Feeling himself being shaken awake, Zoro opened his eyes only to see the worried face of Chopper.

"Huh? Chopper, what's wrong? " He asked curiously, but his tone held worry, seeing that he rarely saw that much worry in the doctor's face.

As Chopper pointed out above, he stated, "We don't know what's happening."

Looking up, Zoro's eyes widen, seeing some kind of diamond crystal in the air. Some were broken, while some were fully intact without damage.

"What the?! What are those? " Zoro yelled, gaining the attention of everyone.

That's when he noticed that he and Chopper weren't the only ones. The whole crew was here with them.

"Marimo! You're finally awake, you dishit! How long are you planning to sleep, huh? " Sanji, trying to deliver a kick only to be blocked by Zoro's sword, was also looking worried.

Zoro clicked his tongue, "The hell is your problem, Ero-cook?"

"Both of you! Stop fighting! " Nami yelled, causing the two to flinch and stop their argument.

Standing up, Zoro noticed that the place looked a bit creepy. The color of purple mixed with black and designed in a chess-like manner was creepy because the only place that had light was where they were currently standing. The other side was just dark, like an abyss.

"What the... where are we?" He asked and turned to Robin for an answer.

Robin, seeing that it was her being asked, answered truthfully. " I don't have any ideas. When I woke up, I saw you all here unconscious. "

"This place is creepy. I could feel the coldness hitting me like it was alive. I felt like I was having goosebumps, Yohohoho!" Brook stated, hugging himself tightly.

He paused, and was about to say that he's dead and has no skin, so he can't have goose bumps.

Unfortunately, Chopper beat him into it.

"But Brook, you're a skeleton, so you can't have goosebumps." Chopper innocently stated, causing Brook to comically fall into the ground in defeat.

Seeing this, Chopper panicked. "Brook?! What's wrong?! " He asked.

Brook looked at Chopper and said, "Chopper-san, you can't just steal my lines like that."

"I've had enough! Quit making a ruckus and let's first find out where we are! " Nami yelled, causing everyone's attention to be directed at her.

Of course, they also wanted to know what was going on, so they listened.

Sanji, doing his usual noddle dance with hearts plastered on his eyes, was agreeing with Nami like always.

"Hai~~ Nami-swannn~~"

Usopp, hugging himself in fear, shuddered as the cold air hit him. "This place looks creepy. I don't want to stay here! "

"I agree. This is SUPERR scary! " Franky said, doing his supper pose.

Zoro looked around and furrowed his eyebrows, again staring up at the crystals above.

"The thing is, what are those?" He asked.

Nami nodded. "No one knew what this place was or what these things were. We tried walking around, but we ended up being transported back here. It seems like something is preventing us from leaving. "

"Perhaps it's those things." Robin answered, looking at the crystals with interest.

Hearing that theory, Zoro took out his Katanas while Sanji readied his leg to throw a kick. Obviously, both have the same idea.

"How about..." Zoro started.

"...we destroyed those?" Sanji finished.

*Bonk*

The two earned a hard hit to their heads, and like usual, it came from Nami.

"You idiots! Don't you dare? " Nami yelled.

Usopp nodded in agreement, "Yeah! We don't even know what it could do! What if it triggers something?!"

Zoro gritted his teeth, not happy about being hit. "Then it triggers something! What else do you think we should do then? Destroying it might work! "

Just before everyone could form an argument about this issue of destroying the crystal, a familiar deep voice suddenly spoke from behind them.

"Straw Hat Pirates? How come you're all here? "

All look behind them, and their eyes widen in shock. Even Robin's eyes can't help but widen after seeing who it was.

"A-ACE?!!!!!"

That's right. Standing behind them was Luffy's "dead" brother, Portgaz D. Ace.

The usual carefree smile was plastered on his face, and those freckles made him look a bit childish. This appearance was just like the straw hat pirates who met him at Alabasta.

