile to Nami's face, knowing she was able to distract her, even if just a little bit.

  A loud snort from their left drew their attention. Looking over, they could see none other than Akisu, sleeping in a very uncomfortable position. His head was leaning over the bed with his foot resting against the wall.

  Kaya let out another quiet laugh at seeing the boy. "Isn't that cute?"

  "Poor kid was up all night guarding the door. He's certainly got some guts, unlike that brother of his," Nami mentioned. The two of them stood up before making their way over to him, shifting his position to something more comfortable.

  "Usopp can be surprisingly brave when the time calls for it," Kaya said.

  "I sure hope so," Nami responded. It wasn't that she didn't believe Kaya, it was just… she didn't believe her. But who knows, she would love to be proven wrong.

  Before the two of them could continue their conversation, the doors to their room opened up, revealing none other than Honey Queen, sauntering her way inside.

  "Well, well, well, don't you two look pretty," she commented, almost snidely. Actually, there was no almost about it.

  "What do you want?" Nami growled, glaring at the woman. Kaya hid behind Nami, not wanting to be seen by the older woman.

  "Just coming to make sure the brides are preparing properly. Big brother will be thrilled to know you are," she said, sitting down on one of the couches in the room.

  "Great. Well, thanks for stopping by. Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Nami said, making Honey Queen chuckle.

  "My, so feisty. Still holding out hope, are we? I told you already, those friends of yours are-"

  "Puru-puru-puru-puru."

  "Puru-puru-puru-puru."

  "Puru-puru-puru-puru."

  Honey Queen's rant was cut short by the sound of her Den-Den Mushi. Sighing irritably at her fun of tormenting women younger than her being interrupted, she grabbed the snail from inside of her jacket.

  "Ka-Lick."

  "Yes, what is it? Wait, are you? You've got to be kidding me, I thought they were dead. They're heading up the stairs? Then what's the problem? Nobody has ever-seriously? How is that possible? Fine, I'll be right there."

  Hanging up the snail phone, she turned her attention back to the confused looking brides. "Well, unfortunately I have to cut our time short. Something has come up that requires my attention," she said, walking towards the door.

  "Aw, really? What a shame. And here I thought we were starting to have a real connection," Nami snarked.

  "Hmph, you might want to redo your makeup. You look like a clown," Honey Queen said before slamming the door shut behind her, Nami sticking her tongue out at her as she left.

  "Bitch," she mumbled under her breath.

  "What do you think that was about?" Kaya asked, coming out from behind her friend. Nami turned, giving her a knowing grin.

  "That, my dear Kaya, is the sound of the cavalry arriving."

  "Really? Are you sure?" Kaya asked, her eyes filled with the first real spark of hope since they were kidnapped.

  "Yep. So get ready for the counter attack! These chumps won't know what hit 'em!"