"Yo! I didn't expect to see you here. " Ace said, looking at them with happiness. "I've been stuck here for so long that I'm starting to get bored, and I'm glad to see familiar people."

However, his greetings and appearance scared a few people, which is the usual Trio who easily gets scared.

Usopp trembled as he hugged Nami, and Chopper did the same as the three of them hugged each other.

"Don't tell me I'm dead?! I don't want to die yet!" Usopp said.

Chopper nodded along with Nami, "Me too!"

"Kami! Are we in Hell?!" Nami screamed as anime tears ran down her eyes.

Zoro's sweat dropped after seeing the overreacting trio. A blunt look flashed across his face as he realized Nami's words.

"Nami, you're offending him." Zoro stated, causing the three to stop.

Nami stiffens at being called. "What?! How? "

Usopp then recalled what Nami had said, "Nami, you just basically stated that Ace had gone into hell rather than heaven."

Hearing that, Nami paled. She remembered how Luffy used to tell them how strong Ace was, and that Luffy never bested Ace in anything, and that if he got stronger, Ace would probably too.

"Wahhh! I swear I didn't mean it! " Nami said, saying sorry again and again.

Even though they'd met Ace before, it had been a long time. Besides, Ace was supposed to be dead, but now he was standing here in front of them, with that face of his now blank.

"You guys are as lively as ever." Ace stated before looking towards Sanji and Zoro. "I suggest you don't touch those. It'll cause us all to be stuck here for longer. " He said, frowning a little.

Robin perked up at that, quickly turning her whole attention to Ace.

"Ace-san, do you know where we are and what the Crystal is?"

"Kinda." Ace said, ruffling his hair with a sigh. "I don't really know where we are. But.. "

"Can't you just explain it in one go?!" Nami irritatedly asked, forgetting her recent actions a while ago, causing the others to deadpanne. Of course, they dared not voice their thoughts because they also wanted to know.

Hearing that, Ace flinched a little since Nami's voice resonated through the place.

"Hey, don't yell. The loud sounds aren't pleasant to the ears. " Ace said before faking a cough like he was preparing for a long speech.

"So, what I know is..." He said, gaining everyone's attention. "This place is called Memorial Pandemonium, the Dark 'Cage' owned by one of the Seven Devil Lords. Those crystals up there were memories, and the broken ones would cause tremendous loss to the owner. I've tried breaking some, as you can see. But well... It just caused me to stay here longer. " Ace said, gesturing towards the broken crystal that was still floating above.

The intact ones shone in different colors. gold, red, blue, etc. The broken ones, however, had no color and looked dull, like the color of ashes.

"So these crystals were filled with memories,huh?" Robin muttered, and the others had their own opinions.

"Wait... where's Luffy?" Ace, noticing the absence of his little brother, asked as he tried to look around.

Zoro snapped out of his thoughts, "Damn it. I forgot that he's still missing!" "He said before looking around.

"You mean, Luffy's missing?!" Ace asked in panic.

Before everyone could panic, a smooth and calm voice suddenly resounded.

"There is no need to panic. Your mission here was to save him in the first place. "

•••

Somewhere in the Dark Cage, Marco stared at the two people in front of him, disbelief written in his eyes.

Not only him, but the entire crew of Whitebeard Pirates had the same reaction, staring at the two people with wide eyes, as if they were seeing a ghost.

"All of you looked hilarious." Thatch commented playfully, trying to break the silence. His voice cracked at the end, and tears began to form in the brim of his eyes.

His voice snapped everyone out of shock and, almost instantly, everyone launched themselves into the two.

"Pops! Thatch!"

All of the Whitebeard Pirates cried out as they all had tears in their eyes, hugging the two to see whether it was real or not. To their relief, it was all true.

"Gurararara! I'm glad to see that my sons are all doing fine. " He said.

Haruta broke free from the group hug and looked around frantically, his eyes searching for someone.

"Haruta, are you alright?" Vista asked, noticing Haruta was acting weird.

Hearing that, everyone looked at Haruta, who looked back at them before quickly looking around.

"I'm looking... for Ace." He stated, but sighed when he didn't find the person.

Marco blinks and realizes something. If Whitebeard and Thatch were here, where's Ace?

"That's right, Ace isn't here yoi." He said, not spotting the Ravennette commander.

"We tried to look for him, but we ended up being transported back to this place. It seems like there's a barrier that prevents us from leaving. " Thatch explained.

Whitebeard sighed, "My sons, I have a feeling that he is alright. No pain can be inflicted while you're in this place. "

"Pops, what do you mean yoi?" Marco asked, confused at that statement.

Thatch smiled, "This place was quite magical. I've tried to cut myself, and almost instantly, the wound healed completely without any marks left. "

"Why would you think of cutting yourself yoi?" Marco asked, only to get a grin from Thatch.

"How is that possible?!"

"That, I also don't know."

.

.

.

"It seems like you all have a lively gathering here. You shouldn't keep it to yourselves, you know?"

The Whitebeard Pirates all turned to see a familiar man with that stupid grin on his face, his black coat concealing his flaw as he approached them, his crew following closely behind.

"Akagami?" Marco was confused. "What are you doing here yoi?" He asked.

Standing some distance away from them was the crew of Red Haired Pirates. Leading them was the Captain, Shanks.

"Dahahaha! I also don't know. We woke up in this place when suddenly, Yassop heard some voices, and here we are. " Shanks stated, looking unbothered by the fact that they were in an unknown place.

Then, he noticed Whitebeard and couldn't help but blink. "Woah, so this is why you're all loud and happy." He stated with a grin, but it was clear that he was also shocked to find Whitebeard here. The problem is, Shanks was easy to snap out of shock.

"Yo, Whitebeard! It's shocking to see you here. You looked better than ever." Shanks casually said, earning a few glares from the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Gurararara! Brat, you haven't changed." Whitebeard commented.

"I don't know how but...." Shanks suddenly smiled, slowly lifting up his coat. The sight causes everyone's eyes to widen. "This place is something I'm curious to know about, if it could bring back what's already lost."

Clearly on view for everyone to see was Shanks' left hand, not the missing arms they've all seen when he visited Whitebeard and showed up in War.

Whitebeard became silent. "I do agree. If it could bring back your arm, then this place is no simple place. "

Shanks grinned and said, "A pleasure to see you again. It's been a long time, Whitebeard. "

Whitebeard smirked, "Yeah. It really is. "

•••

Taking out his Katanas, Zoro glared at the cloaked woman who was distance away from them.

The cloaked woman did not speak, instead, she sigh. Suddenly, a wall appeared behind her as she leaned her back against it, sitting on the ground. A small square appeared where she was sitting and it rose up, the girl sitting across them was now on the same height that they don't even need to look down.

The mysterious person said, rising her hands and with a flick of her fingers, the whole room brighten.

"W-What the hell was that?!"

"It's so bright?!"

"Captain!"

"What the?!"

"Admiral!"

"Pops! Wa-Wait! Hey!"

"Ouch. That hurts my vision."

"What the f*ck?!"

The Straw Hat Pirates, along with Ace, stared behind them in disbelief.

Everyone was here and when I say everyone, it means everyone.

"T-This is..." Nami shuttered, pointing her fingers at the newly arrived people.

"Pops?! Thatch?! Everyone?!" Ace suddenly yelled, gaining everyone's attention as the light quickly fade.

The Whitebeard Pirates look at Ace, the same reaction when they saw Thatch and Whitebeard once again appeared in their face. But this time, they quickly snapped out of their shocked and jump towards Ace almost like Lightning.

"ACE!!!"

The Marines, which consists of people they are familiar of and people who knew Luffy, except Akainu who was missing, stared at the Pirates in shocked as they started to become wary.

"How is this possible?" Sengoku asked no one in particular, almost like talking to himself as he saw Whitebeard standing right there with all his glory, no signs of wounds or pain, but looking so healty and happy.

"Captain! Are you alright?!"

On the other side, the Heart Pirates were also present.

"Yeah. But I'm curious of where we are." Law said, then saw the Straw Hats all looking at them with disbelief.

Mugiwara-ya? Why does it seems like he's missing? Law thought and indeed, Luffy was missing.

"Ouch! My head is spinning!" A blond from a fair distance said. He was surrounded by a few notorious people, and just by the looks of it, it was obvious who he is.

"What the hell?! Why are they also here?!" Zoro screamed before glaring at the figure who's face has yet to be revealed.

Meanwhile, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, Sanji, has his attention caught by some people he doesn't want to see his entire life.

He wanted to ignore them, but one of those people has already caught the site of him and made an eye contact.

"Sanji!" Reiju called, causing the other three people who's standing with her to turned and look at the Blond who, in return, looked at them unamused.

"Germa...." Sanji muttered in irritation and sigh. "At least I've got to meet Reiju." He said, almost t himself, when he saw his own sister walked fastly towards him.

"Reiju..." Sanji called out when his sister was already in front of him.

"It's good to see you again. It's been a while and I've heard your Captain is now the Pirate King." Reiju said with a smile before noticing that Ichiji, Niji and Yonji followed her.

"Yo, Sanji. It seems like you're doing great, ha!" Yonji said, smirking down at his "older" brother who ignore him.

"Sanji..." Ichiji called out, gaining the attention of the blond who looked at him blankly. "Where are we?" He asked.

Sighing, Sanji decided to answer considering that they helped him and Luffy before. "I don't know. Asked that person." He answered, pointing at the cloaked person sitting in the middle, a fair distance from everyone.

"Hm? And who the hell is that?" Niji raised his eyebrow, before looking up.

Suddenly, a loud sound of what seems like bells caused everyone to become alert. Ace and the Straw Hats eyes quickly fell into the person responsible, which caused the other people in there to also looked at the same direction.

"And who the f*ck is that?"

Kidd, who was there with only two men from his crew, asked in anger.

The figure released a laugh before standing up. Silver bells were on her hand and half of her face was seen to have a dark smile.

""

The person said calmly, ignoring the fact that everyone was glaring at her except Ace, who has seen her once within his time here, especially when he was destroying those crystal above.

"So you're the one who brought us here. What do you want exactly?" Robin asked, looking cautiously at the person. She could feel a sudden change from the mysterious person when she spoke those 'welcoming' sentence. A sudden feeling of oppression, which Robin is sure that everyone felt, not just her.

The person said before a black orbed appeared in her hand, causing everyone to become tense, not knowing what she'll do.

Before everyone could react, it felt like an invisible force put everyone away from each other and placed them in a particular direction, grouping them. It was obvious which and who were the ones in the group.

invited The mysterious person smirked and cackled as she looked at her right, where the marines were standing and glaring at her with caution.

"J-Just who are you?" Koby asked in fear when he felt the oppressing feeling sticking into his body when his name was called before disappearing.

""

With that, no one asked questions, knowing how capable this person is. Of course, some still dared, but for unknown reason, their voices was silent by some kind of force.

The person then turned towards the Pirates side.

"It's nine. Jinbe-san is supposed to be with us. Yohohoho" Brook carefully stated, causing the person to pause.

The words she said confused everyone, since they don't what it was about. They watched in amazement when Jinbe suddenly appeared within the group of Straw Hats.

"Jinbe!"

"Do not yell. The loud sounds create unpleasant feelings to my ears." Jinbe said, causing everyone to nod.

The person said calmly, The voice sounded surprise for a while, mixed with amusement as she chuckled.

"Wait! Where's Luffy?! Why isn't he here with us?!" Nami suddenly asked, stepping forward a little as she glared at the person who just stared at her.

The mysterious person chuckled,

With the warning, everyone calmed themselves and remained on their places. After all, they can't do anything since there's an invisible force that could surely control them in an instant.